Wedding Wednesday: DIY Lovebird Cake Topper

Are you enjoying today's DIY projects? I hope so! It's Wedding Wednesday here on NTMK and if you're just waking up, today is a very special Wedding Wednesday. I'm posting several DIY projects from our own wedding in honor of our five year anniversary, with the last being the one that ties into our first date. Again, if you end up using any of these projects in your own wedding, feel free to email me the results.

This next project was fairly simple and turned out better than I expected. In fact, it's so quick you don't even have time for wine or The Bachelorette. I adapted it from this DIY tutorial on Once Wed. I simplified their instructions/design a bit since I couldn't fathom dealing with fresh flowers on a cake topper. Yeesh! I wanted a pretty, dramatic bird like the one they used, but couldn't find anything. The only one I really liked was this semi-cheesy pair of doves holding a set of wedding bands. I thought they would look cheap and out of place, but they actually ended up looking kind of vintage-y and cute. Plus, the cost of this was under $20! You can't beat that! Here's what you'll need:

Bark covered wire. Once Wed's instructions called for 2 yards. I don't think I used that much at all........................................................................approx. $3-5/roll

Heavy duty chipboard. I used some from the bottom of a sketch pad. This can be expensive, so look around your house for something you can use before you buy new. Make sure it's heavy duty, though, especially it you want to hang on to it as a keepsake. You don't want the grease from the frosting to ruin a flimsy piece of cardboard, which is the bottom of the whole cake topper. Dammit.........approx. $9

Pair of lovebirds. You can usually find these at any craft store ...........approx. $4-5

Moss. You can buy a new bag or if you're making the escort cards from this morning, you can use your leftovers.........................................approx. $3-5/bag

Vintage Millinery. Again, you can use your leftovers from the escort card project or you can buy new................................................................approx. $3-5/bunch

Heavy Gauge Craft or Floral Wire..................................................approx. $3-5/roll

Hot Glue Gun & Glue Pencil

Sharp Scissors

Round Glass

1. Using your glass, trace a circle onto your chip board. Using your scissors, cut the circle out.


2. Make three loops of your bark covered wire the size of the chip board circle. Set the circle aside and continue making loops. You want to stop when the wire becomes fairly substantial and "nest-like."


3. Now, wrap wire around your piles of loops. Make sure you are pulling the wire tight as you loop around your pile. This is what will hold your pile in place and form the nest. Cut the wire and tuck it on the inside of the nest.


4. Set aside your nest. Heat up your hot glue gun. Then, take a long length of your heavy gauge craft or floral wire and wrap around the diameter of your chip board circle. Loop the wire around to the other side, meeting the two ends in the middle. Twist the ends, securing the wire around the chip board circle. Keep the ends pointed up. This might need picture explanation. See below.


5. Using your hot glue gun, secure your chip board circle to the nest.


6. Take you bird and stab it on the craft wire. Glue it into place.


7. Glue moss into place around the birds to fill in the space and cover the chip board.


8. Glue millinery around the nest to pretty it up. Your finished product should look like this:


So simple! So pretty. Because we had a dessert buffet, we didn't have a fancy wedding cake. Just a simple cake for cutting. This cake topper made our cake. It seriously prettied up the whole dessert buffet. And all for under $20 and less than one night's work! Sweet!

Do you subscribe to Not the Marrying Kind? If not, you should! It's free and fun and it means you automatically get new posts when the blog is updated. No having to check back! Click here for more details.

(Photos by me, except for the last one by Theresa Scarbrough)

Wedding Wednesday: DIY Project Day

In honor of our five year anniversary (together, not marriage), I'm going to share with you a few of the DIY projects we did for our own wedding throughout the day. Check back all day today, as I'll be posting several DIY projects! Here's a sneak peek of what you'll see today:


See you soon!

Do you subscribe to Not the Marrying Kind? If not, you should! It's free and fun and it means you automatically get new posts when the blog is updated. No having to check back! Click here for more details.

(Photos by me!)

Wedding Wednesday: Cake Toppers

I'm a big believer in either vintage or handmade cake toppers. They seem like the silliest thing to spend money on, particularly when so many of them are so damn expensive. But let's face it, not all of us love vintage, and not all of us are crafty. That's why I love these cake toppers I found from Ready Go's shop on etsy! They are customizable and totally inexpensive! Only $32!! And...they're ADORABLE! So if you're not a crafter and you're sick of seeing cake toppers listed at 100 bucks or more, go here! They are sweet, and affordable, and did I mention affordable???

They also have cute banners, which are, can you guess it? AFFORDABLE! (And frame-able after the wedding!)


