DIY S'mores Kit Favors

Hi everyone! The last few weeks have been pretty tough on me but I'm ready to get back to blogging now. As some of you know, I'm getting married soon ... 43 days away to be exact or December 28th for those of you that don't like math, like me. When my fiance & I got engaged, we decided we wanted to DIY pretty much everything. We couldn't see spending $27k (national average) on a wedding but it was also because we love to DIY whenever possible, so favors were no exception. We tossed around many ideas but ultimately decided on s'mores. Originally we wanted to do a s'mores bar but our venue is against open flames so we decided on individually packaged kits that our guests could bring home. S'mores are classic American treats loved by everyone and we also thought it tied in with our winter wedding. Most everyone we know loves to light a bonfire and gather around with friends and family during the winter. We made 120 s'mores favors for around $40. That is almost unheard of, right? And they were very super easy to put together. 

WHAT WE USED:
(4) Wilton Cellophane Treat Bags 25pk - $8
(3) 5-Yd rolls of 1/4" ribbon - $3
(3) Boxes Honey Graham Crackers - $6.50
(20) Hershey Fun size bars 6pk - $20
(4) Bags of Large Marshmallows - $4

HOW TO:
1) Break a graham cracker sheet in half and put it in a treat bag. 
2) Add 1 hershey bar and 1 large marshmallow. 
3) Tie the bag shut with ribbon and trim most of the excess treat bag off. I left about 1 1/2" above where I tied.

My fiance and I were able to complete this project in just a couple hours and it was well worth the time to save so much money. It was also pretty fun to assemble these.

Happy DIYing!
~Taylor

The Reason for my Absence

Hi everyone, I wanted to give a quick update on why I haven't been around in the past week. Some of you are friends with me on my facebook account so you already know but for those who don't, my mother passed away on Tuesday. It was extremely unexpected and sudden and we (my family & I) are completely devastated over it. She had just turned 47 the day before Halloween so she was very young and we expected to have so much more time with her. I didn't grow up with her and up until nearly 6 years ago, I lived 500+ miles away from her. Moving close to her was so exciting and I truly cherish what very little time I had with her. I have many regrets when it comes to things I should have said, shouldn't have said, should have done, etc. so this is incredibly difficult. I just need to take some time away from blogging and eliminate as much stress as possible to grieve and learn how to cope with this. I'm sure all of you understand, just wanted to fill everyone in.

I'm not entirely sure on exactly when I'll be back but I hope it will be no longer then a couple weeks from now. I enjoy blogging, have many projects planned after my wedding, and I'm incredibly grateful for the success I've had thus far. Thank you all for reading my posts, pinning, sharing, etc. It's all so appreciated. 

~Taylor

Favorite Five Friday: DIY Christmas Decor

With Halloween over and Thanksgiving only right around the corner, now is the perfect time to start planning Christmas decor. One of my many favorite things about Christmas is definitely all the decorations but it can easily get expensive. Luckily, this is the age of DIY so I'm sharing my favorite five DIY Christmas decor projects.

{Photo credit: Done Over Decor - Blog no longer exists}

1) I'm a sucker for no-sew anything so this no-sew ruffle tree skirt is on my to-do list this year. I can't find the tutorial that goes with the picture shown but I managed to find someone else who made their own. Click HERE to view the tutorial. 

{Photo Credit: MopHeads}

2) I remember the days of boring, plain wreaths and I wasn't really a fan but I'm loving all these over the top wreaths now. The one pictured is no exception. You can buy them but I think its way more fun to make them personally. There are tutorials everywhere but they are pretty simple to make even without. 

{{Tutorial + Credit}

3) This is crazy easy yet super cute and cheap to make. You could also make these to spell out a word and hang on the wall. 

{Credit}

4) This is just too cute and again, very simple! You can find lanterns like this anywhere and with a quick paint job (if needed), some extra ornaments, and a scrap of ribbon you can make this.

{Credit}

5) I LOVE this for families that have small children. Picture yourself as a child and imagine how cool it'd be to have your fridge be a snowman during Christmas time. Maybe its just me but I think that'd be pretty awesome. This is super cheap to do and I bet all kiddos would love it. 

So now that I've covered my favorite five DIY Christmas decor projects, I'd like to hear what your favorite are. Share in the comments below. 

~Taylor