Weddingbee

I printed my guests’ names on cardstock, their table assignment, and a little design that matches the rest of our wedding scheme.

Then, cut them out, and also cut slightly larger pieces of coordinating cardstock.

Adhere using your adhesive of choice. I used Xyron.

I purchased some wire hoop jewelery ($2.50 for a pack of 60) at a craft store, along with some beads that match our color scheme ($3.00 for 100 beads). The reason I chose jewelry hoops over ribbon, while it’s less pretty, it’s easier to slip on (versus tie) on the day of the wedding for whoever has to set it up.

Poke a little hole in the cardstock using the sharp end of an X-acto knife, and thread bead-card-bead….and that’s it!

The cost associated with this project is negligible. I guess maybe less than $15 (if that) for 120 escort cards.

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She used the template she created to cut votive wraps from vellum. She was able to fit 4 wraps per sheet. We used beautifully shimmery gold vellum from Paper Source.

Then my mom decided to give the wraps some texture by running them through the Cuttlebug machine. She used a paisley folder to create a gorgeous paisley design on each wrap. Because the Cuttlebug can only take lengths of 6 inches at a time, she had to do the embossing in two parts.

I love the design because it’s a little bit Indian inspired and I think the texture adds such a luxe touch.

Then she set about wrapping each votive with the vellum wraps. She initally used vellum tape, but for some reason, it came apart after a few hours! So she tried an adhesive spray with better results.

And here they are all lit up!

We’re going to have about 5-6 on each table and I think they’re going to look so pretty. Thanks Mom!** I promise I’m not a bossy crafts task-master. My mom loves doing these projects and excitedly volunteers to do them « Hide it

Anyway, when she volunteered to make a cardbox for our wedding, I was super excited because I knew she’d come up with something really lovely. And she did! She found this perfectly nice hatbox from Ross– we loved the pattern and great price ($5!), but the colors were much more muted than our color scheme of burgundy, deep dark pinks, and gold.
 

But my mom had a great idea for punching it up. First, she used a knife to cut a slit in the top of the box. She used a file to sand down the edges and make it a nice, smooth cut.

Then she spray-painted the top gold and let it dry overnight.

She then rubbed an embossing buddy all over the box itself. For those who don’t know, an embossing buddy is a small bag filled with a non-static powder like cornstarch. It prevents embossing powder and glitter from sticking where it shouldn’t. She painstakingly went over the design with the Martha Stewart glue pen and added Martha Stewart fuschia and gold fine glitter over the glue. She said this process took awhile because you had to add glue to a small portion of the design, then add glitter before the glue dried, and repeat.

When she was finished with the outside of the box, she glued burgundy velvet ribbon around the edge and fashioned a lovely bow. She glued a dazzling rhinestone to the front.

Ta-da! A beautiful, homemade cardbox for less than $10. And one I’ll probably use to store mementos after the wedding. What are you using to hold your cards?
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I made some personal stationery cards for the girls at my MN shower, and I decided it was time to REALLY figure out how to use a bonefolder. Here’s the step-by-step!

1. Place a ruler along the line where you’d like your paper to be folded. With steady pressure, use the pointed end of the bonefolder to create a score mark. Press firmly, but not TOO hard, as pressing too hard will just cause your paper to rip in half when you fold it.

2. Remove the ruler, and now your paper is perfectly scored!

2. Fold the paper over, and feel free to use the flat side of the bonefolder to help give a perfect fold.

That’s it! So simple, yet I could never figure it out.

Happy Folding!

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I used the popular wrap-around template from Martha Stewart, which somehow manages to elevate an ordinary mailing label into something special.

After filling in the addresses, I printed out the sheets on Pageant Rose paper from Kinkos (thank you for the recommendation Mrs. Lovebug!). Then, I put them through my brand-new Xyron machine.

I’m officially a Xyron addict. I’m frequently embarrassed to be the least-crafty of the Bees, but even someone as clumsy and incompetent as myself can handle the Xyron.Then Mr. Jasmine and I used a craft knife to cut out the labels. Mr. Jasmine gets lots of xoxoxo for his careful, loving handiwork. Surprisingly, it all took much less time than we anticipated.

