DIY Life

I'm planning a baby shower for a friend at the moment, and she's not your average mother-to-be. I've been instructed not to include storks, diapers or baby bottles, as the occasion should be feminine, but not exaggerated. As I brainstormed color schemes and DIY favors, my mind instantly thought of these adorable DIY wedding favors and invitations, which are perfect for my friend.

My favorite invitations idea is to send a notebook with the occasion details and RSVP info, including a note asking the guest to fill out their predictions for the happy couple. I'd love to use this as a baby shower idea and ask guests to include their best advice for parenting, fun baby names and predictions for the birth.

Best part? You can turn the notebooks into one heck of a scrapbook and gift it to the bride-to-be or mother-to-be when the shower is completed. A DIY from start to finish, and the guest of honor will be floored at the personal touch.

For more great shower planning ideas, check out our friends at Holidash!

Here at DIY Life, posts about weddings are always popular, but often, posts about knit and crochet patterns come in a close second.

I thought it might be interesting to combine the two, by looking at a few free patterns for wedding cakes made from yarn. (Hey, they don't have to be frozen, and they never get stale!)

• Crochet Today's Crochet Confection cake pattern (PDF download) is, at 4"x8", life-sized. It's an easy, single-tier cake that you can display on a stand over a form.
• Berroco's Buttercream is also life-sized, but this one is a tiered cake with flowers; it can be used to store dishes. It's made in their Ultra Alpaca, but any other worsted-weight yarn should work just as well.
• On the miniature side, there are the Norma Lynn Cake Sachets. Several of the designs here, like the Two-Tier Cake and the Clumsy Cake, seem wedding-appropriate, though they're part of a collection of desserts. The second page of cake sachet patterns has a triple-tier wedding cake with flower toppers and ruffled trim.

Suggested uses? The sachets would make great giveaways at a bridal shower; they'd also make nice package decorations for gifts. Some of the projects might make cute gifts for attendants, in the right kind of wedding. They would be fun commemorations of a special anniversary, or whimsical decor in the right kind of room. Professional wedding planners could also probably appreciate them.

Outside of the wedding framework, you can always choose different colors, changing the "wedding cake" into a "birthday cake" -- or merely making a cute trinket for a friend who loves sweet desserts.

And if you're looking for more patterns like this, check out an older post of mine -- Amigurumi-o-rama: Crocheted Food.

Summer is in full swing, as are outdoor picnics, parties and wedding receptions. If you haven't taken your turn at outdoor dining, then it is time to pretty up your patio or picnic table, and sit down to some char-grilled delicacies.

Evening dining is tops; nothing beats watching the sun set on a glorious summer day. Since you probably love to sit outside after dark, and do not relish the thought of having to go in the house right away as twilight comes, you can stay outdoors a little while longer with homemade paper table lanterns.

Cupcakes have come into vogue as a sweet alternative to the traditional wedding cake. No fussing with cutting the cake, and guests can choose from a variety of flavors. Besides that, a well-decorated cupcake is just plain adorable!

If you have a couple hundred guests, though, that's a couple hundred cupcakes, at least. Where on earth do you serve them? Cupcake stands are the norm, but generally these hold only a couple of dozen.

If you're an enterprising DIY bride, however, you might just want to craft a cupcake stand to beat all cupcake stands, and put a solid 375 cupcakes on the one, enormous tree! You could consider it the centerpiece to the reception hall!

It's getting close to your big day. You've done everything you can to keep your wedding plans simple and frugal. You've made your own invitations, created centerpieces yourself, made your bouquet and even your guest book.

Now, how will you thank your bridesmaids? In keeping with your frugal DIY wedding, a thoughtful and unique hand-made gift sounds perfect.

Spa products
Wouldn't it be fun to have a spa day with your bridesmaids? Since this is an expensive luxury, you could thank them with some homemade spa products instead. Try some of these:

• Facial products: Make a cleanser, scrub, mask, and moisturizer to pamper your bridesmaids.
• Foot products: Create a soak, scrub, and butter -- those feet will be worn out from dancing at the wedding!
• Body products: Make bath salts, body scrub, hand scrub, and body oil, so she can be soft all over.

If you're getting married this summer, it's probably a little late to start planning your big day right now. If you're tying the knot next year, however, or just looking for some last minute tips then -- wow! -- have we got some ideas for you!

Blushing brides learn what to do with treasured wedding mementos, hopeful grooms get pointers on the perfect proposal, and if you're the maid-of-honor, you'll be her hero for suggesting economical ways to make table center-pieces and party favors!

I think most people would agree that bath products make a nice gift. Unfortunately, they're a little over-gifted, if you know what I mean. But, if you take some effort to make your own products and to personalize them, what was old-hat suddenly becomes new again. Whipup's bath bomb surprises are a perfect gift idea that you can personalize for anyone.

You'll need baking soda, citric acid, your choice of essential oil, a spray bottle with witch hazel, and your choice of trinkets to insert in the bath bombs. You'll also need a large bowl, a whisk, an ice cream scoop with a release mechanism, and a tray covered with wax paper.

To make the bath bombs, combine the baking soda and citric acid. Then slowly spray in the essential oils. Adding the witch hazel can be a bit tricky as you need just the right amount of moisture. Once the consistency is right, you'll be able to use the ice cream scoop to create the halves of the bath bomb. Then insert the trinket and put the two halves together. Whipup has the details.

