I wanted two different looks, so I purchased 1(one) yard of each of the fabrics I chose (I think cotton works best). Then I cut the fabric into strips about 5” wide by 8″ long.

The plan was to use the sewing machine to sew each strip into little pouches, first hemming the top and bottom edges then folding the bottom portion of fabric up approximately 3-4 inches creating a pouch. Well, the sewing machine was giving me problems, so I ended up sewing it by hand. That process took longer so I cheated with my glue gun and created little envelopes instead of the pouches. To prevent fraying, I trimmed the sides with the pinking shears. 

I cut the “It’s a boy” ribbon about 3 inches long and secured it around the pin using the glue gun.

As you can see the difference, the one to the left was the pouch sewn and the one to the right was the one created with the glue gun.

I wrapped mints and mentos in tulle and inserted them into the pouches. Then I sealed the pouches with safety pins. I wanted baby pins but it was hard to find (at least at a reasonable price 🙂

Here is a closer look:

I just thought these were too cute 🙂

There you have it, the candy favors!!

First comes a ring, then….

Some women dream of their wedding day since they were little girls, some delve in the idea the day they know he’s the one, some dream about it or have an idea of what they want but are just waiting for Mr. Right. I on the other hand didn’t think much of it until after I had a ring on my finger.  After all the excitement and the wonderful compliments, (well, in my case, the majority of my compliments were “it’s about time”); what happens next?

With a ring on my finger I was at a total lost but enjoyed the idea of getting married. Which means the world of weddings had taken me by surprise. There are no guidelines as to what to do first; I was excited and at a lost.  All I knew was that from that point on, everything would start changing, life wouldn’t be the same. So what did I do first?…NOTHING!! I took a three-month break to enjoy being engaged. I mean why not? It only gets hectic till the day of the wedding so why not enjoy those very few months where I can say, “I’m engaged”.

So I was living those months of what I call “engagement bliss”. I have no regrets taking that path because since I am currently in the planning phase, no day seems to be an ordinary day anymore!

I had a pretty rough time trying to keep up with the news because of all the disasters and misfortunes that have taken place these past few months, in fact years.  Most recently was the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.  It struck a chord just as the earthquake in Haiti did, which occurred last year. I may not have family members in Japan but it breaks my heart to see the death toll rise.

In 2009, a friend of mine and I took a trip to Japan and we both fell in love with the people, food and culture. Our favorite place was Harajuku, because the people there went beyond dares and imaginations. The lens couldn’t quite capture all we were able to see through our eyes.  Japan offered a sense of calmness, kindness & uniqueness, though heavily populated. Others might argue differently since the suicide rate in the country is considerably high but we saw differently. As we left the country we vowed to visit again.

With that said, I would like to take a moment for Japan and all the lives lost during these past few days.

I refuse to post pictures of the disaster and deaths; instead I opted to post pictures of how I remember Japan because that is how I prefer to remember it!!

Traditional Kimono

Streets of Harajuku

They put a Haitian flag on the wall, we were the first Haitians to stay at the hostel!

View from Tokyo Tower