For those of you planning a Fall wedding, get your behinds to your local magazine racks. September is prime Fall decorating time with the major shelter magazines: Martha, Country Living, Better Homes and Gardens, Southern Living, etc., who nearly always have fun, unique, and gorgeous ideas for centerpieces, favors/treats and decor.

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Hey DIY Bride:

My fi and I are going to do the iPod reception thing. We did a test run at our reception hall (our church’s hall) after a group meeting a few weekends ago and it sounded like crap. What did we do wrong?

-K&S

Hey K&S,

Having an iPod reception can work – and work well – but it needs some serious prep work and the right equipment. Before I can really answer your question, I have a few of my own for you:

• What equipment did you use? (iPod, laptop, PA system, speakers…?)
• How big (square feet) is the venue?
• How many guests will you have in that amount of space?
• What, exactly, sounded like crap? The acoustics? Your choice of songs? The sound quality of your speakers?

Until I know more here’s what you need for kick-ass sound:

1. The appropriate speakers/PA system and set-up for your venue size. An iPod and your laptop speakers aren’t going to cut it in most situations.
2. The right music.
3. Quality music files. Are your files CD quality? What bit rate were they ripped at? Is your playlist all at the same volume output?
4. A properly working iPod and cables.

Hit me back with your replies and we’ll revisit this.

Have a burning DIY question? Lay it on us, baby.

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When I started planning my wedding last year I *loved* the idea of having a candy buffet. Today I’m really sick of seeing them! I like the idea of a serve-yourself favor bar. Got any suggestions for an original alternative?

- Angelica

Hey Angelica,

Candy buffets exploded on the wedding scene around 2006 and have gained popularity among DIYers because they’re easy to assemble and usually budget-friendly.  But, yeah, I hear you, they’re getting played out.

Fear not, however, there are some yummy and clever alternatives that are sure to please your guests.

Popcorn Bar – This is quickly becoming a popular alternative and rightly so. Popcorn is cheap and irresistible. Display flavored popcorn in cute containers as you would a candy buffet. Include bags, scoops, and napkins. Or serve plain popcorn and offer gourmet toppings – both sweet and savory – so that guests may customize to their liking.

Cookie Buffet – Tempt your guests with yummy homemade cookies. Offer a selection of your favorite cookies or go with a theme, like different variations of chocolate chip cookies. To keep it interesting offer 5 – 8 different types (or variations) of cookie.

Snack Bar – Who said favors need to be sweet? Serve up bowls full of salty, savory snacky foods. Homemade potato chips, pretzels, mixed nuts, Chex-type mixes.

Baked Goods Bar – Brownies, cookies, pastries.

Build-An-Apple Station – One of personal favorites, but one that takes a huge amount of work and coordination, is the candy apple bar. Guests are allowed to customize apples with melted chocolate, caramel, and assorted toppings.

Rice Crispy Treats – Offer an assortment of crispy cereal treats.

Ice Cream or Sundae Bar – Again, this takes a huge amount of work – and is probably best not done as DIY – but I had to throw it in there.

S’mores Bar – Another high maintenance station idea but oh-so-cool.

If you have not yet heard of her, please get your browser over to Amy Atlas’ site right this second. She creates extraordinary dessert-type displays that are sure to inspire.

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DIYer Ashley is in search of a Print Gocco machine.

As many of you know, Riso discontinued selling the Gocco in the US. Machines are hard to find and the accessories are now starting to become scarce.

Here’s part of my reply to Ashley:

Oddly enough eBay seems to be the most reliable source in the US for all models of Gocco. Some other places that carry machines that I know of:

Paper Source used to sell the larger unit online. I’ve recently seen them in store and they do have some supplies online. http://paper-source.com

http://www.printaddict.net/ has a few of the larger units.

http://lettersandprint.com/ might still have some left.

The Australian distributor has stuff for sale: http://www.nehoc.com.au/

Do you have any other sources with machines in stock?

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I have about 2 dozen rolls of paper (wrapping paper, handmade papers, large sheets of paper) that I can’t figure out how to store. They were standing upright in a large vase in a corner of my last apartment. That’s just not going to work in the new space.

