Saved the best for last

Mr. ST and I have been two verrrrry busy people this week.  We've finally had the chance to ask the last female member of our bridal party....

Our niece, Gabriella finally arrived!!!  She will be the flower girl at our wedding in about 1 year, three months and a few days. 

Uncle ST is soooooo in love with that little meatball.  <3

Sneak Peak....Flower Failure Part 3 or Why Candles are the Coolest

So we all know about Flower Failure Part 1 and of course, part 2 where Mr, ST and I decided to go against having flowers as part of the centerpieces.  Ohhhh, NOW you remember what I'm talking about?  I know I know, it's been a bit longer than you would have liked.  Have patience! 

I'm here to give you a teaser, a sneak peak, at what our centerpieces will look like.  I had to have a two darling, wonderful bridesmaids over to help with one element before the final product can be revealed.

Just about a year ago, I was in Christmas Tree Shop (A ++++ store if you have never been in one. OMG. Go now) with MOH NM.  We were perusing through the clearance summer section.  We came across some great votives.  Original price 1.99.  On clearance for .45.  Not a bad deal.  I hmmmed and haaaaummmed for a while in the section.  I figured, well, I could get about 30 of them for about 13.50 plus tax.  Not bad.  I could scatter them around the room...blah blah.  As I was standing there, the manager came over and said anything in the clearance section was now, 90% off.  Saaaay what?!?! Those same votives now became .05 cents!  SCORE.  MOH NM and I scooped up 200 of them in dark green and dark blue - same shades as most sea glass.  I would spend less, to have about 7 times more! 

The FOUR cases of votives.  Each "row" was stacked three high.  It was crazy.  How could I pass up that deal? 

I wasn't crazy about them so plain.  Soooo, BMs TG, and LC came over and we busted out the hot glue guns.

Votive + Jute + Hot Glue = matches my theme muuuuch better.

These little beauties now go 4 to a table with the lovely little jute all glued on.  I'm going to make you wait juuuuuust a but longer before I show you the final product of the centerpieces.  :-)

Did you DIY your centerpieces?  Did you get any good deals for things you just COULDN'T pass up?

Monday Funday Graduation Style

Happy Monday!  It's been a very busy week at the SandyToes house!  We had company visiting, a birthday party, graduation party, Mr. ST's parent's anniversary, Father's Day, annnnd Mr. ST's sister, MOH CG is being induced today sooooo our niece G will be here ANY MINUTE!!  Phew.  I'm exhausted again just typing all of that. 

My cousin SC graduated from high school.  My Aunt K threw one amazing party.  Everyone knows I'm crafty - well she is far and above craftier than I. 

Centerpieces:

Tic-tac's that have been wrapped in paper - sooo cute!

Paper that was crimped closed - filled with a mint.  The tag says : "S was "mint" to graduate!"

The dessert bar: sooooo many goodies!

The Graduate cupcakes that I made - they were sooooo much fun!

Food buffet (Aunt K and I getting things ready)

My family (Uncle, Aunt K, my mom, myself, cousin S) have all gone to the same high school.  We gathered everyone at the party that has ever graduated from Gloucester Catholic and took a big group picture.

Aunt K also made a "frame" to use when taking pictures.  (Aunt K, cousin S and myself)

Aunt K and her BFF CM

Momma ST and myself.

Cousin S with Grammy and Pops.

Bubbles, Cousin S and Uncle D

This is my favorite picture - Cousin S and I being our typical selves.  lol. 

It was an amazingly great party.  The decor was amazing and the food was super good too.  Everyone had a great time.  There were people fighting over the centerpieces and decorations for the graduation parties they are having next! 

There were bridal events that happened this weekend.  I'll also be showing off the Father's Day presents I made at some point this week too! 

I'm a big fan of the frame.  I wanted a photobooth at our wedding, but Mr. ST said noooo way from the beginning.  I think the frame maaaaaay just have to sneak it's way into the reception without Mr. ST knowing.  ;-) 

OMG OMG OMG OMG.... I fail.

