15 Ways To Repurpose Your Mom’s Gown

Posted by Khris in Attire + Beauty, DIY Projects & Tutorials

Ah, your mom’s wedding gown. You know – that 1980′s polyester monstrosity with poofy shoulders so large they’d darned near swallow your whole face that’s lurking in your folks’ basement? Yeah, that one.

Well, kiddo, she kept that for you to wear on your big day. That’s right. Just for you! While the thought of a full-on Dynasty-themed wedding, complete with appearance by Joan Collins in her glorious Nolan Miller-d glory, makes you giddy for a split second, we all know there’s no way your beloved is gonna go for it.

Or maybe mom’s gown isn’t so bad. You actually love it but it’s too small or too short and can’t be altered to fit you. Maybe it wasn’t properly preserved and it’s now damaged and irreparable. Don’t fret. There are creative ways you can use mom’s gown in your wedding. While these suggestions mean cutting up her gown, you will be creating new heirloom pieces that can (hopefully) be used for generations to come.

1. Hello, ring pillow. Wedding gown fabrics make fabulous ring pillows. Ring pillows are also terrific beginner DIY projects. Check out the ring bearer pillow from vintage lace tutorial at CraftStylish.
2. Hankies and pocket squares. Depending on the fabric of your mom’s gown, hankies and pocket squares for the wedding party are easy, elegant ways to repurpose the dress. Cotton is best for hankies; silk for pocket squares. Consider adding a bit of embroidery, beading, or ribbon trim to add a bit o’ pizazz.
3. Bouquet wraps. Strips of fabric from a beaded bodice look stunning rapped around the stems of your bouquet.
4. Harvest the lace and incorporate it into your own gown or veil.
5. Make a garter. Download our easy garter instructions here.
6. Hair accessories! Cover inexpensive plastic or wire headbands with the fabric, lace, and embellishments. Use buttons and embellishments to create one-of-a-kind hair pins (see my new book, The Crafty Countdown, for hair pin instructions).
7. Make fabric flowers. Perfect for headbands, bouquets, corsages. Tutorial coming up soon!
8. Cover the front of an album, guest book, scrapbook or book of faith.
9. How about a purse? Check out Better Homes and Garden’s instructions here.
10. Incorporate pieces into a chuppah.
11. How about something for the flower girl(s)? Line or cover the petal basket. If there’s enough fabric, how about an entire dress or skirt for your girls? See my new book, The Crafty Countdown, for a fabric flower girl basket project.
12. Cover vases or votive holders with fabric and lace for stunning centerpieces. Check out Martha’s version here.
13. Make a sash for your gown.
14. Bib necklaces are super hot right now. If your mom’s gown has embellishments grab them and create your own, a la Vera Wang, and save $800.
15. Cover boxes for use as card holders. Project Wedding has a fab tutorial here.

Inkjet Printer Recommendations

Posted by Khris in Crafting Advice

Hey Everyone!

My beloved 10 month old son, a curious soul, decided to rip the LCD display from my printer a couple of days ago. I’m in the market for a new printer and, from the emails I get from you guys, many of you are looking for good home printers, too.

I had a Canon Pixma MP500. It was one of the best all-in-one (printer, fax, scanner) I’ve had though it had a tendency to get streaky on hi-res images. I had been using an Epson Artisan 800 but it died after a year and it never really handled heavier cardstock well.

I’ve been asking around for recommendations for a new home inkjet that can handle most crafter-oriented cardstocks. Here’s what’s been recommended to me thus far:

• Canon Pixma MP620
• Canon Pixma ip3500
• Canon Pixma Pro9500
• Canon Pixma iP4500
• Canon iP90
• HP Photosmart 8000 (mixed reviews)
• HP psc 750
• HP 1200
• Epson R340
• Epson RX620
• epson R1900
• Kodak ESP 9 (mixed reviews)

The consensus is that a printer with a top-loading tray, rather than one that loads from the bottom and has to bend and spool through the printer, is best for heavy cardstocks.

What are you using? Do you like or dislike it?

DIY Bride L Letterpress Review

Posted by Khris in Crafter's Toolbox

Though I haven’t had much of a chance to really play with my newly acquired L Letterpress Kit, I wanted to give my first impressions since a lot of you have been asking about it.

Plate Quality Issues

First off, I can attest that there is a problem with breaking plates. The first plate I used snapped on the very first run. This pretty much made that plate as unusable. Not good.

Die Machine Compatibility

There have been mixed reports about whether the L Let can be used in other die cutting machines. Yes, it can. I report that it works in my Cuttlebug (Provo Craft) and others have reported it works great in the Big Shot (Sizzix). There’s absolutely no wiggle room, width-wise, in the Cuttlebug but it ran right through.

Inks

• The gold and silver inks are really pretty.
• Clean up of the plates, lid, and packing mats is really easy. I used baby wipes (having a 10 month old is paying off!) and the ink came up with minimal scrubbing. FWIW: Pampers Natural Aloe Unscented wipes were used. Please thank Zion for his contribution to this experiment.
• The inks are oil-based. Work in a well-ventilated area. The odor can be overpowering in confined spaces.

Ease of Use

The machine is very, very easy to use.

• The grid system on the lid and mat is tremendously helpful for accurate placement.
• If you’ve ever used a die cutting machine before, this will be super intuitive. If you haven’t, don’t worry! It’ll likely take newbies just a few minutes to get up and running.

Notes

• Definitely check out the L Letterpress tips over at Boxcar Press. As Harold mentions, get a better brayer (the roller that applies ink). I happened to have a soft roller from Speedball (around $13.00) and it’s much better than the one supplied by Lifestyle Crafts. A good roller will make a world of difference in ink application.
• Paper is also important. Regular cardstock won’t take an impression – or a very good one. Get proper uncoated cotton paper. See my list here of paper resources.
• An unexpected use of the L Letterpress kit: use it with unmounted acrylic or rubber stamps for perfect stamping placement each time. Stick the stamp to the lid and the paper on the base like you would for a letterpress run, ink your stamp, press the top plate onto the paper (manually or through the machine). Stamps won’t deboss but they will leave a perfectly placed image behind.

Ruffly Felt Garland

Posted by Khris in Decor, DIY Projects & Tutorials

Kristen, over at the uber-cool Domestifluff blog, posted a tutorial for a gorgeous ruffly felt garland. Wouldn’t this be a lovely addition to wedding decor? Tutorial here.

L Letterpress Tips from Boxcar Press

Posted by Khris in Crafter's Toolbox

As I mentioned in the DIY Letterpress Resources post, Boxcar Press makes custom plates for the L Letterpress. Boxcar also has a great post about the their first-hand experience with the L Letterpress that includes some really great tips for getting good prints. Find it on the Boxcar Press blog here.