AW AW AW!!! Our wine box is DONE! :D

Obviously, I'm SUPER excited about this! This was one of the very first DIY projects we started, and it's the last to finish! :) Due to moving, weather, and technical difficulites, this took MUCH longer than anticipated. BUT....here it is! We started off with pine wood. Obviously, cut, sanded, and stained everything. Months and months and MONTHS later, we began working on it again. :) We figured out what we wanted to engrave on the front, and printed it out. Traced it as best as we could, then used a router to make it. Our initals and the date are engraved on the front. I had seen a box online (that sold for around $400. Kiss my arse!), and I liked that you could see a little bit inside and it was a kidney-shaped hole. We took that idea and ran with it. :) All the pieces were then screwed together. Then we used this conforming foam (bought at Michael's) and covered that and the insides with satin fabric, glued down with Tacky Glue. The hinges and the hook for the lock were screwed in. We just need to buy a small lock and key, but it is done! The wine is something that I actually like (shocking!) and we will be drinking that on our wedding day. The glasses are black (one of our colors) and engraved with our names and the wedding date. Not nearly as cool as our reception flutes, but we liked that they're black. :) Forgive the dust and fingerprints...we need to try to clean it off. I can't wait to put our letters inside and lock this box. :) We are calling it "Locking the Box" in our programs. <3!!! 

The inside. Our wine glasses (BLACK AND ENGRAVED!!!) and the wine, which is the same wine we will be drinking at our wedding. :D

Far away pic. 

Jim really did an AMAZING job finishing this up. I LOVE this part of our program, and I hope everyone else does too! :) We still need to buy a lock (lost ours during our move last October), but we both have our letters written, so we just need to get them ready to be placed in the box! SOOOO EXCITED!

Rehearsal ribbon bouqet

I know I'm not supposed to do this myself, but I don't really care. I did buy the big bow and 1 ribbon. Most people used gift bags or gave gift cards or checks, so I didn't have much to work with. I used some leftover ribbon for the handle. :)

Aisle runner!

This was probably THE MOST dreaded DIY project I had to face, yet it was one that I could not toss aside. Before I begin, I must disclose that I used The Road to the Aisle's instructions, for the most part. :) Our aisle runner is wider than most, as I will have both of my parents walk me down the aisle. Originally, I was going to have our regular monogram, but as I played around with it, I decided that I liked this idea, so I ran with it. So, I had bought the acrylic paints and brushes on sale last Christmas at Michael's. My mom bought the ivory fabric from JoAnn's just two weeks ago. :) Hey, I had good intentions of getting this accomplished as soon as possible. When it came down to it, I was chickening out. ANYWAY, I was thinking that the fabric would be too thick for me to see through to trace, but I was BARELY able to see MOST of it. I printed everything the first time, and it was WAY too big. Second time was perfect. I taped them all together and folded the extra white paper to keep it out of the way. Then I taped it to our (expensive! :S) table. We measure down about 7 feet and held the fabric down with heavy nursing books :). I traced as best I could. We then put wax paper on top of the paper I used to trace, and put the fabric back down. I started with the pink J, then worked my way to the right. Then I did the & in the middle, then my name. Lastly, I did the date. Obviously, I had forgotten the comma in the date when I was tracing. I realized this as I finished painting. I free-handed that, along with the dreaded "s" in James and half of the &. All in all, I think it went pretty well. 

You can barely see where I traced over the paper, if you look REALLY hard!  

 Finished product! What do ya think? 

Bubbles basket!

Sadly, this didn't get finished until now, as everyone was out of the bubbles I needed. I just needed one more box, and I was just about to take the box I had back and get different ones, when, alas, Michael's had them. Thanks for not calling me, despite the 2 times I've been put on a waiting list and the 3 rain checks I have, Michaels. PLEH! :P Anyway, I was going to dress it up with ribbon, but out of sheer laziness, and the fact that people will be throwing these away once they're done, I figured...screw it. I decided to leave the bubbles in the plastic to hold them up. You can't even tell. :) Forgive me for the horribly blurry pic. The sign on the front is crystal clear, I promise. 

Progress on the love letter wine box.

Since it's nice outside again, we were able to work on the box a little bit more. 

Smiling for Jim. Don't mind my crazy ponytail. I just threw it out of my face while I was staining. 

The bigger pieces are drying. 

Our wine finally came in! This is the wine we will be drinking together at the reception, as well as what we will put in our box. <3!

Rings are back!

Jim's just needed engraved. Of course, I had to be the needy one. :) Mine got sized, soldered, and engraved. His says "FOREVER," just like I always say to him, and my wedding band says "AND A DAY," just like he says back to me. :) They fit me sooo much better...actually, I have to really shimmy them off, but I suppose that's better than them being too loose.
 :)

Gifts for the hostesses!

I wanted some kind of cute thank you gifts for the girls, especially since this shower and party was such a PITA. Dalaina helped Katie quite a bit. I got her body wash (lavender is her fav), which was tagged "for showering me with love," a candle, which was tagged "for lighting up my day," and Reeses (her fav candy bar), for "being so sweet." 

 I also got her an engraved shot glass. I think she was most excited for that. Maybe because she JUST had her baby 3 days prior? Maybe...?! :)

 Katie also got a candle, a Hershey's bar, and an umbrella (instead of the body wash). Inside joke (not really...she really did need an umbrella!). Oh, and it's blue, her favorite color. I also got her a cute memo pad in a porcelain shoe, but didn't get a pic of it before I boxed it up. 

 So, to make the tags, I just used leftover paper from our programs (the shimmery paper) and leftover cardstock from our pocketfolds. Double-sided taped them together, punched a hole and used some pink ribbon that I already have for wrapping presents. Wrapped them around the appropriate item and curled the ribbon. I did end up using a glue dot on each tag to get them to stay on the items. The girls seemed to like the idea. Even the best man thought it was super cute. :) I can't take all the credit...I did see something like this online a while back. I just ran with it. :) 

Nebraska Bridal Shower and Bach Party! 4-30-11

I don't have all of the pics yet..but I will add them as soon as I get them. :) 

Jim gave me my first dollar for the Suck For a Buck. :) 

Seeing my BFF off. :( Sniff Sniff. I look kinda crappy...a bit hungover. :) 

Us being jackasses. :) We're professionals. 

Holy Crap! I get married this month!

Whoa...now that's freaky! Actually, I was signing the papers for our rings to get engraved, and mine sized and soldered, and realized it's the 1st! AAAHHHHH!!!! And to top it all off...no ring right now :(. I did buy a cheapo at Claire's and wear it....but it's not right.

:)

Programs are complete!

Here they are! These were a PITA...right up there with the invitations. :) Anyway...I've gone over how we made them, but just to re-cap....the inserts were made on Word, and we printed them and cut them out. LOTS of trial and error here...to get spacing and sizes right. Then, Jim made the black backing with cardstock. He stapled them all together. We used the same ribbon as we did for the coloring books, and wrapped them around the top (was going to make bows originally, but Jim suggested this, and I liked it), securing it with double-sided tape. Voila!

 4 piles, but I forgot the last one. . 

Forgive me for the AWFUL iPod pictures. There's actually