Obsessed with Martha Stewart

Martha Products on Sale at Big Lots!

If you have a Big Lots near your home, you should check it for greatly discounted Martha Stewart craft products. I was in Big Lots looking for Method cleaning products when I stumbled across a section with the same type of Martha Stewart craft products you can find in Michael's greatly reduced - and I mean greatly reduced. Everything was $1 to $2!!! I couldn't believe my eyes. Of course I had to pick some things up including one tissue paper flower kit, two crepe paper flower kits, scrapbooking items, and two packs of wedding cake charms with ribbons - and I didn't spend more than $12.

Run....don't walk...to your nearest Big Lots and see if they have any Martha Stewart craft products in stock.

Wedding Centerpieces

Images from Martha Stewart Weddings

My wedding centerpieces have been the biggest struggle throughout the planning process. Two years ago I started with one idea that seemed like a GREAT idea at the time. My fiance and I bought the materials needed to put together the centerpieces. When we went to our tasting we set up a sample centerpiece, and I almost had a melt down. It looked nothing like I had envisioned. In fact {gasp}, it almost looked tacky - and I can't have tacky on my wedding day.

So, we went back to the drawing board. Yesterday, my fiance {such a wonderful man} accompanied me to Michael's where we found the rest of the items needed to redo the centerpieces. Hopefully, this time around they'll be perfect - or at least close to it. Martha Stewart's wedding section on her website gave me tons of inspiration when planning my wedding. The photo gallery of 50 Great Centerpieces was one of my favorites.

Tomorrow I'll be posting about the cupcakes I baked two days ago!

Halloween Is Creeping Up

Halloween, the day I'm getting married, is creeping up on me. I can't believe that two months from Monday I'll be getting married. I realized how close Halloween is when I saw that on the front page of the Martha Stewart website, there is a section dedicated to Halloween and the second most popular photo gallery is indoor halloween decorations. Ahhhhh!

I've been putting together a list of things that need to get done before our wedding and it doesn't look pretty. I'm going to be SUPER busy until October 31st. But that doesn't mean I'm going to neglect Martha. It just means I have to do a good job at time management over the next two months.

Image from Martha Stewart

Stress Relief Needed

My pre-wedding honeymoon was everything I thought it would be and more. We were lucky enough to spend almost 3 weeks together in romantic places, relax, and set aside "real world" worries. But now we're back and I need some major stress relief. We're two months away from our wedding (wow! I'm so excited) which means I have a billion wedding planning items to take care of, we're moving in less than a week to live with my fiance's mom until we find our own place, and then we're moving again (to our own place) hopefully by October 1st. Also, my fiance starts his job (so proud) on September 6th. Ahhhh!

And you know when you come home from vacation and a pile of bills and mail is waiting for you - that sucks. And to top it all off, I don't have my own things and places for my own things. We've been living with my parents for the past couple months, so my fiance could take bar classes in Richmond - and it's been fun but cramped. Now, we're moving in with his mom (who I love) and it's gonna be fun but cramped. I need my own space, especially since I need to be able to access my craft supplies to complete the 500 (maybe that's an exaggeration) DIY wedding projects I have planned. Okay, enough complaining. Time for action. Martha suggests walking for stress relief which is great for me, because I love to walk around the neighborhood and chat with my fiance. We usually take long walks for exercise and to catch up with each other at the end of the day.

And it's my stepfather's birthday - YAY - Happy Birthday! So, I'll be spending some time in the kitchen making cupcakes today (which is also a stress reliever for me - I love baking).

End of Honeymoon

My fiance and I are traveling back to Virginia today. We have an 8 hour drive ahead of us, but I don't mind because it just gives us more time to spend together before getting back to the "real world." I can't wait to see our family and the three little dogs waiting for us!

Starting tomorrow I'll be back on track with the Martha Stewart mission including my one cupcake a week challenge (which I need to catch up on). Until then, enjoy this photo gallery of Martha's 2009 trips including a road trip to Maine.

Wedding Rings

My fiance and I can cross off "pick and purchase wedding rings" off our to-do list, because we bought them yesterday! I'm so excited, because we both found beautiful rings and came in under budget. We went into a jewelry store on a whim and shockingly both rings that we loved were in our sizes (if they weren't in our size, it would have taken over 8 days to get them in - and we're leaving Hilton Head tomorrow). It was like a sign. So we bought them. 

Martha has an eye candy jewelry photo gallery that is to-die for. My wedding ring doesn't look like one of these but it's perfect for me. 

Make Good Things Even Better

Vote before August 31st on your ten favorite good things and the Martha team will make them even better for the February issue of Martha Stewart Living. I've already voted.

Sunburn Solution

I find it very interesting that I can relate Martha Stewart to to my life in so many ways. For instance, my fiance got a little too much sun on his face yesterday (in fact, it kinda looks like a tomato - don't tell him I said that), so I looked up "sunburn" on Martha's website to find out what she has to say about it. She has an article written about sunburn solution. I can always count on Martha.

I have to make this short, because the beach chair next to the adult pool is calling my name and it's supposed to start storming at 3:00!

Tip of the Day - Vacation and Memorykeeping Crafts

My fiance and I realized that we haven't been very good about taking pictures while we're on our honeymoon, so we're trying to make up for it during the second half. As we collect items and take pictures, I've been thinking about how we'll display them when we move to our next home. I found over 35 vacation and memorykeeping crafts on the Martha Stewart website, and I can't wait to make some of them!

Image from Martha Stewart

Tip of the Day - Beach Spa Day

We left Naples, Florida yesterday and traveled to Orlando, Florida where we will stay the week. Naples was gorgeous and the beautiful beaches were exactly what I needed. After we leave Orlando, we'll be heading back to the beach, Hilton Head. I found these beach spa ideas on the Martha Stewart website and thought about trying some while in Hilton Head.

Image from Martha Stewart