(Photos via Ready Go)

So beautiful!

How beautiful are these amazing, custom cake toppers? Concarta is L.A. artist Gwen who makes these beautiful sculpted paper cake toppers. Check them out! And if you're interested in learning more about her, check out her etsy seller interview here (she was a featured seller in July of this year), and of course her etsy store can be found here.

All images via Concarta

I Could Have Danced All Night

Photo by me!

First of all, thanks to everyone who commented congrats! I really appreciate the outpouring of love! I'm not as good as I used to be about responding to comments, so please forgive me, but I did read them all and appreciate them, as always.

I must try to hurry and get this posted because A.P. is taking me out to dinner tonight to celebrate my employment. And because I don't want to be that girl, you know, the one who always is running late (which I am 95% of the time when it comes to these things) I need to go shower, and get prettified. But first...there's the dance!

So, as I told you all before, I have designed a mock-up of our invitation. It's really, really, really in the beginning stages, and I have yet to scan it in, but after checking out Brooklyn Bride last week, I was stunned to see almost my exact same invitation! So if you're curious what ours will look like, go look at this, because I swear to God it's almost the exact same thing. Insane!

Also, remember how I said shopping carts would be the new balloons?? Um, yeah...CALLED IT! Don't believe me? Go look. Caroline Tran is a photographer I've featured before and she's worked her magic again with this delightful engagement session as featured on Green Wedding Shoes, featuring a SHOPPING CART. See? Trendsetter, or at least trend caller!

Still haven't found your wedding dress? Gangsta Bride had mad love for these under 1K dresses! I do, too!!

Now for the little details, which as you know, are my favorite! A.P. still doesn't understand why the little things always bother me, and I always say, it's because the little things are IMPORTANT. And they are. Especially when the little things are jars filled with wooden spools, vintage buttons, and woolen balls. Those are the stuff of dreams. I've been ebay browsing vintage keys, wooden spools and vintage wooden tops for MONTHS trying to make a nice collection not only for some interesting objets d'art around our house, but also for our wedding. The only issue I've had is trying to figure out how to display them. Enter Jordyn and Bradley's wedding as featured on Once Wed! Check out some of their centerpieces:

Photos via Once Wed

So simple and cute! Plus if little jars aren't your thing, check out these fabulous table settings as featured on Style Me Pretty. I love the little bird cage and bird (duh, right?)!

Or what about these fantastic papercuts as featured on Thoughtful Day? They would make beautiful centerpieces! Or if it's too costly, at least buy one and put it by your guestbook! Might I suggest the bird one? (Again...duh...like you didn't know I would suggest that one!)

Or if papercuts aren't your thing, and sparklers are (have I explained why I heart sparklers so much? One day I need to tell you about my first date with A.P.), check out this beautiful setup:

Photo via C. is for Charmed

Don't be surprised if you see something similar in my wedding photos! Or for that matter a take on these cute cake toppers from Party Perfect. Soooo adorable. I almost like the birthday girl better than the wedding one!

I keep starting paragraphs with "Or"...what am I? A manic wedding planning blogger? I can't help it. Simple pretty things get me excited. Like A Field Journal's Paper Lace banners. So simple and soooo easy! I don't know anyone who could mess this one up! I think even A.P. could make this (and maybe come wedding time, he will!).

Finally, I know I always go on and on about all these little details, and I'm sure many of you are thinking I'm crazy. But really, they do pay off. I try very hard to pick ideas for Friday dances, or just the blog in general that are simple, doable, and beautiful. So when I saw this wedding over on A Cup of Jo, I figured it would be a good example of how easy, cost-effective details can really pay off. So as my final farewell before dinner and Julie & Julia (which I've been waiting for since I devoured the book two years ago!), I give you, A Lemon Wedding!

All Photos via A Cup of Jo

Have a great weekend, party people! I'll be back blogging next week with a DIY project I've been dying to share with you!

I'd Rather Dance with You

photo by me!

This Friday dance might end up getting a little heated. I can't help it. I can feel the anger fires growing inside me. But before I get all worked up, here's a recap of my favorite stuff this week. It's short, but sweet! Or at least as short and sweet as I could manage to get it!

First, Nole at Oh So Beautiful Paper featured these lovely textile pretties, and then Janice at Scissor Variations, the blog of Papier Valise, showed us a most lovely way to display them. Imagine a beautiful painted wall with just this little heart pinned to it! It would be fantastic, no??

