Matrimonial Musings

    Even though we are in the very, very early stages of thinking about the wedding, I still have about a million ideas running through my head…and across my Pinterest.  We won’t start doing anything concrete for several months, but I thought I might share some general ideas with you for what I’m thinking.
    First things first…definitely early summer (next summer, not this one).  I know it’ll be hot and humid (got to love that West Tennessee weather), but I feel like that will be the furthest thing from my mind.
    If I could control the weather, I would love to get married outside…but I can’t, and as a worrier/control freak, I just can’t do that to myself.  It’s just as well though; I love the church I grew up in, and there will be plenty of room for everybody there!
    Now for my theme/color scheme/inspiration…

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    Peach!  I know that peach by itself can be sort of a sickly color; that’s why I’m going with an actual peach.  There are so many colors in peaches that I feel like it’s going to make my search for flowers a little easier.  I’m thinking yellows, oranges, peachy tones – super summery.
    I know plans change, and I’m sure my thoughts will shift a little between now and then, but I really love these colors, so I feel like I’ll stick with them.
    For now, I only plan on having one bridesmaid (my sister), and I’ve gone back and forth about what color I think she should wear.  Originally, I was thinking about putting a honeydewish green with my peachy colors, but now I am really in the navy blue camp.  Navy will be a really classy complement to the peaches, and it will look really pretty on my sister!

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    I love this color (I like the dress, but since I’m just having my sister, I feel like we can look for something really fabulous)!
    I don’t have a picture for it yet, but I want the men in charcoal gray.  I fell in love with the navy blue and then briefly panicked about them wearing black (I just couldn’t have it).  I love gray, so this is a win-win.  It’s not nearly as harsh as black, and it will look so nice with the blue!
    As for the big stuff: dress, cake, flowers, I don’t have any concrete ideas yet.  All I know is that I want it to be simple and sweet.  I would never want my wedding to overshadow the fact that I’m getting married.  I’m about a billion times more excited about being a wife than planning a wedding…even though I think it’s going to be so fun!  You can follow me on Pinterest (through the link to the left or at the top of the post) if you’re wondering what other sorts of wedding thoughts pop into my head.
    I have lots of other ideas…I’ll definitely be sharing once we get a little closer and can start doing some real planning.  For now I’ll just stick to Pinterest and my bridal magazines!

Allyson

The Pitfalls of Pinterest

interest has always been so good to me.  That being said...my Pinterest inspired supper Saturday night was, as my niece would say, a "big ol, big ol" letdown. I've been pinning for awhile now, and have seen recipes for "the world's greatest macaroni and cheese" time and time again.  I'm a macaroni and cheese purist (i.e. I eat what comes out of a box...almost exclusively), but I decided to try one of these recipes for two reasons.  1. We kept my niece this weekend and she loves "mac mac."  2. We were having pork chops, and I thought they would go nicely together.  Such a disappointment.

    Because I don't think it would be particularly nice to repost the recipe in its entirety, I'll just leave you with some giveaway clues so you know which it is...you'll recognize it.

    I know it's not the greatest picture...but the macaroni itself didn't look all that bad after we made it.  It had such a promising start too.  The pasta is cooked in milk, which is supposed to make it super creamy...ours was just kind of gluey.  The cheese sauce uses cheddar cheese (which I love).  Not bad, so far...right?   Wait.
    The "secret" ingredient to this...masterpiece is dijon mustard.  I know, it does sound crazy, and you're probably all laughing at me, but I thought it might be one of those "just crazy enough to work things."  It really wasn't.  The macaroni didn't turn out awful (I surely ate two helpings...), but it just didn't make a lot of sense to me.  The dijon didn't do a thing for the flavor.  It just made it taste kind of mustardy. 
    Della loves "fork chops and mac mac," but even she took two bites of this stuff and promptly told us, "I don't like that."  Out of the mouths of babes I guess.  I tried all night to figure out what was wrong with this recipe (other than the obvious), and I could only come up with one thing.  In the recipe's defense, you were supposed to use skim milk.  We used whole because it's what we had.  That would probably have made the final product slightly less gluey, but it couldn't have done much for the taste. 
    At least the pork chops were good.
    Well, you live and learn I guess.  None of us got sick, so I guess I can live with not so great taste.  I almost didn't post this...but then I figured that blogs are about honesty, and this is what honestly (and pitifully) happened. 
    Go ahead and laugh...we sure did. 
    In other news be sure to come by next Sunday for the next installment of Sweet Southern Sundays!  I'm so enjoying sharing with all of you.
    Have you ever had just a devastating recipe failure or a Pinterest letdown?  Comment below so we all know that we aren't alone.

