In the Wise Words of Liz Lemon...

I want to go to there...

And I did! :) My hubby took this picture while we were in Davis, CA for the Thanksgiving weekend. Isn't it surreal?! It's a golden ginko tree and is my nod to all the popular yellow weddings (I am helping plan two myself!) that will be taking place in 2010.  Wouldn't it be awesome to have this tree serve as an altar in order to share your vows under the heavenly leaves?! *sigh* OR you can "plant" a golden ginko tree together in lieu of a candle lighting. The yellow would look so amazing in pictures!

So now I am behind on blogging, backed up with emails, up to my ears in grading, a few pounds heavier and eagerly looking forward to our next trip up! It was seriously so gorgeous and the drive up really made me appreciate living in California and all the scenic beauty we have at our fingertips. The landscape here is so diverse and majestic.  The drive was long but fun because nearly every time I looked out the window I would squeal, "Oh my Lord! This would be perfect for an engagement session!" Good thing Eddie fully accepts my post-wedding obsession with all things wedding related. :) And even though I had to initially force it on him, the Ting Tings Station on Pandora on our iPhone kept him entertained.

My only regret in going up for the weekend (we were there for a family event) was that I missed one of my dearest friend's surprise engagement party! I knew I wouldn't be able to make it, so I made a banner for them to make up for my absence. Hopefully I will be able to get a hold of pictures of it hanging at the party, but here is a sneak peek of it on my carpet! (sorry for the poor lighting!)

 

It was SUPER easy to make using the FREE Martha Stewart banner templates. I just printed out the letters I needed and then cut around the edges of each circle with a pair of scissors. Then I punched out a scalloped circle shape (I happen to have the scalloped circle punch from an old scrapbooking project) for each letter and used double sided tape to tape each letter to a scalloped circle. I like Tombo permanent double sided tape. It's easy to use and very durable. Finally, I used an exacto knife to cut two slits into the top of each matted letter and strung it with ribbon left over from our wedding.  If you haven't already noticed, I have a TON of ribbon left over from our wedding but have found many great uses for them all. I used three different lengths of ribbon so that they could be hung separately and tied into nice bows at the end. It took me less than an hour to make and I think it is a pretty nice banner for not costing me a penny!

I know I mentioned another DIY Anthropologie-inspired project that I have in the works and hopefully I will get to blogging that this week. Stay tuned!