Cheers To The Bride & Groom

I know I've mentioned a couple times in past posts that I'm helping with the wedding of two of my good friends, Heather & Tillman. They are having a small, simple, winter wedding. 

As a nice little something extra, I decided to make bride and groom toasting glasses for their special day. 

What do you think? 

I started off with two plain champagne glasses, glass etching cream and stencils I made out of vinyl using my awesome Silhouette machine. 

I carefully applied the stencil to the glasses. My idea was to do the Mr. and Mrs. designs in relief, so I made sure the stencil was exactly where I wanted it. 

 Once I had the stencils exactly where I wanted them, it was time to apply the etching cream. I personally use gloves every time I use etching cream, just to make sure I'm protecting my hands.

 The directions say that you should leave the etching cream on for about five minutes before washing it off. I usually wait about 20 - 30 minutes before washing the cream off, just to make sure the cream has had time to do its thing. When you're rinsing the glasses make sure you rinse it really well to get all the cream off. 

Once the etching cream is washed off, all that's left is to peel off the stencil and admire your design. 

I added some ribbon to tie the glasses in with the rest of the wedding decor. 

I'm very pleased with how they turned out, and I think it's the perfect idea for a winter themed wedding! The bride loved them, and that's what is really important. 


Cheers to Tillman & Heather! 

I wish you all the happiness in the world.

 


I'm sharing this project at the following link parties: 

~ Take-A-Look Tuesday @ Sugar Bee Crafts ~ Tutorials & Tips Link Party @ Home Stories From A to Z ~ Show Me What Ya Got @ Not Just A Housewife ~ Lil Luna Link Party @ Lil Luna ~ Wow Me Wednesday @ Ginger Snap Crafts ~ Your Whims Wednesday @ My Girlish Whims ~ Show & Share @ Southern Lovely ~ Wildly Original Link Party @ I Gotta Create! ~ Creative Juice Thursday @ Momnivore's Dilemma ~ Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Creek Cottage ~ BFF Open House Link Party @ The Answer Is Chocolate ~ Anything Goes Link Party @ Bacon Time ~ Delicately Constructed @ Delicate Construction ~ Weekend Bloggy Reading @ Serenity Now ~

Manly Gift For A Manly Man

Crafting for guys is hard! 

I usually do okay. My brothers have received things in the past from me like etched drinking glasses, redneck wine glasses, alcohol bottle lamps and other guy type crafts. 

Awhile back I found this idea on Pinterest and thought it would be PERFECT for my brother Jonathan, whose birthday is today! 

A Man Bouquet!!!

The Pinterest idea had cigars also, but since my brother doesn't smoke, I opted to use only alcohol for this project. So off to the liquor store I went to gather my supplies...

I used little bottles of alcohol, thin dowels, foam, a mason jar (or you could use a cup or pail), and a hot glue gun and hot glue sticks.

 I started off by using hot glue to glue the dowels to the little alcohol bottles. I made sure to use LOTS of glue because I wanted the dowels to stick really well.

 While the glue was drying, I got my jar ready. You really could use any kind of container. I thought I had a glass mug, but it turns out I didn't, so I reused one of the mason jars left over from my wedding as a container for the bouquet. I stuffed floral foam into the jar, then a filler to cover up the foam around it. 

Once I had my jar prepped and the glue was dry on my alcohol sticks, it was time to arrange the bouquet. I did cut down a few of the dowels that went in the front but that was so the lengths could be different. Just be careful while poking the dowels in if they don't already have a pre-sharpened end, because if you press too hard they could break.

 You really can arrange it any way you choose! Once you've gotten all your dowels poked in then you're done.

This really is such a neat guy gift. It would be perfect for a 21st birthday! The best part is that it can be customized for whatever kind of alcohol the recipient prefers. 

What kind of guy gifts do you give? 




I'm sharing this project at the following link parties: 

~ Take-A-Look Tuesday @ Sugar Bee Crafts ~ Tutorials & Tips Link Party @ Home Stories From A to Z ~ Man Up Link Up @ So I Married A Craft Blogger ~ Show Me What Ya Got @ Not Just A Housewife ~ Lil Luna Link Party @ Lil Luna ~ Wow Me Wednesday @ Ginger Snap Crafts ~ Your Whims Wednesday @ My Girlish Whims ~ Show & Share @ Southern Lovely ~ Wildly Original Link Party @ I Gotta Create! ~ Creative Juice Thursday @ Momnivore's Dilemma ~ Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Creek Cottage ~ BFF Open House Link Party @ The Answer Is Chocolate ~ Anything Goes Link Party @ Bacon Time ~ Delicately Constructed @ Delicate Construction ~ Weekend Bloggy Reading @ Serenity Now ~

Baby, It's Cold Outside...

I love snow! 

No, seriously. As long as I don't have to drive in it or shovel it, then I love snow! I love how it creates a blanket over everything and just for a little while, it's pretty and clean. 

In honor of snow, I found this neat project on Pinterest where they took dollar store glass votives and epsom salt and created snow votives. 

I decided to take the idea one step further and improve on it a little bit. 

Pretty, right? 

I took LED candles and epsom salt that I purchased at the dollar store, and mod podge to create snowball candles! 

I coated the candle in mod podge, then rolled it into a plate full of epsom salt covering the candle. 

