DIY Wedding

Browsing Pinterest I came across a beautiful canvas art piece by Gorgeous Graffiti, based in the UK – A simple one color canvas with 3D lettering in a variety of lyrics and phrases. When I saw this I thought it would look fantastic as wedding and event decor and would be a really simple DIY that would be fully customizable to your event!

You could use a special quote or phrase, song lyrics…or even a relationship timeline! I thought it would look great with a snippet of lyrics from your wedding song…or maybe a set of smaller canvases at the bar “Eat, Drink, Be Married!”. The possibilities are truly endless. Including the colors! Stick with the all white look or you can choose to go with one of your wedding colors (or a couple colors if you want the letters to contrast!)

All you need is…

• Canvas
• Glue
• Wooden Letters (You can find these at your local craft store or there is a huge selection here, including custom vine monograms which would look awesome! There is also a fantastic tutorial for using puffy paints, wax paper and your own font printout here!)
• Paint (Acrylic would work on smaller pieces, but a spray paint would work best on a larger project!)

1. If you are painting the letters a different color than the canvas you will want to paint them and allow to dry.
2. Take your letters and arrange them on the canvas until you are happy with how they look and glue them in place. Allow glue to dry.
3. If you are painting the canvas and letters one color you can now just spray or paint over the entire canvas and letters and allow drying. Apply second coat if needed! (If spray painting use long, even strokes and make sure you start and stop spraying off the canvas so you do not get pooling of paint!)

That’s it! SO simple and it will be a beautiful custom piece at your wedding or party! I wish I had seen something like this back when I got married in 2009…I would have totally made one for my big day!

If you decide to make one for your wedding or event please take photos and share. Would love to see what your creative minds come up with!

Browsing Pinterest recently I came across a pin for a beautiful centerpiece of frosty looking blue pillar candles sitting in a pretty silver tray of what looked to be snow. Clicking through I found it to be a project by none other than Martha Stewart and I was so excited to see just how affordable and simple a project it was that I had to share! I think they would make stunning, simple centerpieces at any wedding or event with a snowy winter theme.

What gives the candles their frosty look? Epsom salt! Not only does the salt give the candles their frosty appearance but it is also used at the base to give the appearance of new fallen snow. So pretty!

You could also do the project on a smaller scale and frost votive candles to make miniature versions! The votive size would make fantastic guest favors!

Here are the simple instructions (with some ideas from me added in!)

You will need:

• Candles – Pillars work well grouped for a centerpiece but votive candles and taper candles would work too, depending on the set up! You can purchase candles in a color to match your theme (white, blue, etc.) OR I have seen crafters paint a white candle with acrylic paint as well!
• Epsom Salts
• Optional – Glitter and/or food coloring in the color of your choice to be mixed in with the salt (Irridescent snowy glitter or blue food coloring would be pretty!)
• Modge Podge or Glue
• Small Paintbrush
• Rimmed baking sheet or tray (for rolling the candles in)
• Optional – Tray, votive/candle holder to display finished candles on/in

Now the instructions – so easy!

1. Pour your epsom salts into the rimmed baking sheet or tray. If you would like your salts have a touch of color to them you can also add food coloring. I think a touch of blue or green would look gorgeous in a winter theme or do a few different salt trays (plain/blue/green) for some variety! (You can mix in some glitter with your epsom salts to add a little extra customization here as well if you like!)
2. If you are painting your candle with acrylic paint do that and allow to dry. If you purchased already colored candles skip this step!
3. Take your small paint brush and coat the entire surface with your modge podge or glue.
4. Roll your candle in the tray of epsom salts until fully covered and allow to dry.

That’s it! Super easy, super affordable and completely gorgeous upon completion. Just take your finished candles and group them on a pretty tray filled with salt and accented with pine cones, winter greenery, holly, cranberries or even holiday ornaments to create a stunning centerpiece. Beautiful on guest tables or even accenting your winter wedding theme on your escort or guest book table! I can also envision frosty little votive candles lining counters or table tops – so pretty! These simple diy frosted candles will help make your wedding or event a true winter wonderland!

