Handmade Knit Wedding Gown

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                 Source: dailymail.co.uk via Nnenna on Pinterest


When I came across this image on Pinterest I knew it was too awesome not to share it with you guys! Twenty-six year-old Lydia from the United Kingdom handknit her own wedding gown in order to save money.  According to the article, she tried on a few wedding dresses in stores, but then decided that she wanted to go the handmade route. She was able to create her dress above with about 300 grams of yarn and at least 100,000 stitches- all for under 200 pounds!

I think her wedding dress is really beautiful and I love that it's completely unique- what a great treasure that will be for future generations in her family!

Tell me: What do you think of her knit wedding dress? Did you or would you make your own wedding gown?
By Nnenna of star-crossed smile

Inspired By: Weddings

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Summer is the season of weddings and I thought it would be fun to share some of my picks inspired by this theme. Our team members are so talented and there was plenty of wedding inspiration to be found in their shops!









Tell me: Who's attending a wedding this summer? Anyone getting married? :)


By Nnenna of star-crossed smile

Summer Products from The {NewNew}

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Do your summer in style with these nifty handmade items by members of The {NewNew}!

Add a touch simple yet sophisticated DIY flair to your summer wedding decorations with this flower garland by Pandawithcookie.

Pink Paper Flower Garland-Lovely Wedding Decor, $18

"Bee" prepared for picnics in the park and all your more casual outdoor affairs involving liquid refreshment with this cheerful pitcher by Lennymud.

Bee Happy Pitcher, $15

Keep the little ones cute and cool in these shortalls by Overallbaby.
Toddler Shortalls in Kokka Turquoise Sheep, $38

And for yourself or a friend, a breezy Trapeze Top by Vyphuisdesigns.

Fun Trapeze Top, $35

Get set for days at the beach or knocking around town with this cheerful Sunshine Tote Purse by jesswitaj.

Summer Sunshine Tote Purse, $48

Update friends and family, say "thank you," or send a simple summertime "hello" with beach-inspired notecards by MonicaMarks.

Summer Seashells - Set of 2 Note Cards, 5 x 7, Original Mixed Media Collage, Blank Inside, $10

Hold your childhood summertime memories near and dear year-round with this Ice Cube Popsicle print by Lipeony.

Ice Cube Popsicle 5 x 7 Print, $8.00

For more {NewNew} summertime products, click here.

Enjoy, and have a happy summer!

Linda
PurtyBird

How-to: "Something Blue" Bridal Hair Pin

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My little sister will be getting married this summer and she trusted me enough to give me the extremely important task of designing and creating her jewelry. I'm scared already! ;O I'm almost certain, she will turn out to be my most difficult and outspoken client ever, and I'm not fooled by her when she says "Just surprise me, I'm sure I will love it!"

I decided to start with hair accessories. We went over different possibilities: hair combs, tiaras, hair bends and decided that hair pins would be best. My sister has very fine and "slippery" hair and pins will not only help to hold them in place, but also give the master hairdresser, my brother's best friend, lots of flexibility.

Supplies:
~hair pin
~wire (I'm using 26ga silver plated wire)
~beads: glass flowers, glass leaves, pearls, Swarovski crystals, seed beads
go wild! use silk flowers, feathers, old jewelry, sequins, buttons, etc
~wire clippers
1. Cut an 18in long piece of wire, place first petal or leaf shaped bead in the middle of your wire and twist wire securing bead in place.

2. Secure additional 2 petal beads on each end of the wire.
3. Make a couple of additional twists below the little branches.
4. Add glass flower bead topped with "something blue" Swarovski crystal bead leaving about 1/2in of wire bellow the flower.
5. Bend the wire tightly over the edge of the flower bead and twist tightly making sure that the blue crystal stays as centered as possible.

6. Thread a little Swarovski crystal butterfly on the longer end of the wire about 1.5in from twister wire, fold it tightly against the bead and wrap around.
7. Position the butterfly above the pearl branches.
8. Add one more flower bead with Swarovski crystal center at the base of this little bridal bouquet.
9. Thread both ends of the wire through the loop of the hair pin and secure it in place by wrapping around the loop of the hair pin and around the base of the bouquet. Clip off the access wire.

by Mirela
Jantar Handcrafted Jewelry

How To: Making a shawl for a cool spring wedding

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March heralds spring and that means weddings are in the air!!
But it’s still too cool for those fabulous strapless and spaghetti strapped wedding dresses. So let’s make this shawl, choose your color, choose your fabric. Here we chose white satin with a grey cotton ribbon for the fringe. You can use satin, silk, velvet or any ribbon you like….here’s an opportunity to do your “something blue”.

Need
Fabric 62” x 21”
Ribbon or braid approximately 13 yards (cut into 12” strips)
Thread suitable for the fabric chosen
New pins

1. Fold fabric in half length-wise and mark seam. Opening fabric out flat, lay ribbon or braid on right side of fabric with end up against the width end of the fabric. Make sure the ribbon lays flat on what will be the good side of the fabric, each strip paralled and at least ½ inch apart on only one half of fabric.2. Pin each strip in place on both ends of your fabric. It will help to baste stitch each strip of ribbon in place.

3. With ribbon basted in place, fold over side of fabric without ribbon using your center seam mark as your guide for the fold.

4. Carefully stitch the two ends and most of the open length together. Leave a small opening for turning shawl.

5. Turn shawl inside out
6. Iron shawl carefully, making sure that ribbon strips extend to form a fringe at both ends.

7. Hand sew the opening close and iron flat.

Voila, you have the perfect shawl for a cool spring wedding.

By Marilyn Ng-A-Qui
vyphuisdesigns.etsy.com

How to Elope with Style

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Lots of little girls dream of their weddings. All I ever fantasized about was the dress and the jewelry. So when my now-husband and I decided to get married, we quickly dispensed with the notion of a shin-dig and decided to do it on our own terms.

Niagara Falls called to us, so we booked a room with a gorgeous view and came up with excuses to get away for a few days in April.

The mayor of Niagara Falls, New York performed the ceremony. Rather than the boiler plate we'd expected, we got his take on the wedding vows, which were much sweeter and more heartfelt.

Although our nuptials took place in the dark ages before Etsy and the {New New}, they did include many handmade and DIY elements.

My dress was custom made at a local shop called Kimera. My cute capelet also came from a local shop that carries lots of handmade goods, Rapisarda. My husband worked with jewelry designer Lady J. to create an engagement ring based on one that had been my grandmother's. We got custom wedding bands from the Original Titanium Workshop.

As a gift on the day we got married, he got me a beautiful handmade purse from Refinery, a local pioneer in handmade retail.


Afterwards, we let our friends and family know we'd gotten hitched by sending out this card:
which we made by taking a picture of some public art near our house that we thought kind of looked like us. With each card we included a cd of the theme song to Laverne and Shirley, "Doing it Our Way."

If I were to do it all over again, I'd still elope. We spared ourselves a great deal of stress, and to this day we still feel justified in splurging on travel since we saved so much money by not having a a wedding.

The only thing I'd change is I'd definitely do a lot of my shopping from the {New New}!

Stylish elopement necessities from Ikyoto, bluestitch books, metalicious, groundsel, jesswitaj and Lingua Nigra.

-MaryAnne
wabisabibrooklyn.com
wabisabibrooklyn.etsy.com