The loves and lies of Pinterest

I know I have been missing here for a minute but between getting ready for my deployment and deploying...you can't blame me too much can you?

The truth is, I already have a routine going here and I am having to make time to blog as opposed to having copious amounts of time as anticipated.
My priorities are more like, calls home, pool (ok, it may be questionable whether or not this is actually number 1..), gym, food, sleep, work, then misc activities such as reading or blogging. I really have filled up my days here!
I even had a list of topics on my iPhone before it went completely haywire out here and is no longer useable...and my list is no longer reachable...

The internet in my room is horrendous. For some reason I think it is better on my iPad than my laptop but blogging on an iPad is awful and a pain in the butt to add pictures. Also, as my phone is broken, the blogs for the next four months may be lacking in the picture department...but bear with me.

So, as you may imagine, I, like and self-respecting bride in todays world of weddings and wedding blogs, and photography blogs, and...you get the point...found my way onto Pinterest. I had done an incredible job of not falling down the rabbit hole of life's DIY projects on this magical site prior to the shiny bauble on my hand, but alas, I could turn away no more.

I quickly had 4 boards of wedding, engagement, and bridal shower ideas.

One of the pictures I immediately fell for first was of the smiling pup with an engagement ring perfectly balanced on its nose.



There are tons of pictures just like these on Pinterest...so how could it be, right?

...and you should see the bad ones...Lola wouldn't even sit still long enough to balance the ring on her head. I kept trying to hold a treat in front of her nose, with one hand, place the ring on her nose with the other hand, try and get her to sit still, and then take a picture. She was a pain in the butt. Merlin of course would sit still juuuuustt long enough for me to get a semi-blurry picture where he is of course, not smiling or looking like the adorable puppy that he is. Thanks guys....

Maybe I will re-try this again later, but my hopes are not high.

So, I moved on to flowers. I think the issue with these may have been a got a bit too zealous too fast. I went out and loaded up on craft supplies at Michaels

Yah...not sure what my vision was on this...but it did not turn out how I anticipated at all.  Needless to say, this creation will not be making it down the aisle.

But now more on the things I love...

I started working with beads instead, at the suggestion of Pinterest

These were the completed examples on Pinterest

The 50% solution -- I will finish these when I get back from this ol desert place

Shai helped me on these, painstakingly cutting the floral wire to the correct length. You wouldn't know it, but stringing and twisting beads on wire can be quite the arduous task! I'm pretty happy with the direction these are going, I just wish I could have finished them before I left. All the more projects for later.

Realistically, I am not sure that DIY bouquets and boutonnieres save a whole lot of money. I will have to really take a look at it all in the end. But regardless, I didn't want flowers and I love having my hands in making things, so I think the benefit outweighs the cost regardless!

But I didn't want to stop at just the girls, I had to help the guys out as well. I saw this

But of course, I am not using peacock feathers in our décor so I put my own spin on them

Yay! I'm pretty excited about these. Pinterest win. =)

Some of these things will look better in person than in pictures, I'm fully aware. And I also know how much better things tend to look with the artistic eyes of a well-selected photographer (future blog post?) Heck, even instagram filters can take something from shabby to "shabby-chic" in a matter of seconds. But this isn't a blog about the whole picture...its about putting all the pieces together!!

And finally...that Pinterest board of engagement pictures...sigh... I am pretty sure if I could take engagement pictures every day forever...I would. I just can't get enough of adorable couples doing adorable things in quirky and beautiful locations!!! But I have a particular vision for our engagement session and so I need to make some props for the shoot. The only ones I was able to complete before leaving were my floral crowns.

At first I looked on Etsy to buy one...but the really nice ones were $30-$50 dollars and I just could not justify that! So, I looked on Pinterest and Google for lots of "DIY floral crowns" and eventually found a combination of ways to make some myself. I ended up buying everything I needed at the Dollar Store! Once I made the first floral crown, above, I was so excited that I just wanted to make more!! I ran back to the store for more flowers....way too many flowers...and had enough time in my schedule to whip out one more. I still have a ton of flowers, but it seems silly to return $1 sets of flowers....I am sure I will make some more projects with them eventually! So all in all, the two flower crowns cost me about $12. Not bad huh? I cannot wait to pair these with my outfits for my engagement session! or really any outfit!!

All in all I have to say, I am really happy with the projects I have found and completed on Pinterest. Since all of the big decisions and planning for the wedding has been completed, the only thing I have left to do is focus on the small details and all the DIY projects my heart and budget can handle. I think that will be more than enough to make those last three months before the wedding when I get back just fly by!!

Hehe, I just couldn't resist. Pinterest has lots of ring/flower pictures too, I promise!