DIY Do-over: Twine Lanterns

Well I spent one solid day removing all the lace and glue shmootz from the vases. Goo Gone is great, it smells like delicious oranges so you sort of forget it's toxic. After all that I could finally start rebuilding them with my awesome twine edging I scored at the lovely PA Fabric Warehouse for 55 cents per yard. The future hubs helped me with this step, until he got bored which happened quite quickly. Boo.


Same procedure as the lacey lanterns, except using a lot more glue. Wrap the edging evenly around top and bottom, loops facing the middle of the vase. You could use any looped ribbon or edging for this, by the way, just get coordinating weaving material. I went heavy on the glue because I will be using these pieces as support for the woven string. I also tried to keep these pieces from overlapping or gapping at the ends, this will keep the number of available loops even and make it easier to keep to my pattern.

Let these dry for 24 hours so the glue is nice and strong. Now comes the fun (tedious) part: weaving. I found knitting yarn in the exact color as the twine for $2 at Michaels. This was easier for me than trying to find skinny twine which I couldn’t find anywhere, but whatever you get the following procedure will work for it.

The best way to start the weaving process is to draw out your pattern on paper. After you glue on the trim count how many loops are available to you. Draw these out flat on a piece of paper with the bottom trim and start making up patterns. It might take a couple tries but it’s much easier than trying to figure it out on the vase itself. My pattern requires 4 separately woven strings. I’ll be going through the pattern I decided on, but there are simpler and more difficult ones that would also look great! Experiment!

Start by cutting a piece of your weaving material, here-forward to be called ‘yarn’, about 6 times the height of your vase. Take one end and knot it on the loop to the left of the one you glued together (the intersection of the cut ends of the edging).

Stand your vase up and let the yarn fall to the table, or whatever you’re using. See the loop on the bottom trim that the yarn falls in front of? Count 3 loops to the left of that loop and weave your yarn through it.

Now bring the yarn back up to the top trim and count 6 loops over from your starting knot, weave your yarn through that.

Take the yarn back down to the bottom trim and count 6 loops over from your previous bottom loop, weave through that. Continue until you meet up with your original knot, gently pull the yarn tight so everything looks straight and knot it off next to the original.

Now cut another identical length of yarn and knot it off 1 loop to the left of your original on the top trim. Wrap this piece in the exact same pattern as the first, the woven loops will always be 1 to the left of the original, so you don’t have to count anymore!

Now start your bottom trim pieces. Cut another piece of yarn and knot it off at the loop on the bottom trim that is directly below your very first knot on top. The pattern is exactly the same from here, you are just going bottom to top instead. Go up, count 3 loops to the left of the original knot, loop, continue until you reach your beginning knot for that string, knot.

Last one! Cut another piece of string, knot if off 1 loop to the left of your previous string on the bottom trim, replicate the pattern, knot off the end.

Congratulations you are done!! How long did it take you? Was it worth it? Go light a candle in it and tell me that’s not gorgeous!

 

TGIF, and Cool Vase Idea

Seriously, I need the weekend.  What am I going to be doing with myself during this glorious fall weekend?  Stripping all the crap I glued on my cylinder vase lanterns and redoing them with my original idea.  The more I looked at all that lace, the more I hated it.  It's pretty lace, and it's pretty purple ribbon, and they look great...for a baby shower, or a damn tea party.  They are just too girly, too frilly, too not me.  Thankfully I'm only losing $5 worth of supplies, but the Goo Gone to clean up my craftastrophy cost me another $5.  Boo. 

Brides-to-be:  your initial gut reaction is usually the best one, also: tunnel vision makes you miss the bigger picture. 

I will be re-wrapping the vases with my original favorite edging, it's a pretty looped twine edging that I've never seen anywhere but my favorite store-PA Fabric Warehouse.  Incredible selection and clearance prices, what's not to love?  Hopefully Monday I'll have at least one redone so I can post a pic!

Awesome Blog and Idea:

Take 1 can.
Make something delicious out of the contents.
Remove the lid and clean thoroughly.
Coat the outside with spray adhesive.
Wrap with twine to cover completely.
Fill with water and pretty flowers and show off to all your friends!

Image courtesty thethriftycrafter

Thethriftycrafter blog kicks ass, easy projects, realistic instructions, anyone can do this stuff and it looks great!  Instead of hanging mason jars with flowers from my shepard hooks, it's going to be these cuties.  A big ball of twine costs $2, and you are essentially recycling your can, everybody wins...well, except whatever was in the can.  Another idea I'm getting from this is to use funky shaped glass bottles or vases instead of cans, hot hot hot!!

