Sustainable fashion: The Infinity Dress

Have you heard of these?  They're usually called infinity dresses or convertible dresses but apparently they're all the rage these days.  They're basically just a simple circle skirt with a thick waistband and SUPER long straps that you tie around your body in any way you like.  The length of the straps makes it so that you can do anything with them, resulting in countless different looks from the same exact dress.  Super cool, huh?

One of the most stressful things about planning my wedding thus far has been choosing the bridesmaids dresses.  I didn't want to be that bride who makes her bridesmaids spend tons of money on ugly-ass dresses they'd never wear again.  I also didn't want my ladies to be uncomfortable or look like they work the street corner, (I've seen enough pictures of this unfortunate result too many times to know that it happens easily,) and wanted them to like their dresses.  Too much to ask?  For a while, I thought so.

Until I found this dress.  There are several people on Etsy who make and sell these especially for bridesmaids so I contacted one of them.  Long story short, they were too expensive, especially for a dress that has such a simple construction and is made out of jersey fabric.

So we decided to try to make them ourselves.  I found an awesome green fabric made out of bamboo(!) so I got 4 yards.  I followed a tutorial one of my bridesmaids found online and voila!  Three days later, my sister was in her very own homemade infinity dress.  It looks way better on her than does on me.  (Frown.)

The tutorial I followed was this one, but I found this one later that I think would have been super helpful had I found it earlier.  The fabric is really stretchy which is awesome to wear but can be a pain to sew and cut correctly.  The second site explains all of this in great detail so I like it.

Throughout the process, I also noticed that 4 straps can be cut from the amount of fabric that is required to make the dress which means that by adding another yard and a half, 2 dresses can be made from 5 1/2 yards of fabric instead of just one from 4 yards.  Just an FYI for all you sustainably minded folks out there who might want a second dress for some odd reason.

And the cost savings?  Even after splurging on expensive bamboo fabric, this dress cost half as much as the ones that we were thinking about buying on Etsy.  It pays to be crafty!

1,2,3 Chalkboard

1.  Score a sweet white board from Goodwill for $5.

2.  Buy Rustoleum chalk board spray paint or something like it and a roll of blue painter's tape at a home improvement store.

3.  Cover the edges with the blue tape and spray the back of the white board (not the white part, the woody part) with 2 or 3 coats of said spray.

You now have a sweet new chalkboard/whiteboard hybrid!  Booyah!

What's this for?  The wedding.  But I'm not going to say what role it will play just yet...

The front...

And the new and improved back!

Toppin' the Cake

The other day, Shawn forwarded me a posting from the classifieds at his company of a wedding cake topper that someone was selling.  It was a porcelain thing with a man and a woman dancing, surrounded by a heart.  It was pretty tacky, but not horrible.  I definitely knew I didn't want it, but it got me thinking about what I actually wanted sitting atop our wedding cake.

So I made these.  They're chickens.  Duh.  What were you expecting?

Their butts.

They're cute, huh?  I combined two patterns that I found on Ravelry because I couldn't find exactly what I wanted.  Here's one.  I don't know if it will work, but give it a clickity-click.  I looked through my old sweater yarn extras bag and found all the colors I needed.  (I knew I kept those random balls around for a reason.)

They're crocheted and stuffed.  I made the bodies first, stuffed them, then made all of the embellishments.  I'll probably add a bow tie to the brown one and a veil or a bow or something girly to the white one to make them more bridal-y.  I'll also make something they can sit on so that they don't go directly on the cake and get their feet all icing-y.  But I won't do that now and you'll have to wait until after the wedding to see the finishing touches. 

Come on, I'm not going to give everything away.

How to NOT spend a ton of $ on wedding stationery (Part 2)

Here we are, 4 months until the big wedding, which means it's invitation time!  Seriously, I might just quit my day job for this because they turned out awesome!  And they were really fun to make.

When I first started thinking about the invites, I knew that I wanted them to be simple.  I don't really like the silliness of the extra envelope and RSVP card, plus the directions and reception info, not to mention the crazy invitation itself with the fancy shmancy wording that comes along with it.  That's just not us, and a huge waste of paper in my opinion.  I even thought of doing the invites completely electronically, but there are many people on our guest list who either are not electronically connected or who are old fashioned and would be sad that they didn't get a real invite.

So.  To keep this project as environmentally mindful as possible, I started out with a big stack of my home made paper.  I carved a block print of a fern and printed that on each sheet.  I bought a pad of vellum paper (tracing paper) and printed out the invites, 4 to a sheet.  (I got non-tacky wording ideas from offbeatbride.com.  If you've never checked them out, do it.  Your head will explode at the sheer amount of awesome ideas it will give you.)  These were carefully cut and attached to the paper with the fern print using a couple cross stitches in 2 opposing corners.

I created small info cards directing people to our wedding website to RSVP electronically, but also included a phone number that people can call to RSVP also.  These were printed 6 to a page and carefully cut out as well.  I printed them on some pretty card stock that I bought previously and had used for another wedding project (you'll see those later).  Both the documents (RSVP cards and invites) were created on good old fashioned Word 2011.  I have found through this whole DIY wedding process that anything can be created on Word.

