Wonderful Winter Wedding

WOW have I been busy lately! I just finished up a custom order for faux fur wedding shawls and wanted to share my hard work with you all. I really like how these turned out. In fact, I may even make one for myself. (If I could find the time!)

Faux fur shawl

Finished shawl

Snap closures

Black satin lining

Guest Blog Post - Inexpensive Wedding Gift Craft

Today's post is an I Get My Crafty From My Mama first, a guest post! Lane is co-blogger of White Picket Fence, a good friend of mine, and an excellent crafter. Here's what she has to say about her recent wedding gift crafting.


Most people shed the habit of folding up computer paper, drawing stick figure pictures, writing poems, and gluing glitter atop homemade cards when they were preteens. I, on the other hand, just stopped doing so about a year ago at 23 — and solely because becoming a “grown up” requires sending thank you cards to everyone from birthday well wishers to potential employers to your garbage men.

What can I say? I’m very thankful to everyone helping me seamlessly appear to be an adult and I like to put my personal touch into everything.

That’s why I was really dissatisfied with myself when my high school friend got married in April (one of the first of my friends to tie the knot!) and I waited last minute to get her a present. I had to buy the bathroom trashcan on her registry both because it was one of the last things and it would be fairly easy and cheap to mail to their house in Seattle.

I was disappointed with my gift despite the fact that she was probably happy that she and her husband had a place to toss used Q-tips.

So I took to Pinterest, even though it not being helpful that instant. And I found this adorable little personalized gift — cute Mr. and Mrs. décor!

As someone who likes to craft homey touches all the time, I thought this would be perfect the next wedding I’d be attending — which, at this age, I was sure would come soon.

Sure enough, my friends Matt and Stephanie invited me to their Florida wedding in September! For a wedding requiring travel, I thought this gift would be great because it’s small and easily packaged to prevent breaking. Plus it’s personalized!

Another element to add to the perfection is that this couple has already owned a house for quite some time — and they probably already have most items that are absolutely necessary. What better to gift them, I thought, than a memento to commemorate their marriage?!

So I ordered this stamp set online — it wasn’t the cheapest set I found, but I really loved the font. It set me back $25 (plus shipping). The additional catch, however, is it requires you to cut out and glue both the rubber and the labels. I didn’t mind both the price and the setup though because I’ll definitely be using it again for future crafts.

After making the stamps for about two hours (only because I was watching HBO at the same time), I went on to making the actual present.

I bought a $10 frame from Wal-Mart that seemed really well made and was very classy looking.

The blog post that originally posted the custom Mr. and Mrs. frame had really precise measurements, but I like to wing it. I skipped the flowers on the frame because it seemed kind of girly. Plus, I made newspaper roses for a frame I made for myself and they wilted after a few months.

So in my project, I stacked my stamps one on top of the other from the top of a sheet of white computer paper to the bottom and put a little tic mark at the bottom of each stamp. I did so on the top of the sheet of paper as well as the right side.

Then I very lightly drew lines connected the left side to the right side.

Because I didn’t want it to look all jumbled, I chose to leave the one stamp’s worth of space blank around each edge. Then I just randomly stamped black letters line by line — being careful not to make any words.

When I got to the parts where I wanted to stamp Mr. & Mrs. Muscat, I made sure to stamp the letters on white paper so there was no residual black ink, then I stamped the red ink in the spots — voila!

After letting the ink dry for about half an hour, I simply erased the pencil lines, put it in the frame and I was done!

Overall, since I’ll be using the stamps and ink, this was a very quick, inexpensive personalized gift — which is what I was going for.

I accidentally let the word “doe” and “by” slip into the frame, but it’s not that big of a deal to me.

That did get me thinking, however, that maybe a little scavenger hunt with words like “love” would be cute for this project if I ever do it again. I also thought maybe putting their wedding date in there at the bottom in red would be cute.

When it came to wrapping, I wasn't sure what was standard, being a wedding newbie and all. Luckily, I’m also an event planner with a little bit of extra silver wrapping paper from an event I did in July. After I used that, I tied it up in a thick, white ribbon.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with this gift — I hope the Muscats are too!