I checked the mail when I came home today, but there was nothing there.  Mr. ST brough it in with him much later when he came home.  There were TWO surprises:

Don't you like the hearts?  Can't have my address all out there in cyber-space.

I tore open the big package first.  It was this:

I had gotten a Swiffer 360, but it broke the first time I used it.  So this kid wrote a scathing letter* to the company.  They offered to send me a new one.  Plus some coupons.  Score!!!

With as much excitement as I could muster (honestly, the NKOTBSB concert got alllllll my excitment and reserve) I opened the white package... I spilled everything out.

Ooooooooooo!!! SQUWEEEEEEEEE!!!!  The tray, the pick, the syringes, the.... whoah.  That's 720 crystals?  Um,.....huh?!?  I looked at the packages a bit closer.  No, it's all of them. 

I thought I had done enough sizing and resizing to determine I would have had enough.  Those ss5 are SMALLLLLLL.  Much smaller than I really thought and I printed off the size sheet in "real" size.  So my super fantabuloso math skills have done me in again.  720 crystals may not even be enough to get done a HALF a shoe.  I'm going to sit down some time next week and place them all on.  I'll see how far I get with them before I figure out how many more I'll need.... because I know I'll need more.

This, so far, has been a FAIL.  Math skills be damned!!!! 

Step by Step...Larger Than Life

I told you I would show you what I did this weekend.  This is how I spent my Sunday night, and Monday recovering because it was THAT AWESOME.

Can you tell where we went yet? (from right to left, Me, Bridesmaid NM, and her sister AI)

Bridesmaid NM and I (along with the future NKOTBSB fan Samantha in NM's belly!!) Yes we made out t-shirts.  Yes I made leg warmers out of old sweater sleeves.  I will also shamefully admit I made a scrunchie for myself too.  Would you believe we were the ONLY ones we saw dressed like this????

In our AMAZING seats... Any idea yet where we went??!?!?!?!

This lady opened.  I believe she was on American Idol.  Jordan Sparks was amazing.  Loved everything she sang.

OK OK OK OK...I'll stop teasing you.  We went to the NKOTBSB CONCERT!!!

Hellllo Jordan, Jonathan and my-oh-so-favvvvorite - the backside of Donny <3 Joey and Danny are up there too.

What's that you say - you like BSB better?  Well then there is Brian, Nick, AJ and Howie for ya!

This is my personal favorite. <3 Donny <3 bein his bad ass self, sportin a nice shiny police badge as a belt buckle.  Cute little homage to his show Blue Bloods.  Not gonna lie, when he ripped his shirt off it's the closest in my life I've ever come to fainting. 

BSB

Donny Aggggggainnnnn <3

The concert was INSANE.  We had such a good time.  Out seats were the last row of "floor" seats, but they still were on steps - so we could see over everyone even when everyone was standing.  I waited 20+ years to see the NNOTB in concert and they were as amazing as I dreamed.  They sang every song I could have hoped for.  The concert was well over 3 hours long too.  It was worth every penny that Mom and Dad ST paid for my Christmas present. 

Walk in my Wedding Shoes part 3

We all remember this post where I wax poetic* about my love of shoes.  Then I got to show you how I painted my wedding shoes.  Remember these little blue beauties?

I did plenty of research on where to purchase the crystals.  I finally decided to order from Love to Crystal because it came very highly recommended by other brides who have crystallized their shoes.  The prices are unbelievable.  I hope that does not mean that the product is lacking - I've never heard it is though, so fingers crossed!!

I used the size chart to help me determine what sizes I should buy. 

Swarovski Rhinestone Size Chart

Chart from Love to Crystal

These sizes on your screen are in no way the "true" size, but you get the idea.  The ss5 (farthest left) is actually about the size of a pinhead in "true" size.  I knew I wanted nothing over ss16 (which is a tad smaller than the picture) because I've researched that the smaller the crystals, the better the sparkle factor.  I know it will be a PITA for me to deal with, but whatever!  This is what I want!!
I also invested in some very specific tools.  I looked at local stores for these (so I could use coupons) but no one carried them. 

Magical Pick - a wax covered, pointy tool to help pick up the rhinestones.

