An Inspired Bride is a D.I.Bride

So here we are, exactly 355 days from my wedding, and I already have all of my vendors, my budget down to the nearest dollar and I have exhausted every single page on theknot.com looking for original ideas, or anything just a tad bit inspirational.

I found nothing, theknot does not strike me as a muse. The tools are great, and the message boards can be amusing - but there is no inspiration for the truly creative and unique bride. I had stopped looking at theknot for about a month when I had my idea for paper flowers.

The Paper Flower Idea came to me when I realized I didn't want to spend a ton of money on real flowers, but I wanted each chair at the outdoor ceremony to have some sort of flair. Ah-ha! I said to myself (as I often do) I could make paper flowers to attach to the programs and tissues. So I messed around with paper for a few days trying to create my very own.... it just wasn't happening. I needed help - I needed google.

I stumbled upon Elizabeth Anne Designs on my google quest to create a paper flower. What I originally searched dropped me right into this page with instructions for making a Japanese Kusudama folded paper flower. Cute, right? I then found the instructions for the accompanying rose here.

But I discovered far more than a way to make paper flowers - I had stumbled upon an entire world of people JUST LIKE ME! Crafty people, funny people, domestic divas. I am not alone, and it feels good.

All this happened just days after I had e-mailed my girlfriend who transplanted herself to Atlanta begging her to come home. "I'm all alone up here, no one else is domestic, everyone makes fun of me, I have to do everything myself..." wah, wah, waaaah.

So to say I was excited to find this crafty blogging world would be the biggest understatement ever! I hopped from one DIY blog to the next, making like 45 bookmarks in the process. A place where other people think trash is treasure (street finds, goodwill, tag sales) - a place where everyone thinks "I can do that...."

My heaven, essentially.

And then I became jealous - all of these people are paid to craft and write about it all day. I can craft, I can write, I should be paid to do these things! Alas, talent can't be found if it's hiding in a little city in Connecticut amidst unappreciative 25-year-old friends.

So then, the birth of my blog, the D.I.Bride (play on DIY, of course). Granted, I'm certainly not getting paid to do this, but I am sharing what I love in the hopes that I will someday give inspiration to other people out there just like me.