May

21

What do coaster wedding favors + candle wedding favors have that other favors don’t?

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Feature post image 3

Practical makes perfect. When it comes to deciding which kind of wedding favor to give your guests, choosing something practical is always wise. We’re advocates of coaster wedding favors and candle wedding favors for a number of reasons, but practicality is the number one reason we love them! With coaster and candle favors, you don’t have to worry about your guests’ thank-you gifts ending up in junk drawers the minute they take them home. Bottom line? Coasters and candles are practical items that your guests can use long after your event is over.

Here are some other reasons coaster wedding favors and candle wedding favors are better options than other favor types out there:

Double decor! Coasters and candles aren’t just practical—they’re versatile, too. You know the saying “kill two birds with one stone?” Well, coaster and candle favors do that and then some. Not only do they provide your guests with some type of practical use, but they also provide them with a long-term keepsake and can double as home decor as well. Guests can use them in the living room, family room, or office to add a stylish touch to the home, while reminiscing on your special day at the same time.

Feature post image 1 What do coaster wedding favors + candle wedding favors have that other favors don’t?

Personal touches. Unlike many other wedding favor ideas out there, some coaster and candle favors can be customized with personal messages and even special photos. If you’d prefer to gift something unique and thoughtful to your guests, adding a personal touch to your favors is a great way to do just that. Whether you customize your coaster wedding favors or candle wedding favors with your wedding date, names, or a poem, the option to add a personal touch makes coaster and candle favor options stand out among the rest.

Feature post image 2 What do coaster wedding favors + candle wedding favors have that other favors don’t?

Pretty place settings. Another benefit couples can enjoy from using candle or coaster favors is the chance to spruce up their reception place settings. Something about presenting pretty coaster sets or colorful, scented candles on your reception table makes the whole place setting display light up.

Feature post image 3 What do coaster wedding favors + candle wedding favors have that other favors don’t?

Candle wedding favors and coaster wedding favors are practical, decorative, and offer you the chance to express your personality and give your guests a personal message—what’s not to love?

This guest blog was contributed by WeddingFavors.org – one of our featured vendors at DIY Bride.  Be sure to check out the full selection of favors and gifts for all occasions!  Learn more about WeddingFavors.org.  



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Sep

29

Hershey's Nugget Favor



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Jan

20

Valentine’s Treat Bags

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Treat Bags from Twig & Thistle

The wonderfully talented and creative Kathleen from Twig & Thistle has made available 2 downloadable projects on her site to create the adorableValentine’s treat bags below.  Click here for the Goodie Bag and here for the Brownie Bag.

Valentine Goodie Bags 2 199x300 Valentines Treat Bags

Treat Bags from Twig & Thistle

DIY BrownieBags 2 199x300 Valentines Treat Bags

Brownie Bags from Twig & Thistle



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Aug

31

New Blog Alert: Color Me Inspired

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Color Me Inspired Fans

Trisha and Becka just launched a beautiful new blog by the name of  Color Me Inspired. To kick off their launch, they’re offering up 3 gorgeous fan templates (for free!). Please visit their new site, say hello, and wish them well!

