Ring Bearer Pillow

I splurged and bought a 5 dollar pillow for this project. But to save money you can make your own. I have seen these ring bearer decorated pillows for 20-30 dollars so even though I didn't make the pillow it was quite cheap and fun. I used satin fabric, lace, and a decorative burlap ribbon. Then I added two crochet flowers and a flower shaped plastic jewel. Since I will use all of the materials for other projects the little bit that I used on this project didn't cost much at all.



Even though I sewed the pillow I glued the ridbbon, lace, flowers and jewel on which made the project really quick and easy.

 

 

You may not be able to see from the picture, but I have added a touch of tulle which the rings will be tied to.

Decorative Favor Boxes

These are great to put candy (wrapped) or other favors in.



I used the antiqued hearts I made in the previous blog to decorate these.

One day I was visiting a friend when I was living near my home town. It was a blizard so I should have gone home. But I was close and liked visiting her because she runs a great local pottery shop. I would add a link to her website, but she has no online presence. Her shop is called Dots Pots and it is in Moline, IL

Scapbook paper is great to use. There are so many designs and colors available at your local craft store. Make sure to use cardstock paper for sturdy boxes.

 So while the blizard was burying my car outside I lingered in her shop parusing her beautiful and functional artistic pottery. Since I wasn't in a rush to hurry out she showed me how to make two craft projects. To this day I remember one of the projects and forgot the other.

The project I forgot how to make was making small gift bags from wrapping paper which would have come in handy if I could remember how to do it. Gift bags are so expensive and the bags she taught me how to make didn't take much wrapping paper and therefore were going to be very cheap.

The other project she showed me how to make was small boxes using any old paper. So I decided that for my wedding I would make these cute favor boxes for everyone. I wish I could tell people how to make them, but they would have to watch me. I would advise looking up websites about folding paper or oragami boxes. These are cute, fun, and will save money. They can be decorated with ribbon, jute as I have above (buy jute at the hardware store because it is so much less expensive there), stamps, stickers and much more.

After looking I did find directions on making a box that looks like mine here:
http://rubberstamping.about.com/od/techniquesandtutorials/ss/Box.htm

Literary Love Confetti

After looking for hours for ideas to go with our literary themed wedding I saw large confetti hearts somewhere online made from old books. So I took that idea and ran with it I bought two heart shaped paper punches; one about an inch and a half and the other 2.5 inches. Here is an example of what a paper punch would look like: http://www.save-on-crafts.com/paperpunch.html although I got mine at a 50% off sale at Michaels. You can cut out hearts by hand, but if you plan on making a large number of hearts buying a heart shaped punch will make it so much easier. And you can use it in the future for various projects. I made my hearts using a self help book my mom kept trying to push on me because she didn’t want it, some of a 300 page story I wrote as a teenager, and the majority of an Oscar Wilde play book. Since my fiancé had bought me Oscar Wilde’s (one of my favourite authors) entire works for my last birthday I didn’t need to hold onto the really old falling part book that cost me 10 cents at some book sale. Then I made black tea and eventually soaked all of the hearts in them for at least 24 hours and let them dry to give them a vintage look. The hearts from the Oscar Wilde book looked even older since it was a very old book.

How I tea died paper:

-Pour about a cup or so of boiling water into a 9x9 clear baking pan and let two bags of black tea seep. If you don’t already have black tea, and don’t even like it, just buy the cheap kind. You can also use coffee, which I did but it seemed messier.

-Put in the refrigerator to let it cool
-Put about two layers of hearts in the tea and let sit 24-73 hours and then spread a towel on your table and let them dry. You will have to do this process many times.
-Only a good project if you have time.
-You can also tea die other paper projects and projects you have made with yarn. I have not tried this with fabric, but I’m sure you can.

- These have been very loose directions. You don't have to use a 9x9 baking pan, it doesn't have to be clear, or glass as mine was. And you can tea dye it for a shorter or longer amount of time. But it does help to use older books.

I haven't even figured out everything I am going to do with these little hearts, but here are two ideas so far.

The hearts can be scattered amongst a centerpiece setup

The hearts can be used to decorate favor boxes or anything else.

 

Look for my favor box project in the next blog.

Save the Date Cards