My previous post I featured a project by David Monn, an event designer featured on Martha Stewart. This is another fantastic autumn project he created that would add some warm autumn colors from an unexpected place! Sure, you have autumn florals and centerpieces..but how about some fall decor cascading from the ceiling? These Cascading autumn leaves are extremely affordable and easy to create and would look stunning in a number of places on your wedding day! Hanging around doorways, above tables or maybe just above the cake table to make your autumn wedding confection pop out even more! Let’s get started!
You’ll need…
- Monofilament (a fancy word for clear fishing line!)
- Scissors
- Pressed Leaves from your yard or faux silk leaves from the craft store
- strong craft glue that dries clear
Now is to create these dandgling beauties!
- Take your monofilament and cut it into lengths you want the cascading leaf strands to be. Make them as long or short as you wish!
- Mark the monofilament with a pencil where you want each leaf to be spaced on the strand. Place a spot of glue in the center of a leaf, and then attach it to the monofilament strand where you made your mark.
- Add another spot of glue on the leaf now glued to the monofilament and push another leaf on top. Double facing the leaves will hide the spots of glue used when attaching!
- Repeat gluing 2 leaves on each premarked spot on your monofilament strand until each mark is covered.
That’s it! make as many strands as you wish and hang them at your ceremony/reception site to add rich natural warm colors of autumn from an unexpected place – the ceiling! I think they are an absolutely perfect add on to your fall wedding decor..Every little detail personalizes your big day!
Make sure you send in your pics if you use these leaf cascades at your wedding!
David Monn (a Nyc event designer) was on the Martha Stewart yesterday and he did a wonderful presentation of easy fall table decor that I thought would also work beautifully in some cases for a fall themed wedding! One of his wonderful creations was a perfect autumn centerpiece, a pumpkin filled with colorful autumn leaves. It’s an extremely easy centerpiece to assemble, and also extremely affordable this time of year – especially if you have rich autumn leaves laying all over your yard or park that can be used for free!
Here’s what you will need…
- Low, Squat Pumpkin (if you want this to be a nonperishable centerpiece, the craft pumpkins would probably work from the craft store too as long as its low and squat and can be scooped out into a bowl!)
- Fall leaves from outside, pick a rich variety of colors – reds, yellows, orange and green! (like with the pumpkin, if you want them to last you can use silk leaves from your craft store)
- Carving knife
- Floral foam (Oasis)
- Floral Wire
- 3 inch floral sticks
Now let’s start!
- Cut your pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and carve your pumpkin into a bowl.
- Cut your floral foam to fit inside your pumpkin bowl and push into your pumpkin.
- Attach five leaves of different sizes to a floral stick using floral wire to form a branch.
- Push your branch into your floral foam and repeat until the foam is completely covered. You will end up with a pumpkin bowl with an overflowing colorful abundance of crisp leaves.
Now just repeat as needed until you have the number of centerpieces needed for your reception! These would also look beautiful as randomly placed decor throughout your ceremony and reception. Maybe place one near the guest book, or a couple around your altar! It would bring the beautiful crisp autumn colors into your big day to compliment a wonderful fall theme.
Credit: Martha Stewart and David Monn for the idea and images!
These floating tea light candles are extremely easy to create, and so very affordable too! They would make a beautiful centerpiece addition, surrounding your main centerpiece..or even used in a group (maybe in differing heights?) to be the main centerpiece. I got the idea when I was watching Get Married this morning, tried it out with some of my chunky candle holders..and it worked beautifully!
All you’ll need are…
- Small Clear Glass Candle Holders (Square, Round, tall, short..whatever fits the style of your day!)
- Water (tap water is just fine!)
- Food coloring in your choice of colors to fit your wedding theme
- Small tea light candles or small floating candles (I used plain old tea lights!)
Now all you need to do is fill each of your candle holders with a bit of water and add a drop of food coloring. A little bit of color goes a long way, I only used one drop per holder! If you put in one drop and still want to go darker, add another drop and stir. If you add too much you can always pour it out and start over again!
Once you achieve the color(s) you like in each holder, gently place your tea light or floating candle into the water and you’re done! Just light the candles and they are ready to glow all night!
If you like, you can fill an empty gallon milk carton with water and add food coloring drop by drop to get the color you like. Then just bring the gallon(s) of colored water, candles and candle holders to your ceremony/reception site so you can quickly set your candles up there (or get your friends or family to do it! You’ll probably be busy getting beautiful.. 
