DIY Pomander Centerpieces

Love floral centerpieces, but hate the pricetag?  My florist quoted my $145 per table for this.  I made what you see here for $12.  These are fake flowers.  However, if you're brave you can order flowers and make them a couple of days before your wedding.

For Faux flowers:
- Syrofoam ball
- glue gun
- glue sticks
- faux flowers
- a base to hold the flowers (i used a candlestick holder)
- greens

For Real Flowers
- a tall bucket
-floral foam ball
- floral tape and wire sticks
- greens
- a base holder
- a base to hold the flowers (i used a candlestick holder)


Faux Flower Instructions:

1. Start to glue your flowers in a circle around your ball, but stop before the base.
2. Start gluing flowers in the other direction around your ball, stopping before the base.
3. Fill in flowers in the rest of the areas that are empty
4. Add greens or filler if desired
5. Place glue around your base/vase the pomander will be sitting on.  Place the bottom of your pomander on top of the glued base.

Real Flower Instructions:

1. Soak your floral foam ball in water in your bucket until soaked through.  The ball will float at first and sink when soaked through.
2. Snip the stems off your flowers to the desired length and stick into your ball, starting at the top and moving around the sides.  If your stems are not strong, use floral sticks and wire to strengthen the stems and then insert them into the ball.  Stop before the base.
3. Add your greens by attaching them to the stems of the flowers and wrapping with floral tape.  You can also alternatively attach them to the floral picks/sticks, but this may add more bulk than you want.
4. Place your base holder into your vase/base.  If it is noticeable, you may want to fill your vase/base with gel, beads, rocks, etc. to hide your base.  Stick your pomander on top of the base holder.  The holder should penetrate the bottom of your pomander to keep it steady.  You can alternatively make your own for your centerpiece.

Watch the Video How-To Instructions below on how I made my DIY Pomander Ball

Card Box Eye Candy

Today I have a special DIY for you.  It's how I made my card box for my wedding.  It took me two days and about $15 to make.  This is a super bargain considering that if you bought a similar card box from a website I shall not name, it would cost you around $150 for this beauty.

What you'll need:
- glue gun
- glue sticks
- scissors
- fabric or nice wrapping paper (I got mine at Jo-Ann Fabric)
- ribbon (the larger ribbon was $3.99 at Michael's)
- embelishments
- 3 sheets of foam board (I got mine at AC Moore for .99cents a sheet)

How to Construct:
1. Draw out your squares for the boxes.  My bottom box consisted of 6 sides and the dimensions are 11x11" for each square.
2. So this is what I mean by using the extra space.  I just created squares for the other two boxes out of the "empty space" on the foam board.  The purple represents the second box and the green represents the top box.  You will need 5 squares of the second box and 6 squares of the top box.
3. Cut a square hole in one of the 11x11" foam pieces that is about .5" smaller than the center box.  Discard this piece of foam.
4. Cut a 3 sided square in another 11x11" foam piece.  For the 4th cut you make to complete the square DO NOT cut completely through.  This will create a flap that swings open at the bottom of your box so you can retrieve your cards easily.
5. On one of your middle box foam pieces cut a slit in the middle about 3/4" tall and about 4 1/2 - 5 1/2" long.  This will be the hole that people can put their cards into.
6. Start with your top box (the smallest).  glue all 6 sides together.
7. For your middle box, glue on all the sides and the top.  There will not be a bottom.
8. For the bottom box glue all your sides, your bottom with the flap swinging out towards you, and your top with the hole slightly smaller than the middle box.
9. Start wrapping.  Either using wrapping paper or fabric, wrap each box just like a present, however you will have to criss-cross the fabric on the sides in order to flap over the fabric straight down.
10. Cut a center line through the hole where the cards will be inserted and small slits for the corners.  Place some glue on each piece now created (4) and wrap inwards into the box hole.
11. Glue the top box to the middle box and the middle box to the bottom box.  There should be a nice lip for the middle box to sit on.
12. Cut your ribbon or place whatever embelishments you want on your box.
Viola! you have a beautiful card box!

For another explanation, please see my video below.

Gear for your Wedding Party

Are you hosting the Bachelorette party for your friend?
Or are you one of the Groomsmen and want to get a funny gag gift for the groom?

Why not head to CafePress to grab the perfect items for your gang?  From Girls Night Out to Game over shirts, you're bound to find exactly what you're looking for.

They don't just sell clothing here. Grab a mug, shot glass or a tote (among other things you can find on the site).

Got a Bridezilla on your hands?
Let her show when the groom should keep away with this tank top.

Visit this shop and others by clicking here

I am a DIY girl all the way and of course I had to design my own invitations and RSVP cards.  I have a nautical themed wedding and here is what I've come up with.  I think it's classy and fun at the same time.  The pink gives it that little bit of "Pop" that I need and I'll also be placing a rhinestone/crystal in the center of the compass rose design.



How I did it:
I first created the Compass Rose design in Adobe Illustrator.  I chose this program because for printing text and images, lines come out crisp and clear.  This is because Illustrator uses vector vs. photoshop using pixels.

I had already ordered my envelopes.  Make sure before you order to check what sizes the post office will mail.  Too small and they might not send it.  I measured a size card that would fit nicely inside my envelopes.  I will be printing from a inkjet printer on watercolor paper to give it a nice letterpress look.

To stop unwanted guests from coming, I have added a "we have reserved X seats in your honor"  That way said guest knows exactly how many people they are allowed to bring in case the invitation envelope itself wasn't enough ;)

I recently went to a wedding where they did not put a check box for not attending.  I think it's important because otherwise you have people going "what do I do if I don't want to go?" and they would just abandon the idea of responding altogether.

Menu selections:  I love the animal images and wanted something better than a silouhette.  To upgrade my images I did google searches for the animals I wanted as illustrations, dumped it into photoshop and fixed any image issues and fiddled with colors.  Then I brought the image into illustrator and changed it into a vector.  This way I get crisp clean lines no matter how big or small the image gets.

I would love to post a tutorial soon for all the photoshop savvy people out there that want animal images for their RSVP cards.  Stay tuned for a post as soon as I am able. :)

The perfect nautical cake?

So there doesn't seem to be much out there for classic looking nautical cakes. I've been on the hunt for something nice that I love and I just keep finding beach themed cakes with seashells and graham cracker "sand" dumped all over them. Hardly the look I'd imagine on a classy wedding cake. Plus my theme is more nautical, not beachy.

Dark cakes with light designs are striking, but don't look much like wedding cakes to me as chic as they are. I knew I'd need something white or ivory with elements of my pink or blue in them.

I've seen cakes with giant compass designs on the top, blue ribbons and pink flowers on them, pretty, but a bit much for what I want.

I was flipping through a bridal magazine today and saw this cake.  It's fantastic!  It's delicately nautical.  What do you think?