DIY Beach Wedding Centerpieces

I was in major DIY wedding mode these past few days working on my rustic beach wedding centerpieces. With just months left until the big day, I've been trying not to stress and working hard on all my beach decor. I'm determined to do most of it myself to save money and then be eco-friendly and re-use the decor long after my actual wedding. My rustic beach theme allows me to play with sand and shells all afternoon, which is fun and it definitely has me dreaming of the beach and summertime. Is it June yet?

These tiny little starfish are the cutest.

Close-up of the shells.

Lining up all the beachy decor.

The raffia adds a rustic touch to the DIY centerpiece jars.

They're slowly coming together.

More to do... the DIY beach wedding to-dos seem to never end. Final product to come soon!

DIY Kitchen Nook

A DIY Kitchen Nook: This past week the fiance and I finally did something with the awful space in our kitchen. We just hit the one year anniversary of us moving into our new house and we're still trying to get everything to feel like "home". I came across several DIY ideas online for making a kitchen nook or kitchen banquette. But none of them were extremely helpful and unfortunately the fiance's lack of handyman skills doesn't help much either. So what to do? Get creative.

DIY Kitchen Nook (aka Banquette)

I started with my base. I came across these cabinets from Ikea. They're actually used to go over the refrigerator in kitchens but we re-purposed them. We bought three of them each measuring 36" long by 24" deep by 15" high. Optimum seating height is between 18" and 20" so after we add a cushion, we should be right on target. We picked out our favorite type of door - I think there might have been about 5 styles to choose from - and set off home. It took us about 1.5 hours to set everything up. I like to think of myself as an Ikea builder master - the fiance... not so much. Like I said, not the most handy of handymen. In total we spent $393.00 (before tax) for the cabinets, doors, and hinges.

(Pictures from Ikea)

We headed off to HomeGoods for pillows. I covet all things Pottery Barn, but sometimes my budget doesn't quite allow for splurges of that kind. I can always find something fab at HomeGoods and this time I got a real score. We picked up these high quality Pottery Barn look-a-like pillows at $30/pair. Great steal considering that's $15 a pillow. Just to compare, here's a Pottery Barn pillow at $35.50 each: Tonal Linen Flange Pillow.

We also grabbed a vase to put in the awkward corner space for our "sticks". Our "sticks" came courtesy of a 40% off coupon from Michael's Craft store. Never go to Michael's without a coupon... they have a new set of coupons every week and you'd be crazy not to take advantage. These "sticks" (I like to call them sticks in case you can't tell) cost us roughly $20 and look great in the corner between the wall and the windows.

The small wooden item is actually a crate from Michael's that I stained myself with two coats of wood stain. Sun bleach and then . Gives a great, rustic, beachy feel to the space. (Side note: I should really buy stock in Michael's)

My nearly finished product... it compliments our kitchen and we can finally have guests over for brunch or coffee. It's definitely my new favorite space.

Stay tuned though... next up: custom cushions and a new kitchen table. (Pictures taken at night, final picture taken in early morning light)

Seattle Bridal Shower

I'm a little late in posting all of these but I recently made my way back home to Seattle for my west-side bridal shower. My Maid of Honor (MOH) put together an amazing party for me and my closest friends and family. (Unfortunately I only had my camera phone with me (sorry!), so these photos will have to do, blurriness and all.)

For the mixed crowd we had beverage choices of wine, champagne, and sparkling cider. The wine bottles came complete with pictures from my engagement shoot. How cute are these??! 

There weren't too many sweets, thankfully, because this girl has to fit into a wedding dress quite soon. However, my sweet-tooth was indulged by these little delights - mini gluten free spiced cupcakes. I'm a true lover of cupcakes and my MOH and her mom are the most amazing bakers. Most guests had no idea they were even gluten free... the true test of good baker!

The game table. We played a couple bridal shower games right before I opened gifts. The first game: everyone had to write down their favorite or most memorable memory of us, and then I had to guess whose memory it was. It was so fun to hear what people thought was their favorite memory of our times together. Such a fun and heartfelt game.

The second game: my lovely MOH, Ashley, had contacted the fiance ahead of time with a questionnaire about our relationship. Questions like how we met, how many kids we wanted, who wore the pants in the relationship, etc. Corey wrote down all his answers and I, separately, had to do the same. Ashley then read the answers that we had both written down - out loud - to the delight of most the guests! Some of the answers we had written down were the same and so spot-on (go us!), others... not so much. Ha!

P.S. Yes, that cute little girl in the blue dress is me... I love that picture so much.

My beautiful bridal shower spread! A perfect winter wonderland-themed party accented by purple and silver. Ashley did such a beautiful job and I couldn't have been more excited to spend time celebrating with the people that mean the most to me. I'm a lucky girl to have two coasts full of people I love. I can't wait for the celebrations to continue!