Better luck than I had,
Allyson

Sewing, Scarves...and Santa?

  finally did it! Pinterest is no longer solely a time-waster; I made something I pinned!

This little thing is SO popular on Pinterest, and I jumped right on the loving it bandwagon.

Like everyone else I was devastated to find out that the link is to a German website where you can buy it...not as much fun. It didn't take long to find some people who had this same problem.

Megan over at Making Lemonade has a great tutorial that I used to make my very own (...and one for my mother of course).

I made a red and gray one too, and I love it! I would have written my own tutorial...but you don't really want to be along for that ride. My only suggestion is that it can be a little difficult to cut the t-shirts, so I cut the sleeves and neck/shoulders off completely so that they were in rectangles. I think the next time I make one, I'll probably just buy some fabric. That way I can have perfect rectangles, and the scarf will be a little longer...but I still love mine!

I feel accomplished. Now I can tell people that I actually made something I pinned. I'm planning on doing way more because...........it's almost CHRISTMAS! I have a lot planned for Christmas - crafty and otherwise. In a few weeks, my sister and I are going to see White Christmas at the Orpheum! I am so excited...after that it's onto Thanksgiving, decorating, gift-giving, and whatever else Christmas brings our way!

I'll keep you posted...promise!

School, Crafting, and Pinterest

chool started a few weeks ago, and even though I don't stay too busy...I still find it really hard to do cutesy, crafty things.  I have all of these great ideas bouncing around in my head, and the few times I try to accomplish something...huge disaster. 
  I'm not sure if I told you or not, but I have this adorable orange and white polka dotted fabric that I was going to use to make a Tennessee Vols shirt for my niece.  I cut out a big Power T and started sewing it onto a plain long sleeve black t-shirt.  I had no sooner started than my sewing machine ATE the fabric...  Seriously.  I had to take apart part of the machine just so that I could yank the shirt and the huge thread ball out of the mechanism.  Annoyed but determined, I found another shirt, cut out another T, and started again.   I got no further on this one than the machine ate ANOTHER shirt! 
  I still haven't tried again. 
  Maybe in a few weeks when I'm less annoyed.  My machine has only done that once!  Twice in a row?  Ridiculous. 
  Also on the agenda...a yarn wreath, a scarf, and that quilt that I've been working on forever.
  In brighter (although no more productive) news - I'm on Pinterest. Follow me!

Pre-Beach Craftiness

So we just got back from the beach…it was incredible.

I was on an extreme craft kick right before we left.  In addition to the bazillion bows, I made the perfect “riding to the beach” outfit for Della.  Of course it was outrageously simple like all of the other things I make, but I’ve never thought that took away from the cute-ness.

No more waiting…I can’t wait to show you!

Adorable right?! Just wait!

I love rickrack!  Still not totally done though!

Matching bow! 

I think this is my favorite thing I have made so far!

So, not only did Della look adorable in her shirt, but she absolutely LOVED the beach!

I know this wasn’t the most literarily satisfying blog…but that last picture makes up for it in spades!

I hope you all had a spectacular summer.  Get ready for some serious fall crafting!

       Also, I’m on Pinterest now – follow me “Allyson Butler”

Bow Frenzy

This week has been a veritable frenzy of bow making!  After a friend from work asked for a couple of bows for her niece, my aunt asked a few days later for bows for my cousin! I already had one planned for my niece...that makes seven.


Two for my friend's niece! (Side note: I LOVE Fall...making these made me so ready for it!)




One, two, three, four for my cousin!  She can only wear orange, black, and white to school...hence the color theme.

One more for Della.  It matches this adorable outfit with a flamingo on it...perfect for the beach!
So...seven bows in two days...not too shabby if I do say so myself.  I LOVE hair bows...probably more than anyone should, so of course I relish any chance to make some.  On that note, be expecting another post very, very soon about another something adorable that I made for Della...it includes a hair bow!
Aside from that, you can be expecting some musings about fabric, ideas, Pinterest, school, and the beach!
I have two more weeks of summer, and I am NOT going to waste them!  Of course, I won't be wasting the school year either...lots more to come!