Nostalgic for Crafting

Today I'm feeling a bit nostalgic. Less than 2 months ago I was running around like a crazy woman (which is different from.... I digress), going insane, trying to finish up all of the last minute details that goes into creating a wedding. I can remember all of the times that Z would grab me by the shoulders and tell me that planning a wedding is supposed to be an enjoyable time, and that I need to take a breather and have fun with it. I was such a stress case that I often ignored his advice and would just freak out until whatever project that we were currently working on was complete.

Now that the wedding is over, I miss some of the projects that we had worked on so closely together. I decided to take a walk down memory lane and look at some of the things that Z and I worked on during those crazy and exciting months, which ultimately turned into one of my most favorite and memorable days! 

 Wedding Invitations - We saved a $1000 when I decided to take on the task of making our own invites. In retrospect, I'm glad we saved the money to spend elsewhere, but would not want to do them again! I bought a kit from Michaels Arts and Crafts store and printed them all off of my mother's poor printer (which I used and abused). The assembly of the invites did not take nearly as long as all of the designing and printing of them.

I wanted a unique way to display the guest seating, and did not want to print anything ever again after printing all of the invites. Not to mention it was a pretty green option versus standard seating arrangements.  I had gotten this idea of using old window panes from a wedding website (either StyleMePretty.com or WeddingGawker.com, I can't remember). 

I loved how the previous project came out so much that I kind of ran with the idea for the menu.

 Our biggest undertaking was of course the coasters, where we handcrafted a set of four for each guest.

 This project took us a total of one month to complete, with the help of my parents of course!

We used a total of 6 different types of wood to create these little babies.

The finished product!

The inside of the card had all of the wood species we used and the meaning behind each specie. Each card highlighted what type of wood the set was made of. 

My father and I hand crafted these frames out of recycled wood that came from my father in law's house. My dad took it one step further and created these great frame stands out of recycled wood, bolts and nails. We used the frames to create a memory table for my grandfathers and Z's grandmother. 

We got some great compliments on all of our projects, but the fan favorite were the coasters! We have actually received requests for these coasters as Christmas gifts and are currently making a new batch for stocking stuffers. Let me know if you would like a set - $8 for a set of four!