Centerpiece Nightmare

Well I didn't get as much done over Spring Break as I would have liked. I attempted to do our centerpiece mock-up last Tuesday night. Boy was that fun!...NOT. If you remember,  the centerpiece that I wanted to do consisted of a  bubble bowl vase and fruit slices. I couldn't get it the way that I wanted AT ALL. I was so disappointed, and I ended up cutting my finger pretty badly during the process, so I gave up on it. So all day last Saturday, my mom and I went in search of a new vase for the centerpieces. Well we came up short until we got to my favorite store, Hobby Lobby. They didn't have any vases that I wanted, but when I went back to this 40% off section of Spring items, I found these elongated aluminum pails for sale. They're in assorted colors, but I really liked them, so my fiance spray painted a sample of one white for me, and it is absolutely perfect. So I was able to exchange all of the bubble vases that I had bought for these aluminum pails at no additional charge. We need to spray a second coat of paint on it still, otherwise I would have had a picture to show you all, but since it was wet and really cold yesterday, the paint wouldn't dry. So we will hopefully be able to try again today! At some point today, I should be able to share with you all my NEW centerpiece mock-up, as well as my painted table runner monogram that I finally finished. Stay tuned!

Memorial Candles - Check!

This is still a work in progress since I haven't received photos of my fiance's deceased loved ones yet. So the only one I could complete was my grandmother's memorial candle right now, and I think it turned out beautifully. I wanted to do something differently to honor our loved ones that are no longer with us instead of the usual paragraph in the program, so I sought out different inspiration, and I definitely found it. As our guests enter the reception, they will be faced with our escort card table to their left and the memorial table to the right. Anyways.. here it is!

This photo certainly does it no justice. But what I did was buy a 6 1/2" x 10 1/2" vase, and I created a 6 1/2 x 11 document in Microsoft Publisher. I inserted my grandmother's photo, then inserted three separate text boxes. In the first text box, I wrote, "In Loving Memory Of,", the second, "Her Name," and the third, "Grandmother of the Bride." Then I inserted a fourth and final text box that lined the entire document, and then turned it a light gray color. I did this so that I would know where my cutting points were once I printed it off. I printed it off, cut it to size, wrapped it around the vase and held it will tape. Then, I used some thin satin ribbon to line the edges of the vase. I used my hot glue gun to make it stay. It was really simple, and easy to do overall. It probably took me a total of 20 minutes to do from start to finish. On wedding day, I plan to insert a small candle into the vase and light it, so that the photo and words will illuminate.

I found this DIY to be very sentimental to me, and I'm glad to have done it. I believe that it will definitely honor our deceased loved ones and truly make them apart of our special day more.

My Table Runner Monogram - Still A Work In Progress

Well I had a minor snafu with my painting our monogram onto the table runner yesterday. Everything was going so well! I had traced it on, and it looked great, but then it came to painting. I used acrylic paint, which I thought would work wonderfully... nope! The paint ended up bleeding beyond the lines of my monogram, and it just looked awful. I took some pictures to show you..

EEK!

So today is a new day, and I went out to Hobby Lobby yesterday and purchased some fabric paint. Now, I'm just going to use the opposite side of this runner, and my messed up monogram side will be against the wall on wedding day so no one will even notice! Hopefully I'll have pictures up later on to show you all how it turns out this time!

Thank You Parasol - Check!

I absolutely fell in love with this next project, and constantly argued with myself back and forth about doing it or not. I was worried about whether I could do it or not, or if I would mess it up! But I decided to give it try and hope for the best. And here it is.. !

I did it! YAY! Haha now onto my directions for making one of these bad boys for yourself!

Materials Needed:

• White Parasol - The one I bought is 32" in diameter.
• Black Acrylic Paint
• Small Paintbrush
• Black Sharpie - I used a fine tip sharpie pen.
• Pencil
• Scissors/Exact-o Knife
• Cardstock
• Tape

Directions:

    1. Create a 25x25 document in Microsoft Publisher. Insert two text boxes, one for each word.

    2. In the text boxes, write "Thank" in one, and "You" in another. Then, enlarge the text to 700 and bold it. Then, choose which font you would like to use. I wanted to keep the same script for the parasol that I have used on all of my other wedding stationary, which is Feel Script. You can use one text box if you prefer, but I found that by having them separated, I could make the words fit better into the document.

    3. Print off your document, and organize it like a puzzle. As you can see, I turned my "You" upside down in the document to make it fit better.

    4 . Now comes the time consuming part, cut out all of your letters and tape together the portions that became separated when printed.

     5. Open your parasol, and lightly tape the stencil onto your parasol.

    6. Using your pencil. trace the stencil onto your parasol. Don't press too hard, as to not rip the parasol.

    7. Using your sharpie, trace over your pencil. I used a Sharpie fine-point pen because I found that a thicker Sharpie has a larger tip and smears a lot more than the Sharpie pen.

    8. With your black paint and small paintbrush, paint the letters. If you mess up a little, don't fret! You can fill in some minor odds and ends with your Sharpie.

Pearl Necklaces for Bridesmaids - Check!

I saw this idea over and over again on The Knot, so I decided to give it a try because I liked them! The ones that I found being done had a satin ribbon attached to them, but after some thought, I decided not to use the ribbon and used regular necklace clasps.

Materials Needed:

• Bead Wire
• 8mm Glass Pearl Beads
• Crimp Pliers
• Crimp Beads
• Necklace Clasps

What I Used..