)
That’s it! Have any ideas to make this project more unique please comment! And, as always please send in your pics if you create this candle project.
credit: ThalloDesign on flickr.com
Do-it-yourself hanging jars are an extremely affordable project you can incorporate into your wedding! Very few materials are needed, they cost hardly anything and they can be created in minutes. Once completed they can be used either with candles to make glowing lanterns or with fresh flowers to make hanging colorful vases. They can also be customized beautifully with ribbons and trinkets to fit your theme..and a multitude of items can be put into the jar to further add to the customization.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Jars (Any size will do as long as they have a rim. Any color will do too if it will fit into your theme!)
- Your Choice of (choose one, or mix them up jar to jar):
- Fine gauge metal wire, wire cutters and needle nose pliers OR
- Ribbon/String/Raffia and Scissors
- Tealights/Votives OR fresh flowers (daisies, dahlias, whatever you like!)
- Optional: Fillers for the jar such as sea salt, gravel, marbles, dried peas, sand and shells, candy sprinkles, river rocks..etc. (Be creative but keep in mind – what you choose here also depends on if you are using the jars with candles or flowers… Salt would work wonderfully for candles, not so much with fresh flowers!
Let’s get started
- First, you will need to measure how much wire or ribbon/string will be needed to loop the rim of the jar and also create a loop for hanging. To do this, if you are using wire – wrap your wire around the rim, loop it up to create a handle and back down to the opposite side of the jar. Add an additional inch and cut. If you are using string/ribbon/raffia – Cut enough to wrap around the rim of the jar twice and leave you a handle of your preferred length. Add a few inches and cut.
- If you are using wire (skip this step if you are not!) – Wrap your wire around the rim of the jar just under the lip, forming a ring. Using your pliers, twist the wire close to the jar to secure. Be sure to leave a little room in the ring to allow for attaching of the wire handle! Bend the excess wire over the top of the jar and attach them to the metal ring looped around the rim, securing with your pliers, to create the handle.
- If you are using string/ribbon/raffia – Wrap the string twice around the rim of the jar and knot tightly, making sure you have secured the loop beneath the lip of the jar. Loop the long end of the string up and around for your handle (the more you leave here, the longer the handle will be!), securing it tightly to the opposite side of the jar by knotting it to the loop you tied securely around the rim. If you have enough left over, wrap the remaining string/ribbon/raffia around the rim of the jar again for extra security, and knot. Trim excess!
- Now that your jars have secure handles, its now your time to customize. If you are adding candles, filling the jars with sand, salt or the like can look beautiful. River rocks or marbles with fresh flowers can look great too. Or, go even simpler and add a touch of food coloring to the water your flowers will be in for additional color. Another idea could be adding charms that coincide to your wedding theme to the rim with a ribbon or even taking some craft paint and painting little designs here and there on the jar..(little ladybugs would be adorable..or stars!)
That’s it! The jars will look fabulous any way you decide to use them. Hang them from shepherd hooks down the aisle, tree branches or even fake tree centerpieces IF the jars are light enough for the branches to support. (Think baby food jars with tealights!)
Note: Please make sure if you are creating the lanterns and lighting candles and using anything other than wire make sure the string/ribbon cannot catch fire. Safety first!
Please make sure you e-mail us ALL of your pictures if you use this project to create these beautiful hanging jars. We’d love to see your gorgeous creations!
credit: keri and kevin on flickr.com
credit: Mrs. Cherry Pie on WeddingBee
credit: the adventures of f & j on flickr.com
credit: ThalloDesign on flickr.com
Tissue paper pom-poms are a beautiful decor addition to any casual wedding reception or bridal shower. They are just as unique, colorful and classy as the circular paper lanterns..except they are much more affordable! Hung at varying heights from the ceiling, these large paper flowers will make your wedding theme colors completely POP! With only a few materials and some practice, you can easily make these wonderful decorations for your big day.
You will need…
- Tissue Paper in Your Choice of Colors or Patterns – 17″ x 30″ for Medium Pom-Poms and 20″ x 30″ for large Pom-Poms, 8-11 Sheets per Pom-Pom Ball (the more sheets, the fuller the ball)
- 24 gauge floral or craft wire – About 6 inches of wire per Pom-Pom Ball
- Monofilament or string for hanging
- Scissors
Now you’re ready to make some poms!
- Stack 8-11 sheets of your choice tissue paper(s) and make 1 1/2″ wide accordion folds, creasing with each fold. You can either make the ball one solid color by stacking 8-11 sheets of the same color tissue..or it may be neat to stack 2 varying colors (pink/yellow/pink/yellow) to incorporate multiple colors in one ball!
