The Barn in Full Bloom

Not really much explanation for this photos, but wanted to share what the venue looks like in the summer - Bloody Gorgeous!  It was set up for a wedding that day so it was interesting to see it laid out and not just empty.  Looked really different.  They've had a new drive laid and the grass was all lovely and soft and green.  The lake looked a bit manky so we might rethink our reception drinks idea and have it in the small rose garden instead or perhaps in a marquee.  The marquee shown in the pictures is not the one we'll hire - it was plastic - but the guy who owns the barn said he has contacts with a company who do a nice canvas one so we'll get in touch with him for that.

So anyway, here's some of the piccies:

Manky Lake - No, the swan isn't dead, just fishing for god knows what!!

How To Make Bunting

We're getting married in a barn, and well, we're on a super tight budget so filling the place with flowers is a bit out of the question so what better way to adorn the place than with some home-made bunting?  I was given a sewing machine at Christmas by Andy and had yet to use it for anything useful!  So I headed off to my favourite shop, Broadway Bargains in Worcester Park (run by the sweetest old ladies, I just loving going in there!!).  

I had already bought some purple and white gingham from them a few months back that I had yet to find a use for so I knew I just needed purple and lime green to start with.  They had the perfect purple but no green so I had to trek into Kingston to Fabric Land for the lime green but that was no hardship.  Also bought some binding tape (but I did this before I had found a tutorial and so it's a bit too narrow to be wholly useful!)

So I came home and did my research and found the most useful tutorial I think I have ever come across on the internet at Homemade & Happy.  Go check it out because it's better than what shall now follow!

I started by laying out my card triangle and making a repeating pattern (which you can't see for the gingham!!).

This is a slightly better picture on the green fabric.  Am doing double sided as the fabric is a bit thin and well, it looks more professional innit!

Cut them out with them pinned together (I went a bit overboard on the pins to begin with, one pin in the middle of each pair was enough really!!)

I missed a few steps in my pictures but basically, I stitched them together, cut off the excess fabric at the point, turned them right way out and used a pintail comb to push the points out (the original tutorial recommends using a point turner or a light coloured pencil but the pintail comb was all I had to hand and worked pretty well!!

This is the pile turned out.

Pop the cardboard template inside each one and give it a good iron to make them a nice flat shape.

Rare ironing moment, the only thing I have ironed in YEARS are these triangle!

Erm, yeah, then my picture taking went downhill and I didn't take any actual pictures of me stitching them to the binding tape (note to self: don't bother with How To's in the future!!).  But basically, the original tutorial uses inch wide tape, whereas I had only bought 1/2 inch tape, so I had to just stitch them straight on instead of folding the tape over the top of each triangle (penant, apparently!).  I'm going to use up the tape I have, by the time they're hung up in the barn, you won't see it.  I used a purple thread with a lime green bobbin to keep the theme going (even if I nearly threw the sewing machine across the room trying to wind the green bobbin, bastard thing!!)

Approximately half the finished article!

In the long run, I'm hoping to stich (or use that iron on webbing stuff!) to put some musical notes on the green ones, I've got some cut out ready to go but am enjoying making the penants too much to bother fiddling about with cutting out the notes (and the bass clef, that's the most important one, the bass (I pretend I can play bass, when in fact the gorgeous thing is sitting in my bedroom, out of tune and untouched!))

All cut out and ready to go (when I can be bothered!)

So, there you have it, the most half baked How To tutorial in the history of time!!  But I would recommend having a go if you have the time and inclination.  If I can do it, then really anyone with a bit of sewing machine knowledge can!

My Lust For: Shoes

I'm a girl.  This much we know.  And what do most girls love?  Shoes!  And Bags (but bags don't really feature in weddings so Shoes it is....)

I have a reasonably sized collection of shoes at home, whether or not they fit me and whether or not I can walk in them is another matter, but I love shoes.  Maybe it is a bit of a fetish, I just like looking at them, the heels, the straps, the sparkle.  My desk calendar at work is a pair of shoes a day.

So it was always a bit inevitable that my wedding shoes were going to be something of a priority.  However, there are some teeny stipulations attached to my wedding shoes.  They have to have a chunky-ish heel - I'm getting married in a barn, we're having drinks by the lake, stiletto's will just sink into the grass.  Plus, I'm crap in heels - I look like a baby elephant when I'm wearing heels, a bit too large and unsteady, so I tend not to wear them often.  When I do, I feel embarrassed because I feel like I'm lumbering (hhmmmm, need to work on these confidence issues!)

