It's a craft sale!

The St. Paul Craftstravaganza is this weekend. Here's a sampling of my favorite handmade things that will for sale.

Love this intricate swirls necklace from Fiery Lion Designs. It's $100.

I can't get over how cute these little birdies are from Crabtree Studio.
There's something so precious about them. Don't know what I'd use them for or where I'd put them, but I want some! You see the tree branch they're perched on? I'm going to try do something like that for the wedding table centerpieces.

An update and a craft project

It's Spring and what's better than a zero-cost craft project? Er ... don't answer that question, but keep reading.

I've been MIA for more than a week on the blog because I've been focused on some other things. The temp is finally warming up, so I find it difficult to be at the computer any longer than required (which is a wretched eight hours of my day, btw). When Spring arrives I kick it into gear with just about everything in my life. Can't wait to see how I am next Spring when the wedding is right around the corner. Eek. Maybe I should start making apologies to those close to me now.

Done list:
1. Start flower seedlings (cost effective and just as fun as a sixth grade science project).
2. Look at finances (I joined the credit union at work and refinanced my car loan with a much better interest rate, which will save me $2,000 over the next two years.
3. Clean things that get cleaned once a year (windows, oven, curtains, junk drawers ... ok, I'll probably leave the junk drawers alone).
4. Vaccuum and flip mattress.
5. Start running/workout regimen.
6. Pack my lunch (The $5 Igloo insullated lunch bag I got at Target has been a great investment so far).
7. Order rain barrell.
8. Play catch with Tyler.


To do list:
1. Tune up bike and suck it up (The ride to work is just two miles and the route along the Mississippi River is gorgeous)!
2. Rake lawn.
3. New front door.
4. Rain gutters on the front of the house.
5. Find cheap dirt to fill in around house and seed the lawn.
6. Paint the chipping foundation.
7. Grill dinner outside.
8. Driving range with Tyler.

There's always time for fun, too, so here's an awesome craft project that anyone can do. These tin can lanterns, courtesy of www.thriftyfun.com would be great in the yard during a bbq or ... yep, you guessed it! A backyard wedding!



Instructions
Clean out and remove the labels from any sized tin can-opened on one end. If necessary, pound down any sharp edges with a hammer, then dry the can thoroughly.

Cut a piece of white paper big enough to fit around the can, cutting off any excess. This paper will serve as your design template.

After cutting the paper to the correct size, remove it from the can and with a colored marker, trace or draw a simple design using a series of small dots (about the size of a nail head). These dots represent the spots you'll be punching with a hammer and nail. Leave at least a 1/2 inch border around the top of the can so you punch out holes for hanging.

Fill the can up to the top with water and let it freeze over night. This will prevents the can from bending and denting while you punch holes into it and give you a hard surface to work on.

Remove the can from the freezer and reattach your template with masking tape. If necessary, secure the template with paper clips along the rim of the can.

With a hammer and large-sized nail, pound holes into the can following the pattern of your design. Make an X with masking tape across the open end of the can to make it easy to mark where to punch holes for hanging.

Decorate the outside of the can with paint as desired. Add small candles or tea lights and use wire or a metal clothes hanger for hanging.

The ultimate DIY bride

This article comes to us from Roxanne Hawn, a freelance writer for the Denver Post. I wish I could sew! Read to the end. The last quote is priceless!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Before "I do," do it yourself

Thanks to her talent with clothes, Gabrielle Johnson became a home economics star in school.

With entrepreneurial family roots, she grew into a self-sufficient gal. She studied apparel design and production at Colorado State University and co-founded Bloom Maternity, maker of luxury T-shirts for moms-to-be featuring flower motifs.

So, when she got stuck with 500 yards of white jersey fabric after a Canadian supplier's mistake, she turned into the mother of all DIY brides and created gowns for her entire wedding party. That's nine dresses, all told.

She started sewing in November for the Jan. 13 wedding to her high school sweetheart, Paul Johnson. They dated for 12 years, before throwing together a quick wedding for early 2007.

Sure, the lemons into lemonade thing played a part. But, at 4 feet 10 and 95 pounds, she knew finding a wedding gown would be tough. Her attendants were also petite. "It would have been a nightmare to find dresses for everyone," says Johnson, 26.

