Four Seasons

As we continue to celebrate a record breaking winter in Chicago (high in the 50s this week), I wanted to share with you a little project I've been working on for the past year. When we bought our Wisconsin lake house in 2010, I set out on a mission to capture the following golf course shot during all four seasons. I went to great lengths to capture the same angle and view for each so they'd look consistent side-by-side. I love how they turned out! My favorite capture is autumn with all the beautiful colors. I kept the budget reasonable by ordering large format prints from Shutterfly, and buying the frames and custom matte boards at Hobby Lobby. My Mom and I hung the series on one of the focal walls in our living room - I love the personalized touch they add to our family get-away home.

Photos ©2012 Keg Design

Beachy Bedroom Pics

Photos ©2011 Keg Design

Bedroom Transformation

I'm so excited to share my bedroom makeover with you. As you can see, I started with a very plain space that had little personality. I think the end result is playful, inviting and fun. I love it! I'm calling it my "beach cottage" in the woods. I think I accomplished the cape cod "look" I was going for by utilizing a soft color palette, classic shapes and a traditional design aesthetic. What do you think?

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER

One of my favorite things about the transformation was the budget. Since I wasn't decorating the Taj Mahal, I did most of my shopping at T.J. Maxx, HomeGoods, Walmart and Burlington Coat Factory. I kept it under $500! Here's a quick price break down and a few more photos:

1. Gallon of Light Blue Paint $13.00 at Walmart

2. Painting Supplies $40.00 at Walmart

3. Waverly Bedding Collection $79.00 at Burlington

4. Waverly Curtain Panels $20.00 at Burlington

5. Paisley Quilt $49.00 at T.J. Maxx

6. Mirror $29.00 at HomeGoods

7. Wooden Side Tables $79.00 each at HomeGoods

8. Matching Lamps $34.00 each at HomeGoods

9. White Spray Paint (6 cans) $5 each at Walmart

10. Wooden Head Board - FREE!

TOTAL COST = $486

BEFORE

AFTER

Photos ©2011 Keg Design

Envelope Liners

My productive weekend included lining these Paper Source envelopes! The envelope liner kit from PS was very helpful and easy to use. Don't you think the green paper looks great against the purple and red envelopes? More on these when I debut Sarah and Pat's Save The Date design...

Belated Valentine

This has officially been the looongest week ever. Thank goodness it's Friday! On a happy note, I received a belated Valentine in the mail a few days ago. Thanks, Mom! It brightened up my day, and made me remember why I love snail mail so much. My Mom included the note below and had to apply some "DIY" work to the greeting card. I absolutely love the stamp, which I will be purchasing here. It would look amazing on Sarah & Pat's save the dates or invitations!

Framin' It Up

I finally got around to framing some of our favorite wedding photos for our home. I used Snapfish to print 5x7 and 8x10 prints. I bought a few new frames and also repurposed some that we had used at our wedding reception. The two-fold frame is of Luke and I when we were 4 years old - we had it displayed (amongst others) during our cocktail hour. For some reason, a lot of our favorite shots happened to be pictures of us kissing (gotta love it)! The other day one of my good friends came over to our house and so kindly stated "you have a lot of photos of yourselves in this place"...I replied... "we're newlyweds, what do you expect? if and when we have kids they'll take over our home from top to bottom!" You have to embrace your wedding photos while you can, right? 

Recap: Photo Booth Art

I'm so giddy about the new art piece hanging up in our condo - it makes me smile every time I walk by! When Luke and I decided to have a photo booth at our wedding reception, I knew I had to do something cool with the photos...albums are nice, but they get looked at once or twice and are put away never to come out again. I wanted something creative and different. I came up with the idea of having our photo booth strips placed into one, large frame in a montage-like style. I wanted it to feel organic and playful. I started to investigate doing the whole project myself, but decided it was best left to the experts. I'm glad I did, as it ended up being a 50x30 inch size piece (aka: huge)!

The contrast of the playful pictures with the ornate frame is perfect for our home. I think the black and white color of the piece also keeps it feeling sophisticated. When it arrived last weekend, we had the perfect spot in our hallway for it - I feel like we have a mini art gallery in our condo now! This project was the first time in which I used a high end framing studio to do the labor for me. I got to pick out the frame from a million options (so fun!) and decide on all the little details. The price tag wasn't very budget friendly, but I'm absolutely thrilled with the end result. I can't wait to go home tonight and take another look...

