Happy Halloween!

Wishing everyone a Happy Halloween from G and me, the froggy doggy, and a pirate's life for lb Bentley! Have a fun & safe night!!

Drey $ Nicole

And they're off!

We bought this electric typewriter at the first shop we went to, but it didn't end up working when we got it home. We returned it and found an older one in the dreamiest mint, for a better price too!

I used an online diy generator to make, print and handcut each invitation. Printed on white stock paper.

We had a tough time finding envelopes big enough to fit our 'playbill' sized invites, so we decided to opt out on them! Instead, we simply folded them in half and held the ends together with gold seal sticker we found at a local craft store. We used a thrifted 1950's typewriter to address each name on the outside of the invitations, and added stamps that we thought tied in best with what we were going for. Once each invite reaches it's destination, it'll have a worn vintage look that'll give the guests a glimpse of what's to come at the wedding!

I had to refer to our practice sheet several times at the start of the typewriter adventures. That sweet little sentence in the middle of the page was the only thing keeping me from throwing this bulky thing out of our two story window. We had trouble replacing the ribbon and getting everything to move smoothly, and I couldn't make one single mistake (which I kept doing) because you can't simply 'erase' on a typewriter! Giancarlo gets the award for being better at this one, I'll admit it.

Note* The addresses were blurred for discretion- I wasn't THAT bad at the typewriter!

So it's official, they're off! We've dropped them in the bin and sent them out into the world with our love! The wedding milestones like this are the ones that make me all anxious and excited that it's getting so close! Keep your eyes peeled to your mailboxes this week, family & friends!

Drey $ Nicole

Meal Monday: Pumpkin Brownies

Once I saw the recipe for pumpkin brownies over on Miss Indie, I knew we had to make it. Who doesn't love pumpkin flavored anything, and the best part, it only has TWO ingredients. Mix 'em together, throw it in the oven and wah-la! You guys, you're gonna love these. The pumpkin gives the brownie a fluffy, mousey texture that makes them hard to put down. My one request would be for more of a pumpkin taste, but that's where the pumpkin spice comes in! Add a few dashes of those heavenly crumbs to the mix, and then to top to finish it off. Pair with what other than a warm pumpkin spice latte and enjoy!

Drey $ Nicole

Wedding Planning: The Fabrics

One of the very first things I did when I started my wedding planning was purchase a huge hunk of fabrics in our color combo. Fabric can be used in so many different ways, and can really add a special touch to any d.i.y. party- weddings, baby showers, birthdays, you name it. Not to mention, all of the projects are super simple and fairly quick to whip up! Yards of fabric can get a bit pricey real quick, and since we're trying to do a low cost, small shop/etsy only wedding, I just couldn't go buy without doing my research first. Luckily, I found a small independantly owned art store here in Long Beach, that has miscellaneous recycled items to craft with, for so cheap! Cents even! I got all the fabric I needed for the whole wedding, yards and yards and yards, for just fifteen bucks! It can be easy to just give up and buy the expensive stuff to get it over with, but doing your research really pays off. Literally! Plus after all, you're most likely just going to be cutting it up anyway. Here are some of the various ways I used my massive stack of fabric to decorate our vintage d.i.y. wedding. 

Use it for streamers. Simply the easiest and most effective way to decorate using fabric, is to cut it in thick strips for streamers. They add such festivity to a space, with very little effort. It can be used as an easy photobooth backdrop, or to hide unsightly wall space. Our wedding venue has huge, not so wedding appropriate murals on the walls, so we will be using lots and lots of ripped fabric to cover those, while adding color to the space. I've so enjoyed the many nights of ripping fabric with my hubby to be, with the windows open and record player on, daydreaming and talking with one another about our wedding. 

Use it for the head of table. When you have quite a lot of ripped fabric left over, don't just throw it out, get creative and put it all to use! We're both lovers of whimsy and nature, so we wanted to incorperate a little bit of that into our big day. Mister found the perfect branch while working in the yard, and we braided some of our strands onto it to add some texture.  The branch shows through just enough to add a rustic touch, without being too much for a semi-formal event. We figured it would be a perfect pop of color to give our head table some personality and life!

Use it as flower girl petals. For all those small leftover scraps, make some feux petals! Save some money at the florist and use what you've got. We have a mix of petals, bowties, and square shapped fabric. The bowties just sort of happened, being the middle part of two petal cut outs. The squares are what were left over when their just wasn't enough fabric at the end of a strip to cut another petal. The shapes and colors don't have to be identical. Just make sure you're in the same color family and you're good to go! It's those little handmade imperfections that make things so much more special.

