How To Grow Amazing, Beautiful Long Eyelashes

For years my sisters have been watching my eyelashes and giving me commentary on how to curl them, mascara them and make them a little more visible. I have very straight eyelashes and they weren't that long or full. This summer I finally took a step that got their attention when I started using Rodan + Fields Lash Boost. Now guess who both want Lash Boost for themselves!

I started using Lash Boost in mid-July and when I saw my sisters in late July they were already pretty amazed at how much my lashes had grown and that is with only using Lash Boost two to three times per week.  One tube will last a good long time, for me probably 4-5 months at the rate I am using it and the results are incredible.

My lashes have reached "as long as I want to go" with them, so I'm in a maintenance phase where I apply Lash Boost twice a week and even my husband has noticed how different my lashes look now. It's so easy to apply. The applicator looks like a brush for nail polish and you just swipe it across the tim of your top lashes at night and got to bed. While your eyes are closed your lower lashes get a dose too and you'll notice the growth pretty quickly. Check out these results.

Lash Boost is very well tested for safety and Rodan + Fields reputation is impeccable. At night when I'm taking off my makeup I sometimes think I haven't removed my mascara when I really already have. That is the power of Lash Boost, making those lashes look all thick, long and beautiful. I know so many people using Lash Boost that I have absolutely no question about how well it works. It's amazing.

As you probably know by now I am a consultant with Rodan + Fields. This is an amazing company created by the dermatologists who started ProActiv. These products aren't just skin care cleaning and moisturizing products - They are truly skin repair products . They can reverse the aging process in a way that I never thought would be possible.They will give you a complexion you thought you could never have again and make you feel like a different person.

Using these products truly gave me a new boost of life energy when I saw that I could grow amazing lashes and reverse the damage to my skin and feel better about the aging process that we simply can't avoid. The years may pass but we don't have to wear that on our faces. Feeling young on the inside goes fantastically with looking young on the outside!

I made the big decision to join this company when I saw the very real results of their products. I knew I would not be able to hold back telling everyone I knew about the availability of something so life changing. Active Hydration Serum has ended my battle with dry skin living here in the desert. I wake up with moist, dewy skin every day now.

The eye cream has repaired the skin around my eyes and they are much more open and the skin is much firmer and youthful looking. Took a few years off my looks there for sure. The Micro-dermabrasion Paste removes dead cells, softens dry patches and leaves my skin feeling ridiculously soft. My family absolutely loves the Lip Serum and it makes our lips amazingly smooth - and some people in our family traditionally have very crusty lips. The hand lotion makes my hands look younger and feel so soft.

I'm using the Redefine regimen and every day when I look in the mirror I'm amazed at how good my skin looks after a few years of just avoiding looking too closely and feeling like the passing years were winning the war. I'm back and I'm taking charge, feeling good and looking good.

Rodan + Fields products aren't miracle products. They continue to create improvement over time. So while you can grow crazy long lashes in a few weeks, you are also cultivating a lifetime of healthy skin care and results that will continue to improve over the weeks, months and years with the regimens and other products. I can't say enough good things about the products I've used. The Man really likes them too.

Lash Boost as a stand alone product has been unavailable since mid-July. That is how popular this stuff is. It's back and available for individual sale but you can also get some amazing deals when you bundle it with one of four skin care regimens, each which treat unique skin challenges. The bundle deals are such a huge savings!

My team is offering some special offers for anyone who buys Lash Boost before September 21, 2017. I'm giving away a free large toiletries bag that I make with any Lash Boost purchase. On top of that when you purchase through me you'll get special pricing and free shipping. This is a great time to grab some Lash Boost and grow the lashes you've always wanted.

Say goodbye to glue on falsies: the cost and all the maintenance. Lash Boost turns your own lashes into the lashes you've always dreamed of. Contact me today while this offer is available and we'll hook you up. You can also shop through my website: www.kcropper.myrandf.com. At check out sign up for Preferred Customer status to get great savings and free shipping. IF you have any questions let me know. I'm happy to help.

Inspiration For Building Your Life

image via PicsToPin

I heard a little inspiration from Drew Barrymore that got me thinking. She was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey for OWN's Next Chapter series. I loved what Drew said and I was so inspired by what a survivor she is. She's come a long way from being a pre-teen drug addict! If she can survive that and find peace, happiness and success in life it should inspire the rest of us about what we can do too.

She talked about buying a house that she envisioned someday having a family in. This was before she met her husband, they were married or had a child. She said it was kind of a Field of Dreams "If you build it, they will come" moment for her. So she began to build that life she wanted. I love that. I have tried to live that way but perhaps over the past few years have wobbled a bit in my resolve.

So with a few things I really wanted to accomplish in the coming year seeming a little far-fetched at this point, I resolved to plan for them anyway and let them come to me without knowing exactly how or when that will happen. She said you can set up your future without knowing how or when it's coming. But putting yourself in a position to be ready for it is amazing I think.

images via OMG Yahoo

Barrymore began to make lifestyle changes that would be more in accordance with the life she really wanted.  She said she wanted a quieter life. So she began to shift her priorities, began to focus on creating a home and being at home more. I love how she expressed it, she said she wanted life to quiet down. She wanted a healthy, safe family environment. It was sweet to see Barrymore with her baby Olive, happily married to a kind man and settled down just as she'd hoped. 

