During the wedding planning for my brother's wedding, one thing that the lovebirds knew that they wanted were slices of wood for their centerpiece. Unfortunately - finding slices of wood locally proved to be impossible. Although we found them on Etsy they were pretty expensive to ship to Canada. I kept racking my brain trying to figure out how we could do our own. It wasn't until I was at our cottage - a few weeks before the wedding that it hit me - We have a TON of wood stumps on our property and all I needed was someone to slice them. (It seems obvious I know, but really it was the slicing part that was stumping* me)

The "ah-ha" moment was the realization that a man who works at one of my favourite cottage antique spots always was wood working outside the shop, and it hit me that if anyone knew how to slice the stumps, he would. I decided to try my luck and see if he would be able to help me. And he said yes! He informed me all we needed was a chainsaw. Well, we needed a chainsaw and someone comfortable enough to use it. That's where Andy came in.

Meet Andy. :) A few bucks later, my car was full of slabs. But they were a little "rough" so I brought them home and proceeded to sand them.

I have a little mouse sander but it wasn't working as much as I'd like it on these. The Home Depot heard I was doing this project back in September and sent me this awesome gadget....

A Ridgid Heavy Duty Belt Sander. Whoooooo!!! If there is one thing I love as much as I love vacuums it is power tools that I can use like power sanders. If you don't have one in your home then I highly, highly recommend one. Although the mouse would likely be the most used in most DIY toolboxes this belt sander is pretty awesome for heavy duty sanding. Although I'm showing it in use for this wedding craft - I actually got more use out of it in some other projects I'm working on - which are coming up. But back to the wedding crafting for this post....

The sander arrived when my brother was there - so we actually got to do this project together which was pretty darn fun. (Although my brother looks pretty grumpy, but I assure you he was happy). It was ridiculously easy to use. The cool thing with this sander is that it has a bag on the end to collect the sawdust - a great plus if you're doing something indoors (which I did do later, and although it doesn't suck up ALL the dust, it's pretty significant how much it does)

The thing that I discovered was that the belt sander was actually too powerful for the little slabs of wood that I initially wanted to use it for. It kept throwing the slabs at me because the rotary part means that the sandpaper well, rotates vs. staying in one place. Even though it kept chucking the wood slices at me (cue a few screams from me, and hysterical laughter of those watching) it worked really well on planks (you can see me sanding a plank above). So if you're sanding small items, stick with a mouse. Bigger items like planks of wood or big furniture pieces - the belt sander is sooooo much fun.

With the leftover slices that weren't even enough for resting a vase on - I painted chalk board paint on them to be used throughout the wedding venue to write things on. :)

It was pretty darn cute. Ps., Oscar snuck into the picture above.

The birch wood slices sanded the easiest. So if you're hunting some piles of wood - go for the birch. :)

In terms of sanders, the mouse still is my favourite but this Belt Sander is a welcomed addition to my DIY toolbox for bigger projects. :) You should also check out this pretty helpful page: Sander Buying Guide 

Belt Sander.......Ridgid Heavy-Duty Belt Sander via The Home Depot
Wood Tree Stumps .......... My cottage. :)
Wood Cutting ................ A friendly neighbour at the cottage, Andy
Mouse Sander ............... My own, but you can get it at The Home Depot

The Home Depot provided me with the rotary sander to help me accomplish this project. Thank you!!

*Pun Intended. :)

This weekend my little brother Peter got married. It the most beautiful wedding. Peter looked dashing in his kilt in our family tartan and Lindsay looked stunning in a flowy strapless dress. She wore her family's wedding veil that both her Mother and Grandmother had worn at their weddings.

These two make me smile.

Below is the DIY sandwich board that I made and it was a success!

The wedding was truly Lindsay and Peter's vision but I was super excited to be able to help out in certain areas when asked - like the invitations and doing some DIY things for the decor. I got to design their seating chart so I carried the theme of their invitations (which I haven't shown on the blog yet) The invitations had a birch background so I designed the seating to be the same. I printed it on a foam core board and it was propped up for when guests entered the dining hall. As much as I love creative ways for seating charts, part of me thinks that simplicity is the best for this - so that every guest (like Grandmas and Grandpas) can find out where they are sitting.

Linds was amazing with her vision and chose to do simple mason jars wrapped in a lace propped up on wood slices that I had cut out in cottage country and sanded (which I will show how I did that later in another post)

Smore kits for the bonfire after the wedding.

Aubrey and I took a lot of selfies. The weekend was so much fun that I kept wanting to take pictures of ourselves to document each moment. Not sure why I'm doing the face in the right but I think I was trying to do a sexy pose and it obviously failed which is likely why Aubrey is cracking up. I threw in the selfie in on the left that I took in the ladies room at the resort because it shows me ensemble - I wore my favourite Banana Republic wrap dress, pearl earrings and this bracelet from Etsy. I'm a fan of simplicity and although I originally intended to wear this necklace, I didn't want to stand out too much in family photos. So I chose to be more discrete.

