DIY Project: Handmade Clutches

Recently, I was perusing Classic Bride and found the most wonderful How To post. Back in July, Classic Bride held a DIY contest & the winner, Emily, submitted a fantastic & simple project for making bridesmaid clutches. I love this idea & want to personalize it to my bridesmaids as gifts. Depending on how the actual project goes, I may make some for our Mothers of the Bride & Groom! On to the wonderful project!

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Bridesmaid Clutches
Supplies:
- purse frame
- fabric (Upholstery weight fabric gives the clutches more stiffness)
- interfacing
- thread
- sewing machine
- cardboard

Step 1
Pick out your frame and use it as a guide to make a pattern. This may take some experimenting.

Step 2

Use your pattern to cut the fabric. Do this twice-once for the outside of the clutch and once for the inside.

Step 3
Also cut the pattern out of the interfacing.

Step 4
Iron the interfacing to the back of each piece of fabric.

Step 5
Put the fabric back-to-back

Step 6
Using the frame as a guide, fold over the fabric to hem. Iron to keep in place and then sew! Be careful to sew as close to the edge as possible so the stitches will stay under the frame.

Step 7
Do the same for the other sides.

Step 8

Attach tiny pieces of cardboard to the edges with strong glue. The cardboard helps to fill the frame and is useful for gluing. Allow to dry.

Step 9
Now add more glue to the other side of the cardboard and fit into the frame. I use a flathead screwdriver to make sure that all of the fabric is pushed into the frame.

Step 10
Rub the glue off the frame! Now you have beautiful clutches to match your beautiful bridesmaids!

Emily also has her own blog.

Green, Purple, and Champagne

Nine months to go and Rich & I will be married. Snippet and Ink posts the most beautiful, creative inspiration boards, so I thought I'd include a few that are appropriate for our color scheme. The boards incorporate the champagne, gree, and purple that should make for a gorgeous June wedding...

I love the bold purple shades! The purple incorporated into our wedding will be a bit more muted, but I'm tempted to include the vibrant fuschia and eggplant shades like below.

Now, while we don't have the luxury of incorporating horses into our wedding since the family farm was not a venue option, I just love the board below. If I'm lucky, perhaps we will have a chance to take some of our wedding photos or trash the dress pics with horses or at the farm!

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Let the Countdown Begin!

The Countdown, you ask? Why would we start the Countdown when June 26, 2010, is 274 days away? (Ok, so my Wedding Countdown has been going for quite a while....) Well this is the Countdown to our Costa Rica Adventure!

My MOH & Rich's Best Man are getting married next month in Costa Rica. About twenty of us are joining them in Costa Rica for over a week of adventures culminating in their small ceremony outside an amazing villa in Guancaste.

Two weeks from today, Rich & I will be doing some last minute packing in preparation for our early morning flight to San Jose, Costa Rica. From San Jose, we'll travel up to the Arenal Volcano in the central region of Costa Rica.
Everyone will stay in the luxe Arenal Nayara hotel,
which has amazing views of the still-active volcano.While in Arenal, Rich and I will go horseback riding, ziplining, repelling down waterfalls, hiking, visiting Tabacon Hot Springs, and generally enjoy the heck out of ourselves. About mid-week, the whole clan will travel northwest to the Guancaste region, where we've rented out an entire villa.
The time at the villa will be dedicated to relaxing by the infinity pool ...and celebrating Jason and Corrine's wedding. The tropical jungle weather necessitates flexibility on the part of the bride & groom, so the exact details of the wedding are a bit up in the air. If it rains, we will move indoors or under a cover. Otherwise, the wedding will be on the beautiful area around the villa.
Corrine & Jason are planning a special Trash the Dress session in the Pacific Ocean on the beach near the villa and I can't wait to see those pics!

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Following the wedding, Rich & I & the other guests will return to Denver via San Jose, Costa Rica, & Dallas, Texas. But Jason & Corrine will continue their Central American tropical adventures by traveling to Honduras and Nicaragua for two weeks of scuba diving and relaxation!

Engagement Pics Teaser

Here are a couple teasers of our Engagement Pics!

Looking like we are on the face of Mars!

Engagement Pics

Rich & I picked up our photographer Jason on a cloudy August afternoon for the drive down to Colorado Springs. After the roughly hour-long trip, we came upon the amazing scenery of Garden of the Gods. Rich and I made lovey-dovey faces in front of, in between, and on top of the gorgeous red rocks. I was convinced I'd fall on my face - given that Rich had just glued the straps of my high heeled sandals back together the night before - but somehow managed to remain upright while hiking around the giant boulders.

Rich and I ran back to the car to change into our next outfit right as the rain started. Rather than pose for pics as drowned rats, we decided to take Jason out for dinner at Famous Dave's BBQ. Mmmm bbq.

Bellies full of bbq & chocolate desert, we gave it another try up at Garden of the Gods. The rain-darkened skies provided a dramatic contrast to the deep red rock. I had been really excited to get some shots at Seven Falls, too, so we sped over to the tourist trap, practically in the dark. The falls were gorgeous & were lit with alternating colors of light. Seven Falls was ridiculously touristy and overdone (there was a random teepee on the asphalt at the base of the Falls), but it was definitely worth the drive to see the site. We were originally going to take the elevator to the top of the 180' Falls, but the stairs didn't sound like such a terrible idea after I read the map & saw there was a nice path at the top, so we could ride the elevator down.

About 60' up the wet, metal, stairs perched over the waterfalls in the dark, I began to rethink my plan. Another 30' feet or so & I came to the landing. After a brief internal panic, I followed the guys up the remaining 90' of stairs. The top of a waterfall is really not as exciting as you'd think. Especially given that you can't see the falls beneath, but merely the infinity pool drop off of water. At the top of the Falls, we learned the path to the elevator was closed. Lovely.

The hike back down the 180' was positively frightening. Wow. Did I mention I was in stilletto heels the whole time?? Needless to say, I was much happier riding the elevator up to a landing for our pictures a bit later.

With my heart still pounding, we bit adieu to the Springs & headed home after a very long day!