Since my parents’ return address was already printed on the envelope, we added an ode to our song instead

It kind of amuses me that our save the date envelopes were more formal than our wedding ones, but I think it demonstrates how my thought process about the wedding has evolved. I’ve relaxed about the “rules” a lot more and I’m embracing (or at least trying to embrace) a more go with the flow attitude.

How did you address your envelopes?
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Exhibit B: I’m the amazonian tan lady (summer in Europe will do that) pursing her lips and formulating her catch-plan.

(HINT: Anybody play basketball? The key to catching a bouquet is the stance you take (wide, planted feet, hands up and open in front of you), and where you position yourself (judge the bride, watch her during the day, see if she would be a lobber, a girly-thrower, a ceiling-hitter, etc). Also, be RUTHLESS. )

ANY-WAY, I’m so not throwing my gorgeous bouquet if my guests are anything like me. Instead, I decided to hit my local dollarama, and grab some fake flowers for a little DIY magic!

::HOW TO MAKE A TOSS BOUQUET FOR SEVEN DOLLARS::

YOU WILL NEED:

• fake flowers (I used pink and yellow tulips, pink carnations, green kermit mums)… look at pictures of bouquets you like, choose the colours, types, and number of stems to coordinate with your vision. TIP: Buy stems with multi-heads, not single flower stems, to maximize your budget.
• sturdy, sticky tape (I used packaging tape, but you can use floral tape, duct tape, hockey tape - scotch tape won’t work)
• ribbons (I used two, one 1 1/2 ” ribbon, and one 1/2″ ribbon in a coordinating but contrasting pattern). I used about four feet for the wrapping and bow of the main ribbon.
• wire cutters (I used jewellery wire cutters, but any will do the trick unless you have mega thick stems)
• scissors
• hot glue gun

This DIY project is REALLY easy, and took me just over two hours. Put on some slow jams, grab a glass of wine/soda/water/whatever, and settle in!

::CARNATIONS/MULTI-PETALLED FLOWERS::

Because these are dollar store flowers, they are naturally very ugly. In order to prettify them, you will need to take them apart, and put them back together.

STEPS:

1. Rip the head of a carnation/or any multi-petalled flower off of its stem. Pluck off its green base (bottom of the flower), put it to the side - you will need it later.
2. Layer the flower petals how you like (I alternated the layers so that the Y shapes overlappped). You can also combine different petals from different flowers to create new types of flowers!.
3. Put a dab of hot glue around the hole in the middle of the petals, glue each layer together.
4. Cut off the green bit that originally went THROUGH your flower (not the original stem), so that it is flat and flush with the green base of the flower.
5. Glue this green base and green bit back to the bottom of the flower. The green bit will allow you to connect the flower head back on to the stem. Do so.
6. Arrange any moveable leaves on the stem to how you want them.
7. To make peonies, combine 2-3 carnations together, wrap with tape.

FINISHED CARNATION (PEONY):

:: TULIP OR STAMEN FLOWERS::

Flowers with these upright petals and stamens are a little bit trickier, but it’s basically the same.

STEPS:

1. Fold back the petals, they are usually glued to plastic bits that hold them upright. Cut off the stamen as well as these plastic supports (unless you want a tulip)
2. Rip the head of a tulip off of its stem. Pluck off its clear base (bottom of the flower), put it to the side - you will need it later.
3. Layer the flower petals how you like (I alternated the layers to that the Y shapes overlappped). You can also combine different petals from different flowers to create new types of flowers!.
4. Put a dab of hot glue around the hole in the middle of the petals, glue each layer together. You can fold petals over each other and glue together to create a “bud” as well!
5. Glue this clear base back onto the bottom of the flower. The clear bit will allow you to connect the flower head back on to the stem. Do so.
6. Arrange any moveable leaves on the stem to how you want them.

FINISHED TULIP/FLUFFY PRETTY FLOWER:

To create the bouquet, place the individual or clustered stems (like the peony we made) together, and use your sticky, sturdy tape to wrap around. Each stem you add, do another layer of tape. This way it’s secure.

