Save the Date DIY

Hi lovelies!
I wanted to post a quick Wedding DIY, because it has been a while.
So, here is an easy origami heart tutorial that can be used for wedding save the dates, Valentines, or whatever your heart does desire.
Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

So you're engaged...

First off, let me be one of the many people to tell you congrats! That's exciting (I know!) and I'm sure you have a million things running through your mind. I mean, there's colors, catering, bridesmaids, big, small, big, AHHHHH! It's a lot to take on. Planning a wedding takes time, and whether you have 3 months or 3 years, you can do it!

What you need to do before anything else is go to the store, and buy a bridal magazine. Just do it. They're a little expensive, but there are some that only cost about $6. Nothing is more fun than flipping through the pages of Bride wearing a sparkly engagement ring! Now, while you're at the store getting that magazine, go ahead and buy a few other things too. We're starting with organization and building the Wedding Planning binder!

You will need:
- 1 Binder. I would say a 1 1/2 inch or bigger. Anything smaller probably won't fit everything you need. I got one with a folder pocket for receipts on one side and business cards on the other.
- 2 Packs of 5 tab dividers. The cheap ones are fine. Mine are just the normal paper ones with a colorful    tab that sticks out and is customizable.
- Loose leaf paper. College ruled, wide ruled, non-ruled… Your preference!
- Sticky notes. Get a variety of sizes starting with the skinny tabs (those are for you magazine finds you want to mark!)
- Highlighters
- Pens (I like colorful ones!)

Obviously, you may already have some of this stuff, especially if you're a student like me. I'm trying to stay simple. I need to save money anyway. I looked at a bunch of Wedding Binder tutorials just to get some ideas/inspiration. I liked them, but most were very extravagant and required a larger chunk of change spent. I went to Walmart for my materials and paid under $10!

First, I labeled my dividers. I decided to label the things I felt were most important and deserved an entire section. This is up to you. If you don't like my labels, figure out what you want. It's your wedding after all!

Here's what I did:
- Ceremony: for information about time, location, officiant, program, guest book, processional music and order, vows, etc. Anything that has to do with the ceremony itself.
- Wedding Party: Bridesmaids and Groomsmen, and whoever else will play an important role in your wedding (i.e. flower girl, ring bearer). I will also include information about bouquets, corsages, and boutonnieres.
- Reception: similar to the ceremony tab, it includes time, location, as well as music list, DJ information, catering, and alcohol.
- Guests: just a running list of those we want to invite. I will also include favors, invitations, and any information we need for or about out of town guests in here.
- Decorations: I am planning to do mostly a DIY wedding (exhausting, I know) so this will serve as my section for all the decorations I plan to have/make. I'll also include the color pallet in here.
- Registry: information about where we plan to register, including lists of all once we know.
- Important: contact information, budget spreadsheet and spendings, checklists, etc. Anything I deem as important, but random, information.
- Honeymoon: self-explanatory. We haven't decided if one or both of us will plan the actual honeymoon, but this section will just serve as the place for anything pertaining to it.
- Calendar: I'll print out blank month templates for important dates. Especially for when it gets closer to the day.
- Inspiration: where I can throw any magazine pages I find, Pinterest articles I want to print out, whatever I find that I can't live without.

Like I stated above, this is your wedding and your wedding notebook so lay it out the way you want. I'm a scrapbooker at heart, so most of my pages will be in a format resembling that. Let me know if you have any questions while compiling your binder, I'm more than happy to help. I'm going through the process too!

Happy planning!
Love,
Lauren

Good News and New DIYs!

Hello all!
I have been away from the blog for a while, and I apologize. The past semester was a little crazy. However, over the New Year holiday, I got engaged! I am so thrilled and excited. I am also excited to share some new Wedding DIY projects over the next two years (longer engagement, I want to do as much of a DIY wedding as possible). The first project I'm planning to put up is a How To guide to setting up a planning binder, so stay tuned!
On another note, I hope everyone had a lovely holiday and is enjoying the winter.
Love,
Lauren Marie

More Crayon Art: Halloween/Fall edition

I wanted to create another crayon canvas creation, but more for fall and Halloween to decorate my house with. So I tried out a couple ideas. One failed miserably, but one turned out pretty good!

Pumpkin Crayon Art
I used the Crayola crayons again, this time I used one box of Keen Green and three boxes of Hello Sunshine.

I took the Hello Sunshine crayons, peeled them, and chopped them up roughly into thirds. I took the Keen Green ones, and just snapped the very tips off them to create the look of a stem and leaves. 

I then used a hot glue gun to affix them to my canvas in the shape of a pumpkin. Don't worry too much about being messy with the hot glue. The crayons will melt into one shape and the hot glue is mostly just to keep them in place while you are heating them. 

