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

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.

3.    Add one drop of desired food color and mix together.

4.    After everything is mixed together spoon the mixture into the canning jars.

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.

Australian paper designer Cristina Re has long been the first go to place for beautiful paper designs and accessories. With a large range of lustre papers, embossed papers, fasteners, papers and coordinates, there’s always something just right for your wedding stationery.

Boudoir Blue is a great choice for a stylish summer gala. Guests arriving to jazz and cupcakes, parasols to shade from the sun and bunches of English country roses.

Edwardian Mocca evokes memories of chocolate and warmth. An Autumn wedding, surrounded by crackling fires and dimly lit lamps, bouquets of dark toned flowers with autumn leaves. Lace veils and hot chocolate served at the ceremony.

Enchanted Birds is suited to a spring wedding. I see birds on top of cakes, vintage style fabrics, bouquets of soft pink peonies. Big hair flowers and mismatched bridesmaids, a best friend playing guitar to your favourite melody and the wind whipping through the gum trees.

Geisha Blossom reminds me of a styled, feminine wedding. Sweet treats like individual gingerbread cookies and shortbreads, paper cranes on tables. Vivid red gowns, bouquets of orchids with roses intertwined. A ceremony surrounded by blossoms with soft pretty petals falling over reception tables.

Cristina Re Papers are available from selected stockists http://www.cristinare.com/

Ms. Polka is the creative force behind one of my all-time favorite blogs, Polka Dot Bride.

Clipart Saves the Day (and the Date)

My fiancé and I are in the midst of a nine month engagement and we didn’t even think about Save the Date cards until we had about five months left. Oops – most wedding pundits recommend sending these out at least six months before the big day, so needless to say, we scrambled.

As a recessionista bride (and groom), we intended to do these ourselves, yet we knew nothing about the process. We just knew we wanted something with a bit of pizzazz. So we visited a fancy invitation store to flip through their sample books to get ideas. We saw a lot of vines wending their way across gorgeous cards, intricate Asian artwork, and birds perched expectantly on delicate twigs. I wondered how we could incorporate something equally stylish (and quickly!) on our own.

When we got home, I beelined for one of my favorite websites, www.clipart.com.You can subscribe to this for as little as 14.95 for one week (or 299.95 for two years) and, in that time, download an unlimited number of images. There are also free sites where you can find good albeit less extensive collections.

By searching under ‘bride’ and ‘wedding’, I found literally thousands of images: cakes, wedding bells, ball and chains and bride and groom combos in many different styles (some even carrying shotguns, yikes). I narrowed my search to only black and white images, figuring this would cut printing costs then downloaded five of the more modern and simple illustrations of brides and grooms. Together, my fiancé and I chose a duo that seemed, to us, both elegant and also a bit quirky, as if they might be featured on a construction sign. Like: Wedding Zone Straight Ahead.

Because we’re getting married at an old electrical parts factory in an industrial section of Queens, New York, we liked that these had a rather urban feeling. But if you’re celebrating at a botanical garden or at a church, or if you’re focusing on dancing, or you have some other theme going, you can definitely find an illustration that makes sense for your event.

Next, my fiancé went to town in the program Illustrator: he made a few tweaks and played with the sizing to make the file work for a postcard. We chose a font that seemed to go well with our duo (arial) and decided that, though we’re advocates of grammar, we’d go renegade á la e.e. cummings and write everything in small case.

After a few short hours and a few different versions, our cards were designed and contained the relevant info. We had them printed out at FedEx Kinkos the next day on simple cardstock. The sage green paper we chose gave them a bit of an organic feel we were pleased with. Of course, these Save the Date postcards aren’t letterpress quality. Likewise, they aren’t refrigerator magnets and they don’t put on their own laser light show, but they seem to have gotten our point across. They cost less than $21.00 (not including clipart fee or postage). And though they were created with love, they ate up very little of our precious time: in fact, it took us longer to figure out our guest list and actually get them in the mail.