Another thing that really inspired me is that she had this very clear idea that "It's not going to be perfect, but it is going to be GOOD." I think that's a fantastic way to look at life. Too often we hang on to these ideas about our future that are pure fantasy without any reality. It will never be the perfect picket fence life we conjure up in our heads. How could it ever be? But no matter what, it can be GOOD!

Great inspiration from Drew Barrymore. You can see video clips of Drew and Oprah here.

30-day Home Reorganization Project: Week 7

image via

I missed my Monday update on the 30-day Home Reorganization project. So here goes. I have been emptying closets, packing things that can go into a storage unit. It's not much and hopefully won't be in storage for too long, but will definitely make life easier for three people full time in this small apartment. Sigh.

I had part of my closet filled with things I purchased for that wedding celebration we started planning 18 months ago. Lanterns, cake stand, napkins, small frames, trays and glass candleholders. I took all that out and that is definitely going to storage. Then the few boxes of my life stuff, things I'm keeping from my past. Plus there are a few boxes of clothes that no longer fit the little one that are in good shape to be handed down.

All this created a decent amount of open space in the apartment except for the fact that all these boxes are now stacked in the dining room and were ready to be taken to storage. Then I hit a snag. I called the facility where I had planned to get a storage unit, where we can get a phenomenal discount, and there is now a waiting list and it may take possibly two months to get a unit. Sigh....

Last time I talked to the woman there, a few weeks ago, she had units available and it didn't seem like any problem to stop in any day and get a unit. Now I'm a bit up a creek without a paddle and trying to figure out what my options are from here. There are a couple of other similar facilities I can go to, it just changes everything I had all worked out. I don't want these boxes stacked here when The Man gets home.

Currently the place feels very pulled apart and not quite put back together yet. But it's a few minutes here and there to get it all done. I'm going to keep chugging along like the Little Engine That Could. I think I can, I think I can.

A Love Story About Marrakesh

Products design by New York Media And Blogs Workman Publishing/Artisan Books

I had to share another little love story with you. Apparently these are quite popular on the blog because last time I posted a little love story it became the biggest deal this blog has seen. So here we go.

Being alone and up late into the night recently, I was looking at Maryam Montague's book Marrakesh By Design. Maryam is the author of the beautiful blog My Marrakesh and she and her husband own and run the boutique hotel Peacock Pavilions. I started thinking about how much I would enjoy looking at this gorgeous book with The Man.

He is such a great guy for me because he is an outdoorsy guy but he also has this whole artistic, creative side too. He can sculpt amazing things out of bits of children's clay, has created some amazing art and will blow your mind with his shadow hand puppet skills -- he can do breeds of dogs! Seriously, it's crazy. The Man has decorated several homes and has good taste. Based on design books he owns, I knew he would like the Morrocan inspiration of Marrakesh By Design.

Since he's away, it isn't possible for us to look at it together for a while so I did the next best thing. I emailed the link to him and told him how I much thought he would like it and how much I wished we could sit together and look at it.

Then next morning not long after I woke up, he surprised me with a Skype call. After we'd been chatting for a few minutes he just casually mentioned, "Hey I bought your book. It's on it's way to you." What? Having just woken up, I had no idea what he was talking about. Just as I asked him what he was talking about I remembered the email I'd sent before bed just a few hours ago about Marrakesh by Design.

Seriously, I went to bed, woke up a few hours later and he'd already ordered it. I couldn't believe it. Men are nothing if not surprising. I mentioned his lovely gift to Maryam on Twitter and this was her response: What? That's so sweet! He sounds like a keeper!

A couple of days later two copies of the book came in the mail. And while he's away, it was lovely to be able to sit and enjoy his gift and look forward to looking at it with him one day. The best part is that I'll never look at Marrakesh By Design without my heart going pitter-patter for The Man. Hopefully someday we'll make a trip there and then somewhere design something fun that brings all the colors and spirit of Marrakesh to life that we can enjoy every day. Love you, sir!

Lovely Wedding Earrings From BHLDN

images via BHLDN

Over the months now that we have been engaged, I've been keeping my eyes peeled for great wedding jewelry. I have always envisioned that I will wear gorgeous earrings and a sparkly bracelet. Earlier this week I came across these sandals on Pinterest which inspired me to think about shoe embellishments again. I'm thinking grosgrain bow, a pretty flower or broach for the sandals. So I took a few minutes to wander the web.

Instead of finding shoe jewelry, I got totally distracted by the gorgeous earrings I found at BHLDN - Anthropologie's sister wedding site. So unique and pretty. You can find all the details on these beauties here.

I think my very favorites are the center square and bottom right corner. But they are all so gorgeous I can see weddings styles built around each one of them. There is definitely a sparkle for every personality in the lovely collection at the BHLDN site.

So which are your favorites?

10 Beautiful Wedding Boards

My Pinterest wedding board was getting so big it was impossible to make logical sense of. So I dismantled the big board and broke it up into categories. Now I have 10 pretty Pinterest boards with the most lovely wedding things. There is a lot of beach inspiration, many gorgeous dresses and lots of yummy jewelry. Plus you will find lots of good ideas for favors, guest bags, and invites.

