My Do-it-Yourself Projects

Save the Dates

My first DIY project was my save the dates.  I decided to go really simple with these and make postcards.  Bonus: they're cheaper to make, and cheaper to mail!  

First, I had my wonderful cousin, Jenny, take some pictures of Mike and I on a gorgeous fall day.  She took the pictures on her awesome super-high resolution digital camera.  I picked the best one and made that the front of my postcard. 

I designed the back of the post card in power point by playing around with text boxes.  It's really easy!  Just be aware that you need to leave room for a stamp (obviously) and a USPS barcode at the bottom of the right side.  Check the post office website - www.usps.com - for exact specifications.  When I was finished, I saved it as a PDF file.  

I then uploaded the picture and the PDF file to www.vistaprint.com and created my postcards.  Then, I watched and waited for one of their "100 free postcards" promotions, which didn't take long.  So I only had to pay shipping, which came to less than $7 for 100 postcards.  Not bad!
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Monograms

I had so much fun designing monograms, and could hardly stop!  I created probably 20 different ones.  I'm no graphic designer, but I just used regular old MS Power Point, and I think they came out pretty good!  Once you get the hang of it, it's super easy.  There are some good instructions here:
http://favoride-sitepics.favorideas.com/monogram-ppt.html
I searched online for professional monogram inspiration.  Then I downloaded fun flourishes and some cool new fonts from www.dafont.com.  And then I just played around and had fun!  There were so many that I loved, I couldn't pick just one.  So I actually ended up using a few different ones for different things.

This one went on our belly bands, on the front of our invitations:
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This one went on all our wedding-day decor, including table numbers, menus and the card holder bird cage:
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This one went on our Welcome Bags:
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Guest Book

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This was another easy, but really fun, project!  I simply took our engagement shoot photos and turned them into a photobook!  I left plenty of white space for guests to sign their names around our pictures.  

I ordered my book from www.mypublisher.com
Their books are a but more expensive than others, but I've heard the quality is excellent.  And since this is probably going to be a lifelong keepsake, I was willing to pay a little more for good quality.  It helped that I received a $20 off coupon (sign up for their emails, you might get one too!), so I got the classic hardcover book (20 pages, 8.75" x 11.25") with dust jacket for just $23.75 shipped.  I just ordered it recently, so I'll review the quality when I get it in the mail.  

Here's a link to the full book: http://www.mypublisher.com/?e=OHm3Q8zJl3RvUuxo1vSS6Ru3fpWS8cLa&_mp=hNMla%2B/g0epFh9ubwV%2Bckl1yPF9K1HKg%0A

Invitations

For my invitations, I'm made pocketfolds with 5 inserts.  And I am made EVERYTHING myself, including the pocketfolds themselves.  In retrospect, I kind of wish I'd just paid a little extra and bought the pre-made pocketfolds, because these have turned out to be a huge PITA.  But too late now...

MATERIALS

I placed one massive order on anchorpaper.com for all the paper I'll need for all my paper projects, including invitations, thank you cards, envelopes for both, programs, escort cards, table numbers...I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but you get the idea. :)  I got enough materials to make 100 invites, even though I shouldn't need nearly that many (our guest list keeps changing so I don't want to come up short in the end, plus I want plenty of extras for mistakes, keepsakes, etc.). 
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This is what I ordered:

100 sheets of Stardreams cover weight (105#) card stock, 12x12, in quartz (which is a champagne color)
75 sheets of Stardreams cover weight (105#) card stock, 8.5x11, in coral
2 packs (250 sheets each) of Classic Linen cover weight (80#) card stock, 8.5x11, in avalanche white
1 box of 250 Classic Linen envelopes in avalanche white
Total with shipping: $178

I also invested in a Fiskars rotary paper cutter, and I cannot begin to describe how great this little tool is!  I got the big one, which is normally $60 at Michaels, but I waited for a 50% off coupon and got it for $30.  Totally worth it!  A lot of brides pay to have their paper cut for them, but with my fiskars, I've done it all myself!  I haven't had to change the blade yet!!  Best of all, you can buy a scoring blade for it, which had made all the folding MUCH easier. 

