I'm making a quilt! Part 1

The only time I have ever sewn in my life is in 4th grade when, as part of this "life skills" unit, we learned how to sew a button on a piece of construction paper.

But, that is all about to change! I am making a quilt and matching euro sham pillow cases for John and I when we get married.

It started with my mom finding this quilt-along on a blog (http://oldredbarnco.blogspot.com - it starts in mid-May, I believe) to make what originally seemed to me like an odd-looking quilt. Well, once she finished it, I realized that it ends up looking really neat and that I was going to make my first sewing adventure a quilt for John and I.

My mom's quilt (the colors are brighter than what mine will be)

Photo by Back Porch Quilters (www.backporchquilters.com)

We had to find 12 different fabrics that went together and fortunately, Pink Chalk Fabrics (www.pinkchalkfabrics.com) had a bunch from the same line, so we knew the colors would match really well (it can be hit or miss when viewing stuff online). We started by picking out fabrics with blues, greens, creams and browns (blue for him, green for me, cream and brown to complement) and ordered them online, mostly from Pink Chalk and the ones they didn't have, we got from different Etsy sellers.

The first step in making this quilt is cutting each of the 12 1-yard lengths into 2.5-inch strips. Oh, and you have iron them all first too! I HATE ironing - that's what a dryer is for!

BUT, I ironed all 12 of those fabrics, folded them, and then cut them...the first three with a dull-blade I come to find out - what a different a sharp blade makes!

It actually went pretty quick. I think it took me about 4 hours to iron and cut all 12 fabrics, but they're done and waiting to be sewn. I just have to find time to make it over to my mom's so she can show me how to use a sewing machine and sew this particular pattern.

Our 12 fabrics in 2.5-inch strips

Alisha's Wedding Programs

I met Alisha on WeddingBook about three weeks before her wedding when she frantically posted a thread about not having done her wedding programs yet - and not having the time. She somewhat jokingly said she'd be willing to pay someone to do them for her!

Joking or not, I contacted her to see if she really wanted someone to do her programs for her so that was one less worry of hers during the rest of the last minute planning. She said "yes!" and I got working on those programs to make sure she would have them in time for her

wedding.

And here they are (we were fortunate that I already had the exact colors she needed - my wedding colors - or it would have been a bit time crunch to wait for paper to be delivered!).

They turned out beautifully (yes, I did the monogram, too!) and Alisha was thrilled with them. Plus, it gave me great practice for when I make my programs in a month and a half (WOW, that's coming quick!!!).

Thanks, Alisha, for giving me the chance to help make the last couple weeks leading up to your wedding just a little less stressful! May you and Tyler share a lifetime of love and happiness!

Finally finished my card box

I saw this idea for a card box from another bride on a wedding discussion board on Facebook (it's called WeddingBook, if anyone wants to join). I knew I wanted it to be about 4 or 5 boxes tall and when shopping at several places to try to find wrapping paper that matched our colors (I've also seen it done in fabric). I finally found 3 patterned papers and the green and pink solids at Target to wrap the gifts, which had then become 7 or 8 boxes and were starting to take over my dinning room.

It was kind of a long process since I did it over several weeks as I purchased the various supplies and right now, it's actually not glued together because it stores much easier as separate boxes. I'll glue them together just before the wedding (UGGG...already adding to my "last minute" wedding list!).

Detail on the bottom box

Detail around where people put the cards in

Detail of the top boxes

If you want to make your own, here's step by step instructions:

STEP 1: Find boxes of various sizes. I've also seen them done with paper mache boxes you can find at Michaels or Joann's, but all my boxes were free from various things John and I had ordered online.

STEP 2: Find wrapping paper (or fabric) that match your color scheme. I recommend at least 3 different ones.

STEP 3: Tape up all of the boxes except for the second to bottom one - this one you can just cut out the top flaps and you'll stack it upside-down.

STEP 4: Stack in the boxes until you find a configuration you like. Take a photo (trust me, this comes in handy later).

STEP 5: While the boxes are still stacked, figure out which paper you're going to use on which boxes and write it on the top of the box (to make sure the box goes the same way when you wrap it). While it's also still stacked, you'll need to trace around the second to bottom box ON the bottom box so you know where to cut.

