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love meets DIY christmas cards

One of my favorite things about going to Bar Method on the weekends (other than getting my butt whipped into shape) is that fact that there is a Paper Source right next door. They open right as I'm finishing up my workout so I grab a cup of coffee and I peruse the store for a good hour. Being the holiday season, the store was full of DIY projects and decorations for Christmas and Hanukkah. I found the CUTEST Santa Hat stickers so I got the idea of making DIY Christmas cards this year. Plus, it was a really rainy weekend in SF so it made for the perfect afternoon project.

A7 Envelope//A7 Flat Card//Washi Tape//Santa Hat Stickers//Red Glitter Alphabet

Just a handful of simple supplies. My total damage was just $25 - just over the weekend I was able to make 7 so that justifies the cost considering Hallmark cards at a drug store are usually around the $3.99. I think I can make at least 3 more cards.

If you've ever been to a Paper Source, you know that the back section has the walls and walls of paper and paper products in every color imaginable.   I picked out the A7 (5"x7") sized cards and envelopes in "paper bag." Actually, I made the rookie mistake of grabbing cards in khaki and envelopes in paper bag. The cashier was nice enough to point out that they were mismatched and corrected my selection. So when picking your paper items, be sure to check the labeling - colors and sizes are very clearly indicated.

These are the ADORABLE Santa hats that peaked my DIY-sense. I just had to find a reason to buy these and so Christmas cards it was!

 And as if Santa hat stickers weren't enough, I spotted these fantastic red glitter letter stickers.

While pack of stickers had 180 different pieces, I was a little limited in what I could actually spell out so I had to get a little creative. "Be Merry" was one of my favorites.

Then I started to really run out of letters so I had to get even more creative and just start using people's initials. This one was for my friends Lauren and Brian. 

And to finish it off, a little strip of washi tape to hold it all together!

love meets christmas red

Katelyn James Photography//Janie Medley Flora Design//Floral Designs by Alicia//Mosca Photo//Z Media//Something New Florist

Halberg Photographers//Fifty Flowers

love meets candles

Inspired by This//Every Last Detail//Polka Dot Bride

Belle the Magazine//Polka Dot Bride

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love meets tradition - the bouquet

Whether you decide to have a traditional or non-traditional wedding, every element about a wedding is deeply rooted in some sort tradition and symbolism. For this first installment of the Love Meets Tradition series, I'm going to talk about why we see brides carrying and tossing bouquets.

From Style Me Pretty/Photography by Marta Locklear

Carrying and then tossing a bouquet is a tradition that stems from England. Back then, the bouquets weren't what we're all used to seeing today. Brides traditionally would carry bouquets of garlic, fruit blossoms, herbs or even grains. These elements are varying symbols of prosperity or things that meant to drive away evil spirits. Bouquets have since evolved to an arrangement of flowers - which are much prettier but still have important symbolic meanings.

From Martha Stewart Weddings/Style Me Pretty

At a wedding, women would try to rip pieces of a bride's dress in hopes that the bride's luck would rub off on them and they would would be the next to get married. As attendants to the brides, bridesmaids wore dresses and carried bouquets to try to fool people and be the bride's decoy. And in an effort to escape the grabby hands, the bride would break off and give pieces of her bouquet away, or toss her bouquet and run away. This explains why we've all heard that the girl who catches the bouquet is the next one to get married!

From Caroline Tran/The Polka Dot Bride

The bouquet toss is always fun at weddings. But as an alternative to a bouquet toss, there is the bouquet "hand-off" where the couple chooses a close friend or relative who is engaged and hands off the bouquet as a gesture of congratulations and good luck for their own journey to marriage.

From Sparkle and Hay

Nowadays, you'll see that brides will often having their florist provide a "tossing" bouquet. Tossing bouquets are usually a smaller replica of the bride's actual bouquet. During the reception, its always nice to have the tossing bouquet on display at the cake table. Recently, I've been seeing what's called a "break-apart" tossing bouquet. The florist will purposely build a tossing bouquet that will break apart easily into 2 or 3 pieces once tossed so that more than just one lucky lady catches the bouquet.

From The Babs Blog

There you have it - the tradition of the bouquet! I think next time we should talk about the different types of bouquets. You'd be surprised to know what kind of types and shapes there are.

Until we meet again... 

love meets mimosa brunches

This past weekend, my good friend, Lauren, celebrated her birthday by hosting a mimosa brunch at her North Beach apartment. When Lauren first mentioned it, I didn't even ask, I just told her that I was helping! The wheels in my party planning head were spinning out of control with ideas. 

I was so happy that everything came out looking so great. I set up a mimosa bar with some trimmings and a mini candy bar. Lauren handled the decorations and the delicious food with the help of her boyfriend.

I can't wait for the next occasion where we can host another mimosa brunch!

mimosa bar

the mimosa bar with the trimmings. 

a lot of the glassware and serving ware, including the tiny tongs, were purchased from the Japanese dollar/variety store, Daiso.
pink paper stripped straws were purchased from Dress My Cupcake.

i've always associated mimosas with orange juice so it was fun to try out different juices. 

we tried pineapple and grapefruit in addition to the orange juice.

grapefruit was, by far, the favorite of the day.

we included fresh strawberries and raspberries. 

i planned on having blueberries as well but conveniently forgot them!

lauren made paper pom and garland banners for decoration. 

paper poms are super easy to make but cheap to buy as well. 

to make a pom, just stack a bunch of sheets of tissue paper, fold into a fan, tie in the middle, and fluff each sheet. 

Polka Dot Bride provides an easy to follow tutorial. check it out. 

or the easy route would be to order them online -- but beware, you'll still have to do all the manual fluffing!

Luna Bazaar has an assortment of colors at reasonable prices.

and check out, Prudent Baby for a quick tutorial on how to make a fabric garland banner similar to what lauren made here.

 

a little personalization touch with these wooden initials from Typo.

the candy bar was a mini-one. i figured just a few sweets here and there could tide people over for the day. besides, buying quality candy in bulk takes time! heed my warning for those who plan on buying candy in bulk for dessert/candy tables.

i like to buy my bulk candy from Candy Warehouse

*pictured: strawberry gummy puffs, pink rock candy, and cherry gummy pigs

love meets a crazy bridezilla story

I hate the term 'bridezilla' because I think its such a cliche. But I'll use the word just this one time about a crazy email one bridezilla sent to her bridesmaids.

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