DIY Dollar Dance Bag

It seems that in the wedding world the subject of the "Dollar Dance" can be rather controversial....who knew?

I found this out on The Knot forums

While 70% of the time that website gave you useful tips, ideas, projects, and over all support.....the other 30% was wack-a-doodle-doo!

Them bitches be all cray cray!

I get that it's a forum full of women, and women tend to be catty over the top crazy hoes anyway......but something about the anonymity of internet seemed to give these ladies the freedom to let their inner crazy run wild.....especially over 2 subjects.  The first being cash vs. open bar and the second being the dollar dance

I get it.  The dollar dance isn't for everyone.  It's just flat out not some peoples style....but I just didn't get how these ladies seemed to feel the need to jump allllll over the girls that said they were doing it telling them they were trashy, tacky, classless, and money grubbing.  

They would said 'How DARE you ask your guests for money??"

Hindsight I would have LOVED to have just simply posted this to them in reply

Word to your dog.

I say....you don't like it....don't do it.  And if you don't like it and happen to attend a wedding that does hold a dollar dance....keep your mouth shut.  Nobody says you have to participate.  And after all...it's not like it's THE ONE AND ONLY opportunity you'll have all night to dance with the bride and groom.

So untwist your panties and get over it.  (I'm stepping off my soap box now)  Funny how a year and a half later it still bothers me that people are such crazies!!

Me on the other hand....I wanted one.  Not only because it's tradition in my husbands family but also just because I think it's fun.  Our families have alot of "dancers" so we knew they would have fun with it.....and the added perk of a few bucks towards the honeymoon doesn't hurt either

Because after all...............

I knew I wanted a cute bag to hold the money in.  I didn't want a fancy shmancy satin bag like I kept seeing all over the place....and then it hit me!

I wanted it to look like a bank robbers bag!  Big dollar sign and all!

So I bought one of ebay for $1.99 (free shipping)

Looked like this one here

And carefully hand painted over the dollar sign with Mod Podge and glittered it pink to match my colors

It was quite handy!

And the dances were fun

And nobody got pissed that we DEMANDED money out of them ;)

"I Do" Wedding Heels

Volume II of customizing my wedding heels:

I had seen these cool "I Do" stickers to put on the bottom of your shoes on the internet...like this one

But I knew I could make it myself in exactly the font and size I would want......so here's all I did

I lightly drew on the bottom of my shoe in pencil how I wanted the letters.  I found a font I liked and duplicated it

And glued on rhinstones one by one over the lines I drew

I used the glue that comes in my mothers packs of fake nails..bahahaha.  But hey..... it worked perfect!  The glue is super strong and the bottle is the perfect size for squeezing on such a small amount for a rhinestone

It went alot faster then I thought it would....a really easy project

And you could make them say whatever the hell you want

DIY Glitter Heels

I'm the type of person who once I get an idea in my head it's nearly impossible to get me to do anything else

So add in the madness that comes with the territory of being a bride.....and you have yourself a stubborn situation

I had long dreamed of having the perfectly pink glittery peep toe heels for my wedding day.  I searched EVERYWHERE for these damn shoes

Every single store in the mall. over outlet, every discount store, and every single store online.....with no luck

The choices were slim at best but the few I did find always looked too purple to me.  The one online store that I did find that had the PERFECT color was sold out.  I even emailed the company asking if they would be getting them anytime soon.....they said no

I had to take drastic measure....I had to make them myself!

Keep in mind people that this was back in early summer of 2010.....this was probably my second wedding project EVER after getting engaged  (the first project was our Cardbox)  

Now ladies.....I know this is practically impossible to imagine....but this project was done back in The Dark Ages....ya know.....before The Enlightenment (ie..Pinterest) Back in the day when you had to come up with dinner on your own and you bought magazines for home decorating inspiration (does anyone buy those anymore??)

Before people glittered everything from animal toys

to walls

 Needless to say, I felt like I was breaking ground over here by glittering them myself....now you can't scroll down half a page without seeing somebody's project whose done it

I bought a pair of heels that seemed perfect in every way...height....(I wanted high so I wouldn't have to hem)  perfect peep....and only $20 on ebay....just not shimmery

(Prepare yourself for some seriously old, seriously bad flash photography ladies and gents)

Here they are with the heel taped off right before I started

Ignore the fact that it's tacky glue in this picture....because I quickly realized Mod Podge is better and switched to that....but this picture shows you how I worked

Painted on the Mod Podge, then sprinkled on the glitter and moved my way around the shoe

After the whole shoes was covered, I did another light coat again and let it dry.  And lastly gave the whole shoe a coat in just the glue to seal it all in really well

Ta dah!  It worked out really good.  They held up well and I've even worn them twice since the wedding without any problems

I like this picture because it looks like Kinsey is getting seriously annoyed with me...something about the body langauge of the hand looking like she wants to smack the shit outta me.......

While I was at it I glittered some plain white shoes for the flower girls to match me

And some headbands for them

I wish I could have spent my morning coloring....coloring does a body good...like milk

 It's just sooo relaxing

Even though I just explained a project you've seen about 409,673 times on Pinterest.....I hope it still inspires you!

Dying Your Crinoline

Crinoline, pettiocoat, slip, under your dress thingamabob....whatever you want to call it....you should dye it

Why?

