DIY guide

December 19th, 2008 by Silvia

On my winter wedding post, I mentioned making your own wedding favors and putting them in a lovely favor box. This made me realize that in the past couple months there has been an increasing interest in DIY amongst bloggers. I have compiled a few of my favorite entries that don’t seem too time consuming or are just too pretty to resist. Don’t forget to check out Beau-coup’s selection of DIY Wedding favors and favor boxes, bags, and labels to help make your DIY project just a little bit easier! Enjoy and tune in next week for lots more DIY goodness! Have a great weekend!

1) Hot Cocoa Cones (via The Event Essentials)

What You’ll Need:

3/4 cup cocoa mix
1 (6 x 12 inch) cone-shaped cellophane bags (available at party stores)
1 clear favor cone
2 clear rubber bands
Scissors
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips or gourmet chocolate mints
3/4 cup mini marshmallows
a few inches of ribbon

Instructions:

1. Pour the cocoa mix into the bag. Close the bag with a clear rubber band, then trim the end of the bag 1 inch above the band.

2. Place the cocoa-filled bag into the favor cone and flatten its top so the end doesn’t stick up.

3. Layer the chocolate chips and the marshmallows. Secure the bag with the other rubber band. Then tie a decorative ribbon from the top.

2) Pinwheels (via Once Wed)

What You’ll Need:

1 sheet of 12″ x 12″ double sided scrapbook or decorative lightweight paper (not stiff) for every four pinwheels
1 Round-headed pin per pinwheel
1 (12″) wooden dowel per pinwheel
Hot glue gun and glue sticks
1 push pin
1 Flower shaped craft punch
Scissors
Ruler

Instructions:

1. Begin by measuring and cutting four 6″ inch squares out of your paper.

2. Find the center of your one of the squares and mark it by poking a hole through it with your pushpin. (see figure 1)

3. Lay your paper pattern side down, and use your ruler to draw diagonal lines from each corner to make an “X”. (see figure 1)

4. Cut along the diagonal lines, from all four corners, stopping one inch before you meet the hole in the center of your paper. (see figure 2)

5. Use your pushpin to make a hole in the right hand corner of each side of the square, just to the left of the line you just cut. (see figure 3)

6. Use your punch to cut out a paper flower. Stick your round-headed pin through the center of the flower. (see figure 3)

7. One by one, bring each of the four pin-holed corners to the center and stick the flower and pin through each of the four holes. (see figure 4 and 5)

8. Next, put the pin through the hole in the center of the square and set aside.

9. Make a pilot hole, using your pushpin, 1/2 inch down from the end of the dowel.

10. Put a drop of hot glue on the hole, and quickly insert the pin that runs through the pinwheel center into the glue and dowel. (see figure 6 and 7) Be careful not to let the pinwheel paper touch the glue on the dowel while it’s drying. If it sticks, it can’t spin.

11. Arrange your completed pinwheels in a vase or container like flower stems.

3) Homemade Sugar Scrub (via Elizabeth Anne Designs)

What You’ll Need:

1 oz. Vegetable Glycerin (or coconut oil) per jar
1 oz. Grapeseed oil per jar (Optional: You can just use vegetable glycerin)
2 oz. white sugar per jar
one or two drops of essential oil
1 glass spice jar
A few inches of ribbon per jar
1 personalized label per jar

Instructions:

1. Mix up all the ingredients and pour into your jar.
2. Place the label onto the jar and tie the ribbon.

4) Invitation Packaging (via Style Me Pretty)

What You’ll Need:

Heavy Weight Decorative Paper in 2-3 styles
Bone Folder
Glue or other adhesive
Decorative Stamp and White Pigment Ink
Doily Paper
Tissue Paper, cut to size
2″ Circular Punch
1/8″ Hole Punch
Satin Ribbon
Twine
Vellum Envelopes

Instructions:

1. Cut out a 10×7 rectangle with a triangular section below the right side.

2. Use a bone folder to score the middle (where the folder’s spine is) and at the bottom of of the right side so the triangular part can be folded upward.

3. Glue the right side of the triangle to the right edge of the folder to make a pocket.

4. Stamp the triangular pocket of the folder using white pigment ink.

5. Cut a 5×7 piece of paper doily and glue it to the cover of the folder.

6. Glue the invitation card on the left inside of the folder and stuffe the enclosures in the right hand pocket with the tissue paper rectangles between the cards.

7. Use a 2-inch circular punch to make a paper disc and stamp your initials on it using white pigment ink. Then punch two 1/8″ holes on either side of it.

8. Cut rectangles of different colored tissue paper to use between the cards.

9. Close the folder with the contents inside and tie satin ribbon around the middle, threading through the holes in the paper disc and tying it behind the disc. Then take a straw flower and glue it on the back side of the paper disc.

10. To make the liner, trace the envelope onto a sheet of pretty paper. Cut it out and trim the upper triangular portion about half an inch on either side and trimmed the other 3 rectangular sides by about 1/8 of an inch.

11. Finally stuff the folder into the envelope and tie the envelope with twine (like a package). Tie a bow on the front with a couple 1-inch paper discs threaded onto it. Put that envelope into a slightly larger vellum/glassine envelope. Put addressed stickers on the front of the glassine envelope (the font is Memoir from Veer).

5) Personalized block print save the dates (via Style Me Pretty)

What You’ll Need:

1 Block of pear wood
Spoon
Several sheets of thick paper
Woodcarving tools
Brayer

Instructions:

1. First draw what you want to carve

2. Then transfer the drawing onto the wood

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

6) Wedding Programs (via Style Me Pretty)

What You’ll Need:

Two types of fabric the size of your programs
Satin ribbon
Cardstock Paper
24-lb Paper
Pinking Shears
Hot Glue Gun
Paper Cutter
Sewing Machine
Computer/printer

Instructions:

1. Cut one type of fabric to match the dimensions of your programs. Cut the other fabric in a design of your choosing.

2. Next, we wrote the content of the program and formatted it using Microsoft Word. Make sure to leave extra space on the left margin of each page for the seam of the program. Printed the pages using a home printer, front-side only. Cut the pages down to desired size using a paper cutter. Print the back cover of the program on cardstock.

3. Collate all the individual pages together, with the fabric pieces for the front cover and the cardstock sheet for the back. Machine sew your program together.

4. Tie a bow using 3/4″ satin ribbon for each program and hot-glue one to the corner of each.

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