DIY Fruit Table Card Holders put the fresh in your wedding...

OK so today a customer (shout out to Katherine!) asked me if I could make my Love in New York Table Cards at a size that would fit into a lime....at first I though OMG are you kidding me that is totally adorable....then I thought OMG I could totally do that. So I did. Now I am gonna show you how easy it is friends...

So first thing you need to do is get some fruit. I am gonna show you a lime and an apple but you could do lemons, starfruit, artichokes, eggplants, fennel bulbs....wowzers I am blowing my own mind right now, I have to stop. So anyway, I headed over to my neighborhood fruit stand and picked up a bag of limes and a bag of avocados and a bunch of other stuff as seen here. It was quite a haul. I love California.

After washing and de-stemming a mess of strawberries for the kids' snack, it was time to get down to business. First I recommend cutting a small slice off the bottom of the fruit (not the apple- they have built in stabalizer feet) to make a flat non-rolling surface.

Next, just cut a slit about 1/2 an inch or so into the top of the fruit where you will stick the Table Number Card. I highly recommend you let the fruit dry out a bit before you go sticking the papers in...the apple especially made the paper pretty wet- they would be fine if you run short on time and don't have time to dry them but I did I let them sit over an hour and they were pretty dry without being wrinkly or gross.

Now you have the perfect place to put one of my Love in New York Table Number Cards (I can customize for many other cities too, I realize people don't only fall in love in New York, you sillies)....

Think about the possibilities...you can plop these on the plate to hold your guests name, you can put them on the buffet line so people know what they are scooping onto their plate, you can have have them hold your menu cards....ask me and I can do it...just head on over and see me at my etsy shop (you can click the apple below to get there)

Love In New York Line on etsy.com

Pocketsessssssss

Have you ever thought about just how great pockets are? I mean really, really thought about it. They are for sure one of the best inventions ever. You can put money in them, you can put your keys in them....if you have cargo pants you have like 4 extra pockets you can put your phone in there or if you are 10 you can put bugs and rocks in there. Often you forget what is in there...then later you rummage around in your pocket and you're like whoa...I forgot I put a ponytail holder and a nickel in there! If you are a stay-at-home parent like me, you end up with pretty full pockets by the end of the day...I pick stuff up all day and throw it in my pockets. This is why I do not wear cargo shorts. Ok it's only one small reason I don't wear cargo shorts but its a pretty good one.

Here are things with pockets...click the images to be whisked away to etsy where you can buy these fab things!

Let's get shameless self promo out of the way first, K? These are wedding invitations I make that have a little pocket on the front for a "Save The Date" Card or for a little tag with directions etc.


Now here is my very favorite pocketed thing I recently discovered on etsy. It is genius I tell ya! Apiecebydenise on etsy sells this...

This is just super fun. So many aprons on etsy but this one stood out to me. Maybe its because I am a recent vegetarian convert and I'd like to think my salad is just this saucy...snapshop on etsy sells this cutie....


Now for gawds sake....don't forget about your pockets....no one likes finding that ink pen in the washing machine!

Studio Peek

Sooooo....you wanna see behind the curtain do you? You wanna see "where the magic happens"? I dunno...can you handle this much excitement?














Ok....I'll give you a peek into my design....ummmm....let's call it a studio. It's really a table in the guest bedroom in my current temporary house but I pack a lot of creatin' into this little nook.


I took these pictures while I was working on a big custom baby shower invitation order. Look how sad my beads look in their boxes! They must be jealous of all the time I spend with my new friends paper and ink. Wow, this is sounding a little kooky...I blame the sushi high I am on.....mmmm....crunch rolls....







So that was just a little peek into the process....you get to see some of my tools, the table my in-laws let me borrow that is now mysteriously covered in ink, my husbands guitar amp that also serves as a spot to throw a tarp to spray my glitter inks all over the place and if you look close enough, you can see all kinds of little paper bits working their way into the (ink stained) carpet....don't worry...my in-laws told me they want new carpet anyways!

Caught With Handmade Goodness Part 2

This installment: adorable owl stuff! I know, I know....you etsians are all thinking noooooooooo! Not owls! Are they wearing cowls? Are they moustacied? Well suck it. My kid loves owls! She'd be pleased as punch to see all owl front pages on etsy so you are lucky she is not an admin :) Anyways, here she is wearing the cutest koo-koo (she calls owls koo-koos lol) hair clip from etsy seller RileyBowtique.



And here she is wearing her adorable handmade owl skirt from etsy seller Creativebee706.



More to come...including more koo-koo cuteness, some kitty cat cuteness and more :)

Handmade Weddings are my Favorite!

I've been thinking about weddings lately...all of my friends and most of my family are married and my kids are too young to even consider thinking about their weddings (let's get through grade school first for gods sake)...but I do love helping out with a wedding. Etsy does this whole "handmade wedding" thing and it got me reminiscing about the fact that almost all the weddings I have been involved in were "handmade" to some degree. I wrote and printed my own wedding invitations, made my own bubble bottles and let mother nature decorate with bouganvillas...for another friends wedding we made the pew bows...for another friends we stuffed the almonds in little lacy things...but my favorite was my friend Tammra who got married at a contemporary hotel in San Diego. She didn't want fussy centerpieces so we went with square vases with rocks and a few orchids. It was so gorgeous and expensive looking but it was pretty cheap! I love the ingenuity of handmade weddings but if you are not a crafty person (or don't have one like me who jumps at the chance!) then why not shop etsy to get that handmade uniqueness? Here are just a few things I adore...

New listings

I listed a few new things over on etsy. I really love this bracelet in particular. I have had these beads kickin' around for a long time and they finally got the attention from the muse :)

with a subtle hoot...treasury

Here's the Treasury I got on etsy just moments ago. All that stalking paid off!
I call this "with a subtle hoot..." and it features pale yellows, browns and bronzes.I just love it and hope it gets lots of happy views! (Just click the image to go to etsy and see it in all it's glory)