{Holiday 2013} reindeer cheer cards

 

 

I didn't make Christmas cards for our family & friends this year.  In fact, I couldn't even get it together to send boxed or printed Christmas cards & I ordered New Year's cards instead.  But I digress.  Happily, I did get to flex my creative muscles this holiday season!

Back in November, I committed to the Brooklyn Bride Annual Holiday Card Swap for the third year in a row.  I couldn't let down the creative ladies on my list.  I hauled out my natural card stock, various stamps & ink pads, & whipped up the snowy scene above.  You can't tell in the photo but the sweet reindeer is embossed in a sparkly gold for an extra special touch.  All in all, I was happy with my festive, wintery creation!

& that, my Koru family & friends, is a wrap for Koru Wedding in 2013.  It's high time for a holiday break!  After sneaking in a holiday wish or two, I'll be back on January 2 with regular blogging.  On behalf of Koru Wedding, I wish you & yours a Merry Christmas! 

Photo: Koru Wedding on Instagram

{Easter} bunny tails crafting

Easter has come & gone!  I happen to adore the celebration of hope & new beginnings.  So much so that we celebrated all weekend long!  We started on Friday with an informal celebration with my sister & brother-in-law & ended on Sunday with an official celebration with my husband's family.  We are so very lucky & blessed to share our lives with such incredible, loving people.

Like most holidays, I made Easter cards for our friends & family.  I picked a pastel palette, then created a Happy Easter banner above a bunny with a contrasting tail.  I called it a bunny tail card, my friend dubbed it a bunny butt card.  Whatever works!  

My lovely friend Jen of Jen Kim Made snapped the sweet photo above of my Easter card I sent to her.  Since I didn't have time to style & capture my Easter cards, I really appreciate the photo.  Big thanks to her!   

I hope your weekend was full of close family & good friends & happy celebrations!

  

{St. Patrick's Day} chevron-style crafting

St. Patrick's Day has come & gone!  I enjoyed our annual St. Patrick's Day festivities of corned beef & cabbage dinner made & hosted by my sister & brother-in-law.  So yummy & such fun!

Just like we have corned beef & cabbage every year, I always make St. Patrick's Day cards for my family.  Traditions, traditions!  This year, I picked a simple, stylish chevron shamrock design on kraft paper card stock.  It was so simple to make using my Silhouette Portrait machine!  I picked paper in two shades of green & the Silhouette cut each into solid shamrocks & chevron shamrocks.  With a base of a solid shamrock in one shade of green layered with a chevron shamrock in another shade of green, I quickly & easily crafted this cute design for my St. Patrick's Day cards.  

As always, a big thanks to the greenest, cutest bear, Miss Siobhan, for her excellent St. Patrick's Day card modeling skills!

{Valentine's Day} Pinspired Valentines

Since the holiday crafting party was so much fun, we decided to have another crafting day: A Pinspired Party.  You know how you pin & pin images that inspire you but you never get around to tackling the project, whether it be a craft, recipe or cleaning tip?  At the Pinspired Party, each guest chose a craft from their crafty Pinterest board & we actually made them!

With Valentine's Day quickly approaching, I picked a pretty Valentine's Day card that had been languishing on my Crafty Projects Wish List board for over a year: 

I got busy with my paper punch & my deep purple, hot pink & heart red paper to create the ruffle effect:

Before I knew it, I had gorgeous, homemade Valentines to send to our family & friends:

Once I got home, I had more Valentines to make & my poor hand had cramped from punching the paper.  It's a bit of a workout!  Lucky for me, my amazing husband bought me a Silhouette, a fancy paper cutting machine, for Christmas & I put it to good use making these extra Valentines: 

The Pinspired Party was a good time!  It was cool to finally complete a craft from my Crafty Project Wish List board & I was so inspired by the other talented ladies & their beautiful crafts.  For a complete recap of the crafts & food of our Pinspired Party, please visit Crafty Party Girls on Jen Kim Made!

