Lookin' Luminous

Another project has been crossed off our to-do list! This can only mean one thing -- the end is near. No, not that end. The end of wedding planning! And with every end, there is always a beginning to look forward to. Ah, but that's a post for another day. You're here to see latest project, right?

Table for 16

The last time we talked about this project, I'd just found the silk flowers to honor our grandmothers. Because we're short on time (OMG! 10 days left!!), how about we fast forward a bit?


This is the hunt table where our photos, guestbook and escort cards will be displayed. Lest you worry like I did that it won't be large enough, let me tell you this is one beefy table. As in, 10.5 feet long by 3 feet wide. Plenty o' room.

Revenge of the Peony

Remember my devious plan to elicit tears from our wedding guests? (Quick update: it involves old family photos, sentimental flowers and trinkets.)

I had everything except for the flowers and so turned to our florist to add a few additional blooms to the procurement list. She loved the idea but my chosen flowers are springtime blooms in our area; the likelihood of them being available (read: reasonably priced) would be slim. She suggested I look for silk versions of a calla lily, peony and pansy. While not resistant to using silk flowers, I was skeptical about locating all three. Sure, the calla lily and peony would be a snap, but pansies? I'd never seen a silk version before.

Off Mr. PaC and I went: me to Michael's, him to neighboring Lowe's. Imagine my surprise when pansies were the first silk flower I found. With the option of purple or yellow to boot! Two bunches of purple pansies found their way home with me.

For Mémère

Wishi-Washi

Okay hive, it's voting time! For your consideration, I've created mock-ups of three washi tape patterns: stripes, criss-cross/overlap and plaid. As some predicted, the plaid wasn't so easy. (Please be kind and don't vote for plaid. I can't create 100 of these buggers!)

Starting in the upper left going clockwise, we've got plaid, diagonal stripe, vertical stripe, and criss-cross/overlap.

Blue washi tape for our salmon folks

Buried Under a Pile of Details

"It's more interesting to have just a picture of a small detail - then you can dream all the rest around it. Because when you see the whole thing, what is there to imagine?"
- Dries Van Noten

Another weekend, another DIY project. In keeping with the above quote, here's a sneak peek of what Mr. PaC has been up to:


What have you recently crossed off your to-do list?

Wine bottle DIY: Aging and Bottling

If you've been following along, you've seen the harvest, crush and the fermentation. To complete the final stages, our wine bottles will be aged in their cases waiting for our wedding day where they'll make their bottling debut. Are you ready to see the fruits of our labor??


Just a tease through the looking glass...

Wine bottle DIY: Fermentation

Previously in this DIY, we "harvested" and "crushed" in preparation for...

Fermentation... when the real work gets started!

After crushing and de-stemming, the juice from the grapes is put into the fermentation vats, where alcoholic fermentation takes place (the conversion of sugar into alcohol and CO2). Sometimes yeast is added to start fermentation.

Much like the transformation of grape juice into wine, we're taking a rough bottle and converting it into a smooth, velvety vessel.

Freshly cut bottles awaiting their "fermentation" transformation

Arts and Crap... erhm, Crafts

I can't believe I'm contemplating screen printing as a DIY. Mr. P tried to convince me not do screen print our invites. I agreed, only after pricing out the materials and considering the logistics. (What? Just because Mr. P says so doesn't mean I always listen. I can be stubborn.)

Still, I really want to screen print something. Before I added on another DIY project, I felt it was a good idea to actually try it first! And so I found myself at Terrain @ Styer's one Sunday in February, enrolled in a screen printing class and ready to make something.

Wine bottle DIY: Crushing

Now that you've harvested your bottles for the wine bottle centerpieces, we're ready for the second step in winemaking: crushing/de-stemming, aka cutting the bottles.

Let me begin by saying there are many ways to do this, ranging from "so simple I must be missing something" to crazy dangerous... like an alcohol-soaked string that is then lit on fire.
Like I said. Crazy. Dangerous. - source
Moving on. We started on the easy end of the spectrum...

Wine bottle DIY: Harvesting

Any winemaker worth their merlot will tell you harvesting is the first step in wine production. For our DIY project, we followed a similar path... only we're harvesting bottles instead of grapes!

Ffffwooosh, Napa countryside whizzing past
on our way to another winery.
We *heart* wine.

It's Only a Paper Moon

One of those Oriental Trading Company catalogs came in the mail this week. Before committing it to the trash can, I flipped through it - just for fun. I was surprised to find products we'd actually use, including paper lanterns. But I knew they could be found for less! A little internet sleuthing yielded some deals.


Oriental Trading - limited colors (no yellow), accordion pleat design.
18" - 4.16/ea (6 for $24.99)
10" - 1.16/ea (12 for $13.99)

Ivory lantern

Photobooth: the results

Warming up to the photobooth.


Getting the hang of it.


Some of the boys.


Love the expressions in this one!

Photobooth: the test run

Knowing a DIY photobooth is in our future, it is important (for my sanity) to work out the details of the how as soon as possible. Our annual New Years party presented the perfect opportunity to set up a prototype booth. Of course, Mr. P and I had to get the thing working in a matter of days but those are small details, right? Hah. Once it was up and running, our friends would test it out and find the flaws.

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I did some research, finding free and not free programs. Heck, I even have a program on my MacBook that does the hard work for me. But I didn't like any of these options. I wanted more control (and to keep drunk people with liquids away from my laptop).

O' Piney tree, O' Piney tree

One of our favorite holiday traditions as a couple began as a small-space (and partially lazy) solution. We acquired a rather large antique icebox. Come Christmas-time, we realized it was firmly planted where our Christmas tree would normally go. There was no room for a tree in our small home, but we couldn't not have one.

2006 & 2007 trees
Genius struck that fateful year (2008) when I half-jokingly suggested an alternative: create a tree out of leftover pine branches and arrange in a vase. We wouldn't have to buy or schlep a tree home. It wouldn't be wasteful; in fact, it's downright green. It would fit on top of the icebox. No stringing tangled lights. Just a few ornaments and we're done. For the time-pressed, space-challenged or just plain lazy, this is awesome.

So I got a few branches from a co-worker who'd just purchased a tree, snipped a few sprigs and voila! Meet Piney...

Let the DIY begin!

Once the Evites for our annual NYE party were sent out, it meant our first DIY project was fast approaching.

The Photobooth.

source
Early on, I decided our wedding would have one. D&T's wedding last December was a blast, partly because of their very busy, very funny photobooth that hosted all sorts of mischief during the reception.

Yep, that's us. Being goofy.