I cant get enough of these simple heart puzzle blocks!  Easy to make & perfect as that lil extra something decor wise or a fun gift all their own!  To make these glittery heart felt blocks, click HERE

A sweet touch to any private Valentine’s Day Table for Two is strung Carnations on fishing line.  Use them as a backdrop or a curtain, ombre them in soft pinks or daring reds!

Got a spare mason jar laying around?  Toss on some heart stickers & paint that little baby!  After you remove the heart stickers your left with a true heart felt impression.  Use it to simply hold something lovely or drop a tea light in to set the mood!  To see instructions, click HERE

Now that we are starting to work up an appetite, I thought it would be a good time to mention my new dream dessert.  She’s lovely, a bit dark, & definitely mysterious, making her the best new Valentine’s Day Yummy Treat!  To sample this divine Black Forest Pavlova with Espresso Cream, click HERE 

Maybe some of these ideas are too bold for your test and passing a note between classes is more your style. Look no further then folding said note with neon winged messenger origami flair!  For folding instructions, click HERE

Got some to tie a heart on a string?  This sweet and simple paint swatch heart garland is the perfect thing to dress up any area that you’ve deemed the love tunnel!  For stringing instructions, click HERE

Ok boys, we have somehow managed to capture your attention, you know, last minute Vday and all, ok I kid, I kid!  But in all seriousness, the next 2 are seriously sweet Valentine’s Day gifts that will draw some mega coos out of your love, like this amazing hand made string heart.  Yes, from your hand, its Valentine’s Day, gotta step up your game!  For instructions, click HERE

Not so great with a hammer & string but still want to make something by hand for your love, why not try a paper form heart with a sultry message?!

Ok ok, we get it!  Its last minute oooooor your not a big make things with your hand kinda person, no worries, we dont judge, we just bring, AWESOME!  Awesome like this amazing ‘Over The Moon’ Balloon by BHLDN.  She’ll cost ya  pretty penny, but you’ll thank us later, we promise!  To purchase, click HERE

Phew!  Well I dont know about you guys, but after all of this, I need a cocktail!  Really dazzle your love with a signature cocktail, something like this red fire Chandon Hibiscus Royale!  The simple touch of the Hibiscus flower is simply BEYOND!  You are sure to get some extra love just from this frosty beverage alone!  To become a mixologist, click HERE

Today’s couple is too simply too cute!  Ann Ahrens & John Teigland met early in life & havent let go of one another for a moment!  When the time came to bring their wedding together, Ann, along with a small army of close friends & family rolled up their sleeves & went to task!  Essentially every aspect of this wedding has been personally touched, worked on, created & so much more!  From the heirloom brooch bouquet to signage, chalkboards galore, fabric bouquets, even the men’s gorgeous boutonnieres!  This wedding is a DIY’ers dream!

“It’s hard to say what our theme is because it was a little bit of DIY, rustic, vintage, and simple. We really wanted theoverall feel to be a reflection of us as a couple. Therefore, we wanted it to be very relaxed, laid back, and simple. Our goal was to make sure that everyone felt comfortable and had a great time! Going along with a relaxed feel, I loved the way the ceremony was set up, how everyone was spread out under umbrellas in Adirondack chairs. All of the simple details and special touches were fun and meaningful. My family, friends, and I made almost all of the decorations so it was fun to see it all come together. Having so much help from the people that mean so much to us made our wedding so much more special.”

“My husband and I are currently finishing college in Winona, Minnesota. We are both majoring in education and minoring in coaching. John has two more years playing quarterback for the Winona State football team. You could say that our love for sports brought us together. We met as freshmen at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) while I was playing volleyball and John was playing football the very first week of practice and dated for three years.  UNO moved up to Division 1 last spring and dropped their football program, leaving John without a place to play.  Winona State contacted him & he ended up loving the coaching staff and team so that is how we ended up in Winona. The first week we moved to Winona, John proposed!  Since then, our relationship has grown and strengthened. Our foundation is built on Chirst and we pray that His light shines through us so that we may have a postive impact on those around us. We are excited to see what God has planned for us!”

“My bouquet was from our great grandmothers, grandmothers, and mothers brooches. The bridesmaids and I all got together and everyone made their own custom fabric bouquet so every one was different. We also made the groomsmen boutonnieres.”

“We knew it was the venue and location we wanted because of the opportunity to have the ceremony outside in such a beautiful place. Summerset just seemed so peaceful, simple, and welcoming. It was the perfect place for our style!”

“My grandmother painted every chalk mason jar that the guests drank out of and the guest took them home as favors.  My aunt and uncle made all of the cupcakes and our cake.  The knife that we used to cut our cake has been in my mother’s family for many many generations.  All of the antique doors (that we used) were from a farm in Nebraska where I am from.

*SBW Note: Brilliant idea for displaying your cupcakes!  Utilizing an old door with window panes, cute areas are naturally available to you, to layout your cupcake buffet!

“With help from my grandmother, I made our thumbprint guestbook tree, and my sisters made all of the signs. All of the love and time that was put into all of our DIY projects really made our special day unique and a true reflection of us!”