How to address dark colored envelopes?

I just finished this wedding invitation suite that utilized chocolate brown envelopes. Because of the dark color, I had to come up with a way to address the envelopes that would actually be visible (brown or black ink wasn't going to cut it!). I created these custom, wraparound labels that matched the couple's wedding logo and overall style. Each label had a different guest's address printed on it as well as the couple's return address. The labels were printed on self-adhesive paper which made application a breeze. If you're thinking of having dark envelopes (brown, black, navy) for your invitations, wraparound labels might be just what you need. Please email me at kelly@kegdesign.com if you're interested in a price quote for custom envelope labels. (Please note: addresses have been changed to protect the identity of my client.)

DIY Flowers

I'm trying to stay true to my "flower friday" postings, so I was so excited when I came across Abbie's wedding photos (and flowers!). Abbie, from A Glimpse of The Girl Next Door, took on the huge task of creating her own floral bouquets and arrangements for her wedding day. Everything she did turned out gorgeous, I'm in love with it all! For more on Abbie's floral endeavors (and dilemmas), go here.

World's Finest...

Luke and I had the World's Finest wedding favors...literally! If you're from the Chicago area, you definitely know World's Finest Chocolate. They make those amazing chocolate bars, with and without almonds, that schools and organizations sell for fundraising purposes. Luckily, my aunt and godmother, Jojo, works at WFC and donated all of the bars for our wedding. I created the scroll design for the label and had them printed in black & white to coordinate with our wedding colors. My mom and aunt glued on the damask paper pieces and tied 200+ bows! Thanks, ladies! At the end of the reception, there was not an extra favor in sight - they were definitely a huge success. Thanks again Jojo, you're the World's Finest aunt!

Unique Bridal Shower Game

Last year, my dear friend (and recent MOH) got married! Yeah! I helped plan her "Surprise" bridal shower and was in charge of the games. Trying to be different, and keeping Megan's interests in mind (SHOES!), I came up with an alternative to "Pin the Tail on the Donkey"..."Pin the Shoes on Megan"!! The game was a huge success and very easy to create. Using a full length photo of Megan, I clipped out the image in Photoshop and turned it to black and white. I had it printed on an over sized poster at Kinko's. I found colorful shoes online and printed, trimmed and adhered tape to the back of each pair. From there, I just needed a blindfold and a couple willing participants...and the fun was ready to begin!

Does anyone else have any unique shower games they've recently played?

Last Minute Projects

I think I've mentioned that my Mom is the best - she really is! She has helped me SO MUCH over the last few weeks that I couldn't have pulled everything together without her. For instance, she purchased and put together the hotel treat bags pictured above. She actually created the black & white "hang tags" (w/ message inside) out of blank note cards she found at Hobby Lobby. She also found all of the ribbon and secured the bows to the bags. I filled them with yummy goodies last night - they're off to the hotel this afternoon.

My MOH came over yesterday and helped me fold 125 programs. We also used the black & white ribbon (pictured above) to secure the programs...I love how they turned out (pictures to come after the wedding). It's amazing HOW MUCH ribbon you actually need to finish projects. Does anyone else have similar stories? Like most brides, my Mom and I have been living at Hobby Lobby, Michael's or any other craft store we can get our hands on. Ribbon, votives, apothecary jars, frames, more ribbon, bags, tissue paper, cards, more ribbon...the list goes on! 

So, only 2 more days until the wedding. I CAN'T wait! I can't believe the day is finally here!! I'm not too stressed, however Luke might argue differently. We're having more issues over the car and who's driving who when than anything else. Besides packing for the honeymoon, I'm in really great shape (need to do that today). I wanted to say thanks to everyone who has been keeping up with my blog and sending well wishes - you're all awesome! I can't wait to share all the photos and details once I'm back in a few weeks. I will definitely keep blogging well after the wedding. I'm so excited to start more projects and work on other people's invitations.

See everyone in a few weeks....Kelly.

DIY Card Holder

Bird cages seem to be all the rage these days...especially at weddings. Luckily, I have a mother who has and still occasionally collects bird cages. She had an old, yet perfectly sized, wicker bird cage from the 1980's. It started out mauve (such a 1980's color!), but with a $5 can of black spray paint and about an hour of my time, it turned into a beautiful bird cage/card holder for our wedding. I'm sure it will look even better once the florist adds some floral "flare" to it...do you have any similar DIY projects to share?