STEP 6: With a box cutter, carefully cut at least 1-inch inside of the line you've drawn on the bottom box. It's important you leave this much "wiggle room" because my box BARELY covers my opening. You also want to cut the slit for the cards to go in on the second box (make sure it's the front and is big enough for cards to go through. Mine was 1/2-inch and I probably should have gone just a bit wider.)

STEP 7: Wrap the top boxes just like you would a regular gift. The bottom boxes are a little tricker, but start by wrapping them the same and just cut a whole in the paper where there's a whole in the box, pull it tight and secure it to the inside of the box. You'll need to do this for the slit too, so make sure it's big enough or you won't have enough paper.

STEP 8: Add decorations - bows, ribbons, pearls, cut-outs, rhinestones, etc.

STEP 9: Glue the boxes back together (this is where that photo comes in handy to remind you how it was stacked!). I haven't done this step yet, so I can't give any tips or hints to make it easier yet!

And that's it! You're done! I'd love to see your photos if you make one!

Cassie's New Home

My sister closed on her first home this past week so my family went out to dinner to celebrate. I decided it would be fun to make her a personalized card, including her two cats, and here's the result!

Note the house number, her two cats (the one ALWAYS sits with her paws hanging over the edge of things), and the "Home Sweet Home" sign on the door

The door opens up and there's my sister, scrubs and all (she's a NICU nurse)

And the envelope with her name to match!

Everyone loved it and thought it was so cute! I can personalize cards for any type of event like this, just contact me at miacartoleria@gmail.com with your request.

Our Trip to the Zoo and the OC Fair

Okay, so we didn't actually go a zoo like most of you are thinking. We went to the County Clerk/Recorder/Registrar's Office in Norwalk to get our marriage license - and while not a zoo in the traditional sense, it was crazy in there!

When we pulled up and got out, we saw two HUGE lines coming out of two different entrances into the building. My first thought was, "we're going to be here for HOURS." Once we got out of the car, we were practically attacked by people yelling across the parking lot asking us if we were filing a DBA or registering a business. Ummm...no, and I'll be sure to MAIL it if I ever do in the future so I don't have to deal with you!

We walked past all of the people in lines up to the main entrance to find out if we did actually have to wait in one of those lines. Turns, out, we were lucky and there only one couple in front of us at the window to get our license. Since I had filled it out online (HIGHLY recommend doing this), John just paid the fee, we waited at another window for about 5 minutes, raised our right hands and swore everything on there was true and off we went.

Now, before we get to the fair, I wanted to comment on those who were getting married "at the courthouse" that day. It was a rather interesting sight - the bride in her dress, hair done, holding a bouquet, the groom in a suit/tux...and the 18 wedding party members who thought it was necessary to accompany them IN the line! Oh, and don't forget the two photographers who were walking all around us (they were in line just behind us) snapping 50 million photos of them standing in line! While I have no problem with other people who chose to get married this way, my idea of wedding photos is not standing in line at the courthouse with yet another bride in my photos behind me. Oh, and if you do this, PLEASE have your wedding party wait in the lobby or outside. It's already crowded enough!

Now, on to the OC Fair...I think the last time I went to the fair was in 2002 when I saw the Supertones in concert there. I'm the type that goes to the fair to see all the cute animals, particularly the babies (see exhibit A)...

Exhibit A

a piglet only a few weeks old

...the YUMMY food (though we kept it pretty low-key since we're trying to not GAIN any weight for the wedding)...see Exhibit B

Exhibit B

One of those turkey legs was my dinner

...the arts and crafts competitions they have...we saw some beautiful quilts, amazing photographs and I was very intrigued by the table setting displays that included judges comments, most of which seemed pretty obvious if one had read the rules...(sorry, no exhibits here)

...the shopping, though I never have actually bought anything since most of the stuff they sell, they do so in a very high pressure manner...I don't like being pressured to buy things I don't need, I do that well enough on my own! :) Please see exhibit C for a product that would fit well on my mom's doorstep...

Exhibit C

If only it said "She"

...and the just plain weird things that pop up when you're wandering around (see Exhibits D, E, F and G).

Exhibit D

I have NO clue!

It might have fit their pink theme a few years ago...

I think they had a pink theme recently

Exhibit E

Strange man who thinks he's a bee...