I can't wait for our family & friends to receive the made with love, pinspired Valentines!

Photo 1: via; Photo 2-4: koru kate

{Valentine's Day} DIY Heart Photo Montage

I'm a firm believer of showing your love every day but showing a little extra love on special days like anniversaries, birthdays & holidays like Valentine's Day is just fine. & eek- Valentine's Day is one week away!  If you're anything like me, you may be scrambling to find a sweet, thoughtful gift.  May I present to you the quick, easy, inexpensive, meaningful DIY Heart Photo Montage:

All you need are memories, photos, double-stick tape & wall space!  Here are the easy instructions:

1.  Choose your photos.  My heart consists of 48 photos which created a large photo heart.  Adjust the number of photos according to how big or small you'd like your heart & order a few extra just in case.  Pick either a variety of photos from many events from the past year, from many special times over the years or from a big, recent event like your wedding or birth of your first child.   

2.  Print your photos.  The quickest route is to upload your photos to sites like Snapfish & pick them up one hour later at Walgreen's.

3.  Find a nice spot on the wall & make your photo heart.  Start with the longest row & apply each photo with double-stick tape (my longest row was eight photos).  Build upon your longest row, tapering down to a point below it & creating two arches above it.  

Viola- you have sweet heart for your Valentine!

My DIY Heart Photo Montage was inspired by Martha Stewart & I made it for my husband last year.  I assembled it while he was at work & surprised him with it when we got home from our Valentine's Day dinner.  He was extremely touched!  Whether you make it for your significant other, kids or parents, the DIY Heart Photo Montage will melt their hearts!

p.s. I can't wait to show you what little crafty Valentine's Day present I am making my husband this year!!  Details coming soon.

{Holidays 2012} maybe next year

I committed to two DIY holiday projects this year: Christmas cards & Glitter candles.  There's only so much one girl can handle.  My holiday-loving heart hasn't stopped pinning DIY holiday projects though.  I'm thinking maybe next year!   

The Christmas ornament shadow box is my latest find & as the easiest, most affordable option, it's the most likely to get done next year.  I'd go with white & silver Christmas ornaments to match my love for winter white snowflakes:

It pretty much drives me crazy that the photo isn't centered but I truly adore the golden wreath made of thumbtacks.  Yes, thumbtacks!  Made in gold or silver with the recipient's favorite color bow, the thumbtack wreath would make a lovely gift:

Mason jars may get a bad rap, yet there is no denying the simple beauty of the holiday mason jar.  Again, very inexpensive & very easy.  Just a jar filled with greenery, cranberries & floating candle.  Maybe I can squeeze this project in this year:  

 
Last but certainly not least is my very favorite holiday DIY project: the rustic crate centerpiece.  The centerpiece shown below features a vintage Pepsi crate filled with Mason jars, pinecones, greenery & holly sprigs.  I would be torn between copying it as exactly as possible or playing with the container & filler to make it my own.  I just LOVE this natural beauty:

By the time next Christmas season comes, I'm sure my DIY Holiday Project wish list will have grown!

Tune in tomorrow to see our humble home decorated for the holidays!

Photo 1: via;  Photo 2: via; Photo 3: via; Photo 4: via

Easter Spots

Last weekend when my husband mentioned Easter was the following Sunday, I thought it was an April Fool's joke.  I'm serious.  Where is time going?!  Once I checked the calendar & established that he was not kidding, I was left with one night to craft homemade Easter cards for our family. 

Yikes!  No time to shop.  Quickly, I grabbed blank cards, colored pens, patterned papers & scallop paper punch out of my craft armoire & came up with a little something like this:  

A sweet, simple design with just a touch of sparkle: 

 I designed each card around the favorite color of the recipient, like this green palette for my Mom:

 The cards may have been a rush job but I like the pretty spots of color & patterns:

Happy Easter, Happy Passover, Happy Celebrations to you & yours!

Photos by Koru Kate