For this month’s Crafty Chicks Night, we indulged in a very unique way of recycling. We salvaged our old, mismatched and outdated jewelry and repurposed it into new, stylish pieces. As always, we used recycled materials as the real ‘supplies’ for this project came out of our own jewelry boxes!

I was totally impressed by the ingenuity of the Chicks and was quite surprised by the awesome pieces of jewelry that were created. From restyled necklaces and bracelets to rings made from vintage beads and buttons, a few of the Chicks may have found a new calling!

jewelry collection castoffs

getting instruction from our hostess, Debbie

focused chicks

Laura combining a chain necklace with a vintage brooch

Laura's necklace!

Amanda discovering a new talent: making rings from vintage buttons

a costume bracelet gets turned into rings

our creations!

Amanda's rings!

I am pretty thrilled about the family I will join upon marrying Eric. His parents welcomed me as a daughter the moment I met them and have remained eager and active participants in our wedding plans. And if I didn’t already have the best sister in the world, my new sister-in-law, Jenny, would own that title. She and Anna will simply share it. 

Apparently, my new niece & nephew were also excited to become a part of this amazing family. So excited, in fact, they decided to make their grand entrance a full 3 months early! 

We welcomed Lucca Romeo and Lucia Rose on April 25th, 2010 (weighing 1lb 14oz and 1lb 12oz, respectively) These little kids have already captivated the entire family and their proud parents, Aaron & Jenny, have done an amazing job keeping everyone updated on their progress. They even set up a blog so we can all watch them grow big and strong.

You can follow along here. 

Lucca and Lucia with proud mom, Jenny

There are many challenges that preemies face, many more than I could have  imagined. Some are certainly bigger hurdles than others. I was thrilled to be able to help with one of their smaller challenges.

Since the NICU doesn’t have preemie mittens small enough for Lucca & Lucia, Jenny asked if I thought I could make some. I’ve only used my sewing machine a few times and only recently signed up to take a sewing class but I was touched that Jenny asked for my help, so I thought I’d give it a shot.

I honestly wasn’t sure how this project would turn out. Unable to find a pattern small enough, I created my own…on a post-it note. I documented the project along the way and must say I’m pretty proud (and a little surprised) that I pulled it off!

Here’s how I did it:

starting supplies...here goes nothing!

I cut small pieces from the fabric

I hemmed each piece

the hemmed halves

I then sewed the two halves together

I threaded each with tiny ribbon and, voila!

the finished products, packaged and ready to ship!

Lucca Romeo Fox

Lucia Rose Fox

It feels so wonderful to work on something for the twins. Obviously, I plan on spoiling them rotten and I’m so happy I was able to get such an early start!

My favorite wedding projects (so far) have been the Mason Jar centerpieces (because I had so much fun working on them with my girlfriends), the dress (I bought it from a friend for $100 and Eric’s mom is altering it to fit me…kind of like a custom made dress…ooh la la!!), and the music (we have some surprises in store for our guests. I can’t wait for the big reveal!)

All of our DIY efforts are really having an affect on the bottom line and the more we save, the more we decide to do ourselves.

Which brings me to our most recent endeavor…the wedding invitations. We chose to send out our save-the-dates electronically, both to save money and to save trees. We knew we wanted actual printed invitations, but felt the need to be as eco-friendly as possible since we’d be printing so many. After pricing some recycled paper options online and seeing how expensive they were going to be, we decided to try to make them ourselves.

We took a little trip to our local art supply store and totally scored! We found amazing paper from Khadi (www.khadi.com) made entirely out of cotton rags and envelopes made out of recycled butcher paper.

Eric put his design skills to use and created the most beautiful invitations. They are simple, classic and fit perfectly with our rustic theme. I absolutely adore them.  And, we were even able to print them on our simple printer at home!

Now, I’m no expert on all the bells and whistles of Photoshop like he is, but I think creating invitations in MS Word could totally be doable. With the amount of money you can save, it’s certainly worth trying!!

I have no idea what happened in Atlanta today, but the cold and dreary weather was no reflection of the gorgeous weekend we enjoyed. On Sunday, I took the camera on a long walk and snapped some shots of all the recent blooms. Flipping thru them tonight reassured me that spring has, in fact, sprung. 

Here’s hoping the rest of the week is sunnier than the start!

