Planning a Wedding? New Wedding Sign Collections on Etsy!

^^"Elegant" Wedding Sign Collection - available here ^^

^^"Whimsical" Wedding Sign Collection - available here^^

After planning my own wedding this past summer, I can definitely appreciate all the little details that go into it.  One of the things that I loved was finding coordinated wedding signage that I could print at home - it saved me a ton of time and money.  I printed the signs on card stock and plopped them in a frame... and the result was elegant and professional.  However, I only found ONE PLACE to get a package of coordinated wedding signs, and even then I ended up having to supplement with additional signs I created on my own that didn't quite match.

Therefore... I have put some time into creating 2 Wedding Sign Packages of my own to help fill this void.  I'm telling you - it's worth it!  Each package of 5x7 matching signs is for sale in my Etsy shop for $5 each, and I will gladly personalize additional signs for you if you wish.  (I would also recommend getting your frames from the Dollar Store... I used these and they worked like a charm!)

Anywho, I hope someone out there finds these as useful as I did - and hopefully I'm adding to the selection out there!  

Wedding Craft Extravaganza

As you may remember, I am engaged.  Being I have been writing here less and less over the past year (shameful, I admit) I understand how that fact might be easy to forget at this point.  Fortunately, my long engagement has allowed me to focus on several wedding crafts over the past year, which I will now list in detail.

Now, I probably don't need to explain that a craft addict planning a wedding is like throwing gasoline on an already steady flame.  Sure, I always had a few crafting projects happening here and there, but suddenly I had a wedding date and a timeline and a whole new myriad of crafting opportunities awaited me.  

Shipley has enjoyed helping me with my wedding crafts.  In this case, he played a pivotal role with the invitations.

The following is my list of DIY projects that I've been working on for my "big day".  Some are finished at this point, some are not, but I am determined for all them to make an impact on my wedding guests.  If I was a blogger who had more time I would have drawn out each project into it's own blog post, but alas... perhaps that can be a project for when I have professional photo's of the finished products.

1.  Crepe Flowers in Painted Bottles.  I bought a case of 20 small bottles on Etsy, coated the insides with purple paint, waited far too long for the bottles to dry and voila - purple bottles.  I have also made dozens and dozens of crepe paper flowers to go inside the bottles for extra decor.  

2.  Wine Cork "Bar" Sign.  One of my bridesmaids helped me with this one.  Rather than drink myself into oblivion to obtain hundreds of wine corks, I copped out and bought used wine corks on Etsy.  (What a job, selling used wine corks!  There is a market for anything, people!  After all, I totally bought them...!)  Using my trusty glue gun, this project was surprisingly easy - and will hopefully bring a little something extra to my bar area!

3.  Lucky Bamboo Centerpieces.  Guys, flowers are expensive.  An alternative fresh solution that is not expensive?  Lucky bamboo!  Bonus: my fiance is Chinese, and bamboo is a symbol of luck and fortune in Chinese culture.  Perfect!  I ordered a bunch of lucky bamboo online in bulk, gathered some square vases and pebbles from the Dollar Tree (the dollar store literally has everything - don't buy it unless you've checked the dollar store first!), and boom - centerpieces complete.  

Confession - I actually ordered and assembled my lucky bamboo centerpieces several months ago so they had time to grow and become leafy, but sadly this was not successful.  Unless you are accustomed to turning a room of your house into a small greenhouse, I recommend waiting until you are closer to your event date...!  

4.  Crepe Flower Escort Cards.  This one was super time consuming.  Thank goodness for Gilmore Girls and Netflix.  Almost a year ago, I saw something on pinterest about having a paper flower escort card for each wedding guest with their table number on it.  I immediately thought:  "what a lovely idea!".  I promptly bought plenty of crepe paper, floral tape and floral wire.  Some day I will do a blog tutorial on crepe flowers, because they really are SO EASY and SO INEXPENSIVE.  Just prepare yourself if you need to assemble 300 of them, like I did...  wow.  Anyway, I am now finished with them, and hopefully the majority of them won't end up on the floor at the end of the night...!

5.  Crepe Flower Topiaries.  At weddings there are a lot of tables.  Dessert tables, guestbook tables, gift tables, snack tables, buffet tables, favor tables, the list goes on.  How does one decorate all of those tables??  Topiaries were my answer, although I certainly won't have them on every table.  These took me FOREVER - again, a great idea in theory, but super time consuming in practice.  To assemble, I bought tiered tealight holders from the dollar store and super glued them on to foam balls from Michaels.  Then, I assembled hundreds of crepe paper flowers, and hot glued them to the foam ball.  I made 8 topiaries, and each one took me 2 episodes of Gilmore Girls.  (And I only burned myself TWICE!)

Cameo by Rory Gilmore.

6.  Teacup Candle Favors.  These are actually going to be favors at my bridal shower.  I know technically it is a small faux pas for me to be providing my own bridal shower favors, but come on!  How could I not??  I have obviously not made these yet, but am in the process of collecting teacups from local thrift stores.  You can find some gorgeous ones for very cheap if you take the time to look. (Shout out for www.ShopGoodwill.com)  So pretty!

This concludes my list of wedding crafts - all in all, I think I showed a fair amount of restraint.  Hopefully I will have some lovely finished photo's of these crafts in the future.  In the meantime, I hope I have inspired you with a couple of new projects.  Details to come!

It's All in the Details...

So I know I haven’t been writing… which is the cardinal rule of blogging.  (ALWAYS POST REGULARLY!) I am aware of this, and I apologize… but the truth is, as every blogger knows, life gets in the way!

As much as I hate to be generic, getting engaged has actually taken up a great deal of my time.  Whereas I used to spend my spare time looking up and pinning new craft projects to possibly blog about, I suddenly have a seemingly endless supply of things look up and think about:  what color should the tablecloths be on one of the most memorable days of my life?  (I’m still thinking about this!)  Will people notice if I use different shades of purple on the invitations than on the programs?  (Answer:  No they won’t, but I WILL NOTICE!)  Is there a limit to the number of Glassybaby one can have on each table?  (Hint:  The answer to this is the same as to the question “can a woman own too many shoes?”)

FYI:  The answer is "no". 

For anyone who has been following me on Pinterest, you are likely getting tired of my many pins involving “Asian fusion” themes, wedding ettiquite and seemingly random flower arrangements.  I apologize, but rather than be too apologetic, you should know that I intend to embrace this newfound obsession for the next year or so.  After all, planning a wedding is a crafter’s paradise! 

To that end, if anyone has any recommendations for unique touches you have incorporated or have seen incorporated in weddings, please let me know!  Otherwise, I’ve done a quick round up of fun DIY wedding touches that I admire.  Not all of these will be incorporated in my wedding, but one can certainly dream, can’t they??

Otherwise, enjoy!

1.  Lace Doily Envelopes by Curly Girl.  What a an easy way to make a big statement on your invitations!

2.  Dollar Store Tiered Trays by Dollar Store Crafts - No need to break the bank to display your wedding treats.

3.  Paper Flower Escort Cards by Project Wedding - Nothing makes a guest feel special like a little unexpected something.  Well worth the extra assembly time!

4.  Lucky Bamboo Arrangement by Wedding Flowers Made Easy - An easy (and non-wilting) way to make your own centerpieces or wedding favors.  

5.  Watercolor Escort Cards by OnceWed - Continuing with my watercolor obsession… these are a perfectly understated way to make a big impact on your guests.