Monday, May 24, 2010

Shortcake's Bachelorette


We finally got to celebrate Shortcake's Bachelorette this weekend. We had too much fun to discuss. Here is a pic of her in her veil and sash. They were a big hit!

Saturday, May 15, 2010

DIY Bachelorette Accessories Part 2

To continue my DIY Bachelorette crafting this week, I also picked up supplies to make a veil at Michaels. I bought 1 yard each of a pink sparkly tulle and white sparkly tulle. Luckily I had given the Bride-to-Be a tiara as a Birthday gift a few years ago, so I borrowed that from her. I also grabbed some sequins I had from a shirt I bought a while back. I don't think I will actually need to replace them on the shirt anytime soon.

I began by ironing the pieces of tulle and then folded them in quarters. I cut the bottom of each color, rounding out the corner without a fold (right side here). I also cut along the long edge (top seen here) to make it slightly rounded. As seen below:

Once unfolded all the way the piece was basically a large oval. Folding it in quarters allowed me to cut it once and have it all be symmetrical. Think about when you folded paper to cut a heart as a child!

Next I took the each oval and folded it in half. Then I folded them individually accordion style, with the folded edge at the top:
This allowed me to gather the wide piece into a smaller bunch. Now I began to sew the tulle to the tiara. The tiara had zig zags, which made it very easy to use. I began with the pink tulle and held the folded edge of the fabric, still folded accordion style and put one stitch through all the layers of the tulle, effectively binding them together. Then I set out to attach it to the tiara. I started at one end and simply weaved it in and out and then repeated the process with the white tulle. The end was result was not something fit for a wedding day, but for my first attempt at making a veil, I thought it turned out great. Also I saved myself some cash. Veils with tiaras, which I saw online, were $20-$30 with shipping. I made this for a grand total of $15.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

DIY Bachelorette Accessories Part 1

As Shortcake's Bachelorette approaches I've been working on a few things for her to wear. Earlier this week I looked online and at a few stores at sashes, veils, and tiaras, but I didn't find anything I loved at the right price. It seemed that most items were poorly made or those that were of better quality were quite expensive. So I thought to myself, "How hard can it be to make a sash?"

I went to Michael's Craft Store and picked up a number of things. For the sash I bought 2 yards of wide white satin ribbon, some pink sparkly iron-on letters, and a few stick on rhinestones.

I began by measuring the ribbon with a friend's help. I simply placed it over her shoulder and pinned it where it hit her hip. Later I turned it "inside out" and then sewed that spot together, creating a diagonal hem, then I trimmed it and scorched the edges with a match (so it would not unravel) and then I turned it back to the now outside, seen below.

Next I laid out the letters to spell Bachelorette and then followed the instuctions that came with the letters. Basically iron with a towel on top and then lightly go over the back of the ribbon. Lastly I added the rhinestones, which I stuck at the top and bottom of the sash. To make the sash myself was about $6. They were selling online for about $15 to $20. I will post a photo of Shortcake wearing this ASAP!

Sunday, May 2, 2010

What's a Showerette?

Ahh, yet another trip to Target for invites. I just can't get enough! The price is right and the selection is lovely. This time I decided to pick up these pink cardstock sheets. Each one was blank, aside from the word "PARTY!" in a gold foil on the side. The accompanying envelopes even had gold foil lining, LOVE. I decided to try using my computer this time. My handwriting is ok, but it does take longer and certainly more care to hand write invites which I learned here and here.


So using Word and a laser printer, I created the invites for another friend's Showerette to take place in June. What's a showerette you say? I have to give credit for this term to my partner in crime (and planning), Bdette. Because this Bride's guests are all over the U.S. she had 2 family showers in PA and OR, and we are responsible for the friends' shower in DC. Our college friends are also spread out, so it didn't make sense to have a Shower one week and then a Bachelorette weeks later. We decided to combine things, and Bdette started calling it a Showerette. Isn't she clever? I certainly think so. So we're having a Linen and Lace theme and guests can give traditional shower gifts (linen) or sexy lingerie gifts (lace).

If you would like to make invites this way, make sure you set your printer to Cardstock and Manual Feed. Be careful as you feed each sheet into the Printer, if you push it crooked, it prints crooked (like duh). It's also good to buy a few extra invites, I bought 30 and produced 26 acceptable invites.

I will update after the party with some pics. We have all kinds of fun decorations planned. I promise to get carried away with this theme, lol.