Fun With Gift Wrapping: Coming up Rosey!

It's that time of year when we all start our holiday shopping and gift giving routines. It's also the season for engagements, and as many of our friends are proving, babies.

With tight budgets, many of us are scaling back on lavish, expensive gifts. Yet, that doesn;t mean you can't give a gift with the wow factor. One way to achieve this: creative gift wrapping.

For my sister-in-law's recent birthday, we took the stainless steel utensils and water pitcher and turned it into a spring bouqet. We cut out daisy style flower petal rounds and glued them around the utensils. We then arranged the utensils in the water pitcher and wrapped a pretty bow around it. It was a group gift that had a lot of compliments at the party.

A friend of ours also had the same idea for a kids party. They gave the kids flower pot, seed and soil, and made paper flowers around lolipops. The kids then had a treat of the suckers and also got to plant flowers of their own and watch them grow.

So instead of spending a ton of money that you don't have, spend some time on how your present the gift. And don't forget to take the time to stop and smell the roses.

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Creative DIY Ring Pillows from Martha Stewart

When creating something for your wedding, we always encourage thinking outside the box. There are many fun ways to have a personalized wedding for low cost. One way is to create your own ring pillow.

 

Have a sewing box? Well take out those pincushions and put it to good use! Pincushions are usually creative shapes and styles, like this tomato-pepper ring pillow, and can be finished off with a simple piece of ribbon to hold your rings in place.

An outdoor reception can be completed with this moss ring pillow. To make: Glue green ribbon around an ice cream-pint top. Glue green felt to bottom. Arrange spike moss in top. Anchor ribbon to moss with floral wire. Slip rings through ribbon; tie a bow.

This silk flower ring pillow is a striking keepsake. Fill the pillow with potpourri and have a scented sachet to keep in your drawers after the wedding is over. Every time you open that drawer the scent with bring back fond memories of the day.

Finally, give Fido some responsibility and let him (or her!) watch over the rings for you on their collar. Now that's what we call a watch dog!

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Pairing Wine With Food

When it comes to pairing wine with food there really are no rules. Nobody can accurately predict the success or failure of a wine and a food match. Why? Most wine selections are made by one's personal taste. Another factor is a wine often tastes differently when served with different foods, where perception of tastes can be exaggerated or diminished. These changes can have a positive or negative effect based on preference.

There are five basic "tastes" science acknowledges everyone can recognize:

1. Sweetness - often hidden in many foods, will increase the perception of sourness, bitterness and astringency in wine. An example of this food and wine pairing would be grapes dipped in sugar would make a White Zinfandel less sweet of a wine. It would also increase the sourness of a Sauvignon Blanc.


2. Sourness - from the natural sourness of some foods, will make decrease the perception of acid in wine and make the wine taste richer and more mellow. For instance, if you were to have a lemon with your White Zin, the wine would appear to taste extra sweet. A Sauvignon Blanc paired with a lemon would taste more mellow and buttery.


3. Bitterness - often confused with astringency, increases the bitterness in wine. If you paired a Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot Noir with a cherry tomato, they would taste more bitter than usual.


4. Saltiness - can tone down the perception of bitterness and astringency in wine. The same cherry tomato, only now salted, will balance the taste of a Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot Noir.


5. Umami or Savory - this taste is hard to describe. It is referred to "mother's milk" because it is a taste everyone likes. Think of a blue cheese being paired with a Cabernet Sauvignon. They seem very mellow and smooth when paired together.

Regardless of what your preferences are, it is best to try your wine with the actual food you are serving at your event. It is also helpful to not only have a second opinion for wine taste variety, but to also have a knowledgeable wine enthusiast or Sommelier on hand for suggestions.

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Cost Saving Invitation Tips

It seems to be what's on every bride and groom's mind: How can we have a fabulous wedding and still com in under budget? Well, we have decided to pass on some great information when it comes to saving money on your custom wedding invitations.

1. If possible, stick with black ink only. This is the cheapest way to save on your printing costs. If black ink will just ruin the look of your invitation ensemble, then ask your designer about other standard ink colors offered by the printer. Many times these colors can be used, even if it is at a percentage. (such as 20% blue will then be a light blue.)
2. Ditch the bells and whistles. One rhinestone will have the same impact as if you used three. Tie a simple bow instead of wrapping the whole invitation in ribbon.
3. Change the invitation style, but keep the design. I just quoted a customer twice - once with the design used in a gatefold card tied with ribbon, and once as a flat card. The gatefold card was nearly 3 times the cost of the flat card, and still had the design the customer fell in love with.
4. Don't be afraid to ask your designer for files. We are more than happy to create something for someone and allow them to do their own printing and assembling. Just pay for the cost of the design and CD, and then choose how you want to use it. This is a great way to save - and you can use your custom art on other items such as tags and labels.

If you are interested in custom design, please do not hesitate to contact us.

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Inspiration Boards

A current trend we love is putting together an Inspiration Board. An Inspiration Board is simple. It is a collection of words and photos that inspire what you want to create or achieve. This idea isn't really new. One of my most talked about loves, the Secret, mentions to do an Inspiration Board for the goals you want to reach in your life. I have also heard of doing this with work and other areas of interest. (I currently have an inspiration board in my office, illustrating everything from what I want my business to become as well as achievements I would like to see succeed.)

The newest twist with these inspiration boards is many creative people are using them to help understand the tone they want to set for a wedding or event. Brides can easily envision their wedding with photos from various magazines or online articles. Don't be afraid to also use words or quotes that you feel captures your mood.

Be In Love Designs is going to start our own Inspiration Boards on the blog soon. For now, we would like to give credit to http://greenweddingshoes.blogspot.com/2009/01/inspiration-board-9-fresh-green-romance.html for the following Inspiration Board. It was something I found while looking for yellow and green Inspiration Boards online and I thought it was fabulous.

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Invitation Trend: Wrap Around Labels

A lot of brides don't like the look of ordinary white labels, or even see through ones, on the invitations. I understand. Why create something so special and beautiful and ruin it with a tacky office supply.

Well a great new trend I am seeing (and loving!) are personalized labels and wrap around labels. These labels incorporate your design onto the outside or your envelopes without adding a crazy cost of printing. They are easy to assemble to0 - since they just wrap nicely around the envelope both front and back.

If you do not want to use the wrap around style wedding labels, then try odd shapes and sizes. This adds an element of fun to the outside of your wedding invitation.

Our suggestion is to let us take care of it all. We not only offer assembly services with our invitations, but can also address and mail them too. This is a great solution to have that perfectly polished look to your invitation - even before your guests open it!

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Napkin Origami

When you envision what your wedding reception is going to look like, you undoubtedly think of how your table will be dressed. It could be dripping with flowers, have cool centerpieces made with organic objects, or even just soft romantic candles to create the ambiance. One important detail that can help take a table from "uh" to "wow" is the napkin fold.

A napkin could be styled in a glass to add height to the table. It can also drape nicely around any favors your are giving to your guest. We chose this style since we had items that the color really popped against the napkins.

Other people choose to have a simple fold to nicely display their menus. Regardless of what you choose, it is a nice added detail to your wedding reception.

More and more weddings are taking place at home or other venues that normally don't have a staff to do the wild art of napkin origami for you. Yet most napkin folds are very simple to learn yourself. A great resource we found online is http://www.napkinfoldingguide.com/ They show you detailed photos and give instructions to create the napkin fold you want. Now you are sure to impress your guests with your napkin folding flair!

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