Serious Craft Blog

It is amazing to think that it was only one weekend ago that E and I "put a ring on it". Since then we've almost been like chickens with our heads cut off figuring out where we want the ceremony and reception to take place. While we can wait on many of the other wedding details, as we're not planning to wed until more than a year later, we can't slack on the locations if we want a good church and venue.

In reality, we already know where we WANT to go for those two events. But where we can afford or fit guests into is a whole 'nother story. This past weekend, we visited several places, from cute and homey to glitzy and screaming "i am bling".

Wayfarers Chapel

aka "The Glass Church"
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
Website

This place completely entranced us just as it did the first time we came here years ago. What a charming, beautiful, peaceful place, situated high on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. It was designed and built in the late 40s by Lloyd Wright (son of Frank Lloyd Wright). It is magnificient, but humble. No glitz, no glam. Just pure beauty and harmony with nature. Check out the view!

Inside Wayfarers Chapel


The beautiful view as you get out of the chapel


And if you look to your left as you get out, you see the ocean




Lots of interesting brick memorials.

Even if you don't plan to wed there, I highly recommend just coming here to visit and relax. We know this is where we want to be, but it might be a struggle with the 100 maximum guest count, since our families added together are rather large....

Pluses

• Beautiful space
• Cozy, view of the ocean
• A set list of ministers are available
• Candlelight ceremony available - super romantic and pretty
• Long scenic drive along the coast of Rancho Palos Verdes

Minuses

• Long scenic drive along the coast of Rancho Palos Verdes (my relatives are of the complainy sort)
• Tiny church, seats 100 people max, not including bride & co and groom & co
• $2,500 for weekends, $400 extra for candlelight option

Terranea Resort

Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
Website

After Wayfarers we headed to this place on the way to check out their reception options. It is quite close to Wayfarers and also situated along the coast of Rancho Palos Verdes.

It's a pretty grand resort, but without too much of the glitter and shine (there's the Trump Golf Club nearby for that). It only just opened up Summer 2009. It feels earthy and semi-casual, with lots of italian tiles and classic details in furniture and decor.

But it might still be a bit too grand for us. Not to mention our budget doesn't seem to like it very much... Catering alone at Terranea starts at $30k, and that's not including other fees.

Pluses

• Very large resort with many ballrooms and areas available for reception.
• Impressive without being pompous.
• Casual atmosphere and killer view.
• Date availability because of the spaces.

Minuses

• Cost
• Can't use your own catering. Our dreams of a tub of curry fishballs would be shattered.
• Not quite as down to earth and characteristic as we'd like, doesn't totally represent our style. But we are VERY picky...

The fun part of our visit there was these hot rides though!

I wouldn't mind getting hitched in one of these! With that luggage too!

We'll be continuing to shop in the coming weeks. But I guess not a bad start so far. If anyone has suggestions, we're ALL ears!

While the purpose of Serious Craft is not to rant about my personal journey on planning a wedding, I think this planning process will still provide great insight and know-how to the site and others who are also striving for a DIY wedding.

I feel that my wedding will be the ultimate testament to my skills and capabilities as a crafter and a designer. The level of craftsmanship I and others expect out of me is high, and I expect to give no less than my best. I hope my belief in my good tastes is true. Yet, I fully expect to learn a lot of new things from the whole process, even with many failures along the way. But I hope that in the end, I will be able to better appreciate and make use of the repertoire of skills I have gained for the many years I've been a crafter.

I hope you will enjoy the rants about my journey as much as I hope to experience them. :)

I know I'll want to at least (attempt to) do the following:

• wedding dress - possibly the biggest challenge, but imagine the money saved!
• hair wear - veil, etc.
• memorable centerpieces - one of the most important in my opinion
• cake topper
• general look & feel
• graphic designs for overall theme
• hand-letterpressed invitations(via bottlejack method probably)
• handcrafted metal stamp for wax seals (useless but cool)
• website & online gallery
• guests "social networking" website for arranging transportation/accommodations/etc.
• decor - this can be a HUGE or small task depending on the venue (if I get smogshoppe then this might be a breeze!)
• fun-fun-fun photograph backdrops
• table placecards / placecard holders
• a large quilling sign for guest sign-in area (tell you about it later)
• some sort of ponoko items (candelabras?)
• party favors
• gifts to bridal party
• recipes for small foods

Do I sound crazy? Maybe I am... Well, these are things I know I will NOT tamper with, at least:

• flowers
• main food dishes
• photography - unless i don't want to be in pictures!
• no i won't sew and dye my own tablecloths or anything... I DO want to dye some things though...

Chinese knotting is quite an artform in traditional Chinese culture. Although gorgeous, they can be quite complex and time consuming to make too. But here's a tutorial to make a simple, but elegant one that can be used as a little charm for keychains, bags, or whatever.

You'll need some pins, some kind of foam base that can hold up those pins, and some nylon cord available at craft stores in all kinds of colors.

 
Cut about 16" of nylon cord. Pin it to the foam like so.
Use as many pins as you need to keep cord in place.

 
Fold up the bottom tail so that it overlaps the right loop. Pin in place.
Then fold the right loop over the top loop. Pin in place.

 
Fold the top loop over the left loop. Pin in place. Get it now?
Lastly, fold the left loop over the bottom tail, but string it through
the loop made in the first foldover.

