Wedding invitations

Wedding invites are a wedding detail that comes with a number of decisions. I wanted ours to set the tone of the celebration so from the start our friends and family expected good times. I explored a number of options, mostly online and quickly saw the expense adding up. My favorite websites were Tiny Prints and Minted. Both had so many options, we could add photos and customize the colors. These were among my favorites:

www.tinyprints.com 

www.tinyprints. com

www.minted.com

www.minted.com

I went so far as to type in our names and wedding info on both websites.  For the number we needed (around 125) it was going to be well over 250 dollars with either company and any style.  I was just about to send in the credit card info when I decided to check with my local copy store.  They'd done business cards and flyers for me in the past.

Cathy and Janice at Copy It  were so fun to work with .  I showed them pictures of things I liked and they came up with a custom design that is absolutely perfect.  And even better:  I got 125 printed invites, including the twenty dollar set up fee for a mere $75!  I am so impressed and love the fact that I was able to shop local.  

Here is our finished product: 

jennyandbrett.wedsite.com 

Flowers in our hair

I've made a good friend through my jewelry biz who makes these adorable rosettes and barrettes for the hair.  Her blog is equally adorable. Charm and Bloom blogspot is the name of it.  She's designing a feathered hair piece to wear on my wedding day.  She does amazing work! This is a friend of hers wearing one of the her custom creations.

Charm and Bloom by Nicole Wells

I've been looking at these tutorials on Pinterest to make my own for my little girl  I found a great tutorial from Little Birdie Secrets and my first attempts were pretty successful.  I bought fat quarters from the Craft Warehouse in pretty colors and corresponding patterns. 

You can use fabric glue or hot glue

I quickly got a hang of the twisting and gluing pretty quickly and you see the rosette taking shape almost immediately. 

The finished products will range in size depending on the amount of fabric you use and how thick the strip is.  I used about a one inch strip and 20 inches of fabric.  I then glued them to a bobby pin I purchased at Hobby Lobby  and glued a decorative button in the middle of the rosette. 

my rosettes using tutorial from littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot.com

I know my little Maddie will definitely wear them, and I'll continue to make more.

Double Naan

Our family is crazy about Indian food.  Idaho has great Mexican food.  We've even found Thai and Sushi that we enjoy.  Indian is not available unless we go to Boise.  Sooooo, when the craving for Paneer and Tikki Masala struck, I decided to give it a shot.  Afterall: you can find pretty much anything on Pinterest.  And fortunately, I did.

The idea of making my own naan seemed especially intimidating.  I found a recipe on a great blog titled Budget Bytes.  It was very straightforward with great pictures and I liked the fact that it called for Greek Yogurt.  The blog boasts the recipe can be created for $1.27.  Impressive indeed.

Mix yeast, sugar, water and add yogurt, egg and oil - EASY, PEASY! 

Flour and salt added to wet ingredients an set aside to rise 

A few seconds on a skillet on each side and viola! 

Butter Chicken from Tasty Kitchen Blog  was my next recipe.  Butter chicken is also called Chicken Makhani.  Anything that has butter in the name has got to be good in my opinion. And this has quite a bit!  

Shopping for spices was relatively easy.  I was a little surprised my local Winco had them all.  

The chicken should marinate in the spices overnight, however I've made this dish several hours before serving and the marinating isn't vital.  In fact, it just keeps the cayenne from getting too spicy. 

The petite diced tomatoes, tomato sauce and heavy whipping cream add the perfect combination to the spices and create this buttery, creamy chicken dish which can be served over Basmati or other white rice.  

My finished product.  Naan and Butter Chicken.  Garnished with fresh cilantro. 

And getting into the spirit of the evening, Bailey and I donned our authentic Bindis.  The meal was a hit and has become a favorite of our family. 

Bailey and I showing off our bindis. 

Mother's Day - Sunday, May 13th

I learned a long time ago, the handmade gift is the one that means the most.  When I first started jenny wren designs, my mother, sister, and friends were some of my first customers. Flattering, but also made me worry, that perhaps these would be my ONLY customers and they were purchasing out of kindness more than truly liking my designs. Brett played a huge role in pushing me along my way to approaching retail stores and craft market vendors with my jewelry. To my surprise they liked my work!  And were willing to sell on my behalf!

That first sale was an INCREDIBLE feeling!  A stranger - someone who wasn't related to me in any way - liked what I had made and was willing to pay real money for it! Every sale since feels that way!  If you've ever experienced, you certainly understand what I'm talking about.

So as Mother's Day approaches, my mom, sister, and friends will certainly receive handmade earrings or necklaces:  but this holiday, I'll understand that their flattering words are truly genuine and that all those years, they've meant it too.

Hammered copper

Blue Quartz 

Citrine drops 

Hammered silver 

 Your mom would surely enjoy any one of these custom pieces as well! Special orders always welcome.

jenny wren designs

Unsolicited compliments have to be one of the greatest feelings ever.  Today a woman stopped by to see me at my "real" job to mention she found a necklace I made at MaRozie Clothing Boutique.  She said she was so happy to find it and absolutely loved it and would be seeking my jewelry out in the future. Awesome feeling.  I wish I'd saved a photo of the particular piece she bought.  It was similar to this :

Silver and multi-colored quartz

Wedding Planning

My future sister in law and future mother in law

We're getting married in 57 days!  Still so much to do! It's been a whirlwind since the engagement and we quickly decided we wanted to get married sooner rather than later. Being this a second marriage for both of us, we want to get it right.  I have a lot of things in mind for what I want and most of them require some DIY-ing.  Lucky for me I'm an avid Pinterest follower and have a fiance that is willing to let me pretty much take over in the planning department.  I'm quite proud of myself!  Here is a link to my Tying the Knot Pinterest board. I find myself reviewing the images on a daily basis and picturing perfectly how our event will unfold.

pretty dessert table 

our mantra 

pretty color scheme

petal backdrop 

I am so thrilled with the way things are turning out and the good fortune we've had pinching pennies on some of the more expensive things.  Our good friends are letting us use their warehouse space as the venue. Tribes Interiors  is this amazing furniture store set in an enormous warehouse in the industrial part of our town.  We've attended parties there before and the atmosphere just lends itself to feeling good. 

My wonderful friend Chandra just opened an amazing floral store called Blush Floral Boutique .  This girl can work wonders with flowers.  Check out some of her designs: 

for the gents 

a cool spin on American Gothic 

lovely 

Bailey's Birthday

My soon-to-be BONUS daughter Bailey turned 15 yesterday.  She is probably the most gorgeous 15 year old you'll ever meet - truly beautiful inside and out!