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)

Changed Our Bubbles-DIY

So I decided to change up the way I decorated my original idea for my Dollar Tree bubbles.
I had bought a stamper with the letter "C" on it from Michael's for a buck and was anxious to use it on something. I had some paper I had bought quite awhile ago...just because it was purple....from Big Lots for a dollar also (50 sheets), and decided to cut little pieces of it to use as a wrap around my bubbles. I probably only used about 6 sheets TOPS for my 84 bubbles. So I got my new little stamper and stamped my little cut out pieces of orchid colored printer paper and used photo mounting squares to attach the ends together.
Oh, I also added little silver rings which I found at a dollar store (50 per pkg) and strung them onto the ribbon (from Michaels-2 for $1) which I changed from purple to alternating colors of white and lavender.
This was probably the most boring project thus far....well as far as sitting there and putting them together. I did a little at a time whilst watching TV. I'm just glad it's all over with!

basket from thrift store-earlier post)

Yay! Another DIY Checked Off The List!

OK....so I'll have to give "Becoming His Mrs." some props for putting this idea in my head. She had gone to Michaels and found some Halloween directional signs for 1/2 off a few weeks ago and painted over them to create directional signs for her wedding. So............I also went to Michaels, but unfortunately they were not on sale at my store. Bummer. But then I thought, "Hey! Dollar Tree always has stuff like that for every season/holiday."
But before I bought any signs, I decided to head over to my reception site to see what kind/types my venue could use. I really only needed one for the gate entrance to the courtyard, as there are two different areas you can enter into. One of them being a Senior Center in which my guests could end up surrounded by seniors in yoga positions. Mmmhmmm.
So I took some more pictures of the outside of my venue and headed off to Dollar Tree. I found a very simple "spooky" sign, and bought it for a buck. Well, duh, of course! It's Dollar Tree!
Unfortunately, I did not even think of taking pictures of it for tutorial sake. My baaad. I didn't think of it until I had already spray painted with white acrylic, stenciled the design in pencil AND had started painting it in.....super my bad! Well, what's done is done. I've already forgiven myself.
So above pic is of the supplies I used......

This pic is when I realized I should have taken some pictures...........
....and this is my completed project! I am really happy about the way it came out. ESPECIALLY because I've never, as an adult, painted with brushes. Takes some getting used to! Oh, and I actually used a thin black Sharpie to write the Mr and Mrs line on the bottom, which I failed to include in my supply pic. I was NOT ABOUT to attempt doing THAT with a paint brush!
And I just thought I'd throw in the green fence where I'll be hanging my pride and joy.

( border stencil and spray paint from Walmart, letter stencil from a dollar store, brush on acrylic paints and brushes from Michaels, sign from Dollar Tree)

My Very DIY Pocket Fold Envelopes

I had to create the template for this from scratch because I couldn't find a template online that would accomodate the invites that I had already bought from Michael's (50 for $17.00 with 40% off coupon). These are the standard sized invites, but all I could find online as far as pocketfold envelope templates went, was DIY sizes. Usually small square sized. So I went with trial and error using my invite and envelopes to guide me.
I then made my template, so that everything that came with the invites would fit in the envelopes, and so that I used as little paper as possible. So...it will be this pocket fold envelope that goes into the envelope that came with invites, then that will go into larger envelopes I purchased separately.
Once that was done, the rest was pretty simple. I made a belly band using scrapbook paper I already had, and this lacy paper I had found at the thrift store ( a bag full for $1.95). All were fastened by a couple of square double sided photo mounting adhesives. Then threw a white ribbon around that (also adhered with a small piece of photo mounting adhesive so it wouldn't slip off of the bellyband).
I accented the pocket with the same scrap paper as the belly band, and a small stick on rhinestone for a delicate touch (pkg. of 48 for $1.00 at Michael's).
I still have to print on the actual "invitation", but I won't be doing that until I'm a bit closer to the wedding date. After all, it's still almost a year away. The invite will then be fastened to the pocket fold envelope. But for the sake of putting up pics, I just set the unfinished invite in place without gluing or fastening.
It's a very simple design....not so fancy-shmancy.... and I didn't use the more elegant pretty paper.....but I'm very happy with the results. Gives it just a little oomph, as opposed to just sticking all the stuff in an envelope. Most of all I'm happy that I finished them! OK...almost finished them. All I have left is putting the rest of the ribbons on. It was a very time consuming project, as simple as it looks. But it was very rewarding for me.

