The Plight of a Fine Haired Bride

I have fine, thin hair. It’s the kind of hair that one can easily tell where I play with it too much because the hair is shorter there. The kind of hair that doesn’t stand up well to hair-colouring (not that it stopped me very much). The kind of hair where clips slowly slide down my hair. And the kind of hair that those cloth hairbands that go all the way around your head make a weird bump in the back of it.

Yes, I have that kind of hair. For the most part, it hasn’t really bothered me, I’ve never been keen on wearing my hair up or fancy, anyway. But there are definitely times when I have wished that I could have thick, wavy hair. I can’t even fathom what it’s like to be a person who has enough hair to braid it into two thick braids.

What has caught me off-guard the most, however, is how difficult it is for someone like me to wear a veil. The hair combs put way too much pressure on a localized part of my hair–shockingly, I want to still have nice hair after my wedding day. Hair pins don’t really stay in my hair (unless a professional does it, they have a talent I do not possess). And if clips don’t work either…what am I left with?

The most logical next step would be to wear a headband and attach a veil to one of those. Unfortunately I am one of those people who also can’t wear headbands. The squeezing behind my ears gives me a headache. It makes no sense to me why all headbands try to squeeze the life out of my head. Apparently Goody used to make some “comfort tip” headbands, but no longer does. And there’s a stellar looking company in the UK that doesn’t ship to North America (even if they didn’t cost an arm and a leg). So no, headbands won’t work either.

The very last option was something I had dismissed initially, a flower crown. I had dismissed it because my dress is anything but bohemian in style. I call it my princess dress for good reason. But since I wanted to wear something in my hair, and it was my last option, I brought it out, did some googling, and found my inspiration in this gorgeous flower crown from The Honeycomb on etsy. It was simple, elegant, and just might be able to be passed off with a princess dress.

So after a 1 hour trip to Micheals (thank goodness my fiance is so patient with me!), I came home with well equipped to tackle my last option.

A work in progress – all the big flowers were on, but the little pearl “buds” weren’t attached yet

The final product: made with wrapped wire, brown flower tape, fake white blossoms, dried eucalyptus and fake pearls.

In the end, it turned out beautiful, but very little like my inspiration. It will be a bit of an adjustment from what I had planned on wearing, but I think there’s enough time before the wedding for me to get used to the idea.

I am still wondering whether to even bother trying to attach some tulle to it to make a veil–it may just pull the flower crown right off my head. I can just see it now, mid-vows, tears streaming down my face, and flower crown hanging partway down my back. The pictures would be memorable, to say the least.

It’s funny how we imagine our weddings to be a certain way–I never for a second questioned whether I would be wearing a veil until very recently. It’s a stupid little detail, yet somehow, it seems so significant in the mess that is wedding planning.

Nonetheless, it’s time to pick up and move on to some other stupid little detail, as the big day draws inexorably closer. There’s only 82 days left, after all.

What’s the thing you always imagined having at your wedding but had to give up?

Fan Friday #1

In an effort to post more blogs, I have decided to have a shorter post on Fridays that shares something that I love. It might be a place, an activity, a product or a recipe. Because I love sharing what I love, in the hope that you might love it too. That’s a lot of love, am I right?

So what do I pick for the very first one? In theory, it should be something I love more than all the rest. Which, other than my lovely fiance (phew, nearly missed that one), leaves something adorable.

Fan Friday Presents… My Penguin T-shirt!

Now what is so special about a penguin t-shirt? If you know me, you know that I love penguins. So, in many cases, that might be enough on its own. But it’s not just any penguin t-shirt. It is a t-shirt that also pays tribute to science.

Penguins can actually fly with the aid of jetpack-fueled science!

This shirt is from the amazing etsy store Binary Winter Press.

Since I do have a degree in science, I think I also have the power to decree this as the best t-shirt ever. Now, if only I didn’t get grease stains on it every 3rd time I wear it…

What’s your favourite piece of clothing that you want/own?

