Walmart Stationary Clearance- Cheaper than the Dollar Store!

Surprise, surprise... I was out shopping again tonight and came across an exceptional deal on invitations, thank you notes, paper plates, cups, and table clothes. I was in the Walmart Supercenter by the Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills (Route 28).

Bridal shower invitations- packs of 8 or 10........ 75 cents! Cheaper than the dollar store!
Matching Thank you notes- 75 cents
Bachelorette party invitations- 75 cents

Baby Shower invitations--1.25 These were the cute kind that you can print out on your computer with a hanging clothesline across the front.

Pink Maternity themed matching baby shower invitations, thank yous, paper plates, cups, napkins, and table clothes..... nothing over 1.50! "American Greeting" brand

50 pack of round silver double heart sticker seals....... 50 cents!!! Perfect for the back of your invitations or Thank you notes.

Bridal shower adds on for favor boxes... 75 cents. I purchase a pack to use for scrapbooking.

If you want to organize your wedding binder, check out the plastic colored tab dividers... 25 cents! There also had a ton of other binder organizational items on clearance. Nothing over 3 bucks.

Some of the Walmarts have the gold wax seal kits on clearance for 6.00. This store did not have any.

This particular store has their clearance seperated into different areas... the stationary items are in an aisle close to the regular priced items.

Hope this helps someone out! Happy Bargain Shopping!

How to make gorgeous pomander/kissing balls

This was one of my last DIY projects for the wedding. I almost did not do it but I am so glad I did. I received so many compliments and it really added elegance to the aisle.

Let me preface this by saying it will take a TON of flowers to do these. I literally used 35-50 rose stems on each ball. I used varying sizes and shades of red and burgundy to give the ball dimension. All stems were medium quality - it would have cost a small fortune to use the same high quality roses I used in my centerpieces.

Supplies needed.. glue gun.. low temp, glue and melting pot (you can buy at Pat Catan's for 5 bucks) styrofoam balls (I recommend the green ones) wire cutters, rose stems, ribbon, and a few straight pins (I used the ones with pearl tops).

Things to keep in mind: when selecting the size of your foam ball, remember it will be much larger once all the flowers are in place.

Prep Work: Cut all rose (or other flower) stems and leaves off. Keep 1-1.5 inches to press into stryofoam ball. If using varying stems like I did, seperate into groups of color and size.

Begin by placing the largest roses on the ball first. Dip the stem into the glue melting pot making sure to cover the stem and bottom of rose. Fill in with the medium size roses and then the small buds to complete your pomander ball.

To attached the ribbon, hot glue the bottom of the ribbon into the top of the ball inbetween the roses where it can be completely hidden. To ensure it holds properly, use straight pins to secure to ball.

I hung my pomander balls from iron shepherd hooks special ordered from Pat Catan's (9.99 each).

After receiving SO much positive feedback and features on numerous blogs, I am now custom making pomander/kissing balls as part of my ETSY Boutique. Check out the listing at: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=27908751

Wedding Items for Sale

My husband is anxious to get all the space back in our house so I am on a mission to sell all of my wedding decor, centerpieces, and everything else that is taking up space when it could help some other bride. Check it out!

http://cspham07.googlepages.com/home

Bargain Finds for Brides

Here are some great bargains I found during my last retail therapy trip and online shopping escapade:

Lenox: http://www.lenox.com/cat/index.cfm?fuseaction=subcat&cat=sale&subcat=clr&flt=wed
Clearance items including ornaments; Forevermore Double Album, 5x5 photo frame, and jewelry box; Wedding Promises 5x7 frame; Opal Innocence Votive holders; Lenox For Today Tomorrow Forever Musical Sentiment Box (pictured left)

Ollie's: http://www.olliesbargainoutlet.com/ Tons of wedding basics: invitation kits, flower girl baskets, ringbearer pillows, favor kits (for both baby and wedding), favor add ons, program paper kits, thank you notes, scrapbooks, wedding books, Martha Stewart Wedding DVDs and more. Many of the items are "Wilson" sold at Walmart, Michaels, and Joanns.

Ross Dress for Less: http://www.rossstores.com/ Adorable little girl dresses on clearance- perfect for flower girls... some as low as 6.99! Wedding scrapbooks, photo frames, and baskets too! Be sure to check out the linens while you are there... I got a set of Tommy Hilfiger Jersey sheets- King- for 9.99!!!

Happy Shopping!

After the gown, but before the muu-muu...

Most of my friends got married years before I did so they have all graduated to the next stage of life: parenthood. With less than three months since my wedding day I am nowhere near ready to jump on that bandwagon. I am still trying to find my identity as a wife. There are hundreds of websites out there devoted to the bride to be and the new mom but where are we- the post wedding, pre baby gals- suppose to go?

Don't get me wrong- I love my local Nestie board but there is constant baby talk which I fear will fast track me to baby fever before my husband and I are ready. Besides I recently became an Aunt and need some time to spoil my nephew and niece before taking the leap to motherhood.

So, ladies.. what are we to do? I'm definately over the discussion of wedding details but not quite ready to start talking breast pumps, hemorrhoids, and crib furniture. Any suggestions?

