DIY: How To Print Designs on Fabric

Last year I bought around 30 yards of burlap fabric when I thought I was going to DIY burlap table runners for our wedding.  I ended up changing my mind and now I have more burlap fabric then I will ever use.   So I was racking my brain trying to come up with new ways to use of the fabric when I decided to see if I could feed it through my printer.

SUCCESS!  I was able to take a design from my Etsy shop, print on the burlap and turn it into a small throw pillow for our living room.  The process is super simple and is something you’ll be able to do on your own!

Material Needed:

- Scissors

- Fabric (muslin, cotton or burlap)

- Computer Paper

- Tape

- Printer

- Sewing Machine

- Polyfill Stuffing

How To Print Designs on Fabric:

1.) Cut two pieces of fabric into an 8 ¼  x 10 ¾ inches

2.) Tape one piece of fabric to an 8 ½ x 11 sheet of computer paper (cover the edges with tape)

3.) Place the paper in the printer and print with the design of your choosing

4.) Remove the tape

5.) Place the printed fabric against the second sheet of fabric that you already cut (design side facing in)

6.) Sew the sides and the top together

7.) Turn right side out (design facing out)

8.) Stuff the pillow with polyfill stuffing

9.) Fold in the two unsewn pieces and sew

P.S. - First 5 people to follow me on twitter and tweet "Print on Fabric DIY over on @hellocupcakellc blog: http://www.hellocupcakellc.com/2012/07/diy-how-to-print-designs-on-fabric.html" will receive 2 free yards of fabric.*


*US residents only!

How To: DIY Gold Gilded Boarder

I recently finished a set of invitations for a dear friend of mine. She’s getting married this fall at San Francisco City Hall. In coming up with the concept for her invitations she knew that she wanted something very simple with a fun element or two. 

I decided to do a gold gilded boarder on her invitations, as her colors are white, black and gold! The process to DIY a Gilded Boarder is fairly simple: 

Material Needed: 
- Ink Pad (one pad for every 30-40 invitations) 
- Invitations (I used Crane Paper because of its thickness) 

How To: 
- Have your invitations professionally cut so they are all exactly the same (Kinkos is around $1.25 per cut) 
- Hold 25 invitations at a time and rub the outside edges along your stamp pad 
- Continue till you’ve covered all edges 
- Let it dry! Be patient. Seriously, don’t touch! 

P.S. – Learn from my mistake. I originally tried to use gold spray paint to cover the edges and it bled in and looked uneven. So I had to reprint all the invitations because I thought it looked too messy. I wouldn’t recommend spray paint!

With Bells On

If only my Mother knew to hold on to her jeans from the 60’s, oh what a lucky lady I’d be today! High rise bell bottoms are certainly making a come back. So far I have one pair and I love them! Christoph on the other hand, not so much. I guess the verdict is still out. What do you think? High rise bells, in or out?


Shop the jeans above: HERE


Oh and PS - The jeans in the first picture are currently on sale (HERE)....half off!!!!!

A Wedding Detail: Just Between He & I

No one else would have noticed.  No one else would even recognize their significance now.  This was a wedding detail that was just for the two of us.

Long before our wedding date I saw these hand stamped pennies on Etsy and knew that I wanted to order a set with our wedding date printed on them.  On the day of our wedding I attached the two pennies to the booklet that had the wedding vows that I had written for Christoph. 

They were there with us as we became husband and wife and they are now with us each and every day as we both have them attached to our keys.

Who knew that two pennies could be so meaningful?  Did you, or will you have any special details at your wedding?

Image by Jessamyn Harris

Bandaids & BBQ - Medical Theme Party

Part of the fun of having an Etsy shop that sells invitations and party décor is that you never quite know where your products will end up! When Chelsea from Bit of Ivory Photography contacted me about wanting to use my Prescription Bottle Invitations for her husbands upcoming medical theme graduation party I was thrilled to pieces!

When I saw the photos from the actual party I was floored! Chelsea is one creative lady! The party she threw for her husband Rusty was full of thoughtful detail and of course, being that she is a professional photographer, the pictures turned out amazing!

