Thursday, February 28, 2013

Romantic Bouquet & Centerpiece Alternatives to Roses

 
When people think of a 'romantic' flower, I feel the first thing that comes to the mind are roses...BUT, roses are not cheap! On top of everything else your paying for when it comes to wedding planning, why not find a BEAUTIFUL and unexpected alternative for a lower cost!! I found 10 romantic options to choose from, that would easily translate from bouquet to centerpieces!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Hope everyone is having a great week!!! xox


Let's Feature Your Party(or mini-session) on ATE!!

 
 
I have been so excited, and waiting very patiently to share this...and now that I'm quickly approaching 15,000 views in under 2 months of launching, I feel like I can finally SHARE!!!
 
I would LOVE to feature your party or mini-session that you worked SO hard preparing & decorating!! I personally hate the feeling the day after a party or event, like wait, nooo its over?!?! So lets continue to celebrate and share your party!!!  Every event is different and unique in its own way, and I would love to feature those unique details, and share them with our ATE viewers! I also LOVE LOVE LOVE styled mini-shoots, and would love to feature you photographers out there too;)!
 
 
Plan on submitting??!!? Please include a quick description of the type of party and 'Theme' along with pictures(do not have to be professional)! Click the 'Submit a Party' button on my blog, or email us at: athundercarson@gmail.com Can't wait! 

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

The Oscars Just SCREAM Fashion---Who did I choose for Best Dressed?! Plus a bonus 'Fake' Dior Ad that just so happens to be FABULOUS!

 
The Oscars is THE NIGHT for fashion! However I don't always agree with the 'Best Dressed Lists' that go out the day after. My pick this year for BEST DRESSED is someone who happens to be left off of most of the list this year, HOW?!?, I have no idea; because she looked ABSOLUTELY STUNNING! I love that she chose something that wasn't just 'pretty' or typical; in fact she did just the opposite and picked something hard and edgy, and in my mind it could not have be better!!!
 
Halle Berry in Versace
 
I also have to include this AMAZING 'Fake'(but should be real) Dior ad that is surfacing around the net today!! We all watched poor Jennifer Lawrence fall on her way up to accept her Oscar, but who cares, she even looked beautiful doing it!! How GORG is this ad! I seriously love it! I want to start a petition to make this a real AD! OBSESSED
#fashionisforreal


DIY MOBY WRAP from The Modern Momma

 
I love this one!! I feel like everyone is talking about needing one of these, and which is the best, and blah blah blah...but our Modern Momma made her own for under $15; and by the looks of adorable sleeping little Mac, I'm pretty sure this one was a hit!
 
DIY Moby Wrap By: Lauren

So how many of you moms have a Moby wrap that you honestly paid 50$ for??? Lets be real. You paid too much. I don't even care if you got it for a shower gift, people were stupid for paying that much. That could have been used on more cute or one of a kind pieces. Not fabric. You know where I got mine at? Hobby Lobby. 15$ for some black jersey fabric. (Don't forget to use your coupon on your Hobby Lobby app). All you need is 5 yards and you cut it in half length wise. Done!! Oh did I forget to tell you it makes two?! Yep!! See why you overpaid for your Moby... Shame on you ;). Here's a link for how to wrap it. And when thy say the Moby tag, it's just the middle of the fabric.

http://youtu.be/fhBmqw7npYU
 

Happy babywearing! XOX


Monday, February 25, 2013

MOM MONDAYS: DIY GLITTER SHOES

WHO MISSED MY MOM LAST MONDAY?!?! She was sick with a cold, so I GUESS we will let her off the hook...
Some of you may have seen this blog post DIY GLITTER BELT, well this is just an extension of that, because OBVIOULSY my sister needed matching shoes to her glitter belt!! They went and bought an in-expensive pair of nude heels, and then using the same tutorial as in the belt post, they totally BLINGED these babies out!! She is going to be the most sparkly cutest girl at the dance!
How GORG are these...


