DominiqueAmber's Wedding Planning Blog

[dominiqueamber]

Confessions of a Shopaholic 

March 9, 2012

 

Hello, My name is Amber Dominique and I’m a Thrift Store Shopping Addict!

Source

It started out with things for my house and then when the wedding shopping became more serious so did my addiction. I learned that old items are marked down on Monday to make room for the new items. So Monday and Tuesday are the best days for shopping. I’ve had to work hard to make sure I’m not buying something because it’s cheap (which is so tempting)but buying things I actually need.  My goal in decorating the wedding is to find things I want to decorate my home or use in the kitchen, this way I feel like I’m saving money because it’s a two for one.

If live in the Tidewater area here’s the skinny on the local Thrift Stores. The Children’s Hospital for the King’s Daughters Thirft Stores tend to be less expensive and have the best finds. TheGoodwill offers a colored tag for half off each week but you must check frequently because they’re popular stores. Thrift Store City is my favorite for great finds and great prices. TheDisabled American Veterans Thrift Store and Thrift Store USA have staff that must read wedding blogs because they know the value of their stuff and it’s not always easy to score a good deal. Union Mission Thrift does not usually have good items and they’re overpriced however they have awesome sales like half off everything for 3 hours a few tines a month.

You’re probably wondering what’s the fuss is all about. Besides my plate collection let me show you some of my recent treasures.

Set of four jars for $6.98. The lids are begging to be painted with chalkboard paint!  (Personal Photo)

Three bags of seashells for $2.98 each (Personal Photo)

Crystal Punch Bowl with 7 crystal cups for $2.98 and a Crystal Cake Plate for $9.98 (Personal Photo)

Milk Glass Bowls, the top two were a set for $2.98 and the bottom was $1.98 (Personal Photo)

Two Glass Cake Plates, $7.98 for the set (Personal Photo)

From left to right, pedestal bowl for $4.25, medium jar with lid $2.98, two small jars with lids priced at $1.65 each but they were half off because they were the color of the week, cake plate with lid $6.98 (Personal Photo)

 The good deals add up and I have to work really hard to have self control and pay my bills before shopping but the feeling of getting great stuff for even greater prices make everyday I shop I great day! Do you thrift store shop? Have you found it to be a valuable source for your wedding?

[dominiqueamber]

I Have a Doctors Note

March 16, 2012

 

I apologize for the lack of posts lately. It’s not because I gave up on the wedding, I promise. It’s because I’ve been really sick! Like “feeling like poop on a stick†sick. (I could google and share a picture with you but you might not like that as much as I would) Since I’m allergic to most OTC medicines and antibiotics, I don’t go to the doctors unless it’s really bad . I’ve been trying to let my body build up the strength to fight it. I know it’s worse than a cold but I don’t think it’s the flu but the Doctor’s I work for can vouch that I’m really sick since I picked it up from their little girl.

Source

I promise to catch you up on what’s been going on and make up for it with a posting marathon! I have the next week off and since Raoul’s no longer able to come visit (the sucky part of long distance relationships and shrinking finances) I will have time to tackle the DIY projects that have been sitting on my couch and floor waiting for me to have time.

How cool you get to see it all up close without getting infected! (Hmmm maybe I should sanatize the projects when I’m done?)

 

 

 

[dominiqueamber]

The DIY Marathon Takes Off

March 17, 2012

 

I started filling my down time with creating some designs on power point. I had fallen in love with this image a long time ago and thought it would fit us well since Raoul and his father really love Chess and Checkers. (If you google him and his father, pictures of them in a chess competition come up)

 Image via Elizabeth Anne Designs

I loved it because it was functional as a place mat on an outdoor table and interactive and would keep guests busy while waiting on food. I thought about making a chess game but I knew that it would never end and break up the vibe of the party, plus I liked the way they used gummies as alternative pieces. I had stored this idea in “Things I don’t need to spend the money on†until I saw this while shopping at the local wine and cake store:

They have ton’s of colors but I think I like Ivory the best.  I was picking up a mold for soap, a project I hope to get to this week / Image via Wine and Cake Hobbies

I thought 50 for $4.99 would make the project affordable, all I had to do was design the place mat and print it on the computer. Here’s what I have so far.

Personal Image

 It’s a good start but I hate it because it’s so unfinished. I’m taking a pause to let my creative juices flow. But for pieces I’d like to use the sea shells and clear glass gems I bought at the dollar store when I thought I was making bubble magnets. It will be easy and cheap since I already have them.

Next, I decided to work on a project I had been tripping over for the last month. I have always collected sand from places I visited and it’s something really special to me.

Here’s my collection that sits in the hallway. That’s the Kalik bottle from when Ra and I first met! / Personal Image

I thought it would be sweet for guests to take home sand from Nassau to remember the wedding and The Bahamas. I already had these bottles which I had purchased from Ebay a few years ago in my attic.

I’m so glad I saved them because they made this project possible. (Personal Image)

I had searched long and hard for sea glass online and in stores but it was not affordable and difficult to find a color I liked. One day I was in the floral aisle at Wal-Mart (shopping for my mothers’ wedding) and I found this for less than $4.

Bonus: It’s made from recyclable materials! (Personal Image)

I realize it’s not real but it fits through the mouth of the jar so I don’t have attack sea glass with a hammer. The bottle still needed something else. I remembered some shells I had. I purchased boxes from a bride hoping to use them for my save the dates but they turned out too small. She had included her leftover shells and starfish for free! I finally had all my supplies and they sat waiting on the floor for over a month. Fast forward to today when I carried them to my sick-bed. Yes, I craft in my bed. No, I do not recommend it. Now I have tiny pebbles everywhere!

