Saturday, November 27, 2010
solution to covering up tattoo
Monday, November 22, 2010
love this entry
- This is not the most important day of my life. The day Nick and I realized we wanted to spend out lives together was much more significant than the day we will make it legal. I have had more important days than this, and I will continue to have more important days.
- I refuse to pretend to be someone I'm not in order to please other people. I will not fool myself into thinking my family and friends have to drop their lives to help me with my wedding.
- I will not put on airs. I will not kid myself or pretend to be something, or someone, that I am not. I am not wealthy, I am not a princess, I am not super-formal or cookie-cutter. I do not fit in with the crowd. I am a beautiful, elegant, unique person, and I will let my real self shine on this day.
- I will let my worries about what other people think GO, and not be swayed so easily by what other people think (but isn't neccessarily right or the best thing). I MUST remember this, no matter how much I love them.
- I will try to not be stressed. I will try to not be too sensitive, as I usually am.
- I will not lose it if the flowers aren't everything I hoped for or the cake isn't the color I wanted.
- I will not care if I cry too much and the pictures show it.
- I will be flexible. I will not cry if the song order is wrong, or I trip on my way out of the carriage.
- I will relax. I will take time to just enjoy all our favorite people.
- I will take in all the love instead of worrying about when to cut the cake.
- I will kiss my groom whenever possible.
- I will kiss my mother whenever possible.
- I will think about the words during the ceremony, and feel them, and squeeze my husband's hand.
- I will LAUGH, and HUG EVERYONE, and DANCE!
About monicawesome:
monicawesome spent her youth riding horses for a living, so she's always been a gypsy at heart. Now she's staying in one spot, to pursue another dream, and to be with her lovely man-friend/husband to be. They are both musicians, she sings opera, and he plays bass in a punk band, and their wedding in Ybor City, FL will bring together the best of each of them -- the elegant and the eclectic.
To get to know monicawesome better, click here.
http://offbeatbride.com/2010/11/brides-vows-to-herself
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
easier way of doing the vellum/parchment flowers
WHAT?!?! HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN PLANTABLE PAPER?
AHHH!!! http://cutcardstock.blogspot.com/2010/02/happy-recycling-paper-art-by-martha.html
http://www.etsy.com/storque/how-to/handmade-weddings-last-minute-diy-tricks-for-the-eco-friendl-1286/ (another link of last minute details for eco friendly weddings)
hugely considering making my own rehearsal dress or something with this
So freakin' cute
http://www.etsy.com/storque/how-to/how-tuesday-rose-petal-tee-from-applique-your-way-5925/
great wedding gift
wish i had the time to make this for a friend's wedding i'm going to this weekend!
http://www.designspongeonline.com/2010/04/diy-project-recycled-upside-down-planters.html
another idea for decorating glass bottles for use as as vase?
http://www.etsy.com/storque/how-to/how-tuesday-glass-painting-with-yevgenia-8607/
cute idea for bridesmaids?
semifredo
http://www.etsy.com/storque/how-to/eatsy-semifreddo-frozen-italian-custard-9350/
cake balls updated
oooh!
Monday, November 15, 2010
uh, i may have finally settled on what to do with the vases i was planning to use for the fabric flowers!