Got any good ways to use fabric in decorating? Share in the comments below! 

See all of our decorations come together right here after our big day, November 24th!

Drey $ Nicole

We heart Target!

Target does it again! We spent five, yes FIVE hours inside of Target yesterday on our long shopping adventure. That time was taken up mostly by having fun in the sunglasses, hat, and jewelry department, playing dress up and laughing at each other. We had a ton of fun in the fitting room too, trying on the many outfits we picked out for one another. Some good, which we were excited to bring home, some not so much. We picked up a toaster oven, which we are SO THRILLED about, having been stuck with a bum oven for almost a year. Get ready for lots of baking and oven meals on our Monday posts! We each picked out a movie to add to our collection, some over the knee socks for me, dress socks for him, iphone gloves and too many pumpkin flavored goods. Well, can you even have too many? I mean...

Drey $ Nicole

Meal Monday: open faced tri-tip breakfast bagel

What you need: 1 ounce broiled tri-tip roast, 1 fried egg- sunny side up, 1 half toasted bagel with cream cheese (or spread of choice). Pair with a side of garlic mashed potatoes and serve immediately. Enjoy! 

Drey $ Nicole

Repeat Button

Remember that last photo in yesterday's post where I felt like a fairy listening to 'November Skies' by Tomas Barfod? Well here ya go! Crank this up, open your windows and put on the prettiest, flowiest, girliest dress you've got. Then I dare you not to start dancing, cleaning, smiling or all of the above. Enjoy!

I love discovering and hearing new music. If you have any recomendations or want to share some of the songs and artist you've had on repeat lately, I'd love to hear them!

Drey $ Nicole

Long Beach Livin'

My life this week via Iphone photos:

1. A cute little puppy bunny named Tx Bentley!

2. I organized my fall time clothes and it feels so refreshing.

3. Sleeping in and waking up next to this guy on his days off are the very best days.

4. Rainy day thrifty shopping with the cutest.

5. Apple pie a la mode pudding. It's a real thing.

6. Tx Bentley jumped in my arms like scooby doo when a big dog barked.

7. We love Maury here at our house. Even the pups!

8. I still can't believe I get to marry this handsome face just next month. EEk!

9. Post office run with Tx Bentley to send off some of our etsy goods.

10. A cute double date night with our sweet friends.

11. A day after getting nuetured, LB Bentley was back to his puppy self.

12. Downtown Long Beach sometimes reminds me of London, but with palm trees.

13. Tx Bentley snug as a bug in a rug with mama.

14. Wearing this dress with 'November Skies' playing in my ears makes me feel fairy-like.

Follow along on Instagram for daily life happenings!

Username: dreynicole

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Friday Finds

1 & 2. You can never have too much floral or too many plastic vintage plates. Throw them together and watch me have an excitement panic attack. 

3. I've always known that I have a love for anything ivory and/or gold, but lately it's been catching my eye everywhere and I'm even more obsessed with it than ever before. It's even inspired a recent decor change in our home!

4. Ah this beauty. I was on the hunt for a typewriter so I could finish one last step on our wedding invitations before sending them out. I really didn't care what the condition or color, I just needed to squeeze a little use out of it one time. I really got the cherry on top when I stumbled upon this powder blue beauty at the first place I looked! Now I have a pretty display when I'm all done with it!

Drey $ Nicole

Long Beach Livin'

My life this week via Iphone photos:

(More like the last couple of weeks because I'm a little behind over here!)

1. Waiting for the Mr. to get off of work with our favorite little shots! Isn't it just unfair the view he gets to walk out of work and see?!

2. I gave someone the dirtiest look for throwing something out of their car window, but felt so silly when I saw it was the paper man. Oops!

3. Gian made this basil & olive oil flatbread topped with smoked mozorella & spinach. It was delicious!

4. The annual pirate festival has started around these parts and I love the vibe.

5. I thrifted some floral lace and hung them for curtains.

6. This is 100% my absolute dream car as is. No changes. Perfection!

7. Mint window swoon. I want to do this to our home!

8. In love with this pretty cobalt tribal tile I found on a walk!

9. I finally remembered to get some polish on these toes of mine.

10. Tx Bentley loving an early morning car ride alongside the ocean.
11. Guac, smoked cheese & bacon burger at home.
12. I ran out of gas, walked home, loaded up my bike and rode to my car.
13. Had too much fun at my bestie's housewarming party!
14. Evening walks with all the boys! Love having Mr. home all afternoon now.

15. I can't believe I washed my car after 7 months! It happened.

16. Happy hour with the most handsome!

Follow along on instagram for daily updates!

Username: dreynicole

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