When all of your flowers are together, apply some glue to the bottom of the bouquet handle. Place the MIDDLE of your wide ribbon on to it, then wrap the handle with the two sides. If you leave pieces hanging, you can wrap them into a bow. Make sure to apply glue every so often along the handle while you are wrapping, so that the ribbon doesn’t slide. If you are using additional ribbons, wrap them as you please, and glue into place.

::THE FINISHED RESULT::

So there you have it! I hope you enjoyed this DIY project - if you are on a budget and are using silk florals, the techniques I have listed here can easily be used for your real bouquets as well!

What do you think? Will my fake bouquet withstand the ravages of a hoard of clutching females?
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My first several roses I attempted to do according to the video on Martha’s site. It didn’t go well. I almost pulled all of my hair out. Seriously, all of it. I had so much trouble with the floral tape. According to Martha and Cassie you are supposed to wrap each petal around the last and secure it with floral tape. Maybe it was the brand I was using, but it really wasn’t holding. I’ve used floral tape a lot in the past and never had this much trouble. So, I switched to double stick tape and wrapped the flower in floral tape after it was done.

Originally I was not going to post a tutorial because there is one on Martha’s site, but after all the difficulty I had I decided to show you how I was able to get them looking flower like. (you can click on the images to enlarge)

Here are the pieces:
You can download and print the templates from Martha’s site. Her templates show only one petal on each coffee filter, using 8 filter per flower. I cut out 2 or 3 petals from each filter depending on petal size.

Step 1:
Take petals 1 and 1.5 and overlap them. Poke a hole through both layers. Put the wire through the hole, bend it down and twist to secure.

Place a piece of DST (double stick tape) along the bottom edge of the petals.

Roll the petals around the wire and secure with DST.

Step 2:
Roll petal 2 around your bud and secure with DST.

Repeat with petal 2.5.

Step 3:
Roll petal 3 around bud and secure with DST. This one is a little difficult - you may have to play with it a bit to get the petal to wrap around smoothly.

Step 4:
Wrap petal 4 around bud and secure with DST.

Step 5:
This part is very awkward to try to hold onto while taping. Stick 3 of the number 5 petals around the bud and secure with DST.

Repeat with 3 more number 5 petals and secure.

Step 6:
Start to pull apart the flower and curl the petals. I use the edge of my scissors to curl as if I were curling ribbon for a birthday gift. You don’t want to curl them too much or they look like they are falling off the bud.

Carefully pull apart each layer of petals. The inner layers are tighter and don’t pull apart easily. The inner most petals don’t move at all.

As you can see, after this step you have a messy flower-ish type thing.

Step 7:
At this point I use more DST around the base of the flower to tighten up the outer petals and clean things up a bit.

You can also see if there are any holes in the flower where one or two additional petals are needed.

Add these petals and secure with DST, curl.

This is what your flower should look like at this point:

Step 8:
Cut about 8-10 inches of floral tape.

Wrap the floral tape around the bottom of the rose and about an inch down the wire. Pull the tape as you wrap and it will be slightly sticky. If you pull too hard it will rip and if you don’t pull hard enough it won’t stick. This stuff is tricky.

Step 9:
Fin!

This coffee-filter-sticky-awkward-frustrating-never-going-to-end project is definitely time and double stick tape consuming, but I am going to forge ahead.

Here are the first dozen paper roses:
If enough of y’inz are interested I can do a Bee-TV tutorial. What do you think?

Are you using non-floral centerpieces? If so, what are they?
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…none other than KINKO’s! Seriously - The best $3.20 I have spent throughout the entire wedding planning process…This easily saved us ~4 hours of work!!

I don’t know why I never thought of it before. After a full night of slaving away with me on our programs and still with a long way to go, Mr. D told me to rest and that we’d continue tomorrow. Then, out of the blue, he brought up the possibility of taking the rest of the programs to Kinko’s and whether it was something I might consider. To be honest, I actually don’t know why I hadn’t thought of it…! I guess that once I had decided I would DIY everything, the thought just never even crossed my mind, . So when he brought it up, I thought, dude, let’s go for it!