Flashback Friday

Helen's Handiwork

This photo is a testament to Helen's best sewing skills. You may remember last week's Flashback Friday was a picture of Sheryl, Marissa and Krista. I was wearing a coral outfit that Marissa had mentioned in one her posts about feeling lost without her sewing machine. I wanted to bring this photo out and fill in some of the blanks. This is a photo of Helen and Duward's fiftieth wedding anniversary celebration. Can I get a "woot woot" for fifty years? Thanks mom and dad for that example. On to the sewing skills. Let your eyes travel to the far left. Katy (grand daughter of Helen and Duward) is wearing a red velvet dress that Helen made for herself for a Christmas party. The next grand daughter is Megan wearing Helen's wedding dress. Helen is wearing a beautiful peach colored lace overlay dress that she made for a daughter's wedding earlier.  See how smart she was about wearing a "fancy" dress for more than one special occasion  Next is me (Sheryl) wearing the coral colored outfit that I had made for the wedding. The two sweet little girls in the front are Marissa and Krista (part of the crafty trio). They are wearing the flower girl dresses from the same wedding. Those dresses were deep green velvet and satin. Mom and I (Helen and Sheryl) made those together. What a great way to share our lives and continue to learn skills together. That is our version of lifelong learning!

Flashback Friday

Oh boy, isn't this good for a few laughs? Now don't be hatin'. Remember this is flashback, all the way to the early '90s. We were on style for the era. The outfit that I am wearing is actually a rich coral color. You can see what Marissa has done with the scraps all these many years later, here. I made this top and skirt for my younger sisters bridal shower and then the later worn it for my parents 50th wedding anniversary party. My mother and I got crafty with the dark green velveteen and satin flower girl dresses that Marissa and Krista are wearing for that same wedding. Because our family is so frugal and the girls felt like princesses in those dresses they also wore wore them for the anniversary party. I hope you get crafty soon.

Wedding Veil Series: Single Layer Veil

Last weekend Paul's best friend Brandon married his gorgeous wife Kaylie and I had the privilege of making her wedding veil. Kaylie chose a single layer tool veil that she wore below her gorgeous up-do.

We are so happy for them and wish that we could have joined them on their special day!

See my Etsy shop Sew Help Me by Marissa to purchase your own wedding veil!

Bandeau Wedding Veil

Today I made my first bandeau wedding veil. I decided to use tooling as a delicate alternative to Russian netting and used a small metal comb on each side to secure the veil. If you are interested in purchasing this veil please visit my Etsy shop Sew Help Me by Marissa.

I used two hair tutorials to create this look. I used the "How to Curl Your Hair With a Wand" from Truly Ooly and "Loose and to the Side Updo" from The Small Things Blog.

Sew Help Me by Marissa

Today I opened my Etsy shop Sew Help Me by Marissa! I am SO excited to have a few bridal veils and accessories currently listed there. You all know how many veils I have been making recently!

Please stay toned for additional items.

Wedding Veil Series: Double Layer Dazzling Veil

I love Paul's cousin Bree and was ecstatic to make her wedding veil, a double layer veil edged with rhinestones. I hand sewed the rhinestone trim onto the veil and, similar to my wedding veil, added elastic loops to slip over the decorative comb's teeth so the veil could be removed at the reception.

Bree and her husband had a gorgeous day and we were happy to be a part!

Photographer: Bujack Productions

Photographer: Shots by Josh

Wedding Veil Series: Second Mid-length Veil with Blusher

I had the pleasure of meeting Kate through our husbands, who were friends in high school. Kate was a beautiful bride and I was honored to make her wedding veil. But it wasn't just any veil. Do you recognize it? It's the same pattern I used to make my own veil!

Kate made her veil original by adding a gorgeous floral and feather hair accessory. Later at her reception she removed the veil but left in the floral hair accessory, which accented her french twist beautifully.

Here's to wishing them many happy years to come. We look forward to being a part of it!

Wedding Veil Series: Mid-length blusher with trim

I am so happy for my long time friend Megan and her new husband Kevin. She looked radiant on her special day and I had the pleasure of enhancing her beauty with a mid-length blusher veil trimmed with ribbon.

We enjoyed a veggie pizza and caught up while I made Meg's veil one night last month. Wishing them all the love two people can share and praying they will have a blessed union.

Photos by Shine On Photography.

Wedding Veil Series: Cathedral Length with Lace

I had the pleasure of meeting Kate through our husbands, who were best friends in college. In fact, Michael and Paul were each other's best men in our weddings!

I had a lot of fun making Kate's veil for her and we got to know each other a lot better during her fittings. Kate's veil was my first Cathedral length veil and it was trimmed with a elegant lace trim that accented the lace on her dress beautifully.

