Wedding Emergency Kit

I was lucky enough to be Jen's Maid of Honor at her wedding a few years ago. Wanting to be the best sister ever, I tried to make the biggest baddest wedding emergency kit anyone had ever seen. As my friends have gotten married over the years, the emergency kit has been downsized and upgraded and tweaked, but always manages to save the day. This is the version I brought to Hillary's wedding. 

Contents:

• Clinical strength deodorant
• Nail polish remover
• Clear nail polish
• Ponchos
• Hair spray
• Hand sanitizer
• Flashlight
• Make up remover pads
• Water bottle
• Toothbrush
• Toothpaste
• Dental floss
• Q-tips
• Safety pins
• Sewing kit
• Extra needles
• Scissors
• Earring backs
• Hair ties
• Bobby pins 
• Cotton rounds
• Alcohol pads
• Coban wrap
• First aid kit
• Triple antibiotic ointment
• Waterproof tape
• Fabric tape
• Advil
• NyQuil and DayQuil
• Tylenol
• Pepto Bismol
• Tums
• Cough drops 
• Chapstick 
• White chalk
• Hair brush
• Compact mirror
• Tissues
• Kleenex moist wipes
• Oil blotting sheets
• Tide-to-go pen
• Redness relief eye drops
• Contact solution 
• Tampons
• Pads
• Plastic bag
• Nylons (to remove deodorant stains)
• Tweezers
• Nail clippers 
• Nail file
• Mints
• Lint roller 
• Batteries
• Lotion
• Crackers
• Granola bar

The wedding took place during a major rain and wind storm (50 mph gusts) at an outdoor venue that lost power. Items used the most: tissues, Kleenex moist wipes, mints, first aid kit, Tide-to-go pen, deodorant, bobby pins, and hair spray. 

Next time, I'll improve my kit with drinking straws (to prevent ruining make-up), more hair spray, a variety of bobby pin colors, a crochet cook to make bustling the dress easier, and a larger flashlight. 

Courthouse Steps Baby Quilt

I'm so happy to have a quilt to show you! It's been awhile. This was a fun one to get out of my brain and stitched together.

I picked the giant courthouse steps block for a dear friend of mine from law school, who had a baby boy in May. 

After making a messy little sketch, I spent a few minutes pulling solids from my stash and started cutting and piecing strips. The whole quilt top came together in just a few hours.  

I backed it in an incredibly soft print that I'd been holding on to  for a few years. 

I love the relatively quick gratification that comes from making a baby quilt! It feels good to be sending this one off to its forever home this week. 

Bachelorette Party Gift Bag

It's been the summer of wedding festivities! Here's a gift bag I made for the lingerie Bachelorette Party. I'd already seen the bride make one of these fun bags for another friend's party, so I wanted her to have something different.

My Silhouette Cameo came through yet again! I also used an extra large hot pink gift bag from Hallmark, black ribbon, and my 1/8 inch hole punch.

Next time I'll share my wedding emergency kit essentials.

Concord Grapes Recipe Roundup

In my yard, autumn means Concord grape season. During the 90's, one of the previous owners of our home planted a large grape arbor  in our backyard. It was so exciting to wait for the grapes to ripen during our first summer in our house. As soon as the grapes seemed full-sized, I would pluck one and taste it weekly. The first few were unbearably sour, as the grapes were still green and I was unaware that they would soon turn a deep purple. 

As soon as those grapes ripened to purple, they were unmistakably Concords. That first year, I had no clue what to do with  my bounty of grapes. I made a big batch of pickled grapes for cheese plates. The pickled grapes were good, but there were pounds and pounds left over. Luckily I got smart after that first season and started cooking my grapes down, which dramatically intensifies their "grapey" flavor. 

In the past few years I've made many quarts of grape juice, pints of grape jelly, and even grape fruit roll-ups and grape sorbet. Concord grape season came early this year due to Portland's hot and dry summer. I'm always on the lookout for interesting Concord grape recipes, and I thought I'd share some of the best looking recipes I've collected with you. 

Let's start with the basics. You can't go wrong with Concord grape jelly.
You can make the jelly without added sugar, too. 
Once you make your jelly, you can easily turn it into fruit roll ups!
Cocktail, anyone? How about a Concord Grape Aviation or a Cardamaro Concord Cocktail?
Or you can always stick with grape soda or a Concord Grape Shrub.
Don't waste your grape leaves, pickle them and make dolmas!  
How about Concord grape syrup for your pancakes? 
And don't forget dessert. It's so hard to choose between Concord Grape Popsicles, Concord Grape Sherbet, Concord Grape Sorbet, Concord Grape Tartlets, Concord Grape Sauce, and Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Concord Grape Coulis. 

What do you like to make with Concord grapes? 

Bridal Shower Favors

I'm back this week with my last Bridal Shower post to conclude our series of Bridal Shower projects. In the last few weeks we've covered the invitations, games, decorations, and finally the favors. For past Bridal and Baby Showers thrown by our family, we've given away cookies and bath salts as a thank you to guests for attending. With so many other projects in the works, I opted for a low maintenance option I could make well ahead of time that wouldn't spoil. I ordered affordable miniature champagne bottles from Total Wine online, and picked up my order within 48 hours. I had one 10 year old guest and ordered a miniature bottle of sparkling cider for her.

To save time I purchased tags from Joann's, glued on black rectangles, and embellished them with heart stickers. I wanted to individualize the favors with each guests' name, but ran out of time. 

I attached the tag to each favor with the pink baker's twine I used on the invitations.

Next time I'll share one of my creations for the Bachelorette Party!