DIY Bridesmaids Invitations for free or very cheap!

So after looking at several DIY bridesmaids invitations, I found one I absolutely love. It was from Bethany's blog. I loved the way she asked her bridesmaid and wished I could have done it exactly like hers! But I didn't want to spend a lot of money so I came up with my own version. 

Here is what you will need:

- cardstock paper

-printer with ink

-lace ribbons

-color swatches from paint store or home depot/lowe's

- inspirational photos

- this downloadable template frame

- this free printable

I spent absolutely nothing on these! I had the lace, I had ink, I had cardstock, and the color swatches were free! oh how I love the internet!

For the card itself, I found a printable for the bridesmaid invitation on weddingchicks.com. I printed those out using the setting where I print two copies per page and folded it in half so the design can show up on the back and the front. You can get this free printable here.

Next, I loved her idea of scalloped postcards. For mine I used card stock, this template, and photoshop. I made each box progressively smaller like she did and then I hand cut each one. I also used the same content. I totally feel the same way as she does about having bridesmaids. I just want them to be there for me on one of my most important days of my life! I don't care about the showers or parties or gifts! It was beautiful!

click here for template

After that I went on my Pinterest board and picked out my favorite themes from my wedding board. I took about four pictures and put them all on one document in photoshop and printed four copies of it on one page and cut each one out for each of my bridesmaids (gotta save paper you know!) I wanted them to see what I saw as my dream wedding.

I then went to get color swatches from Home Depot and placed them in the card as well.

I didn't like how everything could fall out so easily so I found some lace at the thrift store and used them to tie both horizontally and vertically across the card to make sure nothing would fall out.

And that's about it. I can't wait to see the faces of my bridesmaids when I give them this !

How to Make a DIY Photoshoot for Your Baby

Hey everyone! So the other day, my fiancé and I were bored and decided to make a Christmas photoshoot for our son. We had our camera but needed somewhere nice to shoot and we of course needed props. The lighting in our house was pretty bad as well. So here is what we gathered to make our pictures looks professional:

Equipment:
- Camera (of course)
- Bright light - lamp from target
- Reflector - mirror from target

Environment & Props:
For the Xmas shoot:
- fireplace
- white Xmas teddy bear
For the library shoot:
- books in bookshelves
- books stacked
- metal tin bucket
For the outdoor drummer shoot:
- grassy outdoors (best if just before sunset)
- drum piece
- drum sticks

Subject:
Darling baby
Cute simple outfit
Pierce is wearing:
- H&M jeans with suspenders
- white onesie
- old navy tan moccasins

So for the first two shoots that were indoors we used the lamp and mirror. All we did was plug in the lamp and shined it onto the mirror and placed it facing the baby wherever we got the best light. You will have to test and keep moving around until you like it. After that you just take a million pictures and try to make your baby look at you by making loud funny noises!

For the outdoor shoot, we just placed him at an ideal spot on the grass and took pictures of him at his level.

After taking pictures get on your computer and go on photoshop! Adjust the lighting add more contrast if needed sharpen up etc. or you can download some actions that do this for you already and just use actions to so all the work for you. Adjust to your liking. For most of my pictures i used the vintage action and tweaked it by deleting several layers until it was perfect. Here I show you how I edited my pictures several different ways using actions that I downloaded from ...

And that's basically it! That's how I got these wonderful darling pictures of my baby boy! Not bad for an amateur, I must say.

I am already making Xmas cards with these pictures!!