My Mom did an amazing speech that would have made my Dad so proud. It made me proud. She looked stunning, as did all of Lindsay's family. (Who, by the way, are ridiculously awesome) My sister looked beautiful and Aubrey was an amazing partner, watching Oscar all weekend so I could visit with family. My little brother is married and I'm so lucky to have another sister in my life.

Happy Friday! Tomorrow is the big day - my little brother is getting married to the sweetest girl who I am so excited to call a sister (we'll scratch the in-law part because that's just nonsense). ;-) I can't wait to share pictures next week and some of the DIY projects we did. Anyhow, here are some wedding inspired things that didn't get blogged about this week.

• Krista got married and her wedding photos are on Style Me Pretty! I was honoured to do her "For Like Ever" stamp that she used for her favours.  Seriously check out her photos - she looks gorgeous and the wedding is beautiful!
• I looooove this wedding guest book idea
• Although these were done for a wedding, I think you could do these for a ton of different events. 
• I've been saving a lot of wedding stuff on Etsy over the last year. I would have loved to have had these for our tables at our wedding. 
• Our 10 year wedding anniversary (yikes! ten years!) is a year away and I'm thinking we should travel (which requires saving and pre-planning). Did anyone do anything big for a major anniversary?

Have a great weekend! I may be sharing some sneak peeks of the wedding over on Instagram over the weekend. ;)

Photograph of the favour by Beth & Ty In Love

My brothers wedding is fast approaching. Yippeee!  It's going to be a weekend event at a lakeside resort -The couple is outdoorsy so it is no surprise that they are gravitating to wood and rustic decor for the event. We've been collecting ideas on Etsy over the past year and one thing that they wanted was a chalkboard sandwich board. You can write the days itinerary, welcome guests, or give directions to where certain activities are. I'm always up for a craft project so Aubrey helped me make one. If it survives the wedding  I'll likely reuse it for some Christmas shows I'm taking part in for my shop. Anyhow, it is SUPER easy to make. So whether you want one for your wedding, trade show, or even for kids to draw on - here is how to.

Get two boards from Home Depot. They were pre-cut to this size so no waiting in line at the cutting tool. Get a pack of hinges. Screw the two boards together. Aubrey used glue to reinforce the hinges as it was going to be transported to the resort. But you could skip this step. 

Once screwed together I started to stain... I used Minwax stain in Special Walnut (No. 224) . You can't go wrong with Walnut. I simply applied the stain with a brush and I did one coat. I wanted to make sure that the wood grain showed since I was going for an outdoorsy look.

Once dried, I taped with tape a border of where I wanted to paint chalk. (Not shown) I didn't paint over the tape because I was worried it may bleed through the tape - so I used it as a guideline for where I would stop painting. Both sides are painted.....

That's it! Again, ridiculously easy so I don't even think I needed to post instructions but it turned out so well that anyone can do it. :)

In a few months my younger brother is marrying the loveliest girl - Lindsay. This past weekend we had two bridal showers for the bride to be. Here are some pictures from my Mom's bridal shower. :)

I don't talk about personal style much on my blog, but those who know me, know I'm a sucker for jewelry. So I thought I'd post my newest trinket ---a gift from Aubrey - the Flower Lattice Necklace from JCrew - which has I think been discontinued but you can find similar ones on Etsy should you be interested. Although you can't see the dress, I bought this wrap dress from Banana Republic and it is soooo comfy.

I joked that I matched my wrapping to my necklace - I wrapped her gifts in classic white paper, used some of my stock of ribbon, and hot glued on some bling from this Etsy shop.

My Mom came up with the sweetest idea for the shower - and invited gusts to write some words of wisdom for the couple, and then seal them in an envelope provided. Randomly over the course of their first year of marriage Mom will mail envelopes to my brother and sister in law. Isn't that sweet!? Mom stresses she didn't come up with the idea (she found it online somewhere) but I think it's a lovely thing to do at a shower. I made up a rubber stamp, and went to Target and got blank stationery (For a ridiculously low price) and I stamped the top of each card. Easy as pie.

Mom sourced food from a lot of local sources who are ah-ma-zing. Eat My Words makes those lovely cupcakes and proceeds go to charity.

Shopping list: (1) Necklace, JCrew (Not in stock) but a similar necklace is found on Etsy (2) Broach I used for wrapping gifts (I used hot glue to attach it to the gift) (3) "Words of Wisdom" Stamp, The Penny Paper Co. (Available upon request) 

As you know, my little brother and his longtime girlfriend, Lindsay, are getting married. I'm ridiculously excited. Obviously I've been pinning away inspirational items along with the Bride (see her pin board here). As I save inspirational images I find that a lot of the wedding decor I'm liking these days could easily be used at home in a more casual atmosphere.

The top table setting (via) could easily be translated for a dinner party at home. Get cedar from Home Depot and cut to various heights. Put on the top dollar store candles and, small vases ... voila! Below, the old wood tree stumps - which you can find in cottage country at different heights act as a great spot for candles. Wouldn't this be gorgeous if you were having a winter party, to have on your porch? The last piece I loved were these wood slices painted with chalk, that you can buy here. For a wedding this would be cute to have by food/drink station, but at home, these could be place cards for your guests.

