Disaster Transport

I vaguely hinted at the failure of my adventures into centerpieces in my last blog, so I shall tell you the tale. Oh, and if you guess where the title of my post is from I'll give you a cookie, or at least your computer a cookie (that's right, starting off with the geek jokes, we're in for a ride).

Anywho, like I said before I have stocked up on craft supplies like Armageddon is on the way and they are burning a whole in my pocket, figuratively speaking. I've been itching to do some crafty wedding things since my friend announced her engagement two years ago (and has since been married), but it wasn't her style so I had to wait until now to do some wedding crafts for myself. I know it's early, but I like to jump the gun on things. Like this whole wedding, I'm planning without the "official proposal" (BAH I say to that!). So I made my little earrings, and some matching bracelets (they are cute, but again super easy) for my BM, but I yearned for a bigger challenge. Bring on the centerpiece mock up. Mr. Tal and I sat down and carefully read through the instructions in The DIY Bride (aka Future Mrs. Tal's Bible) for submersible table number centerpieces. It seemed relatively easy. Ha.

The process was fairly simple, it involved: some white card stock, a pretty paper of our choice, printer, laminate sheets, a hole punch, craft wire, heavy weighted objects of our choosing and a cylinder vase (in this case 10'' tall 6'' wide). Basically, after cutting the card stock to a predetermined size, we had to load it in the printer and just format a word document however we wanted. This was the easy part. We made our pretty table name in the font we liked, really made it our own. Then tried to print it...nothing. It ended up taking 2 hours to try to print this tiny piece of card stock. That was merely a technical difficulty at the time, but as I look back, I think it was a sign from the DIY gods that this project was not meant to happen. We finally get it printed and then we have to use double sided adhesive to tape it on to our pretty boarder paper and then we laminate it. All of this goes down easily, YAY Team Tal! Hole punch the bottom of the laminate, use the craft wire to secure it to a rock. Done. Rock on Team Tal! Then we go to put that laminated piece of beauty into the vase and it doesn't fit. Fail Team Tal. Fail hard. Not really, just a minor set back, so we trim it down and get it into the vase. Then comes the big moment; adding the water, and our submersible isn't submersible, it looks more like a bobber. Tie more rocks to it. Still doesn't sink all the way. At this point, Mr. Tal tells me it's just a mock up, the real vases will be higher so just breathe. Then I see the ink begin to melt like the make-up off an extra-sad clown in 100 degree heat. UGH! Only a mock up, only a mock up. It's my mantra with this project. We figured that we hole punched a little too close to the paper, no biggie, just have to remember for the final version. Mock-up centerpiece was a nice learning experience and we both did like the way that it looked.

Now I realize that this doesn't sound too bad, and really it wasn't. The horror part of the story hasn't come yet. When we finished up I realized that I don't know how big the opening of the vases we plan on renting are. This actually gets me a little giddy, because I'm hoping for an extra half inch or so. I immediately e-mailed the rental facility and asked this question, not caring when the response comes. Well she got back to me quickly to tell me the openings on the vases we want are 3.5'' (Internally, !$&*#@) Externally, I say to Mr. Tal, "Umm, honey, we have a problem with the rental place..." And I proceed to explain. Basically it all boils down to this, we now have to buy 15 cylinder vases for our centerpieces because the size we need isn't available for rent in our area. ARGGGGG! We've found them at a decent price in bulk online, but it's still the matter of paying for something that isn't within our budget. The plan is that we can hopefully sell the vases after the wedding and maybe only lose the amount of what we would of paid renting them. I'll cross my fingers on that one.

What about you fellow DIY brides? Any projects that didn't go quite as planned or unexpected expenses because of projects?

Tune in next time for more tales of a DIY bride.

My First Project!

I apologize dear readers (all four of you), but I've been down and out with the stomach flu after a weekend at FBIL and SIL's lake house last week. However, in my very restful state I decided to start working on some of my DIY projects, or at least buying the stuff for them. It's with all good intentions either way.

So today I went to Hobby Lobby and Michael's and spent way too much moolah for some of my projects. It's a little early for me to be starting some of these, but I wanted to get a feel for the projects I'm undertaking. So I bought supplies for a mock-up of my centerpieces, supplies for tote bags, earrings, and bracelets for my BMs, and supplies for making cuff links. I think I was a little over-ambitious, but my mind processed it and my reasoning makes a lot of sense. Right now I'm unemployed and only doing 3 classes this summer, I do have a lot on my plate, prepping for student teaching and all, but still free time is abundant. I figure before the wedding that might not happen because I'm going to have to have some form of a job, even if it's just a retail gig. Therefore, doing my projects now rather than later may save me from stressing down the line. (Though storing said projects may not be as much fun.) Yay for logical reasoning!