HOW AWESOME DID SHE LOOK....Really though, where did my baby sister go?!?! Oh that's right she is growing up, and becoming the most BEAUTIFUL young woman now...ok, I'm going to go cry now(and make sure my mom is ok;))!!! Love them!
 ps. I told my mom she got her ONE bi-week, no more sick days! ;)


Sunday, February 24, 2013

Quick Fix Bandana Bib By: The Modern Momma

The Modern Momma is always on the go and can not be bothered with a slobbery baby; so check out this easy quick fix bib alternative!!!
BY: LAUREN




One thing I hate? Drool. Second thing I hate? When my baby is teething and drooling. Yuck! And there is nothing to control it but to put a fugly bib on a baby and walk around town. NOT GONNA HAPPEN!!! Who is the man that thought to make bibs so hideous? So instead of a bib I had to come up with something. Well the next day I was at my parents house and guess what? I forgot a bib. Go figure. My mom and brother have ten thousand bandanas and what do you think I did? You betcha I slapped one on the boy. Def did its job but the only thing that was making me mad was it kept bunching up around his mouth. So I went home, thought about it for a couple of days and came up with this take on a bib-drool-teething-non soaked shirt onesie.

You need:
A bandana
Onesie
Hem tape
Iron
Yeah. Girlfriend can't sew worth anything so I use hem tape for everything. Yes it maybe a little hill jack but it works for me. So all you have to do is cut your hankie in half and then cut off the corners so it looks like a pentagon. Then fold back the lap pads (the shoulder folds) and put hem tape around it. Then slap the hankie and iron the heck out of it! You did it! Yahooie! But do you think I stopped there? Yeah. Nope!! I kept folding mine so there was more texture. If your going to do this remember to put hem tape in the folds and iron them. After I got done I lifted up the whole thing and put hem tape down the back to tack it down. DONE!!  I felt like I needed to use the other half and you can for sure make another onesie but I use it as a real bib when he eats an then take it off the rest of the day for the drool. Yay for fashionable teething!
Xo



Mens Fashion: Russell Westbrook

My husband gave me the inspiration for this post....as we were sitting at dinner last night he says to me "Your favorite basketball team has style"...me thinking... favorite basketball team??!! haha, ummm I don't watch basketball.... Turns out he is talking about Oklahoma City 'Thunder', (meaning favorite team, referring to my middle name.) He then introduces me to Russell Westbrook, and ....I think I'm in love. Sorry hubs, but you brought this on yourself;)!!

Russell is a guy after my own heart, I love that he wears things that are outrageous yet not 'in your face' as I like to say! He likes to make a statement without being a fashion victim! With a mix of fun prints, bowties, and sneakers...it totally works! This will be the first of many 'Men's Fashion Blogs' thanks to my husbands request!! So guys out there....get your game face on!

 Please tell me how you say no to a guy, in a leopard shirt & studded sneakers;)...

Until next time...#fashionisforreal


Saturday, February 23, 2013

DIY BUSINESS CARDS



I have been researching business card ideas for ATE and I really can't find anything that is 'fun' enough....I want something that is unique and makes the recipient remember me and think 'she's so cool' ha! As you see from my blog I love the rustic vibe mixed with a little glam... and I thought it would be fun to incorporate the glitter detail in my cards.  Needless to say I ended up making my own! I think they are SO CUTE! Sorry, I can't help my self! ;)
 
 
I found these miniature little glass bottles in the doll house section at hobby lobby(who knew), and decided to fill them with glitter(LOVE), and then used cardstock to make the cute pennants, added a little washi tape and that was it!! My husband has fun handwriting so he put {ashleythunderevents.blogspot.com} on the bottom and then I put them in little clear vellum envelopes! I'm going to make some on my computer with my blog actually typed out, but I thought the handwritten was kind of rustic and special too! I cannot wait to hand these to my brides!
 







Check out our price list HERE ... and contact us for a free consultation, we CANNOT wait to work with you(and give you one of our cute business cards;))!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!XOX


Friday, February 22, 2013

Fashion is For Real #fashionisforreal


I spent the past three days in Viva Las Vegas on a buying trip for our boutique Whittaker House Fashion was my first love, and every time I go on these trips, I remember why! It's so awesome to see the many many different walks of life that make the world go round... The fashion there will make you feel so many things all at once! It's actually pretty breath taking! This trip we were buying for fall... so it's cool to have a look into the future of what's coming up in fashion...

