Homemade Luggage Tags

When I had my bachelorette party last year, I wanted to get all the girls attending a special little something to get them excited for the fun weekend ahead. After looking around for personalized gifts, I decided to get crafty and make them something. Since we were all flying down to Phoenix, cute luggage tags were the perfect gift. I did a little bit of research online and looked around on Etsy and Pinterest to find the best way to create a homemade luggage tag. Consolidated my favorite looks and came up with the following...

1. Order the laminated pouches:

After reading reviews, I decided to go with the Scotch Self-Seal Laminating Pouches.

2. Find cute scrapbook paper, two sided is best - the size depends on what your printer can handle (letter or 12x12 paper). On your computer, type up the initial or monogram you need.  Either type up the contact information on the back of the paper - have to line up correctly - or type up the information on sticker paper and stick it on the back. Cut down the paper to the correct size of your pouch. You have to make sure there is room around the paper for the lamination to stick together.

3. The laminating pouches I ordered came with plastic pulls to make them useful luggage tags. To brighten them up, I added fun ribbons at the top:

Photos via me

Voila! Fun, easy and cute gift personalized for the receiver. You can print out whatever you like. I liked the look of the big initial and I used black so it stood out against the bright patterns. Great for a birthday gift, welcome gift or a just because.

Lots of Love,

Nursery Sneak: Baby Leni's Digs!

Now that you all have heard how amazing I think Baby Leni is, you need to see the amazing nursery she came  home to! Kelly and Corey did a fabulous job putting it all together and I think it is a baby white paradise. Since they waited to find out the gender of the baby, they went with a neutral color scheme. Once we found out she was a girl, we added some little feminine touches around the room. Pictures speak louder than words, so here you go, enjoy!

The bassinet and bassinet bedding are from Pottery Barn Baby and look amazing!

Changing table is actually a Z Gallerie buffet - great look in the nursery and will be pretty in another room when babies are grown up!

Rocking Chair is from Target believe it or not! They have great rocking chair options at good prices.

Love the personal touch, especially since the Shockers are having an amazing year!

Love cashmere finds at TJ Maxx!

Added a fun photo wall, so she could bring the other kids in Leni's life into the room. Her picture will go in the bottom frame. She also has pictures of her grandparents to watch over her.

Babies need humidifiers, so why not have a cute one!

Love this chandelier from Pottery Barn Kids! She can have that forever because it's simple and classic.

Whitney made this great name art for Leni - she just whipped it up! Love it.

A peak at the fabulous closet of Leni - she has buckets of clothes coming from her fashionable cousins!

They are ordering product bundles from The Honest Company. First order was of course white since they were sure of the gender, but once you know, the designs are so fun, plus it is all organic!

Love the little white birds!

I think they did an incredible job with the nursery and I am excited to get some future hand-me-downs from this collection! Kelly did a great job of investing in long term pieces and finding good deals on pieces that were really baby nursery only. She had a couple splurges, but they were totally worth it! I mean she's so cute, she deserves an amazing nursery...

Photos via me

Lots of Love,

Baby Present Ideas!

Since Baby Leni entered the world, we've been showering her with presents! I thought I would share some favorite baby present ideas with you all, in case you have a favorite new baby you need to buy for.

My all time favorite - The Bunny Uggs! If you are local, you can buy them at The Plaid Giraffe.

Monogrammed bloomers are always fun. There are lots of shops on Etsy or The Monogram Shop in Houston .

I love these headbands and blankets from Little Hip Squeaks!

 Baby month stickers are always fun! I love these cute boy and girl ones. Etsy is the best place to find these!

Baby Leni has been living in her Aden + Anais Swaddles!

Jellycat has the softest stuffed animals and we had to get baby Leni the puppy! If you are local you can get these at The Plaid Giraffe.

A favorite of my family, is the Barefoot Dreams collections (seriously butter for your skin because they are so soft!) an baby Lillie is obsessed with her "Lovie" - She seemed jealous of Baby Leni's! They make blankets for adults too! The Plaid Giraffe carries these as well.

I have been gifting Artifact Uprising's Postcard Packs like crazy and I think it would be such an awesome gift to give one to the new parents with all their baby pictures! And then once you have good baby pictures of the new baby, make one with those. They are so cute and sweet!