MAKING THE POCKETFOLDS

1.  I began by doing all the cutting.  I set aside some big blocks of time, put on a good Netflix TV series to entertain me, and just went to town!  

Start with the 12x12 paper and make one big cut at 7" (make sure they fit in your envelopes before you cut all the paper - some envelopes are sized more generously than others!).  Repeat on all of your 12x12 paper.  Save both pieces! 

Next, take the pile of smaller pieces you just cut (the ones that are now 12"x5").  These are going to be the pockets.  Cut them into 5" x 4 3/4" pieces (I suggest taking only half your pile and making 2 cuts per piece, but it's up to you).  Then you're going to cut them again, but the height depends on how many inserts you have and how much space you want between each insert.  The width should be 4.75", but adjust the height accordingly.

Finally, take out your 8.5" x 11" paper and cut each one into two 4 3/4" x 6 3/4" pieces.

2.  Step two - scoring!  Change the blade in your rotary paper cutter to the scoring blade (I HIGHLY recommend getting one of these!). 

First, take your 12"x7" pieces and score them each twice, at 4 7/8" and 9 7/8".
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Then take the littlest pieces (the pockets) and score them at 1/4" in on each of three sides - but NOT the top. 

3. Take your littlest pieces, now scored, and clip the bottom two corners off, so they look like this:
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4. Everything that you just scored now needs to be creased.  I suggest using a boning tool or something similar (I actually used a pen).  Just be careful whatever you use doesn't leave marks!

5.  Time to make the pockets!  Take your littlest pieces and place double sided tape along the three sides that are folded in.
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Carefully center and then attach the bottom edge of the pocket to the right most panel of your invitation (the largest piece, scored in 2 places).  Press down firmly.  Then do the same with the sides.  Repeat with all of your invites.  

At this point, I suggest placing the invitations between some heavy books overnight.  This will help insure that the tape forms a secure bond with the paper, because you don't want that pocket falling off! 

6. Now it's time to glue on the mat.  Those 4 3/4" x 6 3/4" pieces that are a different color are going to be your invitation mats.  These aren't 100% necessary, they just give your invites a little added color and visual interest.  I used rubber cement and spread a thin layer on both the mat and the center panel of the pocketfold, then carefully centered the mat and stuck it on there.  This has held really well!  You will inevitably have extra goop around the edges, but you can easily rub that off once it's dried.  

And that's it!  Here's how mine turned out:
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The Invitations

These were actually pretty easy to make.  I designed them in MS Word.  Our names are in script in Splendid Ornamentary font (which I believe I downloaded from dafont.com, but I honestly can't remember).  The rest is in Perpetua.  Deciding on fonts was the hardest part, because Mike and I have different tastes in script fonts!  But we eventually found one we both were happy with.  

I made sure they were same height & width ratio as the pocket fold and mat, then centered the text, printed out 2 to a sheet, and cut them with my fiskars.  Then I used a couple rubber stamps I bought on ebay and stamped them on!  You can emboss if you feel like it, but I didn't.  I experimented a lot with different ink colors, different arrangements of the flowers, and different flower stamps.  I finally found something I was happy with, then I did them all at once!  I laid them out until I was certain the ink was dry.  
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The Insert Cards

After many trials, I decided to make 5 insert cards: map, directions, response, accommodations, and reception.  They will be 4.25" wide.  Their heights are 6 5/8", 5 7/8", 5 1/8", 4 3/8", and 3 5/8".  I hand stamped these as well, each with a different stamp in a different color ink.   
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Belly Bands

I'm using ribbon belly bands to hold my invitations closed.  There are SO many different ways you can make belly bands.  I chose to use 1.5" wide sheer ribbon.  I got the wired edge kind because I thought it would be easier to work with (you can bend it and it holds its shape).  

I then designed a monogram in power point using different text boxes and fonts.  I made a little border for it and inserted some graphic flourishes.  It's super easy to do!  I saved my monogram as a graphic (.jpg file) then imported it into microsoft word.  I right clicked on the imaged, went to properties, and specified that I wanted the image to be a perfect square - 1.5" x 1.5".  I then copied it a bunch of times and printed out a full sheet of them onto cardstock paper - the same cover weight white linen paper I'm using for my invitations. 

