This dress would just make me hungry

Via New York Times

New J. Crew

I think I'm sticking with my sale J. Crew dress ($79 plus tax and shipping!), but I still like to see what else they're putting out there:

Horizontal stripes aren't my thing but it sure is purdy:

I love wedding dresses with pockets, not so much for the look but because they are so practical for me (gotta have lip stuff at all times):

Something for the Bridesmaids

I finished the Bridesmaids Guides. We've postponed the Non-Shower, so I'm going to put them in the mail at some point in the next few days (hopefully).

These RuMe bags were a "Today's Delight" on Delight.com a few weeks back, so I snagged one for each of the five bridesmaids in different colors:

I also had a custom rubber stamp made from Impress Rubber Stamps with our date and "Chicago, Illinois" (that's what the two blobs at the bottom of the heart say, I promise):

and stamped some 5x7 muslin bags to package everything up:

*with thanks/apologies to Bunny Cakes!

35% off Erin Condren

This is such a great deal that I had to pass along: 35% off your total Erin Condren order through the end of April!

I ordered some personalized thank you cards from Erin Condren that I just love:

(Plus my order was shipped in a cute printed box *and* included personalized samples and I'm a sucker for both!)

Sale details at Erin Condren.

Duh-I-Y

We are having a photo booth at our reception, the kind where guests will leave one copy for the guest book and take the other home. I thought it'd be nice to give the guests a vinyl bookmark sleeve for their photo, and to pretty it up, put some printed paper in the sleeve.

I spent a couple of hours this weekend carefully cutting up some Martha Stewart paper:


Idiot that I am, I cut the strips the exact width of the vinyl sleeve...which I didn't get until today. Why I thought the paper would slide easily into the sleeve, I have no idea. And so tonight I spent some of my evening trimming:

Pretty trays

I've been coveting these custom decoupage trays from Ben's Garden for years:

Since I've been on a crafting kick lately (and in anticipation of my own wedding photos I'll have later this year), I thought why not make my own?  I found Behrenberg Glass online and bought a few glass trays of varying sizes, all for under $10 apiece!

Bridesmaid's Guide

I'm starting to put together treats for my five bridesmaids. I have a feeling that our time together during the wedding weekend is going to be a bit chaotic, so next month when we get together for my Non-Shower I'd like to give them a few small thank you gifts.

During a recent Paper Source shopping spree, I bought a mini accordion kit:

While I was hibernating/crafting last weekend, I finally assembled it, and it's now a prototype for a Bridemaid's Guide that I'll make for each of the ladies:

In addition to an overview of their duties (which basically consist of them showing up and having a good time), there are Bridesmaids Dos and Don'ts ("DO take time to enjoy being in Chicago", "DON'T let me eat or drink too much!") and a phone list. Most importantly the guide has a note telling the gals why they are important to us, and what it means to us to have them standing by our sides on our wedding day.

This prototype took about 20 minutes to assemble, so I'm hoping this is one DIY project I can handle without too many blunders.