The best thing is that by choosing this clipart, we unexpectedly developed the ‘look’ of many of our subsequent DIY projects. For example, our clipart couple is currently appearing on our website (also designed by my talented fiancé). This time they’re dressed in a subtle grey. In sticker form, (i.e. round laser printer labels I found at a stationery store) they are going to help fasten together the ‘envelofolds’ of our invitations. We’ve even invited them to stand atop our cake on the big day and they cordially accepted.
Using one specific image across the board like this is almost like branding your wedding. I hesitate to use that word ‘brand’ because it sounds so cold and corporate (and also reminds me of something painful that happens on a ranch), but simple clipart, at the very least, contributes to a theme and creates a nice sense of cohesion.
Along these lines, lots of couples get personalized logos designed, for example with their initials cozily intertwined. I think that’s cute and has wonderful symbolism, but if you’re pressed for time and cutting costs, I recommend this quick, easy, and cost-effective option.  Let’s face it, any way you can streamline this whole wedding enterprise while still personalizing it, is a beautiful thing.

Jocelyn blogs at Current Skate of Mind and Upper East Side Informer

There’s something really fun about the idea of having your own special, handmade font. Whether you’re after a font so you’re able to use your own handwriting in a document or creating your own creative personalised lettering. Fonts In Bloom is the easy way for transferring your ideas from paper to computer.

Fonts In Bloom provides a downloadable template for you to fill in with your design and then you simply upload it and preview before purchasing.

A DIY font would make a personal, but easy to use addition for text on programs, place cards
Fonts In Bloom charges US$15 to convert your work of art to a useable computer font. Check out http://www.fontsinbloom.com

Ms. Polka is the creative force behind one of my all-time favorite blogs, Polka Dot Bride.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’m a sucker for great packaging. When the boxed invitation trend started emerging a few seasons ago, I was positively giddy at the possibilities that’d make their way to our little crafty hands. Just think of all the different ways a box could be decorated! So, knowing I had a little baby on the way (and a 2nd DIY Bride book to write), I ordered me up some boxes and began to experiment with ways to have fun with a boxed invite (and baby announcement) design.

What I came up with is this beauty of a project that combines my packaging obsession with my favorite crafting tool, the die cutting/embossing machine. It’s a boxed invitation with a window cut from the top with a great little die.

• White jewelry boxes, 7 3/8″ x 5  1/2″ x 1″, product #451175 from PaperMart.Com
• Paper cutter
• Spray adhesive
• Decorative paper, at least 8 1/2″ x 11″
• Cuttlebug or other die cutting machine
• Top Note die, product #113463 from Stampin’ Up!
• White and colored cardstock for invitation
• Double-sided tape
• Scissors
• Tape measure or ruler

1. Measure the outside dimensions of the jewelry box lid. (Or you can be like me and set your box lid, face down, on the back of a piece of decorative paper and make folds where you’ll need to trim the paper.)

2. Using your paper cutter, trim the paper down to fit the dimensions of your box lid.

3. Spray the back of the decorative paper with spay adhesive. I like 3M brand. (Don’t use re-positional adhesive.) Apply the paper to the box lid, being careful to line up the edges of the paper with the edges of the lid and smoothing out any wrinkles as you go along.

4. This is pretty as-is, isn’t it? Before you guys start asking: I don’t know who made this paper. It’s a few years old and part of the endless stash of scraps I’m trying to use up.

5. Next up: the die cutting machine. I have the Cuttlebug from ProvoCraft. Other manual die cutting machines like the BigShot by Sizzix will also work.

6. As luck would have it, the Top Note die is almost exactly as deep as the box lid and fits perfectly within the width. Place your die, cutting side down, in the center of the box lid.

7. Now, sandwich the die+lid between 2 of the die cutting machine’s plates. For the Cuttlebug, I used 2 “B” plates. Your machine may vary so do a little experimentation with plates or shims to get the best cut for your particular machine. It’s worth noting here that the box lid is a super tight fit with these plates and some come out a little smooshed on the edges. I can usually smooth them out with my fingers but some have looked damaged.

8. Run your die sandwich through the machine in either a forward or reverse motion, whichever you normally use for your die cuts. Do NOT go forward and then back thinking you’ll get a better cut. You’ll just end up dislodging your die and it’ll cut twice but not in the same spot.

9. Ooh, look! The window has been cut. Save that cut piece! It’ll be great for other projects like seating cards, favor tags, or …? You tell me.

