Wedding Invitation Ornament

Now that the holidays are here, it's time to decorate the house for Christmas.  This year I'm actually keeping it simple -- Just lights on the porch and our stockings.  Dave is on travel for the entire month of December and we will actually be at his mom's for Christmas morning, so I didn't want to deal with the hassle of a tree on my own.  But that Doesn't mean I can't make ornaments.  I've made different ones in the past -- like printing a picture on transparence paper and putting it in the ornament, acrylic paint ornaments, etc etc.
We got some great ornaments last year at a bridal shower I had -- and I'm hoping to get an "Our First Christmas" ornament this year but I wanted a way to remember our wedding year.  Then one day on Pinterest, it appeared.  An ornament incorporating our wedding invitation!

Here is what I did thanks to another bloggers, From Glitter To Gumdrops.



I started with the invitation and using a paper cutter, cut each line of the invitation into a strip.

 From there, I took each strip and wrapped it around a pen.  I did them different ways -- wrapping it on top of each other (like seen in the photo) or wrapping down the pin to make it spiral more.

I then put the pieces in a clear glass ornament and tied it with a ribbon.

A simple project that's quick and easy to do -- but will always have a meaning to us.

Melted Crayon Art

They are all over Pinterest and they are so easy to make. We're talking about Melted Crayon Art...
Here are some that I was inspired by...

Supplies: you will need a canvas, a hot glue gun & glue stick, a hair dryer, lots of crayons and newspaper. For a 12"x12" canvas, I used one box of 64 crayons.



STEP ONE: 
Pick out the colors you want to use and organize them by colors.
Now some colors will get rejected - Like I kept out all the browns, greys & black. 
Start laying the crayons that you want to use across the board in whatever order you want, lining them up until you run out of space.



STEP TWO: 
Using a glue gun, make a line of glue across the crayons (if you want a certain part showing, like the label, be careful to put the glue on the opposite side). Quickly place onto canvas in a line, as shown below, with tips facing down.



STEP THREE:


You can choose to prop your canvas up against the wall or hold it. I held mine at an angle. I used a blow dryer on Hot & High to start the process. Every few minutes I would stop to let it dry. I would alternate between Medium & Hot. You have to experiment with your dryer to see how fast it melts the wax. 
It sometimes splatters so be sure to cover the floor and surrounding areas with newspaper.

After 3 minutes 

After about 10 Minutes

After 15 Minutes

Oddly, some of the colors melt slower than the others. You can go back and concentrate on certain areas if you like, to get the picture to look how you want it.


And that's it! You now have a colorful piece of art.  There are several different ways to do this so it's impossible to make a duplicate.

Pinterest - Oh How I love thee!!

I am so obsessed with the website Pinterest!  If you aren't familiar -- It's a website with virtual boards that allow you to organize things together that you like and it allows you to share your likes with others.

Some of the boards I have include DIY projects, Cocks & Vols  (all things Carolina & Tennessee sports), Entertaining Ideas, and the best of all -- YUMMY FOODS!!

I have found so many recipes for dinner and desserts that I've been trying and majority of them have been very delicious!  One of my favorites I wanted to share.
The only thing I would do different -- add an egg to the milk to make the base coat thicker for the cheese to stick to the chicken -- otherwise -- it's so good!

Crispy Cheddar Chicken

Time: 15 minute prep + 35 minutes baking

Yield: 7 servings

Recipe from Jamie Cooks It Up!

Chicken:

4 large chicken breasts

2 sleeves Ritz crackers

1/4 t salt

1/8 t pepper

1/2 C milk

3 C cheddar cheese, grated

1 t dried parsley

Sauce:

1   14 ounce can cream of chicken soup

2 T sour cream

2 T butter

 

1. Cut each chicken breast into 3 large chunks. 

 

2. In a small food processor grind up the ritz crackers. 

 

3. Pour the milk, cheese and cracker crumbs into 3 separate small pans or bowls. Toss the 1/4 t salt and 1/8 t pepper into the cracker crumbs and stir the mixture around to combine.

 

4. Dip each piece of chicken into the milk...

then the cheese....

and finally the cracker crumbs. 

5. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and lay the chicken inside the pan. 

6. Sprinkle the dried parsley over the chicken. 

7. Cover the pan with tin foil and bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove the tin foil, bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until the edges of the chicken are golden brown and crispy. 

8. Into a medium sized sauce pan combine the cream of chicken soup, sour cream and butter with a whisk. Stir it over medium high heat until the sauce is nice and hot. Serve over the chicken. 

Enjoy!

From here on out -- I plan on sharing some of my Pinnterest finds so you can enjoy as well!

The Opportunity to Be A Guest Blogger

I was recently asked to be guest blogger for another Bride, Kayleigh, who's getting married near Clemson in two weeks.  She's looking for people to help her out while she finishes her last minute planning. I wanted to share the blog with you:

First off, I want to thank Kayleigh for this awesome opportunity to be a guest blogger as she prepares for her big day!

I recently got married 5 months ago and had the best day of my life. I wanted to pass along 2 simple tips to brides who are planning their perfect day – And they'll all tips you've heard before!

1. Don't stress, it will all be okay. – I know you've heard that a lot but it's seriously true. It's life and you can't control what happens. The day we got married so many things went, I won't say wrong, but not the way we planned.