Kelly and Corey stocked up on cute baby clothes from American Apparel. They are soft and simple - perfect for new babies! The gowns have been awesome.

Baby gifts are so fun to buy and there are so many options out there. I think sweet and simple things are the best because they go with anyone's style. Parent's can't ever have enough blankets and little onesies, and things that have meaning to them are even more special. Baby Leni nursery pics should be posted soon, once the new parents take their little one home!

Little Baby Leni!

Lots of Love,

Welcome to the World Baby Leni!

Kelly and Corey had their baby today and it's a...GIRL!!! I'm so excited to be an auntie to such a cute little babe! We got to meet her tonight and she is so precious. Mom and Dad are in great shape and still in shock that they had a girl. With Lillie and Addie, they finished the trifecta of little ladies!

Madly in love...

Look at that hair!

Photos via me

Well I can't wait to babysit this little one and I'm so excited to have a baby in town...finally! Plus then the other babies will come visit to see Leni. I'll keep you all posted if I get into some fun baby crafts!

So proud of you Kelly & Corey - she's a beauty!

Lots of Love,

Wedding Week Day 5: Flower Bouquets

First off, Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you all were able to spread a little love today, whether it was with your love, your best friends, your mama or all of the above plus some. We just finished eating the yummy dinner we made (yes - I managed to slice my finger, dang really good wedding knives!) and I am now enjoying some wine while doing a quick post on flowers! Thought it was the perfect wedding discussion for Valentine's day.

I absolutely loved the flowers at our wedding and they worked well with our colors.

For the Flower girls we did rose crowns since they were little and needed a cute head accessory.

My bridesmaids had similar bouquets to mine, except my florist (Lori Parker) made them more coral and green since the dresses were alerady pink. I think it is so fun to add some color with your flowers!

I loved the hot pink garden roses mixed with the lighter pink roses. The accents are hypericum berries and Queen Anne's Lace - great fillers!

Now that I've shared my flowers, I want to show you other inspirations and then I will give you some cost and season pointers that helped me!

Love the bright flowers with the white vase.

Peonies are amazing if you are getting married late spring - this is too die for!

I love LOVE the simple look of this centerpiece.

The color look of this picture inspired my bouquet - I love the look!

Pretty for a fall or winter or early spring wedding.

Love the peach and green look - so fresh!

I fell in love with this look when planning my wedding.

Very girly and fun - love for a pink wedding!

Gorgeous for a fall wedding, but could work anytime.

Great bridesmaid bouquet because it makes a small statement.

I love the same flower in one vase look, with multiple different flowers across the table.
 

Tulip bouquet with gorgeous colors!

Looks very romantic and sweet.

If you are going for a white or neutral look, I love that you can see the textures in this bouquet.

I love the deep reds and textures in this bouquet - drop dead gorgeous!

I think the shades of pink in this bouquet are amazing!

Hopefully all of these gorgeous - I mean GORGEOUS - flowers gave you some wedding inspiration. Granted, these are all a little over the top, but you can pick and choose from the bouquets what you like.

Here are a couple pointers I learned over the process of planning our wedding:
1. Flowers are expensive, but you don't have to spend a million dollars. Find a florist that is willing to work with your budget. The Plaid Giraffe does a great job of this if you are local!
2. Focus on your bouquet if you have expensive flower types that you want. Your bouquet should be aMAZing and exactly what you are wanting, so splurge a little. You can cut back on the bridesmaids or make them smaller versions of yours.
3. Use your bridesmaids' bouquets at the reception. My florist put empty vases on certain tables and my wedding coordinator filled them with the bridesmaid bouquets - they are so pretty, why just lay them on the table. I also used a bridesmaid bouquet for my "toss bouquet" or you can ask the florist to make one with the scraps leftover.
4. Keep seasons in mind. I got married in September which is a long ways from Peony season, so I used Garden Roses instead. Similar impact and they worked great. Look up the seasonal flowers and talk with your florist.
5. There could be cheaper options to the flowers that you love, if they are way too expensive. I used the smaller hydrangeas, since the large ones were more pricey. If you have a good florist, they will help you with this.

Flowers are so pretty and can add a lot to your wedding, but you don't need to break the bank. Find an awesome florist like I did and have fun with it! Now starting pinning your favorite ideas, because they love pictures!

Lots of Love,