As always if you decide to make some frosted candles for your event we would love to see so please send in your pictures. Your work may be featured on the site!

credit – theinspiredroom.net

I found this beautiful (and SO simple!) project while browsing Martha Stewart’s website and had to share! These Lacy Votive Holders would be such a beautiful addition to any wedding table setting for any season. I can picture brightly colored lacy votives scattered throughout a summer wedding held outside in a tent under the stars or crisp, intricate white lacey votive holders with some subtle glitter scattered throughout a winter wedding in a frosted ballroom. So pretty!

If you are feeling really ambitious (or you are having a small wedding) these would make really pretty custom wedding favors as well!

All you will need are…

• Tea light or votive candles
• Small Glass Votive Candle Holders (to keep the project safe!)
• Rectangular pieces of lace – 5″ wide by 14-21″ long works well but practice with one first to decide on what size works best with your glass holder. The Martha site recommends guipure lace but says any medium to heavyweight lace will work. (Lace can be found in any fabric store and it can be dyed different colors to fit the theme of your wedding or left a clean white, depending on the look you are after!)
• Balloons
• Fabric Stiffener
• Needle and thread(to match the lace)
• Optional: Fabric Dye (if you are dying the lace), Glitter

Now the instructions..

1. Cut lace into a rectangle in the desired size. Trim one of the long sides, which will be the top of the votive holder, following the lace’s motif. Sew across the bottom with a loose running stitch and connect the 2 ends. Pull the thread, gathering the bottom into a tight circle, and knot. Whipstitch the short sides together.
2. Place a balloon inside the lace, and then blow it up to fit the lace’s dimensions. Set the balloon upright in a paper cup so the lace form is upside down. Arrange the gathered lace to create an even bottom. Spray with fabric stiffener until saturated. Let dry.
3. Pop the balloon.
4. Your votive holder should be all set! Now if you like add some subtle glitter or leave it alone Just slide in your glass votive holder and it is ready to light up your wedding!

These beautiful votives will look stunning scattered throughout your wedding ceremony and/or reception. Your guests will love the attention to detail and you’ll love the cost and simplicity!

As always, please send in your photos if you create these lacy wedding candle holders for your big day. We would love to see!

Credit: MarthaStewart.com

Credit: WonderTrader on Flickr.com

Manzanita branch trees have been growing in popularity in the wedding scene  as both beautiful centerpieces and stunning decor (like a manzanita wish tree!).  Tree centerpieces and decor give your wedding an ethereal, whimsical beauty that can give your wedding a modern fairy tale feel or even a lush green forest!

Buying them already made can be quite costly.. So why not make them yourself? The branches aren’t exactly cheap -BUT- it is much cheaper than buying the whole tree already completed. You could also skip using manzanita branches altogether and gather branches from your backyard for an even cheaper alternative!

You will need (for one tree):

• Manzanita Branch(es) or branches you have gathered in the park/backyard (Make sure you allow them to dry out a bit before building!) Also – If you plan on hanging heavier objects from the branches (like votives) make sure the branches you have collected/purchased are strong enough to hold them without breaking. You don’t want your guests attacked by falling candles!
• Container to use as a base of the tree (A pretty wide mouth vase, a cute pail, a clean flower pot…Use your imagination! Just make sure the mouth of the container is wide enough to allow arranging of the branches.)
• Something to keep the branches in place (I have seen marbles, river rocks, floral foam, aqua beads, etc!) If you use floral foam you will want to hide the foam with marbles, rocks or moss when you have finished arranging.
• Optional: Silver/White paint(or any color you like!), Glitter paint, Glitter & Glue (If you do not want to leave the branches in their natural state!)
• Things to hang/decorate the branches – The possibilities are endless! Butterflies, silk or preserved flowers (preserved orchids would be stunning!), strands of crystal, lush amaranthus, fake petals strung on fishing line, lights and even hanging votives if the branch can handle the weight! Little squares of pretty paper would also look pretty for guests to write their wishes and advice upon to hang.

