Whimsical Vintage-Inspired Rustic Wedding Invitations

Whimsical Rustic Vintage-Inspired-Wedding Invitations. Whew, that's a mouthful. Perhaps our wedding has an identity crisis??  We prefer to think of it as the perfect eclectic mix of "us"-ness, all rolled into one big event!

The wedding is on a farm, with the ceremony taking place outside under a big tree, that will be backed with flag banners (or, bunting, as Etsy calls them). They'll match the ones you see on the top of the invitation and RSVP card below. They'll be made primarily from vintage fabric. And they are the one common theme running through the entire wedding, along with the colors. The bunting will also hang from the ceiling of the barn, where our reception will take place, seated at tables with handmade paper flowers in vintage white milk-glass vases.

So it breaks down a little like this:

Farm/Barn:  Rustic

Materials/Decor: Vintage

Colors/Decor/"Feeling": Whimsical

All of these combined: Chad and Brandy (that's us)!

Here's a little peek at the invitations and RSVP cards we are sending out. 

We had originally intended to just stack them, stamp them, stuff them, and send them off. But that didn't feel like an exciting enough "first look" into the flavor of our wedding, for those who would be receiving the invites. So, I spiced it up a bit, with some yarn left over from the yarn flowers I'm making (more to come on that another day.

Better, but still kind of boring. The color matched, but it was still missing the "rustic" part of the vibe. I was doing this all on the dining room table, and as I took the photo, I looked at the burlap runner sitting next to the invite, and thought, "huh. that could be cool...." and snipped off a corner. Yep, just cut out a square of the dining room table runner. I'm crazy like that.  {side note, we have more burlap than I know what to do with, I can make another.} I cut it just barely larger than the RSVP card. 

Perfect! I showed Chad, he loved it, and then, being all practical-guy-like, said "that's going to be a lot of work to do for EVERY invitation. Is it really worth it?" Ugh, yes. Of course it is. Plus, my momma is going to help stuff the invitations, and she won't mind. 

But I did decide that I needed a way to mass-produce the different pieces. Invitations, check. Smartpress.com mass-produced those for us. We <3 them. Plus, they are local - right in our backyard! {Chaska, MN}

I took the perfect length I'd already cut, and walked around the dining room until I could find something that was the same length as that single piece. I discovered that if I wrapped it around the top portion of the chair, exactly one time around was the same length. So I went to town! I wrapped that whole skein of yarn around the back of the chair, counting for a while until my attention span gave out, until it was approximately 150 turns around the chair. Then I just cut the whole thing in one spot. Voila! ALL of my strings cut at once. See, Chad? It won't be so hard, after all!

Ramsey couldn't figure out what the heck was going on. And how was that ball of string moving all by itself?! Unfortunately, she wasn't much help.

But check this out! Remember the Sola Flower Pomander Ball we posted last week? Check out how the colors match! {look at the oranges and pinks in the little flags below - not the yarn. Fun!}

So there it is! My favorite part?  The cheeky comment at the bottom of the RSVP Card that says, "RSVP by August 1st, or bring a sandwich and a lawn chair."  Haha! And we mean it. 

Oh, P.S. Smartpress.com did our printing, but we got the original templates for our Save the Dates, Invitations, and RSVP cards from Weddingchicks.com. They have some awesome free template downloads - in fact, you can type the info right into their website, and they give you a finished file! We loved the basis of the templates, but wanted to customize our wording a bit more, change up some fonts, etc - and Chad's a photoshop wizard. You won't get exactly what you see here off Weddingchicks.com, but they definitely are a great budget {ie, free} place to start!!

Linking Up To:  By Stephanie Lynn, Homemaker On A Dime, DIY Show Off, Craft-O-Maniac, Suburbs Mama

May Sale, 2013

Whoop! Our May sale is just one day away! {and we have so much yet to do, but that's another story...}

Address:  300 Broadway Street, Carver, MN 55315

Here are some fun photos of what you'll find at the store this month. And much, much, more....consider this a little visual teaser. Stop in, say hi, and check out all the fun new {old} junk!

A Fan Challenge: Repurposed DIY Projects. With a Prize!

We've just surpassed 5,000 fans on our Facebook page, and we wanted to do something fun to celebrate!

Remember those Carver Junk Company Mission definitions we posted on Facebook this week? Well, one of them is Repurpose, so....

We're inviting you to share your own Repurposed DIY projects with us, and we're giving away a Carver Junk Company gift certificate to one lucky winner!

Here's the fine print:

• Email us a photo of a project that you COMPLETED, where you repurposed an item for something other than it's original intended use. For example, we fixed up an old railroad cart to use as a coffee table. It doesn't have to be on such a large scale, though - any project is fair game, as long as it's yours!
• If you were inspired by Pinterest, go ahead and include a link to the original pin that inspired you. 
• We will post the photos on our Facebook page {and on this blog}. By submitting photos, you are giving us permission to post them in both locations. {Please only submit photos to which you own the copyright. If you get us kicked off Facebook for violating someone else's copyright, we probably can't be friends anymore.}
• The photo with the most 'Likes' at the end of the contest will receive a $25 gift certificate to Carver Junk Company!
• Email address for submissions:  challenge@carverjunkcompany.com

There are no entry restrictions based on where you live. We love ALL of our fans. However, the gift certificate must be used for an in-store purchase. If you're from out of town, it would make a great gift for your favorite person in Minnesota!

