Dream Home: Filled with light

I want a home that's filled with light: tall windows, transoms above the doors, French doors, windows in the kitchen, (frosted!) windows in the bathroom, windows in the hallway, round porthole windows to peek out of from the top bunk...


{via Simply Seleta}


via {this is glamorous}


{via Little Green Notebook}


{Coastal Living}


via {this is glamorous}


{Elle Decor}


{House Beautiful via The Inspired Room}


{Martha Stewart}

Previously:
Deep window seats

Mini bunting

Love mini bunting almost as much as I love full-size bunting, and we're planning to make paper strings to decorate the food stations at K + C's wedding. Kate, bless her heart, cut out hundreds of small paper triangles when she visited last week. Now, to find some twine (a yellow and white striped version, anyone?) and string everything together...







Top two photos by kzphoto via Once Wed; bottom photo by Scott Clark and styling by Jillian Event Design, via 100 Layer Cake

Dream Home: Deep Window Seats

We're constantly in a process of refining our apartment, but over the last few weeks this process took on a new sense of urgency. We're just finishing up our third round of house guests in as many weeks. We wanted everything to look lovely and be comfy for them, especially since they live an airplane ride away and might not be back to visit for a while. We're on a limited budget and so have been collecting meaningful things slowly over the last few months, which ultimately, I think, is the best way to decorate, but can be frustrating when you just want it all to look pretty right now, darn it!

That being said, one thing I definitely want in a future home but don't realistically have a chance of getting anytime soon is a deep window seat, one where you can curl up and read. Or nap. A girl can dream, right? Some of my favorites:


{The Inspired Room}


{Better Homes & Gardens}


{BHG}


{BHG}


{House Beautiful}

Save that date!

Finally, we're ready for the big reveal of the last few months' labor of love! As with most DIY undertakings, we thought this would be a fairly simple process.

It wasn't. (Surprise, surprise.)

But, after five months, about 23 proofs emailed back and forth, and a few emergency add-on info cards later, here are the save the dates for K + C's wedding! Let me give you the tour...

The envelopes are the A6 navy version from Paper Presentation (love them!). The stamps were standard USPS fare. Our original plan was to write out the addresses in white ink, but we decided to save that for the actual invitations. Instead, I wrote each address in navy on an office-supply store white label. We stuck those labels on top of rectangles we cut from old nautical charts.



The return address stamp was from RubberStamps.net, and the service and price were great. It was a bit difficult to position the stamp since it came on a solid wood block, but other than that, no complaints.



The envelopes were also lined with nautical charts. Having a father who teaches at the Coast Guard Academy is a boon when planning a sea-worthy wedding! We chose charts from the Bay Area, as C grew up nearby.



The entire suite: chart lined envelope, save the date, wedding website card, and second reception card (which was only sent to some guests).



As you may remember, our design was inspired in part by one seen here. I designed the cards in Microsoft Publisher (often comes with the standard Microsoft Office suite and is very easy to use). We printed the cards at UPrinting, and though the quality was good, I was a bit disappointed when we got them back and saw there was less white space on the top and bottom than I expected. Oh well. It was likely my fault.



The rope heart was hand-drawn by my best friend, a multi-talented furniture designer at RISD. Thank you, Wanda! We plan to use it throughout the wedding. The cards were printed at Vista Print.





And that's that! Here's the cost breakdown, for those who are interested:

150 envelopes (plus s&h): $36*
White labels: $2
Return address stamp (plus s&h): $17.90 (we needed priority shipping)
Charts: $0 (Dad!)
Rope graphic: $0 (BFF!)
Printing of 100 save the date cards (plus s&h): $35.78
Printing of 250 reception cards: $13 (s&h)
Printing of 250 website cards: $4.99 (to upload custom design) + $13 (s&h)
Postage: $39.60

TOTAL: $162.27, or $1.80 per suite (We sent 90 envelopes to 184 guests)

Please let me know if you have any other questions!

*We could have saved here if we hadn't over-estimated the quantity. But we'll be using these in the future, so I don't consider it a loss!

Board No. 67: How Does Your Garden Green?

{Click to enlarge!}

After last week's somewhat austere board, and this past weekend's buckets of sunshine, I couldn't resist a board that incorporated yellow. The super-saturated hue here (reminds me of a glass of orange juice!) plays nicely with cool garden green. A trim, blooming cake, over-sized bows, and a yellow wedding dress work well as accents for this summertime garden party.

The Details
First row, left to right: blooms from A. Hana Design; bow photo by Shawn Connell via Southern Weddings; cake by April Reed

Second row: yellow dress portrait from Brides; specialty cocktails from Martha Stewart Weddings; ring shot by Erin Hearts Court via Style Me Pretty

Third row: party-goers portrait by Meg Smith; utensil photo by Phyllis Asher; patterned aisle by La Partie Events (photo by Erin Hearts Court)

New looks from old standbys

Has anyone else seen the buzz about L.L. Bean Signature and Lands End Canvas? Interesting that they seemed to surface at about the same time, no? I like the look and styling of both lines, as well as the price point. Here are a few of my favorites:

From Canvas:











And from L.L. Bean:

Board No. 66: Zinc and Deep Royal

{Click to enlarge!}

Starting from the image in the upper left corner, I tried to match the exact deep royal of the ties. Challenging, but I think this board turned out nicely! Paired with kraft brown and soft cream, it's a refreshing palette that nicely bridges the few weeks between winter and spring. The crisp, clean, but still-a-little-bit-country details are a nice twist on rustic, I think.