 
Remove all pins and carefully pull all the loops and ends out to tighten knot.
Flip the knot over so it looks like the right picture. Place on foam again.

 
Repeat the fold-over steps from earlier all over again, with the bottom tail
and right-top-left loops. Tighten the knot by pulling all the loops again.
You should now have a chinese knot! Add decorative beads if desired by easing
it into the center of the knot. Add a dab of glue to secure in place.

 
Make some knots at the tails of the cord.
You can secure the knot by using a cigarette lighter and very briefly burn
the ends so that they very slightly melt into the knot. (see right picture)

The finished product!

I found a word that describes one of the styles of design I love the most: apothecary

define: apothecary
a person who studies the art and science of mixing medicines;
also known as a pharmacist.

I didn't realize this before. But it describes the style perfectly—endless mishmash of antique bottles and jars, rustic wooden furniture with a million mini drawers, tarnished metal hardwares, herbs and mushrooms, swirvy graphics and labels. I know, seems obvious, yea?

As I was driving home from San Diego, I had a bright idea for what would make awesome centerpieces for a wedding—TERRARIUMS!!! But not to my surprise, a bazillion people have already been there done that, guess it's not so bright an idea. That doesn't make me want to have them any less though.

A quick search brings up so many beautiful images of terrariums.

From: Pop Deluxe, $139


From: Flickr search for "terrarium"

There's that terrarium container from Pop Deluxe. But it's a little pricey for $139, I'm sure if I scour thrift shops I can find some used glass jars that'll work just as well. There's even these ones from Save on Crafts that are pretty reasonable too.

From: Save on Crafts, $13.99

Hmm....but what can be better than a terrarium? MUSHROOM TERRARIUMS! Oh my gosh, I'm drooling just thinking about it. Mushrooms grow in high humid environments, which is what terrariums are all about. I bet that can work. Another quick search takes me to Far West Fungi from San Francisco that is quite popular with their mushoom mini-farms.

I will probably have to experiment some to determine how this idea can work as centerpieces. It would probably take a lot of planning and preparation. But hey, it should not cost that much more than your standard fishbowl+water+floating candles+flowers, and it'll be way cooler pieces for guests to take home for sure. It just takes much more time...which I definitely will have, our wedding is not until at least one year from today.

Imagine some little totoros in the terrariums (or even mushroom logs). Pure charm.

From: eBay, EUR 12.99

Here's a few additional links that I found inspiring/informational:

• An Apple a Day's super inspirational Secret Garden
• Modish's well detailed instructions on setting up your terrarium
• The Fern & Mossery has a whole section dedicated to terrariums
• Let's Grow Mushrooms has awesome videos on building and growing mushroom terrariums

If you've had rabbits as pets, you'll know that while these guys are cute and cuddly, they can be DESTRUCTIVE little furballs—especially the dwarf ones. At a moment's boredom, they can rip apart anything their teeth can get to.

While I don't want to replace their torn apart cardboard-floored cages every three months, I don't want to torture them either with many of the disgusting commercial rabbit cages around.

The problems with most commercial rabbit cages are:

• They're too damn small. Of course your bunny should have roaming time outside the cage, but during your 9-5s they'll get bored out of their minds!
• They're way expensive for what they are, and what they are-are usually no better than chicken wires.
• Hutches are impractical for indoor use and are crazy expensive. Your bunny should never be kept outdoors.

So then what's a serious crafter to do? Build one of course! I've been building mine for years. But sometimes I use plain cardboard as their floor covering, which is a bad idea. When it gets wet or there's a crack, the bunnies will shred the thing apart. So lately, I've been using shelf liners to protect the floor from chewage and pee-age. It works great! Shelf liners are the best invention ever!

Bunny-proof Bunny Cage - Version 2.0

The floor here is constructed of cardboard that was entirely covered by less than one roll of shelf liners. Make sure no seams or liner is sticking up where their teeth may get to. Then the cardboard was folded up at the sides and taped together to provide a side barrier. It is pretty seamless inside so they'll never be able to tear it up. It is also an excellent pee-proof surface, muahahaha.

I passed on the cardboard covering on the top floor, just because it's not as big a deal and there is no water container up there. There's a litterbox on both floors. Later I might build a ramp for them too (they know how to jump up).

Materials:

1. Modular cubes. You can usually find these at Bed Bath & Beyond or Target. You might need 2 or 3 sets depending on the size you want to make.
   
   From: Bed Bath & Beyond, Modular Storage Cube Set, Set of 4 for $14.99
   
    
2. Roll of Con-Tact brand Shelf Liner. They're the kind for lining your kitchen shelves. It has to be the self-adhesive type. I used the Black Faux Leather one from Home Depot, makes the cage look all luxurious. $6.48 for a lengthy 18" x 15' roll.
3. Some giant pieces of cardboard enough to line the bottom of the cage, plus a few inches to fold up the sides. Taping several smaller pieces together also work.

As for the construction, you can really arrange it however you like. It's kind of fun, it's sort of like real life Lego, in a way. In the end you'll probably spend around $50, depending on the cage size. Such a deal! For $50 at a pet store, you'll hardly get anything more than a two by one. DIY FTW.

The bunnies have settled into their new home. Notice I also tied down their food dish with thin wire. They LOVE tipping it over to protest whenever they're out of food. :|