Hop on over to the Bit of Ivory Blog to see additional images!

Thank you Chelsea for including my Rx Bottles for your party and congrats Rusty!!!!!!

All images via Bit of Ivory

Then and Now

I’ve been enjoying my fire escape garden and by that I mean, I’m OBSESSED with my fire escape garden! We’ve been having home made bruschetta on the regular and soon, I’ll be making a salad out of those beautiful baby greens!

 It has been so fun to watch the plants grow and I’m strongly considering buying more pots to expand my garden! I’ll be keeping you updated on the progress.

Hello Cupcake Public Relations - Interview with Wedding Lovely!

Recently, I had the privilege of being interviewed by the Wedding Lovely team about Hello Cupcake Public Relations.   I’m a huge fan of Wedding Lovely and have been for quite some time!

Not familiar with Wedding Lovely?  Wedding Lovely is a one-stop resource available to brides and grooms at no cost to help them plan their perfect wedding!  They have a talented collection of vendors that includes planners, photographers, stationers, venues and videographers!

Be sure to check out the Wedding Lovely Website to learn more about their vendors and be sure to visit the Wedding Lovely Blog to read my interview and for a daily dose of inspiration, interview and helpful wedding tips! 

New to My Repertoire: Food Styling

Each and every day in my line of work is a new experience.  Be it writing a press release for a client, pitching pictures for publication or even putting together a timeline for a wedding!  There’s certainly no monotony in my day to day!

A few weeks back I had the opportunity to do a little food styling for the San Diego Feather Love Photography Workshop.  I stress the word little because the food from Gjelina was so gorgeous and fresh that it just about styled itself! 

My favorite takeaway/tip from the experience is if you’re planning to style cookies - stack em’ high because that’s how they look best in photos!

How To: Upcycle Your Old Jeans into Shorts

I loved those jeans. I bought them at an H&M in Germany back in 2005 when I was on a backpacking trip across Europe with two of my best girlfriends. I’ve worn them at least once a week since so it’s fair to say that I’ve gotten my use out of them. While dancing with my two year old nephew a few weeks ago, I ripped a hole in the knee (my moves are awesome). But I wasn’t quite ready to part ways with them and last week when putting together this outfit inspiration; I had the idea to turn the pants into rolled shorts. How to Upcycle Old Jeans into Cuffed Shorts: 

1.) Figure out how long you want the shorts to be after they are cuffed (I wanted 4 inches from the bottom of the zipper)
2.) While wearing the pants, hold a ruler at the bottom of the zipper evenly across both legs and make a line on each side with chalk
3.) Measure down 3 inches and make another line with chalk on each side
4.) Measure down another 3 inches and make another line with chalk on each side
5.) Lay the pants on the floor and cut in a strait line meeting the very bottom chalk line on each pant leg
6.) Roll the pant legs up 1 inch and then repeat
7.) Once you have the length of shorts you want, iron down the folds
8.) With a needle and thread, stitch the cuffed portion a few times

And then wear them with pride! Those old pants now have new life and I’m hopeful that I will have them for another 7 years!

Happy Anniversary

One year ago, on this day I married my best friend. I still can't believe how lucky I am to have found Christoph and to enjoy this life that we are building together. I look forward to a lifetime together! More Images of our wedding over on Style Me Pretty
Wedding related blog posts HERE

And a special video from our wedding day :)    Images By: Jessamyn Harris 
Video By: LoveSpun Films

Red, White and Blue

Red White Blue by hellocupcakellc

Welcome July! It is so nice to see you!  This month marks our first wedding anniversary (tomorrow), my second favorite holiday of the year (4th of July) and my big brother's birthday (Thursday).

It's going to be an awesome week!  We are headed out to Texas for a little family get together.  It will involve my favorite TX restaurant, a lake house in a city where the locals are teeth optional, and lots of time catching up with my family.  I. Can't. Wait!

What are all of you up to the 4th of July?