Shoes, shoes, shoes!!

Myself and my girls have been searching for shoes to go with the bridesmaid dresses for awhile now! And it was my mom who came to the rescue!!

This isn’t the best pic, so get look at the ones below to get a better idea! They just about perfectly match the navy in the sashes the girls are wearing!

She found these shoes at Kohl’s- on sale for $19.99 – 50% off!! Plus for the last few days (and until Tues 5/20) if you use your credit card you get a scratch off card for a chance at another 15%, 20%, or 30% off!  (online they are only in gold and silver. In store, I didn’t even see gold and silver!!)

So during the yard sale, I tried them on, tested them out with the dress, and called/sent texts to all my girls to find out shoe sizes! Then my mom even called a couple different stores to check on who has what sizes!

Then after the yard sale, it was off to buy the shoes! Of course, in my crazy shopping past, I had a Kohl’s credit card! ) So once we got there, I reactivated it and used it to purchase the 3 more pairs we bought (my cuz is buying her own up in OH because her mom has a card!). So I don’t get myself in trouble again, we paid it off immediately with a check from my wedding account and I’ll need to destroy the new card as soon as it comes- for my own future sanity!

They also had these super cute styles, colors….

Love the red/white polka-dot ones!

Workin hard!!

I think that I have worked more the past week, than I’ve worked all year (esp. after a year with TWO crippling injuries!)  Even though it was insane, I’m happy I survived it!!

What I survived-
     -Moving the fiance into our new place (lost count of how many trips up/down multiple sets of stairs!
     -Cleaning fiance’s old apartment from top to bottom, hauling off carloads of trash!
     -Unpacking/organizing everything at his new place
     -Many trips to goodwill
     -Carting all of our yard sale stuff to my parent’s house
     -Unpacking/sorting/pricing all yard sale stuff
     -Hurting my tailbone sitting on my parents garage steps all day!
     -Repacking all the stuff that didn’t sell and hauling it off to goodwill (3 carloads and still some left over!)
     -Running wedding errands even though exhausted from yard sale!
     -Entertaining company that arrived right after the yard sale!
    -My biggest school project ever- Latin American Marketplace- which lasted over 8 days!! (if’d known I’d be planning a wedding, never would’ve scheduled this!)
     -Finding/designing/buying supplies/designating parents to buy shirts for 27, 5th graders field day t-shirts (and still have to find the time today to make my own!!)
    -Preparing graduation certificates for the 6, 5th graders that I’ve been assigned (still have to prepare what I will say about them when I give them their papers!)
    -Researching the guy’s suits/going to the store to have fiance and groomsman try them on and pick out color!
    -Creating my bridal bouquet
    -Picking out bridesmaid’s shoes
    -Managing to live on less than 6 hrs of sleep a night ALL week long!

And let’s not forget— MY HARD DRIVE CRASHING!!!! (still workin on fiance’s computer!)

I’m sure there is lots I’m forgetting, but do you really want to hear anymore?? I don’t!

Even though the yard sale part was exhausting- especially since it was at the end of the long week of craziness- it helped us score some much needed extra cash, and helped us get rid of lots of stuff we didn’t need anymore, anyways!

Here’s what we started with….this is the night before when we’d organized a lot of it already! (the piles of boxes are what we pulled outside the next day!

Wait that’s only half….

And believe me, there’s even more that you can’t see from these two pics!

Then, in less than 24 hrs, the garage looked like this after it was all over!!

Only a few boxes remain!!

At least at the end of a long, hard week, I can look back and see that we did accomplish a lot! Even though my body hurts and is still oh so tired (even after sleeping in some the last 2 days!), I at least have a sense of great accomplishment!

This is my LAST week of classes, and it will be tiring, but easy! I’ve got field day tomorrow (gotta make my t-shirt!!!), then a teacher work day, then two days of 5th grade honor chapel, parties, and my last few classes!! Yippppeeeee!!!

Here’s to accomplishing lots more this week and getting some time to rest afterwards!!

 

Flower girl/Jr. Bridesmaid Gift Bags!

Ok, so you know I’m a big fan of anything cheap! I come by it honestly, it’s in my blood- from my Grams, to my mom, to me!

