Tammy's DIY Planning Thread - at least 20 items, pic heavy & detailed!

ndvidul · April 1, 2012

Flowers & Boutonnieres

This was my MOST dreaded project. I geta ll EW just thinking about it, hahaha. But I think it's just because I had zero experience working with fake flowers and doing this sort of thing --- totally out of my comfort zone. I'm SUPER glad I did it though. All of our flowers for the wedding party only cost us $170!

Supplies needed:

Flowers you like (I got ours from Michael's and Joann's)
Flower tape (Michael's)
Glue gun & sticks
Ribbon (thicker is better)
Floral wire cutters
Dark green stakes (only found in some Michael's stores in the floral section) ***May not be necessary depending on the flowers you choose.***

The women that worked at the different floral counters at Michael's were really helpful in giving me tips on doing these. I suggest picking the flowers you like and then asking them for advice, especially since I'm not expert on this!

I highly recommend getting fabric swatches of your colors to use throughout this whole process. I carried one from my bridesmaid's dresses since that's the hue of teal I wanted for everything. It really helps in the ribbon selection for the flowers!

The bouquets took a very long time --- mine took the longest. I believe it's because of the hydrangea type flowers I selected, though. I also wanted to weave in the small green flowers.

Some of the Process:

I used the wire cutters to cut off all the heads of the flowers (saving some leaves for the bout's). Then, I used the floral tape to attach one hydrangea flower cluster, or one small green flower cluster, to a green stake. It was necessary to hot glue the ends of the floral tape, or the tape would start unraveling. (It's also important to only do one hydrangea cluster per stake because I tried doing three to a stake, and the bouquet became all squished.)

After I had a few stakes together - to form the top middle of the bouquet - I tied them together with floral tape (only a few wraps is sufficient). Then, I added a few more stakes of flowers around that cluster, and tied these all together at the same exact place with the floral tape. I repeated this until the bouquet was the size I wanted. Note: if you do this method with the stakes, it becomes extremely difficult to get a large bouquet. For my bouquet, which was larger than the BM's, I actually made inserts to spread out the stakes at the top (scrunching up bits of printer paper and tying them all around with floral tape). It was super tedious.

The bout's were the easiest part! They are just a very small version of the bouquets.

More of the Process:

We had lots of burlap as a part of our decorations, so I wanted it also in my bouquet and my husband's bout. The burlap is from Michael's floral section, and I just wrapped it around the bouquet and hot glued it. For the ribbon, I simple wrapped it around the bouquet pretty tightly. I didn't have wire ribbon, which may have been easier to use. I didn't like the way the ends of the ribbon looked, so I actually tucked them under as I wrapped. For the end, I just tucked the ribbon ends either at the top or bottom and hot glued them in place.

Then, I just tied a tiny ribbon at the top with a bow, and before I made the bow, I put on the charms (below).

For my bouquet, I also bought Swavorski crystals and pearls from Michael's and hot glued them into some of the flowers. If you do this, it's best to do it every three flowers or so. I really recommend the Swavorski brand so that they look good quality.

Once I finished the ribbon part, I used the wire cutters to cut the ends of the stakes so they looked even. Voila!

I decided to make my own charms since I already had materials to do Dapping with (metal working for jewelry, etc). I bought silver sheets of metal from Michael's and cut them out, then used my alphabet and hammer to make the words. My small alphabet set didn't have any numbers, so I had to make the date using letters! The 8 on the 18 is a bit weird-looking, but I kind of liked it since it added character.

I've had the locket since I was around 8 years old, so it was my Something Old. My Granny and Grandpa were in there since they couldn't be at the wedding (Granny - old age, Grandpa had recently passed away).

These are what I put on the Bridesmaids' charms.

Close-up on the Bout's.

soonCB · April 3, 2012

Wow Tammy!

You did such an AMAZING job! You have such creativity. Have you given any more thought to opening a destination wedding business? I loove that you have put so much though into the details, it really adds to the final product.

Would you mind sharing how much it cost you to made the boarding pass reminders that you sent out? I have never seen this, but I think it is a great idea! Did you just use an inkjet printer for all your printing?

Great job again!

marooon13 · April 3, 2012

You did such an amazing job! So inspiring! Will you be posting pictures from your wedding? I would LOVE to see them. Also, Congrats!

ndvidul · April 4, 2012

Thank you! We will see when my business opens its doors!

I noted that it cost me $91 to make them. I don't think that includes the luggage tag cost. I used an HP inkjet for all printing, yes.

Happy planning!!

Originally Posted by soonCB

Wow Tammy!

You did such an AMAZING job! You have such creativity. Have you given any more thought to opening a destination wedding business? I loove that you have put so much though into the details, it really adds to the final product.

Would you mind sharing how much it cost you to made the boarding pass reminders that you sent out? I have never seen this, but I think it is a great idea! Did you just use an inkjet printer for all your printing?

Great job again!

I will be posting pictures of my wedding at the end! Stay tuned!!

Originally Posted by marooon13

You did such an amazing job! So inspiring! Will you be posting pictures from your wedding? I would LOVE to see them. Also, Congrats!

ndvidul · April 4, 2012

Time Capsule Guest Book

I'm excited about this project because it's something super special for us in later years. Upon reflection, I would have done this time capsule plus made a separate guest book. (I saw a SUPER neat guestbook at my friend's wedding - done through snapfish and had lots of pictures from their engagement shoot with sections like "wedding wishes," "date ideas," "words of wisdom," "quick, easy meals," etc.)

We put their notes in their OOT bags to fill out before the wedding and had several reminders for them to bring them to the wedding. (Even that said, we still have a few that we're waiting on... they said they wanted more time.) I thought this best so that they didn't have to remember to bring them to Mexico.

