Handmade Weddings

This is it! This is our last project for the series Golden Pear and Plum. Some of these projects have been my favorite ones yet.

Today we are making yarn letters! You can hang them where ever your heart desires. Some ideas I had… on the doors the church, hanging from an arbor at the ceremony space, on the back of the bride and groom’s chairs, on the getaway car… the list goes on and on! The materials are pretty simple this week, which was a nice change of pace compared to last week!

You will need:

• 1 to 2 skeins of yarn
• hot glue gun
• ribbon
• scissors

Start wrapping yarn! You will need to use your glue gun to help the yarn stick on the corners and other hard spots.

Once the letters are completely wrapped, you will attach the ribbon using the glue gun.

Then, you’re done!

Pricing for this project was $20.00 for both the letters. And that is really great!

Want to see more from this series? Check out the Inspiration Board, the Yarn Covered Chargers, Seating Cards, the cheeky Ceremony Sign, and last but not least the Sugar and Spice Nuts!

Handmade Weddings will be taking a short break for the holiday season. We will start back up in January! In the meantime, on Tuesdays, I will be answering some commonly asked questions. I have a few in the hopper, but if you have a burning question please let me know! You can write it in the comment section, ask on Twitter or Facebook, or shoot me an email. I would love to hear what you are wondering about!

Stay Tuned!

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This is a deliciously smelling and tasting project. Your entire home will be filled with the aroma of spicy cinnamon sugar. Huzzah!

We are making wedding favors this week, in the form of Sugar and Spice Candied Nuts. I got the yummy recipe from Smitten Kitchen, and created a super simple way to package them, using our plum colored yarn and some jars.

Gather your materials!

• Mason Jars with Lids
• Yarn (I barely used 1/2 a skein for 4 mason jars)
• 1/3 cup dark-brown sugar
• 2/3 cup white granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• Generous pinch of paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 pound pecans
• 1 egg white, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon water

Follow the recipe Smitten Kitchen provides. While the candied nuts are baking, start working on your jars. First, tie a loop around the jar, and knot it. Then begin wrapping the yarn around a portion of the jar, in the middle.

Once that is done, secure the end piece of yarn by tucking it into the wrapped part. Next, cut a piece of yarn and tie a bow around the center.

The jars are done!

When the nuts are finished baking, fill the jars and secure the lids. That’s it! I also thought an extra step that would be cool, is to paint the lids with chalkboard paint and write “Thanks!” on top.

Pricing for this project was fairly good, except for the pecans. Nuts in general are getting more and more expensive. I spent $15.00, and that filled 4 jars. We used about 1/2 the yarn skein, but I think you could get 10 jars wrapped with one skein. Each skein was $6.00. Taking into account the baking supplies, each favor comes in a little below $5.00. If that number is a little high for you, you could consider making the jars do double duty! They can function as favors and seating “cards”, or place settings, or you could get really creative and incorporate them into your centerpieces!

I LOVE the food part of each series, because I get to eat it!! Doesn’t that look so good?

One more project left on this series, stay tuned!

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This may be my favorite project for this series! Only because its a little cheeky. And everyone needs a little sass sometimes. We are making a “Here Comes The…” sign for the ceremony! I saw this saying on a real wedding post a couple years ago, and it always stuck with me. Instead of saying, Here Comes The Bride… We are making a sign that says, Here Comes Your Girl. Isnt that sweet and funny?

Let us gather our materials!  You will need…

• Dowel Rod
• Two Paper Bags, to cover your workspace.
• Muslin
• Acrylic Paint
• Wooden Block Letters
• Paint Brush
• Ribbon
• Pencil
• Scissors

I cut my fabric first, and to see how everything would lay out… I placed the letters in their spots and determined where to cut.

I also cut a little detail at the bottom. A scalloped bottom would be pretty too. Next, you paint the backside of your block letters. Paint adheres better to fabric than stamp ink does, so that is why I chose to do it this way. When painting the back of the letters, it needs to be thick. But, not so thick that if you held the block upright, paint would quickly slide off. Its kind of…a goopy consistency you are going for.

Press your letter into the fabric. Make sure as much paint transfers as possible. Push that bugger down with all your might! You may still need to touch up little spots with your paint brush. Not a problem, just go slowly.

When I finished, and the paint was pretty dry, I tied the muslin onto the dowel. I cut little holes at the top and tied it with ribbon.

I added some ribbon on the extra dowel space. You could keep this clear and have two little munchkins hold the dowel instead of the ribbon loop.

And done!

I love it!

Pricing for this project was about $35.00, total. I think that is a GREAT price for this detail. It took me about 1.5 hours start to finish. What do you think? Would you make a sign like this?

Stay tuned, next week is our food project for this series!

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Annnnd, we’re back! I am really happy to be back to blogging, and back to Handmade Weddings this week. The break off was nice, so unbelievably wonderful, but I think I was starting to twitch to get back to work! I kept thinking about all the things I needed to be doing… This week we are doing Pear Seating Cards!