When I was getting my make-up, the lady doing it decided to take her precious time. (We did makeup off site at a makeup counter in a mall – saves you money as many do it for free!) She was the only lady working, so any time a customer came up, she had to stop and help. We had my appointment at 11 a.m., I don't think I left there until nearly 12:30 p.m. So if you have your makeup done like that, be prepared and planned for it to take longer than you expect.

Another thing that didn't go as planned, we didn't start on time. We got married on a military installation and apparently it was “Retiree Appreciation Day” on base so there were hundreds of extra people trying to get on base. We just rolled with the punches and waited til it looked like the steady flow of people neared an end.

It's things like weather and traffic that you have no control over, so don't add the extra stress.

2. Take Time Out To Be With Your Husband – Everyone is there to see you but in the long run, this day is about you and him! So say your hellos, give your hugs and kisses to your guests who have traveled so far, but take time at some point (either before or after the ceremony) to spend with the man you love.

My husband and I decided to do a first look before the ceremony. It gave us a chance to get those awesome pictures, showing reaction and it also gave us time to spend alone (yea our photographers were there, but they were off in a distance) We also decided to knock out of pictures together then, that way after the ceremony, we could focus on wedding and bridal party and then join the party.

3. Remember to have fun!-- It's your day, you just spent the last one million hours planning and putting so much hard work into it. Do something you would never do again.

It may sound tacky, but we had a blast at our reception when the groomsmen started stripping (just their shirts) and dancing with my 70-year-old grandmother. Everyone was on the dance floor, laughing and having the best time. It was something everyone was talking about for weeks afterwards.

4. Finally-- Make your wedding memorable.
   You want people to remember something besides the flowers and the food. Let them remember why they were invited and why they mean something to you.

The one thing we did that was memorable was having the mascot from my college come to the reception. Many of our guests are South Carolina Gamecock fans, so when the Gamecock's fight song started planing and “Cocky” ran in, the place went crazy. Everyone wanted to dance with him and have their picture taken with him. He was a hit... for a while he was more popular than us! But it was well worth it to know our guests were having fun!

Best of luck with the rest of your planning!! 

Our Amazing Honeymoon

I've been meaning to write about our awesome honeymoon for weeks or even months... now but things have been crazy. But I am taking time now to do so.

After a long day with the wedding, there was no time for rest and relaxation. It was time to pack up and load up and hit the road.  We invited a lot of people to join us on the cruise because so many people have traveled or done so much to help with the wedding, we just wanted to be able to spend more time them.  In total, there was around 30 of us who went. We rented a bus to transport everyone to Tampa so we wouldn't have to worry about driving. After a stop in Orlando for breakfast, we arrived in Tampa to see the beautiful Carnival Legend.

 The agenda - to rest and relax for 7 days while in the western Caribbean.

Once on board, we hit the Lido deck (where the pools at) to grab some cold drinks and watch the boat sail off.  I have to say I was really looking forward to dinner that night just for dessert. Carnival's Warm Chocolate Molten Cake it the best!!

Dessert!

The first night we checked out all the areas of the ship.. the casino, the night club, the karaoke bar, sports bar, adult only deck, 
and of course a bunch of the bars.  We also just took some time to enjoy the balcony room we had.  It was crazy to even think..WE'RE MARRIED!

Our first day at sea was just a day of enjoying the boat. From hitting the pool, to playing putt putt, we had a good time. That night was our first formal dinner. So it was great to see everyone dressed up. The night, our waiters also brought us out a special dessert since we were celebrating our honeymoon. Our friends, Kim and Mike, had also celebrated 10 years of marriage! That night we checked out the comedy club which was pretty fun. Carnival always has a wide variety of entertainment on board.

Margaritaville In Mexico

Our first stop one we'd been to before and were super excited about: COZUMEL, MEXICO!  We didn't really have any plans for this port but to drink, have fun and enjoy the weather! We decided to head to the downtown area where we spent part of the time shopping, Señor Frogs and lunch at Margaritaville on the water. We ended up getting split up with our group for a good part of the day but we able to meet up finally an hour before we headed back to the boat. I have to say that's what sucked most -- not having a cell phone to call people to communicate when on land. Oh well.  We also spent some time at Fat Tuesdays and a few other locals places before heading back and boarding the ship.

The Wet Lizard

Our second stop - Belize City , Belize. To be honest-- not a lot of great things to say about this place. I was actually really depressed and felt sad for the people who lived there.  Th port area was decent, not the greatest, but as soon as you went out into the "town" you were in a different country. We took a tour of the city and went to a "rum factory". We got back to port and found a great bar though.. The Wet Lizard.  It's actually owned by a lady who's originally from Atlanta.  It's on the second floor so you can see out into the ocean. We got to leave our mark there as they let you write of the wood.

Honeymoon Steakhouse Dinner

The afternoon on the ship, I had an appointment at the salon to cut off my hair. I'd let it grow out for the wedding but I couldn't deal with the length anymore, especially with the hot weather.
That night Dave and I had reservations for the steakhouse on the ship. It was a great time for us to enjoy dinner alone and to get away from everyone. It was perfect and delicious!

For more on the cruise, I'll finish later. There's still two more stops to talk about and our Snuba experience! Stay tuned!!