Rings, Candles, Mr & Mrs- Kiss The Bride!

To stay with the storyline, I've included some phtos of a couple of ceremony events.  Like his adorable ring bearer grandson bringing us the rings, the ring exchange, the unity candle lighting,and the "it's official" joining of our hands by the minister. 
What?  We can what?  We can KISS now?   =)  Finally!  The moment I've been waiting for.  The first official kiss as HIS  MRS!  YAY!!

My goodness!   Get a room you two!  Do we look happy, or what?

ReCaps- DIY Bouquet and Boutonniere

In this next collage you will find my DIY bouquet and DIY boutonniere.
The bouquet had a blend of silk dark purple flowers, brooch pieces, feathers, and various handmade flowers from different materials. I also made pom pom "dandelions" from yarn which you will later see incorporated into other decor. I made the handle wrap from a small lace cloth table runner I found at a generic dollar store. I cut it in half, then folded that in half, then wrapped it around the base. I then added a wide ribbon at the base of the flowers, and crisscrossed a thin decorative ribbon along the handle. I used a "silk bouquet foam top" handle.....it had fake stems built in. You just add silk flowers. To make it cost me about $20. This was not my throw away bouquet. The throw away was real flowers.....the ONLY real flowers that were in any part of our day. I'll have pics of that in a later post.
My "something borrowed" was the dragonfly pin at the top of the handle that I borrowed from my mom.
I made the picture charms (my first and only attempt at these thus far) which included, from top to bottom, my husband's mom (who passed away almost 2 years ago), my father's mom, and my mother's mom. I REALLY love the way these came out! I feel it's my best project ever. Maybe because it's such a sentimental thing.
You know, handmade "fake" flower bouquets are not for everyone. We all have our preferences, likes, dislikes and attitudes & such. When I first told my sister that I was making a bouquet from fake flowers (I already knew she had attitude against fake flowers) she scoffed. When she finally saw it on my wedding day, she said, "I take it all back". That made me smile. Not that I really cared what people thought. After all, it was MY wedding, and MY bouquet and I wanted things MY way. But like I said, I know that everyone has their own preferences, and I don't think anyone should be knocking other people just because they don't like the same thing they like. Individuality.........it's part of what makes life so fun! OK....so let's continue.
I made bouts for my Mr., my dad, and our ring bearer. They're all basically the same with the exception that the ring bearer's is smaller, and my Mr.'s has a little something extra in it.
My mom's corsage was on the last post I shared.
~~~~CLICK ON PICTURE BELOW TO ENLARGE~~~~


pictures taken by: Sweet As Pie Weddings

My DIY Pinwheels To Top The Kid's Pencils

I wanted to add some more fun to the activity booklets I had made for the kids attending our reception, and decided to put pinwheels on top of the pencils I had bought for them. I think the pictures say it all as far as my process went.


I used some pretty thick double sided card stock. But I think thinner paper will work just as well.
Make sure your hole on your hole punch is smaller than the head on your pin. (see #7)
The (4) hole punches will go on the straight cut edge. Of course, you can also always skip the zigzagged side and just keep all lines straight. I just did the zigzag for an added pizazz.


I actually ended up gluing the four pieces together.....putting a dab of glue stick around each hole as I folded each down..........then held in place for a few moments......


I know the pencil doesn't exactly match up with the paper that well (pencil is actually dark purple, but looks brown in pics) but that's ok. It just makes it all that more fun! =)
I also need to concoct a way to make 2 of these pinwheel pencils without actual pins for our two smaller kids. All the rest of the kids are over 10. I'm working on it!
And here it is with the activity booklet and the pillow box I made for the crayons. The pillow box actually just started off as an experiment. I was originally going to just tie some crayons together with ribbon, but then thought that I wanted to put them in some sort of container instead. I tried a few different things, then when I began the pillow box, there was no stopping me. I made them all without a single pic being taken. =(
But I'll make one more for tutorial sake.....soon.
I love the way all the papers match.
I'm still trying to think of some more ideas for the kids. Any thoughts?

My DIY Kid's Booklet

I decided to make just a small kid's booklet for the children that will be at my reception. If all that were invited come, there will be a total of twelve. I started by scouring the internet for templates of coloring and activity pages (wedding related). So I Googled "kids wedding activity book" under images. So I copy and pasted 4 coloring pages and 3 activity pages. On my own, I also created a word scramble with the theme of things you might find at our sweets table, along with another 2 pages of "how many four letter words and higher can you make from the words "PETER AND BELINDA". I put 2 pages per sheet to be printed out, then used my handy dandy cutter to trim them down to the size I needed. (4 x 8)
The picture above is a bit blurry.....but you get the idea.