Anyhow,just a wee bit obsessed with wedding decor. :)

Images: Top Table Decor, Tree Stump Image, Chalk on Wood,

What could be more romantic than flowers.  I know flowers are an important part of Cathy's wedding plans, can't wait to see how they turn out.  My day would be very happy if I found these on my doorstep with the milk. 

Image from Style Me Pretty

True story:  I spent weeks obsessing about the flowers for the tables for our wedding.  Sent the florist multiple pictures of what I wanted, loose arrangements of wheat and romantic old fashioned scented roses in soft colours.  At about 10pm on the wedding night I glance at the flowers and think "they are nice" and then realise they are exactly what I didn't want, formal symmetrical arrangements of wheat and white modern rose buds.  Made me laugh!  All that obsession and I hadn't even noticed.

Bunting and ribbon chairs.....aaaah.  Succulents and peonies....sigh.  Bunting made from vintage sheets.....ooooh! (all via Grey Likes Weddings).  Aisle of chrysanthemum and rose petals.....so pretty. (Style Me Pretty)  

We are going to a family wedding in a few weeks time, I am so excited to share this special day with Cathy and Louis.  It has me thinking back to our wedding and how lucky I am to be married to the special man that I am.  Ashley (She Makes a Home) wrote a lovely piece called Laughter goes a long way in Love, well worth a read.  She includes some wonderful advice from The Art of Marriage, a poem which captures many of the important things we need to build beautiful relationships.

Bouquet via Style Me pretty and tassels via The Selby
My Miss E has been lucky enough to be asked to be flower girl.  I was flower girl for Cathy's parents many many years ago.  I know they would love that my little girl will be flower girl for their special girl.  They will both be there in our hearts.  
Miss E is wearing this gorgeous dress, I can't wait to see her in it.  Still need to find shoes.

Photo via Style Me Pretty, dress from Monsoon

At our wedding I had a bouquet of tuberose and the men in the wedding party all had button holes made of lavender, wheat and rose scented pelargoniums.  These scents never fail to take me back to the joy of that special day, surrounded by the love and well wishes of family and friends.

One of the happiest days of my life (images above from our wedding).

This chandelier would be perfect for over the dining room table.  Perhaps I should have a midwinters party so that I have a reason to build one.

Images via Style Me Pretty

 I think I need to remember this setting for Christmas dinner.
Anybody seen any good chandelier DIY's? I can never look at enough.

I know you're probably sick of wedding-related posts, so this will be the last one for awhile, I promise. It all started with a plain-looking shadow box I bought for $2 at a yard sale ("it" being this project, not our wedding, although that sounds like an interesting story). The frame was missing its backing, so after I painted it, I made a new backing by wrapping a piece of cardboard with kraft paper. Then I used a little scotch tape to secure one of our wedding photos, an invitation, a pocket-sized program, and one of the fabric boutonnieres I bought on Etsy (which required pins). The plan is to hang it in our bedroom, whenever that's done...

This is one of yesterday's wedding thank-you gifts all wrapped up and ready to go. I love wrapping gifts with kraft paper - it's so simple on its own, but you can dress it up for any season or occasion with a little ribbon and a few embellishments (and it's easy to re-use, too). I used leftover twine from our wedding and a few semi-dried chive flowers (picked from my mother-in-law's garden a couple of weeks ago) for a little pop of colour.

Our DIY wedding wouldn't have been possible without loads of help from our parents, so of course we wanted to do something to say thanks (aside from actually saying thanks, which we've done many times now). Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of extra money to spend on gifts right now and I can't imagine my parents or parents-in-law wanting any of the thank-you gift ideas I found online (how many engraved objects does one person need?). And since our photographers took so many beautiful pictures that day, we decided to frame a few for my mom, my dad and his wife, and Adam's parents.

I found some pretty silver frames at Winners, all on clearance for $7-$8 (unless you're my parent or parent-in-law, then the frames are solid silver and cost hundreds of dollars). I ordered a few prints and bought a piece of mat board ($3), then got to work with my handheld mat cutter. As an aside, I highly recommend cutting your own mats. It's easy to do (with a little practice) and it's so much cheaper than having custom mats cut (I almost always prefer the look of custom mats to standard mats, even though I cut these to standard-size haha). Eventually I'd like to invest in a heavier-duty model, since my handheld occasionally slips and doesn't do corners as cleanly as I'd like. Anyway, enough about my mat cutter dreams, here's how the frames turned out:

I think this is a nice, simple thank-you gift that our parents will enjoy (at first I told Adam this was my new mantle-decorating idea: an homage to ourselves). Now I just need to find a pretty way to wrap them. 

I love handwritten thank-yous and that's exactly what we wanted to give our wedding guests. I've noticed more couples using generic, pre-printed thank-yous, and although they look lovely, I really appreciate the extra effort that goes into a personalized note. Don't get me wrong, a thank-you in any form is much-appreciated, handwritten notes just give me that extra tingle. And since thank-yous are so much more fun to write when you've got pretty paper to do it on, I've rounded up a few of my Etsy favourites. Enjoy!

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