Cuz it looks awesome and I say so

You already have a blindingly white dress.....why not break it up by giving people a little peep of color while you do the cha cha slide

I got mine for $Free.99 when I bought my dress.....right in my price range

I just followed the RIT dye instructions

I didn't do a good job of periodically untwisting it while it was in the washer...so it has a slight ombre effect.  This was back in 2010 before the fad.....I was way ahead of my time.....just sayin

This one little detail makes for some epically awesome pictures

And here it is just BARELY peeking out in this picture of us coming down the stairs before our formal pictures

This is the picture that my sister Bree says we all look like a bunch of newborn deer walking for the first time hahaha...shaky legs and all

High heels, flowers, steep stairs, dresses, breathing, and directing children is alot to handle all at once

And this one....

Bow chicka wow wow

This is a really cheap, quick, and easy project that makes a big difference

Now go to Wally World and buy some RIT.......go....shooo!

It's that time of year!!

Wedding season is quickly approaching!

So that means it's time for Wedding Week here at The Busy Broad

See how pumped everyone is for it?!?

Even the guys can't contain themselves......

Settle down boys....you have plenty of time to immerse yourself in all things wedding

A few key things to remember about the upcoming posts

*My wedding was November 3, 2011.....just over a year ago

*And we were engaged for a year and a half

         Which means some of these projects I did as far back as.....umm...... a long time ago?

Back then I didn't do much documentation.....I wasn't Miss Blogarama back then

Actually....I'm still not.  I'm pretty lame next to those fancy blogger moms...apparently you need human spawn to be a good blogger....I guess my cat doesn't count.....but I digress

I didn't do many step by step tutorial pictures....and the few pictures I did take were real bad and flashy.....and not the good kind of flashy like boobs or diamonds and glitter......like blind you with the wash out of light kind

So please.....bear with me.  What these posts lack in good detailed pictures I promise they will make up for it with good ideas!

I can't wait to get started!

Come back tomorrow for the first post of many

Sausage, Cabbage, & Leek Soup

Prepare yourself for some of the yummiest soup of allllll time!

Surrrously.....it's one of my all time favorites

You need.....

1# italian sausage (I use hot), carrots, a small head of cabbage,  onion, leeks, 14 can diced tomatoes (not pictured) garlic, and chicken broth

Shred your cabbage, dice the onion and carrots. and slice your leeks in half and then into half moons

Never used leeks before?  Lemme show you how to clean them

The top parts of the leeks are tough, so cut of all the really dark green parts, leaving the light green and white

Then slice the leek lengthwise down the middle...you'll see that the leek is made up of many layers....which tend to be full of dirt

So slice across into half moons and put them into a bowl full off cold water and swish them around.  The dirt should rinse off and fall to the bottom of the bowl.  Just scoop all the leeks off the top and set on paper towel to drain a bit of the water off

Begin by browning and breaking up your sausage, then add your carrots, onion, leeks, and cabbage. Saute until partially cooked and the cabbage begins to wilt down a bit

Add garlic and season with salt and pepper.  Pour in diced tomatoes and broth and let simmer

You could most certainly eat it right away and it would be amazing......but I actually always purposely make it a day ahead.  

There's something about letting it cool down and sit all together overnight and reheating it that makes it EXTRA delicious!

I've passed this recipe onto quite a few people and some of them have done it in the crock pot with great success.  I myself have never done it this way but if you're a crock pot enthusiast give it a go! 

Sausage Cabbage & Leek Soup

1 # Italian sausage

1 leek, sliced

1 small head of cabbage, shredded

2 carrots peeled and sliced in half moons

4 cloves garlic

14 oz can diced tomatoes

6-8 cups chicken broth

Salt & pepper

Cook sausage.  Add carrots, onion, leeks, and cabbage and cook partially until the cabbage begins to wilt.  Add garlic and seasonings.  If not using hot italian sausage but you desire heat, add some red pepper  flakes.  Add tomotoes and 6-8 cups of broth, depending on how much cabbage and veggies you have.  You want enough to cover.  Let simmer

*Tastes even better if made a day ahead to develop flavors

DIY Disney Ornamnets

I am a self proclaimed ornament whore

I love them....can't get enough of them....I start buying them in July....I'm a freak

Whenever we go to Disneyland we always buy one ornament

I wish I could buy dozens but the goods ones range anywhere from $12-$18 a pop....so that could add up rather quickly

And I'm cheap as Fuuuuu@$ so that's a no go

But I have a money saving alternative for ya!

I like to buy all the cute antenna toppers they have and make them into things.  In THIS POST you can see how I turned them into refrigerator magnets

Well, I found this badass Mickey Gingerbread one and instantly knew he had to be made into an ornament

I just hot glued some ribbon to the sides

 Then I came across this cool Perry and decided to make it for my nieces since they LOVE him

(In fact my niece had a Phineas and Ferb party....you can see all sorts of Perry posts like THIS Perry gift wrap and this Perry cake )

For this one I used a needle and thread and threaded straight through the brim of the hat...easy peasy!

Our last ornament comes courtesy of my inlaws.  They went to Disneyland for Christmas and one of the gifts they brought back was this cute classic Minnie key chain

This was an super easy one because I just changed out the chain for some ribbon

The even cooler thing is that she's bendable so you can pose her however you want! Pretty awesome!

When you stop and think about how these key chains and antenna toppers only cost a few dollars you realize you can make like 5 ornaments for the cost of one!

That's a cheap ass Disney lovers dream!

Well...sadly this post concludes Disney week....but don't worry, I'm sure I'll have more soon

Here's a few links to Disney themed posts from a while back that weren't a part of this weeks round up

Like this DIY Disney Autograph Book 

And this Disney Vacation Countdown