The envelopes I bought were made to look like brown paper bags and include 20% post consumer recycled waste.  I like that they're brown.  On these envelopes, I printed out address labels on the same vellum paper (once again created on Word,) that wrapped around the envelope, with the to address on the front and from address on the back.  This was my one and only idea that I got from Martha Stewart.  Once I glued these on, I used another smaller block print that I used for the save the dates and printed that on the envelopes to spice them up a bit.  Then all I had to do was slap a stamp on them and send them away!

Dudes.  Invitations can be really expensive.  Doing it this way, though it involves a lot more labor, results in really cool invites that reflect who you are, are less stuffy, and they're a blast to make.  Who says weddings have to follow rules?

5/2/12 Update:  HEY!  These were featured on the Offbeat Bride Blog!  So cool.  Here's the link:
http://offbeatbride.com/2012/05/diy-eco-friendly-invitation-inspiration

BAM! Wedding shoes.

I like comfort.  But I also like originality.  So naturally, I wanted both of these elements when it came to my wedding shoes.  Though I rarely wear fancy shoes, I am a firm believer in shoes making a huge difference in one's mood.  So after I bought my dress, my hunt for awesome shoes began.

Here was my shoe shopping criteria:
* They have to be awesome.
* They have to be tall(ish).
* They have to be super comfortable. (I don't want to do the switch into flats for the reception thing.)
* They have to have their own personality.

I also originally thought they would have to be gold, but after looking in several stores, I decided that it was not a requirement.

So I started my shoe hunt.  I thought it would be easy, but it wasn't.  The tall ones were too uncomfortable, and none of them were nearly as awesome as I wanted.  Then I tried on these:

 I found them in the sale rack and they were like heaven on my feet.  They were cute, tall, and incredibly comfortable.  But awesome?  Not really.  Then a lightbulb went off.  I could make them awesome!  So that is what I've done.  A trip to the craft store resulted in some black lace and pretty metal flower things.  A couple Mabel feathers and BAM!  Awesome wedding shoes.

I can confidently say I will be stomping around my wedding with major style.

Makin' Paper

One of the tasks I've taken on for this whole wedding thing is to make my own stationery for the various cards and such that are required to let people know stuff.  You've seen the STD's (no, not those STDs silly, save the dates), but now that those are all sent out, it's time to start thinking about the invites.  Most of those will go out in February or March, but since I have free time now and would like it to be taken away in the near future by a full time job, I'm working on them now.

These will be particularly time-consuming since I'm making the paper for the main part of the invite. 

Paper-making is relatively easy... as long as you have a paper-making kit.  Luckily, I do.

A paper-making kit usually includes a deckle (the wooden frame) some blotter paper, and a screen.  That's pretty much it.  You will also need a towel, a clean sponge, rolling pin, some shredded paper, and a crappy blender.

First, you put a couple handfulls of shredded paper (in our case bank statements, etc.) into the blender.  I added some small pieces of yellow construction paper to add warmer color to the paper, since using just the shredded paper results in a grayish colored paper.  Add some water and blend for about a minute or until there are no more chunks.

It should look about like this.  It'll look gray, but when it dries, it lightens up a lot.

I would also suggest adding a bit of fun like flower petals (these are just the usual colors that can be found in my front yard) or moss or whatever you feel like might look nice in the paper.  This you only have to blend for a few seconds so add it at the end.

Now fill your sink with water so that when the deckle is placed in it, the water reaches about an inch from the top.  (The deckle should be placed so that the side with the attached mesh is on the bottom and the frame placed on top.) Pour some of the pulp mixture into the deckle.  The thickness of the paper will be based on how much you pour in so you'll have to do a couple tests out to figure out the ideal amount.  You then will want to use something thin like a skewer to make sure that the pulp is distributed evenly in the deckle.  (You don't want some areas of the paper thicker than others.)

Holding both side firmly, lift the deckle straight out of the water and let drain for a few seconds.  Lift the top frame off.  Place your extra sheet of mesh on the pulp, and using a sponge, gently soak up some of the water.

Peel the mesh off so the sheet comes with it and place it on a dry towel, paper side up.  This can be tricky, but gravity can help you out a bit.

Place a blotter sheet on top and roll over firmly with a rolling pin.

Peel the blotter and paper off of the mesh.  This should be easy since the paper will stick to the blotter paper.  Place it paper side up.

Put another sheet of blotter paper on top and roll over with a rolling pin once again.

Carefully peel off the paper from the blotter sheet, making sure not to tear or stretch the paper.  At this point the paper is relatively dry so it should come off in one piece pretty easily.

Let air dry for a day or two.  I usually get 5-7 sheets per blender-full of pulp.  You can experiment with all kinds of stuff and different colored paper.  Some of the things I added to these batches were moss, flower petals, leftover tea leaves, and chicken feathers.  All were a success except the feathers.  They just don't cooperate.

Pretty cool that unwanted bank statements can be turned into something beautiful huh?

How to NOT spend a ton of $ on wedding stationery (Part 1)

I'm frugal.  I'll admit.  Sometimes too much.  I also like the challenge of creating things on my own with what I have to prevent myself from buying things.  This allows a personal touch to what I've made and knowing that no one else has the same thing makes me feel original.