Once I had my sheet of monograms, I used my fiskars rotary cutter to cut out the individual monograms.  I then took some of the left over pink cardstock that I used to make the mats in my pocket folds and used my fiskars to cut out slightly larger (1.75" x 1.75") squares of pink card stock.

I used an actual invitation and wrapped the ribbon around it to measure how long I needed each piece to be.  I then cut up 3 spools of ribbon.  


Finally, I used glue dots to hold it all together.  I put two glue dots on left and right sides the pink squares, placed the ribbon, then two more on the top and bottom of the pink squares (but over the ribbon) then place the monogram square on to of it all.  Again, I sandwiched everything between heavy books over night just in case.  Three weeks later, they're all still holding really well! 
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Pocketfolds with their belly bands on:
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All put together and ready to go!
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Envelope Liners

This was a fun little project that I think has added a really elegant touch to the invitations!  I bought 3 sheets of large, 21.5" x 31" paper from www.papersource.com for just $2.50 per sheet!  It's a GOREGOUS metallic-looking opal brocade pattern that fits perfectly with the rest of my stationary.  

First I took one of my envelopes and a scrap piece of cardstock and traced a pattern for my envelope liners.  To fit 18 per sheet, I had to make them a little short (they don't go all the way down to the bottom of the envelope).  I think it's fine to do it that way.  Really, as long as they extend at least an inch or two below the opening of the envelop, no one will even notice!  
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Next I laid the paper out of my table, pattern side down, and using the pattern I'd made, I lightly traced the pattern in pencil onto the paper.  It worked out really well - I was able to fit exactly 3 wide and 6 across (that wasn't just luck -- I took my envelope size into account when ordering paper, and took the paper size into account when designing the pattern size).  Doing a little math before hand will help you get the most liners for your money!
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I cut the bottom and sides with scissors.  But I made the top cut with my fiskars.  With that top lined up against the straight edge of the envelope, it will be really obvious if it's not perfectly straight, so that's why I did it that way.

Next, I placed a cut out liner inside an envelope, lined it up properly, then folded the top part down.  I then took a scrap of card stock (I have a lot of these now from cutting out all those invitation pieces) and placed it under the flap of the envelope liner.  I used a good quality glue stick, and applied glue to the back side of the envelope liner on the top flap side ONLY!  The scrap of card stock is necessary to ensure that you get glue all the way to the edges but without getting it all over the rest of your envelope.  Stick it on, press it down, and you're all set!  
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Stamps & Envelopes

This turned out to be a quite a project, largely due to my printer being an &@#$%!  But I finally worked it out, and I think they turned out really nicely!
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I decided to go ahead and order some custom stamps from zazzle.  After all, when am I ever going to have another excuse to get custom stamps with my name on them?  I designed another monogram and uploaded that to th site.  It was really easy!  And I think they are a really nice touch! 
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Ring Bearer Pillow

I am really proud of how this turned out!  It's a small thing, but I think it really looks cute and totally fits with the look of my wedding.
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Materials:

1/2 yard of pink satin (a thicker, tougher satin)
1/2 yard of ivory satin (a very light, delicate satin)
Matching thread
Really good scissors
Stuffing
Fusible tape
Hand sewing needle
Pins
Sewing machine
Silk flowers
Pretty button
Wire cutters

Here's how I made the pillow:

1. Cut a 9"x18" piece of the pink satin fabric (the tougher kind) and iron it.  Fold it in half, shiny sides together, to iron it (so you don't snag the shiny side and you get a nice crease in the middle).  Make sure the edges are nice and straight!
2. Cut a 18"x12" piece of the ivory delicate satin.  Don't bother ironing it, it wrinkles so easily while you're working with it.  Plus you're going to bunch it up at the end anyway. 
3. Take the pink fabric, folded in half (shiny sides together), and pin the side opposite the fold.  Sew it shut using a .5" inseam.  Stitch along that seam a second time, just a little bit closer to the edge (for security).  Trim the fabric close to the seam. 
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4. Now take the silkier, ivory fabric.  Fold it in half (shiny sides together) so that it's now 9"x12" when folded.  Double stitch closed the long edge using a .5" in seam.  Trim fabric close to the seam. 
5.  Now things get a little tricky.  Turn the ivory fabric right side out and arrange it so that the seam is in the middle.  Pull this through the opening in the pink fabric, as shown.  Arrange it so that the edge of the pink fabric lines up with the edge of the ivory fabric and pin them together.  Double stitch with .5" inseam and trim close to the seam.
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6.  Next, take the other end of the ivory fabric an pin it to just one side of the pink fabric (there should still be an opening in the pink fabric).  Sew it (don't have to double stitch this time) with .5" inseam.  Don't trim yet. 
7.  Now sew the opening shut almost all the way, but leave a small 2-3" opening.  Double stitch, .5" inseam, and trim the fabric.
8.  Turn it right side out.  Make sure the seam of the ivory fabric is not showing.  If it is, just flip it. 
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9.  Stuff the pillow.  There's really no special technique for this - just stuff it on in there, make sure you work it down to the corners, and stop when you think it's full!
10.  This last part I think is the most difficult, but you're almost done!!!  Start by heating up your iron on a medium setting (usually says wool/silk).  Cut a piece of fusible tape the length of the opening in the pillow.  Tuck the edges of the opening in and make them look neat.  Put the fusible tape in between them.  When the iron is ready, carefully hold the edges together while you iron the opening for just a few seconds.  Check to make sure it's closed properly (you can usually make adjustments if you act quickly while it's still hot), iron again if needed.  Hold it shut for about a minute after you're done ironing to make sure it fuses (the stuffing can pull it apart).
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11.  The final step is to bunch up the ivory fabric in the middle.  Wait until you're sure your fusible tape is cooled.  There's really no right or wrong way to do this.  Just play around with bunching up the fabric until you think it looks pretty, then using a hand sewing needle, just stitch it in place.  I went back and forth threw the ivory fabric several times, then did one or two passes threw the pillow itself.
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Now for the flower:

I bought a bunch of cheap flowers from the dollar store.  By themselves, they didn't look that great.  But by taking them apart and putting their petals together, I made a really nice looking flower.  You could do it this way, or just buy a nice big silk flower you like and use that.  Here's what I did:

1.  Cut the heads off your flowers.
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2.  Take your flowers apart (the various pieces just slide off).  Keep the petals, discard the rest. 
3.  Arrange the petals to make a flower.  This won't be the final arrangement, but just play around with the petals to decide generally how you want it to look and how many petals you plan to use. 
4.  Hot glue the petals together, using just a dab of glue near the center between each set of petals. 
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5.  Once your flower is glued together and the glue is cool and dry, it's time to attach the button.  My plan was to sew it on, but this turned out to be much too difficult, so I ended up just making one pass through with the thread (for extra security), then hot gluing the button on.  Be careful not to use too much glue, because if it spreads out from under the button onto the petals, it looks ugly and is really hard to get off.
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6.  Finally, attach the flower to the pillow.  I sewed it on by going threw a few of the flower petals near the center of the flower from the bottom, so no one will see the thread.  Tie a good knot and you're done! 

Pomanders for Flower Girls

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I'm really happy with how these turned out!  Maybe it doesn't come through in the picture, but the flowers honestly look like they could be real when you see it from a distance, which is exactly what I was going for!  Here's what I did:

Supplies:
  • A bunch of Silk flowers (I used ivory silk carnations purchased on ebay)
  • Styrafoam ball(s) (I used 5 inch, but if I had to do it over again I'd go with a 4" -- they turned out pretty big)
  • Satin-type ribbon 
  • Wire coat hanger
  • Hot glue gun and a bunch of glue sticks 

1) Pop the heads off your flowers

2) Use the wire coat hanger to punch a hole through the center of your ball and then pull the ribbon through it.  
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3) Adjust ribbon to desired length, cut and tie it off.  For extra security, glue it down with the hot glue gun.
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4) Take your flowers one at a time, poke them into the ball, fill the hole with hot glue, and stick the flower back in.  Hold it for a few seconds until you know it's secure.  Work your way around the ball until you're finished!  