Magical tray  - grooved to put rhinestones face-up

Pink glue syringe - for the little spots - one use only, so I bought a few. Perfect for use with E-6000 glue.

Then I bought various sizes of the Blue Zircon crystals. 

Blue Zircon

 I ordered:

Blue Zircon Swarovski Rhinestones FlatBack ss5 (144)

Blue Zircon Swarovski Rhinestones FlatBack ss16 (144)
Blue Zircon Swarovski Rhinestones FlatBack ss12 (144)
Blue Zircon Swarovski Rhinestones FlatBack ss10 (144)
Blue Zircon Swarovski Rhinestones FlatBack ss7 (144)

So for all the crystals, tools, and shipping I spent a grand total of $66.00. I was shocked.  I hope that it's enough crystals!!  I can't wait till they get here and I can get started!!!!

Are you doing anything fun or adventurous with your shoes?  Did you go designer?  Or did you design your own?

Have a great weekend...I'm going to a verrrry special concert this weekend.  I'll tell you allll about it Monday. :-)

 

*(to speak in a very romantic way so your speech sounds like poetry)

** I've been wearing my shoes the entire time I've been writing this post.  You <3 me.  You know you do. 

Wedding Budget

BudgetSaveNumbersMoneySaveBudgetNumbersBudgetNumbersMoney.

I dislike, no loath math and numbers.  Odd, since I sew, quilt, and craft which all require plenty of numbers and math in order to get things correct. Anyways, about the wedding: Mr. ST and I set a rough goal for ourselves right after we got engaged.  $25,000.  HAHA.  Silly us. 

That lasted all of three days. 

When we started looking at reception venues in our area we were blown away by the prices.  We went a bit south of us - nothing too different;  north of us - still roughly the same price.  So once we settled on and booked our venue, we re-worked that rough guess to $30,000. 

Our written budget consisted of things that I had scratched and scrawled onto: napkins, backs of receipts, ripped pieces of paper, a tissue, magazine pages; I then stuffed those pieces into the accompanying pockets of my binder.    Hot mess.  I have a photo and I can't even show you it because those that really know me, know how organized I am and it will be mortifying. 

As we started to put deposits down on vendors, buy items, work on projects, etc. it became harder and harder to keep track of that information.  So, I turned to my trusted source for everything:  Google.

I searched Google Documents for a "wedding budget" and a ton of hits surfaced.  I picked a few and downloaded them....waiting for Mr. ST and his mathematical brain to determine which would be the best for us.  (The numbers in the budget below are just samples to show you how it works)
This is the one we chose:

It has a spot for EVERYTHING.  Even things we may not realize should be in the wedding budget, but certainly belong there.  My favorite part is that this budget allows you to "rate" the items for importance.  Priority 1 - Must have

Priority 2 - Should have

Priority 3 - Really nice, but not necessary

There are several different "sections" for each part of the day.  You fill in the priority number, the amount you have budgeted for, and then the actual amount.  It keeps a running total for you at the bottom of each section.  When you have filled everything out, you get this box all done:

It shows you what the total for Priority 1, 2, and 3 are and how much your total budget actually is in green. 

I promise this is simple, easy, and straightforward.  I wouldn't trust something with numbers if it wasn't that easy.  Mr. ST was impressed I found it and filled it in for us just about perfectly.  Silly boy. 
I'm even more excited now, because I just discovered another way for us to save EVEN MORE and take some money off the budgeted and actual totals for ours...and I won't show you that catastrophic number until I can get it down a little bit more.  Sheesh.  Wedding industry and their monopoly. 

Are you using a budget?  What tools have you used?  Did you create your own?  Did you find one on a website?  SHARE!!!

 

Six- Seven

June 6th Photo - BOOKS!

I was in the library to pick up some books, picked a random aisle and snapped a picture!

This is a picture of my FAVORITE books at home.  I had a hard time choosing just one shelf. 

June 7th, High Angle -

I was stumped at first...a high angel, er, angle.  Then as I walked into work I saw the shot:

The grimy underside of a school desk.  *shudder* yuck.  Haha. 

