DIY: Pomanders

I've got a lot of work ahead of me in the next 7 1/2 months... Here is my list of DIY:

• Pomanders (about 40 to be exact.)
• Boutonnieres 
• Personalized water bottles
• Out of town bags/boxes
• Centerpieces (30 of them, 3 different styles)
• Bathroom baskets
• Petals for the flower girls
• Guestbook
• Signage
• Programs/invitations assembly
• Aisle runner
• Table numbers/escort cards (we are still up in the air as to wether or not we are going to do these.)
• Unity candle (almost done... and just realized I forgot to get more crystals at Michael's today...)
• Photobooth
• Flower girl baskets

Yea, time to get started.

Last weekend, I worked on the unity candle (ran out of crystals at the very end!) I will hopefully be able to check that one off the list by the end of next weekend. I also did a mock up of our pomanders. You read correctly above, we will need approx. 40 pomanders! Here is the breakdown:

• 20 - 5" pomanders with cream colored roses for the church
• 8 - 5" pomanders in blue, aqua and teal mums for the entry doors and head-table
• 10 - 8" pomanders with purple mums for 1/3 of the centerpieces

I started my first attempt with cream, opened roses I picked up at the Dollar Tree and a 6" styrofoam ball.  (I originally thought I wanted 6" pomanders, but quickly figured out that the finished product would be too big...) I also started with 2" ribbon, a hot glue gun and floral wire. 

I first started out by making a small loop with the floral wire and by twisting together the ends of a small piece... My original loop was way too big, you honestly only need the loop to be about 1" in diameter.

You do this part at the end, but you will eventually stick your little loop in the mess of flowers and this is what you will loop your ribbon through.

(Before I stuck the floral-wire loop in, I put a dab of hot glue on the spot I stuck it in at and then added a little more hot glue after it was in to secure.)

Next, I used some kind of weird tool in Bryan's tool box to cut the buds off of the stems... PSA: Don't use scissors to cut anything on the fake flowers - it will ruin them. 

I then stuck the flowers in each "pole" of the pomander... Kind of like the north, south, east and west pole. I have seen in other posts on DIY pomanders, people say that they secured with hot glue. I am here to say, this is unnecessary. Just make sure when you cut your  buds off, you make your stems about 1" - 2" long. The longer the stem, the more secure it will be. 

I then started filling in the rest.

One of our Fur-Babies wanted in on the action too...

Then I cut some ribbon... This will need some tweaking - I cut off waaaaayyy too much. I think about 18" will suffice in the future.

I then used a lighter to singe the edge to prevent it from fraying

Then looped it through the floral-wire loop I had installed by this time and tied it in a tight knot. I then secured the knot to the floral wire with a little more hot glue. 

Ta-da! Finished product:

This pomander was done on a 6" ball and took about 55 open rose buds from Dollar Tree. As you can see, it turned out HUGE. I am going to downgrade 5" balls in for the real-deal pomanders and hope they take up less flowers.

I have on order and am not so patiently waiting on about 500 buds from silkflowerfactory.com. I'll be sure to post on the quality of these little babies once they get in. 

DIY: Unity Candle

Merry Christmas to you all! I hope you all had a wonderful and not TOO busy holiday weekend! My whole month has been insane, however, after the first of the year, things should slow down - basically because I am going to make them. :) I have a lot of projects that I want to get completed during the cold, dreary mid-west winter and I need to start clearing my schedule for them.

Which takes me to the start of my first REAL DIY wedding project. (I know I talked about my first DIY project being the wedding binder/bible, but this is the first project that will actually be used for the wedding.)

The unity candle! Here is my inspiration:

No idea who Sara and Justin are, but I like what they did with their unity candle.

I started with our GIANT pillar candle from IKEA and measured out a "template" where a purple backer and our wedding monogram will go (don't mind my mom cooking Christmas dinner in the background or the bowl of chex mix I was munching on...)

Then I started measuring out where the crystals will go with a ruler:

To mark where the crystals would go, I made a little divot with a pencil and then went back and made a clearer mark with a Sharpie:

Making the divots first and following with a Sharpie allowed me to adjust the pattern if I needed to. The crystals I purchased are pretty good sized and will have no problem covering the black dots all over the candle.  At about this time I figured out that using a cloth measuring strip on a round candle is much easier than a hard ruler:

This is as far as I got on Christmas. Shortly after this shot, my mom served an awesome meal of prime rib, party potatoes, green bean casserole and roles. Then we all hopped in the car and went and saw the new Foeker's (did I spell that right?) movie - that series is one series of movies that I would probably still go and see even when they're on the 7th installment. Still funny as ever! Hopefully, I will get the candle finished on one of my days off over the next week and I can show you the finished results. 

