{custom monogrammed c. wonder clutch}

I have been wanting to share this custom monogrammed C. Wonder clutch I grabbed before the holidays, but didn't have a chance until last night when I snapped some shots before I took it out to dinner in Paris for our much anticipated reservations here.  After we arrived in Southern California for Christmas, we headed straight to Fashion Island to do some last minute gift-shopping since we didn't want to carry gifts in our suitcases.  I was most excited to check out the C. Wonder store that is there since it's one of the only locations outside of the East Coast (partly we were gift shopping here, but mostly we were there for my own selfish reasons).  I'm not a huge fan of their clothing line, but the accessories and housewares are always amazing!

You can customize quite a few of C. Wonder's products on their site and during the holidays they had the embroidery service on-site in stores so that you could take home customized goodies that same day.  How could I possibily pass up adding a $10 monogram to purchase!?!  I opted for the simple striped clutch and then proceeded to agonize over what color thread to use for my initials- ultimately I choose the hot pink, but metallic gold was a very close runner up.

Unfortunately, as I was adding links to this post I discovered that C. Wonder doesn't have this clutch on their site anymore.  I'm hoping they bring it back soon because it's such an easy and affordable gift idea! You can find a similar customizable clutch here in the meantime.  Or you could buy this one or this one and take it to a local embroidery store.

UPDATE 02/10/14: C. Wonder has re-stocked their monogram clutches in new patterns for spring right here!

{diy monogram moleskin agenda}

I recently picked up a brand new Moleskin agenda since I use the ones that are on the academic calender which start in July/August.  Like most Moleskin brand notebooks this one is pretty strictly no frills, but that is exactly what I need on the inside of a planner/agenda.  The problem is that I have never found a great agenda that has the set up like the interior of this Moleskins one, but with a little bit more flair on the outside.  So this time around, I decided I would fancy up my agenda myself.  Using barely half a yard of some amazing ribbon I picked up on my last trip to Britex and a new monogram font I came across, I was able to transform this simple agenda.

I used this extra sticky thin double sided tape from Paper Source to adhere the ribbon around both the front and back covers of the agenda.  Then I used this font to create my monogram (yes my initials are NZX- that's what you get when you are half Lithuanian and then you marry a man with a Greek last name).  I printed it on coated sticker paper that I had leftover from some wedding projects then used this 3 inch circle punch to expertly cut it out.  If you don't want to invest in the monogram font or figure out how exactly to format your printer for special materials, you can buy monogram stickers from this Etsy shop.

This was a quick project that significantly improved the look of my boring agenda- although I think next year I might get serious about finding a fun replacement that has the amount of functionality on the inside that I prefer- any suggestions?

{monogram shopping}

With our wedding only 4 months away, I am getting more and more excited to use my new last name especially in Monogram form!  My personal monogram will look a little crazy since my new initials will be NZX, but that hasn't stopped me from doing a little research on all the different things I will be able to use them on after April....

 {monogram pendant necklace}

{personalized stationary}

 {Pottery Barn pillows}

{door monogram, this one is my personal favorite and it's a great price for only $42!}