Directions:

1. Measure out 24 inches of your bead wire, and 55 glass pearl beads. The pearls that I bought only came in sets of 50 glass pearl beads, so I bought an extra pack to add the additional 5 beads. I wanted to make the necklaces a tad bit longer since at 50 beads, they were more choker-style necklaces.
2. Add 1 crimp bead, then add one side of the necklace clasp.

      3.  Loop the end of the bead wire back through the crimp bead a second time to secure the necklace  clasp from slipping off.

      4.  Close the gap that the loop created between the clasp and the crimp bead. Then using your crimp pliers, crimp your bead closed.

      5.  Now string 55 glass pearl beads onto your bead wire. 

      6.  Once all of the pearl beads are added, repeat steps 2-4 to secure the loose end.

All done!

These weren't time-consuming AT ALL. It took me about an hour to complete 4 of them. I hope that my bridesmaids like them as much as I do!

Stay Tuned For These Up and Coming DIY Projects!

With Spring Break quickly approaching, I have an entire week to dedicate to DIY projects for the wedding. I will be uploading my templates and/or directions for all those interested in pursuing of these projects themselves! Here is my list of DIY for Spring Break starting March 8:

• Water Bottle Labels
• Thank You Parasol
• Hand-Painted Logo on a Table Runner (Thanks for the awesome idea, Ashley aka Bride on a Budget!)
• Belly Bands for Pocketfold Invites
• Centerpiece Mock-Up

Stay tuned!

Seeking Ideas!

Hello DIY brides! I recently purchased a Women's Short-Sleeve Fleece Zip Hoodie from Old Navy in white with the intention of possibly putting something on the back of it or left-pocket area for the wedding. IT WAS ONLY $10! Here is what I bought:

Any suggestions as to what I should have put on it? Or I could put nothing on it. Let me know what you think!

Possibilities So Far:

• Mrs. Dudley Est. 2010
• Future Mrs. Dudley
• Soon To Be Mrs. Dudley
• Bride (on the back or on the left-pocket area)
• Nothing!

Also if you're interested in purchasing one of these hoodies for yourself for your wedding day Click here! Again it was only $10 so hurry up and order one if you're interested!

Invitation Inserts - Check!

So I've finally marked off another DIY on my To-Do list, and this one has been a major pain! It has mostly been a pain because of me and my obsessive-compulsive nature, as well as my indecisiveness. But after messing around with these for about 3 or 4 months now, I've finally figured out how I want to have them look! Since our wedding colors are hot pink and tangerine, I wanted to incorporate both colors into our invites, and so far I had only used hot pink. So, why not use the tangerine in the inserts?! Here they are:

I wanted them to have a layered look, as well as incorporate our tangerine color, and I think I pulled it off! Another thing that I found to be so difficult was the design/look of the inserts. I LOVE my Upsy Daisy stamp design and I wanted to incorporate it somehow. However, the stamp is rather large and the inserts are smaller. So I was able to use my embossing ink from my embossing project, and produce a watermark on my inserts like so..

I love how they turned out! No more stressing over these! Well at least at far as design =) I didn't put a watermark on my directions insert since it has such a large map on it already. I'm really proud of this map too. I worked quite a few hours on it, and it came out great. Here is how I made the map..

Directions on Making a Map:

1. Using Google Map, type in the location of your wedding location(s). Zoom in.
2. Press the "Print Scrn" button on your keyboard to copy your image.
3. Open Microsoft Powerpoint, and paste your image on to a slide.
4. Insert lines, images etc., and outline the streets, landmarks, rivers and locations of significance that will help your guests find your location. I included a river, a park, and a landmark on mine to help. 
5. Label accordingly. Maybe even make a Key.
6. Now with your outlines, labels and images in place, click on the pasted Google map, and delete it. You'll be left with your map.

Table Numbers - Check!

I'm so proud of these! They came out really well and now they're ready for their close-up!

 

I made them on Microsoft Publisher and printed them on photo paper. 

Escort Cards - Check!

I knew I wanted to do something different than the traditional tent-shaped escort cards and being a DIY girl, I was going to make that happen! I found some mini envelopes on a website recently and then it clicked! I decided that I wanted my escort cards to be credit-card sized envelopes and the table number would be printed on a card on the inside. I thought about buying the mini envelopes on the website, but then I caught myself.. I decided to make them myself! So I took to Google and searched, "Free mini envelope templates." A TON of things popped up, and different shapes, but I eventually found what I was looking for. This is the template that I used: Template I printed it on cardstock, cut it out and voila! I had my template.

Here is my template, after it had been folded:

 

So here is what I did..
Materials Needed:

• Template
• Cardstock
• Bone folder
• Adhesive (I used mounting squares, but you can use pretty much anything)
• Scissors

1. I traced the template onto my large sheets of cardstock.

      2. After you have traced the amount of envelopes that you need, cut them all out.

      3. Using your bone folder, fold in the side and the bottom flaps.

   

       4. If you're using the mounting square, take your scissors and cut each square that you're using in half.

       5. Place the now-cut mounted squares onto the sides of the bottom flap so that it will adhere to the side    flaps.

       6. Fold the bottom flap and press it into the side flaps.

        7. Using the bone folder, fold down the top flap to complete the look of your envelope.

 

After I was all done make the envelope itself, I wanted to added a little something extra to it, so I bought a daisy-shape paper cutter and made my own daisies to add to the front of the envelopes! Check it out below!

I love them!

I would like to introduce my partner-in-crime for this whole DIY madness, I want to introduce to you.. The Big Mistake!

I hope you enjoy making these as much as I did!