Sugar skull cake toppers - finished

DIY blankets

In this northern part of the world we always run a risk of getting cold evenings, even in the hight of summer. If we're lucky we get a heatwave with tropical nights, but that rarely happens in August though.

Since we're having an outdoor lounge I figured some blankets would be a good idea in case it gets cold. 8 blankets is the plan. There are more blankets we could use too if needed.

It's the cheapest blanket available at IKEA with the cheapest quilt cover available at the same place. Two blankets and one quilt cover makes two swanky shabby blankets.

Now I have 6 more to make.

Romania? Not quite.

I have 20 fan bunting flags I need to make as decoration for the barn walls. I'm now halfway through the project. The "flags" are sewn together and pressed, ready to have one side gathered and a strip of fabric finishing off the upper side of the flag. Tomorrow I'll start with the gathering which will have to be done by hand because the folds need to be in a certain width for it to work. The hand basting will slow things down a bit. I have no idea how many I can make in one day, but I bet it won't be 15, as I did today.

There they are. All nicely pressed and folded. A good day's work indeed. And I'm blissfully ignoring that it looks like we're celebrating the free Romania. It is the colours of Sweden and Skåne. It'll look less... Romanian, when they're done I'm sure.

Party space

We've got 600 m² air to fill up in the barn where the festivities are held.That's an awful lot of space and you really have to think big. It's a challenge to make it feel festive without looking silly and tiny and to a very low cost. So, what can you put up there in abundance that hardly will cost you anything? The answer is fiesta bunting and balloons.

When I was in a toy store yesterday they had bags containing 100 balloons for €4.20. I got one bag, then went over to a hobby shop and bought a big pack tissue paper for €10.55. Balloons hanging in string and Mexican fiesta bunting on strings along with some globe string lights will ensure festive light and colour. I have enough tissue paper to make pom pom flowers too for the table decoration, which means we can finish the barn a day or so in advance and concentrate on food the last days instead.

On it again

Slowly coming back. Last week I realised that we're less than 3 months from our date and it's time to get on with the preparations for the wedding.

It's been a bit painful actually. I was so very content with not having to do anything - yet. But now it's time. Today the invitations went out. RSVP is in two weeks. After that I'll need to start chasing people... There are always some that don't reply but hopefully most will so I don't have to hunt too many down.

The site has been up a long while so no headaches there. The most pressing concerns now after getting invitations out is the paperwork, then I need to take a trip to IKEA. I need fabrics. Then the DIY projects will start. And hopefully we'll be finished in time!

Superhero lollipops

Cuteness overload. I was looking at Chupa Chups lollipops the other day thinking it would make a fun little extra treat for everyone. Customizing them would make them even better.

Of course it's entirely possible to do something else, but I really like this one. Or Batman and Robin. That would definitely bring out some laughter.

Go to zakka life for the template.

Long term decoration project

We're fortunate to have a place to celebrate the wedding where we can have slow growing decoration. We will have some summer flowers like sunflowers, marigold and Indian cress among others in borders by the barn, but if you're in a woodland environment moss graffiti might be really cool, and it fits better in that environment than sun loving annuals.

The recipe I was taught when I was becoming a gardener was moss, some soured milk/yoghurt and some water. Whisk the moss and yoghurt well and add water until you get a paint like mixture and use an ordinary paintbrush to paint the surface you want to have moss on. If it's dry you might need to spray it with water. Quite soon you'll see the result of your work.

There's also a beer recipe where you whisk moss with beer, buttermilk and sugar and paint it the same way as with the recipe above. Some recipes say you should use a mixer, but I personally care too much about my mixer to do that.

More pages on the subject:
Stories from space
Inhabitat
Apartment Therapy
Craftzine

There are many other sites out there writing about this. Spreading moss by painting it on objects isn't exactly new knowledge and gardeners have known about this for very long, though it wasn't called graffiti (I dare to say centuries here) but it can never be repeated enough. Go forth and spread the knowledge!

Impressive DIY

Want to try to remake a pair of wedges? In particular a pair of perspex wedges? This is certainly a reminder that even shoes can be seriously DIY:ed, so if you stumble over a pair of sort of cool shoes that could be even cooler with some changes, just do it!

Go to (IN)DECORIOUS TASTE for tutorial for the shoes above.

More on light

The other day I posted that I had decided on what sort of light we should have in the barn. Great! I have found a variation on the wheel chandelier idea.

Small ladders are sometimes used as pot racks. Larger ones could be used as lantern holders. I could mix having wheels and ladders, or just having ladders. We'll see what we can find on the farm.

I'm very tempted to get plastic ribbons in various colours and tie in the ladders/wheels too. If I tied them on the wheels on the edge and had the jars inside hanging from the spokes it'd become a really cool lamp/chandelier.

Blankets

We have no idea what the weather will be like in mid-August. Statistics tells us that it should be sunny and warm, but we could have rather bland weather too. The risk of rain is always present but August is usually the best time of the year for planning an outdoor event in southern Scandinavia.