Post Wedding Hair Phenomenon

There is this strange thing that happens to women right after they get married. Many of us feel this intense urge to drastically change our hair. After months of growing our hair out in an effort to have perfect wedding hair, we gallop to our hair dressers and demand a change. Four hours later my long blonde hair had been transformed to an above the shoulder, auburn bob.

Having been a red head in the past, I knew I needed to purchase some specialty products to keep my locks in healthy condition. Here are some of my favorites: Loreal Colorist Collection Shampoo and Conditioners. I purchased my 8 fl oz bottles (14.99) at Ulta during a buy two get two free sale. Not only do these products greatly lengthen the time between coloring but the botanical extracts make your hair shiny and smell great. Too many color shampoos have that awful odor that lingers in your mane.

For the ultimate deep conditioning, pick up some Cabot Protein Pacs. This protein, panthenol, henna, and Vitamin E treatment is used in salons across the country. For best results place a shower cap over hair and place a hot towel for 15 minutes. A similar product, Hi Pro Pac, can be purchased at salon specialty stores.

Join me at the Bridal Extravaganza!!

This Saturday and Sunday, January 12th and 13th, I will be the Bridal Extravaganza at the Eastwood Mall Expo Center in Niles, Ohio. I will assisting Derrick Wray of Blazing Entertainment at his booth. He was the talented DJ and lighting specialist I had at my wedding! He did a light show that the kids absolutely love. My photographer captured some great shots with the lights too!

If you want to go, here are the details:

The Bridal Extravaganza

5555 Youngstown Warren Rd #492 Niles, OH 44446, US (link to mapquest directions on website below)

http://www.eastwoodexpo.com/

11 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Info Line: 330-652-6980, Ext. 11

Creative gift ideas for the bride

Happy New Year! Did you know that most women receive their marriage proposals during the months of November and December? With many new brides to be out there, I thought I would share some creative gift ideas. I received some of these great items at my own shower and some I have seen made by friends, in magazines, or at other showers.

Kitchen Utensil Flower Bouquet
I received this as a gift at my own shower and absolutely loved it! The bouquet held wooden spoons, mesh scrubber, kitchen towels, dish towels, and more.

The Wedding Towel Cake by Jennifer Leigh jennthomas1@verizon.net $ 49.95

These adorable handmade towel cakes are comprised of high quality department store towels, silk roses and ribbon, and your choice of topper. This makes a great shower gift or centerpiece!

Photo Blanket or Woven Wall Hanging

This was one of my favorite wedding gifts. Woven Blanket $ 110 http://www.thingsremembered.com/ What a unique way to display a favorite wedding photo!

While every bride loves to receive items from her registry, it is always wonderful to get those unique, creative gifts like the items shown.

Bridal Hair

After months of searching online (a few of my favorites are pictured above) and in books and magazines, I finally decided to wear my hair half up and half down. I came to this decision after worrying that since I was a plus size bride, I would look too pudgy if I wore all my hair up. So I scheduled a hair trial and had my hairdresser style my hair. Although my hair looked great, something just didn't feel right. Maybe it was because I often wear my hair this way or perhaps it was that I had this image in my head of what a bride should look like and that included a formal updo. So the following week I scheduled a second hair trial to see if the updo was for me. Upon finishing the updo, I immediately felt "like a bride." I didn't even need to don the veil and tiara to know that this was how I would wear my hair on my wedding day.

My wonderful hair stylist and I spoke at length about how difficult it is to find really great pictures of formal hairstyles. Neither of us could understand why they do not have a magazine devoted entirely to bridal or formal hair! You can't even find many articles in the regular bridal magazines about hair. Maybe I am just too hair obsessed but I found this to be a major decision in my wedding planning.

Things to think about when selecting your bridal day hair:

1. What is the shape of your gown's neckline?

2. Do you want to wear a necklace? Long dangling earrings?

3. Do you plan to have a tiara, veil, hair brooch, or other hair accessory?

4. What is the expected weather for your special day?

5. What is the level of formality of your wedding?

6. Does your hair tend to wilt? How well does your hair stayed curled?

7. How does your husband to be like you to wear your hair?

8. Is it important for you to look "like yourself" on your wedding day?

Advice from the Bride

1. You will feel beautiful on this day. I think that plus size brides, especially, worry that they will not feel beautiful. I never felt as loved and as stunning as I did on my wedding day. I sincerely wish I could bottle up that feeling and save it for a rainy day.
2. Forget about stressing- just have fun. I am so glad that I listened to my married friends and let go and just soaked in every moment I could. I stayed focused on my husband to be during the ceremony and actually remember saying my vows. Many brides say that everything is just a blur and I wanted to make sure that I remembered that incredible moment when he pledged his life to me.
3. Just because you are this excited about finding the right favor or the perfect veil does not mean that everyone you know will be as excited. Nor should you expect them to be. That is why I loved chatting on various wedding websites. It was a safe haven to be wedding obsessed without making your friends choke on wedding related details.
4. Marriage is a lifetime, the Wedding is a day. I was probably worse than most on making sure that every element of my wedding would be perfect. The words I heard most often was -"wow, you paid so much attention to every detail." But as many hours as I spent combing through bridal magazines, reading books, and researching venues, I also spent on premartial counseling and developing my relationship with my now husband.