I wanted to highlight some of my photos from the trip..Not only is the fashion amazing, but the presentation is unbelievable!
 



This gives a whole new meaning to 'live art', follow me on #vine {Ashley Thunder} and see the video on this, super awesome!

And you know me, I love me a good instagram hash tag...at the show they had this awesome photo printer, that would immediately print out your photo as long as you tagged #enkvegas!! See my photo up there!;)


I planned on showing you some of my favorite fashion looks I saw, but I decided to do something a little more fun... As a person who will pretty much try any style once, I wanted to show you some outrageous & fun looks I found instead!! The BEST part about the fashion world is that EVERYONE is accepted!!! Love that so much!


I'm beyond in love with these two little ol' fashionable ladies...did I mention the one in the grey has on a pair of wedge sneakers that I happened to order...love it!!! How cute are they?!?!!
 
Next week I'm headed to New York for our other big buying trip of the year! I can't wait to show you the comparisons between the two!! So different!! Just shows you how fashion changes from West Coast to East Coast!!

BE INSPIRED! XOX

Monday, February 18, 2013

HEADING TO PROJECT

 
This week I will be heading to Las Vegas for a clothing convention called PROJECT! Its a super hip, cool, cutting edge fashion round-up! I'm super excited to go, its always a nice break in the winter, and always super inspiring! I decided to share a few pics of my trip last year! Yes, it does make it look like all fun and no work, but trust me we work at least 12 hour days when we are there! It just happens to be in a place where a lot fun stuff happens too;)! Last year my hubs went with us, and he had the best time! A lot of these were taken by him, hence all the art pics!
 
 I have some fun post ready for when I'm gone, and I might pop in a surprise you with a few snapshots of our day while we are there!
 
 




DIY LEATHER TASSEL

 
As promised in my LEATHER TOTE BLOG POST, a tutorial on the leather tassel you saw! I was thinking about ordering one off Etsy, but I really wanted it to match the tote! So I took a scrap piece of leather I had, and made my own! Unlike the purse, this tassel was SUPER easy and literally took me like 5 minutes!
 
 
All you need: Scrap piece of leather, scissors, hot glue, studs(optional)
 
Do it yourself: Cut strips 3/4 of the way up your scrap piece of leather. Start from the end and roll your piece of leather while hot gluing. I cut a thin strip to glue around then center, and then added some cute studs! See where I purchased the studs in this BLOG POST!
 


 
Thanks as always for following!!! Xox

INSPIRATION: MAKE YOUR OWN LEATHER TOTE

 
Well for about 3+ months now I have had this idea of making my own leather tote. I wanted something soft & slouchy; and maybe a little Aztec inspiration to it. It also had to be big enough and sturdy enough to hold my laptop & computer because I pretty much am attached at the hip with those two these days. Needless to say anything that met all those requirements worth buy was $400 or more. So here goes nothing....
 
I bought the leather at my FAVORITE place in Chicago, the Textile Outlet a few weeks ago, and to be honest I have been sitting staring at it, completely intimidated since then... But like every thing in life you can talk about it, or you can do it. It was time, like Nike says to, just do it;)!
 
 
I'm not going to sit here and tell you how easy it is, because it took me four hours, and it was far from easy...BUT it was SO much easier than I anticipated! I planned on just making it simple sewing two sides together and adding straps, but of course that didn't end up happening...
 
I decided to make gusset sides, along with inside straps that tie into a bow to close it...I used a woven leather for the bottom and then incorporated that into tiny other details that you can see in the pics!
The leather I bought was so soft, and had the coolest natural details, so I had this idea to make this over-sized flap for the front which also ended up be better for the closure anyways!!! I think the flap kind of made it;)! I finished it off with some studs and a DIY leather tassel that I will be posting a tutorial on later this week, so look-out for that!

All in all, I think it turned out AWESOME for my first attempt, and I only broke one needle, which in my book was a huge success:)!
Hope you love it, and get inspired to do something that you have been thinking about lately but been afraid of! xox



 
  
 
 
 

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