I am incredibly fortunate to have been given the family that I have. I really lucked out. My dad is the most valiant and self-less father in the world. My sister is my absolute best friend. And there simply aren’t enough words to describe how much I love my mom. She is my idol, my confidant, my champion and the one person I turn to when I can’t turn to anyone else.

As I have grown into an adult, our relationship has grown, also. It has evolved into a genuine friendship. I can talk with her about everything. I can turn to her for anything. And I know there’s nothing she wouldn’t do for me.

We aren’t spending Mother’s Day together this year. So I thought I’d use this little blog of mine to take the opportunity to express my appreciation to her.

Mom, I cherish you with every ounce of my soul. I am so proud that you are my mother and I’m eternally grateful that I get to be your daughter. You have taught me so much and your love and encouragement mean more to me than you’ll ever know. With everything that’s in me, I want to thank you for being the mother you are to your daughters. We are better people because we came from you.

Happy Mother’s Day. I love you.

I have a few dear friends who are celebrating Mother’s Day for the first time this year. How exciting! I don’t know the joys of being a mom, but I do know that it’s a life-long vow and I am so very proud of my friends for doing such an incredible job. I thought I would make little gifts for these very special mothers. 

I know the luxury of relaxation isn’t something most mothers get to enjoy, so I made little spa sets with my own homemade bath salts! I grabbed some glass jars from the recycling bin, decoupaged the lids and filled them with the bath salts. I hope they offer these new mothers an excuse to take a few moments for themselves, relax their minds and rejuvenate their souls.  

If anyone is still looking for a gift for Mother’s Day, here’s a quick “how to”…

using a magazine page and a hole punch, I made a bunch of paper hearts

using Mod Podge, I covered the jar lids with paper hearts

I continued the process to cover the entire lid

once covered, I applied two more coats of Mod Podge and allowed to dry

the finished jars - so easy and so adorable!

simple ingredients of Epsom salt, baking soda & lavender essential oils

the finished products!

A big “thank you” to my sweet friend Kathianne for teaching me all about the world of decoupage. She’s my crafty soul sister and you should all check out her blog www.nourishcreatebloom.com

thumb print guest book via Project 10K Wedding

"recycled yarn/fabric bouquet" via Yarny Couture on www.ruffledblog.com

"recycled wine bottle hanging vases" via www.100layercake.com

"burlap napkin rings" via www.theletteredcottage.net

"faux porcelain vases from old bottles and cans" via p.s. I Made This

Now, with a (somewhat) shorter list of DIY projects and crafty to-dos, I’m feeling like a have a more realistic vision for the big day….and for the 5 months leading up to it. And, don’t worry…there are still projects a ‘plenty that I’m working on and I’ll share them all with you!

Growing up, my mom always had our patio packed with lots of plants and we would work together in the dirt, repotting them, planting new ones in the yard and working in the flowerbeds. It was precious time spent with her and how I cultivated my green thumb.

Eric and I don’t have kids (yet). We don’t have pets (yet). But, we have plants…lots of them. They are our children and on Saturday we spent the afternoon repotting them, giving them new homes in healthy soil.

A visit from E’s parents on Sunday and our house is now filled with beautiful flowers picked from their gardens in Athens. I love waking up in the morning and coming downstairs to see roses, azalea blooms, peonies, and petunias on the windowsill and scattered around the house.

House plants do more than just brighten up a room with color. Along with being pleasing to the eye, studies show they offer real health benefits. According to a University of Agriculture study in Norway, indoor plants can reduce fatigue, coughs, sore throats and other cold-related illnesses by more than 30 percent, partially by increasing humidity levels and decreasing dust. Plants can also remove a variety of toxic air emissions including ammonia and carbon monoxide.

They can even make people feel calmer and more optimistic, says Bruno Cortis, M.D., a Chicago cardiologist. Interestingly, he says that studies have shown that hospital patients who face a window with a garden view recovered more quickly than those who had to look at a wall.

Now that spring is in full bloom, why not add some living energy to your home? The health benefits are proven, and nothing’s more gratifying than playing in the dirt!

An extremely productive weekend, a little help from my beloved friends, and I am happy to say that all of the centerpieces for the wedding reception have been made. Whew!

I’ve been collecting Mason Jars for a few months. We wrapped them in burlap, secured them with organic cotton ribbon, tied a little bow and voila! Instant centerpieces. They will each hold a mix of assorted white flowers and will add a little bit of rustic charm to the tables.

Another craft project for this wedding is now complete…and only about a dozen more to go!