This one’s for you, my crochet-savvy friends. Behold this lovely vintage gown created from crocheted organdy ribbon. If any of you endeavor to make this: please send pictures! I’m dying to see it (but am not crochet-friendly myself by any means, thus I won’t be making it).
Project Directions From The Fabulous Me Did It
For those of you wanting to add a little sparkle to your updo, these hair coils are an easy and inexpensive accessory to make. Best of all? They take just a couple of minutes to make.
Project Directions: AllInfoAbout
I love, love, love beaded flowers. They take a bit of patience to master but they’re worth it (if you like beaded projects).
BeadJewelryMaking has a nice tutorial for creating beaded roses. Wouldn’t these be lovely as boutonnieres? You could also create a whole bridal bouquet from them or sneak in a few into a fresh flower bouquet for added sparkle.
Seeds beads come in hundreds of colors so you’ll be able to make a pretty little flower to match your theme.
Project Directions: BeadJewelryMaking
Using a petal ribbon and a pompom, this project creates a cute fabric flower. It’d be perfect as a corsage or to pin on a handbag, flowergirl’s basket, or even to the bride’s gown.
{Project and materials: Wright’s.}
A good hair accessory is hard to find - especially one that’s hip and inexpensive. Thanks to the fabulous Corvus tristis blog, a very nice tutorial for creating fascinators has been shared.
For the uninitiated, fascinators are large-ish combs or barrettes that are worn to formal events. They’re not quite hats or headbands and are bigger than more hair clips.
Fascinators are very high on the trend list this year and you’ll see these at higher-end salons for $75 - $200+. You can make this for under $20, easy. Find feathers at craft stores and online. (eBay is a great source as are millinery supply shops.)
Go traditional with white feathers or outrageous with shocking pink. Tres chic, my darlings.
[spotted via craft magazine]
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When coming up with nifty and unique ideas for wedding projects, I highly encourage you to look outside the wedding industry for inspiration. Visit designer blogs, pick up craft books and magazines, or head out to your local flea markets to search for those fresh and funky finds that’d be perfect for your wedding.
One of my favorite blogs (and I’ll be sharing many, many more with you) is the purl bee, the offcial journal of Purl and Purl Patchwork, a shop full o’ textile goodness in NYC.
A few days ago they posted a project that made my heart sing: Swatch Portraits. Using cheapy embroidery hoops and swatches of gorgeous fabrics, they created a series of wall hangings that’s bright, fun, and totally unique. While I’d love to create something like this for my home, my immediate thought was … weddings!
Wouldn’t this make the coolest seating chart ever? Imagine mounting different sizes of these hoops onto a big piece of poster board or a piece of MDF (plywood) that’s been painted or wallpapered. Print out table assignments onto coordinating cardstocks and pin them (or glue them with spray adhesive) onto the fabric swatches. Or how about using decorative papers instead of fabric?
For fabric swatches how about using your mother’s wedding gown? Vintage hankies? Old dresses and fabrics found at thrift stores? Or make your own custom fabrics with inkjet-printable fabric (found at office supply stores)!
How about embroidering the seating assignments onto the fabric itself? After the wedding you can take all the embroidered swatches and create a quilt or wall-hanging (or have them made for you).
Start looking at fabrics and craft projects with a different eyes and you’ll be surprised by how many things you’re inspired by!
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Beware! This is a ranty post.
As the recipient of many, many, many wedding and shower favors, I feel the need to speak up about the bad ones. Don’t get me wrong here - I’m not being ungrateful for the sentiment of thanks that a favor represents. What I’m talking about is when the favor is poorly executed or that feels so much like an afterthought that it’s offensive (i.e. “Thanks for coming. Here’s an after dinner mint for your trouble.”). Some favors are just way overdone. Some have dubious legal origins. Some are just destined to end up in the garbage.
My Top 10:
1. Jordan almonds (especially wrapped in tulle). I know these have long been traditional wedding favors because of the bitter-sweet symbolism. I can dig that. However, the truth about Jordan almonds is they’re horrible. I have never, ever in my life heard of anyone saying “Oh man, I just got the worst craving for Jordan almonds.” The teeth-shattering pastel-colored coating isn’t tasty. The almonds are merely “eh”. Why bother when there are 10 million other sweet treats that are far more yummy? Plus, lots of people are allergic to tree nuts.
2. CD favors. I get the appeal. You have the music. They’re easy DIY projects. You wanna share your favorite looooove songs. Rock on. However, the legal foo surrounding unauthorized distribution of music is troublesome. But what really bugs me is crappy song selection. Sure, you love these songs but it’s unlikely that your 100+ guests will share your exact taste in music. Of the 6+ wedding favor CDs I’ve received, I’ve only kept 1. The others got a one-way pass to Garbage Can City, baby. That’s a lot of work, money and materials to just be thrown away.