Father of the bride and Bride.

Exchanging vows.

Lighting their unity candle.

First kiss!

Thank you for making us a part of your special day and here's to wishing you two a life time of happiness!

Photography by Metts Photography.

Birdcage Veil Accessories

Many birdcage veils are beautiful without any adornment, but if you're looking to make your birdcage veil a little more trendy a floral hair accessory at the base of the veil can be just what you're looking for. I had a lot of fun making this rose and feather hair accessory!

Wedding Veil Series: Birdcage Veil

After trying my hand at a mid-length veil with a blusher I decided to try my hand at a birdcage veil. I was very torn between the traditional veil and this hip/trendy veil when deciding what to wear at my own wedding because the birdcage veil is so beautiful!

Birdcage Veil

Here is the tutorial I used from The Dapper Bun. Which of these veils do you like best?

Wedding Veil Series: Mid-length Veil with Blusher

I have had the pleasure of making three wedding veils in the last year to help my friends (and myself) cut a few corners on wedding costs. 


The first veil I made was a mid-length veil with a blusher, for my own wedding! I was especially proud of myself because I borrowed a beautiful comb from my friend and brides-maiden, Stephanie, that she wore on her wedding day. I wanted to wear the comb to the reception without the veil. In order to do this I made elastic loops to slip the comb teeth through. All I had to do to take the veil off was take out the comb, slip off the veil, and replace the comb.


Two views of my wedding veil below.

My father and Me.

Me, Dr. Patton, and Paul.

Me and Paul.

Photos by Metts Photography

Ceramic Stamping

Happy June! For Paul and I June means A LOT of weddings. Being newly-weds ourselves we appreciated all of the thoughtful gifts we were given and want to give equally as nice gifts, on a budget. I especially liked our "Mr. & Mrs." mugs from the Family Christian Store and wanted to learn how to replicate them for gifts.

For this inexpensive wedding gift you will need:

• White coffee mugs,which can be purchased almost anywhere
• Jet Black Staz On
• Heat Setter
• "Together Forever" Stampin' Up stamp set.

Literally ALL I did for this craft was stamp the phrase onto the mug and set it with a craft heat setter. Don't worry if your stamp smudges a little, you can wipe the mug clean with a damp paper towel until you set it!

Wedding Wishes !

Our family has quite a few weddings to attend this spring and summer. I thought that I should get started with the cards. I got my trusty Stampin Up catalog out and some of the pretty paper that I bought somewhere and can't begin to remember where. I also got my "go to" stamp set Baroque Motif out. I cut a standard A2 card, one half of a piece of 8.5 x 11 inch paper folded in half. Then I layered a beautiful glittery piece of velum on top.

I added a piece of silver ribbon across the center section and topped that with a layer of silver metallic paper and a sentiment on Whisper White card stock. It was a great time for me to try out those vellum photo splits. I was quite pleased with how invisible they were.

The inside greeting was the last detail.

I made two of these cards because I really liked the way they turned out. ( Don't forget to add the little hand stamped emblem on the back)

I hope both of these marriages will be life long treasures.

Wedding Cards

I just got my first of MULTIPLE wedding invitations in the mail today and was talking to my mother about inexpensive wedding gift options. She is a wonderful stamper and offered to make a "card kit" for me like the sample card below.

Sample card.

I enjoy stamping but find it a little overwhelming so I was very excited that she was willing to make a kit for me. Once I got home I eagerly started stamping with the pre-cut paper below.

Contence of "card kit."

I started by folding the 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" piece of white paper in half. This served as the card base that I built the card front on.

Card base.

Next I added a purple layer and glued it in place.

Purple background layer.

I don't have the textured presses that my mother has, so these came pre-pressed in my kit. (I'm spoiled, I know!) For this step I punched slots at the top and bottom of the purple textured section.

Hole punch textureed layer.

Then I threaded ribbon through the slots and tied it off to make a cute accent for the front of the card.

Add textured layer to top of purple background.

I used Stampin' Up! Together Forever stamp set and made a floral background.

Floral background.

Next I layered the floral piece on a purple background.

Layer floral ground on purple.

I also stamped a phrase for the front of the card and layered it a purple paper as well.

Sentiment for card front.

Finally I layered the floral piece and phrase on top of textured card front and glued everything down. Voila! I love my version of my mother's wedding card. Stay tuned for wedding gift crafts!

Finished card!