SouthernRomance Fans 300x225 New Blog Alert: Color Me Inspired

Color Me Inspired Fans



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May

27

Jenn Shares Her Salt Scrub

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scrub1

During your engagement you will likely attend multiple showers and parties held in your honor. A great way to thank your guests/hosts is to send them home with a little handmade pampering. Salt/Sugar scrubs are a great way to do this. Bonus – these recipes are so easy you can make them for any occasion i.e. Bridal Party gifts, Birthday’s, Mother’s Day, Baby Showers, Holiday gifts or even as a way for you to relax after a stressful day or week of wedding planning. As far as DIY projects go this one is pretty simple. You should allot yourself about one 1/2 hour of time to prep and complete this project, more if you intend to increase the batch. Good luck, happy planning and congratulations on your upcoming wedding! Salt Scrub You will need 4 ingredients to make a scrub 1.    Epsom Salt or Organic Sugar* 2.    Carrier Oil (Olive Oil*, Sunflower Oil or Grape Seed Oil) 3.    Essential Oils 4.    Food Coloring scrub1 Jenn Shares Her Salt Scrub Tools: 1.    Mixing bowl 2.    Plastic or metal mixing spoon 3.    Pipette (This is for your essential oils, most store bought oils will have a dispensing top you can use instead.) 4.    Canning jars To make: 1.    Take 2 cups of salt/sugar and put into a mixing bowl and combine 1 cup of oil with the salt/sugar mix well. 2.    After salt and oil are mixed put in 8 drops of essential oils in whatever scent(s) you choose. Mix well. scrub2 Jenn Shares Her Salt Scrub 3.    Add one drop of desired food color and mix together.scrub3 Jenn Shares Her Salt Scrub 4.    After everything is mixed together spoon the mixture into the canning jars. scrub4 Jenn Shares Her Salt Scrub Yield: 1 pint or 2 1/3 cups •    *Tips: -    Some extra virgin olive oils can interfere with the smell of the scrub it is best to use a carrier oil with little or no smell; sunflower oil or grape seed oil work best. -    Organic sugar usually costs more than Epsom salts and doesn’t have the same skin care qualities. However it is a finer texture to your scrub. -    If you have never mixed essential oils before it is best to stick with citrus scents they mix best together or use one basic scent like lavender or peppermint. (I like to make grapefruit – I put in 6 drops of the grapefruit oil and 2 drops of lemon. *Lemon is a great oil to mix with other citrus scents and eucalyptus.) -    It is best to choose a color that is corresponding with your scent i.e. pink for grapefruit •    Packaging Ideas: -    For larger groups of people it is easy to spit the mixture up in to 1/2-pint jars and display the gifts in a large basket. -    You can decorate to jars like you would if you made jam by putting scraps of fabric between the lid and the jar rim. You can also tie ribbons around the jar rim and loop a label with the scent through the ribbon. Circular jars lend themselves well to sticker labels as well. Jenn K. and all of her crafty goodness can be found at http://abridesbrain.blogspot.com Jenn’s rockin’ bio: I am a 25 year old wannabe crafter, dork, rocker, lover, feminist and recent LA convert navigating my way through a new city while forging a career and planning a wedding with the love of my life.



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Nov

17

Blythe's Bag in a Box Project

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6a00d8354c0bd869e2010535f2a613970b-800wi

I love finding fabulous favor packaging (and, apparently, alliteration…). This cute little bag is a quick and simple project for presenting small gifties to your family and friends. While Blythe’s version is Christmasy, it can easily be adapted to any theme or color-combo. For more ideas, check out StampinWithBlythe’s blog.

Here’s what you’ll need for this clever gift bag:

Blythe's Bag in a Box Project

STAMP SET:  one with a small snowflake, such as Snow Burst, Snow Swirled, Merry & Bright or Punch Pals

CARDSTOCK:  Holiday Treasures DSP, Ruby Red CS (or DSP and coordinating color of your choice)

INK:  Baja Blue

ACCESSORIES: Bone Folder, Sticky Strip, Round Tab, Scallop Edge, 1/2″ and 1/8″ or 1/4″ Circle Punches, Mini Glue Dots, Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon, Build-a-Brads, Little Felt Flurries, Tombow Multi Purpose Adhesive, Personal Paper Cutter with cutting and scoring blades.

Cut a piece of Ruby Red cardstock 4-1/2″ x 4-1/2″ and score it 1″ from each edge.

Blythe's Bag in a Box Project

Turn CS on the diagonal, and score from each point to the intersection of the 1″ score lines.

Blythe's Bag in a Box Project

Crease your box on the 1″ score lines and bring the corner scores in like this:

Blythe's Bag in a Box Project

Use sticky strip to glue your box corners together.  After the ‘points’ are secured/glued, put a little piece alongside one of the points and secure it to the side of the box, making the inside all flat.

Cut Designer Series Paper to 5-1/2″ x 11″

Blythe's Bag in a Box Project

Add stick strip to one long side and one end of the background paper.

