Casserole Carrier

Wedding season is rolling in and the first few bridal showers were this weekend. I love wedding season. It's a time of year when new beginnings are everywhere and I'm reminded that life is full of reasons to celebrate. My job as an ICU nurse can be hard - emotionally and physically taxing, and no matter how hard I try, I absorb the pain and suffering of the patients and families I care for. That being said, the reason I craft, blog, and focus on what I love on my days off, is to heal from that. It's important for me to remember that the joys in life are what keep us going; and we shouldn't struggle for reason to celebrate every day. Life's too short not to.

So, let's celebrate WEDDING SEASON. I'm admittedly falling off the organizing bandwagon. I'm ok with it. I'll keep organizing the house and I'll take pictures and post them at a later time. Wedding season is just too much fun to wait for. kthanks.

My college roommate, Marissa, is getting married this year and I'm psyched to celebrate with her. She was my lifeline during college and I'll never forget the days and nights we spent dreaming of our weddings. Real life took us on a breeze and so much has changed since college, but she still holds such a special place in my heart. She is brilliant and beautiful and I'm so glad I was able to celebrate her and her fiance this weekend!

My new favorite bridal shower gift is an etched casserole dish with carrier. I made one for Marissa and  I know it will get use with all of her mom's amazing Italian recipes.  I found a decent tutorial at 2 Little Hooligans and made a couple of small adjustments to fit my dish. I also added cotton strapping as handles instead of making the handles from scratch - that required about 1.25 yards of strapping. It was easier than making my own and I'm more confident they will handle some beating.

Check out the etching. Pretty sweet, right? Also super easy. I'll be detailing how to do that in my next post. Stay tuned.

I included a cover so that the pyrex content would stay contained

I can't wait to make more of these with some gorgeous fabrics. Talk about a perfect wedding, birthday, or Christmas gift! No more packing your casserole dish with towels to carefully carry to your potluck. I love a practical gift.

Thanks for stopping by!
Cheers,
Bridget XOXO

Spring Door Swag

I've been working hard on fixing up my craft room, but I do confess, it turned out to be a much bigger project than I anticipated. So I'm taking a time out to share some Spring with you. Because I can't let this horror of a craft room get in the way of celebrating my favorite time of the year. Plus, if you can go outside, you should.

I wanted to change things up a little and make a door swag instead of a wreath. I have a lot of material left over from the wedding and this was a great way to use some of it. Remember my centerpieces? I created this swag with the grapevine sprigs and leftover flowers from the flower crowns and other wreaths.

What you will need::
- Big faux flowers of your liking
- Grapevine sprigs or other sprigs - you could even collect them from the yard
- Floral wire
- Wire snips
- Ribbon

1. Start by tying together a bunch of sprigs and twisting and arranging them to your liking. I had some plain and some that had been spray painted gold for the centerpieces so I arranged them so they were distributed evenly. Then I added a few eucalyptus sprigs to give it a little more bulk. I wired everything at the top.

        

2. Once your sprigs are wired together, you have a base to secure your flowers. You can pull your flower stems through your already wired bundle, or you can fasten them with more wire. Add as many or a few as you want. I'm a big fan of the big bright flowers, so I added lots.

        

3. Slip a ribbon through your securing wire and pull through. This will hang your swag.

Hang it up and take a pic. And wait for the real flowers to bloom! Happy Spring!

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheers,

Bridget XOXO