Oh wait, that's just John! :)

Exhibit F

(as in Favello...for a few more months anyway)

Yep, I visited Centennial Farms, even if the sign is cut off

Exhibit G

John and a big ox - there were actually two of them

just walking around (led by a human of course)

As you can probably tell, I'm not such a fan of the rides anymore, even though John kept trying to convince me to go on the super high ferris wheel (I'm afraid of heights) or the ride the spins you around like a hand-held mixer (Uhhh, you really want to see what I ate the past week???).

Thank you for sharing with us our visit to the "Zoo" and the OC Fair! We hope to see you again next year (minus the zoo)!

Hallmark Christmas Ornament Preview

When John and I went to the Lakewood Mall on Saturday to update our Bed, Bath & Beyond registry, I saw the Hallmark store and remembered that they usually have their ornament preview starting in July - and it turned out that it was the first day!

I love seeing what ornaments they're going to have (though about 1/4 of them in the "dream book" aren't actually available until the October preview) and seeing what my series ornaments look like.

There are a lot of really cute ornaments this year, though I didn't see a "First Christmas Together" one that I liked, which means I'll have to look around and see what I can find. John talked about possibly getting one from Disneyland.

Here's a few of the ornaments that either I or my family collect or might like (they're not totally in focus - taken with my iPhone).

"Cool Decade" series - One that I have collected since 2000.

This is the last one in the series!

Though, I think 2010 is the FINAL year in the decade

since I don't think there was a year "0" but oh well!

"Doorways Around the World" series, Ireland

This is the third in the series and features a Christmas

scene from a different country each year.

I think the past two were Mexico and Germany.

"Merry Coral Christmas Tree"

Not a series, but my brother's girlfriends LOVES

The Little Mermaid, so I took this for her!

There's also going to be a Precious Moments

"Ariel and Sebastian" available this fall.

"Snowball and Tuxedo" series

I think my sister collects this one...or the next one.

"Snow Buddies" series

I couldn't remember which series my sister collected,

so I took photos of two I thought they might be!

There are also two new series this year, one I think is perfect for my mom called "Season's Treatings." The DreamBook explains the series..."Each of the ornaments in this new series will feature an assortment of delicious homemade treats displayed in a festive holiday fashion."

The second new series I liked is the "Mickey Christmas Carol" series that features Mickey as Bob Cratchit. Each year "will feature a different character or scene from the animated holiday classic Mickey's Christmas Carol.

I'm so excited to have my own Christmas tree this year! I have the ornaments to decorate it, I just need to find the tree now (I want a good fake one).

My First Metro & Bridal Show Adventure

METRO - TO LOS ANGELES

I got a flyer postcard in the mail advertising a Bridal Expo at the LA Convention Center a few weeks ago (three of them in total). Since I hadn't been to one and still needed to find someone to do my hair and make-up, I decided I wanted to go.

I was able to convince John to go with me by telling him they had cake and catering food samples (which is totally true) and one of my bridesmaids, who had also never been to an show/expo came with us.

The night before the expo, I was looking up parking information at the Convention Center and discovered that it was $12 for parking! Ummm...no thanks!

I also saw on the website that there was a Metro station within walking distance and since I have had very positive experiences in New York and Paris with their subway systems (absolutely LOVE that type of public transportation), I started looking up the information on the Metro website. It would only be $1.25 each way and the Blue Line runs right along the 710 freeway and there's a station just a few blocks from my apartment. Even with three of us, we'd be saving $5 for parking plus all of our gas cost. I talked with John and we decided that's what we would do.

So, Shannon came over to my apartment in Long Beach and John drove the few blocks to the train station. We bought our tickets from the machine - pretty simple. We then walked up to the platform and started waiting for our train - 20 minutes away since we had just missed the previous train.

When the train pulled up, I was actually surprised at how crowded it was for a Sunday! I can only imagine how packed it is on a weekday!

We got on the train and found some seats and had a pretty uneventful trip to the Convention Center.

BRIDAL SHOW

Once we got to the Bridal Show, we went through registration, got our hand stamps and entered the packed ballroom. We decided it would be best to just walk through the entire show aisle by aisle.

Wow...bridal shows are not really at all what I expected. Lots of them stand in the middle of walkway basically shoving their stuff into your hands. I just politely took them, put it in my bag and walked on. Most of the vendors are venues (both wedding and honeymoon), photographers, DJs and florists. There were a few bakeries and caterers, David's Bridal and the two big tux places were there, and a sprinkling of specialty companies, including plastic surgery places. They actually displayed breast implants and one of them had boob stress balls (no joke!)!!! It was kind of nice to be able to tell a lot of the vendors who approached me that I had already booked that vendor, so I didn't have to listen to their pitch.