The underbed storage boxes aren’t going to work for me.  Wall-mounting might work but I can’t visualize doing that for 24+ rolls. Any other suggestions that’ll protect the papers and keep them accessible to me for crafting projects?

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A couple of reader questions have come in that I can’t fully answer and I thought it’d be best to turn this over to you, the ever-resourceful DIY Bride community.

• Mary is looking for custom embossers and custom stamps. I know Wilshire Graphic Press comes highly recommended for embossers. Any others you can suggest? For custom stamps I go to Impress but I know there are many others. Have you had a great experience with other custom stamp services? Let us know!

• ryansbaby is looking for fresh clover for her Irish-themed wedding. Besides her local nurseries or garden centers, do you know of any resources to order from?

Thanks so much!

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Today, I’m sharing a list of surfaces and objects you can rubber stamp on. They’re not just for cardstock!

• Cardstock
• Chipboard/cardboard
• Label sheets
• Wood and veneer
• Metal
• Fabric (natural fibers work best)
• Polymer Clay
• Glass
• Mirrors
• Leather
• Walls
• Painted surfaces
• Tile (ceramic and stone)
• Concrete
• Ceramics
• Rocks (smooth ones)
• Leaves
• Ribbon
• Overhead transparencies
• Vellum
• Tissue paper
• Paper and cloth napkins
• Balloons
• Fondant and royal icing
• Shrink plastic
• Plastic and acrylic
• Photographs

While that’s not a complete list, I hope it give you an idea of how cool rubber stamps are. For me, rubber stamps are one of the most versatile craft tools because they allow you to apply your graphics to thousands of items in any placement you’d like.

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DIY Tulle Circles

If you’re wrapping favors or gifts in circles of tulle, it may be cheaper to cut your own circles out of sheets of tulle. WedCraft.Com has a nice tutorial on how to snip flawless tulle rounds.

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Q: I”m hoping you can help! I’m using eyelets and brads to attach my invitation pieces together. The problem is that I need colors that match my invitations and I can’t find any. I tried painting one with acrylic paints and that didn”t work. The paint just fell off when I was attaching the pieces. Any ideas?

A: Kudos to you for being so crafty! The paint idea is still a good one. You may want to try a spray paint or an enamel paint. Some companies make an enamel medium (Plaid comes to mind) that you can mix with acrylics to make an enamel-like paint. This may adhere better to the metal eyelets and brads.My other suggestion is to use rubber stamping embossing powders. This is simple and works great! I’ve tried this with brads, but not eyelets, though I suppose it will work just as well. You’ll need embossing powder of your color choice, a heat gun, and a pair of long-nosed tweazers to hold the brad while you’re heating it.

Step 1: Open your jar of embossing powder.
Step 2: Clamp the stem of your brad/eyelet in your tweazers.
Step 3: Heat the top of your brad/eyelet under your embossing gun for 5 – 10 seconds.
Step 4: Dip the brad/eyelet into the embossing powder while it’s screamin’ hot. Pull out immediately.

Voila! The embossing powder should immediately melt on the brad. If not, give it a quick blast from your heat gun.

For eyelets, you may want to use a shallow container or just a piece of paper to put your embossing powder on. This will help keep the color just on the rim of the eyelet and not coat the whole thing.

Good Luck!

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Q: How do I glue vellum to my invitation without big puddles of glue showing through?

A: You have a few options for attaching vellum to cardstock.1. Spray photo mount adhesive (we love the 3M brand) – Spray a thin layer (you can use a piece of scrap paper to mask off the areas you don’t want to adhere) and simply press to your cardstock. Dries clear and very quickly. Small cans of adhesive around usually around $5.00.

2. Vellum tape – Relatively new to the market, vellum tape is a super-translucent tape that blends into most vellums. Scotch brand is widely available at craft stores and is usually around $5.00 for a roll.

3. The other option is to not use glue or tape at all. How about trying any of the multitudes of eyelets and brads that are so popular? Or, try punching two small holes in your project and weave a small ribbon through and tie a bow?

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