Let’s get started! It’s SO simple

1. First, if you plan on painting or glittering your branches do this first! Spray paint them in pretty metallic silver or a clean white…You may need more than one coat of paint! Then, add some glitter paint or glue on crystals/glass glitter as well if you like! (Which would be stunning for a winter wedding!) To be safe it is best to allow the branches to dry overnight before moving onto the next step. If you are leaving the branches natural skip to the next step!
2. Add your river rocks, marbles, aqua beads….(whatever you plan on using!) to the container. Add the branches and play around with them until you get them to look the way you want them to look. You may also choose to hot glue floral foam into the bottom of your container and then arrange the branches in the foam. Then just hide the foam with moss, crystals, rocks or marbles!
3. Now all that is left is to decorate them! Glue on silk flower and butterflies, drape sparkling strands of crystals or strands of flowers, hang votives..etc! So gorgeous!

That should do it! Whether you make one tree or multiple trees for centerpieces I’m sure your guests will be impressed by their beauty…and you can say you created them yourself!

For further inspiration I found this fantastic video on youtube to help you make your tree:

As always please share your photos if you create your own – we’d love to see!

(Photos from Nettleton Hollow Blog and Real Simple Magazine Article)

I found this DIY project browsing around the web and just had to share it with all of you! It would be a beautiful diy project for autumn wedding decor like centerpieces or decorations or even in wedding bouquets! Plus, it is extremely affordable as you can get the leaves just walking around your neighborhood..for free!

Some tips before the photo tutorial…

• Choose bright, freshly fallen leaves – the more colorful the more vibrant your flowers will be! Avoid the crispy dry leaves..they will not fold and form into flowers without breaking.
• It is best to use leaves of a similar color for each flower..a group of yellow leaves make a beautiful yellow flower..etc.
• The original tutorial is not written in english but the translation mentions soaking the finished bouquets in vegetable oil for a few days to maintain color and freshness. I have not tried this though – so don’t take my word for it! Other preservation methods would be dipping the finished flowers in glycerin(1 part glycerin to 2 parts water, left in solution 2-6 days) or spraying with acrylic spray from your local craft store.
• The thread can be covered with a matching floral tape to give the flowers a more finished look.

The full original tutorial can be found on Natalia’s Site.

As always I would -love- to see photos if you create these beautiful autumn leave flowers! Make you e-mail us if you do

I was watching Martha Stewart last week (as I always do!) and she had a beautiful spring craft on that I thought would be absolutely perfect for weddings! She created stunning fabric floral bouquets and it seemed pretty simple to do too. I’m definitely tempted to add another project to my growing list of diy things for my July wedding…fabric hydrangeas!

Here are her fantastic instructions! (If you’d rather watch the video click here!)

You will need…

• fabric (voile works nicely!)
• tray (something shallow like a clean baking sheet)
• medium paint brush
• liquid fabric stiffener
• petal and leaf craft punches (available at Michael’s and Walmart)
• micro hole punch
• floral pips (or stamens)
• contact cement
• floral wire (if making bouquet)
• wire cutters (if making bouquet)
• green floral tape (if making bouquet)
• hair comb(s) or pin(s) (if making hair combs/pins instead!)
• needle and thread and/or a strong glue (if making hair combs/pins)

Instructions

1. Begin by punching your fabric flowers: Lay a piece of fabric in a shallow tray. With a medium paintbrush, apply enough fabric stiffener to saturate, but not soak, the fabric. Let it dry, about 1 hour. Repeat with any remaining fabric.
2. Using craft punches, punch out petals and leaves as close together on the fabric as possible.
3. Using a micro hole punch, make a hole in the center of each bloom. Slip a pip through each hole, and secure it with a dab of contact cement.

For bouquets:

1. To make a stem, cut a length of floral wire, and wrap it around each pip with green floral tape.
2. For leaves, glue floral wire to each one to create veins and stems. Wrap stems with floral tape.
3. Gather blooms and leaves into a bouquet, and either tuck them in a vase or wrap the stems in more floral tape to join them.

