Special Order Bride and Groom

Do you remember when my friend Deb made these amazing cookies for me?

And how I said how we bartered our services?

Well - now it's time for Me to complete my end of the barter.

Deb is making a Cupcake Tower for a very special client's Wedding this weekend, and asked me to make a Bride and Groom Clothespin Doll Cake Topper (I guess technically it would be a tower topper).



The Bride doesn't know anything about it. Debbie is going to surprise her with it as a gift when she delivers the cupcakes to the wedding.

I'm a little nervous - what if the Bride doesn't like it - or doesn't even want a topper? The good news is - my friend Debbie now has the topper in her hot little hands, and is very pleased (so that's all I really should be concerned about).



Since I wasn't dealing with the bride directly - it presented some challenges on how to get all the details of what the Bride and Groom would be wearing - so I could make them look as personal as possible.



Debbie is a very clever girl - she had her secret moles planted near the bride that would feed her information daily:

What's he wearing? Will she have a veil? What color are the flowers? How will she style her hair? Will he wear a bow tie? She managed to get all the information I needed.



Including a picture of the bride wearing her tiered lace dress - that no one else has seen, because the bride wanted to keep it a surprise to everyone until the day of the wedding.

I think I was supposed to burn that photo after I was done. Espionage is so thrilling!



Even though the dolls undergarments would never be seen (the tux and dress are permanently attached)....I felt compelled to first give them some cute undies.



I had the photo printed and made it into a simple card that I included with the dolls. Hopefully the bride and groom will get a chuckle out of that (and not be offended).



Thanks Debbie for giving me the opportunity to make something for your adorable clients. I can't wait to see how this little topper looks paired with your amazing baked creations.

Brown Paper Packages

I think I might like wrapping a gift - almost as much as I like finding the perfect gift for someone.

It's a great opportunity to add another little detail - and make the anticipation of whats inside just that much more exciting. After all - the package is the first thing the recipient will see.

I don't usually use gift bags - for me it's much more fun to actually wrap a package - in beautiful paper - and top it with a great big hand tied bow.

But in this case I decided gift bags were the perfect choice - mostly because I needed quite a few.

I started with just plain brown paper gift bags - and added a variety of embellishments to jazz them up a bit.



I kept everything in neutral colors of brown, cream, white and linen.



Each bag had a similar strip of scrapbook paper across the front and a grouping of flowers in the corner.



They were all just a little different.



The materials (scrapbook paper, linen fabric, ribbon, buttons, and pre-made twine flowers) were all found at the craft store.



I used several punches to create the borders and flowers. The larger flowers were hand cut and layered.



And each one had a matching flower embellished tag.



Inside I tucked these little gifts - as well as a grouping of postcards that I ordered from moo using some of my Fence photographs.



All tied up with a pretty ribbon - and tag - and a tiny little button (I heart buttons).






If I ever decide I want to go back to work - I would love to be that lady behind the counter at the fancy store that wraps up your purchases and makes them look all pretty. Do they even do that anymore?

For the record - I have been know to neatly place {throw} a last minute birthday gift into a purchased gift bag - because there are some very pretty options - and I don't always have the time to do something different.

Ten on Ten: September 2011

Playing along with Rebekah's fun Monthly Challenge


I'm way late in posting my Ten on Ten this month
(see below for the reason why)



Morning Coffee on the Treetop Cafe




Little K - Creating Memories




Packing Up (to go to their new owner)




A Peek Outside




Waiting at Ballet




The Drive Home (before we were on the road)




SMASH Book Love




Sewing




Shipping




Just Because - I love those kinds of gifts




Diversion - surprise from my Hubby. I got engrossed in getting it all set up I forgot to upload my 10 on 10 pics.

Do You Pinterest?
I'd love to see what inspires you. Drop me a note so I can check out your boards

A Little Gift

I wanted to make a little something for our relatives when they came to visit from the UK this summer. I wanted it to be handmade - useful - and still small enough to not create a problem when they traveled home (because they pack light - unlike me).

(photo from eighteen25 blog)

I remembered this idea for an emergency clutch and thought it would be perfect (you can read the full instructions here).

What makes this so clever - is that they are made from an ordinary potholder - and zip lock bags. How simple is that?



Here is how mine turned out.

I started by going shopping to get the cutest potholders I could find.

...and I looked - and looked - and looked...

Too kitcheny - wrong shape - only sold in a set

I could not find a cute potholder anywhere to save my life.

But I did find some really cute fabrics.



I'll just whip up my own potholders. How hard could it be? It's just a quilted square!

Think again - they are much harder to make that it looks - so don't look at my wonky corners and uneven quilted stitching. It's the thought that counts.



I made a set in coral.



And another set in Blue.



And a third set in Orange and Green (that's my favorite).

Each one has a different coordinating pattern on the inside.

The zip lock bags are just zig zag stitched down the middle to create those great re-sealable pockets.



I started out by adding a contrasting tape to cover the center seam.



That step was quickly eliminated after just a few.



In the end - they turned out great. We filled them with gum, mints, band-aids, moist towelettes, mini tooth brushes, and other travel aids.

It really is a great idea - so if you come across some adorable pot holders - pick them up. They would be super easy to make with pre-purchased potholders.
Not so easy if you do it the way I did.

Story of my life.