Spring has sprung! For the first time this season, I opened up my windows. I even raised up the storm glass in the screen doors. It's time to let some fresh air blow through, which in our house sets up an amazing wind tunnel effect that slams doors shut upstairs and down. I need a stylish way to keep the doors open and the air circulating. ScrapBusters to the rescue! Today's door stop is a simple cube made with standard cottons stiffened with ultra firm fusible interfacing. An opening along the bottom is where I inserted polyester fiber fill at the top, just to take up a little space, and a plastic bag of inexpensive dried navy beans at the bottom for weight. The opening seals shut with Velcro®. A wide twill tape handle makes it's easy to place and move the door stop anywhere the wind blows.

My mother was the ultimate note taker. She recorded everything from gifts she'd received (in order to write a thank you note later) to the gas mileage on car trips (to make sure we were getting the most for our money). In today's plugged-in-turned-on-digital world, writing something down may seem old school. But jotting a note by hand is often still the fastest, easiest way to capture a thought or remember an important to-do. Plus, if you have a beautiful handmade fabric folder to keep your pad, pen and a few extras; low-tech becomes a very lovely option. 

Another top trend we came across in our research for the Rustic Wedding series with Fabric.com was the bridal gown sash. We found these talked about in articles as well as for sale on a variety of sites, from high-end bridal specialty boutiques to Etsy. The going price was $200-$600 and up! With a few small cuts of luxury fabrics, such as lace, tulle, satin and organza, along with some beautiful pearl or crystal beads, you can create your own custom wedding sash for much, much less. Plus, it will be perfect for your look, your color, your wedding. The flowers on our wedding sash are based on a number of tutorials we've run previously on S4H. The key to creating a beautiful look, such as you see on our sample, is to really experiment with color, texture and the placement of the flowers, beads and other embellishments.

What's the Rustic Wedding's answer to the crepe paper streamer? A beautiful and unique garland! While researching the top wedding trends for this series, one of the items that came up again and again was the use of garlands as a decorating component. We saw them as hanging elements, as table decorations, even as accessories on wedding gowns and bridesmaid dresses. Our garland is what we'd call a "Low-Sew" project. There's just a little bit of hand sewing involved. We've created a cut flower on a string treatment, using a fabric die-cutting machine. There are many cutters out there on the market; we chose the Sizzix Big Shotto test for our series. Originally developed for the card-making and scrapbooking industry, die cutters made their way into the world of fabric over the last several years. The Sizzix brandis very popular as is the Slice Digital Die Cutter and the AccuQuilt GO.