Brooklyn Bows featured in Manhattan Brides Magazine

page 38.

Make.Shop.Live. is proud to be in this month's Manhattan Brides Magazine.  We have already featured our custom magnetic fabric bow ties for our friend's Brooklyn wedding. Click the below photo to learn how we did it!

Congrats to Alessandra and Paul Womack and it was a pleasure to provide these special re-purposed gifts for your guests to wear throughout the reception.  For more tips on re-purposing materials and custom event crafts, check back every Tuesday for the How-To's Day Tutorial.

Make.Shop.Live.

How-To's Day: Alessandra & Paul's Bow Tie Wedding Decor

The bride and KC both love bows, so it was pretty clear from the beginning that some handmade bow ties were on the horizon.  Using a variety of extra fabrics and clothes and some strong little magnets, Make Shop Live team completed an assortment of 140 handmade cloth bow ties.

KC did a great many tasks at our friend's wedding in Brooklyn.  One of the most fun projects was the seating cards for each guest at the reception. The bows are a variation on a Make Shop Live holiday project post here. For Alessandra's wedding we dropped the scale down to make the bow roughly 5" wide by 3" tall. The bow is held in place with a magnet for the fastening just like this magnetic brooch project we featured in May here.

 
To wear the bow ties as a brooch all you need to do is slip a magnet on the other side of your clothing to hold it in place. Best part of the magnet brooches is you don't ruin your fancy clothes like sometimes you do with a pin back that snags.

We started with some old clothes shown below and dug through our reserved stash of navy and pink fabrics for the assortment of bows.  To make some of the pinks look more vintage and antiqued, KC tea stained the fabrics first before constructing the bows.  For a look at how to tea stain fabric of your own here is how to tea stain fabric. 

Utilizing the project instructions here for the bow, the main variation for these magnetic brooches is placing the magnet inside the backing of bow as you assemble it as shown below:

Using a magnetic board from Ikea we were able to display all the bows and seating cards quickly and easily since they all had super strong magnets inside them.

Here are some color sample tests KC sent Alessandra to show what colors were available to Make Shop Live in Navy and Pink.

Enjoy! and have fun!!!

If you try this project out we'd love to see some pictures :)

XOXO, KC

What I Wore: Friday 6/8/12 Bridesmaid Gift

This is what I wore!

This dress is a vintage find from Jet Rag's main store. It was one of my friend Alisa's favorite that I left with on a shopping trip a long time ago. I don't know why I don't wear it more often... Usually purple isn't my favorite color, but playing up the pops of navy is really exciting. Anyway, the main wardrobe highlight I am focusing on however is the oval locket I am wearing. Alessandra gifted each of her bridesmaids with a unique necklace, different and special for each lady.  I tend to become obsessed with necklace gifts, thus I may be seen wearing it for a good bit of the foreseeable future!

Here are some shots where you can see how she picked us each one out just for us with our personalities in mind. It was a wonderful and thoughtful way to personalize her bridesmaid gift. Major Kudos to Alessandra fro such a great gift!!!

The jewelery was purchased from Mostert Dorthy Antiques in Houston, TX. The address is below if you are interested.

Loves it!

XOXO

KC

Wedding Wednesday: Stitched Wedding Programs

While in Brooklyn, Alessandra, her two sisters and I gathered together to assemble the programs for her wedding.  Loosely based on a pin I found on Pinterest shown here, we created the programs with color photocopied covers that were punched with a Doily Punch and layered over a single fold sheet of wedding details.

Here is the Martha Stewart Doily hole-punch pictured below:

Alessandra made 12 different patterned cover variations featuring patterns from one of her favorite artist William Morris. Using a William Morris calendar she has treasured she used the paper the interior details are printed on to the copy center since it was both recycled and off white so the inside of the cover would match.

Before the trip I made several "tester" programs so Alessandra and Paul could get a feel of what they could do with the programs. I think it makes it way easier to plan out what you want just by testing out your options. The original test had a 3 part cover as shown below.

I am quite glad that we just did the one printed cover with the punched edge at the edge of the paper. While it still wasn't "quick" punching each edge, we were able to sit in assembly line and punch the edge of the cover, layer the cover over the printed info / middle section, machine stitch everything together, then tye the strings and trimming them up.

Using the presser foot as a guide, I straight stitched down the covers of each program. All 140 of them!

Once finished you have a 4 page program perfectly customized and special for your wedding day :)

On a scale of 1-10 on how easy and accessible this project is I would rate it a 3. It is quite easy in that you really just need to know how to sew in a straight line, use a decorative paper punch, and have some patience if you are making +100. Handmade art is time consuming but honorable!