Here's a quick rundown of the boards:

Wedding Dresses
Bouquets & Flowers
Rings & Jewelry
Cakes
Hairstyles

Invitations & Printed Goods
Guest Bags
Favors
Wedding Sandals
Food

Lastly there is a board called Wedding Look & Feel that has a lot of planning suggestions, DIY projects ideas and a bit of a theme for our wedding running through it. If you love all things wedding you'll have fun looking through these boards. And there are a lot of DIY ideas that can be adapted to any kind of celebration or event.

I'm off to the stylist today for a hair refresh. Very excited about that. Thinking about doing a little more cutting tomorrow. Nothing shorter really, just more shapely. It's a big toss up to leave it in it's normal super thick state or thin it out a lot. Both have their pluses and drawbacks. I'll probably make my decision about the moment he takes the towel off my head and asks the always terrifying question, "So what are we doing with your hair today?"

You always know that within an hour you'll be saying something in the range of "Oh yes, this is perfect." or silently to yourself saying, "Oh dear, this is not what I was asking for." Either way it always grows back in the end.

Oh, if you have any great wedding board suggestions for me to follow, leave me a note in the comments section. I love browsing the wedding boards and am always looking for something new and fresh. Have a fantastic day! Thanks for coming by. 

Park City & A 50th Wedding Anniversary

I was the luckiest girl in the world to get to spend Saturday in Park City, Utah. One of the prettiest places anywhere from the gorgeous mountains, architecture, history and shops. I went with my photographer sister who was taking family photos for our parents next door neighbors' 50th Anniversary.

I had to share some of these gorgeous fall flowers that were in bloom around Park City city park and the Old Miner's Hospital which is now the city library. I have thought a lot about our dear friends and the 50 years of marriage. What an amazing accomplishment. It certainly says something about their commitment and endurance and the joy they have had in their lives.

The sweet wife said, "It's been a LONG time. But it's been a GOOD long time." I thought that captured it perfectly. I'm sure it wasn't easy but the rewards are gifts that can only come with a long commitment to something good.

In a world where marriage is usually considered so much more disposable than it has in generations past, it's amazing to think about the joy and rewards to be found in a long, happy marriage. It can't be easy, it can't be fun every minute of the day. But it seems the joyful memories stand out so strongly over the years.

As I look back on life with The Man over the past few years, the days that most poignantly stand out to me are times when we found joy in the midst of the most stressful situations. The pain of those stresses has dulled but the deep, heartfelt connection I shared with The Man and The Bug on those days is so deep and abiding that I really do cherish those times.

I am sure someone who has been married 50 years can speak to those blessing much more profoundly than I. I think we have a lot to learn from these good folks and I always appreciate learning from the generations before.

all images by kalanicut

Another Attempt At Wedding Sandals

image via

For a good 14 months now I have been on the lookout for a pair of sandals that would be suitable for a tall girl and her beach wedding. There have been a lot of hits and misses. For me, finding comfortable flat sandals means finding soles that are soft and cushy, quality leather and workmanship, feminine and a style I like. Not as easy as I would've thought. I first found this pair.

Then I realized these were a bust. So I tried to find something else that I could embellish. But couldn't find my size in this pair. It seemed easy, find a similar pair I like, then look on Etsy or other places for fun accessories to embellish them up a bit and making them pretty wedding perfect.

Then I found this silver pair and ordered them. I got them, tried them on and just wasn't in love with them. So I returned them. So over the months I have had zero success even though every time I'm in a shop that carries shoes I take a couple of minutes to zip through the sandal selection to see what's available. I have also checked online often enough to know what's out there. If I liked something it wouldn't be in my size or was super uncomfortable or didn't fit right.

So earlier this week I popped into DSW with my sister and found the pair you see above in silver, in my size. I had actually tried these sandals on in orange a few weeks ago at another DSW and didn't feel like they fit. But I found them in silver this week, tried them on and found they fit really well. The leather is lovely, the sole is cushy and I like the braid detail.

It was great to have my sister there with me for advice and a second opinion. Being able to shop with my sisters is a very rare occurrence. I love having someone along who really knows me and understands what I am looking for and why. I love it when a sister says, "Oooh, those are totally you."

We both gave these Rock & Candy "Mexicali" sandals a thumbs up and I hope I will stick with these. Fingers crossed. Now I can start looking for some fun embellishments. Here I come Etsy! Another great spot to look will be local fabric stores and some of the costume jewelry stores who carry a wide variety of brooches and silk flowers.

These sandals have a loop at the top of the t-strap that would make pinning on a pretty floral pin or rhinestone brooch very easy to do. That could be a sweet way to go. Look forward to a future post on embellishment options.

Thanks for coming by today. Hope you are well and life is good! Sending my warmest wishes!

Dip Dyed Baskets

image by kalanicut

I found these beautiful stacking baskets at Marshalls and could imagine a ton of uses for them: blankets in the living room, books and magazines next to the bed, towels in the bathroom, beach gear, picnics and I also thought they would be great to use at the wedding. Immediately I thought about dip dying the bottoms white. But then I started thinking that as fast as trends are blowing up and quickly burning out I might really hate dip dyed in a year or so. And these are great baskets that could last a good long while.