My Bracelet

I have my fellow knotties on the DIY board to thank for this great idea!  Got the brooch on ebay, broke off the pin on the bad with pliers (it actually came off really easily) and filed down the sharp edges.  Then I used three different sizes of freshwater pearls (also from ebay) to make the five strands.  Secured it all to a five strand clasp and that's it!  I'm SO happy with how it turned out!
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My Veil 

This project was so easy, it seriously took me less than one hour, start to finish.  And so unbelievably cheap!  I bought illusion tulle for just $1.29 a yard (bought two yards just to be safe), and my comb was $4 for a pack of two.  So all in all, under $5!!!

I started by playing around with my tulle in the mirror, deciding what length I wanted my veil to be.  After settling on a fingertip length veil, I had FI help me measure how long it needed to be, and came up with 43".  I then added two inches to that for construction allowance.  I folded the tulle in half and cut it to that length.  
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I didn't want any kind of edging, but I did want the corners rounded slightly.  I was nervous about free-handing it, so I made a little cardboard pattern of a quarter circle and used that as a guide.  
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Next, I unfolded the tulle and stitched along the top edge, about an inch from the top, just weaving lightly in and out.  When I reached the other end, I bunched up the tulle until it was the width of my comb.  Then I tied off the thread.  
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Then I just sewed it on to my comb.  I went all the way across the width of the comb twice for security, and tied a good knot. 
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Finally, I trimmed the excess tulle from underneath the comb.  And that's all that's to it!

Here it is in action:
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Jewelry for Bridesmaids

Pretty self explanatory. :)  I actually got the earring backs at Kohls of all places.  Two of my bridesmaids have nickel allergies and needed sterling silver earring backs.  At jewelery supply places, these were pretty pricey.  But Kohls was having a 60% off sale on SS jewelery one day so I just got the earrings there!  They were really simple drops, I took them apart and added my own stuff to it.  
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Favors

These were a project and a half, lol!  In case you can't tell from the pictures, I made my own chocolate dipped pretzel rods for favors.  I bought the pretzels in big bins of 100-115 rods each from Gordon Foods ($6 something each, so around $13 in pretzels).  I then bought those bags of chocolate designed to melt in the microwave that they sell at Michaels & JoAnn's.  Full price, they're $2.99 each, but I'm pretty sure I used a 40% off coupon on every single one of them.  I made a total of around 190-200 pretzels (I didn't actually count, but I needed 180 and I was certain I'd break at least a few).  I needed 3 bags of milk chocolate and three bags of white chocolate for dipping.  I then used an additional bag of white, pink and milk chocolate for drizzling.


I made them the Sunday before the wedding, and stored them in the fridge for one week.  They weren't stale at all!  You could probably keep them at room temp, but it was an exceptionally hot week and I was paranoid about them melting.  The one mistake I think I made, however, was putting them in the fridge between dipping and drizzling.  I thought they'd set faster that way, but I think a thin layer of condensation may have formed on the chocolate which made it difficult for the drizzled chocolate to firmly attach itself.  So a bunch fell off when I went to bag them up!  Oh well...


It was time consuming (I stood there and dipped and drizzled for about 3 hours!) but honestly not that difficult.  I am by no means a pastry chef, but I got the hang of these in no time.  Just melt the chocolate in a tall, microwavable container (follow the directions on the package of chocolate), dip and then place them on wax paper.  That's it!  For drizzling, you can just put the chocolate in a freezer ziplock bag, melt it in there, then cut the tip off the bag.  Mike actually did the drizzling, because he felt I was trying to be too neat.  Between the two of us, I think we did a great job!  And most importantly, they were a HUGE hit with our guests!  I got so many compliments!  Not one was left behind at the reception either, including ours (that's right, somebody took our favors, lol)!
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The tags I designed myself in power point, using text boxes, etc.  Saved it as a graphic and printed out a whole sheet of them in word onto some of my left over white linen card stock.  I used my wonderful little fiskars cutter to trim them to the right size.  Then for a final fun touch, I used a really cool edge whole punch from the Martha Stewart collection at Michaels to make the edge look like lace!  I scored the fold, again using my fiskars (I really got my money's worth out of that thing, lol).  
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Finally, I bought those baggies sold at Michaels and JoAnns that are the perfect size for pretzel rods.  I put one white and one milk chocolate one in each bag.  I folded the end of the bag over, placed the cardstock tag on top, and stapled it shut.  And that's it!  I did a rough calculation and came up with just $0.36 per favor.  Not too bad! 
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Table Numbers and Menus