What type of invites are you using?

Wow! Etch Your Own Glass CREAM....I Never Knew!

Thanks Westside Bride, for opening my eyes to something new. I hope you don't mind me blogging about it myself. I never knew that there was an etching cream for you to etch and personalize your own glassware. I love it!
After reading Westside Bride's blog on the cream she just bought, I too decided that I will run out and get this stuff. It is such a great idea that requires basically no skill at all!
Here is Martha Stewart's article on DIY etched glass:

Flea-market finds and dollar-a-glass specials can be transformed with monograms, stripes, and whimsical polka dots. All you need is etching cream (available at craft and art-supply stores), masking tape, and a steady hand to cut a template. When using etching cream, wear plastic gloves and an old shirt with long sleeves, and be sure to work in a well-ventilated area. Start by deciding upon your design. We used masking tape to make the stripes and adhesive hole-reinforcers (for loose-leaf paper) to make the polka dots. The M stencil was created by enlarging the typeface on a photocopy machine and cutting a stencil. (To make a monogram stencil, place the enlarged letter on a piece of Con-Tact paper, which has a sticky back that will adhere to glass. Trace the letter, then cut it out with a utility knife, discarding the letter itself and reserving the template -- remember to reserve the center cutouts of letters with closed shapes, like O and A.) When applying your design, always clean and dry the glass first; press the design onto the glass, and rub hard. Using a paintbrush, apply a thick layer of etching cream to the glass. (Avoid spills, since cream will leave permanent marks.) Wait 5 minutes, then rinse off the cream with warm water, and remove the stencil. Practice on a jar until you're comfortable with the process; the cream is simple to use, but for best results, the design must be applied carefully and smoothly.

Our Simple Centerpieces

These will be the centerpieces for the tables. In the first picture the glass gems look a bit yellowed, but they really aren't. There are white pearly ones, white frosted, and clear. Inside the heart are also purple ones.
This is a very simple design, and pretty inexpensive.

MATERIALS:
I bought some platinum look chargers from Big Lots (12 for $18), but I will only be using 9 for the centerpieces. Glass hearts from Dollar Tree (9 for $9), floating candles from Michael's ($4), lots of glass gems from Michael's and Big Lots($22) and purple square place mats from Dollar tree (9 for $9).

Comes out to approx. $7 for each setting. 9 settings in all. Not bad, but I really thought it was going to come out to less. That's one of the biggest reasons why I didn't opt for flowers....budget! I love the look of flowers, and I'm not a big fan of fake flowers, so I went with a candle theme. Plus, having flowers means florist ($) or if you do it yourself it could mean having to stress buying flowers days before the wedding AND keeping them preserved. I really don't want to have any extra stress the week of my wedding. I just want to concentrate on me, and since we are basically doing all the decorating ourselves, I went with something simple, sturdy, easy, and something that has no shelf life.
So....ta-da! Centerpieces are all done a year before the wedding, with minimal assembly required the night before.

That's what I'm talkin' about!

One Of My Wedding Favors at 14 Cents A Piece!

O.K., so this is one of the wedding favors I will be using for my wedding. As I've said before, we are on a very strict budget and I bought these plain bubbles from Dollar Tree. They were 12 to a box for $1.00. So I bought 7 boxes. ($7)
The ribbon was .50 for a 6 yard roll on sale from Michael's. I cut the ribbon every 12", so each roll made 18 ribbons. So that would be about 5 rolls ($2.50) to complete 84 bubbles. Then I made little thank you tags on my computer. I bought plain white cardstock (75 pages for $2) at Big Lots which is way more than enough paper!
So let's see what that comes out to for 84 decorated and personalized bottles each.
$7 + $2.50 + $2 = $11.50 Now, we divide 84 bottles into $11.50, and that gives us.....drum roll please........
.14 each bottle! Fully complete!
Now that's a favor I can afford! This will not be the only favor I have on my tables, but I will share the other(s) with you later when I take some better pics. The ones I have on my computer are a bit blurry.
I'm not 100% on the guest list yet either, but I may have to buy one more box of bubbles. But at this kind of pricing, I don't think it will break me.