So here's my question for you readers. Would you dip dye them or leave them in their naturally beautiful state? I'd love your opinions. And here is a little painted basket inspiration that has been floating around in my mind that you might enjoy.

image by Sarah Yates via Glitter Guide

via Martha Stewart

by Jenny Komenda via Little Green Notebook

You can find lots more examples of dip dying here in this collection of Google images. Okay so would you or would you not dip dye these baskets. Add your opinion in the comments below. Thanks and have a great day!

Wedding Favor Tags in Plum, Green & Ivory

The sub-title to this post would be Simple DIY Project, Painful DIY Experience. Something that should've been so simple, became difficult on every level for a constantly unraveling stream of weird situations.

I've been working on a little project for a dear friend's wedding the past couple of weeks and it's one of my favorite kinds -- Tags. They went into the mail just a few days ago. I love mixing and layering papers to give a wrapped gift just the right punch. Tags are also a great way to make use of all those little scraps of pretty paper you have left from bigger projects.

So when my friend said she could use some help with favor tags for her wedding I was pulling an Arnold Horshack (how about a little Welcome Back, Kotter reference for ya!), hand in the air, yelling "Me! Me! Me! Me!" offering my help.

The first step was to plan out what the tags would look like. I came up with a scheme that would layer three sheets of paper. The tags would measure 3" wide x 4" long. Then the next layer would be 2.5" x 3" and the top layer would be about 2" by 2". On this sheet would be the little printed favor message from the bride and groom.

Next I was off to the stores to shop for pretty papers where I learned a helpful lesson. Most stores don't have stock of more than about 20-30 sheets of any one specialty paper pattern. Since we needed over 200 tags, finding enough paper to make all the tags required choosing different green patterns and then trips to three different stores to find enough sheets of plum card stock. If you have more time, you can pre-order paper in any quantity you need and avoid the big search. Lucky for me I am in an area where I can hit several craft and paper stores within a mile or two of each other.

Once I had paper in hand I could make final decisions about how they would look together and how I would layer them. Then I sat down at the computer and designed a little message and figured out the right size to get as many on one sheet of printed paper as possible. I used two different fonts to give it some character and chose a dark purple font color to contrast nicely with the cream.

Then I put the file on a thumb drive and took the file to the office supply store to have it printed on heavy ivory paper. The trick was that I had to go to three different office supply stores because two were too busy to print 18 sheets of paper for me. Crazy.

My next mistake was heading to the copy shop with my document saved in Word format. Once I found someone who could print it for me, they opened the file and the layout was totally wonky due to the font I chose that they didn't have. I learned this last summer and I'm not sure why I forgot but you should save your file into a PDF file so that nothing is distorted. Lesson learned, again.

Once back at yet another copy shop, as I was reviewing the budget for this project I bagged the purple ink idea. Color copies would be almost $11 and black and white would be only a couple dollars. Since I was already going to be over budget, I dejectedly went with the black and white.

Although the woman at this copy shop was so wonderful, hours later when I got the papers all cut up and was at home glueing them I realized she'd copied the text onto the flat back of the more expensive paper I'd requested. So I paid extra for the pretty textured paper surface to be glued down and the printed surface to look like normal, plain ivory paper. What a drag...

While I glued the three layers together, I would've liked to use foam squares to give them more dimension. When I thought about the fact that these tags would be mailed to the bride stacked together and probably smooshed along the way it seemed like they would be more damaged if they were dimensional than if they were flat. When I considered the additional cost and time for foam squares, that further convinced me to keep it simple.

Unfortunately I think I erased the photo of the final product. The photo above is just the papers sitting on top of each other before anything was glued. I did glue them centered one on top of the other layer. Although that makes perfect sense, based on the photo above you might think I did some weird abstract glueing thing.

One could do a lot of different ribbon options with these tags. The bride is using beautiful purple raffia. Another great option would be a silver metallic ribbon. A beautiful little silver metallic flower with pearl center would be a fun addition too.

So while I took great joy in this project for my beloved friend, I can't believe how many weird things happened in the course of this project. It was bizarre. I'm most happy that I finally was able to get them done and in the mail to her. I'm wishing the happy couple the most amazing wedding weekend and future life together!

Here are some links to other tag projects:

Sassy Gift Tags
Holiday Gift Tags
Pretty Tags From Etsy
From The Kitchen Of Tags

photo credit kalanicut

Latest Thrift Shopping Finds

I haven't been thrift shopping much lately but a couple of weeks ago I just needed a break from the rat race and sneaked away for a wander through the thrift store around the corner. Every once in a while you hit a good day at the thrift store and this was one of those days.

I found two brand new large rolls of raffia. I'm ready to do raffia again it's been a while since it first experienced overkill. So I'm opening myself up to using it again and making it fresh. I also found this beautiful cutlery basket. I can just imagine a lifetime of party silverware carried from the kitchen to the patio for festive events with family and friends.

It's a pretty yellow, but yellow isn't a color I use a lot. So I'm thinking that I may go bright green and incorporate it into the pre-wedding party decor. I bought a bunch of beautiful green and white paper napkins for a pre-wedding barbecue and family event. It might be really beautiful in a nice gray color.

