My week in review

First off I want to say hello and thanks to all of my new followers I have received this past week!  Thanks to my sweet friend and fellow bride-to-be, Whitney at That's Influence, for the shout out earlier this week! Makes me happy to know my blog is slowly but surely catching on and it motivates me to post more :)

I thought I would give a little recap of my past week and some fun projects and things that have been going on! 

Last weekend I spruced up our house for Valentine's Day! Though some view this as a silly holiday I find it to be a sweet one; not only because the colors are great, but because it's fun to celebrate "Love"!

"And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love.  But the greatest of these is love." 

1 Corinthians 13:13

Our decorations start at the front door! 

I was inspired to make these wreaths after I saw this pin on Pinterest....

Absolutely too cute not to try out! I had to search online to find the berry garland in red and pink and bought my wreath forms at my local Michael's and Hobby Lobby.  Mine aren't quite as vivid but I'm overall happy with the result and love the welcoming and festive touch it adds to the front of the house.  

These are our heart burlees that we hang on our french doors into the back yard.  They always add a fun and festive touch to our living area.  

And here is the mantel with my love collage.  I think my favorite part about this whole display is the small hanging ornament on the right side of the picture that says "Be Mine."  We found this last year lying on a shelf at Marshalls for $2 and I couldn't pass it up.  It's enclosed in glass on either side and framed in metal.  The backside shows cupid with his arrow.  Such a small and fun touch! Not to mention the jar full of pink, red and white M&M's...yumm!

Last weekend I also worked on a canvas to hang in my cubicle at work! Yes, I'm that girl...I have to have a cute workspace no matter where it is.  The grey walls of my cubicle were not cutting it so I had to add some color.

This is what I came up with.  I didn't want anything too detailed just something whimsical that would add color to the drab space.  I love the colors I used and added in hints of pearlescent white so that it would add a special luster and catch the light.  

Here's the finished project hung up at my desk.  It definitely helps to brighten my day when things get busy and hectic.  As you can also see I have a picture of me and my sweetie and a jar of those cute M&M's.  :) This is only one portion of my desk space.  I'll have to share the rest of the space with you another day!

On Thursday night my mom & I hosted a Stella & Dot jewelry party! I love the chic, stylish, and unique pieces that they have and we had so much fun hosting.  The simple and stylish displays for their home parties accent their jewelry pieces so well! Here are a few of my favorite pieces on my wish list...

All of these are great pieces to transition into the upcoming spring and summer months! Not to mention they would like great with some of my honeymoon outfits that I am anxious to start planning! 

Such an awesome brand that I love!!

And this weekend I traveled to Alabama to visit my sweet fiance.  Being separated right now is hard but makes our time together so special.  Saturday morning I assembled the new coffee table I found for us! (It was an awesome deal and was exactly the style I had been searching for!) Silly me forgot to take a picture of the table in it's new space.  However here is what it looks like...

Decorating is one of my passions and I can't wait to have a house to decorate from head to toe.  I'm loving being able to pick up special pieces that we love here and there so that when we do get in a house we will already have several pieces that we love to decorate with.  

And here are my two rotten cuties! They sure do love each other. During the week they only have each other so as you can tell they have bonded very well.  Macy loves her daddy.  I love being able to capture moments like this one :) makes my heart happy.  I love these two and miss them already.  

So that is my week in review! All over the place and full of fun! 

Good news...my bridesmaid dresses are in and I'm going with two of my bridesmaids tomorrow to check them out! I absolutely can't wait to see how they turned out! I also have another DIY project for the wedding that I'm going to try and complete this week so I'll be back with updates on that! Hope you all have rested up this weekend and are ready for another week! :)

Save-the-Date

Save-the-Dates are officially in the mail! 

Making these bad boys was definitely a process! It took a me a good couple of weeks to get everything done.  I worked in stages and created every bit of the save-the-date myself.  

I was inspired by a save-the-date example I had seen on ohsobeautifulpaper.com.  The example was very simple compared to my creation but it gave me a foundation of something unique and I knew I could add my own touch to it!  

