Growing up in Indiana, surrounding by cornfields, I openly admit that I am partial to both country lifestyles and designs. This passion is a vivid inspiration for my new apartment and my upcoming wedding.

I heard about the great magazine Country Home recently and was delighted by their February 2009 issue. Unfortunately, I was crushed to hear that their next issue will be their last - Country Home has become a victim of the slow economy.

While perusing their site at nauseum over the weekend, I found some great crafty ideas that would work at home and at our wedding!

Bandanna Napkin Ring: To fit standard dinner napkins, cut a bandanna into 6- by 9-inch strips. Fold each strip in thirds lengthwise, then fold in thirds widthwise. Sew a button on one end, about 1 inch from the edge. (Choose any colorful loose buttons you may have on hand; they don’t need to match.) Then cut a corresponding buttonhole on the opposite end of the strip.

Doily Vase: Tightly wrap a doily around a vase. Snip away any excess, then hand-stitch the doily securely in place to create a snug fit. A clear glass vase creates an elegant illusion, but experiment with different vases and doilies to find a combination you like.

Floral Favors: Fashioned with small, sweet flowers from the garden or even the supermarket, nosegays make perfect party favors (or boutonnieres at a country wedding). Tie them with homemade ribbons that are made with pinking shears from floral fabrics. To keep the flowers fresh, cut them the morning of your party. You might want to provide small vases or containers so guests can tote them home.

Call me corny, but Martha Stewart and her fantastic staff never cease to amaze me. For both personal creativity and money-saving prowess, my mother and I will be making a lot of elements for the wedding ourselves, including: programs, flower arrangements, table decorations, and more.

I was overjoyed when I found a complete round-up of Martha’s DIY wedding templates! With 29 swank and easily-customizable projects available, I’ve already picked out some of my favorites:

Tea Favor Tags – the simple shape of these (and the fact that numerous types of tea will be a big part of our reception) makes these much more versatile than just for labeling favors!

Take a Bough – a cute addition to our wedding program and, knowing my fiance’s Italian family, it will be quite a conversation point.

Floaty Butterflies – we plan on having non-assigned seating, but if we printed these butterflies on nifty patterned paper, they would make great overall decorations.

Mini Bouquets – great decoration idea that could also be used as favors.

Old-Fashioned Postcard – perfect for a set of DIY thank you postcards that feature a quirky (or elegant) shot of us from the wedding.

Paper Fans – some delightfully patterned paper would tie these into our wedding colors, as well as keep our May wedding guests cool during the event.

Luminarais – another fun idea for centerpieces.

Program Covers – a simple, chic design that leaves lots of room for creative rubber stamping.

Favor Cones – instead of favors, I would use these to put the lavender seeds we will be giving to guests to throw as we leave the venue.

[Images courtesy of Martha Stewart Weddings]

Yet another kick ass wedding blog, Style Me Pretty has some fantastic DIY projects.

One of my personal favorites is this tote that you can print with any image/text you want.

Crafty AND reusable – now that’s my style! Throw in some homemade cookies and maybe a donation to a eco-charity – would make great casual guest favors, no?

I love CRAFT Magazine – and not just because I’ve written for them a few times. Their website/blog is particularly useful and I’m consistently finding good projects … like this one they linked to just a few days ago:

These would make nifty place tags (is that what they are called?) for the tables during the reception, especially if we went with the “home renovation/decorating” theme I mentioned in my previous post. You could even have tables named after specific paint chip colors and/or hole punch shapes … there are lots of possibilities!

[Image courtesy of A Spoonful of Sugar]