The inspiration part took time, with the bride spending nights awake, working out each detail. She pondered the fabric's nature - its drape, its stretch, its grain, the fact it does not fray and therefore needed no hems.

(Photo by David Lynn Photography)

The circle skirts and individual bodices she envisioned, gave the illusion of one-piece gowns. To prevent posh from going peek-a-boo, Johnson doubled up the knit. "Lord knows I had plenty of fabric," she says with a laugh.

Once she began sewing, each dress took just an hour to make.

More than tapping into personal talent, the process gave Johnson peace. "By doing the dresses myself," she says, "it took the focus away from agonizing over the details that were better left alone. I had to make decisions quickly because all I really wanted to work on was the dresses."

This DIY mind-set taps into two key trends, says Leah Ingram, author of "Tie the Knot on a Shoestring: Save Big $$ While Celebrating Your Big Day in Style," (Alpha, $14.95).

"There has been a huge trend in the last five, maybe 10 years, of how my wedding has to be all about me," she says. "I don't mean that in a stuck-up, snotty way. It has to reflect who I am. I believe DIY is totally tied into this trend."

Plus, Ingram adds, the rising age of first-time brides and grooms means more couples pay wedding costs. "Once you're footing the bill, man," she says, "you want to know where your money is going."

Ingram recommends bridal triage, where you put your time, energy and money toward what matters most. Skip the rest, she says, or find inexpensive ways to do it yourself. "You don't have to tap into your inner Martha," Ingram says. "You really don't. Keep it simple."

"It's so easy to get sucked into thinking, 'I need that, and I need that, and I need that,"' Ingram says. "You have to take a step back and say, 'Well maybe I don't."'

Elizabeth Lindsay, 43, couldn't agree more. Her first wedding, a full-blown affair aboard a boat that circled Manhattan, was all about the bridal machine.

The second time around, she and Barry Alles staged the ultimate DIY wedding: no minister, no guests, no reception, just love and really great rings.

Lindsay, a jewelry designer with a shop in Cherry Creek North, Colo., made solid gold bands for her wedding. Known for her baroque style with the one-of-a-kind rings she makes for other brides, Lindsay's own heavy bands resemble museum pieces - like jewelry found in ancient tombs.

Come wedding day, Oct. 14, 2006, Lindsay and Alles tossed on some favorite casual clothes, grabbed their digital camera and married atop a rock in Garden of the Gods. They self-sanctified their marriage, which is legal in Colorado, by simply signing and returning the marriage license.

After the batteries in her camera died, a passerby put her memory card in his much nicer camera and shot pictures. "We could not have paid someone to do better," Lindsay says.

Friends and family fussed about the private wedding, telling the bride she had to do this or that. Her answer? "I don't have to do anything but marry him."

Freelance writer Roxanne Hawn lives in Golden, Colo.

20 days

I have 20 days to prep for a 5k run that bridesmaid Kari talked me into. That means I'll be hitting the pavement even after I devour my favorite dish on Easter Sunday: Ham, and Mom's cheesey potatoes.

I vow to run the whole 5k and keep up with Kari, a regular runner and mom to almost two-year-old Keegan. The first time she and I went dress shopping I said I would immediately start my workout regimen, but of course I didn't. I actually enjoy working out, but during the winter I'd rather sit on my couch watching The Sopranos. Just being honest.

But now the weather is getting nicer, so I have zero excuses. Plus, I don't want to be one of those brides who gets fit just for the sake of getting married. I'd like to get into shape asap and maintain it throughout my life, even after I have children.

Today's workout: I took Marley for a two-mile jog. My ears really started to hurt near the end. Anyone familiar with this? I seem to remember that happening in my cross country days when we'd run in the bitter cold. Maybe it's my head getting used to the activity. I expect to wake up with a sore arm tomorrow. Let's just say Marley has a deep seeded interest in squirrels. There are times I even forget that I'm running, because I'm too busy pulling 70 pounds of dog in a direction he just doesn't want to go. It makes for an interesting route, however. I never quite know where my run will take me, because it's dicatated by Marley. When I see another dog coming, we take a different route. God for bid we run by another dog and just say a quick passing hello. Instead, Marley has to shake his rump like a fish tail and wrap himself and me around the other dog's leash. Last summer he drug me across the pavement and I said I'd never take him with me again, but ... I'm all about second chances.

Marley, my disfunctional running buddy.