Here’s a close up of the bottle. (Personal Image)

Then I lined them up and added 5 shells to each one ( I wanted to make sure I had enough)

(Personal Image)

I got bored with that fast and just dumped shells across the tops.

(Personal Image)

I didn’t have enough starfish for all the bottles so I’m going to ask brides for their leftovers instead of ordering a new bag of 500. After the starfish I added pinches of sea glass.

(Personal Image)

Some of the bottles have a lot more sea glass because it took too long so I just poured it across the top.

(Personal Image)

Which left a big mess so I just used the bottles to scoop up the pebbles.

 (Personal Image)

After about 45 minutes they look so cute all lined up!

(Personal Image)

(Personal Image)

When Raoul comes to visit he’s bringing sand and we can seal them closed once we add the sand. So far this project is costing me $4 for 85 bottles. I’m not counting the cost of the bottles because I bought them six years ago but they were about $11. I would like to add a label with a poem about the sand or sea glass and I can use leftover cardstock from my Save the Dates to create them. I’m also tempted to soak the corks in some tropical scented oil I already have when we get closer to August! I’m pretty proud of my first (almost) done favor but there’s more projects to work on.

Do you collect anything from your travels? Were you able to make use of supplies you already had in the house before wedding planning?

[dominiqueamber]

The DIY Marathon Continues

March 18, 2012

 

Remember I wanted to dress up my drinks? Well, once the taller stir sticks arrived with the fork I was able to whip out some more drink decorations. I added quote flags to the longer sticks.

Personal Image

And remember I was determined to make these.

Image via anna and blue paperie

I purchased the glitter paper which was $1.99 a sheet using a 20% off your total purchase coupon at Michaels (which also goes on 50% off sale if you watch) and the heart punch was 40% at ACMoore.

Image via Amazon

I punched hearts in the paper and hot glued two of them to each stick. It was so easy it seemed unfair and they’re my favorite DIY project so far!

Personal Image

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 I also wanted to make ribbon flags but the search for peach ribbon proved too difficult and I gave up since the hearts were so beautiful.

Did you find that a DIY project was easier than you expected? Did you have thoughts of listing it on Etsy?

[dominiqueamber]

Wrapping it Up

March 19, 2012

 

It feels so good to wrap this project up. It literally took me 5 days. Not 24 hours a day though because my fingers were so sore I had to take breaks. I’m sure your dying to see what I wrapped up. I have to admit his was not an original idea. I combined the wooden utensils I had fallen in love with and these images.

Images via Mrs.Beagle on Weddingbee

Thanks to these images I was melting all over my keyboard. The collection of patterns appealed to my love of mismatched items, the fact that they were not disposable struck a chord with the desire to be green and turning the napkins into a quilt after the wedding was right up my alley because I’m all kinds of sentimental. I had discovered this idea last summer and once I had settled on my color scheme (which I’m calling Buff, Blush and Bashful with a little Blue for Raoul) I started collecting fabrics. I set a limit of $3.00 a yard or less. I broke the rule twice with a $4.00 a yard fabric and $7.95 a yard fabric I had to have. It’s hard to see in the picture but it was a white fabric with white nautical designs on it.  I was more than excited when my package from Webrestaurant store arrived in the mail because that meant I could start! It came pretty quickly and I highly reccomend them by the way. I was anxious to get started and I pulled out all of the fabrics I had collected and started cutting one with pinking shears. I took a break to look online and make sure I was doing it right and it said wash and iron the fabrics first. I had to force myself to do this tedious part. After I washed the fabrics I took them to my mothers house so I could iron in front of the TV (since I got rid of mine a while ago because it was too much of a distraction) My mother told me I was crazy and should just go buy a pack of napkins from the dollar store but I kept right on. I did get worried when she said they were too small, being I’m a lazy DIY-er I didn’t measure them I just folded the yard into equal pieces and started cutting. My thumb and forefinger was in pain from all the cutting so I cut a few then started rolling to break it up.

Personal Image

I didn’t want to go to the store to buy twine so I used ribbon that I had from the dollar store. It really bothered me that this ribbon will just go in the trash or probably blow away in the wind but I couldn’t think of a green alternative. I decided not to put a tag on each one to make up for my lack of being green and instead make a sign that explains why were eating off wood and why I want to save the napkins. So after 5 days of work the fruits of my labor are 100 forks for dessert and 100 forks, spoons, and knives for dinner rolled up in fabric napkins tied with coordinating ribbon.

For dessert / Personal Image

For dinner / Personal Image

I’d like to find a crate to store them in standing up and maybe label them dinner and dessert and a pretty container for dirty napkins. It would be nice if I could wash and re-cut them to use for the Virginia Beach reception as well but we’ll see. Hopefully they get saved and one day maybe I’ll learn to make a quilt with them.  For now they’re packaged in ziplock bags to stay dust free waiting to go to the Bahamas.

Personal Image

 I’m very pleased with the results and I know they’ll be beautiful at the wedding even if they aren’t appreciated by all. Did you spend a lot of time and effort on a project that family and friends didn’t care much about?

[Susan Butler]

too cute...

[dominiqueamber]

 

Originally Posted by Susan Butler 

too cute...

 

Thanks! I appreciate you taking the time to comment!

[Susan Butler]

im at my max they said...lol

[dominiqueamber]

I'm so honored to be featured on the home page! Thank you Tammy! I poured my heart and soul into these posts hoping to be able to inspire other women, I feel like now that so many have seen it maybe I will do so. Stay tuned - much more adventure to come!

[Islander88]

wow love your finds! and you're getting through sooo much! good for you!