Real Weddings: Elizabeth and Josh, Kansas City

Elizabeth is a DIY kind of gal, so for her wedding she just need a few personal flowers, and she handled the ceremony and reception decor.  A classic fall bouquet went perfectly with the simple black bridsmaids dresses and black tuxes.  We added in fun textural elements like green trick, and billy balls, and the giant orange dahlias were simply beautiful.  Photos by Lindsay Pierce Photography and emmy-ray.  

Thanks so much to Elizabeth and Josh for letting us be part of your day, and to Lindsay for the the referral! 

xo - Emily

A Brand New Project: Middle of the Map Weddings

I am so excited to announce today my newest project, a new blog called "Middle of the Map Weddings".  

For the past year I was a member of a local group called the Wedding Hive.  It was a Kansas City organization focused on providing an outlet for indie wedding vendors to promote their businesses.  I functioned as the blogger and social network admin for the group, and got to know so many wonderful and talented local designers and business owners as a result.  At the end of 2010 the Wedding Hive decided to disband, however I wanted to continue to blog about all the amazing people I've met, and have yet to meet in the wedding industry.  

Thus Middle of the Map Weddings was born.  My hope is to create a site that inspires brides to be, as well as other vendors, with beautiful images of real weddings in the midwest.  I also plan on doing DIY tutorials of different projects to help brides create hand made details for their big day, as well as features on indie vendors. 

I hope you'll join me in my newest adventure.  Please visit the site, add me to your Reader, and join us on Facebook and Twitter.  I couldn't do any of these projects without you guys, so thanks for your support!  

love, emmy-ray

Floral Friday: A Succulent Wedding

I found this adorable wedding over on the Ruffled blog the other day.  It combines some of what I think are the best trends in weddings right now: succulents, milk glass, mason jars, and of course DIY.  The bride, Rachel, did almost all of the decor, including growing and creating all of the succulent centerpieces.  Get it girl!

Loving this super textural green and white bouquet.  The little scabiosa pods are some of my favorites and working with succulents in a bouquet is such a joy (since they stay fresh forever).

Find tons more images of this wedding and more inspiration over at the Ruffled Blog.

Plus check out their "Recycle Your Wedding" section where you can buy and sell all those vases, favors, and display items you have left-over from you own event.  Recycling+party planning=AWESOME!

Make Something Monday: Valentines Day Crafts

I hope you all enjoyed last weeks video.  I really enjoy this medium of blogging because it allows me to combine two of my favorite things, crafting and creativity with video shooting and editing.  I won't be posting one every single week, however my goal is to bring my crafty goodness to you at least twice a month.  This week I'm working on two projects for Make Something Monday, both of them are cute valentines day crafts/gifts.  I'll give you a hint:

To feed your appetite for crafty goodness, here's a couple of fun images I found via Pinterest from an awesome blog, Family Chic.  She has all kinds of simple Valentines tutorials that would make super easy projects.  All you need is some wire, and yarn for these two:

A sweet little "Love" sign

These yarn hearts would look great hanging in your window!

So go ahead and make something, and stay tuned for next weeks projects!

love, emmy-ray

 

Make Something Monday: Glitter Earrings

With the new year, and changes to my blog come a few new features.  I'm really excited about this one, and I'm calling it "Make Something Monday".  It's going to be a monthly series in which I give video tutorials on different hand made projects.  I've created my own "handmakerofthings" YouTube channel, so please feel free to subscribe!

Here's the first tutorial: Glitter Earrings.  I hope you enjoy it, and feel free to share.

 

love, emmy-ray

DIY Tutorial: Updated Clutches

My fashionista friend Jessie is always a source of style inspiration, and in her latest video for her online series "Style Spice" she's also a handmaker of things.  I just had to share this great holiday gift idea, plus as she mentions in the video, if you've already got your shopping done, you can make a fun accessory for yourself.  Enjoy!

 

Find out more about Jessie here:

blog: The Concrete Catwalk, store: The Spice Rack, website: Style&Pepper

love, emmy-ray

DIY: Vintage Rubber Boot Embroidery

I tried to use the Thanksgiving break to catch up on some blog reading (Google reader is back at 1000+, what a surprise).  I came across this delightful tutorial from doe-c-doe and simply had to share.  I of course want to give credit where credit it due, so please pop on over to her blog to see the complete how to.  And if you're an embroidery enthusiast you simply must follow her stitching adventures!

Happy crafting!

love, emmy-ray

Our First Thanksgiving

Hello lovelies.  Monday again, and I have to admit all I've been doing since Thanksgiving is slugging around the house with Matt and the pups.  This year was our first time hosting a joint dinner with our families.  It was a lot of work, but fortunately went off without a hitch.  I love almost every holiday, but this is one of my favorites because it's all about two of my many favorite things: food and family.  

How did you celebrate the holiday?

I embroidered felt leaves into napkins rings that were also place cards for everyone in our family.  My mom kept calling me "Martha" because of all my little DIY, crafty additions.

Our take on the old Normal Rockwell classic

For a centerpiece I sewed a runner with fabric from bon bon atelier, put red roses and berries in mason jars, and used coordinating candles to finish everything off.  I kept the table linens simple with a vintage white lace number over a solid rust color.  The dishes were all white, and the napkins added a pop of color.

An uninvited guest snuck his way to the table side.