10. For the interior of the box, the invitation, I cut a piece of solid-colored cardstock to the inside dimensions of the box. This is the mat around the invitation. I then created a template in MS Word for the invitation that was 1/4″ smaller (length and width) than the mat and printed the invite.

11. Using double-sided tape, I attached the invite to the mat. Beautiful.

12. Each jewelry box comes with a cotton batting liner. Don’t let that go to waste! I cut strips, about 1″ wide and 1″ long to use as padding in the 4 corners of the box. This props up the invitation. I stuck them down with double-sided tape.

13. Insert invite into box.

14. Place lid on box. Voila!

1. If you’re including maps, RSVP cards, envelopes, and other extras, they’re easily stored underneath the invitation. You may or may not need the cotton if you have bulky items in your invite set.
2. How to mail these? It’s best to put them in a bubble-mailer or inside another shipping box. You could wrap them in kraft paper and send them but you’ll get no protection, especially around that window area. I won’t kid you: these suckers will be expensive to mail. But look how cuuuuuute they are!
3. If you want to seal up the window on the lid, use overhead transparency film and apply sheets with double-sided tape on the inside of the lid. This is important if you’re sending candies or other small goodies that can escape.
4. Stampin’ Up!, if you’re not aware, is a direct sales company. They don’t sell directly to the public. Instead, they have representatives/demonstrators from whom you’ll need to buy this die from. My friendly neighborhood demo, Blythe (also my MIL), can be found here. If you want a demo of your very own, hit up the SU! website here.

Know Your Flowers is a weekly feature that showcases a fab flower or plant and beautiful ways it can be incorporated into your wedding.

Yellow Crespedia

This week’s delightful pick is a flower that’s recently become a real favorite of mine, the yellow crespedia. Modern but playful these mustard-y yellow spherical beauts add a bit of drama and a bright touch of color to arrangements.

The credpedia, also known as billy buttons, is available in all seasons and runs about $1.50/stem retail.

Great examples of use:

From TheKnot.Com

Janie Medley Flora Design by way of The Bride's Cafe

Gorgeousness from housemartin

Edited to add this just posted at Style Me Pretty from La Partie Events. So STUNNING with those succulents. Brilliant.

Posted on Style Me Pretty; Designer, La Partie Events

In my quest to be a total craft nerd with all the cool toys, I recently purchased a Yudu screen printing machine recently introduced to the market by the fine folks at Provo Craft. I had to see what the hubub was for myself and then figure out if it was worth recommending to you, my lovely crafty wedding peeps.

For the record: printmaking is one of my crafting obsessions. I love doing it. I love teaching it. I adore other printmakers and buy a considerable amount of printy goodness every year. In 2000 I bought my first Print Gocco (and then sold it – doh!). A few years ago I picked up a Speedball screen printing kit. You could say that I have a decent background in the basics of print. I’m no expert, just a crafter who digs getting her fingers inky.

The Basic Info

The MSRP of the Yudu is $300, though you can get it online for around $200. {Oh My Crafts has it for 184.99 at the moment}. JoAnn and Michaels are also carrying the machines in store but do not yet allow their coupons to be used to buy the machine. You can, however, use their coupons to buy supplies – which you’ll need.

In the Yudu box you’ll find:

• Yudu machine
• Adult t-shirt platen
• Blank ink-jet transparency
• 110 mesh screen
• Squeegee
• 2 fl oz black ink
• Platen adhesive sheet
• Instructional DVD
• User manual
• Emulsion sheet

A quick run-down of the process (there are other steps and details in here but are not covered in this review):

1. Place emulsion sheet onto screen.
2. Place screen in dryer. Wait for it to dry.
3. Put your artwork onto glass.
4. Top that with emulsion screen.
5. Burn artwork into screen.
6. Rinse screen.
7. Get your print on.