I also wanted to let you know that a VERY good Blogger friend of mine, Tiffany from Bride-onicles of a Soon to Be Bride is having a Fabulous Giveaway  that you should go check-out.  She has a 1-year subscription to Martha Stewart Weddings up for grabs.  EeeeeeK!!!  My FAVORITE bridal magazine!  Go enter!  I'm passing my luck along to you!!

Three, Four, Five

Hey Hey! I'm gonna give you a three for one deal on the pictures today!  I was super busy yesterday with the Parental ST's being here.  Mom and I went thrift store shopping (I got some GREAT stuff I cannot WAIT to begin crafting).  Dad and I spent some quality time on the beach in the afternoon - I found a HUGE piece of dark blue sea glass.  I did a happy dance and all on the beach.  Dad then says, "ST, it's just glass.  Trash.  It's just some piece of dirty trash the ocean washed up."  Weeeeellllllll, exxxxxxccccuuuuuussssseeee ME!  It was like being 5 all over again.  I stuck out my tongue and continued to search and search as we walked along the beach.  I'll show him.  Trash.  Ha!

So June 3rd was HANDS.  I was stumped.  I tried taking pictures of my own hands.  CREEPY.
Mr. ST and I went out with bm and gm NM and her husband KM to a local watering hole or some late night snacks and refreshments.  I begged and everyone was on board for a picture there.

From the bottom, Mr. ST, me on the right, gm KM on the top, and bm NM on the left.  Kind of interesting I thought.  :-)  Love our friends.

Today's picture is clouds.  I took the picture one day early, because I couldn't pass up this shot.

Thought I was being artsy shmartsy with my clouds shot.

Tomorrow's shot is Breakfast Today.  Well, my breakfast is usually the same thing every day.  I'm not a big breakfast person (I don't eat meat, don't eat eggs, and can't stand a ton of milk)  so I'm stuck with fake milk and cereal most days.  Like yesterday, today, and tomorrow:

I usually eat some sort of Kashi-adult-type cereal during the week.  If I'm having breakfast on the weekend I let myself have a "treat" of sugary cereal.  I love fruit juice so I've got a glass of V8 Fusion to go with it.   YUMMY. I couldn't decide if I wanted to eat fruit with it, or wait till after my run and have a fruit smoothie.  Smoothie won.   :-)

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Photo day 2 - SHOES

I had a tough time with this topic.  Shoes... I LOVE shoes and we've chatted about how I painted my wedding shoes and that I'm going to be strassing them out over the summer some time.  I would have picked them - I love the idea of them when complete. But I can't show you a picture of them without any crystals. 

So I dove into my closet and started playing dress up with my shoes.  I was going to go with my standard footwear for this time of year.  The Flip Flop.  Eah.  Too typical for a beach bum like myself (I don't actually wear shoes to the beach.  I wear them in the car to drive over, but most of the time I don't bother with them on the way home.  Driving barefoot is an interesting experience - not sure if it's legal, but eah.)

Then I pulled out my UGGS from the Tupperware.  It's 80 some degrees here, but I still slipped my foot into the furry goodness.  My toes were so happy.  Hot, but happy.  So they were a no go for the picture. 

I almost gave up and reverted to my wedding shoes when I say theeeeese peaking out from the bottom of the box. 

Purple and Pink some type of skin heels.  I found these when I was in college.  I rocked them out to many a party.  They are in verrrry poor shape now (almost 7 years old - yikes!) I love them dearly. 

The heel isn't too high either.

You can see that they are worn - like on the heel here.  That's from wearing jeans with them.  Boo!!

Such a hot pattern.  These shoes are bad ass.  When I bought them, they were on clearance at a place like Burlington Coat Factory... random.

Poor Shoes.  You have helped me dance many  night away.  You were there the night I met Mr. ST.  We've had plenty of fun.  I love you dearly.  I can't bring myself to throw you out just left.  You still have a little life left in you.  <3

What are YOUR favorite shoes?  Have you held on to a pair for over 7 years?  I'm not hoarding.  Promise.  Just loving.