The next part was tricky. I wanted to heat the crayons to the point of melting them. However, I did not necissarily want a lot of spreading/splashing effect the blowdryer gives. I used a giant stick lighter on most parts so there was heat, but no blowing. This took a very long time and was slightly painful to hold down the trigger on the lighter, so I went back and forth between the lighter and a blowdryer. 

I'm so happy with my result. I am thinking about framing the sides with a green or black ribbon. I love this project because it's unique and I also versatile. I can use it to decorate for Fall, Halloween, and Thanksgiving!

Love, 

Lauren 

Crayon Art

Crayon melting is really popular right now, and I like the different ones I've seen. I saw a couple different ones I liked using a scheme of one color and incorporating it into a scene of some-sort. So I tried out my first crayon project, and it turned out pretty good!

I went to Walmart, and they had small boxes (8 crayons) of simple color schemes. I picked up two boxes of the green.

I simply glued them to the edge of a canvas in a random order with the flat tip towards the edge and the point towards the inside of the canvas (after peeling off the paper logos, which is optional). I used a hot glue gun to secure them in place. I then turned the canvas upside down with the crayons at the top. I had some help with someone holding the canvas for me, at a bit of an angle. I took a blow dryer and ran it back and forth until the crayons started to melt down the canvas. After that, I let it dry. Then I took fabric flowers and glued some in place with the hot glue gun in order to create a garden appearance. I like the way it turned out and I plan to play around with some other ideas.

Love, 

Lauren 

Natural Dying

I wanted to try natural dying with some hemp to make jewelry. It actually turned out pretty good. Here's how I did it!

1. I boiled 2 cups of wine. (I chose a light pink wine to get a pink color, but I want to try red next.)
2. I brewed one pot of strong coffee. 
3. I took three strands of hemp, and poured the wine over it in a bowl with a lid, covered it, and let it sit for 3 days. 
4. I did the same for the coffee, however, I put the coffee grounds in with it and even added more after I made a pot of coffee the next day. Again, I let it sit for 3 days. 

The wine dye turned out a very light pink and the coffee just turned the beige hemp a shade of light brown. I was very happy with the results, and I look forward to trying more! What natural dying techniques have you used?

Love, 

Lauren 

Vintage Suitcase Re-Vamp

I've been wanting to do this project for a long time! I finally found the perfect suitcase at an antique store for $10! All I did was get half a yard of lace, mod podge, and the suitcase. I measured the lace to cover the front and back of the suitcase. My lace was scalloped, so I decided to leave a little bit of the suitcase showing. I covered it with mod podge, and let it dry! I love it so much!

Love,
Lauren

Friday Pick Me Up

Hello all! I wanted a refreshing (maybe not so healthy) coffee drink to help me get through my final papers this afternoon. It's finally starting to look and feel like Spring here in Colorado, so I decided I wanted something chilly. Here's what I concocted.

You will need:
a blender
ice cream (I used chocolate malt twist from Schwan's, but any flavor will do fine)
2/3 cup of 2% milk (use 1/4 cup for a thicker consistency)
one packet of Starbucks VIA instant coffee (I used Mocha flavor)
4-6 ice cubes

1. Mix the instant coffee with hot water as directed.
2. Put ice cream (about 2 scoops), milk, ice, and mixed coffee into blender.
3. Mix in blender until all ingredients are dissolved and mixed together.
4. There you have it, your very own fancy coffee drink! Can be garnished with whipped cream and chocolate syrup as well! Makes 2 servings.

 

(I love these Aztec glasses!)

Happy Friday all! I hope it's lovely!
Love,
Lauren Marie

P.S. Soundtrack for today: ZZ Ward's self titled album! Check it out, it's great!

My Hair Story

I have recently cut all my hair off into a pixie cut! It was a pretty big change for me. I have barely even had my hair short. This is a style I have always admired and wanted to try. I always told myself I didn't have the right body type for it, though, and that I would miss my long hair too much. Finally, one day i was thinking about it. I talked myself out of it with the "I'll miss my hair" argument. Almost immediately, I laughed at how ridiculous that is. "Hair grows back, dumb-dumb," I thought, and I realized that I would probably miss my hair, but I will ALWAYS wonder and want to try short hair. So, I ran it by my friends. They all agreed I could pull it off and that I should just go for it. Most were surprised I hadn't already. I decided on a Audrey Hepburn style, or close to it, because I am always told I resemble her slightly. So, I asked my sister's best friend to cut it since she is a cosmetologist. She agreed, with apprehension. She told me she would cut it in sessions: cut a little, make me look at it, approve, then cut more. I'm positive she was convinced I wouldn't get past a bob cut. However, I got tired of the back and forth, and told her to just do it. She laughed and told me, "Lauren, you've never even had short hair, and you go straight for the pixie cut. That's just so like you." So she did it.

