Pinterest Potluck Pool Party

This isn't necessarily a craft, but I wanted to share how I asked my bridesmaids because I want to go to more of these parties! I came up with the idea of having a Pinterest potluck pool party. Where each person would pick a recipe they had never made before off Pinterest and make it for the party. The catch is, you have to bring the dish whether it turned out or not. Luckily all of our recipes were super delicious! I made this little design using the Pinterest logo and a font I found on dafont.com.

Here are some of the items we had:

I had just invited everyone to the get together, but I'm not exactly good with surprises so some people guessed what was up. I had placed all the bridesmaid tanks I had made in gift bags with each girl's name on it. I also had a red velvet cake made asking them to be my bridesmaids set up in the other room!

Bridesmaid Shirts

I absolutely love all the pictures of bridesmaids and the bride in coordinating tops or robes! Since I am planning on doing hair and makeup at a different location from the wedding site, robes were a no-go. I am also getting married in Phoenix, AZ in May, so it's hot, really hot. Therefore, tank tops were my solution!

What you need:
1. Racerback Tank tops (2 colors- 1 bride, # Bridesmaids) (I got mine from Forever 21 for 2 for $10)
2. Fabric for the bows for bridesmaid tanks
3. Fabric for the bride bow
4. Iron-on decals
5. Iron
6. Ironing board
6. Sewing machine (thread, etc.) or Sewing needle and thread.

I started off making the bows and kept the shirts aside so I didn't mess them up. I learned how to make the bows from this youtube video. The video is only 4 minutes, so just watch it instead of me summarizing. The sound is a little loud when you click on it so just put your volume a little lower. Also, she uses excess fabric from her tanks, we're using separate fabric, so just ignore that part of the video. Here are all of my bows made, it got a little messy while I was making them. Also, a lesson I learned is to not use special occasion fabric. If you can find a jersey type material that would be easiest. The special occasion fabric I used was very delicate and frustrating for a novice sewer.

Next step, iron on those decals! I purchased my decals at Joann's and Hobby Lobby (here's the one I used). If you check their websites they always have coupons for 40-50% off an item. Just a warning, they only stock 3-4 at a time so if you need more, it requires more than one trip. I made a few trips because I only bought them with the coupons so I never paid more than 60% of the retail price. All you need to do is iron them on the shirt! I tried to measure I believe and inch and a half from the neckline, but I kind of winged it. Everyone has different body types so there's no way it would lay on the same spot even if I did do it perfectly.

Then you sew on the bows to the back of the shirt! Which means back to the youtube video. The first one was a little confusing, but then you get the hang of it. I'll explain this one because it took me a couple viewings to understand. (1) Place the bow on the inside part of the shirt (by the tag), (2) take the arms from the strip and put them together around the back of the tank (The seam of the tube should be on the outside (touching your fingers)), (3) sew as closely to the tank as you can without catching the tank across the arms (it is making it into a little ring/loop), (4) cut off the extra tube past your seam, (5) flip the new tube so the seam is against the tank so you can't see it, (5) slide the bow around to the outside of the tank, (6) straighten the bow and you're good to go!

Here are the tanks I made:

And one of my lovely bridesmaids modeling her's:

 

Getting ready shot day of the wedding

Why I'm making this DIY Blog

I've decided to start posting all the DIY items I made for my  wedding (5.24.14) so those of you who are crafty and want to learn how I made things can learn how to and so I can remember myself. I am at a pretty beginner level of crafting and barely know the basics of how to sew, so none of these projects are very difficult. I got the ideas for all of the crafts on here from other things I've seen browsing the internet that I decided to make my own.

I will break down my crafts into their own separate post to keep it organized, so you may see a few posts in a day and then there may be a stretch without some.

Disclaimer: All of my pictures are taken with an iphone so they're not high quality. I will add pictures from the big day to update them and let you all know how it worked out! Additionally, if you use anything I've made on here please give me credit :)

Just a little bit about myself to explain why I am doing all of these crafts is that I am busy, but also on a budget. I am currently in law school while planning my wedding which imposes a pretty big budget restraint on what I can pay for. I am trying to DIY as much as I can to keep costs down for my parents and my fiance's parents who are graciously paying for the wedding. Also, I am a bit type-A and like things to be how I like them to be, so crafting gave me a lot more control in the process.

If you're super interested in what I was doing over the year and a half that I was planning here's a little blog feature I was in at school.