ring pillow MODERNIZED
es adorable, no? 48 bucks personalized and we can use it after the wedding at home to put keys and spare change on. YYEEEES
dress updated
no, i have not made any progress on what i want for the second dress. i love all the dresses i put up in the previous entry, agghhh i need help
Thursday, November 11, 2010
really cool bride
CANDY GALORE in her wedding!: http://www.funwithjubby.com/candy-candy-candy-i-cant-let-you-go/
SODA and ICE CREAM for wedding shower!!!: http://www.funwithjubby.com/soda-candy-cookies-ice-cream-sundaes-sweetest-shower-ever/
this is the offbeat bride entry i found her through, she made the most amazing wedding invitations
http://offbeatbride.com/2009/07/view-master-wedding-invitations
invitations
This is the description i put for it:
Customized wedding invitations needed (keyword: GEEK)
"We are a creative and geeky couple getting married in March. Normally, I would make the invites myself but I am too busy with three jobs, school full time, and volunteering on campus with three different organizations. I need help! The wedding color theme is silver gray with cobalt blue or royal blue. White can be included in the color theme. Please let me know if you need more information to make up a sample template for me so I can choose. I need 100 small rectangular (square costs extra postage to mail) wedding invitations, with or without envelopes. I know this is a really small price I'm offering to pay but it is a very small budgeted wedding. The theme is just creative and different. We are also a green friendly couple so we will be recycling glass bottles and glass jars into centerpieces and making paper flowers out of white and blue tissue papers, crepe paper, and tulle. This is to give you an idea of our style for the wedding. "
I also added the areas of our geekiness:
Me- baking, cooking, science of food, computers,
Groom- xbox 360, playstation 3, biology degree,
Together- rock band, comics (scott pilgram, that sort), sci fi movies and shows (we heart serenity for example), movies
We want the usual info on the invite along with the wedding website url.
THEN after searching, i found TWO different invitations that i hearted so much. i decided to combine the two.
ahhhh, soo many ideas and details to input!!! the budget is ideally set at $50 plus shipping but i know its not realistic and will probably have to go up to $100. But for 100 invitations, that is pretty cheap considering it can go up to $12 per invitation!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
photo booth updated
• Larger Booths - twice the size of our competition
• We will match our curtains and bench seat to your event colors (if given enough time)
• Multiple photo layouts to choose from
• Prop kit included (hats, funny glasses, boas, etc)
• Free DVD with full resolution photos
• Online storage of all full resolution photos
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Cake balls!
Dress up cake balls for Valentine's Day
09:04 AM CST on Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Looking for inspiration for Valentine's Day treats?
Cake balls are on a roll. The spherical confections, a combination of cake and frosting covered with a crisp coating, continue to delight sweets-lovers, who buy them from local bakers or try their hands at turning out cake balls at home.
"It's a bite-size treat," says Michael Doherty, the man behind Patty Cakes by the Baker Man cake balls, sold at Weir's and other local stores.
"They're just the right size, three bites or so, for people who want a sweet fix but don't want to indulge in a whole slice of cake," says Charlotte Lyon of the Cake Ball Co., the first area purveyor specializing solely in cake balls. "They're perfect for parties because they're so easy to eat, and you don't have to worry about plates or utensils."
Manufacturers use difficult-to-handle chocolate coatings, but consumers can substitute almond bark or chocolate chips, or candy-melt wafers sold in craft and cake supply stores, to achieve the hard coating that makes the treat finger-friendly.
Home cooks Karen Washington, Helen Goblirsch and Sue Merkel, all of Dallas, craft cake balls for entertaining and gifts.
"I'll make them for Valentine's gifts for girlfriends, neighbors and teachers," Washington says.
"They make great hostess gifts and party favors, packaged in cellophane bags and tied with colored ribbons," says Goblirsch, who writes a lifestyle blog on entertaining and shopping, www.kappaprep.com.
"It's a fun project to do with kids," says Merkel, who keeps cake balls on hand in the freezer, ready to be pulled and dipped in coating for impromptu desserts or to deliver to friends on short notice.
The creative aspect to crafting cake balls makes them especially fun. For Valentine's Day, chocolate flavor is a natural choice. Set it off with contrasting pink and red frostings, sprinkles, candies or sugar decorations from cake supply shops. The tiny cakes, packaged in tins or cellophane bags, make a stylish statement with punch. You can make cake balls from almost any cake and frosting recipe, including a mix and prepared frosting. See below for a basic recipe to play off of at home.
Valerie Jarvie is a Dallas freelance writer.