And now I’m convinced! First, the process took a mere 3 minutes - For $1.60 per slice (we needed two), we cut ALL of our paper. All we did was tell the Kinkos guy our measurements and handed the stack of paper to him. Not only was it efficient, but check out the difference in quality between a regular paper cutter (this was done using a fiskars one, not my beloved Xacto laser one) vs. the finished cut from Kinko’s…

Note to self: In all future DIY endeavors, don’t forget to think out of the box (or just to think practically ) when it comes to execution! Getting professional help does not take away from the personal nature of the process! (I say this, because we still have many hours left of assembling these things .)
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On the my last day in Los Angeles, my mom and cousin co-hosted an amazing bridal shower for me. It was the most beautiful afternoon and I spent several lovely hours eating some delicious Indian food, hanging out with family and friends, and playing some hilarious games. I couldn’t have asked for a better shower and I was so touched by the love I felt that day.

My mom lovingly made the favors for each guest and they were so adorable that I wanted to feature them here. I definitely didn’t inherit the crafty gene.

Here are step-by-step instructions from my mom:

Supplies Needed:

1. 8 1/2 x 11 inch cardstock (she used 3 different colors)
2. Paper trimmer
3. Bone scorer
4. Craft glue
5. Cuttlebug– I received one as a shower gift!
6. Paisley Cuttlebug folder
7. Cuttlebug flower die-cut
8. Baby mint green ribbon
9. 5/8 inch circular punch
10. Small clear beads for embellishment
11. Corner punch
12. Foam tape

My mom used this tutorial to cut out the boxes:

Then she ran the boxes through the Cuttlebug machine to create the paisley embossed flap.

Then she assembled the boxes and decorated them. You can really decorate them any way your creativity inspires you. She layered complementary colored cardstock on the front of the box and used a mint green ribbon for contrast. Then she used the Cuttlebug’s flower die-cuts to create the beautiful flower in the front of the box. She affixed it to the box using foam tape to give it a 3-D effect and adorned the middle of the flower with a clear bead. Then she tied the front of the box closed with a mint green ribbon.

I think these favors are SO adorable and could be wonderful for any type of shower or even wedding. Yay for my mom and her craftiness. Soon I’ll post about the amazing cardbox she created for our wedding.
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Ooh to the aah aah aah, I lurve it and will keep it to use later on in our home. Mr. CB is really going to hate cherry blossoms after the wedding. It’s super overload! LOL.

I had tons of leftover votives and didn’t want to waste em, so of course, I created another project for myself… insert *Mr. CB shaking his head*. I scoured the net for some easy tutorials to help me in my quest to spice up my votive candles that are tapered. A simple, straight 1.5″x 4″ was not going to cut it, it was going to connect really weird if you wanted it smooth against your glass. But I came up with na - dah. Then genius strikes again! Wah - bam!

I have to say I drool worthy love ‘em tons. I wrapped up all the bunked etched votives, NOTHING goes to waste, and wrapped up all the leftovers too. I left it up to my coordinator to use them in the room for our cocktail hour and anywhere else she saw fit. Lookie, more splash of CB patterns and I put more use to my LARGE rolls of ribbons! Me smoochies.

And girls, because I love y’alls, Imma share my how-to! HI FIVE YO!

HOW TO:
1) I created the template in Word.
2) I measured the circumference of the circle so I knew how far apart I’d need to draw my lines.
3) I drew slightly diagonal lines, tapering inward.
4) Then to get the most difficult curve for the votive, to make sure it tapered perfectly… I just drew two ovals, connecting the two sides of the ovals to the tips of the diagonal lines.
5) Next I trimmed the paper cutting around the top of the two circles and two diagonal lines. And voila, wrap it around the votive, and perfecto fit!

As simple as that!

I changed the lines to a faint gray, so that you could use it as a guideline, it may show a little on the inside but it’s what’s outside that matters! I didn’t bother to go back and try to draw over the line - if you’d like to mess around with the template you can download it here!

Votive Wrap Template

Happy wrapping away!
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