Wedding Shoes – The Adjustment Period

For those of you who don’t remember, or are new readers (yay!), I found my wedding shoes at a thrift store several months ago. They were exactly what I wanted, except for two teensy little issues. They had marks on the top of the shoe, and they were a bit snug if worn for longer than a minute or so. And extra snug if one tried to, say, put insoles in. I’ve been told multiple times to pick comfortable shoes to get married in, and these shoes, while pretty, have no padding or support. At all.

The first order of business was to stretch the shoes. Fortunately for me, the internet was full to bursting with ideas. In the end, I chose number 3 from previous link: stretch with ice. I took two ziploc bags and filled them a bit over 1/3 full with water.

 

Next, I inserted one into each shoe.

Then I put them in the freezer overnight. (With such small ziptop bags, I raised the heels to force the water into the toe area.) The water expanded, and stretched the shoe material.

To get the bags out again, I let them thaw a bit and then hacked at the bulky ice sticking out of the toe in a fashion that made my fiance wince. But I had to get the ice out before the condensation killed my shoes. And nobody got hurt. Really. I swear.

The next time I put them on, the fit was much better. But not good enough for insoles. So they’re currently in the freezer for a second round. I definitely was pleasantly surprised that it worked as well as it did!

The next order of business was to make them look pretty. I cut off the bows that were in the way and made some shoe clips. They ended up being quite similar to the test ones I made awhile back, but I decided that simpler was better. A single pearl seemed to fit the look much better than a complicated set of beads.

Aren’t they pretty?

Even though you can see the marks at this angle, they are mostly covered by the flower petals from the top. However, I would like to cover them up a bit better…maybe with nail polish?

The funniest part of all this is that I will likely get another pair of shoes to go with my reception outfit. Mostly because my legs look better with a little bit of heel–but it’s too late in the process to wear something with a little bit of heel with my wedding dress (it was already hemmed). Oh well. These shoes are worth it…right?

How Is Wedding Planning Going?

It’s an interesting question, one that my partner and I receive regularly. It’s interesting because I never know what kind of response the asker is looking for. Do they want to know what project I’m currently working on? All we’ve accomplished so far? Or do they want a simple answer along the lines of “Oh, excellent, thank you!” or “Oh man, planning a wedding is so stressful!”. In reality, I can’t give a simple answer, because I don’t have feelings towards wedding planning that are cut and dry. My real, full answer, would go something like this:

Wedding planning is incredibly overwhelming. Planning a party for 50 people, each of whom is going in with expectations as to how awesome said party should be, is…intimidating. And, it’s my wedding, so I want it to be awesome. More than awesome. If at all possible (which it’s not), I would like it to be perfect.

Since Project Management has recently become part of my job description at work, it is, in some senses, good experience. I have made more phone calls in the past few months than I ever wanted to. I have pondered, exulted and tossed out dozens of ideas of how to do things (I have the pinterest board to prove it). I’ve already made several excel spreadsheets, and will probably make several more before all’s said and done.

But in between all the tears and temper tantrums (kidding…kind of), there have been a lot of fun parts. I love doing crafty things (in case you hadn’t noticed), and if nothing else, this wedding has been an outlet for that. I have completed 5 out of 16 tulle flowers, and have plans underway for a ribbon wall, not to mention the list of 2 dozen things I also want to make for the wedding. It may come to buying a bunch of them, but I’m not ready to concede defeat yet. Give me another month or two.

There’s also been the opportunity to meet our awesome vendors. We’re getting a vegan caterer that makes amazing food–and that’s after we’d totally given up on getting a caterer because all of the non-vegan ones were booked. Definitely an unexpected benefit of going vegan.

And then there’s learning how to say, “maybe we should pay someone else to make that”, which is what was recently decided for the centrepieces, bridal bouquet, boutonnieres and corsages. In the end, I only have so much time.

So, in summary, wedding planning has been going sometimes well, sometimes frustratingly, but always a learning experience. And I really can’t wait for the honeymoon!

Mother-less Awareness Day

There are a few “holidays” where it’s awesome if you can participate, but unpleasant if you can’t. For instance, Valentine’s Day. I was not one of those people who gracefully ignored it during my single days. I jumped on board the train that called it “Single’s Awareness Day”. Because that’s what it does, it makes you aware of the fact that you don’t have this person that the world is telling you that you should.

