July 12, 2012
Beach Wedding – Passports and RSVP Postcards DIY
I went all out on the DIY for my beach wedding four years ago. My colors were sunset orange and sky blue and my theme was literally our beach destination – from the vintage Florida postcard stamps I created at Zazzle.com to my signature hibiscus on my cake, stamps, and invitations, as well as the beach themed music and food. My guests received a big ‘ol box including sunscreen, airline ticket invitations, a passport, and an RSVP postcard.
The Passport
I posted my diy airline ticket invitations {complete with a downloadable template file} a few months ago, and have had several requests to see more of what I put together for my big day. Besides the airline ticket invitations, the passport that I included in the invitation box was the biggest undertaking.
I created a cover for the passport on thick paper using my signature orange color and a printed texture to give the look of an actual leather passport. Inside, I used thin pages like a real passport, bound by a sewing machine, filled with 11 pages of info including where to stay, my contact info, a timeline for the big day and a fun map to show my guests where to go for the wedding and then reception. I even printed cancellation stamps on the background of the pages, just as you’d see in a real traveler’s passport. Every page for every passport was cut by hand using my cutterpede
I used a lot of clipart from Microsoft and pasted them into Photoshop as vector images to create this map. Rings and hearts show where the wedding will take place, and a big cake shows where the reception will take place, all at Carillon Beach, Florida, a beach house rental community. I’ve also highlighted the hotel on property where my guests may like to stay.
The event details coordinates with the map to show guests where to go and when. The general info lets people know where to park and how to dress.
The RSVP Postcard
I downloaded a blank postcard template at VistaPrint.com and designed these “Greetings From Carillon” postcard RSVPs in my signature orange and blue colors. Upload the front and back designs as separate images, and they mail you a stack of postcards, in proper mailing dimensions, a few days later. It couldn’t be easier.
This is the backside of the RSVP postcard. Guests simply fill in their name and drop the pre-stamped post card in the mail. Like the vintage Florida postcard stamps I used on my invitation boxes, I also created this stamp at Zazzle.com using my signature hibiscus.
The Invitation Box
Here is the completed invitation box. I tried to use materials that were a little beachy and natural from the matte brown tape used to seal the box to the elixir used to fill it. The boxes were matte white in dimensions just big enough to hold the airline ticket invitations, passport, postcards and sunscreen.
Pics From Our Day
Because I couldn’t help myself, here are a few pics from our big day. Sorry in advance for the pic overload, but I just couldn’t choose a few favorites from Paul Johnson’s beautiful photography. Our wedding was also featured in the 2009 edition of The Knot magazine which was beyond exciting!
Our rings on our wedding date.
My beach wedding orange orchid bouquet with a crystal crab brooch.
I used a shell as my beach wedding ring bearer pillow.
Our groomsmen gifts – bobbleheads in their wedding attire. We gave these to the groomsmen at the rehearsal dinner, which was also my husband’s birthday, so I surprised him with one in his “likeness” too lol.
Our wedding programs on fans.
Our gazebo aisle. It was a no shoes allowed beach wedding. All of our guests were served lemonade at the top of the steps.
Our beach wedding altar of branches and floating orchids.
Our beautiful flower girl and her beach pail. Loved my Nicole Miller wedding dress.
I now pronounce you husband and wife.
A fun wedding party pic at our beach house rental.
Our reception with orange orchid centerpieces.
Our orange wedding cake with my signature hibiscus.
Our wedding favors were bottles of rosemary and “sea” salt.
Our beach reception menu written with chalkboard markers.
Ceviche appetizers.
Our first dance to Lifehouse “Everything”.
Coldstone catered our big day with made to order icecream and toppings.
Our “magic hour” sunset moment, perfect for my sunset themed wedding.
Our tables were lit from underneath, a surprise to our guests as the sun went down.
A sparkler send-off.
Me and my bridesmaids jumping in the pool to cool off after a hot night on the dancefloor.
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July 9, 2012
Manicure Mondays – Chanel Couture Fall 2012 Nail Art
For the first time ever, Chanel does nail art at their Haute Couture Fall 2012 runway show. This silver and bubble gum pink outline moon manicure is so beautiful and couldn’t be more simple. For those of you that think nail art isn’t for short nails, I chopped mine to show that you can definitely get the look.