Please forgive me, I forgot to grab a “gather your materials” image! But, here is what you need:

• Pears (I got 6, but you will need however many to accommodate your guest list.)
• Straight Pins
• Paper
• Pen

I cut little flags out of the paper, wrote people’s names on them in cursive, and added the table #.  Then using the straight pin, attach the name flag.  Done!  So easy!!

Super simple, and really pretty!! When I bought the pears, they were $0.99/lb. So a little less than a dollar a pear. The straight pins were super cheap, and I already had the pen and paper. If you had a guest list of 150 people, you could crank this project out for $150-ish dollars! That is a great price compared to what letter pressed cards might cost!

I wish I could tell you what next week’s project is, because I am in love with it. Its a little funny, and a little sweet. Basically, awesome. Can’t wait!

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Get excited! This is our first project with our new snazzy theme, Golden Pear and Plum! This week we are focusing in on the table setting, specifically the plate settings.

We are creating yarn covered chargers! I certainly do not recommend doing this for an entire guest list. I would say the head table, or just the bride and groom. It is somewhat time consuming! But, its such a sweet little detail that will add some personality and warmth to your table settings. Have all the bridesmaids over and each one can make a charger while you watch Meet Me in St. Louis.  That sounds like a heel clicking good time to me!

Gather your materials:

• Yarn, in your color choice.  My yarn is est. 210 yds and was just shy of covering the entire charger, so opt for a small charger, or more yarn.
• Chargers.  I got mine at Ben Franklin in a color I knew I could use again.  Red, for Christmas!
• Tape.
• Scissors

Tape an end piece of yarn to the back of your charger.  And start wrapping!  I went in a criss cross type pattern.

Once you have covered the entire charger sufficiently, you are finished!  Keep in mind, you will be creating a small bump on the bottom.  Try to keep it centered.

And now for the place setting…

I added a few things…

I really think setting the table for your wedding, even if its just one table, is important.  It’s more beautiful when the table is set.  And as I have said before, it doesn’t have to be a fancy table setting!

I spent about $6.00 on yarn.  It took 1.5 skeins for one charger.  Each charger was $2.00 at Ben Franklin.  So, this project costs about $8.00/ place setting.  One more reason to do it only for the Bride and Groom, or for the wedding party head table!  Doesn’t it look so cozy though?

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Hi lovelies! Sorry for the radio silence here. I got sick on Friday and everything on my to-do list just came to a halt. My day looked something like this: Wake up, drink a huge glass of OJ, take meds, take a 4 hour nap. Repeat. But! I am so excited to be sharing our new snazzy handmade weddings theme with you! I didnt have something in mind when our last theme finished. I just knew I wanted it to go with the season, but I didn’t want the traditional color palette or traditional elements. Meaning, no orange, no red, no yellow, and no pumpkins or acorns. Not that there is anything wrong with those colors and elements. They are beautiful and represent fall so well. I just wanted something fresh and different.

I was reading my Cooking Light magazine and they did a feature on pears, which are in season in the fall. Our new theme was born. I also really love a deep plum color for the fall, so there was our color palette. Golden Pear & Plum.

Credit for images can be found, here.

I love the colors, lushness, warmth, and the fact that it mostly revolves around food. Who could not be happy about that? We will be doing 5 projects with this theme as well, and the first one is coming up next Tuesday! What do you think? This is such a lovely time of year, I can’t wait!

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This is our final project for Clean, Classic, and Crisp! I think I saved the best for last!!

This project comes directly from our inspiration board, much like our blueberry cake. We are making glittered heels! When I saw that image of the navy glittered heels, I immediately went in search of someone who had tried this on their own. Thankfully I found three or four tutorials online with all the same outcome and relatively similar directions. When I find similarities in projects, that normally tells me that it will work well and is a consistent enough project to take on.

Are glittered heels, by themselves, considered classic and clean? No. But, when the rest of the wedding does look classic and clean, and a bride finds herself wanting something special and girly… a little sparkle can only help.

Gather your materials:

• Mod Podge Lustre.  I found one tutorial that used Elmer’s glue, but Mod Podge worked really well for me.
• Shoes.  Make sure to choose ones with a great silhouette.  I got these at Target and I really love the shape.  It would also be a fun idea to get vintage shoes.
• Paint Brush.  Make sure to choose a small size.
• Tin foil.
• Bowl.
• Ultra Fine Glitter.  I chose two shades of blue to give a bit of dimension.  Pick any color(s) you want!
• Sand Paper.

First, rub those shoes raw…

Next, cover the interior of the shoe with tin foil. I found that if you are careful you won’t get any glitter on the inside, but the tin foil is a nice safe guard. It is especially nice in case your brush drips!

Also, cover your bowl with tin foil for easy clean up.

Mix your glitter and mod podge. I did this very slowly adding more of both ingredients until it was a thick, but still smooth, consistency. Kind of like its-almost-about-to-one-more-piece-of-glitter-and-it-will-be-gloopy consistency.

Start painting a thin layer on the shoe. I painted two layers, and it was enough. However, if you have less glitter in your mixture you may want to do more than two coats.