I then stapled the 10 pages together.
Next, I got the photo cards from SeeHere.com I had made last year......there was a freebie special going on at the time, and I was thinking ahead. lol This is to be our cover for the booklets.
In fact....if you're interested in getting 25 free photo cards from them, they are running a special right now, and all you have to do is pay for shipping. You get (25) 4" x 8" cards in whatever design you choose, to be used for whatever you would like. Just enter this coupon code at checkout: cards-36. This special ends on 7/17/10.
So anyways.....I hot glue gunned the cover to the stack of papers by putting a thin line along the top..........
.......and there you have it! A little time consuming, but it basically cost me nothing but time. (Last year they even paid for shipping on photo cards!) =p

On another subject...........
I sent my invites out in 2 batches......one batch on Thursday and one batch on Friday. Unfortunately, I didn't take pics of my assembly process as I was in SUCH a big hurry to get them out. As I may have mentioned in another post, I've been so busy with Etsy, that time just flew right by me. I wanted to get them out really early so that when the response deadline came up, I could call the people I hadn't heard from to get the count. Then, send out more invites for any open spaces I might have. You see, because of budget AND reception space we had to cut our guest list WAY down low, so I figured whoever couldn't make it on our first wave of invites, maybe people from a second wave could. Make sense? Well anyways....I'll try and take pictures and share from my second wave. How's that?
Did you or do you plan to do anything similar?

My DIY Unity Candles

I bought my "not so perfect" candle holder from Party City on clearance. I saw that it desperately needed a paint job, but for $2.00 I couldn't resist.
I painted her up a bit, bought some white candles and decorated them with vellum I ran through the printer......
.....and ribbons.
Piece of cake! One of my easiest DIY's.
Breakdown: Candle holder (Party City) $2.00
Pillar (Michael's) $3.99
Tapers (Dollar Tree) $2.00
Ribbon ( Michael's) $1.00 ( lots left over)
Vellum (already had) 0
---------
$8.99 TOTAL (not including tax)

Why Am I Drawn Into All This DIY Stuff?

Ok....so I've seen these little individual tissues done as favors for the guests during my quizillion searches through the internet for anything wedding, and thought "totally unnecessary". Nope....I'm not gonna do it. So then, I just recently saw a tutorial on BP Wedding's blog site on some that she had made, and I thought her's came out so cute that I suddenly had tissue envy. Aaaargh! Nooooo. Don't do it Belinda! It's a trap. Remember BUDGET? $3,000???? Although this project is a very inexpensive one, when you put together 20 different little projects it certainly adds up! And with a budget like $3,000....yikes.
Well, I talked myself out of it and was very proud of myself for doing so. Even though I was "watching" some glassine envelopes on my Ebay (hey, it made me feel better....like "if I wanted to I could" lol).
Then I went to Big Lots. That was the end of my fighting it. I found these eyelet confetti pouches from Martha Stewart and thought "these look like the perfect size for tissues, hmmm". And since they were right there in my grasp.....not something I would have to actually order off the internet....it made it so much easier for me to cave in. So I bought them (pkg of 20/$2). So I bought 2 pkgs. I then went to a dollar store and bought 2 three packs of Kleenex.

The first thing I had to do was empty the confetti out of the packages, so I carefully opened each one as not to destroy the eyelet sticker that sealed the bags............
.....then poured the vellum flower and punch dot confetti into a ziploc baggie.
Once that was done I got 2 of the Kleenex tissues (as Bee had done) and stuffed them (nicely) into the envelope.
Ta Da! Now we just need to dress it up a bit.
I made some labels on my computer using Picassa, as I do not have any programs like Illustrator, PhotoShop, etc. I'm just a baby when it comes to creating things on the computer...I have very little knowledge besides things that I just basically learned on my own (no computer savvy here). So don't laugh!! =p
I then got some scrapbook paper I already had (in 2 designs) and cut them into strips. I wrapped it around the envelope (around and under the flap...I just slipped it through), and there it is. Above is a pic of back and front.
I like Bee's way better, especially with her pretty ribbon and special stickers she ordered, but what can I say...I'm the "roughin' it" kinda gal.
So 40 of these I did make. I know it would have been cheaper had I bought the glassine envelopes on Ebay, but I WASN'T going to make these! Here is the breakdown:
$4/40 envelopes + $2/tissues=$6 $6/40= .12 1/2 each

Whatever! I'm still mad at myself! And I'm NOT doing Flip FlopS (even though I already ran over to Target)! I'm NOT!