My mom found these adorable purses at The Dollar Tree a couple weeks ago, and I just recently had time to go look for them myself. She’d bought one of the navy ones above and one of these light blue/brown polkadot ones below….

At $1 a piece, I couldn’t make them that cheap!! I found the rest of the navy ones, and found enough for all 6 little girls in my wedding party (yes, SIX!!) and decided to just go with the navy/light blue, since they match better. The jr. bridesmaids are wearing navy dresses with teal sashes (opposite of my bridesmaids), and the flower girls are wearing white dresses with navy sashes. So these will match both sets of girls!

I decided to keep the light blue/brown one for myself because it’s just so cute and I’m always needing bags to throw stuff in to carry around! And again….it’s $1!!

I’m planning to fill them with fun stuff like lip gloss, candy, play jewelry, etc……anyone have any more ideas on how to fill my little girl’s gift bags??

I’m sure I’ll think of lots of things, but if you have any fantastic ideas, please share!!

If only boys/men were as easy as girls/women, I’ve already got nailed down for the most part what my girls are getting!! The males?? Who knows?? Not Mr. Fiance, that’s for sure!

I love cheap, cute little gifts!

Now that all of my bridesmaids have received their little packages, I can blog about it! )

I prepared a little package with a few little gifts for all my girls, and included a letter with important wedding details and time lines. I LOVE all my girls, and don’t know what I’d do with out any one of them! I’m so excited to have them all stand by me on my big day!! I always wondered what I would do after having been in TEN weddings as a bridesmaid, but they’ve all made it pretty easy for me! There was no question when it came down to it, of who I wanted standing by me on that big day!!

I’ve been collecting LOTS of stuff for my girls– some of which I won’t mention here since they won’t get them for awhile, but I will tell you where I’m picking up some of it! )

This is what I included in the package I just sent them all!

I got some fun stamps at  The Dollar Tree which I used to decorate the envelopes that I put the letters in and also the outside packaging, the cute paper was also from The Dollar Tree, left over from my letters to my 5th grade students last year. I got nail files (regular and matchbook style) and bridesmaid luggage tags at JoAnn’s (which I got way back, but saw them today when I was there!), Cocktails for Dummies from Target (so much fun and Linda’s fave gift!),  and also included my Save the Date magnets.

I’ve gotten lots of other stuff for them at Michael’s (the same day I got the stuff for the kid’s table), Target’s One Spot Section, more stuff from JoAnn’s, and much more!! And stuff for my flower girl’s too!

Speaking of those places, I’ve also bought some stuff lately to help keep me organized! I found lately I can’t have enough notepads, sticky notes and file organizers! I’ve always loved sticky notes for school, but I find myself using them all over the place to write small to-do lists or important reminders! There is SOOO much to do, it’s impossible to keep up with it all!

Here’s some stuff I’ve gotten recently…

The striped file folder and adorable citronella candles (for me, not oranizing!) for $2.50 from Target’s spot section. Everything else is from JoAnn’s – they have $1 items in the front by the checkout, and by fabrics. I got black and pink file organizers and labels, note pad, sticky notes, and cute little blue emery boards.

Kerri says I’ll buy anything if it’s a dollar…..not true, I’ve learned to pick the good stuff out, but you are way more likely to see me spend $30 on 30 things, than $30 on one thing!! ) And why not with all the cute stuff out there!!

Speaking of Target and my current love/hate relationship (love shopping there, hating registering there and about to take it down!), if you’ve never seen this site, it is a must for Target lovers!!  Great blog– Slave to Target

Save the Date’s are ready to go!

Whew!!! My magnets came in last week from Vistaprint and I am PERFECTLY pleased with them! Except for the fact that there was no notice on my apartment door that they were here! I knew they were though because of online tracking, so I popped in the office to ask about them, and there they were!! The last time I ordered from Vistaprint, it ended up in my mailbox! This would’ve fit, but it was REALLY heavy, so maybe that’s why it ended up in the office!