Thanks for checking out our hard work! Hope you enjoy them for yourself on your big day if you try it out. Let us know if you do - we'd love to see pictures!!
XOXO, KC

How-To's Day: Mercury Glass Wedding Votives

Alessandra really liked the look of Mercury Glass which can be quite pricey.  Wanting votive glasses and candles filling the two-stories of the historic Montauk Club would be a challenge if not for this easy DIY project.

For this project you need Looking Glass Mirror-Like Paint and a spray solution of equal parts vinegar and water in a spray bottle.

Solution = 1 part Vinegar to 1 part Water

After pooling loose votives from various sources we came up ~300 short from our target so Alessandra ordered some votive holders to complete the project.  This project is WONDERFUL for upcycling (Making  use of recycled items as materials while saving energy and resources that would be used in recycling) and is a great way to refresh new life into old jars and other glass items.

Spray the votives or item you are working on with a light layer of the silver paint.

Here Alessandra is showing off her technique rolling the paint around in the glass to make sure there wasn't a big glob. Set aside to dry.  After around 3 minutes you can spray a light amount of the vinegar and water solution inside the painted area and lightly dab the paint with a paper towel creating the variation in the paint making it look "cracked".

As the layers of paint build up you can control the opacity more, just make sure the beginning layers you have a light touch with the vinegar solution because it strips the paint creating the technique.  It is super helpful that this paint reacts to vinegar because clean-up is a breeze with non-diluted vinegar unlike regular spray paint.

Layer #1 down! As you can see it is very light and you will need several layers to create a wonderful effect.

Ale` finishing up a votive

We worked on this project in sections which is helpful to not get burned out mid-project. It also helped the enjoyment level by being in beautiful Prospect Park where we could sit out and work in the grass.

Now for some examples from the big day :)

Along side the mercury glass votives and flower centerpieces, we used vintage number cards from Etsy seller 30one for the table numbers shown above.

Here the candles around the cake shows off the hint of pink this Brooklyn Bride highlighted in her Navy & Pink celebration. The bow theme (which will be highlighted in a soon-to-come post) is continued on the two -tiers of their cake which was two of my favorites: red velvet and carrot cake. As a wedding gift and added touch they received the Kate Spade New York "Grace Avenue" Dessert Serving Set which was the perfect addition to the fabulous cake table.

We had a wonderful time working on these votives and we hope you enjoy making some for yourself too.
Happy Making!
XOXO, KC

Brooklyn Weddings Gifs!

 

 Alessandra and Paul Womack's wedding in Brooklyn, May 26, 2012.

The newlyweds had a barbecue the next day in Prospect Park.  It was picturesque.  Take the jump to see the fun times!  

Taking a bite outta the big apple

One of my favorite things about New York City is the fantastic views! There is part of me that likes feeling so small beneath the large buildings- even from a high up view like this!!! But, I think the main part of being in the city that makes everything seem possible.  When you look around at massive buildings and endless neon it inspires a person to dream big.

Wedding Wednesday- Romantic Save the Dates

Love is in the air this wonderful week.  I love Valentine's Day. Why should we just share the love on only one day?  I think we should celebrate the love all month long! Shoot, more like all 2011!!!

 (Photo By VRPhoto on Bio Magazine)

I was tickled to see that Alessandra and Paul were a featured couple in BIO Magazine's Love is Always in the Air Article!!! Since all I do is gush over their wedding plans, you have to read the article with their cute story! You can read the article here.

Their upcoming wedding and all the plans make me so happy.  Weddings are always so beautiful, and I know that their big day is going to be so lovely.  I feel like I have to mentally prepare for the awesomeness because I think I am going to be a emotional mess at their wedding!  I feel so blessed to be there in the beginning of their relationship and I am so happy that they found each other.  Their wedding will truly highlight their love between them- And considering their love for each other is truly heartwarming, it will be an affair to remember!

When listing a few words to set the tone their wedding Alessandra's wants:
Pretty, Elegant, with a Historic/ Vintage Flair

Here are some Elegant & Vintage Save-the-dates I found on Etsy inspired by Alessandra:

XOXO,
KC

NEW Year- NEW Things on the Horizon

Hi everyone!  Happy New Year!!! 

Kevin and I are so excited for 2011, and we are planing and hoping for some great things to come.  We just got back from a Winter weekend adventure and I feel recharged and energized!  

 

I got the the greatest news that 2 of my best friends got engaged on New Year's Eve!!! Not only do I feel responsible for them meeting, but I would like to think this desperate plea via twitter helped too:

Dear Friends, 

Would someone please get married already!!! 

I would really love to make decorations/ get a jump into weddings :)

 (This picture of Paul and Alessandra was taken back when Kevin and I were in NYC at New Year's 2008)

Now I have my wish!!! I am super excited that on top of our new projects for spring I can start researching and developing some great wedding ideas that goes along with our mission.  Starting this week we will start up a Wedding Wednesdays section with tips and inspiration for the Eco + DIY Bride.