Freebie Friday: Mini Envelope DIY

Happy Friday friends! I'm sure you all have amazing plans lined up for New Years Eve 2012!! It's been a while since I have done a Freebie Friday post, so I thought, why not end 2011 with a free download?? Who doesn't love free stuff, am I right? This is part freebie, and part DIY as well, I figure, why not end the year with a fun project as well.

One thing I want to do better in 2012 is to tell the people that I love, that I love them more. Some of those people live far away and I want to send more letters/packages/random surprises to them. Because who doesn't love that?! I found this awesome mini envelope template that you can print out and cut from any fun paper to turn into a mini gift for a loved one. Just print from HERE, and use your creative mind to do the rest. I made one from simple kraft paper, washi tape, and some ric rac ribbon to give you a "mini" example. Happy Friday and Happy New Year friends!

Baby On Board!

The week before Christmas, I had the amazing opportunity to be apart of a baby announcement video. Seriously, one of the coolest way to announce the gender of your baby to family and friends. The concept was to create a short film of the hospital visit where the couple finds out the gender. Then, after editing and all that jazz, showcase the video to surprise your loved ones. How fun is that?! Anyways, Brienne of Brienne Michelle Photography did just that and she commissioned me to create cute flag garland that says "It's A Girl" & "It's A Boy" as well as these fun little flags that say "Boy" & "Girl." I take on many commissioned projects each year, but this might have been my all time favorite! Check it out for yourself! Thanks Brienne for letting me share your amazing video!

What's Next from Brienne Michelle on Vimeo.

What do you think?! Should Tasteful Tatters start carrying Baby Garland?? 

Time To Hit The Books!

I hope everyone had a fabulous holiday! I stayed away from the computer this year to spend quality time with family in the snow... and of course Mr. H, since this was our FIRST Christmas together! We had such a fun time and managed to do Christmas with each of our families. Phew! But now the trees are coming down, the garland has dried out, and the hot chocolate is almost gone... it's time to start planning for 2012! I have quite a few books I'm reading to prep my business planning, and some fun ones splashed in there too! I love to read. Cozy up with a good cup of coffee and I could read literally all day. One thing I hate is folding over the corner of the page to remember my place. Seriously bugs me. Plus, I thoroughly enjoy making bookmarks - like, all the time! For my super fab friend, Kathrina from Joe+Kathrina Photography, I recently made her this fun personalized bookmark and thought I would share it with you! It's a great post-holiday, inexpensive gift for yourself!

 

 

 

First just cut your felt in your desired length and width. I made mine on the smaller side, so it would fit in my little notecard that I send her =) Then, just go to town adding whatever you'd like! I sewed on some buttons on the top, cut out a heart and sewed a "K" onto that. If you're not the sewing type you can always hot glue little cut out pieces of felt, ribbon, buttons, you name it! 

All photos by: Joe+Kathrina Photography

This is What I Love

I love my job. Both of them. On one hand I get to bring awesome vintage finds to weddings/ events and set up this whole scene that will hopefully take your breath away. I also get to make fun necklaces, headbands, veils, & garters. I love getting to work with my hands. The best part of what I do is seeing the end result. For weddings, I don't always get that, because I have to leave before the guests come haha, but for shoots I always get that. Since some just see my inventory, and some just show up at a wedding we styled, I thought it would be fun to show you a little before after situation! Just a disclaimer: this particular shoot was styled by Miriam Corona Events. She did such an amazing job! And yesterday this particular shoot was featured on Green Wedding Shoes! Be sure to check out Jen's full post for more amazing details. And don't miss our cute red bow tie we made for the shoot =)

So here is our vintage white dresser: a huge favorite for dessert bars or guest favors at weddings this year. Isn't she fabulous?! Yes, she is a she =)

And through in some creativity, pops of color, flowers, food, you name it. We've done it all! And you can get something as awesome as this! Hope this provides some inspiration for you brides who are planning your wedding in 2012. You can check out all our inventory HERE and we can get the ideas rollin'! Also, special shoutout to Lukas VanDyke Photography for not only photographing all my inventory, but this awesome Candyland shoot!