I'm planning for chill at night anyway. Even if it's a warm and pleasant evening and night it's rarely as warm as in July when we can have tropical nights. Inside the barn there will be no need to for something to keep warm, but I'm planning for a lounge area just outside of the barn and some blankets might just be a good idea. These blankets can also be used for the ceremony to sit on.

I'm going to buy cheap fleece blankets from IKEA, and some quilt cover sets, cut the quilt covers so I get two sheets of fabric, sew one fleece blanket together with one sheet and give it a final edge finish with zigzag shears. Quite simple and perfectly in-theme. That's always something to look in to, quilt covers (or sheets). Really cheap ones are often cheaper than buying the same amount of the same kind of fabric per yard, and if you just need fabrics for simple things such as this, it's a good idea to check quilt covers first before looking at other fabrics.

Problem solving - beverage

I have been mulling over how to serve the drink after the ceremony. It's 22.5 litres (5 UK gallons) we're talking about and it needs to be mixed easily, kept cool and be easily served. Jugs? I'd have to have 12-14 (depending on size but extra large) just for the cosmo alcohol drink. That's not practical.

I started looking for dispensers but the only ones I could find were fancy restaurant ones and they're also quite small. 2x8 litre (2x1.75 UK gallons) is the usual size. Too small. I could find larger ones - in the US. And they weren't cheap either. I'm not buying stuff from the US because of taxes and p&p which bumps up the actual price even more.

The home brewers tend to have barrels and plastic containers with taps but though something like that would work, it's not exactly pretty. Sure, I could refer to the moonshine tradition on the countryside, but really, I'd rather not.

However, you can buy the taps separately with nuts. If you can find a suitable container, all you need to do is drill a hole and put the tap on place and you've got an instant beverage dispenser. I'm going to use two 16 litre (3.5 UK gallons) metal trash cans with lid from IKEA. To keep the beverage cool I'm going to throw in freeze packs. This way I'll have fancy looking beverage dispensers with cold cosmopolitan for a fraction of the prices I've seen.

Mushu and piglet

We're not religious and we don't believe that stars decide our personality and what will happen in life. However, it was rather funny to realise that the key personality traits we have, are the traits we should have according to our Chinese zodiac signs.

I'm a pig, homely, crafty, creative and a rather kind and gentle individual who likes to care for people I love with treats and little presents. I really am that way! Darling is a fire dragon. Bold, dominant, brave and passionate, with an air of a male lion in public. He's even up-scaled in size, 6'5 tall and nothing but muscles. If he only was the show a fire dragon can pull off I wouldn't been interested, but he has other, more gentle sides and we have many interests in common and think alike in many areas.

We've been joking about our signs since we found out, which was shortly after we became friends. I call him Mushu sometimes, and he calls me his little piglet.

Today I realised that toppers based on our Chinese zodiac signs would actually be rather fun. I made the little piglet today and will try and make the dragon in a day or so.

The light at the end of the tunnel

I have been going back and forth about how we're going to light up the barn. I've been thinking about party lights, but to get the desired effect we'd have to get quite many and though we have electricity, it'd be a big job solving the cable issue.

Then there's the crafty mason-jar-in-plank solution.

Pretty, but I'd need to get planks and a lot of rope too. And I'd have to saw all those holes. Quelle nightmare. For real.

However, today I saw the perfect solution. Wheels plus mason jars and any other kind of décor I'd like to add.

I very much doubt that I can find wooden wagon wheels on the farm, but I know that there are metal ones from old machinery with decades of patina. I only need to get some wire for the jars and something to hang the wheels in and we're done. I love simple solutions.

Ceremony

We're having a secular ceremony. The formality takes but 20 seconds but it can of course be extended with elements we choose. We've not come that far yet though.

It'll be held in a nearby field. The surroundings aren't that fancy; a field, a wall of spruce trees behind a low dry stone wall. Had my parents not cut down the huge beech tree in the garden that would have been the obvious place to hold the ceremony, but it's gone, and the views over the road isn't that exiting. I prefer spruce trees.

Again it's simple, birch brushwood will provide the frame on which I'll hang frames in various sizes. Such can be found in the local thrift shop for a modest price. Some jars and some cans with wild flowers and long strips of fabric as some sort of very simple bunting will accompany the frames. As the focal point a small worn table will be perfect. I'll think of some simple decoration around that table eventually.

As seating we'll use some of the plank benches from the barn and some blankets and cushions. Hopefully we'll have family members playing some music.


That's it. And I have decided that we'll have sunshine. Period.

I see the light

Light is a lot more complicated than one might think. I like the idea of simple multicoloured party lights, but there are of course options. You can create pretty DIY lights from mason jars and a piece of plank. It's a good solution if you're at place where it's difficult to have electric lightning.

For simple party mood light you can always use cans. Fill them with water, put them in the freezer and use a nail and hammer to create patterns. Add on some thin metal wire loop that will make it possible to hang them. The really simple thing is to hang mason jars in wire.

In our case electricity is no problem so we could go for the classic multicoloured party lights. Or we could get 12 IKEA lamps and make a large one. That will certainly give light enough, maybe too much I'm afraid.


