Happy LOVE Day!

I wish you all a beautiful Valentine's Day with your loved ones!

Can I say "I'm in love with Martha Stewart"?

Of course, I mean the brand, not necessarily the person. Although I'm sure Martha is lovely! I just LOVE the way she has made SO much crafting and so many ideas highly accessible. She has a billion (probably more like a trillion) wonderful ideas on her sites and in her magazines. What's more- they are quite simple and many come with FREE clip-art. In a world where there is no free lunch I think it is so inspiring to bring this to people for free. Thank you Martha Stewart!!

Our First Christmas

Our first Christmas together was perfect! We had our first Christmas tree! We had so much fun decorating it together. We also got to decorate the house together for the holidays. I am really big on holidays and I LOVE decorating and adding something special.

I made our first stockings! Our childhood stockings stay at our parents' homes, so we needed our own "adult" stockings. After seeing a few at stores (yuck!) and online (ok) I decided to make ours (silly me- don't know why I didn't think of that right away). This is what they look like. They were so simple! I just used cloth I already had for my other projects. My husband picked his fabric and I picked mine. 3 different patterns each. Then I made them reversible. I added vintage baubles from an irreparable vintage sweater I had. My husband wanted his simple. Just the fabric. My husband says they are SOOO much nicer and more special than anything we would have bought- thanks hubby! Here's how they turned out:

Black Friday Deals!

Visit my shop www.AmericanTart.Etsy.com for special deals this Friday (black Friday)! I will post new items and coupon codes that will be good throughout the weekend while supplies last.

Retro Suitcase "Guestbook"

I came up with this little idea one day when I browsing at Michael's Craft Store- a favorite past-time! I was contemplating what to do about a guestbook for our wedding. I kind of loathe traditional "guest books". They're just not my thing. So, I looked up some other cool non-conventional ideas online. There were some great ones but they just weren't quite "US". So, when I came across this little white tin suitcase at Michael's I immediately had my vision. Truly it came to me like a bolt of lightning...now if a million dollars would just fall on me like a bolt of lightning that would be great.

So, I bought a can of spray paint. I chose silver, but you can choose ANY color you want at Lowe's or Home Depot for about $3. I also bought a box of sparkly gold alphabet letters at Michael's for $10 (and I still have left overs for all kinds of projects). I decided to use the word "Wishes" on our suitcase. I sprayed the suitcase (covering the handles with painters tape), attached the letters with my trusty glue gun, and added a perfectly 50's yellow polka dot ribbon. Perfecto! After the pretty stuff I enlisted the help of my engineer dad to cut a slit in the top of the suitcase so guests could simply slide their wish into the suitcase without having to open it. Last, bought a pack of multi colored blank cards at- you guessed it- Michael's and we had our very own one-of-a-kind "guestbook"!

I fell in LOVE with the suitcase idea because it was very real and romantic to me at the same time. Our wedding is the beginning of our travels together. And on that road we want to stop and look back at the kind words, love, and advice from our closest family and friends. So, what was more fitting than "wishes for our future road together" and a little suitcase to carry them in.

xoxo,

American Tart

Our Wedding through the lens of: Chris (our wonderful photographer)

During the course of our wedding and planning process we were blessed with many things. One of those blessings was our photographer Chris . You can find him through Amore Wedding Photography He is VERY talented, and a really wonderful guy. My husband and I really felt as though we were in the hands of a friend rather than simply a professional photographer we had hired. Chris and his lovely girlfriend Jennifer came out to shoot our wedding day on Catalina Island. He just posted a beautiful blog post of some photos from our wedding. Feast your eyes! Chris is a truly genuine guy who wants to get the best shots possible. He is a true artist. And if you are uncomfortable in front of the camera, like me, he will still be able to make you look like you stepped out of the pages of The Knot Bridal Magazine! He is that good!

Here is just a sample, but please check out his blog and Amore's website (above) to see more!

Veil and hairpiece, boutonniere, and wishes box by: me! (American Tart)

Check back for some DIY tips at the end of the week!

I'm Married & Life!!

Ok, no I did not fall off the face of the earth. I simply have been through some crazy life changes in the past 3 months. My hubby and I are now married (just under 3 weeks now!), and we have also gone through some unfortunate losses just before our wedding.

I am now back, and with a vengeance. I am getting back into the creative zone and I will be posting new items in my Etsy shop this weekend 7/17/10 & 7/18/10. Please check them out and check back because I will be blogging regularly again!