This photo was taken by a fabulous wedding photographer {Miss Jessica Claire}, but I’m really featuring it because I can’t get enough of that lace dress with the peachy-pink sash. Too, too gorgeous.

Have a lovely weekend, all! I’m off to celebrate a friend’s birthday in the wilds of New York. Let’s meet back here next week for a dreamy inspiration board, a Valentine’s Day DIY, and a vintage wedding. Deal?

…note set. You already know I love ruffles, so it shouldn’t be too surprising I found these oh-so-pretty cards impossible to pass by. The set (6 notes and 6 craft envelopes) comes neatly packaged and is available at The Paper Apartment’s Etsy store for $14.

I’m a longtime fan of both Twigs & Honey and Muscari, so to help fulfill goal no. 23, I decided to try my hand at making hair flowers inspired by their beautiful creations. I was pleasantly surprised by how easy and inexpensive this project turned out to be, and would encourage anyone who’s interested to make an attempt. I would suggest, however, that if you plan to order special, more expensive supplies, that you also plan to make more than one flower, which will help spread the cost around.

Here’s how I did it:

1. Assemble supplies. I bought two stalks of ranunculus from Michael’s, one orange variegated and one red. With a coupon, the total for both was approximately $5. I also bought small-eye guinea hen feathers from Matoska Trading Company for approximately $10 with shipping (and had so. many. feathers. left over). I added fabric glue, newspaper, faux pearls from a broken necklace, and bobby pins to the pile of supplies you see below.

2. Disassemble flowerheads. There’s no particular trick to this, just pull off the back (it might take some tugging) then peel the flower apart layer by layer. The hard, green plastic parts can be discarded.

3. Create new flowers. Again, there’s no rhyme or reason to this step, just play with the petals until you’ve got a design that’s pleasing to you. For my flowers, I used three layers of orange petals and then two layers of red, making sure to offset the layers to add fullness and dimension. When you’re set on a style, glue the petals together one layer at a time, starting from the back. A dab of glue on each petal in the layer worked for me. Make sure to set the glue in each layer before moving on to the next (about 30 seconds of squeezing), and to work on newspaper or a similar surface.

4. Add embellishments. Here’s where you can really get creative! I used guinea hen feathers and some faux pearls as accents, but fabric leaves, dried herbs and flowers, lace, beads, or anything else pretty would work just as well, depending on what look you’re going for. Glue these to the new flowerhead with your fabric glue, as well.

5. Add an attachment. Once your flower is finished and has dried completely, glue an alligator clip, a bobby pin, or a flat safety pin (brooch pin) to the back. I chose to let my friends select their backing, and most picked a bobby pin.

That’s it! Once you’re finished, you will have transformed your ugly, plasticky Michael’s flower…

into this!

Let me know if you have any more questions, and I’ll try to help!

These engagement photos have got it all: intrigue, romance, and a lovely timeless quality. I adore the vintage suitcases, her purse, her shoes, her scarf {really, her entire outfit}, and – of course – the location. Seriously, how cool is this?

All of these beauties were taken by the talented Dustin Todd. See his site here and blog here.