The Details
First row, left to right: zinc name tags photo by Karen Mordechai for Sunday Suppers; bride portrait by Marie Labbancz; blueberry bar photo by Kate Headley via Ritzy Bee

Second row: invitation by I Am Always Hungry via 100 Layer Cake; invitation suite by Mr. Boddington's Studio; cream pitcher arrangement styled by Salt Harbor Designs (photo by Millie Holloman)

Third row: bride and groom portrait from Martha Stewart Weddings; invitation by IAAH via 100LC

Fourth row: J. Crew ballet flat; garland photo by Karen Mordechai for Sunday Suppers; cheese spread photo by Karen Mordechai via 100 Layer Cake

My new favorite...

...pillow! I love the tuxedo styling juxtaposed with the sweet as candy pink stripes. And the cover is just $17 from Hettle on Etsy!

(P.S. The accompanying form is $7, and if you order both, shipping is free on the cover! Yay!)

Orange you glad

Loving these prints by Tina Crespo right now. I think a little squeeze of citrus is the perfect thing to usher us into spring, don't you? Both are 8x8 and $25 and available here.

Bunting 101: Help!

{photo by Sarah Maren}


{photo by Max Wanger}


{photo by Floataway Studios}


{photo by Jeanne Ciasullo}

BUNTING! I sure seem to write about bunting a lot, don't I? Sheesh. My apologies if it's not your cup of tea, but it certainly is mine. Anyway, we'll be making a whole lot of the stuff for this summer's wedding. Yes, a whole lot. We're going to deck the whole weekend in bunting.

I do have one question for y'all before we begin construction. I don't like the look of pinking shear edges, but I'm worried about fraying if we cut the triangles with a straight edge, wheel, or scissors. I've heard that soaking the fabric in a flour-water (or maybe sugar-water?) mixture and then letting it dry before cutting will help, but I'm not sure. Does anyone have a great solution to this problem? Any tips? Is this flour-water hocus pocus totally bogus? PLEASE weigh in!

Vintage silverware garden markers

We're growing a little herb garden of our own, and J has related to me several times that he is very concerned about forgetting which herb is which (apparently the cilantro and dill will look similar when full grown). I'd love to mark them with these stamped vintage silverware pieces from Monkeys Always Look. Or maybe my RISD friend has some talented metal smiths in her back pocket she could hook me up with? Here's hoping!

And my Oscar goes to...

...Rachel McAdams, for her stunning Elie Saab Haute Couture dress and fresh, pink-y makeup. Who wore your favorite Oscar look?

P.S. Honorable mentions go to Kristen Stewart, Anna Kendrick, and Cameron Diaz!

Oscar Party Prep

I'm a huge fan of the Oscars. I like the fashion, I like the hosts (love Steve Martin), and I love the theatrical-ness of it all. This year it will be just J and I watching, but in years past I've hosted larger viewing parties. If only I had known then what I know now!

I would have sent out these darling invitations from Twig & Thistle (download available here!).



I would have printed out these ballots, also from Twig & Thistle.



And I would have handed out these BINGO cards to keep everyone entertained throughout the night. (Twelve different versions available here at How About Orange.)





Are you planning to watch the Oscars? Are you having a party? Do you want to invite J and I?

Bamboo for you (and me)

We're most likely going to be using bamboo utensils for K + C's reception, and though we've considered bundling sets together with baker's twine or string, it had never occurred to me to add text before I saw this image on Weddingbee. I don't have a Gocco, which I think would be the best tool for this project, but what do you think about a custom rubber stamp? One of those could work, as well.

Another question for you: on a more existential level, would this begin to cross into the territory of "whoa now, it's just one day, let's cool it on the detailing"? I'm conflicted. Thoughts?

P.S. You can also buy a 36-piece set from Neiman Marcus ooo la la!

101 in 1001: March, 2010

As many of you know, I'm entering the third and final year of my 101 in 1001 challenge. It ends on September 28, 2010. I'd like to complete as many goals as possible before then, so to keep myself accountable, I'm reporting on my progress on the first of every month (or close to it!). I'll tell you how many goals I've completed, how many goals are in progress, and which goals I'm going to be focusing on for the month.

So how did I do on my February goals?

Did I...
1. Read three more books of the Bible for no. 3? Yes! (II Kings + I Chronicles + II Chronicles)
2. Send one handwritten letter for no. 10? Yes!
3. Attempt to get safety certified for no. 20 and look into local builds? Not yet.
4. Read another classic for no. 27? Several chapters into Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. Loved the movie, loving the book.
5. Memorize another poem for no. 28? Not yet.
6. Contribute to my IRA for no. 44? Yes!
7. Just do it already for no. 48? No. Apparently you need a doctor's appointment to really figure this one out, and on top of that you need to have blood drawn. I have narrowed it down a bit, though, based on my parents' types.
8. And -- this is the big one -- attempt to complete no. 59? I'm going to go ahead and say yes on this one. I didn't actually get up at exactly the same time for the last month, but I did get up within 20 minutes of the same time for the last month (except maybe one or two Saturdays...). And we've committed to getting up earlier on a regular basis going forward, and, honestly, that was the point anyway. It feels so good!

Where am I now? 39 completed and 21 in progress.

So what will I be tackling in March? I will...
1. Read three more books of the Bible for no. 3.
2. Read another faith-related book for no. 5.
3. Pledge to my (new!) home church for no. 6.
4. Do no. 7.
5. Do no. 8. I know I'll probably feel awkward, but hopefully it will be worth it.
6. Complete no. 35. A frosting tutorial from a local expert is on the schedule!
7. Do no. 53. I'm hoping now that it's warmer it'll be easier.
8. Try no. 63... risky.

See more details on any of these goals right here!