DIY Makeup Holder

Hello bloggerboos! Sorry I've been a tad silent over here. I've been busy prepping for the holidays. This is a fun little DIY that came about from one of my wedding projects. You may remember me tweeting about the dessert tiers I was making from vintage plates for my big day. Here is a little snap shot of one of the tiers I made for the wedding.

It's so super simple. Just round up some fun mismatched plates, tea saucers, candle sticks at a local thrift store. I was able to find each piece for $.99 or less! Then, I glued them together using a super glue specific for ceramics. And voila! An awesome dessert tray.

Now, fast forward 6 months into marriage and my makeup is taking over our little tiny bathroom =) So I re-made a similar tier (using a glue gun this time) with some smaller plates to hold my brushes and what not. What do ya think?! Isn't the little squirrel adorable? He's from Anthro and his cute little tail holds my rings =)

For the Girl Who Has Everything

I am going to start off by saying... that "girl" is not me! I will also say, that these vendors and shops are not paying me for this, or are they sponsors of the blog. I just love these products and think you will too. This is simply just a mini gift guide of some pretty awesome gifts for that girl on your list who is just so darn hard to shop for, because well, she has everything! Or... her style is super eclectic, and she has that awesome wardrobe, that you just can't compete with =) With all have one of those!

Umba Box - I am a HUGE supporter of handmade and small business! And this is the most amazing gift for those who love handmade - and it keeps coming every month! You can sign up for a month by month or you get get a whole 6 month subscription!!! Ahh I would LOVE a gift like this. You get a totally unique handmade gift delivered to your doorstep each month!

Image 3D - This is probably one of the coolest things I've seen lately. Do you remember being little and going to the fair and seeing these awesome things that you can put a reel of photos in and you pull the lever and then you see the next photo, and so on? I loved those! This awesome company let's you build your own! They market it for wedding invitations... which is pretty freaking awesome. But I started thinking, how awesome would it be to build one of that awesome girls trip you took, or of that event that started your friendship. What an awesome keepsake to give, right?!

Modernality2 - This amazingly affordable Etsy shoppe has the most awesome chevron pillow covers ever! They are so bold and bright and are the perfect statement piece for the girl who has everything. You must see for yourself. PLUS, she has awesome Christmas discounts going on RIGHT now!

Amourouse - Every girl loves to feel pretty in her undies, so why not indulge in quite possibly the most adorable lingerie I've ever seen on Etsy. Yes, I said ever. This amazingly talented gal even makes them into swinsuits! I'm in underwear heaven!

 

The Body Shop: Blue Corn 3 in 1 Deep Cleansing Mask - I'm not kidding, I'm wearing this at this very moment! I so so love this and my skin feels absolutely amazing. So treat your girlfriend to this amazing skin cleanser, and it is under $20!

Ruche: Spectacle Peep Toe Heels - These are just FABULOUS. I mean, see for yourself. I don't even need to say anything else, they are just fabulous. Not to mention how amazing Ruche is. Take some time and check out their amazing stuff!

Merry & Bright

Just a little sneak peak of our first Christmas cards Mr. H and I will be sending out this year! This isn't the actual one, but I do love it. And we definitely had fun wrapping ourselves up in those lights. They are actually really hot haha. Hope you guys have a wonderful Friday!

Wedding Invite Ornament

Another Holiday Craft Corner post! I am just loving these =) I saw this idea on Pinterest, and of course pinned it, not really planning on doing it, just a "saving it for later" sort of thing. All you pinners know exactly what I'm talking about. Then, I went over to a friends this week for a girls craft day and she totally was doing this with her wedding invitations for their tree. It looked so cute and easy I just had attempt it myself. As I was making them for our own first lil' tree, I thought of all the weddings I had been to this year and all the newlyweds who were celebrating their first Christmas and probably needing ornaments like us! Then, I was thinking what a great and easy gift this would be for them. So if you're like me and have saved an invite, program, escort card, any paper products this would make a super fun and easy and amazingly thoughtful gift to give to your newlywed friends!