Devil's food cake, fudge icing, dark chocolate flavor coating. (Spike frosting with 2-3 tablespoons liqueurs such as Chambord [raspberry] or Grand Marnier [orange] for extra flavor, and-or add raspberry, orange, hazelnut, etc., flavored oil to candy coating.)
Strawberry cake, cream cheese frosting, chocolate coating or vanilla pink-tinted coating
White cake, white frosting, red- or pink-tinted coating
Red velvet cake, cream cheese frosting, chocolate coating
Lemon cake, lemon frosting, vanilla coating tinted red or pink
White cake and frosting with multicolored sprinkles, pastel-tinted vanilla coating
•Work in small batches when dipping frozen cake mixture, keeping the rest in the freezer.
•Warm chocolate and confectionary coating in a double boiler, microwave or (for a large batch) slow-cooker, but do not overheat, as it burns easily, especially in the microwave. Be sure you have plenty on hand; a burnt batch must be discarded.
•Be careful not to splash water into confectionery coating; it will turn grainy and must be discarded.
•Use only oil-based candy dye and oil-based flavoring to add color or extra flavor to confectionery coating. Start with a few drops, adding a little at a time.
•Lay the dipped balls on wax paper to harden, placing the spot where you pierced the ball down to cover the hole, or cover the hole with decoration.
•For decoration, you can fill a narrow-tipped squirt bottle with a contrasting color of melted coating and paint stripes over the balls.
•To thin confectionery coating, add vegetable oil, one teaspoon at a time, and stir.
•Decorate with opaque sprinkles and sugar decorations immediately after dipping each ball; coating sets instantly.
•Once dipped, the balls will keep at room temperature for days; if you refrigerate them, the coating will sweat. Undipped balls can be kept frozen for weeks.
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Bake the cake according to package instructions. While warm, crumble the cake into a bowl with a hand mixer to a fine texture. Mix in frosting to make a paste, using half to three-quarters of the can, to taste. Chill the mixture for at least 2 hours.
Using a melon baller or your hands, form the mixture into 1 ½ -inch balls. Place the balls on wax paper; freeze at least 6 hours.
Working in small batches, remove the balls from the freezer and dip them into warm, melted Almond Bark Coating, Confectionery Coating or melted chocolate chips, using candy forks or toothpicks to manipulate the balls. Remove the balls. Place the balls on wax paper to harden. Makes about 30 cake balls.
Almond Bark Coating: In a double boiler, melt one 20-ounce package vanilla- or chocolate-flavored almond bark, stirring constantly; alternatively, in a tall-sided narrow container, microwave almond bark for 45 seconds; continue to heat in 15-second intervals, stirring in between until melted; be careful not to scorch. Stir in 1 teaspoon vegetable oil. If coloring is desired, stir in oil-based candy coloring to vanilla flavor, one drop at a time, until reaching desired color.
Confectionery Wafer Coating: Melt 48 ounces confectionary wafers in double boiler or microwave following the instructions for Almond Bark Coating.
Chocolate chips: Melt 12 ounces of chips in double boiler; add more chips as needed. This variation will result in a softer (less crisp) coat.
Want something extra-special for your sweetie? Add richness to a standard cake mix by substituting melted butter for oil and milk for water in package instructions. Or, try this luscious variation to standard chocolate:
Raspberry Chocolate Cake Balls: Thaw 9 ounces frozen raspberries; place in a fine sieve and, with the back of a spoon, squeeze out excess juice. Combine drained berries with 3 tablespoons sugar, a (18.25-ounce) devil's food cake with pudding mix, 1 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup vegetable oil and 3 large eggs in mixing bowl. Beat at low speed for 1 minute. Scrape down sides of the bowl with a spatula and beat for an additional 2 minutes on medium. Pour into greased, floured 8-inch cake pans and bake at 350 F for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool to slightly warm, crumble and combine with chocolate frosting according to the Basic Cake Ball recipe above.
Optional: For extra flavor, stir 2 tablespoons Chambord raspberry liqueur into frosting.