Blythe's Bag in a Box Project

Peel off the bottom piece of sticky strip and lay your box along the bottom of the background paper, so it is even along the bottom.  I start my background paper about half way on the side of the box so the seam will be at the back of the bag at the end.

Blythe's Bag in a Box Project

Continue to wrap the box up with the paper, keeping the bottom edges the same.
Pull off the side sticky strip and glue this after wrapping all the rest of the paper around the box.

Blythe's Bag in a Box Project

Here’s how it looks when your DSP is wrapped around the little box:

Blythe's Bag in a Box Project

Now you need a strip of cardstock 11″ x 1″ and your scallop edge punch.  Starting in the center of the strip, make your first punch.  Then line up the punch, using the guide along the edges of the punch, and continue punching to the left and right, creating a scalloped strip.

Blythe's Bag in a Box Project

Attach Sticky Strip along the long straight length of the scallop punched strip. Wrap the scalloped strip around the bottom of the bag.  I start it at the back of the bag so the seam is at the back.

Blythe's Bag in a Box Project

Gather up your Sticky Tape, Round Tab and 1/4″ or 1/8″ circle punches, a ruler, and Bone Folder and contrasting cardstock, Ruby Red in our case.  Punch out 2 Round Tabs, place a rule along the center and score for your fold, using the Bone Folder.  Fold in half and punch through both layers (for the ribbon you will insert later).  Apply Sticky Tape to the outer most tab areas.  Position and adhere tabs to each side of your bag, one on the seam side, the other on the opposite side.

Blythe's Bag in a Box Project

The Snow Flurries/Build-a-Brad embellishments are next.  I selected 2 of the smallest snowflakes from the Little Felt Flurries assortment. Since the hole in the center of one of the Flurries was largers than an average brad, I decided to use the Build-a-Brad on both Flurrie snowflakes.

Stamp a small snowflake, using Baja Breeze Classic Ink, on a scrap of Whisper White cardstock.  Punch it out with the 1/2″ circle punch.  Set aside.  Using the Build-a-Brad assortment of your choice, Antique Brass or Pewter, apply a small bit of Tombow adhesive to the ‘inside/top’ of your brad and set your stamped/punched snowflake onto the glue.  After it’s secure, top the snowflake with the acrylic bubble, trying to avoid getting your fingers on the sticky side.  If there is no hole on your chosen snowflake, make a very small snip with your Paper Snips; then slide your brad ‘legs’ through and carefully bend the legs into position.  Attach 4-6 Mini Glue Dots to the legs of the brad and attach to the bag, having one hand (or whatever will fit–like a bone folder) inside the bag to apply pressure to the glue dots.

String a piece, about 15″ long, of Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon, through the holes in the tabs and tie, securing the opening.  And voila, you are done.  Here’s the finished bag!

Blythe's Bag in a Box Project

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little tutorial.  This is the first Bag in a Box I’ve made and it wasn’t nearly as intimidating as I’d built it up to be.  It’s really quite easy!



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Nov

17

Blythe’s Bag in a Box Project

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6a00d8354c0bd869e2010535f2a613970b-800wi

I love finding fabulous favor packaging (and, apparently, alliteration…). This cute little bag is a quick and simple project for presenting small gifties to your family and friends. While Blythe’s version is Christmasy, it can easily be adapted to any theme or color-combo. For more ideas, check out StampinWithBlythe’s blog.

Here’s what you’ll need for this clever gift bag:

Blythes Bag in a Box Project

STAMP SET:  one with a small snowflake, such as Snow Burst, Snow Swirled, Merry & Bright or Punch Pals

CARDSTOCK:  Holiday Treasures DSP, Ruby Red CS (or DSP and coordinating color of your choice)

INK:  Baja Blue

ACCESSORIES: Bone Folder, Sticky Strip, Round Tab, Scallop Edge, 1/2″ and 1/8″ or 1/4″ Circle Punches, Mini Glue Dots, Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon, Build-a-Brads, Little Felt Flurries, Tombow Multi Purpose Adhesive, Personal Paper Cutter with cutting and scoring blades.