Secondly, and more importantly, they have to look FIERCE!  That's to say, I think they should probably be sparkly, and possibly be purple.  If I get my way, and do actually have the tea length dress I so desire, then the shoes are going to be on show, and that, my friends, is why they have to look amazeballs!

I spotted on the Bonfire Night Bride blog that she had vajazzled (yes, yes I know it's the wrong term, but quite frankly, it works in any context where fake sparkles are applied to something usually unsparkly....) a pair of Schuh heels with crystals (See Here).  So, with this in mind, I figured, I'll buy a plan pair of shoes and vajazzle them.

I saw these in a magazine and figured, hmm, they might work, plus, at only £22, it doesn't matter if a mess it up!  I figured I could buy purple crystals for the heel and toe and get a purple ribbon instead of white.  Perfect.

Olga heels - BHS - £22

The problem was, they only go up to a size 7, and I have such wide feet that I tend to take an 8 in most things (why I don't just declare I'm a size 8 I'll never know!)  So I went to try them on, and quite frankly, they were fugly.  They were a bit of a squeeze for a start and they just made my ankles look a bit massive.  No thank you.

Moving swiftly on.  I had a look at good old Schuh to see if they had anything.  I know they're a huge stockist of Irregular Choice and I love their shoes (even though their wedding ones are a bit plain by Irregular Choice standards)

I had been eyeing these for a while, I love the heel on them and being purple I figured they were perfect.  I really like these, although, they're not sparkly....

Oz Cant Touch This - Irregular Choice at Schuh - £80

Oz Cant Touch This - Irregular Choice at Schuh - £80

Then, when browsing the Schuh site I saw these:

Oz Smooch - Irregular Choice at Schuh - £80

Oz Smooch - Irregular Choice at Schuh - £80

Oz Smooch - Irregular Choice at Schuh - £80

I mean, HOW amazing are they?  They have the purple heel, the glitter, and the sundae on the front - C'est Maqnifique!  I'll have to try them on, but, hmm, we might have a winner!  Plus Irregular Choice are normally pretty wide and fit nicely.

For the evening I had started to think I was going to NEED some flat shoes.  I had considered just getting a pair of flip flops but where's the fun in that?  I'd stumbled across Star Sparkles last year and thought they pretty much rocked.  I'm a Converse lover, having broken them in properly they're just brilliant (although they do make a farty noise when your feet get sweaty, just me, oh, err, okay....)

So I'm thinking I might buy a pair of Converse Oxfords in purple and vajazzle those.

Converse Ox Lo - Schuh - £37

And I might also vajazzle a pair for both my bridesmaids to wear in the evening.

So, there you go, I'm sure I'll find more shoe-y loveliness to share with you before the wedding as, being a girl, I'm allowed to change my mind!

Recent Updates

We're three weeks (or so) since I tried the dresses on.  Have I saved any money?  No.  Have I lost any weight?  4lbs.  Hmmmm.

So, what else is new?  I have two posts for you to come in the next couple of days (I hope!!), one on shoes and the other on the bunting I'm making.

Firstly, I saw this in BHS the other day and decided I might just buy it for Scarlett - it was £50, so I'll just buy her an age 4 and hope for the best.  It had like a satiny body with a tulle skirt, with heart shaped fabric petals.  And the colour was spot on.

Fleur Dress - £50 - BHS

What do you think?

Also, the big news today is that our Save the Date magnets arrived.  Designed by the multi talented Viola Wang, who works at the Uni with me (but obviously in the much cooler design office...!)  Plus, I found this cool little video of her....

Here's the finished product, printed courtesy of Vista Print....

Sorry for totally awful photo taken on my iPhone!

Magnets courtesy of Habitat - the only thing that was worth buying when I went in to witness their demise....!

That's the main bit of updating for now, as I said, I have a shoe post, a bunting post and a fair post for you in the next couple of days.  In the meantime, I am super tired, have to get the bus to work tomorrow, and so, I'm off to snuggle in bed!

Howdy if you've come via the Bonfire Night Bride blog which I was featured on earlier!