Hope you had a fantastic holiday, and a super lazy weekend.  I know we did..

love, emmy-ray

The Money Pit: Homemade Rug

I'm back at it again, re-arranging and decorating, which is one of my favorite things after all.  I decided after we inherited my grandparents dining room table, that I no longer wanted another table in our breakfast nook.  It seemed a little redundant to me for our current lifestyle, that is considering that we never used either table for anything other than storage space for our junk.  

I moved my vintage sectional into the spot, which creates a cozy sitting space.  My next big project is to make a slipcover for it that will help it match the kitchen a little better, probably in a red and white pattern.  However the space felt a little empty.  What was missing?  A rug.  After hours of scouring the internet and finding that what I wanted was going to cost me an arm and a leg I decided to go ahead and make my own using a heavy canvas fabric and fringe I found online.  

I bought a drop cloth at the hardware store to back it with and to give it a little more weight.

The final results (picture red and white patterned couches).

I think Ollie approves.

love, em

DIY: Studded ballet slippers

Summer in Kansas City has been brutally hot these past few weeks.  So what better time to stay inside and do some crafting?  I found this super cute DIY tutorial the other day on Orange Juice, etc. and I wanted to share the link.  Can't wait to give it a try, I think I'll do black for the fall...

Visit her blog to find the whole tutorial, and TGIF!  We're attending a housewarming party for my dear friend Marissa.  What are your weekend plans?

love, em

Before and After: Housewarming Table

My friend recently bought a new house.  She's had to do a lot of work on it to get it to the point where she can move in, and it's been a long and troublesome journey for her.  For a housewarming gift I wanted to do something that would be extra special.  She's an art history major, and all around lover of all things hand made.  I think she owns more of my jewelry than any other person I know.  

My original idea was to paint some pots and put plants in them.  The plants were all on sale so I thought, maybe I should get a table for the plants, and then I though maybe I should just paint the table.  

I found this table at a local antique store.  It was not expensive but I liked the detailing on it, such as the top edge and the bevel on the lower shelf.  The wood laminate on the surface was starting to peel off from water damage, so I just went ahead and began ripping.  I was going to get rid of all of it, but thought it might be an interesting design element.

 

I sanded and spray painted it an off white satin.

I painted all the "exposed" areas of wood in a bright gold.

I painted some floral silhouettes in a deep Prussian blue color.  I referenced one of my favorite pattern makers, William Morris for some inspiration. I wanted it to look like this was what was underneath the top layer when it was pulled off, kind of a buried treasure.

 

I added some detailing in white.  I'm really happy with the results I think the white outlines really make it pop, however I almost liked the plain silhouettes more.  What do you think?

    

 

Finished with the plants I bought for it.  I hope she likes it!   

Ink Magazine Craft Challenge Results

***Edit: This morning after writing this I discovered that I was on the cover of Ink as well as the Kansas City Star.  Awesome!***

Remember when I mentioned the Ink Magazine Craft Challenge I was participating in?  Five local artists/crafters were given a bag of everyday items to create whatever we wanted.  I didn't want to spoil the surprise of what I made, but the article is up on INK's website, so I thought I'd go ahead and share with you lovelies.  Not sure if they are going to be picking a winner, but I had so much fun participating, and I always love seeing what other creative minds come up with.  Here's some pics, but find the whole article on Ink's website.  Thanks to Monica Watrous of Ink for choosing me!

Our materials... 

 

I made the belt from a VHS tape which I knited, then added hand made flowers as embellishment.

Bag made from plastic tablecloth, and cute fruit fabric from bon bon atelier.  

Cuff bracelet made from a tie, decorated with vintage buttons and hand made fabric flower.  I'm going to make more of these for the Honeypot Shop and Ric Rac Round-up. 

Headband made from plastic tablecloth, vintage earring, and feathers.

Necklace made from a record.  

Here's my favorite pics from each of the other designers:

Napkin rings made by Jeanee of Dirty Laundry using the leigh, and tie.

Necklace and ring made from the toothbrush by Andrea Ring of Amuck Jewelry Designs.

Plush toy made from a vintage neck tie by Amanda Tholen Long of Mash Handmade.     

Valentines DIY

Drum roll please...it's the much anticipated Valentines Day DIY.  Only anticipated because I didn't get around to posting it until a week later than I promised.  

Found the original image for this on weheartit

I liked it so much that I thought I'd go ahead and give it a whirl.  Here's what you'll need for this super simple Valentines craft:

• Scissors


• Hole punch


• Magazines


• Construction paper


• String (or ribbon)


• Spray adhesive or double sided tape


• Dowel Rod

Step 1~Find magazine pages with pink, red, and white images (or whatever colors you choose).  Cut out various size hearts.  Mine ranged from 6 inches to 1 inch.  

Step 2-Spray adhesive the back of each heart and attach to construction paper or use double sided tape.

  

Step 3~Cut hearts out from construction paper, then punch a hole in each right under the V.  

  

Step 4~Tie string to heart.  Leave about a foot and a half on each heart, then cut from spool.  Hang multiple hearts from one string, or attach them individually.  For a variation use yarn or ribbon for this step.

Step 5~Tie strings to dowel rod at various heights.  For this step it helps if you can hand the dowel rod across something so you can get an idea of where the hearts hang in relationship to each other. 

Step 6~Hang and enjoy!  I hung mine directly from the dowel rod.  However if it's easier tie string or ribbon on either and to use as a hanger.  

That's it everyone, hope it was worth the wait!  The next week or so will be completely crazy.  I have a lot of work to catch up on before going on vacation.  Florida trip coming up in 8 short days!  Happy Tuesday lovelies!