Multiply this by about 1000, and that is how I feel about Mother’s Day. It, and all the advertisements leading up to it, serve as constant reminders that my mother is not around. They make me extremely aware of this piece that I am missing, that I know I should have, and in my dreams, sometimes, I still have.

It would be easy to say, “well, why don’t you just ignore it?”. That requires that I stop checking my emails, listening to the radio, watching tv, walking by bus stops, going into stores, taking transit, glancing at fliers, looking at etsy, scrolling through pinterest….So maybe, if I just stayed at home for the 2 weeks leading up to it, and didn’t touch the internet or television or radio, maybe then, I could avoid it. (In reality, I would go insane in a few days, if I tried to do that–who wouldn’t?)

I hope, one day, I will be able to honour my mom, and her memory, with all these reminders. And instead of reminding me of the loss, it will remind me of all the wonderful times we had together. But for now, it hurts. Every reminder hurts.

I think it’s easy to forget, on the other side, how painful this is for some people. So I guess this is my plea: If you know someone who lost their mom or dad, be cognizant of how difficult Mother’s or Father’s day might be for that person. That’s it. Just keep it in mind.

Thank you for reading! I will do my best to have a happier, craftier post up next!

All It Takes Is The Right Tulle

Since we’re getting married outdoors, it was decided early (in my head) that the decorations would ideally be weather-proof. Sure the chances of rain in August are slim, but nonetheless, it wouldn’t do to not be prepared. Also, we’re getting married in the morning, so the more things we can do the day before that won’t be destroyed by dew, the better!

Where did that leave us? Well, it left us with tulle. Lots and lots and lots of tulle. How much, you ask? Well, 450 yards, of course. That’s also known as 411.48 meters. Yes, we have nearly half a km of tulle. Now, before you think we’re insane (although we probably are), you should know that we got 150 yards of 3 different colours of tulle. The intent is to use them together, either braided or draped, to emulate our wedding colours.

This is what 450 yards of tulle looks like

I decided that at least for part of it, I wanted tulle flowers as accent points (and to cover staples and whatnot). It took some searching, but I found exactly what I was looking for in this tutorial on Chasing Paper Dreams. I followed it fairly closely except instead of doing a single layer of tulle for each petal, I nested a smaller dark blue petal inside a larger light blue one.

I started the thread partway through one of the shorter sides

Weaved it through close to the edge all the way around

Using the same thread as the other petals, I pulled it up tight to them

Following the same procedure as the blue petal, I just made sure to pull the light blue petal tight over top of the darker blue one

The Final Product

The final product used nearly 2 feet of tulle of each colour, which is pretty crazy. Fortunately, with 150 yards to work with, I don’t think a dozen or two of them will really make much of a dent.

If I start now, and do one a week, I will have 16 in time for the wedding. Since the goal is 17, that’s close, but not much room for error. So I guess it turns into “make as many as possible as quickly as possible”. At least they’re not hard to make!

My Blog Got A Birthday Present!

In a serendipitous occurrence, my blog has received its very first award in close proximity to the birthday announcement. I can only assume they are related. Thank you B&B Build a Life!

I was nominated for the Leibster Award! An award with mysterious origins, it has become an award of 11′s: provide 11 fun facts about yourself, answer the list of 11 questions provided by the blogger who nominated you, nominate 11 other bloggers and give them 11 new questions to answer.

Really, it’s the blog form of a chain letter, except no bad things will happen if you don’t pass it on. Good things will happen, if your recipients are anything like me, because I definitely had a moment of bliss when I discovered that I was nominated. I was excited enough that when I told my fiance he seemed…well…surprised.

Anyway, on to the meat of it.

11 Fun Facts

1. I really want to learn how to quilt. I want to make giant story-quilts for my future children.
2. I don’t know how to hand sew. It bothers me that I don’t, but not enough to actually learn how.
3. I love shopping locally, at small stores, and especially with local products. Even if I end up paying a bit more, it gives me the warm and fuzzies to support them.
4. I work as a computer programmer. No, I will not fix your computer.
5. I love reading fantasy novels.
6. I do not love reading science fiction novels. I like the magic and the new cultures, not so much the space ships and computers.
7. My favourite tv shows are Castle, Bones, My Boys, Once Upon a Time, Leverage, Good Eats, Numb3rs and Whose Line is it Anyway (seriously, I’ve watched every episode of all 8 seasons at least 6 times).
8. I have a penguin hat that I wear from October – May.
9. I love playing board games. In fact, we have a weekly thing with friends, and most people have never heard of any of the games we typically play.
10. I don’t know how to play chess. People have tried to teach me, but I don’t like long-term strategizing.
11. My favourite colour is blue. It’s pretty obvious if you meet me.

