Zion National Park

One of the first large hiking extravaganzas I took was a trip to Zion National Park in Utah in October 2010 for a long weekend of hiking and canyoneering. My husband enjoys travel planning and took the lead in booking us flights and hotels.

View from the top of Angels Landing, Zion National Park, Utah

We spent three days hiking Angels' Landing and the Narrows, cayoneering, and enjoying the town of Springdale. 

Charlottesville/ Shenandoah

My husband and I love to travel, but sometimes we realize there are a lot of places in our own area we overlook or never make time for. This Labor Day we took a last minute road trip down towards Charlottesville, VA, Shenandoah National Park, and Luray.

University of Virginia campus in Charlottesville

Pinterest Fashion Inspiration

It's no secret that I'm not a fashionista. My wardrobe is mostly basics and solids without many bold patterns, stand out colors, or high end items to mix in. I like to look at 'Women's Fashion' on Pinterest, but to recreate many of the outfits I'd have to buy new wardrobe pieces and would likely feel uncomfortable being taken out of my jeans and tee-shirts.

I get excited when I see an outfit that I think I might actually be able to recreate cheaply and feel comfortable wearing. To remember these inspirational pins, I started a board which I call 'Fashion's I can actually make from my closet'.

The following post is my attempt to re-create my first 4 fashion pins, what worked, what didn't, and what I'll actually wear.

Wedding Signs and Table Numbers

To continue the ceremony motif through the cocktail hour and into the reception, I created signs and table numbers decorated with paper pinwheels.

Cookie Table Party Favors

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania has many of its own wedding traditions; there is the 'Money Dance' and then the very beloved 'Cookie Table'. Being born and raised in Pittsburgh and hosting a wedding there we had to acknowledge this tradition. As a wink to the cookie table, we created beautiful cookie favors for our reception. To thank our guests for coming, I handmade Thank You notes which we attached to each favor.

The Cookie 'Favor' Table.

Here is how we did it;

Bachelorette/Shower Party Favors

Hello! Just a quick little DYI today; favors for a bachelorette party or bridal shower.

Pinwheel Aisle Decorations

Inspired by a picture I found on theknot.com of pinwheels sold on Etsy, I decided to try to create my own pinwheel aisle decorations for my June wedding.

Initially I had trouble getting started, but each pinwheel I made got better and faster. I ended up making approximately 50 individual pin wheels which decorated the ends of 8 rows of aisles.

Here’s how I did it.

DIY: Wedding!

Recently I was lucky enough to get married. Being an avid craft-ster, a true do-it-youself-er, and a cheapskate I took on a lot of wedding projects myself. My inspiration started when I saw a photograph of pinwheel aisle decorations and a pinwheel cake.

A collage of some of the wedding details.

By the time I finished my crafting I had made; 12 bachelorette party favors, 6 signature drink signs, 15 table number signs, 300 cocktail stirs, 16 aisle decorations, 140 favor tags, one guest book, 45 shower favors, 2 custom quotation signs, and over 110 pinwheels.

Shortcut Chicken Satay

This week I made Chicken Satay. The recipe I used was from a co-worker whose husband I know to be a wonderful cook. I'm calling this 'shortcut' chicken satay because the recipe for the sauce was so easy and I already had all four of the ingredients. (Whereas another co-worker once gave me a chicken satay recipe with a nine ingredient marinade plus an eight ingredient sauce.)

The chicken turned out perfect! The sauce had just enough flavor to be really yummy without being over powerful or sweet.

DIY Cocktail Stirs

For my latest project I made cocktail stirs for a wedding happy hour. There are many similar stirs for sale on Etsy, but I needed 300 and it seemed cheaper to try to make them myself. I like the way they turned out, and they were even quicker to make than I expected.

Two of the completed stirs