At any rate, they turned out perfectly! I really wanted to do them for CHEAP because they’re only a pre-invitation, and it turns out for EVERYTHING, including mailing them, I’m spending about $100! Yippppeeee! The magnets themselves were around $40 for 200, and I picked up the rest of the supplies at OfficeMax. I got some plain white invitation envelopes, and these great preforated post cards- 4 to a sheet- with blue outlining. Typed up the details and note on the computer, printed them out and used restickable double sided tape to stick the magnets on the cards. They turned out exactly how I imagined! Wait….BETTER than I’d imagined since my original idea was to go with cardstock, and then use the papercutter at my school to make them each sheet into 4 cards!

You might notice the mailing seals in the picture…..they didn’t make it! I’d planned to print our monogram on them and use them as envelope seals. I didn’t realize until a few minutes later that they are the ones that fold over, so they were a no-go! ( I searched high and low at several craft stores for appropriate envelope seals, but they were all pretty tacky and/or expensive! So much for that! I ended up buying some foam letter stamps and blue ink and stamping an “H” where the seal would’ve gone! I’m not so worried about it being formal!

 

The work wasn’t too hard….and I’m pretty satisfied with the overall result…..however…I’m thinking of not DIY-ing  my invites!! I’m getting some friends to help me out with several options, and might just put it all off on someone else! I have better things to worry about!! Like DIYing my flowers! ) THAT I’m excited about! And I couldn’t even spell my sis-in-law’s name right on the Save the Date (good ole “engagement” brain!!), so I think I need to have nothing to do with that on the invites!!

*Ummmm……it seems that wordpress has reformatted everything and I canNOT find the spell check button anymore!! Anyone know where it went??! Ahhh! It was my friend! ( *

Kid’s table ideas!

I’m going to have a LOT of kids in/at my wedding! It’s going to be soooo much fun! Kids are such a huge part of my life that it wouldn’t be right, any other way! )

I’ve got 120 students and WISH I could invite them all- but they and their parents would take up most of the space in the church where there is only room for 300!! Yipes! So, I’m inviting my two homeroom classes, and a few kids of teachers, etc.

I’ve also got 10 kids who will be coming down the aisle/standing (or sitting!) up with us at the altar! Three flower girls, 3 Jr. bridesmaids, 2 ringbearers, and 2 jr groomsmen! Plus 4 other kids who will be passing out programs, bubbles, etc! They’re all cousins, neices, nephews and the kids that I nannied for (and continue to stay close to!). I wouldn’t want any of them to NOT be a part of things! (At least that will give us space for about 325 in the church with all the kids, wedding party, musicians, pastor, etc!)

Therefore, I’ve got to come up with a LOT of stuff to keep the kids occupied! ) At our cake reception- I won’t have to worry about it too much! It will be fairly short, and we are having a smallish candy buffet. See my posts on candy ideas!  Candy Direct and Easter Candy

I have several shell/starfish shaped bowls and large margarita glasses to use, and plan on something like this- with the sand dollars, etc around it to give it a beachy feel!

And I wouldn’t do this one….but how beautiful is this! (from candyfavorites.com)

I just came across this link to a favors site with a blog on candy buffets! It’s got a lot of great info on how to set up your table, where to get stuff, and lots of comments from readers with good ideas! How sweet it is!

For the kids at the family/wedding party reception, I’m sure we’ll take the leftover candies- if there are any!! But I am also planning on putting special stuff just on their table. Different games, toys, activities to keep them happy and out of trouble! I’m sure they’ll have lots of fun dancing, eating, and playing in the chocolate fountain too!

Last night, I spent WAY too much time in Michael’s searching through all the cute stuff they have! They have a good supply of $1 items, where I got some little gifts for bridesmaids and fun stuff for the kids table!

They also have these really cute beach buckets for $1 that I’m going to use on the table to put all the toys, etc. in! They are the perfect color- but they are a dollar, so the handles and shovel are a little cheap! Perfect for the table, but they wouldn’t be good if you wanted to carry stuff around in them- or use them for Out of Town Baskets!

Can’t wait to find more cute stuff for the kiddies!! Speaking of kiddies….my third graders are here and ready for their test!!

Fun Bride/Bridesmaid Gear!