 I let the candles dry, then I reapplied the mod podge and rolled coated the candles in epsom salt a second time.

Don't the candles look like they are encrusted with snow? 

I love how these little candles turned out! They look so pretty in my candle sconces too. 

A Tisket, A Tasket, A Flower Girl Basket

I know I've mentioned before that my friends, Heather & Tillman are getting married in December. As part of my brilliant plan to keep myself busy, I offered to help out with any wedding crafting that needed to be done. Including a flower girl basket that Heather's daughter will be carrying. 

For the flower girl basket, I started off with a basket from Goodwill, pine cones collected from my parents yard, moss from the craft store, ribbon and my glue gun, Debra. 

I started by gluing clumps of the moss around the edge of the basket. 

When I was finished gluing the the moss, I tied two bows around the base of the handles on either side of the basket. 

After I had the bows tied just how I wanted them, and secured with a little hot glue, I hot glued a couple pine cones to the center of the bow. 

There you have it, a beautiful, easy flower girl basket that fits into the rustic theme of my friend's wedding. 

I'm happy with how it turned out, and more importantly, the bride and flower girl are thrilled with my results as well. 

1 more week until Heather & Tillman's big day...I can't wait! 


I'm sharing this project at the following link parties: 



~ Take-A-Look Tuesday @ Sugar Bee Crafts ~ Tell Me Tuesday @ Him & Her ~ Show Me What Ya Got @ Not Just A Housewife ~ Wow Me Wednesday @ Ginger Snap Crafts ~ Your Whims Wednesday @ My Girlish Whims ~ Wicked Awesome Wednesday @ Handy Man, Crafty Woman ~

Okay Santa, Let's Try This Again...

Dear Santa, 

Last year I wrote you a very nice letter with a few simple requests, but I felt a little cheated since I didn't get anything on my list (not even a new iron, come on, Santa!). 

I feel like this year I've also been very good and have a few simple requests. 
  
1. A Cure for Cancer - I know it's too late for Matthew, but this really is a horrible disease that I wouldn't wish upon anyone. I know I asked for this last year, but I'll probably ask for this every year until a cure is found.

2. Comfort - My entire family has really been through the ringer this year. This holiday season isn't going to be easy, especially when we think about who is missing from all the festivities. I hope that my family can find comfort in memories and in each other. 

3. Love - Because love is such a powerful thing, it can comfort, it can transform, and it can heal. There can't seem to be enough love in the world.

Love, Bethany


  P.S. If you really aren't able to bring me any of the things on my list, I still need a new iron.

First We Ink, Then We Drink

Some of you might remember from my plan or non-plan post, one of my plans was to get a sisters tattoo with my sisters, Jennifer & Denise.

We did it!!!

I was the one that came up with the idea of getting matching tattoos way back in July. My sisters had gotten matching tattoos together when I was way too young to get tattooed and I always thought that was so cool, and wanted to do something like that with them.  My sister, Jen was the one that found the celtic sisters knot design that we all thought was perfect!

My sister's had me go first, mainly because it was my idea to get matching tattoos in the first place, and secondly because I was super nervous (even after getting my massive back tattoo, strangely enough), but they were still nice enough to hold my hand and distract me while I was getting it done.

Then it was my sister, Denise's turn! 

And saving the best for last, my sister Jen added a star with the celtic knot symbol to her sleeve. 

I'm so blessed/happy/excited that my sisters agreed to have this experience with me. I can't help but smile every time I look at my leg, knowing what my tattoo means and that it's something I now share with my sisters.

Thanks to Josh at Hot Rod Betties in Salem, Oregon for your beautiful work!

Labor Of Love

I know that I posted the other day about how our wedding was the biggest DIY project I've ever taken on, but there was definitely more to it then that. 

If anyone knows anything about me, it's that I have a strong and deep love for my family. That's why I felt like our wedding day was a giant labor of love from our entire family. 

My cousin's helped me find my dress at their bridal consignment boutique, my niece and sister did my hair and make up, a co-worker and her brother did our catering, the women in Matthew's family brought a variety of desserts for our dessert table, our good friend Tim performed our ceremony, Matthew's cousin Jason was his best man and my niece, Kirra was our flower girl.

Without both of our families, our wedding would not be possible. 

And what a beautiful wedding it was! 

my favorite picture with my flower girl, Kirra

Matthew with his best man, Jason

Matthew escorting his parents down the aisle

first kiss as husband and wife!

 After our ceremony, Matthew & I and our amazing photographer, Heidi,  were driven down to the bridge not far from my Aunt's house where we had our ceremony, before coming back to enjoy the reception. 

signing our marriage certificate

showing Luna a little bit of love

my Maid of Honor, Brandy Jeanne and me

our wedding party

"To family."

planning our last great adventure, our honeymoon to Yosemite

Matthew with his father, Bruce

 

Jason and Chris playing music

We played nice, no cake smearing for us

Jason's best man toast

Tossing my bouquet

first dance

Our day was absolutely perfect! So full of love, family and friends. Now that Matthew is gone, these are the memories, along with the pictures, that will last me the rest of my life. Which is something that always makes me smile.

 I hope they make you smile, too!

Photography from Heidi Hoffman Photography. If anyone is looking for a wedding photographer, Heidi is AWESOME!!! Half the time I barely realized she was there and she got the most amazing shots!