First, I started with one coat of China Glaze Millenium silver nail polish. For this coat, you want to get the polish as close to your cuticles and the sides of your nails as possible. If you need a little help painting, check out my how to paint your nails tutorial.
Next, paint a layer of bubble gum pink over the silver, leaving a spaced outline all the way around your cuticles and sides of your nails. It’s best if you use a wide round brush for fewer strokes, so I went with Pink Friday, from the Nicki Minaj for OPI collection. After you’ve allowed this coat to dry a bit to prevent smudging, finish with a heavy coat of dry fast top coat
So what do you all think of this Chanel Haute Couture Fall 2012 nail art? Is this a manicure you’d like to try?
Images via Vogue Paris. The products mentioned in this post were sent to me by the merchant or their PR company. All opinions are 100% my own. For more info, please view my full disclosure policy.
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July 5, 2012
Fourth of July Cupcakes
I hope you all had a fun 4th of July! I was looking for an easy “to go” dessert for our fireworks picnic yesterday and thought these Fourth of July cupcakes were the perfect festive treat. The cake and the frosting are swirled in red, white and blue; however, you can modify the colors for any holiday, or your favorite sports team.
Yields: 24 cupcakes
Ingredients:
1 box white cake mix, prepared according to directions
1 package white cupcake papers
red and blue gel food coloring
1/2 cup softened butter
2 packages softened cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups sifted confectioners sugar
Fourth of July Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Separate the cake mix into three separate bowls, about 1 cup per bowl. Add red gel coloring to one bowl, stirring and adding more gel until you have reached a deep shade of red and repeat in a separate bowl with the blue gel. The third bowl, the white batter, should remain uncolored.
Next, in a muffin tin that holds 12 cupcakes, add less than a tablespoon of each color into each muffin paper cup. Each muffin paper should be about half full of batter. I added white to the bottom and then the red and blue side-by-side over the white. You can also layer each color stacked on top of each other. With a toothpick, gently fold and swirl the color together until slightly mixed. If you mix the colors too much, the red and blue will turn purple. Bake for 18-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
Swirl Cream Cheese Frosting
For the cream cheese frosting, cream together the butter and cream cheese. Mix in vanilla and then slowly mix in sifted confectioners sugar.
To frost the cupcakes, fold down the top third of a frosting bag and add a large piping tip. Drip a stripe of red gel on the inside of the bag from the piping tip to the fold. Across from this stripe, add another red stripe. Between the red stripes, on opposite sides, add two blue stripes. Push frosting into the bag with a spoon, unfold the bag, twist the bag above the frosting to push it towards the tip, and frost as many cupcakes as possible. I had to refill my bag 3 times for 24 cupcakes, rinsing and adding more gel per refill so that the colors do not get too blended.
I used my own directions for the cupcakes, since I had done this before for my friend’s tie dye birthday cake, but I got the swirl frosting technique from Chica and Jo. They also have printable cupcake collars that are so fun. If I were going to display these 4th of July cupcakes on a table, I would have definitely printed out their collars; however, I didn’t go for it this time since I needed these cupcakes to fit in my cupcake caddy
So what do you think about these 4th of July cupcakes? Is this something you would try?
recipe – idea from chica and jo and cream cheese frosting – altered from allrecipes.com
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July 1, 2012
Manicure Mondays – Fourth of July Nails
Happy Manicure Mondays and happy July! I hope you all had a great weekend! Last year, I went all out on the nail art for my Forth of July manicure, so this year, I wanted to do something more simple, yet so so fun! I found this stars glitter polish on Etsy and Amy’s Nail Boutique was nice enough to send me a bottle to swatch for you all. Can you believe I’ve been blogging nail art for 3 years now, yet this is my first Franken polish {home grown brew}?!?!
Liberty is a clear base nail polish with large and small matte red, white and blue glitter, white and blue bar glitter, and blue and shiny silver star glitter. I swatched it over China Glaze Snow
So what do you all think of this patriotic glitter mani? Is this something you’d like to try? It’s the perfect mani for the 4th of July and the upcoming Olympics!
The products mentioned in this post were sent to me by the merchant or their PR company. All opinions are 100% my own. For more info, please view my full disclosure policy.
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About Me
hi, i'm jennifer, a florida lifestyle blogger. at fabfatale, i share nail art, recipes, outfits, beauty reviews, and diy projects. i hope i can inspire you to try something new today!
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