Getting off my duff!!! D.I.Y Projects

I've been slacking the last couple of weeks with anything wedding related. I bought tons of shells, miniature starfish, sea biscuits, more shells and the like from former DW Knotties and the packages have been trickling in. That's pretty much anything wedding related that I've done... sit on my arse and wait for the mail man. My 12 year old, Elyssa, will be going back to her dad's this Saturday, so beginning Sunday, I am going to be a mad woman with everything DIY!!!! Here are my projects:

Debating on any type of "fans" ~ do I need any fans at all? I originally thought these were a very cute idea and would like them and the could double as a "favor" that the guests could take home with them. (The picture directly on the left is from knottie AlaskanAlison) I love the palm fans and the flower she put on them. Then I got to thinking, the ceremony will be in April where it's still a little on the cool side and the ceremony will only be approximately 20 minutes tops. I saw another knottie's program/fan she's doing and really thought, "wow, these could triple as a "fan", "program", and a "favor" for guests. These were from knottie natmcb1983. How easy could this be? However, for the time being, this particular DIY project is on the back burner, but still something I may want to do.

Next on my list of DIY projects is the centerpieces for both receptions. I was inspired by so

many other knotties and their centerpieces that I kept changing my mind as to what I wanted. Finally, I decided that I wanted to do ones similar to what knottie natmcb1983 is doing for her September 2009 wedding. Various sizes of vases with sand, shells and candles. So, now that I have the shells, it's all about collecting the vases, several at a time. So, this will be an on-going DIY project until I have accumulated all of the vases I need. I'm thinking maybe 12 will be more than enough. I'll purchse the ribbon and sand soon to get that done and out of the way!

What can I really be actively doing? I need to order the MIB supplies to get them done. Those need to be mailed by late September / early October so that our guests have enough time to book their cruise before the February deadline! That'll give them 4 months. The Save the Dates all went out in June and all of the cruise information was available then.

I want to get the Welcome bags done and out of the way, but again, we're debating on the bags! Brian is all for the Trader Joe's bags. I originally wanted these too, but now, I'm not so sure. There are so many cute bags to choose from! The good thing about these are that they are re-usable and they're of the "beachy" theme. I think they're a little too big for what we need. If we were going to be putting a beach towel in them, then it would be perfect, but as of right now, we're not. We're only going to put trial sizes of things like kleenex, advil / tylenol, J&J first aid kit, sunscreen, shout wipes, hand sanitizer, crystal light packettes, various snack crackers, and the like. So, I'm still on the hunt for these. I have been picking up things here and there for the bags, so that's a start!

I would like to get both AHR invitations started, done and out of the way! I keep telling myself I have 9 months.... I have 9 months.... but these 9 months are going to fly by from what I've been told. So, I really need a big motivating factor to kick my butt in gear! : )