oh CORK!

One decoration element from my wedding I am willing to pre-share is CORKS!Now, originally I believed myself, my friends, and my family could drink their way to my crafting needs..definitely not. So, I looked to my new wedding best friend: Etsy

Two of a Kind Supplies supplied with me 200 perfect corks. Some with wine stains, some without, and little to no cork damage on almost all of them.

A few even had some hidden gems, like this one, a cork from the year we met. So perf!

I purchased the letters from Hobby Lobby, pulled out my glue gun and got to work!

For this project, I probably used in total, 150 corks. I absolutely LOVE how it turned out and the fact that we can use it again in our future home. Either when we get our own, big ole bar, or because our his last name starts with an "A" we can use the "A" for decoration. 

Things are slowly, but surely coming together. All the little things are starting to pile up and I have to admit, my brain is feeling overwhelmed between work, school, and wedding planning. But nothing but great things ahead and I know it will all come together in the end! And the end is near!

Something Old

Today I created my very special something old.

I won't be sharing too much of my wedding DIYs till the wedding is over in order to keep some elements a surprise, but this one will be hidden under my dress and not be seen by many.

I decided early that I was going to make my own garter and I wanted it to have meaning and I knew it would be easy.

I will have lots of different something olds on at our wedding but my garter holds many something olds in one fabulously delicate piece.

My mom mailed me a few pieces from her wedding dress, her garter, and I had on a bracelet with three pearls that came from my Great Grandmother on my father's side. So this garter holds memories from both sides of my family. 

Bottom of the dress from 1983

I believe the pearls are from the 1920s

I found a tutorial HERE on how to make the fabric rosettes. I did a few practice rounds with some muslin and it was so easy. All you need is scraps of fabric in long strips (1-2 inches wide) and hot glue.

My mom sent me two different pieces from her dress, one from a ruffle that went around her shoulders and a strip off the bottom.

I used the eyelet ruffle to make two larger rosettes and the lace strip from the bottom to make a smaller one.

I hand sewed the three rosettes together.

I cut the blue bow off her garter, sewed on the three small pearls charm and then sewed that to the middle of the rosettes.

I found stretchy white lace at Hobby Lobby. I'm going to wait to attach the rosettes and measure the lace till closer to the wedding. As you know from my project wedding bod, I'm hoping to tone up my legs and hopefully shrink some inches off the thigh area.

This is my keep garter, I am making a second, more fun/playful, garter for Brandon to toss, but my idea is a surprise for Brandon, so it will be kept a secret.