3. Spoons with chocolate. There are two types of these. The first is spoons dipped in melted chocolate. The other, is a Hershey’s kiss placed in the bowl of the spoon, wrapped in tulle with a cutesy poem. About the dipped spoons: I guess they’re ok for the guests that drink coffee and want chocolate in it. For the rest of us, sucking on plastic spoons to get some chocolate isn’t all that interesting or appetizing. About the Kiss spoons: Just give me the candy. Don’t put more unused plastic products into the universe and, pleasefortheloveofjeebus, stop it with the cutesy poems!
4. Bubbles. They’re waaaaaay overdone, messy, and not all that fun. Can you think of any better way to thank your guests? No? Just skip the favors, then.
5. Seeds and plants. I want to love these. Truly, I do. For green or garden weddings, I think they’d be awesome. Why don’t I ever want to see them again? Like many guests, I will never plant the seeds and I will likely kill the plants. You just wasted a couple of dollars and perfectly good seeds/plants.
6. Framed pictures of the bride and groom. I’m not sure what to think of couples that do this. Narcissistic? Overbought on their engagement shot package and trying to find ways to get rid of the extras? For guests that know you REALLY well (re: your immediate circle of friends and family), this is probably ok. For the rest of us, what the heck are we supposed to do with your picture because it’s sure not going to be displayed in our home or office?
7. Scented candles. I loves me some candle-y goodness (Illumination$ is my friend in a big way) but, like most people, I’m pretty particular about the scents I like. (Lavender, I kid you not, makes me hostile.) Sitting in a reception hall with 150+ highly scented candles (of any flavor) is nauseating and I’m not all that sensitive to that kind of stuff. If you’re gonna do candles, go unscented. Gracias.
8. Bath salts/bath bombs/handmade soaps. Completely inappropriate for a wedding favor and kind of offensive. (Not to mention the scent-factor.) Toiletries are best suited as personal gifts or as shower favors unless your wedding guests are particularly stinky and need a really big hint to wash themselves.
9. Lottery tickets. Ugh! A waste of paper and your hard-earned dollars.
10. Edibles of poor quality. I adore edible favors. They’re one of the best favors you can give - if the quality is good. If you’re going to make edibles, please use ingredients that are at least of passable quality. If you’re giving pre-made goodies, give stuff that’s actually tasty. Your local supermarket likely has fresh, quality ingredients and goodies if you can’t afford artisanal products. Always check expiration dates. And, please, be sure to taste your favors before you decide to give them away. In recent years I’ve received waxy, bland chocolate truffles, cookies that were sickeningly salty and infused olive oil that was rancid. Ewwwww! A little quality control goes a long way.
I ran across this great little project from atelier v. {via Photojojo} this morning. The project could be used for seating cards, pictures, and table numbers. The metal bases can even be painted if brushed silver just isn’t your thang.
If you haven’t been to Photojojo yet, rush over there right away. They have great DIY projects that can be used for weddings and an abundance of tips for taking great pics.
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Have you thought about calligraphing your own invitations and stationery? For my own wedding, I whimped out and used a script font on the computer instead of attempting to learn calligraphy. It wasn’t a bad solution, mind you, it just wasn’t the same as hand calligraphy.
I’ve been trying my hand at calligraphy (and knitting and screenprinting) in my non-weddding crafting time. I love it — sorta. I’ve never met an ink or paper and I didn’t like, so this is a fun experiment. I’m not very good yet (frustrating for an instant gratification girl like me) but am finding calligraphy to be easier than I expected. My tip: get the right tools for the job. It’ll make your life much easier.
Here are some resources I collected to help you get started on your journey to a beatifully penned invitation:
Online Calligraphy Instructions from Chuck McGavern: http://cmcgavren.home.sprynet.com/chiselpt.html
Quick tutorial on some basic letter formations and some information about pens.****
The Sun Never Sets - http://www.thesunneversets.fsnet.co.uk/planning.htm
Great introduction to calligraphy plus an awesome resource list.
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Calligraphy Centre’s Basics - http://www.calligraphycentre.com/begin.html
Basic intro to calligraphy plus resource list.
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Calligraphy Resources From About.Com - http://drawsketch.about.com/od/calligraphy/
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Jim Bennett’s Downloadable Calligraphy Book - http://www.studioarts.net/instruction/calligbook/
For those of you old enough to remember the 70’s, you’ll be surprised to learn that terrariums are making a huge comeback. They’ve been featured in many of the upscale decor magazines lately in all sorts of shapes and sizes. If you don’t already know, terrariums are small containers, often enclosed, for growing small plants.
I brilliantly thought making a tiny terrarium in an Xmas ornament would be an incredibly fun favor or table decoration. But, alas, the fine folks at Cottage Living already beat me to it. (Well, the terrarium part anyway…using them as favors is mine, darnit!)
I bring you the Tiny Terrarium tutorial by Cottage Living.
Available at your favorite craft stores and booksellers.