As for the wedding, we're on hold due to scheduling issues we're facing. So for those of you who may be wondering why you haven't heard much, that is why. We're in a holding pattern due to things outside of our control. I've made my peace with it and we are doing great in spite of all that. Now back to the thrifting. I mentioned I found several great things. So here are a few more treasures I found.

I found a wood tray that I am excited to refurbish. I refurbished a wood bowl a couple of years ago and have been looking for more wood treasures to fix up. You can see my wood bowl fix up here. I am going to sand this down to it's natural state, then I will oil the wood and buff it until is shines. This tray would be great for serving homemade cookies, sliced veggies or fruit. Can't wait to see what it looks like in it's natural state.

I also fell hard for this footed metal tray. It's long and skinny and I love that it rises up from the table top a bit for added eye appeal. It will be so lovely filled with candles or loose flowers. It would be nice on the mantle underneath the large painting I have there. I think this could find a place in the wedding decor someday too. I can also see it lighting an outdoor dinner table for late night chats after a lovely dinner.

The woven tray in the back is flat with handles. I imagine this becoming an outdoor party serving staple too. I can see it piled high with all kinds of lovely foods: fruit, cold cuts, cheeses, breads or other items in a buffet.

It was fun to add a few festive items to my entertaining and home decor options. It's great to have some much loved pieces to rotate around. I'm looking forward to using these things with friends and family. And I'm inspired again to enjoy a good thrift shopping adventure now and again.

Here are a few links to some other great thrift shopping days.

• Great Saturday
• My Wacky New Friend
• Fun Fruit
• Finds Of The Week

Have you found something dreamy on a thrift shopping adventure lately? Do you have long held treasures you scooped up years ago?

images by kalanicut

Having Vision When Wedding Planning

all images via IKEA

I've been sick the past couple of days and thus getting much less accomplished than expected. But I have been sleeping a lot, which apparently I needed. Yesterday, to give myself a break, I went out shopping for a while.

Since I am in my "second city" right now I am taking the opportunity to do things here that are much easier than in L.A. It's so lovely to bounce around without all the traffic. Yesterday afternoon, I set out to do a peaceful mid-week IKEA trip to pick up a few very inexpensive wedding items. When I go during the week and enjoy the peace and quiet I kick myself for every time I've ever walked into an IKEA on a weekend afternoon.

 

I had a good laugh in the same department as a mother and daughter who were obviously planning the daughter's wedding. The daughter complained about how cheap things looked and how she wanted stuff that looked aged. I wish you could've heard her say the words, "Ewww, it's plastic." It came across loud and clear that they both lacked some vision to see how they could make things work with a little creativity. It is so easy to repaint or age things. This was all while I was buying and pricing things they totally poo-pooed which is what most cracked me up. I got a bag full of great stuff and spent only $38. I win, haa-haa.

I haven't done much with wedding planning in the past couple of weeks, so it felt good to pick up a few things and break that weird spell I was under. I picked up the green floral, striped and solid napkins you can see above to use for secondary weekend events and bought these frames for dinner table numbers.

 

I know these photo frames have been seen around but I'll put my own spin on them somehow and you can't beat the price for 99 cents. I might paint them chartreuse, or leave them white and just do something cool with printed paper and a good font on the inside. I'll figure that out soon.

I did a tour of Macy's, thinking we'll register there. Found the china I like -- I'm still a Vera Wang for Wedgwood girl. I looked at some cutlery that I liked and looked up to see it was Vera Wang and my favorite glassware was, you guessed it, Vera Wang. I have to say I was impressed with the kitchenware at Macy's. The Martha Stewart collection is impressive. She has thought of everything and made it all charming and useful.

I also shopped for shoes and found so many pairs that looked like they could be contenders -- until they struck out for not having my size, being too flat, too loose, too tight... I returned the Target sandals I bought a few weeks ago. They were just a little too flat. But after trying on a lot of pairs today I didn't find anything that really clicked for me. But I'm getting closer.

 I have a few small things I need to order: two ink stamps and woven bamboo paper. I've designed all the stationery pieces and am pretty happy with it all after many hours of font shopping, graphics hunting, color tweaking and layout experimentation. It's funny that I will start questioning myself and in a panic will start looking around online at what I could buy. Then I go back and look at what I've created and it feels very perfect for us and I can't imagine using anything else.

Things are starting to gel. That feels good. I find myself weeding out things that feel more and more unnecessary. Time to start getting a few more things done. More to come. Speaking of more to come, later this morning I'll share another post with you about what else I did yesterday. It was very refreshing. Have a great morning!

Margot Madison Pretty Paper Resources

image via Style Me Pretty

Had to share this with you. Inspired by examples like these gorgeous announcements, yesterday I emailed BYW classmate and friend Margot Madison about where I could find woven bamboo paper. This morning I woke up to find a post on her blog dedicated to my question and with even more amazing gorgeous paper resources.

Margot is a very talented stationery designer and she is so generous to share her smarts. You might remember last year she guest posted here at kalanicut about all the latest trends in wedding invitations. Margot's work is lovely, you can see examples in her portfolio -- she's been featured more than once in Colin Cowie's books too. You can see her blog full of fantastic resources and her beautiful creations here. I especially love her 40th birthday party designs. So full of color and vibrancy, just as a 40th birthday should be.