And lastly, a huge thank you to all of you who have loved and supported our vision, our store, and our dreams. This has turned from a pie-in-the-sky bucket list item, into a very real, "holy crap we're actually doing this and people seem to love it and we love it and we can't believe how much fun it is" realization. We've worked really hard, and have met some pretty cool people along the way. We couldn't do it without all of you - and so really, as un-cheesily as possible, we THANK YOU!

Chad and Brandy

Repurposed Mini Globe Pendant Light

We weren't brilliant (oh yes, that was my attempt at a light-related pun...) enough to have come up with the idea of a globe pendant light all by ourselves. I honestly can't remember where I saw it first....Pinterest, most likely. But, we did come across the perfect already-broken mini globe when we were shopping up in the U.P. of Michigan!  The tape had come loose around the center, and it was falling off its base. So, we repurposed it!

We used both halves, making two hanging pendant lights. The pendant light was a kit, and was super easy to put together.

We just cut a hole in the top of each half. Nothing fancy here, I held the bottom of the light socket on the top and traced around it, then cut it with a utility knife. The socket threaded in perfectly, and then for extra security, there is a little round plastic piece that screws onto it from the inside of the globe, sort of sandwiching the globe half within the light socket!  Screwed in an edison bulb from good ol' Home Depot, and hung it up!  It currently plugs into an outlet, but could also be shortened and hard-wired to a switch.

We also use a low-watt bulb in it - still bright enough for light, but the globe is still paper, at the end of the day :)

It's shown here hanging from an antique birdcage stand. {which would also be oh-so-cute for holding a vintage bird cage or wedding decor}!

We think it would be adorable in a nursery or kid's room. Where would you hang it?





Linking Up: Tater Tots and Jello, Be Different, Act Normal,

Handmade in Minnesota. We Love Local!

Each month, we bring in more and more handmade products. While the majority of our store is vintage, antique, or repurposed, we also love to support local artisans. And by "local" we mean Minnesota-based. Many of our in-house dealers make handmade items of their own to sell at the store. Others come from folks who specialize in a particular craft, and we work with them to provide specific products for the store.

Here are just a few of the handmade items carried at Carver Junk Company:

What other handmade items would you like to see at Carver Junk Company?  We're always looking for inventory suggestions!

An Adventure in Retailing

This adventure we're calling our "shop" - Carver Junk Company - how did it all start? Here's an excerpt from Brandy's recent interview with the Good People of Earth:

We live in a modern world that tends to take a “throw it away and buy a new one” approach to most things. Your shop, Carver Junk Company, embraces a very different philosophy by specializing in vintage, repurposed, rustic and retro décor and furnishings. What inspired you to open the store? And what is your philosophy when it comes to the value of something old vs. something new?   

The decision to open Carver Junk Company was an “impulse purchase” of sorts, but also a great example of life presenting an opportunity we couldn’t refuse. It’s always been on my bucket list to open a local arts and/or crafts store. On the eve of closing on a new house in Carver, MN, Chad and I noticed a For Lease sign in the window of a small brick storefront on the historic main street of our new town.  We signed the lease the next day – never having previously discussed opening a junk store.

We believe in shopping local, and being very involved in our local communities, and this allows us to do and encourage both. In addition to that, I’m an habitual refurbish-er. As much as I personally love the before & after, I love showing others that it’s possible to take “junk” and turn it into something very desirable. Of course, there are also the “ooooh”s and “ahhhh”s from those who see and buy our junk – it’s so satisfying to watch someone fall in love with a piece that has narrowly escaped a trip to dumpster heaven. It’s even more satisfying if they’ve seen the before, doubted the possibilities, and then realized the value of refurbishing, recycling, repurposing.

As far as old vs. new – they both have a place in our lives. I’m not sure I’ve developed a clear perspective on when old is BETTER than new, or vice versa. Old things have so much character, such stories behind them. There’s always that “if these walls could talk” sort of allure with older pieces.  We actually write down the stories we know on the tags we attach to each item at the shop. I’ve debated writing down the stories I’ve silently made up about the unknown pieces {and of course disclosing that they’re made up}, just for fun – I feel like every piece deserves to have its story told. Our house is a mix of old and new décor, refurbished and store-bought. It does seem true that things just aren’t made as well as they used to be – whether that’s because of a lack of time, the cost to make things that last, or the economics behind the ability to sell more product if every piece has a shorter lifespan. I have a concern for the future health of our world – which is certainly impacted positively by continuing to reuse and recycle - but for me, this adventure is more about doing something that feels good, that engages us in our local community, and that allows others to share our passion for local, quality goods.