What I tested:

• Cardstocks – some scraps in my never-ending pile.
• Tshirt
• Silk pillow cover
• Metal flashing
• Wood veneer

What I love about the Yudu:

• Print area. The screens are  11″ x 14″ which is a great size for stationery and many other wedding crafts. By comparison, the ever-popular Gocco PG5, has a max print area of 3-9/16″ x 5-9/16.
• The all-in-one design of the machine. There’s no need to buy a lot of supplies just to get started and the all-in-one makes storing it easier than with my other screenprinting kit. The product design team at Provo Craft did a great job.
• Ease of use. Overall, this was pretty darned easy to use. There is a bit of a learning curve but I think even the timidest of newbies could get the hang of the Yudu with just a few tries. Read those instructions, kiddies!
• Handles large prints and designs beautifully.
• Prints great on wood, metal, and fabric.
• Yudu inks offer nice coverage and opacity.
• Screens are re-usable and were easy to wash out.
• The quality of the machine is very good and I think it’ll last forever.
• No special lightbulbs for the machine.

What I didn’t like:

• The machine itself is pretty big, about the size of a large scanner or all-in-one inkjet printer. For those of us who have very limited craft space, the Yudu footprint is cumbersome. However, it has the 11 x  14 print area so it really couldn’t be much more streamlined than it already is. If you’re used to the Gocco’s size, the Yudu will be an adjustment.
• The process is long. It took about 50-ish minutes to do a single print – not including the drying time of the print. Getting the emulsion set up and everything ready to go takes some time. Once you get going, doing multiple prints is pretty easy and quick.
• The supplies are not cheap. Screens run about $28.00, emulsion sheets (2 pack) are $19.00, 5 pack of transparencies are $6.00, inks are around $22.00 for a 3-pack. You’ll also need more platens (if you’re doing multiples of t-shirts), emulsion remover, blockout, adhesive sheets, registration panels, and then all of your clean-up tools, things to print on, etc. etc.
• Screens are available only in 110 mesh. I found that the 110 didn’t do well with small text and very fine detail. On my test of an invitation with 10 and 11 pt fonts (script and serifs), it wasn’t as clear as I would have liked. I’ve heard Provo Craft is working on different mesh sizes.
  
• It didn’t print all that great on some of the cardstocks I had. The ink was too runny on some of the cardstocks and this could totally be the cardstock itself rather than an ink/Yudu problem. I haven’t had a chance to go back and do more tests yet.
• The inks were drying REALLY fast for me on the day I tested so I had to hustle to get prints made before they clogged the screens.
• There aren’t that many ink colors available.
  
• The demo video is not very good.

My overall impressions:

I really, really like the Yudu and am happy to have it. I am eagerly awaiting other mesh sizes to see if they handle finer text and small detail better – an important thing for invitations/stationery design. Bottom line: If you’re serious about taking on screenprinting as a hobby or career, I think it’s worth the investment especially if you’re new to printmaking. If you’re considering only making your invites and a few other projects this is probably way too cost-prohibitive to make it worthwhile.

In comparison with the Gocco, I have to say that I like the Yudu better. Supplies are readily available for the Yudu, the print area is larger which allows opens up a whole new world of print possibilities, and the process seems more intuitive than what I remember from my Gocco days. (If you have Gocco-specific questions, please ask!)

I love that more and more DIYers are taking on floral projects for their weddings. Flowers have been one of the last wedding-related projects DIYers have tackled so it’s exciting to see some of you break that barrier and get hands-on with your florals.

Today launches a new weekly feature at DIYBride.com: Know Your Flowers. Each week we’ll be showcasing a new flower (or plant) and some beautiful ways it can be incorporated into your wedding.

To kick off KYF, we present Fiddlehead Ferns.

Fiddlehead Fern Image from Wholesale Tropical Flowers

The Fiddlehead came into the spotlight last year and is showing no signs of falling out of favor anytime soon.

In colors ranging from bright green to a brownish-purple with hints of green and orange, these fern shoots add a bold, modern element to your floral arrangements. Personally, I love these when used in boutonnieres and I’ve done a couple of bouquets made entirely of Fiddleheads. Stunning!

Fiddleheads are also known as monkey tails, Uluhe ferns, and False Staghorn. Most florists can order these for you if you don’t have a local open-to-the-public flower mart near you. Warning! They are quite expensive, about $1.50 – $2.00 per stem, not including shipping. Warning Pt. Deux: Most mail order fresh flowers and plants are shipped overnight or 2 day. Brace yourself for high shipping costs.