Cut a piece of Ruby Red cardstock 4-1/2″ x 4-1/2″ and score it 1″ from each edge.

Blythes Bag in a Box Project

Turn CS on the diagonal, and score from each point to the intersection of the 1″ score lines.

Blythes Bag in a Box Project

Crease your box on the 1″ score lines and bring the corner scores in like this:

Blythes Bag in a Box Project

Use sticky strip to glue your box corners together.  After the ‘points’ are secured/glued, put a little piece alongside one of the points and secure it to the side of the box, making the inside all flat.

Cut Designer Series Paper to 5-1/2″ x 11″

Blythes Bag in a Box Project

Add stick strip to one long side and one end of the background paper.

Blythes Bag in a Box Project

Peel off the bottom piece of sticky strip and lay your box along the bottom of the background paper, so it is even along the bottom.  I start my background paper about half way on the side of the box so the seam will be at the back of the bag at the end.

Blythes Bag in a Box Project

Continue to wrap the box up with the paper, keeping the bottom edges the same.
Pull off the side sticky strip and glue this after wrapping all the rest of the paper around the box.

Blythes Bag in a Box Project

Here’s how it looks when your DSP is wrapped around the little box:

Blythes Bag in a Box Project

Now you need a strip of cardstock 11″ x 1″ and your scallop edge punch.  Starting in the center of the strip, make your first punch.  Then line up the punch, using the guide along the edges of the punch, and continue punching to the left and right, creating a scalloped strip.

Blythes Bag in a Box Project

Attach Sticky Strip along the long straight length of the scallop punched strip. Wrap the scalloped strip around the bottom of the bag.  I start it at the back of the bag so the seam is at the back.

Blythes Bag in a Box Project

Gather up your Sticky Tape, Round Tab and 1/4″ or 1/8″ circle punches, a ruler, and Bone Folder and contrasting cardstock, Ruby Red in our case.  Punch out 2 Round Tabs, place a rule along the center and score for your fold, using the Bone Folder.  Fold in half and punch through both layers (for the ribbon you will insert later).  Apply Sticky Tape to the outer most tab areas.  Position and adhere tabs to each side of your bag, one on the seam side, the other on the opposite side.

Blythes Bag in a Box Project

The Snow Flurries/Build-a-Brad embellishments are next.  I selected 2 of the smallest snowflakes from the Little Felt Flurries assortment. Since the hole in the center of one of the Flurries was largers than an average brad, I decided to use the Build-a-Brad on both Flurrie snowflakes.

Stamp a small snowflake, using Baja Breeze Classic Ink, on a scrap of Whisper White cardstock.  Punch it out with the 1/2″ circle punch.  Set aside.  Using the Build-a-Brad assortment of your choice, Antique Brass or Pewter, apply a small bit of Tombow adhesive to the ‘inside/top’ of your brad and set your stamped/punched snowflake onto the glue.  After it’s secure, top the snowflake with the acrylic bubble, trying to avoid getting your fingers on the sticky side.  If there is no hole on your chosen snowflake, make a very small snip with your Paper Snips; then slide your brad ‘legs’ through and carefully bend the legs into position.  Attach 4-6 Mini Glue Dots to the legs of the brad and attach to the bag, having one hand (or whatever will fit–like a bone folder) inside the bag to apply pressure to the glue dots.

String a piece, about 15″ long, of Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon, through the holes in the tabs and tie, securing the opening.  And voila, you are done.  Here’s the finished bag!

Blythes Bag in a Box Project

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little tutorial.  This is the first Bag in a Box I’ve made and it wasn’t nearly as intimidating as I’d built it up to be.  It’s really quite easy!



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Oct

17

Darci’s Out of Town Bags

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darci_oot6

We have a significant amount of guests traveling to our wedding from out of town, so I wanted to have something waiting for them when they arrived at the hotel.  I didn’t want to spend a bunch of money and also wanted to be as “green” as possible, so I decided that a canvas tote was the best way to go.  I found some online at Cheaptotes.com for .99 cents a piece and decided they would do the job!  However, I did still want to personalize them somehow.  I also didn’t want to slap our names on there in huge bold letters and deter people from using them in the future, so I decided that using the flourish from our invitation suite would make sense – provide a little consistency and still keep it rather plain.