Margot and I met in the Blogging Your Way class in 2010, taught by Holly Becker, founder of Decor8 and author of Decorate: 1,000 Design Ideas For Every Room In Your Home. Margot and I had the chance to spend a day together here in SoCal last Spring. You can read all about that here and on Margot's blog.

If I add one more link to this post I think it will implode, but they are all fantastic links with lots of eye candy and goodness. Definitely worth a click over. Check out Margot's blog post today for all her helpful advice on finding beautiful decorative papers for your next project.

Wedding Decor Options from Dollar Tree

I popped by Dollar Tree a couple of weeks ago and bought a few samples of things to try to see if they would work for decor and gift bags. I was really impressed with the quality of the things I was looking for and hope that I can upcycle some things from there too. If you're buying 50 to 100 of something and you pay $1 instead of $2 it really does add up to significant savings.

I have looked a lot of places for small candle holders like these and the least expensive I could find was $1.49 and the quality was much not nearly as nice as these. Here are things I could not find for less anywhere I looked:

• Baskets of Shells
• Fabric Tote Bags
• Glass Votive Holders
• Woven Baskets

The great thing about all these products is that you can order them online by the case. So if you need a whole bunch of anything for a party it's much easier to get them all at once rather than driving from store to store trying to amass the quantity you need. Dollar Tree has a great selection of fun things for Easter as well as all the usual dollar store fare. You never know what you might find there.

Lucky Weekends

We were lucky all around this past weekend. Had an absolutely dreamy weekend with The Bug. So lovely. We got to visit my parents who are serving a mission just 20 minutes from my apartment. It was a bit of a double-edged sword to see them for the first time since they moved here because now that it's really clicked that they are so close we want to go over there every day and they keep trying to get us to come over. Good thing we're all busy or we might just never get anything done again and hang out together every day.

I never in a million years imagined that my parents would live in SoCal. It's like I was living on the moon, so far away from all my family, and then my parents just showed up on the moon one day. I am still trying to make sense of it, but I'm afraid I may get quite addicted to having them here and never let them go.

I took my mom on her first trip to Home Goods. My dad and I, laughing, said it was like taking a crack addict to a crack house. Home Goods will do that to a girl! As always Home Goods was looking good and I was amazed at the deals.

While we were there I also found this small piece of art above that merged some design ideas I was having a hard time bringing together. Finally some challenges I couldn't see through, clicked. Another great thing happened, thanks to Pinterest.

I was just doing a quick browse through and started jumping through a series of links that I followed to a DIY project that solves the biggest question mark I've had for the past couple of weeks about vessels for flowers on the wedding tables. I was so excited. I later realized that it may be impossible to find the supplies I need to make it. So we'll have to see. Frustrating.

We also had a lot of art going on at home over weekend, which I love. It's amazing to see The Bug lose herself in creativity. It gets so quiet....and messy. Even after she does a great job cleaning up I still find bits of paper and things askew for days to come.

So I'm counting my lucky stars these days and looking for the good in every day. Feeling very blessed this week.

Wedding Sandals & Thoughts On A Budget

image via Target

Where I stand today, for our wedding, I want it to be fabulous and I want to do it on a shoestring budget.  I would rather have money later than spend voraciously for the wedding itself. I know I can get the look I want for less with some savvy shopping. My dream is a wonderful, joyous day on the beach with family and friends and good food. I would love to wear some ridiculously high heel but I am already very tall and it's very hard to hug people when you're wearing high heels. I want to be able to reach people and never worry about having tired feet.

So, I keep thinking of Carrie Bradshaw in SATC I (the movie) when she shows her little second hand suit, much to her friends dismay, and says something like "don't worry, I'm going to merchandise it up and everything." In the end, she did wear that little suit on her happy wedding day. In the spirit of merchandising something up, I ordered these sandals today for $16. I would never wear white sandals again, so I thought silver/pewter might work. I'm not convinced these are THE shoes since they are only currently available online and I have not tried them on.  

These are very girlish, they don't have any strap going between the toe and will hold my heel down snuggly and comfortably. That is hard to find. I have looked in all price points for sandals that would work and it has been a challenge to find something with all those elements in appropriate colors. I think they would be so pretty with a few silk flowers attached on the outer side of the straps. Maybe something like these or these. And chances are good I would continue wearing these sandals, sans flowers, after the wedding.

Here are the sandals that I originally wanted until I realized they were very poor quality and impossible to find. I also found out just this week that the website I found those at is completely unscrupulous and shady. Thank goodness they didn't have my size. Fingers crossed for these new sandals.

If you have any great sandal advice or wedding shoe advice I'd love to hear it. Please do share. It's a big day, you need lots of good advice AND a good shoe.

Update Mar 5: I took these back. I decided that they just weren't very flattering for me. I have had some luck with some other options and hope to make a decision very soon.

