In Love...

...with this photo.
Here's what Martha says about it:

60 Outdoor Party Ideas

Bottle Beauty Hurricane

Bars and buffet tables must be adequately lighted, but they're often located far from electrical outlets. An easy, inexpensive solution is to gather clear apothecary bottles and fill them with lamp oil and wicks. Arrange the bottles under a large hurricane for protection. We set these on a sturdy glass cake stand.

Yes, please! Of course, I'm suspicious, though. Do you have clear apothecary bottles in your house? No, I didn't think so. But quick google search took me to ebottles and SKS and faster than Emeril can say BAM!-- BAM! tons of glass bottles. Same went for the lamp oil and wicks. Now, the search for giant hurricane (I'm assuming they meant hurricane "lamp" or "lantern") didn't prove as easy because that glass pieces is HUGE! I mean check out how many bottles they fit in there. BUT don't fear, several years ago my mom had foot surgery around that holiday which meant that when she needed something I had to go track it down. I was sent out of roughly 12 billion search for a mystical kind of dish called a "trifle bowl" and I believe that will do just nicely in this situation. In fact, Martha sells one at Kmart for $10. Here's a photo so you know what you're in for:
And then when you're done you can make tons of tasty desserts. Or if you're worried that people will set themselves on fire not having such high sides, there's a cool lantern on sale at Pottery Barn that you can put your bottles in.

So it's official. This is totally possible.

In other news:
I thought of couple to use for the second of the custom invites but it requires some changes to make it work so it won't be showing its pretty face just yet.

My website for my corporate design work is done. Or hopefully will be by the time you click that link. If you know of anyone in need of some contract graphic design work, you know who to point them to (me!)

And lastly, it's my husband's birthday next week so he's taken the week off and we're heading off the grid so in the meantime... here's a funny video, a trip down memory lane, some lovely photos, awesome trinkets, and lastly, coffee cup drawings.

Bonnie and Clyde

Since you're all brainstorming couple names for the upcoming reveal of the custom invitations in September, I thought I'd make it worth your while.

When I start custom invitations (or really any design work) I talk everything over with the client about what they're looking for and then I create around 3 designs as a jumping off point. Usually one will stand apart from the pack in my mind but for the most recent custom designs- I loved them all which is GREAT because now you all get 3 new designs coming your way.

First up is: Bonnie and Clyde. (Details to the right)


I know it's kind of an odd couple to go with but I was scanning through lists of famous couples and it just popped out at me.

Invitations, as they have been since the great pricing restructure of June '09, are $5 a set (set includes invitation, RSVP and 2 envelopes) which means for that same price you can get a samples of this invitation or any of the others with your lovely name and wedding information on it. This isn't available on etsy yet but feel free to email me at kristenhcox (at) gmail.com.

To add to your Oprah repitoire

We've been through picture posing before but, really, you can never really go over it too much. This time it's not my vague remembering of a friend telling me about an Oprah episode she saw once but an article by a former model handler from Elite. Oooh Aaaah.

10 Ways to Look Good in Photos

I'm sure you'll have read some of the tips before but the one that really stood out to me is #2: "Put your tongue behind your teeth and smile, which will relax your face." Let me know if it works for you but I find it hard to put my tongue behind my teeth gently. I've been practicing this in the mirror for the last day and I keep having to clench my teeth together to keep my tongue from not showing. Ok. I think this blog post has officially gotten weird.

Better luck to you with the photo tips.

Yay! Exciting!

More lovely custom invitations on their way out to the post office today! I like to wait until the RSVPs are due until posting photos of the actual invitations themselves so no one gets the drop on actual wedding guests. Buuuuut in the mean time think of couples that have a connection to trees (oak specifically) and/or good ole Southern roots. And if you want to hit the trifeca- pugs! Intriging stuff, huh?

Here's a sneak peak:

Spotted: rare weekend posting!

So I'm usually not a big fan of Guinness World Record things but this one is so adorable and very appropriate for my site. I don't want to give it away but this is the setting of the "longest whisper chain" record. It's a little over 3 minutes and you have to wait until the very end but it's worth it!