This was the first time I've ever tried to do anything crafty. Ever. At least with any amount of seriousness, not like that Popsicle stick house I built when I was 8. I decided that starting out small would be the best option, so I picked the BM's earrings to start out. The instructions for these came from a book called "The DIY Bride" by Khris Cochran, which is my Bible currently. She states that they are ridiculously easy drop earrings but I had little faith in myself. However, they were ridiculously easy, so easy that I ended up making a pair for every bridesmaid in about 30 minutes. I was a little afraid that I screwed them up because they were so easy, but when Mr. Tal came home he said they were beautiful. He was either trying to make me feel good or being sincere, I'll let you decide. [Mr. Tal's Note: I was sincerely making her feel good.] So here's the break down of the steps for anyone wanting to make these babies for a project.

Supplies needed: Your choice of Crystal Beads, Metallic Spacers, Faux Pearls, 3 or 4 inch Head Pins (depending on your size of beads, mine were small so I did 3 inch head pins), and Ear Hooks, as well as Needle Nose Pliers. All of which are pictured below: (I apologize for picture quality, I had to use Mr. Tal's iPhone, as our camera is packed in a box right now)

Step One: Place the crystal bead, then silver spacer, then pearl on the head pin, like so:
Step Two: With the pliers as close to the pearl as possible, bend the head pin to a 90 degree angle:

Step Three: Trim the excess head pin, I guess-timated, it was about an inch that I took off. Just make sure there is enough head pin left for step four.

Step Four: Use the pliers to form a nice little hook to pull through your ear hook.
Final Step: Loop the curved head pin through the ear hook, and close with the pliers. Voila, finished product:

Seriously, that's it. I think I have let the project go to my head a bit, I've tasted the craft nectar and it is so sweet. I'm ready for bigger and badder projects. In fact, Mr. Tal and I decided to try to make a mock-up of our centerpieces, it failed a little bit. Only a little. More on that next time.

So what do you think readers? What were your first DIY projects? Were they a success or failure, or somewhere in between?

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY Bride.

DIY Workout

Yeah, it's kind of a weird post title, but roll with me for a little bit.

I'm a fan of fitness, I mean, I like to watch sports, I like throwing the dog a ball or Frisbee, and I love my little jogs from the couch to the kitchen. OK so as you can see, I don't do a lot of what society would call "working out." Mr.Tal, however, is like Clark Kent, geeky on the outside with a body like a Greek statue underneath. I like what fitness has done for him. I find it quiet yummy in fact.

Now, I'm not saying I'm overweight, not even close, but I do have some squishy bits that I'd enjoy trimming up. I think some brides feel this at one point or another. However, unlike other brides I've read about, I lack motivation. Mr.Tal likes to say I get bored easily, which is true. I'm a fan of the whole working out at home, I like the little workout kits and DVDs. However, when I get a new workout method, I end up chucking it in the pile with the rest of my former "methods" because doing the same thing daily bores me to tears. It doesn't help that I'm not really unhappy with how I look, I just want to tighten and tone.

All this was true until last week. I tried on my dress and it was *ahem* a bit snug. That wasn't so big a deal, the major deal breaker happened after the dress snugness was stepping on the scale and seeing that I'm only 5 pounds behind Mr.Tal. That sent me into tears for an hour, and finally pushed me to make the changes my life has needed for a while now. I knew the healthy eating bit, Mr.Tal is like a nutritionist in his own right so that is actually easier for me. I knew automatically that the difficult thing would be finding a work out that worked for me. In steps my Greek statue, with a grand idea, "Why don't you try EA Sport Active for the Wii?" he says.