Rising and Sinking: Paintings and Budgets

image via World Market

Happy Friday! I don't have any idea where this week went, but I stayed busy as usual. A sweet friend of mine said Wednesday, "I can't imagine you ever not being busy." She said it wasn't because I take on to much but that there would always be so many things that interest me all around me that I would always have something I wanted to be doing. It's a little spooky how people can peg you even if they don't spend a lot of time with you.

As the seasons begin to transition I always like to pop around to some of my favorite shops to see what they are up to. Yesterday I visited Cost Plus World Market's online store and ran into these two very interesting paintings by Maxine Price. At her website you can learn all about her very interesting technique and focus. I love the colors, the knife strokes and earthy simplicity. The above is titled Just Because II. For some reason when I first looked at it, I had a connection to it that made me feel strong, as if I was propping the world up on my shoulders and everything was opening up.

image via World Market

This is Just Because I. When I look at it I have the sensation of sinking into something very deep and interesting. It's intriguing that the most vibrant color is at the top of one and the bottom of the other, farthest from the white "entryway." A destination to work for -- mystery.

Wall art is so much fun and has such a way of personalizing and spicing things up. There are so many great resources for affordable art now that is really is something for everyone. And I think it's okay to rotate things and put things in a closet or behind a dresser for a while.

I have a few pieces hidden away under beds and behind dressers. I am not getting rid of them because they are investment pieces to me, but it's fun to rotate things around so that you can enjoy them more and see them with fresh eyes. A few simple shifts around the house can really make a big difference. Are you feeling the Spring itch to shift? What one thing would you most like to change?

One last note for today on dollar stores. I went through a dollar store web site yesterday and I was astounded at how many things from there I could potentially source for our wedding. Dollar stores have their cheesy, low quality reputation, which in some cases is well earned. But I am continually surprised and what I can find there and how I can make it work, rather than spending much, much more money. For instance I am thinking of spray painting some shells bright metallic silver. In that case, I need inexpensive shells that don't need to be physically beautiful. They just need to be shell shaped. Score -- a basket of shells for $1.

I also think I found some just the right sized tote bags that are good quality and might work for guest bags for $1. I am going to go check them out, but I was impressed at what I saw online. I'm going to look at some vases, floral supplies and other things as well. It's a blessing to the budget if any of these things work. 

I am really playing the numbers game, enjoying subtracting dollar amounts from my budget instead of adding them at any possible turn. And I'm having quite good luck. When I initially created our budget I based everything on basic retail costs. I did not take into account catering discounts and photographer discounts which are offered to us by the vendors we like through The Man's work. Those are significant and very helpful. 

Now that I am realistically looking at purchases it feels like a lot of things are quite a bit less than I originally budgeted. I know there is still a lot to add in and that budget could easily get eaten up by other things, but any savings is savings in my book.

I guess when I say I've had good luck, what I really mean is that I've spent a lot of late nights sourcing things for many hours and rethinking how I can cut costs. It's amazing how much you can save when you go from buying large quantities of things that cost $1 versus $3 or $5. So, having said all that, what I wanted to say was ---  give your dollar store a chance when you need anything for catering, taking food to parties, decorations, floral supplies or any of those things. You might be surprised. 

Hope you have a fantastic weekend. Weather is promising to be not too grand here, which is a bummer. But it's been so hot here the past few days that maybe rainy will be a nice change of pace. Hope your weekend is grand, wherever you might be and that you spend it with your favorite people.

Thanks so much for coming by this week and sharing your comments. I really do appreciate your comments and enjoy getting to know you from all around the world. So if you've lurked, say hello. Let's get to know each other. I would love that.

Wedding Errands: A Color Scheme Found

image via ZGallerie

Yesterday I was determined to take a couple of hours and nail down some wedding details. I created a circular round trip filled with right hand turns for my errands which saved me a lot of time and frustration driving through a very busy city.  My stops included one of the shops where we are planning to register.

I laugh when I say "we" because The Man is so busy right now he can't give any time to wedding registries or planning. I'm totally okay with that because his priorities during the next little while far surpass wedding plans. I think I'm going to be on my own from here on out, I just need to get him there on the wedding day with appropriate clothing. (I'm laughing as I type this.)

 So I'm registering for "us" but I'm doing it on my own. I am even going to a couples registry party this weekend and I am going by myself because The Man can't make it. I'm feeling a little nervous about going to an all-couples event by myself. But it will definitely help me to stay on task and just get registered for the few things that we need. I might even make some friends. I will need to put on my brave, outgoing face, which is not always my forte in many social gatherings.

My first stop was Paper Source. I took a long look at paper, stationery, ink stamps and other DIY invitation elements. Based on our short time frame I am so glad I decided to DIY the invitations from the start. There would be no time to order anything. Second stop Crate & Barrel for a quick wander. It's been a few months since I've been in the store and wanted to be familiar with what's happening there before the wedding event this weekend.  Then I popped into Z Gallerie since it was just a couple doors down. I fell hard for this Palm Panel above. Later this morning I'll share more about it and a couple of other things I saw there that I loved.

My fourth stop was F&S Fabrics. I was looking for fabric for ring pillow and a few other little DIY projects. I didn't quite find what I needed but I did find a fabric that had all the exact colors I am looking for in it. So I bought a quarter of a yard to carry with me. I'm seriously focused in on the color chartreuse. But I will also pull in a couple darker greens to stabilize things, then a lot of white and some weathered wood, grayish brown. Finding that swatch of fabric really helped me. Now I have a palette and can show it to people.