- Fold a 6 inch piece of wire in half and slip over the center of the folded tissue and twist to secure. With scissors, trim the ends of your folded tissue into rounded or pointy shapes.
- Separate the layers, pulling away from the center one at a time.
- Tie a length of monofilament or string to the floral wire twisted in the center for hanging.
That’s all you need to do to make these affordable, gorgeous pom-poms! Repeat the process as often as you need to fill your whole room with pom-poms of all colors and sizes. Fantastic! I’m definitely going to hng these at the reception of my tent wedding next summer. I hope you’ll share pictures and suggestions if you like this project and make some of your own!
credit: Martha Stewart.com
credit: casaazul on flickr.com
credit: amandabel on flickr.com
Luminarias (also called luminaries) are a beautiful handmade detail for your wedding ceremony or reception, and are incredibly easy and affordable to make. You need only a few basic craft supplies to create customized glowing paper beauties that will add that special something to your wedding day decor.
You will need…
- Small votives or battery operated tea lights
- Small lunch-size paper bags (they come in a variety of colors, even metallic! Check craft stores or online.)
- Scissors, thumb tacks and/or a craft knife, depending on design you plan on putting on the bags
- Small stack of Newspaper
- Optional: Sand for weighing bags down..a MUST if bags will be used outside
Let’s begin!
Once you have decided on a design for your luminarias (google luminarias or luminaries on google images to get a great selection of ideas!), you will need to decide on the method you will need to transfer the design. There are two basic ways – perforation with a thumb tack or actually cutting the design out with a craft knife.
Perforation – Perforating your bags with a thumbtack will allow bright pinpricks of light to shine through in the pattern of whichever design you choose.
- Place several layers of folded paper on a cutting board.
- Tape the paper bag (with bottom flap unfolded) to the newspaper with masking tape or any other removable tape.
- If you have a pattern you have printed or drawn that you are going to be using to create your bag(s), gently tape it into place over the bag so the design is centered.
- Take your thumbtack and prick evenly spaced holes along the outside of the design, making sure to poke all the way through to the other side of the bag.
Cutting Out – Cutting your design out of the bag with a craft knife has both pros and cons. The larger holes will allow much more light to shine through, so the designs will be more apparent..however, the larger holes also allow more wind to come through which may blow out your candle. This may be where the battery operated tea lights have an advantage! Make sure the designs you choose are no larger than 1 1/2″ as designs that are too large can cause the bag to distort and sag.
- As above, place several layers of folded newspaper on a cutting board and tape your bag (bottom unfolded) to the paper with masking/removable tape.
- Very gently draw or trace the design you chose onto the bag.
- Using your craft knife, cut out your design!
Once you have created your design all that is left is to light your bags up! If you are using the bags outside, fill a bit of sand in the bottom of each to weigh the bag down. If you don’t thing the bags will blow around, you can omit the sand. Then add your votive or tea light to each bag and you’re all set!
Both methods will successfully create gorgeous glowing luminarias to decorate your ceremony or reception venue. There are so many different color combinations that can be used for the bags, and an endless amount of designs..the sky is the limit with customization for your wedding!
Hints and Tips:
- Cookie cutters can create great designs! Simply trace them over your bags and perforate/cut away! Think butterflies, flowers, hearts..stars and more!
- Using two different colored bags per luminaria/luminary can further customize your bags to your wedding theme. Cutting a small design in one area in one color bag, and then another design in another area of another colored bag will allow the opposite color to show through when one bag is placed inside the other and lit.
As always, make sure you send us some pictures of your luminaria creations! If you have any ideas or suggestions to further customize or beautify the bags please comment!
Ribbon wands (or ribbon streamers) are an adorable flower girl accessory for any wedding. They are extremely affordable to make, beautifully customizable, and do not require much work or effort on your part! Plus, your flower girls will -love- them! They will entertain themselves swirling and twirling their little ribbon fairy wands about..making great photo opportunities! They are however only recommended for flower girls ages 5 and up! Best to be safe than sorry.
Materials You’ll Need…
- Ribbon in your desired length, Silk & lame work nicely! Take the size of your flower girl into mind – 6 foot ribbons look absolutely beautiful and are ideal, but if your flower girl is tiny, this may be way too long. Shorten as necessary! 3-4 feet of ribbon works well for a smaller child. Ribbon width is just a matter of preference, 1.5″ seems to be a general size though.
- Wooden Dowel Rod (for handle)
- Hammer
- Snap Swivel Hardware (this is actually fishing gear, check the sports/fishing area of your local Walmart, target or Dick’s to name a few! Click here for an example of what they look like)
- Small Flathead Nail (NOT finishing nail!)
