From the bride…

The flowers were my proudest achievement during the wedding. The flowers were the most important part of the wedding for me. I went to several florists but none of them could achieve my vision within my budget so I decided to make the arrangements myself. I was obviously uncertain about the whole idea but the minute I started putting the sample together, it came very natural. Two months prior to the wedding, I applied for an internship at a floral design studio in Santa Monica. I purchased the vases online, the flowers were all purchased at the Los Angeles flowermart for wholesale prices ( the owner of the studio purchased them for me with her resale license). I saved thousands of dollars doing the work myself, I loved the experience so much that I decided to pursue a career in floral designs.

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Post tags: DIY Instructions, floral designs, Wedding Flowers
Post categories: Contests, DIY Projects, Wedding Resources

Materials

one inch bar pins
small starfish
strong glue

Instructions

These starfish boutonnieres were created with small starfish and one inch bar pins that were glued together.  I used small starfish that my fiancés mom found at a yard sale. 

1. I applied glue to both ends of the bar pins and applied glue to the back of the starfish where the bar pins were attached. 

2. Then attach the bar pins to the starfish and lightly pressed them together.  Let them dry completely with the bar pin side up.   

{Use cement glue that I found at a hardware store, though any strong glue would work and the one inch bar pins were found at Michaels.  The small starfish can be found online too. Oh, and I found the inspiration for these right here! Gotta give credit where credit is due!}

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Post tags: Beach Wedding, Blooms Design Studio, Boutonniere, DIY Instructions, Michaels, Starfish
Post categories: Accessories, Contests, DIY Projects, Wedding Resources

From the bride…

My amazingly artistic fiance, Josh Lowe did three block prints for our upcoming wedding on November 1, 2008. A landscape of where we are getting married for the save-the-date, a nest for the invitation and a graphic carving of the word Love on notebooks for our favors. We wanted our paper goods to feel like little pieces of art that we hope will end up in frames. They are all different and unique and really set the tone for our rustically elegant diy wedding.

Instructions

1. First draw what you want to carve

2. Then transfer the drawing onto the wood (pear wood works well)

3. Use small woodcarving tools to carve out your design

4. Next roll out the paint on the woodblock with a brayer

5. Place the paper on the block print and use a spoon to press down all over the design, you want to use firm but even pressure.

6. Finally, peel the paper off carefully

7. Let the print dry 

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Post tags: Block Prints, DIY Instructions, Save The Dates, Wedding Favors & Gifts, Wedding Invitations & Stationery, Woodblock Carving
Post categories: Contests, DIY Projects, Wedding Resources

Materials

tissue paper cut in 1”x3” rectangles
floral wire and tape
ink or watercolors (optional)

Instructions

1. The first step optional step is to dye your tissue paper to the color of your choice. Just dip several rectangles of white tissue paper in a thin watercolor bath, and dry on paper towels. For deeper colors, you use ink instead of watercolor. Only separate the layers when dry. You can also use colored tissue paper, but this lets you have subtle shade variations, and exactly the palette you want.

2. Twist both sides of the tissue rectangle around a small ball to form a petal (I’ve used a ball of tissue paper scraps wrapped in floral tape). The tissue should be big enough to cover the ball halfway through. You can use smaller balls with larger rectangles, and vice-versa, to vary the flower sizes.

3. Make five of these, and glue them together with a dab of acrylic medium to form a flower (Elmer’s glue would probably work fine too).

4. Attach a floral wire with floral tape to your flower, then cut the twisted ends near the end of the petal.

Repeat to form a bouquet or boutonnière (~15-20 flowers for a smallish bouquet, 1-3 for a boutonnière) With experience, a single flower takes about 10 minutes to make, from start to finish.

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2008. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Bouquets, DIY Instructions, Martha Stewart, Paper Flowers
Post categories: Contests, DIY Projects, Wedding Resources

Materials

Clay Pots
Black & White Spray Paint (or whatever color you like)
Branches of varying size and height
Rocks
Cardboard Toilet Paper Rolls
Fabric cut to fit rolls
Hole Punch
Wire
Fabric Glue
Decorative Ornaments like feather boa, gems, beads, etc.
Silk Orchids or other Silk Flowers
Green Moss or other flowers

Instructions

1. Spray paint the bottom of a clay pot black, or whatever color you choose. Once dry paint the top portion a difference color.