But then again, maybe not. It's a huge space under the ceiling in this barn. It's a fun idea anyway. If you're interested you can find the PDF-file and instructions here. Check out the Flickr photostream too.

Hair issues

I have dreads. So do my Darling. We're a dreads family. I love them but when it comes to party hair it's not that fun. People mostly shrug and tell you to wear a wrap. However, I wear wraps enough in my every day life and I just want to do something a bit different.

I was dead set on simple, simple, simple, and then I stumbled on the birdcage veil above. Peacock feathers! Black! Over the top! I like the feathers with the veil but I would like the veil to be smaller and not sporting that bow thing going on to the right. I know where to get hold of peacock feathers (and other feathers) but the veil material is more difficult. I can get hold of silver and gold. I can of course get some and try to change colour using a marker pen. It's the only thing I think I could use that would actually stick to the synthetic material it's made of. It's worth a try at least.

The veil on the picture is from Castle Bride Couture.

Web page

Do you need one? Maybe not, but I think it's practical. By having a web page you don't need to include e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g in the snail mail invitation. I prefer to keep that one short, to the point and lightweight.

Now, since I'm the DIY queen I of course DIY'ed the web page. I have a site address already so I just created a sub page address and set to work. It's not as fancy as it sounds. I used a template and tweaked in Dreamweaver. You don't need Dreamweaver to make your own web page, but you will have to be familiar with using code and how css style sheets work. It's not as complicated as it looks. Changes can be made if you open the documents in wordpad and you can have a look at what happens when you change things by opening it in a browser window. Any information you need on how to do this is available on the net so just Google away. End of mini crash course.

Back to our web page. I think it's fun doing this so I had a go at it during 5 days. Code is the fast part of it all compared to coming up with ideas and finding the right pictures. It was during this process that I started to come up with the invitation design.

I have this free program on the computer called Poladroid which creates Polaroid-like pictures in printable dpi that I used for images on the web page. I have also came across magnets looking like Polaroid frames, and an idea dawned on me. How about printing the invitation on magnetic paper and giving it a Polaroid frame? I think I'll have experiment some.

Click on the image to go to the web page.

The numbers stand for my 40^th birthday, Darling's 35^th birthday and 5 is the number of years we've been a couple. It all becomes 80. We're actually not telling people straight out that we're getting married but it's not that difficult to figure out. The reason for not spelling it out is that we don't want people to rush out and buy us presents we don't need or start worrying about fancy clothes. This is a very basic event but people get all sorts of silly ideas if you tell them it's a wedding.

Food

Eating is a huge part of any party of this kind. Of course we're self catering. Again, planning is everything. I know that for a proper sit down dinner you need, even if you've got some serious mice en place and simple courses, at least one (1) in a kitchen. Preferably a kitchen with plenty of counter space and a large hot air oven. You also need at least two (2) carrying plates, and this is if they're skilled. Having teens wanting to earn some extra cash and you need four (4) for this to not capsize. It's not going to happen. Sit down dinners also tend to be more formal and stiff, and I'm not having that. So some kind of buffet style kind of food it is.

Many are vegetarians among our friends so to make it easier, having vegetarian with meat add ons for those who wish, is what seems to be the most practical thing to do. Some kind of bean stew as the main attraction is simple and easy to prepare and cook. I think corn cob is tasty (well we all do) and it's that time of the year as well, so we'll have that too. Bread naturally. The meat? I'd really want to try and make corndogs and see if that's ok. It's not exactly fancy food, but neither is a bean stew, so I think they'd compliment each other well. And if anything, those are all southern foods, so we're sticking to the theme here. My main goal is for people to be full when they leave the table and I think they will be with this kind of food.

Cake? Nope. Cupcakes? Never. Too much work and difficult to deal with if we get the typical hot August weather. No, I want rocky road. Plain and simple. Easy to make, easy to keep in the freezer and whip out and let them thaw in a cool place the day before and cut them up and put on trays. This anyone can do. And it is possible to have a topper on a mountain of rocky road too, though I haven't decided if we should have one.


This pretty picture comes from Nigella Lawson's Christmas cookbook and it illustrates just how cute rocky road can be. Though I'd not have deer and spruce trees of course.

Invitations and save the date

This is a tricky thing. In Sweden people usually don't send out Save the Date cards. Wedding invitations go out about 10 to 12 weeks before the event with an RSVP deadline approximately 2 weeks after the guests got the invitation, meaning 8 to 10 weeks before the wedding. This gives you enough time to chase those who haven't replied and calculate food and drink and everything else you might need to have in place on the big day.

However, if you have friends or family living abroad (and Sweden is large enough to cause travel problems - flying in from Kalix is like flying in from Italy) they might need to know earlier than that. Now, we have people we wish to invite from South Africa and the UK and the Netherlands, so I decided to send out save the date cards. Then I calculated the cost and realised that it really is silly doing it through snail mail. Everyone we know have updated themselves and use the net, so I decided we could make a video and e-mail it to people instead. It's a heads up after all.

It didn't turn out as we planned but I saved it with a bit of humour and a fancy e-mail with the intro image from our website. And the theme is present on this video in a not so subtle way; bluegrass.

I'll deal with the invitations eventually.