Overall, the bridal show wasn't very helpful to me because the one hair/make-up person who was there was WAY out of my price range (as I'm guessing were the majority of the vendors there). However, I think bridal shows can be a great way to get into wedding planning mode after first getting engaged or if you have a very large budget. I'm assuming that some of the smaller bridal shows might be a bit more helpful for brides on a budget - maybe I'll check one of those out later this year and see what's there.

One other thing that was very helpful was at the first invitation/stationery booth we came to. I was just looking to see what they were offering to get idea of what people show at these expos and there was another bride who asked the vendor what the cost of a fairly simple invitation would be...I almost fell to the floor when he quoted her $9 a piece! I would be willing to venture a guess that the cost of materials would probably be $2 at most!! Wow!

METRO - BACK TO LONG BEACH

After we finally made our way through the maze of samples, brochures, and business cards, we headed back to the train station and bought our tickets for our return trip - again, having to wait about 15 minutes because we had just missed the train again!

The train arrived, again, surprisingly full, but we were able to find seats, but we were facing the wrong direction and I started to feel sick, so John, who was sitting in a sideways-facing seat, switched seats with me and it actually helped a lot!

Everything was going fine until we arrived at the Slauson station. The train stopped and then the engineer's voice came over the speaker and told us that we would have to wait at that station for a few minutes because there was a truck blocking the tracks at the next crossing. I figured maybe it was just stalled or something like that and we wouldn't be waiting very long. After a few more minutes, the engineer told us that there was police activity at the crossing and his train would be going back the other direction so we had to get off the train and wait at that station - another train would be coming soon.

We were totally stranded! A few minutes later, a voice came over the station speakers and made an announcement that both the north and south trains were delayed indefinitely. After about 15 more minutes, I called my mom to come and pick us up because I had no idea how much longer we were going to have to wait there. She said she was in the middle of something, but as soon as she was done, she could come get us. Either way, we were in for a long wait...

But, much to my surprise, a southbound train pulled up just minutes later totally packed, but we were able to squeeze on, even though we had to stand (we weren't very good at it!). As we drove past this crossing, apparently, a truck decided to try to cross the tracks, even though there were a ton of those construction signs blocking it. Apparently, the truck didn't want to go around and decided to try to go across!

We made it back home with no further mishaps, and our trip made me appreciate the SUBWAY systems of New York and Paris (or anywhere else). While the rail systems is nice, the whole crossing streets thing doesn't seem to be the best way to travel!

My Dad is Amazing!

I had originally ordered a "J" cake topper, but when it arrived broken and I realized it was cheap plastic and only about 4" tall, I was very disappointed and did not want to pay $18 for something like that. Plus, if it was only 4" tall, there was no way that it was going to be able to be seen above the bunch of fresh gerberas that are also going on top of the cake.

So, I started searching again to find something we both liked that would be big enough, but I couldn't find anything. So, I asked my dad if he could make one out of wood for us. He said that he would so we took the catalog with the letters in it, blew up the J so it was like 7" tall and took it to him to make. He got it back to us only 24 hours later, painted at all.

I absolutely love it!!! My dad is so awesome!

Dance Lessons

Last night, John and I had our first dance lessons to learn how to two-step for our first dance. Here's what I learned:

1) Two stepping is a lot harder than I thought it would be to pick up

2) Learning to dance with a partner is not easy

3) I am not a good follower - I kept trying to lead John - and our instructor kept telling us "the man leads, the man leads"

I'm hoping over the next 7 classes we'll get better and more comfortable with both the basic steps and all of the patterns she's teaching us. Then we just have to practice, practice, practice for the next month and a half after that!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Yumminess

One of John's favorite cakes is a chocolate peanut butter recipe I found last summer. It's really simple since you basically just add peanut butter to a chocolate cake mix.

I had been wanting to test out a certain shape for John's groom's cake for the rehearsal dinner, so I bought some pie tins to try to replicate the shape of a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup (one of John's favorite candies). It actually turned out pretty well - and the chocolate ganache I added on top helped give it that chocolate candy appearance.

I think if I tried doing it again, I would probably not mix the peanut butter directly in, but rather, try layering it between the cake mix before baking it to make it even more like a Reese's. Not sure if that would actually work or not...