- Sandpaper
- Optional: Paint, Charms for Embellishing
The steps to creating your wands are pretty simple! Here we go!
- Gently sand your craft dowel until smooth. You don’t want your little flower cutie to get any splinters! If you plan on painting your dowel to further customize the wand to your wedding theme..do so here! Acrylic paints are extremely cheap (around $1.00 or less) and come in a large variety of colors..so they would work wonderfully! If you do decide to paint the dowel, allow proper time to dry before continuing on to the next step.
- Next, get your hammer, small flathead nail and swivel snap. Nail the swivel snap to the top of your dowel rod. (You are nailing the smaller circular end to the rod. The larger snap area is where your ribbon will be threaded!) Make sure you nail directly in the center of the dowel rod to ensure fluid ribbon movement, and that the nail is very secure.
- Finally, thread your pre-measured/precut ribbon through the larger snap circle of the swivel snap and make a secure knot. Trim the ribbon as you see fit visually. If you like, you can add another ribbon in the same fashion, in another color. For instance if your wedding colors are black and pink..a black and pink ribbon wand could look adorable! You may, however, want to shorten the ribbons a bit to make up for the additional ribbon weight (for easy whirling and twirling!). If you’d rather stick to one ribbon, but still want to incorporate two wedding colors, have one color for the ribbon and paint the wooden dowel in the second color! It’s all up to you!
- Lastly, if you should decide to further embellish your wand to match your wedding, you can do so here! Jewelry charms attach very easily to the swivel snap hardware you tied the ribbon to! Snowflake charms, butterfly charms..even seashell charms would add an additional adorable detail to the ribbon streamer.
Please Note: If the use of a hammer, nail and swivel snap hardware sound like to much for you, you can bypass that and just glue one end of the ribbon to the tip of your wooden dowel rod with a very strong super glue. This will, however, not look as finished and is much more likely to fall apart than if you did it the way above! Just a warning/tip!
That’s it! It’s an extremely easy DIY craft for your big day, and your flower girls will love their whimsical accessory! Please be sure to send pictures our way if you make your own custom flower girl ribbon wands using our instructions..we would -love- to see them!
Cherry blossoms are a beautiful sign of spring across the US. The problem with cherry blossoms is that’s the only time you can briefly enjoy their beauty! This makes it hard for anyone who wants them for their wedding in say..December. I found a solution to that problem with do-it-yourself blooming cherry blossom branches that would be absolutely perfect for centerpieces and decor! These flowering branches are also extremely affordable, since they consist of branches cut from your yard (or a friends!) and some vellum paper. What’s also neat is you can put your own twist on the blossoms, possibly coordinating the colors from the usual pink and white to colors of your wedding! Whether you want to create traditional blossoming branches, or change it up a bit with unique colored blooms..here are the instructions!
All you’ll need are..
- Branches to attach blooms to
- Vellum Paper in Color(s) of your choice (tissue paper works too if you cannot find vellum, it will just be more fragile!)
- Scissors
- Utility/Craft Knife
- Glue
Next is to create the blooms!
- Start by cutting your vellum paper into 3.5 inch and 4.5 inch squares.
- Each square is folded into a flat cone, following the image below.
- Use scissors to make four angled cuts to remove the top of the cone.
- With your utility/craft knife, carve out a small rectangular sliver on each side of the cone(s). Snip off a tiny bit of the pointed tip of the cone, and unfold and shape the paper to create a blossom.
- Take your branches and gently poke blossoms onto the branch tips. You can add a little bit of glue to each blossom to make the blooms a bit more secure on the branch.
- That’s it! Now all you need to do is find a pretty vase or container and anchor the branch(es) inside it with pebbles, crystals or stones.
Whether you use these branches on every table for a centerpiece, or here and there around your ceremony/reception venue..your guests will be impressed by their beauty. They’ll be even more impressed to know you created them yourself!!
Also, if you love the look of the blossoms, but don’t want to attach them to branches, there are a couple other ways you can incorporate them into your big day. I thought it could look really beautiful to gently thread your blooms through colored ribbons or string and hang them from the ceiling. It would be like the gorgeous raining orchids seen in a lot of celeb weddings..only with your adorable (gorgeous!) handmade cherry blossoms. Another idea would be using the blossoms to decorate your favors! Using a hole punch, punch a hole in one folded corner of the blossom, insert a brad and thread with string or ribbon. Attach to your favor bag, tin..basket..whatever you like! Lastly, and probably most simply..scatter your little blossoms around tables for an additional wedding decor detail guests will love.