{ S U P P L I E S }
I used a blade cutter, but you can just use scissors, paper product like an invite, plastic or glass ball ornament ( I got mine at Michaels for $.99 each!)

{ S T E P S }
1 - simply cut strips of whatever paper you are using
2 - wrap your strips around a pencil, pen, or a paintbrush (that's what I used)
3 - stuff your strips into the ball to as full as you want. That's it!

Pretty Packaging

It's no surprise I love packaging. I spend a great deal of time on packaging for my Tasteful Products and I often get email requests for where my actually get my packaging supplies. I'm always on the lookout for the best products for the best price and there are always new places I want to try out =) I recently saw this post on one of my favorite blogs, A Subtle Revelry,  and I think it is perfect! Such a great roundup of packaging suppliers and I love them all! A  lot of them are my go-to resources with a couple newbies that I cannot wait to try out.

Cute Tape: the biggest collection of washi tape - plus lots of fun stamps!

Vintage Paper Parade such cute packaging pieces, and great holiday products right now

Heart and Craft this is one of my favorite places to get tags and those last minute touches for your packages. They have the cutest garland up right now!

Twill Tape this is a new shop for me and I cannot wait to check out their amazing twill tape inventory!

Sweet Styled Bakers Twine Bakers Twine Bakers Twine!

Garnish The cutest boxes, bags, bottles etc - all your little heart can desire!

DIY Tree Topper

As you may have seen from previous posts, it is Mr. H and my first Christmas together as a married couple. We are having so much fun doing normal "holiday" things together, but one thing we've realized is a lot of the stuff our families just had ready to go for the holidays, we don't have. For example - a tree topper. We got our little tree and decorated it all up (ornaments was another thing we didn't have!) and then we realized we didn't have a topper. So as we were looking at a bunch of options in a store, Mr. H so lovingly volunteered me saying, I think you should just make one. At first, I was like... "Oh, I should, should I?" But of course, I couldn't turn down the challenge. So here is our first DIY star tree topper!

{ S U P P L I E S }
You can find everything you need from your local craft store, and chances are you already have scissory, glue gun, and glue. And I found this awesome wooden star on a stick for about $2 and the yarn for about $5 (you'll have TONS left over)

 

Basically I just wrapped around each point of the star and glued along the way. I tried to make things an non-perfect as possible. But you can just wind around in perfect stripes just as easily. Then for the center I wrapped it around flat in a circular motion. It seemed easiest at the time and it actually was. It was a lot easier than the points.  Then, we used some extra yard to wrap the stick around the top of our tree and I think it turned out fantastic!

Some Music Needs Air...

It's Friday... and Fridays feel different to me now that I work full time from home on Tasteful Tatters. I used to get soooo excited about Fridays because that meant the weekend. And I couldn't wait for work to be over so I could do something fun and "Friday nightish." But now, it's kinda just another day, and usually means I have an event, or an event that weekend, so it is actually more work. Funny how life works out. And I love it. Today I'm working on TONS of projects and sometimes you just need some good tunes to get you through a long "to-do" list. I stumbled across this from my fab intern, Lynlee's Blog, and it just spoke to me, not that I necessarily relate to it - but it's one of those songs that gives you goosebumps it's so pretty. Maybe I'm just a sucker for Bon Iver. If you know me at all, I just love sad depressing songs, I also like to quote Elizabethtown as much as possible (see blog title). So this is what is on repeat for me today, what are you listening to on this Friday??

Our Rentals Featured!

Happy First of December!! I just love the holidays. I've been working on tons of fun holiday DIY's and inspiration for you guys and I cannot wait to share! But first, our rentals have been working hard this fall, going all over the place in some fun places. So fun, that some amazing blogs decided to feature them! Here are just a few snaps of some of our latest features from The Wedding Chicks and Rustic Weddings! So if you are planning a fall/winter wedding for 2012, we still have some available dates and we'd love to provide rentals and style your wedding!

Pomegranate Holiday Wedding Inspiration

on Wedding Chicks

 Fall Rustic Wedding Inspiration

Via Rustic Weddings

Go check out more photos on these awesome blogs and I hope you find some inspiration!