That was the first thing I did the morning after my scale made me cry. Now I was a doubter, I had tried Wii Fit, and while it was fun, it wasn't the workout I was looking for. I had little faith in this system but I knew another DVD wouldn't do it for me. I brought it home, stuck it in the Wii, and went ahead with the 30 day challenge. Wow, I have been using this for a full week now and it is a great workout. Not only does it switch up the activities everyday, I can also build my own workout if I choose, yep, DIY workout. (You didn't think I'd be able to pull it off did you?) You can choose from a myriad of activities to create a balanced workout for cardio, upper, and lower body. I haven't done it yet, I'm still battling it out with my trainer in 30 day challenge mode. I'm surprised that I've been sticking with it, surprised but happy. I love that I'm getting a good workout at home, without the hassle or cost of the gym. Though I'm pretty sure with the money I've spent in the past few years on DVDs and workout kits, may be enough to afford me a gym membership. I like the convenience of working out at home and the quick 20 to 30 minutes that it takes me. After this 30 day challenge with EA Sports Active, I think I'm going to try 30 Day Shred. I've heard a lot of good things about it and perhaps by the end of this 30 days I'll be in shape enough to handle something like that.

What about you fellow brides, are you trying to shape up for the big day? If so what are you doing and how is it working?

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.

It Never Turns Out How you Think it Will

I always thought that I was traditional. When I was younger, I always scoffed at the idea of living together before marriage, planning a wedding without a ring, and believed my wedding would be a big frilly production complete with a Church and hall. I don't want to say that I was naive, but I think when you are younger you have all the expectations of the way life is going to be. Maybe it's from TV, maybe it's from your parents, maybe it's from books and movies, who really knows? All I know is that when I was younger, I was very traditional with my beliefs and values.


Then along comes real life, boy, was that a smack in the face. When I met Mr.Tal all things I thought and believed turned upside down. First of all, he was not my type, but that's a story for a different post. Basically, Mr.Tal and I dated a full 9 months before we moved in together. Strike one against my younger self. See it turns out when you meet the love of your life, they are actually your perfect roommate. Also, my first and only experience with a roommate was with my best friend, which turned out to be a big mistake. Anyway, where were we? Oh yes, strike one.


Fast forward to January of 2009, Mr.Tal and I are in our crappy apartment on a Saturday, the snow is coming down hard, and we are bored. No good movies out on DVD, nothing good playing at the theater, and we had already eaten. It makes perfect sense that we go to the biggest bridal show in the area just to blow some time. After a few hours browsing through the vendors, we come home and have one of the biggest conversations of our lives. We discuss marriage and where our relationship is going. I think we had always assumed marriage was it for us, we just didn't know when, but that day a timeline became very real. See, while Mr.Tal has a great job and has been out of school for years, I am still finishing my double degree in Education and History. That long awaited accomplishment will be completed in December of this year. I need to move out of state, because Ohio isn't the place for teaching jobs, so I need to move not too long after graduation, say by summer of 2010. We had to seriously talk to each other, about what we wanted, what we needed, about our future and where we each fit into each others. We decided that our lives were entangled hopelessly in each other and that Mr.Tal would relocate to be with me. I was insistent that we get married before we move, so I had the gusto to ask if he was planning to propose this year. He said yes. I asked if he minded if I started to plan our wedding. He said no. With a busy school year the rest of this year and moving by next summer, we only really had Spring 2010 to pick from for our date, so we set the date (April 16th, 2010) and I didn't have a ring yet. Strike two.


Almost immediately, I started planning, I looked into venues and vendors I had always dreamed about and saw the price tag. Ouch. A serious decision was needed with the parents, the mother-in-law, and Mr.Tal. This was hard, because sometimes people don't understand when you don't have a ring how you could be planning a wedding, but we worked through it. We set a budget $8,000, that's what we could afford with the help we were getting. At that point everything had to change and I had to become thrifty bride (cue superhero music). I looked into DIY and found a world where I could have a pretty wedding and SAVE MONEY. Those in the wedding planning stages know how weird that statement is. However, with a budget, my ideas of a perfect wedding started changing. In fact, I think they really started to change when I decided to spend my life with Mr.Tal. All that really mattered was marrying the man I love, the pomp didn't matter anymore. I believe that starting our life together in as little debt as possible became more important than a big poofy dress, huge beautiful bouquets, and a huge guest list. Strike three, younger self.



Life never turns out how you think it will, in my case I think it's turned out better. So I'm living an nontraditional life, big deal, I've never been happier than I am now. Sorry younger self, you end up living with a boy before marriage, planning your wedding before the ring, and the wedding you always dreamed of isn't happening. In your older self's opinion the life that ends up happening for you is even more amazing than the one you had planned.

What about you readers? Think back to your younger years, has life turned out the way you thought it would then?

Anyway, tune in next time, for more tales from a DIY Bride.