Speaking of decorating, how fresh and pretty are these centerpieces that Victory Bird at A Tale of Two Brides' friends made for her recent shower? I've been wanting to use mason jars in my wedding for some time, but I haven't thought of a way to do it, yet. I'm starting to think about ripping off these lemon lovelies.

photos via A Tale of Two Brides

Now, if you're like Victory Bird, and you're going to have a MOH, and some MOHettes (otherwise known as bridesmaids), I implore you to please have fun, patterned bridesmaid dresses like these. Or if you can't do patterns, at least do solid, but fun, color coordination. Do it for me, your dear old pal Marty, who isn't having bridesmaids.

Do you love moo cards like me? Then check these out. Some great project ideas from Vera at A Splendid DIY $10K Wedding! I especially love the save the dates! And if you don't want to DIY the save the dates, then go, go now and enter Oh So Beautiful Paper's giveaway! Yes. I'm ordering you around.

If you want fancy weddings to drool over, go here. If you want courthouse chic, go here. If you want gorgeous floral arrangements, go here. That's right. I'm ordering you around again. Get going. If you're hungry for celery and peach hued inspiration, go here. (I'm hungry for those key lime cupcakes!) If you want pure, unadulterated romance, go here. It's total girlporn. This one is my favorites.

photo via Green Wedding Shoes

Okay, let's talk about cake toppers. I saw this on Gangsta Bride. It's got Polaroids. Did you really think I wouldn't feature it here??? Then, my friend from across the pond, the Half-Breed Swede, emailed me the other day with these pictures:

photos by The Half-Breed Swede, emailed to me

The Half-Breed Swede (which is my new, most awesomely, awesome nickname for her...it just came to me) is one of two friends who knows about the surprise and the blog. Because I've been friends with her for 9 years now (good GOD!), and because she lives so far away, she has to know. It wouldn't be a proper wedding without her! Anyway, her friend, Anne made these cake toppers for a friend's wedding. She modeled the suit and dress after what the bride and groom were wearing. They're so detailed and lovely, I just had to feature them on a Friday dance. If you're interested in having Anne make one for you, drop me an email and I'll have her people call you. Or she can just email you. Whatever. (PS. I love that the groom has his hand ever so tastefully placed on the bride's ass. Yes. Awesome.)

Finally, there has been some debating around the blogosphere about judging people based on their budgets. I find it pretty annoying that everything has to get so political, and we can't just focus on pretty cake toppers and what we like/dislike and want to have/don't want to have, and move on. But, since so many people brought it up, I might as well throw in my judgmental two cents, right? A.P. and I aren't asking our parents to contribute to our wedding. We're adults, and it's 2009, we're capable of saving and paying for it on our own. That being said, neither of us wants to blow a ton of cash on a one day event, even if it is a big deal. We'd rather have a marriage, not a wedding. We'd also rather have a house. Haha. As of now, the numbers we're batting around are between 5K and 7K. No more than 10K. I'm going to try to DIY as much as I can, with A.P.'s help, and we'll cut corners and cost wherever we can. We also are keeping our budget low because of me. Because I work with a lower income population, and because I didn't grow up with a lot of money, I find it very hard to justify throwing so much of it away on one day. I also find it somewhat irresponsible to blow so much money when there are so many other, more lasting ways to use that money. Also, because of this part of me that believes in social justice, it seems wrong, especially in light of our recent economic downturn, to blow 50K on a wedding! A one day affair! I don't give a flying fuck if it comes off as judgmental. I really don't. My judgement is my problem. Not anyone else's. I have never judged a marriage by its wedding budget. NEVER. One of the loveliest weddings I've ever been to easily cost $40-50K, and I was happy to see those people get married. So please, spare the lecture. But if you must bring it up, it must be said that to talk about budget and picking and choosing what you need and what you don't need, and writing about hating the WIC, and then to write posts about how everyone shouldn't be judgmental about budget, well, it seems hypocritical to me. If you're going to tell everyone to mind their own business, maybe you start by minding your own business. And for Christ's sake...stop being so political. It's wedding planning.

Dance All Night

photo by me!

As promised, here's a Dance Friday post for you! This includes stuff from last week, too, since the FILs were here visiting. But some stuff is just too good to not post even though it's a little, tiny bit old. Like Liz's chocolate mustaches and noses:

photo via avoision

Liz is Felix at avoision's fiancee and though I've posted about her awesomeness before, she really has gone above and beyond this time. Check out the latest favors she made! Chocolate mustaches and noses for her candy bar! How cool are those? Plus how freaking adorable is that picture of the two of them with their little chocolate face accessories? Liz=kitchen genius!