SOURCE: Adapted from Chocolate From the Cake Mix Doctor by Anne Byrn
Ready-made cake balls are available through these sources and area bakeries:
•The Cake Ball Co.: www.cakeballs.com, 214-559-5788.
•Patty Cakes by the Baker Man: www.pattycakesbythebakerman.com by special order or retailed at Weir's Furniture stores, Drip Coffee, Holy Ravioli, Molto Formaggio and the T Shop.
Supplies for making cake balls:
•Almond bark: on the baking aisle of major grocery stores
•Confectionery coating, oil-based candy coloring and flavored oils, candy forks: crafts stores such as Michaels, Jo-Ann's, and cake and kitchen supply stores such as the Cake Carousel, 1002 N. Central Expressway, Suite 501, Richardson, www.cakecarousel.com , 972-690-4628, and Asher's Gourmet Shoppe, 3114 S. Cooper St., Arlington, 817-468-9411.
The article URL is http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/fea/taste/stories/DN-nf_cakeballsjump_0203gd.State.Edition1.2b8fa70.html
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Invitations!
I got the idea from http://www.eatdrinkchic.com . i LOVE that website so much.
I am unsure if I will do double envelopes as I am trying to stay green and save as much paper as possible. It was why I chose this design because each sheet of paper could make THREE invitations. I could also save on postage since each envelope should not need more than a stamp each. I do love the translucent envelope idea and maybe could at least do a tiny pocket for the invitation then put that in the outside folder. Probably won't sew the edges but will use tape (i have plenty of tape and my hands won't be able to sew 125 envelopes).
all pictures are from http://www.eatdrinkchic.com/post.cfm/diy-origami-heart-love-note#respond you can also go there for instructions on doing them yourself, if you would like
Centerpiece Ideas
I keep changing my mind about what I want. Maybe I can mix the ideas around so it is not all the same. These are what I am considering:
*Cutting branches from trees in yard and gluing tissue flowers onto them. saw pictures online and it looks sooo pretty but CHEAP!
this is a picture done with pomanders which is another idea. maybe i could do that out of tissue paper.
*since I am not having a candy bar after all (b/c of the photo booth doubling as favors), I thought I would incorporate our sweet tooth into the centerpieces with jars or clear bowls of cute blue and silver candy like blue rock candy, silver jordan almonds, etc
maybe with a sign "to a sweet life together" or something corny like that. i did see a picture with the theme "eat, drink, and marry" which i thought was cute
*tea lights are super cheap (especially at IKEA) so maybe I could put a few of them on a small mirror. i am concerned about how long they would last though. the wedding would be at night so maybe the glow would look so pretty. Maybe small candles instead. I could make my own soy or honeycomb candles and put them into tea cups from thrift store.
even just silver cupcake holders would be cute to hold the candles
*origami, we LOVE origami and may use an origami heart as invitations (more on that in another post) so it would be cute to continue that theme with misc origami done in beautiful blue and white paper (perhaps christmas wrapping paper bought at target's 75% after christmas clearance?) scattered around.
Monday, June 7, 2010
dress! (updated Nov 16)
I am driving myself crazy (in a good way) with trying to find a wedding dress that is a perfect fit for me. I thought I found one but when I tried it on, it was too off off white that it looked tan and the bottom was just too poufy.
These are a random collection of dresses I like so far. I am aware of how different they are from each other. This is how picky I am!
**UPDATE** This is the dress I will wear for the ceremony :-D
CALISTA
Windsor Duchess/Tulle. Strapless A-line gown with draped Satin bodice and seamed Tulle circle skirt. Waistline is accented with Grosgrain ribbon. Available in Ivory as sampled and White.
Possible choices for reception dress:
RHIANNON
Tulle A-line gown with floral bust detail.
Available in Ivory as sampled
SUTTON
Silk Chiffon. Crinkle Chiffon gown with asymmetrical one-shoulder detail. Ruched bustline is accented with delicate floral detail.
