A Piece of my Heart a week before my Wedding Day

          Part of my New Years resolution is becoming comfortable with being vulnerable. I tend to be uncomrotable with vulnerability because it shows your emotions, and my emotions change by the minute! 

So then I become afraid that people would hold those emotions (shared in moments of vulnerability) against me. 

Well, today I will break that pattern. One of the reasons being that I won't be able to relive this part of my life and I would like to share my feeling.

         For the past year (of engagement to Andrew) I have faced a roler coaster of emotions. They mainly range from super extating, to being patient, to being anxious and then again to being excited.

I'm sure more than one person can relate to those feelings before a big day/event/trip, etc.

Well, as I sit here listening to Oceans by Hilsong, I can't help but rejoice in the knowledge that The Lord has my future in His hands. There is no uncertainty there, that fact won't change based on my feelings.

         For the last 21 years (almost 22) the place I've called home has been wherever my parents/sibiling have recided. For the past 5 years, I've slowly considered Andew's house a home, but I've never actually lived there. I've never really lived outside my parents' house (aside for a short 3-month internship a couple of summers ago) in my life! That's about to change in 7 days! 7 short days.. It seems so surreal!!! It's frightening (It will be a HUGE change), yet the excitement overtakes any other emotion.

         After five years of waiting and dreaming with Andrew, the day is finally here and I couldn't be more excited! There is anxiousness insisde of me, yet there is peace (that surpases my undersanding for sure). The Lord is definitely leading me to a place in which my faith has never been before. 

I know he has called both, Andrew and I into this marriage and a life-long devotion to Him and His Kingdom.

So Lord, take me deeper than my feet could ever wonder for I know that when Andrew and I call upon Your Name, You are there.

God bless,

Aranza

10 Creative Ways to Hang Your Dress on Your Wedding day!

 I wanted to share different and even more cretive ideas to hang the dresses on your big day other than the wire hanger

 

 

I will be using wooden hangers with wire names on them for each of my bridesmaids (I will be posting a "tutorial" on those soon :), but that is not the only option for you. Read up and get some creative ideas from here!

 

1. Add a little something to a wooden hanger. It doesn't necessarily have to have a wire name on it, but it would still be cute to add a little detail like shells, if you are having a beach wedding.

 

 

Via Google

Or feathers and some bling

Via Google

I can't find the link for this one either. If you know, please let me know

 

2. Get a regular wooden hanger and carve s cute word on it like the one below.

 

I can't rememeber where I found this picture

3. Paint the wooden hanger white for the bride (with an added fabric flower), and black and white for the groom! What a neat idea. I especially love the tiny bow tie!

 

 

Via Google

And how about this for your bridesmaids? A white hanger with an awesome painting.. And we can't forget about the bow!

Via Google

4. This is a completely different, yet cool idea for the laid back bride having a burlap and mason jar wedding. It looks so easy to make! Just wrap some yarn around a hanger making sure it looks neat and it is glued in place. And then just glue some lace and burlap florets. You could also add the tag for each one of your girls.

Via Google

This one is very similar to the one above, except it's got a very feminine side to it with the "bride" meade out of pearls.

Via Google

 5. This is a very unique, yet easy to make hanger! Follow the link for the tutorial. I really like this one, even just as a regular hanger!

Via Google

 

This is another option very similar to the one above, except it has a brooch.. That could be your something old!

Via Google

 

6. This is so cute!!! Use a wire hanger and cove it in fabric. Even if you don't use it for the dress (because it is a wire hanger) you could use it for the undergarment. Or you could replace the wire hanger by a wooden one.

 

Via Google

 

Here are similar options with different fabrics

Via Google

And here is one with some trim! and monogrammed fabric

Via Google

 

This one is a very simple one

Via Google

 

7. This is one of my favorite ones!!! Although, I don't know how the hearts would be visible if the dress was hanging on it. Regardless, it would be perfect for a rustic wedding! And it doesn't seem too diffivult to make.

Via Google

 

8. This is also a great one for the bride with a funkier side and that wouldn't mind getting glitter on ther dress!!! Although, if I were to make this, I would make sure to seal the glitter with tons of clear spray paint!!

Via Google

9. I looooove this one! It looks so classy and elegant! Paint a wooden hanger in white/ivory and glue pearls in a neat pattern. The wire name is optional.

Via Google

This seems like an easier and less time consuming option!

Via Google

10. This is a great option for those of us that don't have time to craft 8 hangers, or want to let the dress to the talking. These wire hangers are pretty alone, but the tag and lace really adds something else. 

Via Google

And finally, I didn't want to add this one as an option, since they are sold on etsy (check out the link for the store under the picture)

Via this fabulous Etsy Store!! Go check it out

Aren't these cool? They are so different and original. Definitely not for your average bride.