As always, if you create a DIY masterpiece with these instructions..we wanna see pics! Make sure you send them in to us
chrisilstrup – flickr
thefeltmouse – flickr
threefishsleeping – flickr
Whether you are having a wedding on the coast..or simply a summery beach themed wedding, these do-it-yourself beach gel candles would be a great favor or addition to your room decor! The completed product is a beautiful, professional look..and the project is so easy!
Materials you’ll need…
Pretty Glass Jar or Candle Holder
Candlewick
Scissors
Clear Candle Gel (Found in Craft stores, AC Moore Carries “Gelly Wax” pretty reasonably!)
Aquarium Gravel to match your wedding colors, or a neutral color such as white or a pale brown
Seashells, Beach Glass, Rocks and/or marbles (NOTHING flammable!)
Optional – Liquid Candle Dye to tint gel to desired color, Gel Candle Fragrance
- Pour 1/2″-1″ of aquarium gravel into the bottom of your container.
- Bury the candle wick base in the gravel. (Note: You can use sand instead of gravel, however if you do this it is important to use a wick safety sleeve or “Flame Stopper” so the flame stops before reaching the sand. This can be any small metal tube that can be slid down the wick and crimped with pliers where the flame needs to stop.)
- Arrange your small seashells, beach glass or other decorative goodies on the gravel.
- Heat the gel on the stove top or microwave following directions that came with the candle gel you purchased.
- Once your gel has been heated to the appropriate temperature, you may add optional candle color tint and/or fragrance. Remember, a little color goes a long way, and if you make it too dark you will not be able to see the scene you created! The best way to add color to the clear gel is with a toothpick, dipping it slightly into the color tint and then into your gel. Discard the toothpick and stir. Repeat with a new toothpick as needed if the color is not how you want it. Do the same with fragrance, but adding it by the drop. It is always better to add a little at a time than to add to much in the beginning! Don’t waste a batch of the gel wax on being hasty!
- Once your wax is the right temperature, and it is the color and fragrance of your liking, gently pour it into your container(s), being careful not to disturb the scene(s) you have created.
- Adjust the wick so it stands straight.
- Set the candle(s) where it will not be disturbed for 12 hours while the gel sets and the trapped bubbles rise to the top and pop.
- Use scissors to trim wick 1 inch above the gel..and you’re done! You can either set one at each place setting or use it as decor! You could even tie the containers with a small bit of jute string and attach a personalized card with details of your day..or a little thank you!
Tips and Important Notes:
- Seashells that contain air might also rise to the top! To prevent this, put a small amount of candle gel into the shell before placing it on the gravel.
- Non-flammable Fish-shaped glass beads can be pushed halfway down into the gel so that they appear to be swimming.
- Disturbing the gel to rearrange shells or add objects will introduce more bubbles, but they will settle out of the gel if you leave it undisturbed again!
It is a beautiful favor your guests will adore..and they can bring it home to burn and be reminded of your wonderful day!
As always if you use this entry to create your own candles, we’d love to see! I know your creative minds will have some fabulous ideas for these candles!
Paper cones are easy to make and can be used for multiple things for your wedding! They can be filled with petals for your guests to toss after your ceremony, or they can be filled with goodies as a favor! You only need a few materials, so it’s a really easy way to further customize your day.
Materials:
Paper Cone Template – Download (PDF)
1 sheet of 8.5″ x 11″ paper per cone
Double-sided tape
1 8″ – 10″ length of ribbon for each cone handle
2 eyelets per cone + hole-punch and eyelet setting tools
Optional Embellishments – paper lace, stickers, ribbon, paper flowers, tags
Petal fillings – rose petals, lavender, candy-covered almonds
- Trace template onto sheet, and cut out along heavy blue lines.
- Apply tape to right-side, along shaded area.
- Roll the cone. Hold the cone by the left edge, and roll the right side toward the left edge. Press to adhere. Be sure to make the bottom somewhat pointy. This takes a little practice, so try it a few times with scrap paper before you begin using your project paper.
- If you prefer a flat, closed bottom instead of a point, just fold about 1/4″-inch of the end upon itself. Use double-sided tape to secure.
- Trim the top of the cone to make it even. I like to use pinking shears for a decorative edge.
- Punch holes at the top of the cone for the ribbon handle, and set eyelets.
- Thread ribbon through one hole, and knot. Thread through other, and knot. Knots should be inside cone.
- Embellish to fit your wedding theme!
- Fill cone with your choice of rose petals, lavender, candy-covered almonds or some other goodie ( be creative!).
- Hang the cones on the back of each guest’s chair, put them all in a basket for guests to grab, or place them at their table settings. So cute!