Keep reading for different gift ideas with these "surprise inside" bath bombs.

So your wedding day is near, and you still haven't made up your mind about table centerpieces.

Last year, I wrote a post with ideas for 8 do it yourself wedding centerpieces. It's been very popular since it was published, but I know that there are hundreds of additional impressive ways to go about making a beautiful visual feature for your guest's tables.

Let's face it: you want your wedding day to be perfect, and saving money on your centerpieces will give you a sigh of relief. Knowing that you and your wedding party made them yourselves will also give you great satisfaction. "Inexpensive" does not necessarily mean "cheap"; anything that you can do for your wedding day or even your day to day life to save money will make you happier in the long run.

Follow me after the break, as I try again to give you some inexpensive ideas for creating your own beautiful centerpieces.

You're so close to walking down the aisle... only a few finishing touches on your DIY wedding, and you'll be ready for the big day. You've made your invitations, your bouquet, and your centerpieces, but have you thought about your favors yet?

Back when I got married, in an attempt to keep my wedding super-simple, we bought personalized votive candles and stuck them on the tables. Pretty much done, but looking back, I could have done something nearly as easy that:

• showed our personality more as a couple
• had a creative touch
• fit the theme of our wedding
• really said "thank you" to our guests.

If I could do it all over again, I'd choose one of these three favors.

Remember the super sweet personalized M&M's Francesca brought to our attention? They are the perfect gift to give when letting someone know just how much, or not so much, they mean to you. They are also great to give as a party or wedding favor.

My M&M's now has custom printed photo M&M's available. You send in a photo you took per their guidelines, and they will print the image out on the M&M's using food-grade ink. You can personalize your message relevant to the face(s) in the photo.

My baby turns 3 next month, and I think that the M&M's would be a perfect treat for her birthday party. My only problem would be keeping them out of everyone's mouth until we've sung Happy Birthday! I think the same would go for the lucky couple on their wedding day.

[via: Photojojo]

Chances are, despite careful planning and attention to detail, there will be something that doesn't go exactly as planned at a wedding. Weddings are human events, and we humans are known for making mistakes.

At my own wedding, the photographer was nearly an hour late and my veil got stuck in my mom's bracelet after I hugged her during the ceremony, leading to a five-minute pause to detangle ourselves. Neither one derailed my day or diminished my joy, but as a bride-to-be, it's hard to remember that in the stressful days leading up to the big day.

You can help your bride-to-be or groom-to-be relax by gifting them with a wedding day emergency kit. Just knowing that someone else has the small stuff covered will give them a little breathing room to focus on the bigger picture.

After the break, I'll share a few ideas for what to put into the kits.

Weddings... it is so easy to get caught up in the moment. After all, your big day is pretty important, right? Agreed, but instead of being stressed over the planning, it makes sense to me to keep it simple and enjoy every moment leading up to your wedding as well.

Zen Habits has thirteen tips to hep you do just that: keep your wedding plans as simple as possible. They make a disclaimer, though, stating that if you want a traditional wedding that you probably still will have some stress. Their sensible tips are to help alleviate some of the needless worrying, so after the break I'll share some of their ideas.

Let's face it: everything today is expensive. Where they really get you, though, is with anything wedding. You can always benefit financially from doing-it-yourself. You've probably thought about making and assembling your own wedding invitations and favors, but have you considered creating your own wedding bouquet?

Simple bouquets are more stylish these days, and that works in your favor. Some general tips for making your own wedding bouquet are at All Wedding Ideas and include:

• coordinating colors and tones with the bride's and bridesmaids' dresses
• making sure to have at least eight of the main flowers in your bouquet on hand
• arranging starting with the largest main flowers and work out from the center
• accentuating the finished floral arrangement with beads, tulle, ribbon, and lace

When I graduated from high school -- more years ago than I would prefer to admit -- the school had graduation announcements that we could purchase. They were simple and, well, a bit boring. But I've had several nieces and nephews graduate in recent years and the announcements they purchased from their schools were much more elaborate... and more expensive.

I'm not sure if my nieces' and nephews' announcements are the norm now-a-days, but if so, the cost alone would be reason for making your own announcements. Besides the money factor, DIY announcements mean you have a one-of-a-kind creation: something unique and wonderful for the grad in your life.

Shine has a beautiful and elegant DIY announcement idea. She used folded cardstock, vellum, a custom rubber inkstamp, and ribbon. Want more announcement ideas? Check out this post about Print Gocco, and this wedding invitation post, for ideas you can apply to grad announcements.

My niece was married last December. The wedding was stunningly beautiful (as was my niece). The timing of her wedding lent itself to a Christmas theme. For favors, we packed Christmas ornaments in cream boxes and decorated them with ribbon, a bell, and evergreens.

But even if your wedding isn't as theme-based as my niece's was, you can come up with any number of original do-it-yourself wedding favors. If you're in need of inspiration... think regionally. From the maple candy in Vermont to a mini bottle of wine in California, every location has something to inspire a wedding favor.

The Martha Stewart Weddings site has an extensive list of ideas for regional wedding favors. These local treats are sure to be appreciated by all: they serve as an introduction to your area for out-of-town guests, and are a familiar favorite for locals.

For more wedding favor ideas, see Jessi's post on keeping wedding favors personal.