When painting the heels, I put a tiny bit of tape around the tip to keep it clean. Also, the heels were not as easy to paint because of the hard material. It took longer to dry, but still looked great when it was finished. Follow your Mod Podge’s instructions for drying time.

Voila!

Didn’t they turn out well?!

I will admit, Jared and I were skeptical of the durability of the glitter. I am happy to say that we rubbed our fingers all over those shoes and not a mite of glitter came off!

Any chance to put on my wedding dress…

Please excuse my vein-y feet. Also, can we please notice how CLEAN the bottom of that dress is?! Do you remember how muddy it was? I haven’t had it dry cleaned or preserved yet {shame on me} but I wanted it to be clean for the Sugar Shoot. So I soaked the bottom in vinegar and water for a day or two, and then again in an oxy clean mixture. Worked like a charm! Don’t worry, I still plan on getting it cleaned and preserved professionally.

Back to the shoes!

So pretty right?

Project cost depends on how much you spend on shoes.  I got these at Target for $30.00.  I really would have liked to get thrifted shoes, but I couldn’t find any I liked, so my cost did go up.  I also didn’t have the luxury of searching for months, which you might be able to do!  I spent about $40.00 total start to finish for these.  $40.00 for completely custom to you shoes?  Not too bad.  Could be better, but not bad!

I really loved this theme!!  Stay tuned for our next theme’s reveal!

Want to see more from our Crisp, Classic, and Clean series? Crisp, Classic, and Clean Inspiration Board, Bouquet, Button Cufflinks, Blueberry Cake, and our Menu!

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I am really excited about this week’s project! It does have one con, but it is so simple and pretty! The con is that it is time consuming. BUT- if $$$ is the issue, than time cannot always be #1 priority for every project. Especially is you have months and months to plan. Of course, most projects can be $$$ friendly and time friendly, but not all.

We are making menus! Thanks to Project Wedding for the inspiration this week. Project wedding is one of my favorite sources for finding a good ol’ craft to do!

Lets gather our materials:

• Nice paper.  I used a thicker paper from Michael’s in a deep blue.
• White paint.
• 1.4 in or smaller paint brush.
• Scissors
• Ruler
• White gel or paint pen.

Next, cut your paper into the correct size for your menu. I used regular printer paper sized paper and cut it in half, bring my menu size to around 4×5.25.

Next, I used my gel pen to write “menu” at the top in a pretty handwritten script. It doesn’t have to be perfect! That’s what handmade loveliness is all about! I then wrote out my menu. This is the time consuming part…

Once that dries, paint on three stripes at the bottom, and you’re done!

All the materials cost me about $8.00. So you’re biggest expense would be the paper. It cost about $0.50/sheet. You get two menu’s per sheet, making the paper cost about $0.25/menu. Adding in the other costs, it would bring each menu’s cost to around $0.30-$0.40/menu. Not too shabby! I think its a lovely detail for your table having handwritten menu’s! I hope someone out there will take it on…Good luck!

Stay tuned for our last project next week…I will give you one clue. It’s sparkly!!

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I am so excited about this week’s project. It’s just so pretty! We are making a blueberry cake. You have seen this in our inspiration board, thanks to Pinterest.

I decided to make a cake “dummy” instead of actual cake, because Jared would eat the whole thing before I even got one slice. So, we have a cake dummy and lots of blueberries left over which I know he won’t hoard.

Gathering of materials…

• Confectioner’s Sugar (4 c.)
• Vanilla Extract (1 Tsp.)
• Shortening (1 c.)
• Blueberries (1 pint)
• Styrofoam Rounds or Cake ingredients
• Skewer

You mix all the ingredients for the icing together…

Icing!

I stacked 5 styrofoam rounds and secured them by inserting a skewer down the middle:

I am not a baker, and I rarely (read: never) bake things that require icing. So, I did my best on my cake dummy:

Now add blueberries, and you’re done! I know it would be a lot more involved if you were making the cake yourself. Waiting for each layer to cool before stacking, and then waiting a little more before icing. But, the process is similar all the same.

I placed singular berries around the bottom edge of the cake and then piled them on top!

Cost for this project was around $25.00, including the styrofoam, blueberries, and icing ingredients. I also had a TON of icing left over and a lot of blueberries left over as well, so that cost isn’t exact. Isn’t it so pretty and fresh looking? I love it so much I don’t want to disassemble it!

New here? See Handmade Weddings: Clean, Classic and Crisp Inspiration Board, Bouquet, and Button Cufflinks!  Also, our first theme, Springtime Garden Party: Inspiration Board, Drink Flags, Tea Cookies, Coffee Filter Poms, Flower Filled Centerpieces, Lace Votive Holders, and Chair Swags!  And our 2nd theme, Color Me Graphic: Inspiration Board, Confetti Cones, Guest Seating Tags, Cornhole Boards Part One and Part Two, Photo Booth, Champagne Popsicle Cocktail, and Paper Chain Altar Decor Part One and Part Two!

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