 

 

Well, I hope you enjoyed some of these ideas and maybe sparked some of your own!

 

Subscribe if you liked this post or if you are interested in getting a tutorial for DIY your own wire name hangers!

 

Happy crafting :)

 

Aranza

 

DIY: Wedding Day Garter Tutorial.

Welcome friends from Pinterest!! Leave a sweet comment and subscribe if you like this tutorial

Even though we are not tossing a garter at the reception, I still wanted to have one for Ace to take off later.

So, I decided to make one!

I had seen this picture on Pinterest and I really liked the fact that it was lace and not just elastic with satin fabric.

Via Pinterest

You will need:

Stretch lace trim (I got mine at hobby lobby).

Three fabric flowers and extra fabric that matches the flowers

Small beads

Clear/white/ivory thread (and needle)

To begin, measure your thigh and cut your lace trim 1" shorter than this.

Sew the edges together by overlapping 1" of the lace and doing a zig zag over the raw edges. Like so...

Now it's time for the fun part!

Gather your fabric flowers and decide how you want to arrange them. Learn how to make these fabric flowers here and here. I added gold beads to the center of my flowers. 

I took a picture of how I wanted to arrange them (I ended up changing the arrangement, but that helped me have an idea for when I sewed them on).

Pin the flowers in place and sew a couple of stitch to keep them in place.

Later on, I added a few fabric "petals" under one of the flowers. 

And more beads directly onto the lace in the shape of a leaf.

And tadah! You are done :)

If I were to throw my garter, I would probably make a second one, but without the bling; the bling was very time consuming

God bless,

Aranza

DIY: Will you be my bridesmaid invitation

You guys know that I'm engaged, so part of the wedding planning process was asking my best friends to be a part of the happiest day of my life!

I didn't want to just go up and ask them. I wanted to ask them in a more personal, and thoughtful way. 

So, I surfed the web for different ideas on how to do this, and I found a few cute one, but none of them were hitting the mark.

Too simple

Again, too simple

I loved the idea of a treasure box, but I had to make 7 of them

So, when I saw these little dress boxes at goodwill (apparently, they are from the dollar store), I was flooded with ideas!

And this is what I came up with.

I liked the idea of giving them a fabric swatch for my wedding colors (which are constantly changing hehehe), so I decided to make a flower out of them.

I started by cutting many circles in my wedding colors. To make the "flowers" I folded each circle in 4 and run the corners through my sewing machine one after the other. I ended up with a string of 8 or so little circles (that looked more like triangles now). Then, I formed the shape of the flower and secured them in place (stitches or glue)

I made 7 of these "flowers" (I have 7 bridesmais)

Then I moved onto the little dresses.

I cut a square about 2 inches bigger all around than the cardboard dress form. I went to my sewing machine and sewed through the waist part of the dress gathering the fabric as I went. It took me about 5 minutes to sew all of them.

To finish them off, I tucked the sides of the dress in and hot glued them in place (to avoid as many fraying edges as possible.

This is what it looked like at this point (except without the ribbon.. thats where the gathering happened)

  

I glued the top of the dresses and cut the sweetheart shape.

Added the ribbon/lace, and then I moved on to the insides!

I basically just glued a personalized "letter" (which I found online) asking them to be my bridesmaids.. and, of couse, I couldn't forget the ring!

Tutorial: DIY fabric flowers

Today I wanted to share a little tutorial on fabric flowers.

These are the flowers you will be learning how to make. I will be using these in another tutorial (for a garter!!) But I wanted to make a separate post you can reference.

Get your supplies..

Start with a square as big as you want your flowers to be (mine is 2")

Fold in half once

And again

And once more

Once you have your triangle, cut one, 2 or three curves like so..

I did one and two curves to show you the different looks you will get.

Open them up and that's what they look like

Fold them 3 or 4 times and you will get different looks (fullness).

Now just attach them from the corners using glue or a needle and thread (I usually string about 6 petals together, and then secure them in the place with some more stitches).

Here's a few of the ones I made and how I made them

Number 1: It took 5 organza petals (3" squares), and a ruffle of lace underneath. I also added some gold beads

Number 2: 1 small flower of 6 ivory petals (2" square), 3 petals of organza (2.5" squares), 1 layer of lace trim ruffled, 5 petals of ivory fabric (3.5" squares).

Number 3: 10 ivory ruffles (2" squares)

Number 4: 6 ivory ruffles and 4 organza ones (2" squares)

Imagine the endless possiblities for these. You could attach them to a headband for that adorable niece (or for yourself). Think belts, "bows" for christmas presents, brooches..

Stay in tune for another fabric flower tutorial! And a tutorial on how I used these for my garter :)

God bless,

 Aranza