In the last couple weeks, I've sent out the save the date cards (STD's as some call them, hehehe) for our upcoming wedding.  Seeing as how it's a semi-destimation wedding (only because there's a ferry ride involved), a holiday weekend, and we have a lot of out of town guests, we decided a save the date card was in order to give our peeps a heads up.

For those of you who don't know, wedding stationery is expensive.  So I made my own.  Last year I discovered the awesomeness of block printing so I made some prints first.  Then I found a postcard template on Word and typed something up.  This was the hardest part since moving the text boxes and stuff until it was just right was pretty painstaking.  Then I found some card stock that was nice-looking and printed out my cards at home, 4 to a sheet.

Very carefully, I cut out the postcards....

and decorated with the block prints.

Sprayed them with finishing spray, since the block print ink is water-based, and slappity-slapped a stamp on each and sent them away!

Final product: pretty classy, eh?

The backs have the usual: a little message, the addresses of our peeps, as well as a return address for us.

P.S.  The block prints are fiddlehead ferns, just in case you couldn't tell.  (I don't blame you.)

P.P.S.  The first "save the date" print I made I made backwards, the worst mistake any block printer can make.  Major fail.

Purple Fingernails

In case you haven't noticed it's blackberry season.  I have a love/hate relationship with blackberries.  I love the excessive amounts of free deliciousness that can be foraged in nearly every urban park in the Seattle area, but hate the fact that it is taking over in every urban park in the Seattle area.  Himalayan blackberries, which constitute probably 99% of the blackberries that can be picked around here is a horribly invasive plant that has no regard for where it grows and who's habitat it is stealing.  And once it's around it's a major bi-otch to try to get rid of.  You can't just cut it down (which is hard enough with all the thorns) but you have to dig up all the roots or it'll just grow back stronger.  It really is horrible stuff.

Picking the berries is actually doing good for the environment because every berry that is picked and ingested by us means all those seeds in there aren't planted somewhere else.  So go out and pick berries people!

That's what we've been doing for the last several weeks.  But what to do with them?  The possibilities are endless!  We've made several berry cobblers and muffins with them, but the majority have been juiced to become jam. 

Juicing blacberries is a little painstaking but a necessity when making jam because their seeds are so big and tough.  Blackberry jam with or without seeds is delicious but the lack of seeds makes the eating experience just a little better.

Today, I started with the 10 pounds of blackberries my parents picked for me over the weekend.  I had to do three batches because there were just so many.  I put some in a pot and put the heat on medium low.  As they were warming up, I took a bottle (in this case a sake bottle) and mashed the berries with it.

Once it was pretty warm (it doesn't have to boil) I poured it into some cheesecloth that was placed over a bowl.  Depending on how warm the berries are, you may have to let them cool before starting the squeezing process.

 This is what results in purple-dyed fingernails.  You really have to caress and work the bag to get the most juice out of the pulp.  It can be pretty hot so watch out.  I probably spent about a good 5-10 minutes for each squeezing session.

This is the result.  Five quarts of berries equals 2 quarts of pure, thick, blackberry juice.  That should get me about 5-6 batches of blackberry rhubard jam.  Time to start chopping rhubard and preparing jars!

Yeah, I make this look gooood...

Green weddings

Some of you may already know that I am getting married next spring.  Though May 27th, 2012 seems like a long ways off, I've been going full-bore with wedding planning.  (Yes, I'm a girl.)  The venue has been booked, the dress bought, general theme figured out, and most guests (informally) informed.  There's a lot more to do and figure out, but I'm really enjoying it.

When we first got engaged, I decided to make my wedding as "green" as possible.  Large, extravagant events like this can become really wasteful and ridiculous, which I want to avoid.  I want to make it really DIY, with as many of the elements created or provided by myself or my many talented friends and family.  This not only allows for the cash saved to go to important things like food and drinks and such, but also adds a bit of a personal touch to an event that can also become stale and stuffy.

However, I have a feeling as time goes on, I'm going to find it hard to keep all elements sustainable while also keeping my sanity.  A good example of this is my dress.  I really wanted to buy something used, but after going to three different stores and realizing how hard it is to find the right one, I just bought the first one that I really liked just so I could be done with the process.  I'm really happy with it, and I don't know if I would have been able to find it used.  That's ok, I'll just sell it and someone else can be the one who buys a used dress.

But so far, that is the only thing I've done that has gone against my green wedding dreams.  (And honestly, I don't really feel bad about it.)  Everything else is going pretty well.  Just today, I went to three different Goodwill stores in the greater Seattle area, looking for elements that are needed for the favors for my guests.  I'm making the save the dates and invitations myself, and even making some of the paper that will be used in those out of old bank statements that are sitting in my shredder.

All in all, the biggest lesson learned so far is that I need to be flexible with my wedding wishes and be ok with not having everything exactly as I hoped.  Being sustainable is really important to me, but sustaining my sanity is important too.  Gee, I wonder what other lessons I'll learn in the next 9 months?

This little guy helps me stay grounded.