The last stop I made was Marshalls. I know all the Easter dresses are just coming out now for little girls. So I'm hoping to find just the right dress for The Bug for a song. I've already seen three dresses I'm seriously considering in greens & whites -- all under $13.00 at the discounters -- and there are some great white cardigans for girls out there right now that would be great for beachy weather. Here's one place I'm hoping to save some big bucks. No $100+ flower girl dresses necessary when we can find something we really love with a sweater cover up for less than $25. Sweet. Thanks Easter season!

A couple hours every few days is helping me pull things together. I think I have just about everything figured out. Time to start jamming on a few projects. I wish I had a sister or friend close who could run around with me on a few of these things. But everyone is too far away. So I'll just keep plugging away and emailing, texting and sending photos around for advice. I'm so lucky to have such sweet friends and family in all directions who have great taste, practical sensibilities and are so kind to advise. Thank you my sweet people!

As promised I'll share my latest Z Gallerie loves later this morning. Happy Thursday!

DIY Wedding Ring Pillows

I'm working on getting little things together for the wedding. I'm making a list of and taking actions on any little details I can take care of now. One of the things I'm thinking about is making a ring pillow. It's an easy project with simple sewing skills and a little creativity. Martha Stewart Living Weddings has a great collection of DIY ring pillows ideas. I loved the yellow twisted ribbon pillow and these square ribbon edged pillows above.

I'm thinking about doing something with a small woven mat pillow or maybe some pretty green and white fabric or maybe something sea shell themed. It's so darn hard to make a choice to do one little thing only one way. You get one wedding pillow and hopefully only get married once. But there are so many amazing ideas out there. The ring pillow is one thing I haven't really narrowed down, but everything else is coming together pretty well.

If you'd like to see where things are going, you can check out my Perfectly Imperfect Wedding board on Pinterest. If you need an invitation to Pinterest, let me know and I'll get you hooked up. Enjoy the Martha Stewart DIY ring pillow collection. If you have DIYed your ring pillow I'd love to see it. Leave a link in the comments below.

Quick Glitter Card Box Garland

Last night I whipped up a triple batch of The Man's favorite chocolate chip cookie dough, gingerbread and sugar cookie dough and popped it all in the freezer. Sometime in the next few days we'll do some baking and take treats to friends around the city. I also did some laundry and wrapped some gifts. Things are looking pretty pulled together around here.

I was looking at some wedding blogs and magazines this week that had all sorts of card boxes where guests can place cards and enveloped gifts. There are so many really creative, colorful, very vintage-y options out there, lots of vintage suitcases and birdcages. But I was thinking about trying something a little simpler.

So I experimented with making a quick cards garland to string across the lid of this wicker box from Thailand using Martha Stewart glitter. You may remember I won a large collection of glitter from Martha last year. So I have to give the lovely people at Martha Stewart a big thank you.

 Since there is definitely going to be a woven materials vibe going with the wedding, I thought this box I got years ago on a business trip to Thailand would be perfect - and free. I'm learning that every little penny counts when trying to keep a handle on a budget you have set for yourself. Speaking of budget, this entire project was free- everything used I already had.

First I used some scrapbooking punch-out block letters. I chose green since I wanted green to be the base color for the letters. I used thick craft glue and a paint brush to cover the surface of each letter with glue. Then I sprinkled glitter liberally all over the letters. Once they was dry, I shook off each letter, then painted the letters again with glue and added another layer of glitter on top. In the end I had three layers of glitter. I think I could have done more.

Using a paper cutter, I cut up a sheet of heavy watercolor paper into strips that were about two inches by four inches. Next I punched two holes across the top of each rectangle for the ribbon or cord to thread through. I glued each letter onto a rectangle piece of watercolor paper. I glued them about one-third the distance from the top, so that I had room to cut the pointed edges along the bottom and still have a nice border below each letter.

Then I snipped the bottom corners at 45-degree angles to get the point corners. You can measure this if you are more comfortable having a firm mark to aim for on each cut. The final step was to thread a piece of cord through each letter. The biggest trick is to try not to touch the glitter because it will damage it. You can always go back and do easy repairs with more glue and glitter if you need to.

You could also add more pizzazz to these by gluing these flags onto a pretty patterned paper that is slightly larger. Then trim it so it's about 1/4" larger than the white flag all the way around for a sassy border.

The final step is to clean glitter up from every surface of your home, your hair and your face for the next ten days. Then you're done. Haa, I kid, I kid. But seriously beautiful, fine, powdery, glistening glitter like I used gets everywhere. I had it behind my ear, in my hair and all over in my pajamas yesterday morning when I woke up. Anticipate a bit of a mess. I was being super careful and tidy in my work, so you can imagine how much worse it can get.

This was a super easy project and one anyone can do. I might keep experimenting with a little more color as a background pattern before I make a final decision. Small garlands like this can be used in so many ways to make informing others of helpful information or directions or making bold statements like "EAT CAKE!" both creative and fun. Try whipping one up today. Bet you have everything you need right in your supply cupboard.

images by kalanicut