Basket o' Flops

Yesterday, I thought, hey, I need a basket of cheap flip flops for the dance floor in case any ladies' feet get tired from dancing in heels. (I am definitely not the first to think of this.) I went to Michael's. They had them on sale for a dollar a pair! And their baskets were on sale! I got 15 pairs of pink flip flops and 2 green baskets with my store credit. (That was from buying tons of silk flowers when I thought I was going to make my own dress and cover it in flowers and then came to my senses and they said "Uh, store credit.") It took 20 minutes to get in and out of the store with what I needed. Only about 2 hours from the moment I decided I wanted to do it and that was because I was still at work when I decided that.

Here they are in the back seat of my car!


Sorry the picture is so crappy - camera phone, shaky hands, you know...

The quality of the shoes is pretty decent. I don't know what I'll use the little basket for yet - bathroom amenities, maybe?

Happy!

OOT! OOT!

I know. OOT is a stupid acronym. Out of Town. As in bags - little gift bags for guests coming in from out of town left in their hotel rooms. I really like the idea. (The acronym, not so much.) It's just a little something to make out-of-towners feel welcome after a long trip. After a great post by Miss Peep Toe at WeddingBee, I drove around to three Targets and called my mom to go to her Target in Virginia to get these bags. They're perfect! Eco-friendly, reusable bags - for a dollar. And in pink and green! Now, I have to find stuff to put in them. A bunch of apples won't really do.

Ah Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!

Too funny! (To me, anyway.) Ha ha ha ha! I've been sitting by myself, laughing at my horrible Photoshop skills. I started the think that maybe I should prescribe the dresses my bridesmaids should wear, since they're all having trouble figuring out what I want or finding what they think I want in stores. There's a J.Crew dress I kind of like and the colors are kind of cool - not exactly what I had in mind, but colors I'd be happy with. So, I started photoshopping their heads on dresses... Brace yourself...







Ha ha ha ha ha!

Whew!

The original model in the pink dress is from Ethiopia - a little darker than my bridesmaids, so I tried to lighten the arms and legs. Fail. Then I copied the legs to use on the armless, legless, headless manquin wearing the greenish dress. Sco asked why I didn't just use the polygonal lasso tool to copy the arms, too. I said it was too hard. He said no it's not. I said I don't want to. Fail. Then I cut out the heads and half-ass stuck 'em on the bodies. Fail.


I get my skills from "You Suck at Photoshop."

Pogo Photo Booth

Here's what I'm thinking - photo booth guest book. It's been done before - not a new idea. I'm considering buying a Polaroid Pogo printer. It prints photos on 2"x3" sticky cards and doesn't require an ink cartridge. It uses Zink (Zero-Ink) paper. You can print via Bluetooth from a camera phone or from a digital camera hooked up via USB cable. Guests would take a picture of themselves with the camera attached to the Pogo or their camera phone, print it out, stick it in the album and write a little note.

There are some issues with this... I might need someone manning the "photo booth" for several reasons. One, it's so small, someone could steal it. Because we're not in a secure location, someone could conceivably sneak in and nab the Pogo or the camera or both. Two, people might need some guidance. It's pretty simple, but even with instructions, it might be just intimidating enough that some people won't use it. Three, it only holds 10 sheets of Zink paper at once. Someone might need to be there to reload it.

One option I'm considering is building a box for it and the camera. It would hide the camera and printer, with a hole cut to expose the shutter button on the camera and a slot for the picture to slide out. It would have a door in the back so someone could load the paper occasionally. I still might need someone to stand there for that.

Another potential issue is that people might want to redo their photo too many times if they don't like how it came out. The box thing makes this more likely, I think, because the wouldn't be able to peek at the camera's display before printing.

Pogo image source

Photo booth picture: Sco in a real photo booth

Jars, jars, jars

Every nook and cranny of my apartment is filled with jars. My friends and I have been collecting them for use in our wedding - hopefully as hanging lanterns, but that will depend on what the fire marshal says.

In spite of having so many free jars on hand to recycle in this lovely way, I think I need to buy some jars. Cookie jars, specifically.

As I've mentioned, we're having cookies instead of cake. While the caterer will provide the cookies, he will not provide the pretty jars to put them in. And I don't usually buy my pickles and salsa in 3 gallon glass jars.

So, I'm on the lookout for cute, vintage-ish cookie jars. Preferably clear. Go forth, my jar-hunting minions...






empty jar photo credit: P.J. McAdie, flickr

cookie jar source: Real Simple

Wedding dress ideas

Ok, so you might have heard that I'm considering making my own dress... I know, I don't really sew, and something about biases... blah, blah, blah... I've made loads of friggin' awesome Halloween costumes, some of which involved sewing and I have lots of helpers. My mom and JodyPrinceton have both made their own clothes. I'm going to play with it, while continuing to look for a ready-made dress to buy. If it seems like it's working, I might go with it. If it totally sux, I'll abandon the idea and buy a dress. Or maybe wear my friend Liz's. So, below are a few things for inspiration... (Images courtesy Style.com, Elie Saab, RealSimple.com, Oscar de la Renta and Kitty Chen Couture)


Aaand, I still love this one..