I began by ordering our custom save-the-date stamp from Antiquaria.  It was an awesome investment and worked flawlessly on each card.  I ordered my kraft paper and matching envelopes from papersource.  The seafoam chevron strip at the bottom was a paper pdf file I bought and printed out onto white cardstock.  I used a tool to put the small eyelets at the top of each card and strung my pink twine through it.

The fun part about the stamp is that I embossed each one! Embossing is one of my new favorite things (thanks to my friend Meghann for teaching me how!).  It makes the product look more finished and fancy but was still easy and cheap.  I love the finished result! I had to cut each card down to the tag shape as well as cut each chevron strip.  Like I said...definitely a process! I had nice little assembly lines going and paced myself by completing separate steps each night. 

I went one step further by adding on to the back! I began by placing a small wallet size picture onto the center of the tag and held it down with gold photo corners.  I also placed a small pink circle on the center of the chevron strip and embossed a gold 'm' in the center.  Of course the 'M' represents my soon-to-be last name!

Adding the picture and these extra touches made our save-the-date that much more personal and unique!

And here are my finished stacks of cards! Lots and lots of work right there! 

Though it took a lot of work, I am so glad I was able to create these all on my own.  They reflect me as a bride and I am so excited for my guests to be receiving them in the next couple of days!

But...I didn't stop there.  After putting that much work and creativity into the actual save-the-date, they had to be delivered in an equally crafty envelope.  

Here is my stack of stuffed envelopes ready to go to the post office!

I bought matching kraft paper envelopes and chose to print out my own wrap address labels onto pale pink label sheets.  It was such an easy process and was so much better than writing out each individual guest name.  I love that the envelope coordinates with the invite on the inside!

Here is the front of the envelope (address blurred)...

...and the back where the address label wraps. 

Clean and simple but still have a unique and creative touch! 

I dropped them off at the post office today so they are on their way! 

This was a big project that I'm excited to check off my to-do list.  

I also got some other tasks completed this weekend! I took my dress to get altered and can I just say...I think I love it more and more each time I see it.  Trying it on again Saturday was so much fun! I can't wait until it is actually fitted to my size! 

And...we picked out Michael's wedding band! I love what we chose together.  He is not a big fan of jewelry and had a hard time adjusting to the realization that he will in fact have to wear a ring on his finger every day! haha

There is no doubt that things are really coming together! 

 Hope you all had a wonderful weekend like I did!

Wedding Website

Our Wedding Website is complete! 

I started working on it a couple of months ago and haven't gotten around to adding all the details to it.  I was lucky enough to find a site that offered free wedding websites but offered more unique and cute designs than the typical ones.  The design I chose fits perfectly with our wedding theme and colors and I love it!

Head on over to the site and take a look! You can read both mine and Michael's versions of our story, view pictures, and find info about the ceremony, reception, wedding party, and honeymoon!

http://www.mywedding.com/candacemichael/

Enjoy!

Motivation

I know everyone has the same old new year's resolution to get in shape...

This has less to do with any new year resolution and more to do with the fact that I am getting married 5 MONTHS FROM TODAY! yay!

I "liked" this pin on pinterest last night and it really got me thinking....

The idea behind this money jar is that every time you complete a workout you put $1 in the jar.  

When you've reached a certain goal you can take the money and treat yourself to something special.

I need some type of visual and physical motivation like this.  I used to be such a fitness junkie but this past year I have been slacking...BIG time.  It's not that I have gained any weight at all...if anything I have lost a few pounds...BUT I have lost so much of the tone, definition, and muscle that I used to have.  

I really think I'm going to start a jar like this.  I plan on saving up and after a few months I can go out and treat myself to a few swimsuits for the honeymoon!! :) What better way to get motivated to get in shape.  I have to look good on the beaches of Jamaica come June :) 

My workouts are going to consist of P90x videos which I LOVE and get awesome results from.  I'm also going to try out Zumba on the Wii for a fun change of pace.  I love dancing and have heard that Zumba is fun so I'm going to give it a try. 

This really is going to be a challenge.  I am now working a full time job, will be starting grad classes next week, and am entering the crunch time for planning a wedding! Despite my busy schedule, I'm determined to get motivated and make time to workout each night or even morning! I'm hoping to get back a toned and defined body by the time the wedding rolls around.

Wish me luck! I'll be back with progress as the months dwindle down!