I really need to stop reading blogs..........
Luv ya Bee! ;)

To Tackle A Necklace-DIY

My next upcoming project will be an attempt to create my own necklace for my wedding day. Now, keep in mind.....I've never made any type of jewelry. I have been very lucky in finding some really great, inexpensive jewelry pieces, but I have not bought (or even looked for) a necklace because I've known from near the very beginning of my planning process that I wanted to make one myself.
I'll be using fishing wire for the cord, as I will be using the fishing wire for many other projects for the wedding (including hanging paper lanterns). I also tossed in a couple of bracelets I already had in order to maybe incorporate the pearl beads from them into the necklace. Also (not shown) are pliers and a beading board. I forgot to take a picture of them. =(
The only thing I need to run to Michael's for is a bead crimping tool. And how do I know this??? Well, from watching jewelry making videos on YouTube, of course!
So, I don't know exactly when I will get to this project, but it's sitting there waiting for me to play with it and hopefully I'll have accomplished a beautiful necklace before the end of next week. That's the plan, anyways. Wish me luck!
Is anyone planning on making their own jewelry?

I Made One Myself!-DIY

(above pic from Martha Stewart)
You remember my posting about these creative little centerpieces (here) ? Well, in it I stated that I would be alternating these luminescent photo frame centerpieces with the original ones that I planned on doing (simple floating candle centerpieces). Well, I have finally tackled that project and made one! Woo-hoo!
I started with some 4 x 6 silver frames that I found at The Dollar Tree. I also bought more of this same type, some unfinished wood frames and some silver 5 x 7 frames, but have only actually completed one centerpiece to share with you. You start with removing the backs off of these and only using the front frame and glass. The backs can be discarded, or you can actually use them for something like signs.
Since these frames were silver ( one of my wedding palette colors) I didn't have to hassle with painting it.
I then went on Picasa (I don't have Photoshop or anything like that) =(
I placed the pictures so that I could fit 2 pictures per sheet of vellum....'cause it's kinda expensive paper. I got mine from Michael's....a package of I believe 100 at half price with a coupon. woohoo!
Here's are a few of the sheets I've printed thus far.
After printing them out, it's time to cut.
I used the insert that came in the frame for a template for cutting.
When you're done, place the pics in the frames then attach the frames to each other. I used duct tape (from a 99 cent store), which holds very well. I've also read other directions that said you can use epoxy. I really like the duct tape because it's clean....no muss, no fuss, and no waiting for anything to dry.
And here's my photo frame with a candle placed in the center (in a candle holder high enough to keep flame protected).
I love it! And it was SOOOO simple to make. I only bought one set that I will have to paint.....or maybe I'll just find another set that I won't have to paint. =)
Is anyone else planning on using this idea? You know, you don't even have to use these as centerpieces. These would be great at a remembrance table....for those that have passed and couldn't be with us to share in the celebration.

My DIY Map Printed On Photo Paper

Do you remember the hand drawn map I made? Well, I just thought I would share the printed out view of it. The colors came out much darker in the printed out form.....which is totally fine with me. I really didn't need a map anyways, but I thought it would be a fun project (and it was!). =)

My Sweets Bags Display-DIY

So, I've shown you how I was going to use my monogrammed stickers that I got from UPrinting (here). They will be used on the purple cellophane bags for my "sweets" table. Now here is the way the bags will be displayed......
I made this mock up really quick just for blog posting purposes.
I have 2 tall cylinder vases like this that I will be using. It's not exactly the way I want it.....the word "enjoy" will be in different writing. I used a stencil I had for the letters on this, and I am not impressed at all with the results. I think it would have come out much better freehand. But other than the font on the tag, I think they will work out just fine.
I got the template for the tag/label here . (Wedding Style Guide)
You are able to type into the blank space directly onto the downloaded template, but I felt the lettering was too small for my taste. Template comes in paled colors of purple (shown), yellow and green.

Totally NOT Wedding Related.....

I love Fall! Leaves, leaves and more leaves! I was driving down a street today in the city next to mine. Street after street of beautiful freshly fallen leaves in many different hues. I thought, "I want to stop and grab some of these leaves". So I did. So now....what to do with them?
So I found a vase, then filled it with water so the leaves wouldn't dry and crumble.
So pretty.........but it needed something.
So I threw a brown lid I found (off of a chocolate candy box....well hey, it matched Fall colors!), then topped it with a scarecrow head I had pulled out of the abyss (our garage).
I really don't know how long the leaves will survive submerged, but for now I'm a happy camper.