I priced a few options for having them professionally printed and most of those defeated the whole purpose of paying .99 cents for each of the bags. I kept thinking about how I could get the flourish into a stencil somehow, and after one attempt with foam board failed miserably I turned to google and found Custom Cut Stencil Co. They were so easy to work with – I emailed them my design, they added the necessary breaks, and one week and $30 later this was at my door:

darci oot1 Darcis Out of Town Bags

It’s a mylar stencil which means that it’s pretty durable, but in retrospect I should have made the lines a little thicker (you’ll see why in a second). I bought a fabric paint pen for $3 and away I went! Important tip – put some cardboard in the middle of the bag before you start painting. Bleeding is a bad thing…

darci oot2 Darcis Out of Town Bags

I should have made the lines on the flourish thicker because the paint pen doesn’t quite fit into the stencil. So, basically I have to trace it once with a pen that will fit into the lines and then go over it with the paint pen. Not the biggest deal in the world, but a little added work. Here is how it looks after tracing the stencil with a pen:

darci oot3 Darcis Out of Town Bags

And here is part of the process of going over the pen marks with the paint pen:

darci oot4 Darcis Out of Town Bags

To get a line on either side of the flourish I just got out a ruler and tried to line things up as best as possible:

darci oot5 Darcis Out of Town Bags

And there you have it! I used a warm iron on each of them to set the paint and make sure they weren’t overly wrinkly.

darci oot6 Darcis Out of Town Bags

All in all I would say that it takes about 10 minutes per bag for the design and just a few more minutes for ironing. There are 40 bags in total, so when you break down the cost of all the bags, the paint pens (it took two), and the stencil it cost around $2 per bag. Here’s hoping our guests get some use out of them in the future as well!

Contributed by Darci L.
Blog: http://www.with–this–ring.blogspot.com/
Used with kind permission from the author.
Copyright 2008 • All rights reserved.

posted by m.s. for k.c.


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Dec

14

Ribbon Favor Bags

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img_5264

img 5264 Ribbon Favor Bagsimg 5266 Ribbon Favor Bags One of my favorite craft projects is coming up with favor and gift packaging. (I especially love the holidays just because I can make and wrap boxes. It’s sick, I know.) Finding nice favor packaging that’s not generic and that doesn’t cost more than the gift itself can be the Holy Grail of wedding favors, can’t it? Well, dear readers, I have an easy-yet-beautiful favor packaging that won’t break the bank.



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Nov

04

Easy Treat Baskets

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treatbox

While I personally love creating small treat boxes I don’t post many here because I know that, for most couples, cutting out and assembling 100+ boxes can be a real drag. In most cases it’s just easier to buy pre-assembled boxes. When I can share treat packaging that requires little cutting and easy assembly, I’m all over it. To the blog I go! And, well, here I am with this easy treat basket. Ok, it’s not a box but it’s a great way to present Jelly Bellys, chocolates or other small munchies. It takes about 3 minutes to cut and assemble and you can get 4 baskets per 1 sheet of 12″ x 12″ scrapbook paper. Supplies Need

  • Cardstock or heavy scrapbook paper, cut to 6″ x 6″
  • Scoring tool (bone folder or paper cutter with a scoring blade)
  • Hole punch
  • Ribbon

Directions

  1. Score each piece of 6″x6″ piece of paper at 2″ and at 4″ in both directions (horizontally and vertically). You’ll end up with score marks in a tic-tac-toe pattern.
  2. Now score each of the 4 corner pieces, diagonally, from tip towards the middle.
  3. Punch holes in each of the corners, about 1/8″ or so from the tips.
  4. Fold all of the scores towards the middle. The corner pieces should come in towards the center.
  5. Thread some ribbon through the holes. Place your goodies inside. Tie the ribbon closed.

(step 1): score1 Easy Treat Baskets (step 2): score2 Easy Treat Baskets treatbox Easy Treat Baskets



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