Bigger and Better!

Hello friends! I will no longer be posting at this site. You can now find me at now at http://yellowsuitcasestudios.com/.

I'm so excited that Yellow Suitcase Studio is bigger and better than ever. On my new blog I will continue to post diy projects, vintage and thrift finds, along with photography of my clients.

You can also find me on Facebook, where you can also keep up with what's going on!

wine themed bridal shower

My sister is already off and married, but I'd like to share the fun bridal shower that my mom, aunt, and I threw for her!

This was the invitation I designed.

We hung this gorgeous wreath that my mom made on the door.

 I added the welcome banner to it!

 I made wine jellies for favors - pinot noir, rose, and chardonnay. I used a recipe from America's Test Kitchen.

I used a vintage suitcase to display them by the door so guests could take one before they left.

The little cork sign stands were made by cutting a cork in half, making a hole with a nail in the center, and then placing a looped piece of wire in the hole.

 I designed the spread the love tags and also included a list of ways to enjoy wine jelly.

 One of the activities we had was guess the number of corks!

Of course we had quite the spread of food! We had stuffed dates, cheese, crackers,  nuts, veggies, chocolate covered strawberries, cucumber sandwiches, tomatoes and mozzarella, mini cupcakes, and truffles, ooh and more cheese!

My mom made the tuxedo and wedding dress chocolate covered strawberries. I wish I would have grabbed a closer photo they were so cute and delicious!

I made champagne mini cupcakes by adding champagne to the cake mix in place of water. I also added reduced champagne to homemade buttercream frosting.

 We also had dark chocolate cabernet truffles. Recipe here.

 The stuffed dates were a big hit! They're one of my favorites. Recipe here.

My husband and I found some old windows up above our garage and I used a paint marker to draw on one to add some decoration to the food table. I printed off the design first and then taped it to one side of the glass so I could trace over it.

Of course we had some wine! My mom made the cute little glass markers so all the ladies could tell their glasses apart. My mom also made the mini wreath things to place over the bottle and I added the tags with a description of the wine and what it pairs well with.

We also had a non-alcoholic juice punch.

You can maybe see the name tags my aunt made in this photo!

Love this girl! I hope to share some photos from the wedding soon too!

theLAShop Portable Backdrop Stand Review

Hello friends! It's been way too long.

I wanted to share with you a product that I received to review. I've been thinking it would nice to own a portable backdrop stand for awhile now. I sometimes do photography in client's homes and I'm not always sure what I'll have for a background. Lo and behold out of the blue, TheLAShop contacts me about sending me one to review! I haven't actually done any reviews like this before so I wasn't entirely sure how it would work out, but I received my stand just fine and I love it!

I opened up the package right after it came. The kitty babes helped of course.

I like the carrying case it's padded and has supportive buckles. One thing that would make it even better would be an adjustable long shoulder strap, so you could sling it across your back to have an extra hand to hold something else. I usually have a couple items to carry for photo shoots and a free hand would be nice. If you're wondering how much it weighs, it's about 13 pounds.

I did not come with instructions, but was simple enough to put together as the bar parts are labeled with letters. It still would have been nice to have an affirmation that yes, I put it together correctly! You can either use 2 bars across for it to be 5 feet wide or 4 bars across the top to be 10 feet. This thing is compact, but is huge! One note, you'll have to get clamps separately.

So far I've used it in a mini outdoor photo shoot that my sister helped me out with. I hung a vintage lace tablecloth from it! It worked great!

Overall, it seems well built, easy to use and is a great size for portrait work! Along with photography equipment, TheLAshop sells a little bit of everything including products for home, business, garden, beauty, hobbies and more.

Nightstand Makeover

Wowzers long time no post!

I have a little furniture makeover to share with you today! Here's the side by side comparison of the before and after.

I bought the nightstand for $10 at a thrift store. I primed it first then used a light cream paint that I found at our local Re-Store. I used a mini sponge roller to apply the paint.

 I happened to find a navy and white fabric box in the perfect size to use as a drawer at a thrift shop!

The updated knobs are from Home Depot. I adore the vintage look of them!

I  cheated a bit for the top of the dresser. It has an inset space that had a piece of ugly board that was not original to the piece. I kept debating what to put as the top and used it with an open top for far too long, so instead I used my great grandma's suitcase. It's almost a perfect fit!

The lamp is also from our local ReStore!

Now if only we could find a nightstand for my husband's side of the bed. He's has old plastic drawers that he has been using since college.

Our bedroom looks so much better than when we first moved in. There are still things to finish like trim and curtains! Never ending projects! I can't wait to share more with you!