Our pre-wedding/engagement photos

 

All photos by Kerli Halliste

Our wedding is less than 2 weeks away (insert major butterflies), but I still haven't shared our engagement photos. That's because, well, they didn't exist until today. We wanted to do an engagement shoot in the beginning of the year, but then it got postponed again and again. Then, two weeks ago, the stars finally aligned, and we got together with our wedding photographer Kerli, and shot these amazing pics. I'm so happy with the way these turned out! And so glad we still decided to do one photoshoot before the wedding to capture the pre-wedding us, and rehearse our poses for the big day.

It's been quiet around the blog, and it's going to be for a while longer as all my days are filled with wedding preparations. But, I'll be back after the wedding to share all the DIY projects with you guys.

Thanks for sticking around, and for letting me share!

xo Hanna

DIY Paint splatter t-shirt

Hey, guys! It's been a while since I did a DIY on the blog, so I'm excited to share this tutorial with you today. It's a simple project suitable for a complete DIY newbie, so if you've been meaning to make your first project, but don't know where to start, try this to get the ball rolling.

I've been wanting to experiment with fabric paint for quite some time now, and then one day I got this idea to make a paint splatter t-shirt. I think we all remember this technique from elementary school. You don't need to be an artist to create amazing patterns with this method. So, I bought some paint and went for it.

You will need:

• Plain t-shirt (a light color is best, although they do sell fabric paint for dark colored fabric as well)
• Fabric paint (I used 3 different colors from Dylon: deep pink, yellow, and turquoise)
• Small artist brush (the exact size depends on your preference)
• 1 big trash bag
• 2 plastic bags
• scrap fabric for practice

STEP 1

Prep your crafting area for paint. Cut a big trash bag open and lay it one the ground. The fabric paint does come off easily with water, but who wants to spend extra time cleaning up after. Also, prep your t-shirt by placing one (or 2, depending on the size) plastic bag inside the t-shirt. This prevents the paint from leaking through to the other side of the tee.

STEP 2 (optional)

Practice your splatter technique on a scrap piece of fabric to get you wrist action and tapping action going. Also, this will give you a good idea of how much paint to put on the brush, if you need a thicker brush, or if your happy with the pattern you're creating. I was happy with my platter, although I initially thought the splatter would be bigger. For me, the smaller splashes and dots were ok, but you might want to try out different size brushes.

STEP 3

Once your happy with your technique and splatter size, it's time to splatter on the first layer of paint. I wanted my splatter to cover only one half of the t-shirt front and run diagonally from one shoulder to the opposite corner. 

I used the darkest color first, but you can choose the order yourself. Once your happy with your first layer, let dry. 

Repeat with the other fabric paint colors and once your happy with the design, let it dry completely. Once it's dry, iron it as instructed on the paint label.

I think this t-shirt turned out pretty cool, so I'm dreaming up new ways to use fabric paint. I love wearing my new tee with my overalls. Makes me look bad-ass (or so I think).

Have fun splattering!

xo Hanna

P.S. I developed this tutorial for the Estonian fashion magazine MOOD (it was published in the May issue), and they were kind enough to let me share it with you as well.

Touched by time

Song and Dance Celebration procession

The last week has been full of deep emotions and magic, and I really wanted to share the reason behind it with you. So, today's post is a little different from my usual posts, but this is something I feel so passionate about as an Estonian that I simply must share.

This weekend, Estonians celebrated their unique Song and Dance Celebration, a tradition that started in 1869 and for 3 days brings together 1/10 of the whole population. Yes, I said 1/10, that is not a typo. An estimated 153 000 people out of our tiny population of 1.3 million people gathered to be a part of the song and dance celebration concerts. Over 20 000 singers formed the worlds biggest choir and sang for over 11 hours in total. The Song and Dance Celebration is so unique that it is part of UNESCO's List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

This was my first time attending the song celebration as a visitor. Usually I'm up on the stage with all the 20 000 singers, so it was a special year for me. I loved being able to take in all that emotion, although I did miss being on the stage a bit. The feeling of being one of those 20 000 who sing as one is something that cannot be described in words. You just have to experience it.

The first concert was simply magical! This concert is for selected choirs, and this year they sang a song from every past song celebration (this one was the 26th). I sang along to all the songs I know, and yes, I cried during some of them. What can I say, music moves me. You can here one of the most touching songs of the concert here.

Sunday was hot! There were so many people packed onto the festival grounds that there was hardly any room to move around. People were literally sitting side by side just to fit everyone. You can see the panorama of the festival grounds and here some of the singing here.

Joint Choirs - There's so many singers that you can't distinguish the line between them and the audience

For me, the most special part of the concert are the songs sung by the joint choirs. These songs are almost always the same, every singer knows them by heart. These songs are so powerful that they always bring tears into my eyes. Estonians are mostly modest and hardly show their feeling, but the Song and Dance celebration makes us all emotional. I felt really proud to be an Estonian.

This year's celebration was titled "Touched by time. The time to touch". It also sums up what I felt - deeply touched.

Thanks for letting me share!

xo Hanna

My Style: Tried and true

Wearing: Dress / DIY; Jacket / thrifted; Bag / thrifted; Scarf / thrifted; Earrings / gift; Shoes / Jumex (from Cologne)

Giving the overwhelming evidence in my closet, it seems that peach is my favorite color. I almost named this post "Peach perfect, but then I remembered...I already did that. Hah!
This outfit is all my favorites in one - maxi dress in peach, fitted jacket and lots of floral details. And, the most important thing, a sunny day.

xo Hanna