I bought the actual capsule in Michael's' frame section for about $10 on sale. I believe it's around $18 or so full-price (but never pay full price!!). The inside is black velvet and is very nice. Instead of putting a picture as the top, I made a design using some of my leftover materials from other DIY projects. Here's the first draft I did, which I think I actually like better than the final version:

I may switch it back to this one, LOL!

This is what the front of the cards look like. I bought the natural looking blank cards at Hobby Lobby for 50% off (of course). They're Paper Studio. I bought the Bride and Groom and Te Amo stamps at Hobby Lobby, too, I believe. The ink for those was a big stamp pad of Archival Ink from Hobby Lobby. The starfish stamp is from Michael's. I don't remember what ink I used for the starfish.

Fronts of the envelopes. I bought the shimmery envelopes from Michael's. The postcard looking paper is from Hobby Lobby in the scrapbook paper section, and I cut them out with special edge scissors. The glitter around the outside are the Martha Stewart glitter pens. I used my dapping tools to cut out silver strips and hammered big numbers and letters into the silver to label the envelopes. Then, I punched holes in each side of the metal and put eyelets through and hammered them down.

I used the same postcard type paper that I used on the front side to line the envelopes on the inside. I just measured how big the pieces needed to be and cut them out and put double sided tape on the back to secure them. Easy!!

Just for fun - this is what our dining room table looked like as I was making these (looks like I was making the luggage tags and boarding passes at the same time, too!)

Stay tuned for what my Time Capsule Guest Book looks like at our wedding!

ndvidul · April 4, 2012

Centerpieces

I got the idea from Coconoir (amazing fellow DIYer and savvy woman that she is!) to use blumeboxes as centerpieces. They're relatively inexpensive, and most of all - they pack FLAT in your suitcase and are LIGHT! Just put your wedding flowers in, and BAM! Instant beautiful centerpiece. Go to www.blumeboxes.com to check out pricing, colors, and sizes. They also have tons of pictures of how people have decorated them.

I found thick ribbons at Michael's that I wanted. Then, I stretched them over where I wanted them on the blume box, and hot glued the ends. Make sure you glue one end, let it dry, then stretch it tight for the other end (or else it looks all loose and gross!). I used the same burlap and canvas trading card materials as I did for the tags on the OOT bags (see previous post in this thread). I used the same stamps as the OOT bag tags for the "love is the treasure of life" words. I also bought bigger stamp words (from Joann's I think) to make the C & T. Used VersaMagic Inkpads for the ink. I also punched a hole in the canvas with the Crop-A-Dile tool and threaded twine through. All were glued together using a glue gun.

For the sides, I used the same map paper that I used for the boarding passes (see previous post in this thread). I put a scrap tablecloth outside and laid the map paper face down, then sprayed glue adhesive on it and put the blumebox side on it right away. I'd lay it to the side and then when it was dry, I'd cut out the edges with an exacto knife. For added effect, I sprayed glitter spray on it to make it shine (can find it at any craft store).

For the backs, instead of stamping like I did on the front, I found vellum quotes that I liked that had to do with Love. (I found them in a booklet in the scrapbooking section at Joann's.) I cut them out to the same shape as the canvas shipping tags I made, and then punched holes with the Crop-A-Dile. The eyelets were found at Joann's, and I just used the Crop-A-Dile again to attach the vellum and canvas.

Our table while I was making these bad boys!! (Plus other DIY projects). xoxo

shan0487 · April 4, 2012

amazing Tammy!!! Can't wait to see the rest!!! You did an AMAZING job and I hope you do open up your own shop! I am so glad my guests did not go to your wedding, they would be so disappointed in mine! Haha! xoxoxo!

Mlite83 · April 4, 2012

Wow, everything looks fantastic...you have given me lots of ideas of what I might actually DIY! Your passports especially are so fun! Thanks!!

ndvidul · April 5, 2012

Just a note to say Thank You for your comments!!!

They mean so much to me since I poured my whole heart into doing this. You're giving me much encouragement to actually do the work to open my own shop!!

Xoxoxox,

Tammy

ndvidul · April 5, 2012

Ceremony Programs

These took a long time and were pretty tedious, but I love the unique, beautiful, and meaningful result. These were NOT MY IDEA at all!!! I got the idea from the wonderful book, The DIY Bride Crafty Countdown by Khris Cochran (can usually buy at Michael's or Joann's).

I bought the chipboard booklets and compasses from Oriental Trading Company. Again, the map paper is from Joann's. The paper inside is from Hobby Lobby. You'll also need a Crop-A-Dile Tool (I highly recommend the Big Bite), an exacto knife, paper cutter, circle cutter, twine, double sided tape, a glue gun, and spray adhesive.

So, to get the map on the outside, I went outside to my scrap tablecloth and laid the map paper face down again (like in the centerpieces). I sprayed the adhesive on the paper, and pressed the chipboard's front, spine, and back all around the paper. I set it aside and allowed it to dry. Once dry, I cut out the edges with the exacto knife.

For the front, I used a circle cutter to get a circle that was just a little bigger than the compass. Then, I hot glued it on. I hot glued the compass on. In the book, she doesn't picture hers with glitter glue around the compass, but I liked how it looked and thought it tied our wedding colors in better. So, I used my Martha Stewart glitter for the edges.

Once I put in all the inside pages (see below), I used the Crop-A-Dile to punch holes in the end to stick the twine through.

For the inside pages, I made a template in Microsoft Word so I would know the approximate size of the pages as I designed them. Then, using Paint (haha), I made them all! This took the most work. Then, I printed them on my inkjet, cut them all out using a paper cutter and scissors, and used double sided tape to tape them on. I also needed to trim the edges - I really recommend small scrapbooking scissors for this.

The fonts are the same as before: Treasure Map Deadhand, and Caslon Antique Italic.