Resource(s) for Uhule ferms: Wholesale Tropical Flowers

Inspirational goodness using Uluhe ferns:

row 1 credits: Martha Stewart |other credits: Brides.com

The Crop-A-Dile from We R Memory Keepers

I think I’ve confessed my love of gadgets here before. The newest, latest, shiniest gizmo on the craft market is always sure to catch my attention, much to the chagrin of my poor husband. ( I’m reforming, honey! I swear! ) With the addition of the new baby into our household, my crafting space got a lot smaller and I’ve been having to downsize my supplies. I’ve been culling my toolbox and paring it down the absolute must-haves. This, the Crop-A-Dile, is one of the keepers.

So, what is this weird-looking gadget? It’s an industrial strength hole punch and eyelet setting tool. Initially I bought it for paper crafting but found it’s also suited to a multitude of craft materials. It can punch metal, thin wood, fabric, leather, and plastic like a champ.

I’ve found that many eyelet-setting tools are a pain to use. They’re awkward, noisy, and overall not very user-friendly. The Crop-A-Dile is a  dream to use. Punching holes in nearly any material is a breeze and setting eyelets couldn’t be easier. It’s quiet, comfortable, and very well made.

The CAD retails for around $20. Don’t let the initial price scare you away. This is one of those tools that will last FOREVER.

One of the perks of having this blog is that I get to have hands-on time with some really great tools and products. The Epson Artisan 800 printer is the latest product I’ve received and tested out.

If you’re interested in doing any kind of printed paper craft for your wedding, a good printer is an absolute must. The quality of your printed materials will define the success of your project. As a hardcore paper crafter, I know this all too well I’ve gone through 4 printers in 3 years!

Finding a reliable inkjet printer that can handle a variety of cardstock, papers, vellum and other materials has been a personal quest of mine. When Epson offered to send me the Artisan 800, I happily accepted the offer. At the time they sent the printer I was writing book #2 and thought it’d be the perfect opportunity to test out the printer. With all of the paper projects, manuscript drafts, shipping labels, scanned artwork, and other stuff that was involved with the book the timing was perfect to see how the printer would handle a wide variety of tasks.

Product Features:

• 5 in 1 with Wi-Fi: Print / Copy / Scan / Fax / Ultra HD Photo
• Up to 38 ppm, photos in as fast as 10 sec¹
• Built-in fax and Automatic Document Feeder
• Wi-Fi and Ethernet networking
• 7.8-inch touch panel, 3.5-inch LCD
• Professional quality CD/DVD printing
• Two-sided printing saves paper
• Create coloring books and personal note paper
• Two-year limited warranty with registration¹
• Ultra Hi-Definition photos last 4x longer than photo lab prints
• Two paper trays always ready to print photos and documents

Price: $299.99 Retail

The Verdict

I love this printer but it’s not without faults.

The good:

• Clean, crisp text prints on most cardstocks, vellum, Avery labels, regular printer paper.
• Excellent photo prints. Seriously, one of the best photo printers I’ve ever used.
• Prints on CDs! For those of you giving CDs or DVDs as wedding favors or gifts, this is a really neat feature.
• Scanner is easy to use and give clear scans on most line drawings tested.
  
• Works great with Macs (I love no hassle printer set ups).
  
• Individual ink tanks cost about $16.00 each to replace.
• Really neat image enhancement feature for scans/prints.
• Touch screen. I’m a sucker for a good interface.
• WiFi! I have this printer connected on my home network and it works beautifully. I can print from anywhere in the house.
• You can turn photos or drawings into coloring books, create personalized notepaper, and print lined paper.
• Double-sided printing capacity.

The bad:

• I didn’t like the software that’s used for printing on CDs. It wasn’t  (for me) very intuitive or feature-rich. I used many bad words when trying to design a CD cover for the first time.
• Smaller font sizes (6pt and under) didn’t always print clearly.
• Not all cardstocks fed through the paper tray or auto feeder. I had some problems with CS from Stampin’ Up! (80 lb weight). Sometimes it’d feed with no problems, sometimes not. It wasn’t a consistent problem.
• Doesn’t always like “odd” sized papers but seemed to handle most pretty well.

Overall, this is an excellent printer that’s capable of handling most standard paper size projects without problem. If you’re looking for a great all-in-one (printer, scanner, fax) this is definitely worth buying. The replacement cartridges aren’t super cheap but they’re pretty competitively priced compared to other printers’ inks in its category.