Belated Wrapping Ideas...

I found these on my camera, which I guess I forgot about. This year I made a pledge to not buy any wrapping paper and in fact to push it just a little further by reusing Trader Joe's grocery bags. I hand stamped a forest scene, made gift tags with vintage stamps and usedred and white baker's twine to finish it all off. I think I'll do it again next year, it was relatively easy and felt good to be reusing something. Really though, this is a look that could be modified for any holiday or occasion, just change the stamp and color of baker's twine. The best part of all was that the "wrapping paper" was all recyclable afterward!

Handmade Valentine Sneak Peek!

Here's a sneak peek of the Valentine's we made....what do you think?

Roadtrippin'

A & I are leaving on a roadtrip today, we've got the next few days off and we don't know where we're going or where we'll end up....although this is probably inevitable!

*image from Rachel Goldilocks blog

Frugal Friday: Valentine's!

How is it already February?! Seriously, wasn't it just almost Christmas!? If you are way more ahead of your game then I you may be thinking about affordable Valentine's Day gift ideas. One of the easiest, and sometimes lazy or cheap looking, options are to make "Coupons" for your one and only. I have to say I have totally done them before, and I think that I did it in a cuteoriginal, non-cheesy way, but I actually found some printable/ customizable ones that look great! These ones are from Kind Over Matter which I just discovered for the first time! These are totally adorable and have a fun indie feel to them which you can claim all as your own if you're so inclined.

If you only need Valentine's cards, I found a great website that has all kinds of

vintage Valentine's Day cards available that you can print for free! There are so many hilarious puns (wow, you'll never hear me say that again!)

from the 30's/ 40's/ 50's that are so adorable but usually harder to find, and sometimes expensive, in their original forms. I think I may give this one to A....your perfect printable vintage Valentine can be found here. I'll post some of my own Valentine's I've been working on soon!

A and B Business Cards and Tags!

There are the new "A and B" tags and business cards I've just made. I think they turned out well, if I do so humbly say so myself. I may go a little darker on the orange and possibly use baker's twine (in the lovely blue tone of the ink) instead of the white twine. But, this is the first round and I've got to say that I am loving them!

What I especially love about these tags is that they can be used for so many different things. They could also be the business cards themselves if I wanted. For the wedding we did in September (YES still have yet to blog about it!!) they used tags like these for their place seatings or escort cards. I even love the idea of using them as a rustic save-the-date too! Couldn't you just see that?

Frugal Friday, Sale at Jeremys!

The beloved Jeremys in Berkeley(on College) and the SF location are having a big sale tomorrow and Sunday, where all of their full priced clothing will be 30% off and all of their previously marked down clothing will be 60% off! If you haven't been there before, or even if you have, you should check it out, lots of new designers and name-brand favorites. They also have a men's store and shoes and home decor store a few doors down (personally my favorite!).

Ever dreamed of sleeping in a palace?? Well, now you can!

Why am I jumping for joy? Well, I'm not talking about Cinderella's castle in Disneyland (which admittedly I still think is really cool), starting this time next year you can stay at the Versailles Palace in Paris!! Right next door to the palace is the Hotel Du Grand Controle, a mansion that was built for the king's treasurer and his family, it was built in the 1680's. When everyone fled Versailles during the French Revolutionary war, this was vacated as well and it was never restored to its former glory, until now. The hotel will have 23 rooms and another big excitement is that hotel guests are rumored to gain access to the Versailles gardens which have been closed for over 300 years. Am I the only one having "Secret Garden" fantasies??

I went to Versailles for the first time last summer and it simply blew me away. There was so much to see and everywhere you looked was more impressive and breathtaking then the last. From a design standpoint it was incredible to see vintage furniture and fabrics I've seen

replicated a thousand times, all in their original forms! The lush baroque upholstery, grand

chandeliers, massive gardens, enormous beds with feather plumed corners and all!

Versailles was my favorite place in Paris (technically just outside) and the whole time I thought about whether there could be a corner I could sneak off to and hide myself in so that I wouldn't have to leave when they closed for the night.

The idea of staying in a five-star hotel right next to the Palace, or having an event there (WEDDING AT VERSAILLES???!!!!) it does truly sound like a fairy tale!