It was cold for the first few days, haha, and I'm still worried sometimes I look like a boy. I am reminded by my friends that I am very feminine and the cut does not detract from that. I do love it. It was such a change, and I think I needed it. I do miss my long hair sometimes, just like I thought I would. However, I'm really happy with my short hair right now. I'm glad I went for it!

Mix Tape Mondays: Hello Again!

Well, it's been quite a while. Sorry for the extended absence. However, I give to you a few songs to listen to. Coming up, I'm hoping to start re-vamping the vintage jewelry I inherited from my grandma. Have a beautiful Monday and an even better rest of the week.

1. White Winter Hymnal by The Fleet Foxes
2. Nighttiming by Coconut Records
3. When I'm Small by Phantogram
4. I Came Around by Murder by Death
5. Bittersweet by Ellie Goulding

Love,
Lauren

Mix Tape Monday: Sleigh Bells Edition

I am going to the Sleigh Bells concert this Friday with my boyfriend and best friend. I cannot wait! Here's some good ones I picked for you. Listen! Especially if you've never heard them! Enjoy the week :) It's starting to feel more like spring!
1. Comeback Kid
2. Born to Lose
3. Crush
4. Crown on the Ground
5. Rill Rill
6. Riot Rhythm
I had to do six songs this time! Too many good ones!
Love,
Lauren
P.S. Check out my pics and review from the Say Anything concert! http://thescenecolorado.blogspot.com/2012/04/say-anything-330-summit.html

Mix Tape Mondays

1. Safe & Sound by Taylor Swift
2. I Would Do Anything For You by Foster The People
3. Jolene by Cake
4. Port of Morrow by The Shins
5. Chills, The by Peter Bjorn & John

Enjoy the week!
Love,
Lauren

I've recently been going through my grandma's old jewelry with my sister, and we've been taking the pieces we want (which is basically everything), so I have a lot of new posts and DIYs coming your way soon! :) Can't wait.
Love,
Lauren

Mix Tape Mondays: Say Anything Edition

I am going to the Say Anything concert on Friday, so I decided to create a special playlist for the occasion! Enjoy!

1. I Want To Know Your Plans
2. Alive With the Glory of Love
3. So Good
4. Shiksa (Girlfriend)
5. Crush'd

All songs are by Say Anything. 

Love, 

Lauren 

Hunger Games

I am currently sitting in the movie theatre with my best friend, Megan waiting for the premier of The Hunger Games. I read these books a few months back, an immediately fell in love. I read them right after a break-up with my long term boyfriend of three and a half years. I have always been in love with books, reading, and the power of words, and these words came at a perfect time.Seeing this movie is a special moment because I'm in such a good place right now and I'm so happy. I'm thankful to have all the wonderful people I have in my life. I hope everyone can feel just as lucky. :)
Love,
Lauren
P.S. I'll let you know how the movie is!

Mix Tape Mondays

1. Let's Call it Off - Peter Bjorn and John
2. Young Blood - The Naked and Famous
3. Little by Little - Radiohead
4. Diet Mountain Dew - Lana Del Rey
5. Crown on the Ground - Sleigh Bells

I hope this makes your week, and your Monday specifically, a little better! Enjoy the beautiful spring weather!

Love,

Lauren 

D.I.Y. Customized Message Cork Board

I saw this idea as a magnet board. I made my own version with a cork board for a gift for my best friend. The cork board is a lot cheaper to make.

You Will Need: 

• Hot Glue Gun
• Sharpies
• One piece of scrapbook paper
• Multiple sized wooden circles (These can be found in any craft store. Any shape works. I thought taking square ones and making them look like scrabble pieces would be cute too.)
• Round topped push pins.
• Cork squares

1.  First, write out your message on the shapes one letter per shape. I used song lyrics my friend has as a tattoo. (You're the only voice my heart can recognize.)

2. Hot glue push pins to the back of each lettered shape.

3. Take your paper, and measure according to the squares. Then put dabs of hot glue on the corners to make sure the paper stays secure. The push pins will already help it stay on, the hot glue is just for extra reinforcement.

4. Finally, Glue a ribbon to the back to combine multiple cork boards and make a pretty bow at the top with a loop for easy wall hanging. Push all the pins in, and ta-da!

I hope you have fun! 

Love,

 Lauren 

Mix Tape Mondays

1. Razzle Dazzle Rose by Camera Obscura

2. Virginia May by Gregory Alan Isakov

3. Feel The Tide by Mumford & Sons

4. Thirst For Romance by Cherry Ghost

5. Better Than Love by Griffin House

Some songs to start out with your week. Hope you love them!

Love, 

Lauren

Hello!

My name is Lauren. I am a student in college. I adore reading, writing, and DIY. I have a passion for live music, and music in general. I co-run another blog sharing that passion. Here's the link, check it out :) http://thescenecolorado.blogspot.com/
I hope you enjoy this little piece of me.
Love,
Lauren