“I honestly loved every moment in our wedding! Our ceremony was so much more intimate, personal, and meaningful then I ever could have imagined. We had our great friend and Christian mentor (Michael Martin) marry us, so it meant so much that someone that knew us so well was able to make our ceremony so personal and allow us to feel so relaxed. We felt so blessed that we were surrounded by so much love from our family and friends on our wedding day! ”

Vendor Love

Ceremony & Reception Venue: Summerset Winery
Wedding Dress Designer: Galina by David’s Bridal
Bridesmaid Dress Designer: ModCloth
Hair Stylist: Salon Bliss
Makeup Artist: Brittany Hanssen
Groom’s Suit Designer: Halberstadt’s
Caterer: Hickory Park Catering
Baker: No Leftover Bakers
Photographer: Aly Carroll Photography

I simply can not believe that it is mid-July!  I am flabbergasted and diggin my heels in heard as I dont want summer to be gone just yet, but I digress…  With summer though comes beach weddings & with beach weddings comes all kinds of nautical flavored decor elements floating around these stunning seaside weddings.

When I stumbled upon these Design Sponge DIY Paper Clay Barnacles, I knew I had to pass them along!  These are an absolutely fantastic, seemingly simple & inexpensive way to bring out that sea life to your wedding.  I feel that used in the right places, with the right reserved hand, these lil guys can really sing!  I also absolutely  love what DS suggests at the end of the post, by painting some of your barnacles in a wash of ocean inspired hues bringing seascape full circle!  I think a genius idea as well might be to tie this in with your cake, having some well placed barnacles adorning a tier or 2!  Either way, this is a fantastic idea and as far as ocean themes go, an avenue one doesnt see too often.  Everyone plays with sea shells, starfish and so much more, so why not bring a new touch!  Xo-Jess!

*Update Already!

Thanks to the wonderful Jennifer Gillespie of Calligraphy by Jennifer & her awe-inspiring pins on Pinterest, I ran across this cake just now and it happens to fit wonderfully with today’s DIY!  This cake is from the yummy Connie’s Cupcake.  So why does this cake work?  There are actually 2 reasons that this cake works really well with a sea loving them.  Firstly, the twiglike work around the edges of the cake can easily lend themselves to a sea grass feel.  The second & more obvious reason is the flowers draped from top to bottom on the three tiers.  It is the shape in particular of these lovely sugar flowers that easily resemble our barnacles bit in a  more romantic feminine female cousin kind of way!  This is a wonderful play on a sea feel, especially when in other decor areas the theme of ocean is expressed more strongly.  This particular shape of flower is a great way to bridge between obvious ocean life & not wanting to completely let go of more traditional  touches on your wedding cake.

Guys, I am sooooo all over this one!!  Love love love.  The cuteness factor is through the roof & just about everyone is a big fan of…. SMORES!  Thats right, I am throwing your way a DIY for Smore’s Kits from Oh Happy Day!

Now hear me out….  I know this might not initially strike you as directly wedding related, BUT how amazing  could these actually be for just that, a wedding!  I see these completely friggin adorable Smore’s Kits being used one of two ways, either as a totally adorable take home for guests, OR prepped and ready for a Smore’s Bar at the reception, similar to the one featured on Wedding Bells.

*Side note on this, I am not a fan of using Sterno in this manner, something seems really odd about having something I am going to eat, so close to a chemical flame like  that.  Caterers, please fill free to chime in here about your experience with something like that!

Anywhoodle, maybe fire of another form can be used, all the same, I love the packaging idea here.  In truth, that is a big part of what makes successful decor, presentation & packaging, which this idea hits some mega high notes in those categories!  The idea is simple enough, easy to put together & totally doable.  Perhaps the only area of slight difficulty or take cruncher would be the fashioning of the  sticks themselves for roasting.  I suggest doing a few at a time each day while catching up on DVR!  Sigh, I need to find something to use these for, they are too cute to just look at on the computer screen!

*Update 9/12/2012

As you might have heard, a ‘little known’ couple get married this past weekend.  Oh you know… Blake Lively & Ryan Reynolds… you might have heard of them before.  Well as it turns out, one special lil  feature that their guest were treated to… you guessed it, S’Mores!  The Lively Reynolds wedding guests were treated to absolutely delish S’mores as the official dessert!  We love their spunk & admire their passion for whimsy!  If S’mores didn’t already sound like a good idea, taking a page out of Blake & Ryan’s wedding book aint too bad either!  Enjoy! 

DIY Smore’s Kits by Oh Happy Day

After all the planning, after sweating all the details, after running around like a chicken with your head cut off, when you have finally had the day of your dreams & the chance to reap the reword of being  in a room that your carefully crafted yourself, there is one…last…key…thing:  The Thank You Cards.

Now that you have had a chance to cool off, had a moment away from all your DIY projects, your paper cuts have healed & you’ve finally found a way to remove that last bit of glue unmercifully stuck, entertain the idea of a new DIY, you know… for old time’s sake!  My DIY Wedding Day paired up with Oh So Joyous and features this lil gem of a stellar Thank You Card package.  The idea is simple, the work is moderately low especially compared to the lovely end product.  I love the idea of going that extra step, even after your day has come and gone.  I am sure your guest will notice the extra work and care, truly appreciating how much they mean to you!

DIY Wedding Day Thank You Cards