WEDDING WEEK || custom homemade cookie favours

With my 2 year wedding anniversary just around the corner - July 24th for those of you who would like to send gifts ;) - I thought I 'd take you on a lil walk down memory lane. To clarify, "wedding week" is more like "wedding couple of weeks", I have lots to share; tips, DIY's, a couple delicious recipes, oh and about 1500 pictures from our special day, JK!!! only a few fun pics, hopefully I didn't lose any of you there :) 

chowing down on street meat, I was sooo hungry: this pic makes me giggle 

I want to talk favours; I know favours have been getting a bad rep lately; they're becoming synonymous with tacky, cash sucking, junk. I totes agrees if you're ordering random trinkets online that are meaningless to you or your groom.  If you're giving a favour, which personally I think is a nice touch to thank your guests for coming, they must be meaningful. We customized ours in a way that related to our theme AND had special meaning to us.

Our favours were little brown bags, stuffed with each of our favourite cookies, homemade by our moms the day before the wedding, we included the recipes too.  For me this was the perfect combo of  cost effective, meaningful and custom.  We (and by we I mean I) customized them by hand stamping each bag and fastening them with mini chandelier buttons that I had made to fit.

DIY || personalized picture frame fillers

On any given day I have at least one, but let's be honest usually many more, DIY projects dancing around in my head. I'm constantly thinking of ways to personalize things, make them prettier, or flat out just make them altogether.

One of my best girlfriends had a milestone birthday this past weekend and as part of her gift I got her an amaze Jonathan Alder picture frame, we share the same obsession for home decor items. I didnt want to give an empty frame (I think that's bad luck isn't it?) so I thought -  hmmmm, how can I jazz this up a bit (my mother says that) -frames can sometimes be deemed as "default" gifts.

I came up with the idea to create an image that reflected this milestone, using Microsoft Power Point of all programs, yes, my computer skills are embarrassing, this is what I came up with. Cute right?

I used a digital background that I bought on Etsy, there are so many beautiful options, I spent a HOURS fawning over each and every one. I went with this yellow and white zig zag pattern and created the document. I set the background, formatted the size (in this case 4"x6") and added the message. Save, send to the 1 hour photo studio and set in the frame. That's it!

I was so excited about this idea that I got a little carried away; here's a kid friendly version for a gal pal who's expecting...

And here's one for my office, te he...

Now, if you don't have the same amazing computer skills as I do ;)  or the desire to DIY this, but like the idea of adding something to a frame to personalize it, you can always search Etsy (clearly my go-to) for lots of pretty pre-made frame fillers (well, technically these are cards, but if you find the right size there's no reason you can't pop one in). Have a peek at some fun ones I found....

 Maybe for a housewarming, engagement or graduation?

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Or for a bride-to-be at her shower, include your favourite recipe for her?

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For a new mom...

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Easy as 1,2,3. I love!

Time: 30 minutes (to format and print)

Difficulty Level: 2/10 - almost anyone with a computer can do this

Cost: $6 (not including the frame)