 Team Bride

I’ve written before about how much I adore all of the cute tanks, tees, and bags out there for bridesmaids and brides! I’m excited to have come across some new stuff and even created some of my own!!

My cousin and bridesmaid Ashley directed me to this great site to design shirts, etc,  and they have some really cute ideas!

Customized Girl

Almost anything you could think of to put on a tank or t-shirt, someone has already done it! If you search for Bride or Bridesmaid, there are some great ideas, or you can create your own! I’d show ya if I could but they’re all in flash for editing purposes, so go look at these!!

You can add your own graphics or ones provided, change fonts, sizes, etc. I played around with it for awhile, and it’s a lot of fun! It’s not too expensive if you design something from the Sale section! (*note*- it’s $10 more to design the back of the shirt too!)

I’ve also been working on making my own stuff!! I went to Walmart and found these iron-ons.

The Future Mrs. one is actually a pale pink- hard to tell in the picture!

I also got some plain tanks – gray for Future Mrs. to have one that was a little more subtle! – Navy for Bride to Be!

They turned out pretty good, and the instructions on the iron-ons were very simple to follow! The only problem I had was with one little stone on the Future Mrs.  not sticking- I think it had already lost its stick before I put it on because no matter how much I tried to put it back on, it wouldn’t stay!! Now, I’m going to look for an “H” to put “Future Mrs. H” We’ll see if I find one! I’ll still be happy if I don’t!

There are lots more great ideas out there for DIYing your own gear, or for buying some custom made! Happy Shopping! )

Candy Direct!

My great friend Jessica used this company for her wedding candy bar, and suggested I look into it after reading my previous post about my search for Easter candy!

They have some great stuff, at a pretty good prices!

Check out this blue candy…..

                                 

Chocolate Milkies      Rock Candy         Jelly Bellys

They even have candy organized by color, which makes it easy to shop for candy to coordinate with your wedding colors!! As I’ve mentioned before, I already have lots of Blue M&M’s and Jelly Bellys, but will probably look into more candy from here!

My mom got these cute margarita glasses from Walmart (from there summer dishes collection they always have!) to put candy in! Such a cute idea! I’d seen them but didn’t think to use them for this!!

Happy candy shopping! )

Meet “The Fabuless Bride”

Recently, Ashley of Ashley’s Bride Guide asked me to be a featured guest blogger on her site! Super excited about it, I immediately agreed, and she set to work creating my blogger image (above) which I am also totally excited about! Most of my entries on her site will come from this one, but you can still go check me out there by going to my page on her site!

The Fabuless Bride is my new persona- as I am a bride on a mission to create a fabulous wedding at the cheapest price possible!! Trying to save up that extra money for our honeymoon or stuff for our new place (wherever that might be!!).

If you are just reading my blog, and haven’t visited Ashley’s, you really should! It’s specifically for Nashville Brides, but has lots of great info on wedding trends/style that any bride could use!!

Chinese Lanterns!

 

I was shopping at The Dollar Treefor supplies for a school Easter project a couple weeks back, when I came across these adorable Chinese lanterns! At just $1 each of course!! So I scooped up a bunch in blue and white for my wedding! I wanted to share them earlier, but the pictures were stuck on my camera- and as I’ve mentioned before, I’d lost my USB cord (got a new one now, so we’re back in business after this post since I ended up using my camera phone for the lanterns!)

The are adorable 8 in lanterns that come with the lightbulbs inside. All you have to do is screw open the bottom and insert batteries and you are good to go! I wouldn’t turn them on until last minute though- Not sure if it was my batteries or the bulb, but some of mine were only good for one evening lit up! They had them in several different colors. I know there are lots of other places out there to get them too!!

I already had a few lanterns in my dining room from ones I’d found the year before…and I added some white ones to balance it out!! I’ll probably take them down to include them with the ones at the wedding! They’ll have to come down about that time anyways with me moving!

I found out just last week that I can’t hang up lanterns at either of my venues, so I was ready to take them back, until I went back through some blog entries on Ashley’s Bride Guide and saw these totally cute ideas for using them on tables! So I might go with that! Either way the lanterns are super cute and super cheap! )