May Flowers: Gardening Made Easy

With Mother's Day Weekend behind us, I wanted to  show everyone a simple project that I did over Mother's Day weekend. Not only does this weekend mark a time to shower all those wonderful Moms out there with love, it marks the perfect time to clean up your gardens and start planting!

Planting flowers doesn't have to be difficult and you don't need a "green thumb" to be successful!

First you need a plan. Before you head off to your local nursery, be sure to jot down a few things first:

-What type of garden do you want?!? Veggies? Herbs? Flowers? All the above?

-How much space do you plan to cover? If you don't want any dirt showing, you will need some type of ground cover, such as ivy, hosta, or mint (a great excuse to make mojitos :P)

-How disciplined you plan to be in regards to maintaining your garden

Nursery List:

-Peat Moss

-Potting Soil

-Potting Mix

-Plant Selection 

(I went with hydrangea, impatiens, ivy and a random selection 

of misc. plants to create a decorative pot)

-Mini shovel

-Gardening gloves

The workers at the nursery, or even Menards or Home Depot, are extremely helpful, so ask questions. Take note of how much sunlight and water the plant needs and consider that when planning out your garden.

Below is how I planted my impatiens. I placed them staggered by color in a semi shady area below our cherry blossom tree. Impatiens will spread out and get bigger, so it's okay to leave space.

Keep all flowers and potting soils near by for easy reach

I per-dig some holes to get the layout started, but you don't have to stick with this exact format because you will be moving dirt around, so those holes could disappear

Place a scoop of the potting soil, potting mix, and moss into the hole. This will help give your plant the nutrients it needs to survive, stay large and colorful.

Place individual plant into the hole and would the dirt around so that the roots are completely covered

After some time and a little elbow grease, you are all set!!! Don't forget to water every day!

Miracle Grow makes individual bottles of plant feed, that screws right into your gardening hose. This mixes the feed with water. I suggest you do this once a week to ensure your plants get enough attention and will be enjoyable all summer long!

Now,  pull out your green thumb and get dirty!!!

Happy Hobbying,

The Self-Proclaimed, Modern Day Renaissance Woman

All Things Wedding - DIY and Personal Touches

As mentioned, I have so many wedding ideas and crafts to share! Here are some of my favorites from my sister's wedding!

Something not so traditional for a traditional wedding! Forget the pillow, the coolest ring bearers are sporting this adorable sign.

Sign by Limited Lane on Etsy

My sister's husband's niece and nephews refer to him as "Uncle Nucci." Nucci is Italian for "uncle." In an effort to surprise the groom, the bride and I had this sign made. As expected, it brought a tear to his eye and laughter and "awes" from all the guests!

Something blue? Try these subtle "I Do" stickers for the bottom of the bride's shoes! For those who have a Mass during the ceremony, kneeling makes for a great photo opp! 

Stickers from For Wedding Sake on Etsy

Shoes by Badgley Mischka

I surprised the bride and put these stickers on her gorgeous pair of Badgley Mischka pumps. Badgley Mischka has a great line of Bridal and Bridemaid shoes if you're looking!

Also inspired by Father of the Bride, I made these homemade chalkboard boxes, which were perfect for keeping track of RSVPs! 

The personalized hangers are the perfect accessory to the most important "Wedding White"...the dress! Also a great photo opp, these hangers make for a wonderful shower or bachelorette party gift! You can also get personalized hangers for the bridesmaids and mother of the bride/groom.

Hanger from Bridal Wedding Hangers on Etsy

Happy Hobbying,

The Self Proclaimed, Modern Day Renaissance Woman

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Post Wedding Depression - The Pretty Little Shoes

With my sister's wedding behind us, I'm slowly slipping into that depressed mode and feeling of, "what now?!?" The bride and groom are off on their honeymoon and left all us suckers behind! Although it wasn't my wedding, my amount of involvement and enjoyment through the while experience has left me feeling bored and with too much time on my hands!

The fact that I have neglected my blog is one of the few lights at the end of the tunnel! I have sooo much to share with everyone! As the wedding got closer and closer it was the little details that took over my focus!

One "project" I'm most excited to share was inspired by the 1991 hit, Father of the Bride, with Steve Martin and Diane Keaton

Many of you may recall the George Banks owned an athletic shoe manufacturing company called, SideKicks. He presented his daughter, Annie, a pair of "bridal appropriate" decorated athletic shoes. They were covered with white ribbon, lace, and satin. They were so unique and personal.

As a child my sister and I said we wanted shoes just like that for our weddings, afterall you can only dance in heels for so long and they make for a great photo opp!

As the sister of the bride and the Maid of Honor, these we on my to-do list. I wanted to surprise the bride during the rehearsal dinner and present my version of these classic shoes.

When searching online for the perfect white shoe for this occasion, I looked at Keds, KSwiss, Lacoste, etc, then I came across this pair of TOMS Classic Glitter Slip-Ons at Nordstrom (also comes in white, pink, and blue for your "something blue").

TOMS Classic Glitter Slip-On in Ivory

Now I had to figure out how I was going to make these even prettier than they already are. I went to my trusty 'ole craft store and picked up some flowers, some ribbon, a few strands of pearls, a jewelry clip and some wire. Grab a pair of pliers and have fun.

Once you have created your decorative "bow" like the one I created below, you simply clip the bow to the top (or even the side) of the shoe. Now you have an adorable bride shoe that she can wear even after the event is over. Just remove the clip and she's ready for the honeymoon.

I presented these shoes to my sister during the rehearsal dinner. Ironically, while we were getting our hair done the day before she said how she was going to wear some flip-flops for dancing, but she "always wanted shoes similar to the ones on Father of the Bride". I asked her sarcastically, "what, were you going to make them yourself?" and she said, "No, I was going to ask you to make them!"

I was happy to know that she had her pretty pair all wrapped up and ready to be worn :)

Happy Hobbying,

The Self-Proclaimed, Modern Day Renaissance Woman