DIY Bride is a Second Full-time Job!

I'm definitely one of those "why buy it if you can make it" kind of girls, and my wedding has been no exception. I've been crafting like a crazy woman for months, with the help of my bridesmaids and family. It's kind of unbelievable how being a DIY bride can take over your life! Every free evening and weekend seems to be now dedicated to scrubbing the labels off of empty wine bottles, teaching myself how to make fabric flowers, playing travel agent for my friends and family, and on and on. It's a second full-time job!

The most recent DIY hurdle was invitations. All of the invitations I was eying online were going to run between $5-$10 each, and I just couldn't stomach paying someone else to create paper goods that I was fully capable of doing myself. It was a lot more stressful and time consuming than I imagined! Trying to get the fonts just right, then the printer margins for the paper just right, and of course the printer jams every few pieces, then make sure you've got the addresses and number of guests just right, then assembling them in a way that is fun but not too far from traditional wedding etiquette... good grief! Thankfully, my mom and sister were willing to give up their Saturday to help, and we knocked out the entire batch in one day. One very long day.

I can't show you the invitations yet because they just went out yesterday, but here's my first stab at DIY bouts for the groomsmen. I haven't decided what I want them to look like just yet, whether I want them to be entirely burlap and lace, or perhaps a mix of fabric and flowers. My sister, mom and I are all brainstorming and plan to dedicate another Saturday this summer to get these done. Thank goodness for my creative family!

Fall Crafts

I realize we're now nearly a week into December and the weather is fully winter outside, but better late than never, right? Here are some fun fall crafts I did for Thanksgiving, and since I'm so late posting those, a Christmas one too. 

A few years ago I got this idea out of Safeway's quarterly magazine, which featured recipes and craft ideas for each season. These are a bit messy to make, but if you're already carving up jack-o-lanterns it's no biggie to do these at the same time. You'll need a medium sized pumpkin with a stable bottom. Cut out a circle at the top of the pumpkin and gut it as clean as possible. Arrange flowers of your choice in the pumpkin and display! It won't last more than a few days to a week because of the raw pumpkin, but you'll get more time out of it if there's no water inside and it is displayed a cool place.

 The week before Thanksgiving I attended a friend's Friendsgiving dinner. She had a "Thankful Tree" and I thought it was the cutest idea so I made one to take up to my grandparents' house for our family Thanksgiving. You'll need a tall slender flower vase, reeds or branches, ribbon, and scrapbook paper. Look for reeds or branches with small knots in the texture so that the leaves will catch at various heights. Tie ribbon around the vase. Use scissors or a dye cut to cut leaf shapes out of scrapbook paper, making a small hole on one end. Allow guests to write on the leaves what they are thankful for and hang on the branches. 

I had a hard time finding initial ornaments that I liked, so I decided to make my own. You'll need holiday ribbon, wooden letters, and gold leaf paint (can also use gold spray paint but I went with a jar because of the size of the project). Paint the letters, allow to dry, and hot glue the ribbon in a loop to the back of the letter. So easy! I ended up hanging these on our stockings instead of the tree.

Birthday Weekend

My goodness, turning 28 has been fun!

Friday evening a friend came into the city for dinner, drinks and a sleepover at my place. It was my millionth time dining at Dosa, but first time at their Fillmore location. I've always been afraid to branch out beyond their restaurant on Valencia because I was afraid it might ruin a good thing. I'm sure glad I did, because the Fillmore location is about five times the size and the decor is to die for!

 

Saturday morning, we headed downtown for Yoga for Hope, San Francisco's annual yoga fundraising event for City of Hope, a brilliant research and treatment hospital in Southern California, specializing in cancer, HIV/AIDS and diabetes. It was an unbelievably sunny day in Union Square, perfect for sweating through a couple hours worth of yoga workshops and demonstrations. There were a handful of sponsor booths with samples. Worth mentioning were the chocolate flavored Zico coconut water - holy cow! And the fig-blueberry-wheat grass smoothies at the Whole Foods booth - oh yum!

After Yoga for Hope, I hopped over the bridge to Oakland to attend the annual fundraising dinner for Little Flock Children's Homes near Chennai, India, which my Aunt Viji started. There are currently 48 children living there, many of whom were orphaned after the 2004 tsunami. Little Flock's mission is not to have the children adopted but to raise them in a Godly, family-like environment and to provide academic and career opportunities to them as young adults. 

Sunday morning I met up with a few friends at The Phoenix Hotel for a Sunday Funday event called The Do Over. Even though we RSVP'd, we stood in line for ages. Thanks to the liquor store across the street, we didn't mind.

This morning there was delivery of Mrs. Field's cookies from my parents, one coworker brought me flowers, and another bought me a burrito for lunch- heck yes! I had to "work" late, but who could mind when the extra hours entailed entertaining guests and industry professionals at our kick-off party for San Francisco Cocktail Week!

 What more could a girl ask for? I am oh-so blessed by the people in my life! Cheers to another wonderful year shared with all of you!