For hair combs and pins:

1. If using a comb gently sew your flowers to it with needle and thread, reinforcing with a dab of strong glue (hot glue maybe?) if you like. If using pins place flowers where u want them at the top of the pin and glue with strong glue.

credit: Martha Stewart

There you go! with those easy instructions you can fill your ceremony and reception with your own handmade bouquets and centerpieces that will last forever! Beautiful keepsakes you will cherish. The hair pieces would also look good not only in your bridal hair..but your bridesmaids and flowergirl’s hair too!

Make sur eyou send in some pics if you create your own..we want to see!

Martha Stewart is having her yearly Valentine’s Day workshop right now so her show is full of all kinds of pretty Valentine’s themed crafts and projects! One of the projects she featured this week were small crepe paper roses that I thought would be beautiful for weddings too! While she explains how to make the roses and turn them into barrettes, you could choose to make them into something else too if you like!

For these pretty roses, you will need…

• double sided crepe paper (choose colors to match your wedding theme!)
• rose template (download here!)
• stapler
• scissors
• toothpick
• 28 gauge wire
• bamboo skewer
• hot glue gun and hot glue sticks
• smooth-cast 327
• piece of styrofoam
• pruners
• krylon clear matte finish spray
• small scrap of green felt
• pencil
• barrette or pin backing (optional, you may choose to use them as decor instead!)

1. First, cut out three 6.5″ by 2.5″ rectangles from your doubl sided crepe paper.
2. Next, print the template! Then cut out the rectangle containing the petal shapes and stack them on top of the three paper rectangles. Staple into place.
3. Now, cut out the petals! You will end up with three tear-drop shaped petals and nine heart shaped petals.
4. To shape the petals: Cup in center; Wrap left and right top edges around a toothpick to curl.
5. Build the flower by placing the tear drop petals first, and then the heart petals around eachother, holding onto the bottoms.
6. Fasten the petals in place by wrapping wire around the base, then wrap the wire around a bamboo skewer. Secure with glue.
7. Mix Smooth-Cast 327 according to manufacturer’s directions. Dip the flower into the mix and shake off excess. Insert bamboo skewer into Styrofoam while the flower hardens. Repeat for a second coat.
8. Use pruners to snip off the “skewer stem”.
9. Finally spray both sides of the flower with the krylon matte spray and allow to dry.
10. To complete the rose, cut out the leaf shape from the template and trace it on your green felt. Cut out your leaf!
11. If you are making a barrette or pin, glue the barrette or pin backing to the back of the flower and then cover it by gluing on your green felt leaf. If you plan on using the roses simply as pretty decor, skip gluing on the barrette or pin and just attach the felt leaf!

Here’s the video if you would rather watch the roses created first hand than read the instructions

That’s it! When complete you will have a pretty crepe paper rose that is actually pretty durable since you sealed it with the smooth cast and the finish spray.

Some ideas for their use..

• Pin it into your pretty wedding hair, make one for each of your bridesmaids hair..or put some in the hair of your flower girls!
• You may choose to scatter them around your cake on your cake table for decoration, or even around the center of the guest tables as an addition to your centerpieces!
• Something that may be worth trying would be threading the backs of the roses with monofilament or clear fishing line, securing with glue..Then you could have  pretty strands of raining crepe paper flowers to hang as decor! You may need to thread them before sealing them though..I’m guessing the seal may make it hard to shove a needle through! You may be able to avoid the threading all together and just glue them directly to the monofilament and hide/secure the glue job with your green felt leaf!

These are just a few ideas..If you create these pretty flowers for your big day we’d love to see!

credit: Martha Stewart

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!

1. 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!
2. 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.
3. 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!
4. 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!

1. Cut your pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and carve your pumpkin into a bowl.
   
2. Cut your floral foam to fit inside your pumpkin bowl and push into your pumpkin.
   
3. Attach five leaves of different sizes to a floral stick using floral wire to form a branch.
   
4. 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.