I Handmake My Own Paper- Martha Stewart, Eat Your Heart Out!

In our household, green is really good, and we reduce, reuse, recycle and refuse as much as we can.

That's how I got into papermaking as a hobby. It's one of the ways I reuse and recycle. I save practically every scrap of paper I get my hands on - the unprinted borders on white paper, glossy magazines, direct mail pieces- and I turn them into handmade paper craft.

These are just a few of the things I've come up with over the past several months:

PRESSED FLOWER PANEL - I took some of the petals from the bouquet Corey gave me for our 1st anniversary, embedded them into the paper when I was making it and weighed the sheet down with a heavy book. A new twist on pressed flowers for the incurable romantic!

RUSTIC JOURNAL - Corey loves journals, so I made him one using recycled paper. I used a twig and a leather string for the binding, pressed some leaves I found just outside into the "cover", and used a coconut shell button that fell off one of my handbags and string as a "lock".

POSTCARDS- I always have ziplocs of "found" items that I initially never know what to do with, and the ladybug just happened to find the perfect spot to land eventually. I drew the coffee mug with that puffy stuff that goes on t-shirt designs to give it an interesting texture. The martini glass, I drew with a regular felt-tipped pen. For texture, I mixed olive green paint into good ol' Elmer's glue and dabbed it onto the handmade paper to give the olives a 3-dimensional look.

-Dezzi Rae

World's Best Peach Cobbler

Given how much we love barbecue, it was a no-brainer that we'd want to serve barbecue at our wedding reception, so last Saturday, we decided to go check out the 'cue at The Three Bears.

Owned by our good friend Perry Wilkins' cousin Sherry Adams, The Three Bears has been serving up the finest homemade burgers, barbecue dinners and desserts since 1984 out of what appears to have been the family garage at one point in time.

The atmosphere's definitely bare bones but the food is stick-to-your-ribs-mmm-mmmm-good.

While they're known for their burgers (the Smokey Bear Burger consists of three large patties with pastrami and a hot link), we decided to concentrate on the beef ribs, sliced beef and hot links (Robert Downey Jr supposedly loves their links). The barbecue sauce is definitely what makes 'em slap-yo--momma good. Our sample plate was doused in the hot and spicy version of their custom blend barbecue sauce, but they do have mild and medium for those who prefer it that way.

We would have to say that what puts The Three Bears high up on our 'Places To Go' list are their desserts- especially their peach cobbler. They have the world's best peach cobbler, hands down. From the moment they hand you the little styrofoam cup with a scoop of the piping-hot concoction, you're done for. The crust is perfectly light and crumbly, the peach mixture is just sweet enough to make you involuntarily close your eyes and hear rhythm and blues in your head. Their peach cobbler makes you think that you've just died and gone to Peach Cobbler Heaven.

Apparently, we're not the only ones who think so. Sherry says that they sent a tray of it to Stevie Wonder and he couldn't stop singing its praises (yes, cheap pun intended).

The Three Bears

11916 South Figueroa Street

Los Angeles, CA 90061

(323) 754-7664

Gourmet, Home-Cooked Meals for Less Than $10

Rachael Ray has her 30-minute meals and her $40 A Day schtick. We have our gourmet, home-cooked dinners for two less than $10.

How do we do it? We keep our pantry stocked with essentials (DO splurge on good quality condiments because these, along with the freshest ingredients, are key to turning a home-cooked meal into a gourmet meal). We stock up on non-perishable items when they go on sale. We buy what's fresh that day, and we keep an eye out for manager's specials in the meat/seafood section.We keep food preparation extremely simple.

A few key ingredients and voila, easy gourmet dinners for two for less than $10.

Here are some of the gourmet dinners we've prepared and enjoyed this week:

• Caesar Salad a la L.G.'s Steakhouse with Spaghetti Bolognese & Garlic Bread
• Salmon Fillet with Soy-Lime Dressing & Sauteed Spinach
• Bacolod Chicken (a specialty from the town in the Philippines that Dezzi Rae grew up in) with Garlic Rice
• Flank Steak with Chimichurri Sauce We'll have the recipes to you shortly.

The $5,000 Cheap Chic Wedding Challenge

They say the average wedding in Southern California costs $33,000.

We are 10 months away from our October 2008 wedding, and the quotes are coming in for wedding cakes, venues, flowers, gowns, what-have-you, and while it’s nowhere near that $33,000 magic number, the one line that goes through my head after a visit with one of these wedding vendors is, “ARE YOU FRIGGING KIDDING ME?!!!”

The mortgage consultant in me - the one who gives clients a stern lecture about taking the cashout from their refinance and putting it towards their daughter’s college fund or putting it back into their homes (great for value appreciation) instead of blowing it on a spiffy sportscar that strokes their egos and nothing more- can’t even comprehend how a couple-unless one of them had a last name like Trump or Hilton- could spend that kind of money on the Big Day. I know it’s the most important day in every couple’s life but $33,000 ? Come on! You can pay the closing costs and the down payment on a starter home. A starter home which would give you major tax deductions, and grow in equity over the years.

Having worked as an ad agency account exec prior to becoming a mortgage consultant, I also had to handle some event planning for my clients. We would do a decent markup on the vendor items, but it’s interesting how the mere mention of the word ‘wedding’ is reason enough for the markups to go through the roof.

So, we decided to take on the $5,000 Cheap Chic Wedding Challenge, of course. But how does one go about having a simple, elegant wedding for $5,000 in Los Angeles ?

I have planned enough successful events in the past to where we can do without a wedding planner. I make handmade paper as a hobby so we will be making our own custom wedding invitations. We just walked through the L.A. Fashion District over the weekend and found a store that would sell us two 50 yard-rolls of tulle for only $60, and 20 yards of gabardine for $1/yard (the vendor was going to charge us the same amount to rent it, but I intend to do something arts-and-craftsy with the runner after the wedding). I found these elegant burgundy floor-length gowns with intricate beadwork for my bridesmaids at $76. Corey found beautifully made black paisley vests ($29) and ivory shirts ($15) that his groomsmen could wear over and over at special occasions, and that was just the start. We didn’t make it down to the Wholesale Flower Mart before they closed but we know we’ll find some really sweet deals there as well.

Will we meet the $5,000 Cheap Chic Wedding Challenge? Who knows, but it’s a lot of fun to try. Plus, it’s one way to ensure that we won’t be up to our eyebrows in wedding debt when we're pronounced husband and wife!