To save a little money, I decided to use up my left over card stock rather than purchasing frames or clip stands or something.  I used the heaviest card stock (the champagne star dreams stuff left over from making the pocket folds), scored it in the middle, and used that to make a little free standing tent.  I then put a table number on one side and a menu on the other (printed on more of my left over white linen card stock, attached with rubber cement).
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Escort Cards

These were pretty straight forward.  I designed them in Publisher, since that's the only program that would let me print with no margins.  Printed a page full, onto more of my left over white linen card stock.  Cut them and scored them with the fiskars.  I stamped each one with a tiny flower.  Used 4 different flower stamps in 4 different colors of ink, in a pattern such that when you lined them up on the escort card table, it would look like a whole array of different flowers - no two in a row would be the same (yes, I was that anal, lol).  I think it turned out really nice! 
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Card Box Decor

Pretty self explanatory.  3 bands of ribbon (I wove them through the bars so they'd stay put) and a sign, attached with glue dots.  
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Reserved Signs for Parents

These were totally unnecessary, but the parents were oddly concerned that since I didn't do assigned seating, there were going to get the worst seats at their tables since they would be the last ones there due to staying after the ceremony to take pictures with us at the church.  To put their minds at ease, I made little reserved seating signs just for them to be placed at the seat with the best view of our table.  Found these frames on clearance at Michael's for $0.50 each and printed up little signs to go in them.  Problem solved! 
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Welcome Bags

I was really on the fence about doing these, but I'm so glad I did because they were a HUGE hit!  

First I got a bunch of paper bags (you can get them 2/$1 at the dollar store, but I found they're actually cheaper to buy in a big pack at a craft store like Michaels using a 40% off coupon).  Then I printed up a cute monogram that I designed, printed of course on left over card stock, cut out using Fiskars rotary cutter, and hole punched in the corner so they became little tags.  Tied on with some ribbon that I found in the clearance bin at Michaels.  Finally, we went to Costco (warehouse store in MI) and bought a bunch of snacks in bulk.  I don't remember exactly what we got, but basically tried to make it a good mix of salty and sweet.  I think the microwave popcorn was easily the most popular - everyone told me they enjoyed it after they came back from the wedding! 
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Water bottles

Of course, I couldn't just put ordinary water bottles in the welcome bags - I had to personalize them first!  

This is a really popular project among knotties, so I acutally just downloaded somebody's else's template (I'm sorry, I really don't remember who it was) and substituted my own designs!  I toyed with ideas about how to make the labels water proof, but in the end decided it wasn't necessary because I was just putting them in the welcome bags.  So I simply printed them on regular printer paper, cut them out with my little fiskars, and attached them to the bottles with glue dots.  We bought just regular water bottles in a giant package at Costco (I think we got 36 bottles for just over $3!) and peeled off their labels.  Super easy and inexpensive project, but I got SO many compliments on them!    

The most time consumer part was designing the monograms, but I had fun with it.  I made them in power point.  It's really easy, you just make different text boxes, play around with fonts, sizes, etc. until you find something you like!  There is a TON of inspiration for monogram designs online, so I just browsed until I found some ideas I liked then made them my own.  

Here is what the file looked like: 
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And here's what the finished product looked like!
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Reception Hair Flower

One of my last DIY projects was a reception hair flower.  Basically, I knew I didn't want to wear my veil all night, but I thought my hair would look kind of plain with nothing in it.  So I made myself a flower! 

This was SO easy!  I simply went to JoAnn Fabrics and bought (1) a flower that I liked, (2) a small silver alligator-style hair clip [I found a package of these in the jewelery-making section], and (3) a pretty rhinestone button.  

I pulled the head of the flower off the stem and took out all the plastic pieces (there was a plastic center) so I was left with just the petals of the flower.  Using a hot glue gun, I put the flower back together, one set of petals at a time, then glued the button on top.  Finally, I glued the whole thing to the alligator clip.  The end!  
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