Speaking of genius, I'm loving Miss Bunny at Weddingbee's homemade place card holders. She's got a great attitude about not spending money and she fashioned these out of old cookie cutters and wire. And though that might sound a little too MacGuyver-ish to you, they totally rock. Check them out here.

Little details like the place card holders are my favorite thing about wedding planning. I know when people show up to my wedding eventually most of them probably won't notice, but I know there's always those two or three people who appreciate the little quirky details, like my friend Mimi's post about this totally unique cake topper. Although A.P. isn't the tall one, I am. I'm thinking we'll need a bride ostrich. Haha! Mimi was really on a roll, too, because she also posted these pictures of her arrangements from her own wedding. I'm loving all the different white vases. Fantastic! But I expect nothing less from someone who came up with such an awesome guest book.

I'm loving all the Save the Dates that Brooklyn Bride has been posting lately. But I adore these and those. These because I love photobooths, and those because I heart The Little Prince! So much so, I've been trying to figure out a way to incorporate him into our invites! No such luck yet, though. And though Brooklyn Bride also featured these, I saw them first at Once Wed.

So, as many of you know, I'm a city girl. A big city girl, born and raised. And with the city life comes the train. If you're from Chicago, it's the "L". Anyway, as many of you also know, I heart me some Jeremy Lawson Photography. And if you live a hop, skip and a jump from Logan Square, then these pictures will make you swoon. I've told A.P. a million times that I want to take train photos on our big day. He doesn't get it at all, but I'm hoping these photos will convince him. Look at that train rushing past behind them as they kiss! I love it! (Btw, go check out the original...my polaroid doesn't do it justice!)

photo via Jeremy Lawson Photography

Speaking of wedding photography, you heard it here first: Fuck balloons, shopping carts are the new trend. Seriously.

Good God this is a long post! That's why you don't ever stop blogging! But it's worth it, right? Especially if you didn't already catch these weddings: Bowen & Brett at Green Wedding Shoes, Emily & Chris at Snippet & Ink, and Wren Handmade's wedding as featured at Once Wed. Part of what drew me to all three of these weddings were the clothes. Chris gives good suit, and I'm in love with Laura from Wren Handmade's dress!

photo via Once Wed

photo via Snippet & Ink

Finally, since A.P. and I will celebrate our three year anniversary in a month, this post with all it's sparkler fun reminded me of our first date, when we made a cake and lit sparklers on my back porch. It was fantastic, and I, like Something's Hiding in Here, am looking forward to the next set of adventures!

photo via Something's Hiding in Here

Have a greet weekend, everyone!

Come Dancing!

photo by me!

It's that time again! Can you believe how fast this week went? I have been seriously pounding the pavement dropping off resumes! It sucks. I went to seven places this week, and I'm about to go to three more today. But before I do...let's do a little dancing.

It seems that this was the week of video invitations, save the dates, and thank yous. The funniest was definitely from DIY Wedding Girl, who featured The Broke Ass Bride's video. You can see it here. My favorite part is when he says, "I was doing stuff you do in 2002," and you see Friendster in the back! Classic!

There is also this save the date, via Brooklyn Bride, and this invitation which is awesome and must have taken FOREVER to make via A Cup of Jo. A.P. saw this on one of his econ blogs, which means it must be making the rounds big time!

There are several beautiful weddings making the rounds. One of my favorites is this one from The Wedding Cabaret. I love the intimacy and the last picture where it looks like they're trying to hail a cab is classic. If that were my picture, I would frame that bitch right up on the wall!

These two, both via Rock 'n Roll Bride, are amazing as well. I love the bride's hair in this one, and I think these two might secretly be making a Belle & Sebastian album cover.

This engagement/wedding comes from The Wedding Chicks. I just love the picture of them in the restaurant.

This wedding was referred to me by Liz, Felix's fiancee from Avoision, one of my favorite everyday blogs. Liz is awesome! She makes yummy food, and is making all these cool wedding favors like homemade vanilla extract and rock candy!! Anyway, she is much faster around the internerd than I am, and she found this surprise wedding on 100 Layer Cake. It's nice to read/see how another surprise wedding played out. I'm telling you, ladies (and gentlemen), this is going to be the new trend!!

Finally, check out all these wonderful little things you could buy/make/add to your own wedding! You could get this charming cake topper (found via A Splendid DIY $10,000 Wedding)! You could turn these toothpicks from Party Perfect into more than just food labels. Hello! Place cards!

And finally, given my recent photo project, is it any wonder that I wouldn't love these engagement photos from Steep Street photography??? Just fantastic!

photos via Steep Street

Stay tuned tomorrow...I usually don't post on the weekends, but I'm going to post on a giveaway I've spotted!!