Adorama is Amazing

How was everyone's Tuesday? Isn't business suppose to slow down for most offices during the holidays? Apparently we didn't get that memo because I have been insanely busy since right before Thanksgiving. It is making the holidays come insanely fast! Still have a few more presents to buy yet... :/

Tonight, after stopping by UPS to pick up a Christmas present for my mom, I raced home because I knew my photobooks I created through Adorama for our engagemnet pictures were waiting for me. After giving both of my fur-babies hugs and kisses for the day, I ripped into the packaging.

Be still my heart.

Our. Books. Are. Amazing.

The cover is extremely sturdy and has a nice metallic sheen to it. When I say it is sturdy, I mean it reminds me a of a text book cover - very durable. (Not sure if it would stand up to a puppy and I am hoping we don't find that out...)

The binding is amazing - I love how thick it is and that the cover continues around the back.

The pages are nice and thick. Not as thick as a flush-mount book, but definitely more than a glossy paper or even card stock. The finish on the pages is awesome as well - very nice, clean finish. 

My favorite part is the lay flat pages... I HEART full page spreads. I have multiple spreads like these throughout the book. 

The Adorama software is also extremely easy to figure out and for those who have no layout skills, there are plenty of templates to choose from. Adorama also offers many different options in terms of backgrounds and extra stickers and frames, which will be cute for a baby book... Someday. Maybe a fur-baby book. Hm....

In total, I bought a 10 x 10  album for ourselves and as well as two 6 x 6 books - one for each set of parents. I was a little nervous that the 6 x 6 books were going to be too small for the parents, but they turned out to be the perfect size for them. For all three books and for express two-day shipping (because I am impatient) I paid $129 - not too bad!

So - for those of you who do not know what they're going to do with their engagement or wedding pictures, I HIGHLY recommend Adorama - you will not be disappointed. If you want to view our full album, just click here. 

My Good Deed for the Day

I must say, this Monday was easier than other Mondays have been as of late. I think the extra hour of sleep Saturday night combined with the fact that the sun was actually half way up when my alarm went off was a huge help. J

Today I was at Target buying a baby gift for my matron of honor (she’s due in about 6 weeks!!!) I was browsing the baby gift wrap and this lady randomly came up to me and asked if I knew if there was a wedding section. (No, I was not wearing a red shirt OR khakis.) As she started to walk away she mumbled something about unity candle. I asked her if she had tried Michaels or Hobby Lobby, she said she had and that she didn’t like any of their stuff. We started chatting and I said that I was planning on making mine.

She was intrigued.

I told her I got a pillar candle and two candlesticks and the holders from Ikea like these:

Mind you, I know I am going to decorate these myself, but at this point in my day, I was not exactly sure HOW I was going to decorate them. I rattled off some ideas that she could do.

I think this lady fell in love with me in the three minutes I was talking to her.

I told her some of the other things I was planning and she looked totally amazed. I mean honestly, doesn’t every bride make most of their stuff?

No?

Anyway, I felt pretty good about myself after that. Hopefully I helped her see that you don’t have to buy everything out of the box. I love when I go to weddings and you can just TELL how much time the bride and groom (…mostly the bride…) has spent on all the details. You can really see their personalities come through.

Help give me some more ideas, what are you doing to help bring your personalities into your wedding and reception? 

DIY: Wedding Bible

Yea! The first DIY project of many (hopefully!) I am sure all of you brides-to-be have looked at those wedding planning books, they can range in price from $20 to $100. But when you are planning a wedding on a budget (while trying to decorate a house, landscape, care for pets, etc) $20 can be better spent elsewhere. While these books are cute and contain timelines, pockets for documents and tips, most of the information can be accessed on the internet and, if cuteness is a factor, a little elbow grease and it can be cuter and far more unique than anything on the store shelf

I started with a plain white binder. Sadly, this is as far as I have gotten on the cute factor. (Maybe after the 4th of July...)

I found a timeline that contained the basics of what when and what I need to book, the list I chose was from Real Simple, but there are lots and lots of timelines as well as budgets and miscellaneous planning tools available for free. 

I use the pockets on the front and back of the binder to store things that I haven't had a chance to 3-hole punch and enter. 

The best part of having a binder as your wedding bible? Customize the tabs to what you need! Having a band, give them their own tab. Photographer? Own tab. Organize it the way that works the best for you. I highly recommend 3-hole punching everything you need to keep track of and putting them under the proper tabs. Contracts, correspondence (emails, letters, call logs, etc.) copies of sent checks, notes, pictures - everything.

One thing to keep in mind as you are planning is that even though you are in a state of bliss and nothing can seem to go wrong, things do go wrong and people do take advantage of you. Keep detailed records of EVERYTHING. Chances are everything will go off without a hitch, but it might not. You will want to have documentation for that 1% chance it does not.

Finally, when your big day is all over, the binder will be fun to look back on and remember how fun it was planning such a great event. Who knows, maybe a friend will want to borrow it or maybe your daughter will think it is fun to look at when she gets a little older.