{diy flower crowns}

Ever since Lana del Rey sported this awesome flower crown, I feel like I have been seeing flower crown inspiration popping everywhere (some of my favorites here, here, here).  I even considered wearing a floral crown at my wedding, but I didn't feel like the style of my dress would compliment one so instead I had some of my bridesmaids wear them.  Ever since seeing their fresh flower crowns in person, I have had major envy and wanted one for myself. 

I just so happens that we are heading out for a weekend in Palm Springs in a few weeks and I decided laying poolside would be the perfect time to wear a flower crown.  Honestly- is there really an "appropriate" time for a flower crown?  Let's just say I saw my opportunity to wear a flower crown among friends at Chris' family's vacation home and I am seizing it.

This past weekend, my friend Eva and I picked up all the supplies at Moskatel's in downtown Los Angeles and followed this simple tutorial.  The only difference that I made in making mine was that I did not end up utilizing the floral tape.  I found that as long as you bend the ends of the floral wire away from your head that the crown is surprisingly comfortable and did not require tape to seal it.  The supplies pictured in the below picture is enough to make two flower crowns.  I recommend getting at least 4 large "blooms" for each crown as well as some smaller buds and leaves to fill in the sides.

This is by far one of the easiest and quickest projects I have ever done.  It may seem difficult, but as long as you have the right supplies you can create a simple crown in about 15 minutes.  I am even considering making one in red, white and blue flowers to wear for 4th of July weekend.  But at the very least, I absolutely cannot wait to this one out in the desert!

{diy engagement party invites}

When I was in high school, I worked at a wonderful gift store and after being there for a little while they let me manage and do all the buying for the invitations department.  Ever since then I have always loved paper goods, yet I have never had a reason to send out physical invitations.  People just don't do that these days, it is all about Evites and Facebook events.  Chris' parents are throwing us an engagement party in a few weeks and asked them if they wouldn't mind if I made invitations for it.  Not only did I finally get to send out real invitations for a party, but I also thought it could be a trial run to see if it might be feasible for us to make our own wedding invitations when the time comes.

What I used:

• light grey cardstock
• white cardstock (both for the main card and the crest)
• gold grosgrain 5/8 inch thick ribbon from JoAnn's Fabric
• "paperbag" 5 by 7 & envelopes
• Avery full sheet white sticker paper (for envelope wrap address labels)
• Zots glue dots
• Spray Adhesive
• paper cutter (unless you buy pre-cut cardstock)

 After formatting the invite text in a word document, I placed two invites per 8.5 by 11 inch page and printed them onto the white cardstock. We then cut the white cardstock to 4.5" by 6.5" and cut the grey cardstock to 5" by 7". The gold  ribbon was cut into 5" strips and attached around the left side of the white cardstock using Zots glue dots (which are amazing!!).  On top of that I attached the small C+N crests with an additional glue dot. I then put spray adhesive onto the back of the assembled white cardstock and attached it on a piece of cut grey cardstock.

Tomorrow I am going to share how we made the envelope wrap address labels and hopefully I will be able to attach a free template for you to download (as soon as I figure out a good way to do that- suggestions are welcome..)

{yes- I know that the girl's name should be first, but I think this is more aesthetically pleasing.}