2. Collect branches to put in your pots. I just cut branches from a tree in our yard and used one large branch per pot.

3. Fill the pot with rocks to help secure the tree branch.

4. Create the toilet paper ornaments.

     a. Cut a swatch of fabric that will cover the toilet paper roll. Don’t worry about getting all the way to the top and bottom because your accessories will cover it.
     b. Once you have the fabric on the roll, punch two small holes in the top of the roll, one on each side. Then thread wire or string thru the holes to create a way to hang it.
     c. Glue beads to the bottom of the roll.
     d. Glue a small boa to the top.

5. Gems
     a. Collect gems with holes in the top to hang from your branches. I purchased my gems from Michael’s and then thread clear wire or string through them.

6. Glue orchids randomly on the branches.

7. Finally, fill the pot with flowers to cover the rocks.

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2008. | Permalink | 11 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Centerpieces, DIY Instructions, Michaels
Post categories: Contests, DIY Projects

Materials

Cupcake Tower
Large Sheets of Decorative Paper or Wrapping Paper
Craft Acrylic Paint
Decorative Ribbon

Instructions

1. Either make or buy a standard cupcake tower.  I bought a basic cardboard frame.

2. Cover with paper.  My fiance is Italian, so I found some wrapping paper with maps of Italy on it.  I just used the tiers as stencils, then cut them and glued the paper onto the tiers.

3.  I painted the levels between the tiers black with craft acrylic paint.

4. Cover edges with ribbon.  I found some trim at Hobby Lobby and used a hot glue gun.

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2008. | Permalink | 18 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Cupcake Tier, Cupcake Tower, DIY Instructions, Italy, Map Theme
Post categories: Contests, DIY Projects, Wedding Resources

From the bride…

I made two of these books for each of the tables at our reception- one containing his version of our love story, and the second with my version. It was a great way for our guests to get to know the bride and groom, especially considering many had never met our betrothed before! They are VERY simple and only require access to a printer, paper, a bone folder, double stick tape, a ruler, and an exacto.

1. Design each page as it will appear in the open book, left side and right side. For my books, I laid out 3 spreads on one sheet of 11×17 paper. It saves paper and cuts on printing costs. I used Staples Coverstock paper: www.staples.com . Also design the cover, back and front, as one long piece remembering to make it at least .5 in larger on all sides.

2. After printing, carefully cut out each page using the ruler and exacto.

3. With the bone folder, score vertically down the middle of each layout, and fold face in.

4. Then using the double stick tape, attach the folded pages together (don’t forget to put them in order first!) to create your little book!

5. Score the spine of the cover vertically before folding and wrapping it around your book, and securing with double stick tape.

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2008. | Permalink | 15 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: DIY Instructions, Love Story Books, Staples.com
Post categories: Contests, DIY Projects, Wedding Resources

So, let’s get right to it! I wanted to start the contest with one of my personal favs…these adorable table numbers housed in glass hurricane vases and adorned with the cutest, rustic touches!

Materials

Glass Apothecary and Bell Jars (one for each table – for the bell jars I also purchased metal plates to go under them)
Floral Foam
River Rocks
Moss
Bamboo skewers
Gold (or silver) address numbers
Black Spray Paint
Hot glue gun and glue
Sandpaper
Additional Adornments (ex. Feather butterflies, old keys, peacock feathers)

Instructions

1. Hot glue a bamboo skewer to the back of each address number. Wait until dry.
2. Spray paint numbers and skewers black. Wait until dry. Apply second coat if necessary.
3. Use sandpaper to “antique” the numbers, allowing some of the metal to show through.
4. Cut a piece of floral foam small enough that it will fit in the apothecary jar of choice with a 1″ clearance when placing in the opening of the jar.
5. Use the hot glue gun to attach river rocks to cover the foam on the sides and part of the top.
6. Use the hot glue gun to fill in the cracks between the river rocks with moss.
7. Cover the top of the foam with moss.
8. Place a small bed of moss in the bottom of the jar. This moss will cover the bottom of the foam so that it is not visible from beneath.
9. Place the rock and moss covered foam in the bottom of the jar.
10. Cut the bamboo skewer attached to the address number to the proper height and insert into the floral foam through the moss on top.
11. Attach an additional adornment (such as a feather butterfly) to the base.
12. If desired, on the day of the wedding (or using silk), place a stem of orchids into the floral foam adjacent to the number.

We are posting DIY projects throughout the day for the next five days, so make sure to check back often!

© Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog, 2008. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Apothecary Jars, Bell Jars, DIY Instructions, DIY Wedding Project, Ikea, Michaels, Table Numbers
Post categories: Contests, DIY Projects, Wedding Resources