Butterick 5731: Kate Middleton's Wedding Dress

A dress in my Facebook feed caught my eye today. Butterick posted a wedding dress pattern that is clearly inspired by what will arguably end up being 2011's most famous wedding dress.

While the description for Butterick B5731 does not explicity say it's meant to copy K-Mid's Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen, there's no denying it. Butterick even styled their model with a tiara and a similar bouquet.

There are some differences; Butterick 5731 has some weird flappy bustle that I'd leave off were I to sew this, and it's absent the long train that the Sarah Burton dress has.

While I don't usually condone plagiarism, I think in this case it puts the royal dress within reach for us commoners. It's not like you're going to the Berresyessa Flea Market and buying an obvious Louis Vuitton pleather knockoff. This is a sewing pattern in which you, or the dress maker you hire, is required to do all the work, and you have the option to buy the most expensive "Peau De Soie" or the cheapest satin. You can make it any color you choose, and there are even cup size options.

The absolute best part in my opinion: it's a Butterick, so you can likely snatch it up during a Jo-Ann sale for .99 to 1.99.

Before & After: Bed to Bench makeover

It's hard to engage in too many DIY projects when a.) I have the LO attached to me pretty much most of the day and 2.) I don't have much of my own space here on the ranch with my parents.

But here's one of my dad's projects: an iron bed up-cycled into a cowboy bench. It was a gift for my mom.

You can see the headboard is the backrest and the footboard was sliced in half to become the arm rests. He welded horseshoes, a bit, and a steer head thing as accents.

I always think I got my desire to create, craft, and DIY from my Grandma, but it must've come via my dad.

I AM! IRON BENCH! DUUUUUH NUH, NUH-NUH-NUH.... DUH NUH NUH NUH, NUH NUH... NUH NUH NUH.

My dad also welded the front gate, which Flickr user Brave Heart snapped a picture of.

As long as I'm still on the ranch, I'm thinking of snapping a Barn Tour to really give a sense of my dad's design. Consider yourself warned.

Before & After: China Cabinet Makeover

Psych! It's a PhotoShop mock-up of a china cabinet makeover, and a hastily done one at that.

This is currently for free on Craigslist. I asked my husband about getting it, but we ultimately decided to wait on grabbing any furniture until we were moved off the ranch. I agree.

But I also think he didn't see what this cabinet *could* be, so I started with the 'Shopping. And couldn't stop. An hour or so later, I have a lame picture that serves no purpose (I know my husband will only give it a a quick sideways glance) and STILL NO CHINA HUTCH.

So, why waste that pointless hour I spent doing this when I should've been doing something more productive? I'll just post the image here on my blog, where it can live in perpetuity.

How to display a beer coaster collection?

My sister Ariel is a big traveler and loves collecting beer coasters (like the ones pictured above from BuenaHelena) from places she visits.

Some time ago, we'd discussed her preserving them in resin so she'd have them forever. We brainstormed what she could use as a mold, and figured she'd need something to keep the ink from bleeding and suspending into the medium. That was a while ago.

Now, she has multiple shapes in her collection (making the mold situation more tricky) and has figured she really doesn't need THAT many coasters, if any at all. So she mentioned making a coffee table top. Good idea (I had similar plans for a vintage postcard collection), but, I had some other ones for her, all keeping with the resined-theme:

• If she ever buys her own place, she can make them into a counter top for a breakfast bar.


• If the resin wasn't too heavy, she could frame it and just turn it into wall art. The frame and resin would keep it from looking too frat house. This was her favorite idea.

I also Googled the topic and found this, which starts of good and ends on a facetious note. Still had some good ideas, though, including using them as postcards and luggage tags.

BuenaHelena, the blog the above picture is from, turned them into Christmas ornaments.

Do you have any ideas for an old beer coaster collection? If you've randomly stumbled upon this post, give us your ideas no matter how old this post is.