Questions To Answer

1. What type of things do you LEAST like READING about on blogs?
   1. Long paragraphs. The more text I see in one place, the less likely I am to follow through on my initial intention to read. 
2. What type of things do you MOST like reading about on blogs?
   1. Awesome craft-y how-tos! And sassy/sarcastic posts.
3. What type of things do you like writing about the most in your blogs?
   1. That should be fairly obvious: things I make!
4. What is the funniest thing someone has done – to you, for you, or that you witnessed?
   1. One time, my friend thought it would be funny to act like he was devastated because he’d driven over a raccoon on the way home. So there I was, being all sympathetic, when I discover that he’s a lying jerkface. I didn’t think it was particularly funny, but other people seem to
5. What are you most looking forward to this summer and why?
   1. Hmmm….well….Whose Line is it Anyway is due for a reboot. Yeah…that’s about it. Except maybe that I’M GETTING MARRIED!
6. What is your favorite food to prepare?
   1. Chocolate sauce. It is really fast and goes really nicely with ice cream and/or fruit. Next to that…cookies.
7. You have surprise guests come over and you need to slap some sort of snack together.  Quick!  Using what’s actually in your pantry right now, what would you make?
   1. Ahh! Umm…umm…I’d say cookie dough dip, but we’d have nothing to dip in it (except spoons!). Salsa and tortilla chips? That’s a decent snack, right? No? Alright, then lets make some instant custard, put some frozen raspberries and blueberries in it, and call it a day.
8. Martha Stewart – Genius, or the Devil? (Or Both?)
   1. Hmmm….I think she’s kind of both. She has great ideas, but has set the standards way too high, and there are so many other people who have more awesome ideas…
9. What is your favorite vacation spot?
   1. I can’t tell you. But it’s a place my family has been going for 22 years. And I’m getting married there.
10. What is your quest?
    1. To open an etsy store. And have the most amazing craft room anyone has ever had. And make all the crafts, ever.
11. If you could only have 1 TV channel, what would it be and why?
    1. Discovery. Mythbusters is awesome.

Nominations!

I had a difficult time with this one, and I didn’t manage to get 11. But that just means the ones I do have are that much better!

1. Pee In the Beans - despite the somewhat off-putting name, it is awesome to read about the handywork of someone so dedicated to getting things just how she wants them–with her (and her partner’s) own bare hands.
2. The Veg Coast - reviews of vegan products and updates on new vegan restaurants on the West Coast (mainly in Vancouver)
3. Marry Me Knot - inspiring words about marriage and other topics
4. Your Vegan Neighbor - THE first vegan related blog I followed, and full of tasty recipes
5. My nominator – B&B Build a Life (don’t worry, I don’t expect you to do it again!)

Annddd that’s where I run out…I get an F. I do follow lots of blogs, but I wanted to stick to the “inspiring” and “under 200″. I’m open to suggestions?

My Questions

1. Why do you blog?
2. What is your favourite colour?
3. What did you answer, as a child, when adults asked you what you wanted to be when you grew up?
4. What is your favourite kind of cookie?
5. If you could pass one recipe down to your children (and have them pass it to their children), what would it be?
6. If you were stranded on a desert island, what are your 3 most important things to have?
7. What is your favourite movie genre?
8. Your least favourite?
9. Do you prefer a sunny day or a rainy day?
10. If you could only complete one more project, what would it be?
11. What is your favourite cooking/baking ingredient?

And that’s it! I contemplated skipping the last two parts, because they were really hard, but then I thought that would be really self-centered. So, I hope everyone enjoyed this little diversion. And if you like my questions and have a burning desire to answer them in the comments, please do!