DIY-Save the Dates

To everyone who calls these "STD's", please stop, you all confused (and worried) the hell out of me on the Weddingbee boards until someone spelled it out in a post. 

If you have Photoshop or some other software you can easily make a design for these yourself. There are free templates all over the internet that you can alter to your liking. Clip-art sounds cheesy but there is some beautiful (and free!) stuff out there, especially from The Graphics Fairy.

If you don’t have Photoshop, do your best to set things up in Word, save it and any clip art files on a USB and take it to Office Max, or Kinko’s and ask them to lay it out for you in Photoshop. They might try to charge you a ‘layout fee,’ you can usually avoid this by explaining that you already laid it out and just need your Word file transferred into Photoshop. It doesn’t take them more than 5 minutes if they know what they’re doing. If you’ve bought cardstock to print on, make sure you pick card sizes that make the most of your paper. Our save the date cards were 4.25x5.5”, I only had to pay for 13 pages of color printing since we squeaked out 4 cards per page.

Isn't it cute?

You can find nice 110lb cream cardstock at Staples, $15 for 250 sheets. You can sometimes find a Staples coupon and score 10% off. Keeping a stash of coupons in your binder (which you take with you everywhere) is a good thing. This cardstock will make our invitations, return cards, place cards, table numbers, menu cards, etc… You can save money on envelopes by being normal and buying either white or cream from a Staples or Wal-Mart type store. I found a 100 pack that would fit our save the date and response cards for $12.

I found the corner punch at Michael's craft store for $4 with one of those nifty 40% off coupons you can find here.

Anyone else doing stationary from scratch?  How did it turn out?

Etsy Obsession...

Boy do I love me some Etsy, as I've gushed before.  After losing the second vintage necklace I did more hardcore searching on my favorite crafty website looking for vintage inspired sparkly things.  I had set up a custom request for a jewelry set, but wasn't sold on any of the many responses I received.  Here are some pieces that I'm strongly considering if I decide to purchase new instead of old:

Rediculous. 

Seriously?  Better than vintage, these earrings are new but made with vintage glass and findings.  Etsy seller 1ofmykind has stolen my heart, if only the pieces were more in my price range.  I am planning to contact her shortly to request a matching necklace and find out if I can afford this option.

PRETTY!!

Loving this piece by AzureTreasures as well.  It has matching earrings, and she can do any color stone, and the 3 piece set is $68!!

However,  this girl has really stopped me in my tracks, liliswan knows just want I want and she's never even met me!

Awesome!

This set is just gorgeous.  Vintage and a little off-beat without going crazy and clashing with my dress.  Matching earrings make the set only $60.  That's just one of my many favorites out of her large selection of vintage inspired jewelry.  She can also do things in sterling silver!

Love supporting artists, if I can't buy stuff second hand I always check out Etsy!  So which one is a winner?  Votes?

Accessorize-Search for Shoes

I’ve found several amazing shoe options online. My biggest hurtle with shoes is that they have to be just the right heel height to keep my dress length un-altered. The problem with this is that every time I have help to get the damn thing on I forget to go through my shoes and decide on a heel height. Kind of crucial no?

I promise, next time I won’t forget!

Also, I’ve got funky wide feet so whatever I buy should be tried on before the money flies out the window. In order to be as weird as possible, I’ve decided I want a colored shoe. Ivory would look very sweet, and if I can’t find what I want in a luscious dark plum, I will certainly defer to the traditional look. I’ve told my bridesmaids they can wear purple shoes if they want, it would look fantastic!

So now, on with the pretty parade…

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

Photo courtesy Zappos.com

 
These Nina beauties are my favorite by far, but the heel is much too high.  Pretty sure I need a 3 inch and these are 4 inch.  Bummer.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Photo courtesy David's Bridal

 
If these had a closed back they would be a very nice, traditional choice. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Photo courtesy Zappos.com
 
Good god these are some hot soup!  Usually I do not like rounded, closed-toe heels, but these are the sexy exception!  Those ruffles on the back???  The color???  The covered heel???  All HOT!  I cannot have these pretty things because the heel is over 4 inches and I'll fall on my face whilst making my way down the aisle and everyone will laugh at me. 
 

Photo courtesy Zappos.com

Ahh, then there's the Maylie by Enzo Angiolini. I picked up a pair of these in a beautiful copper-hued, beaded finish at Macy's on clearance and haven't looked back. They are the most comfortable, well fitting heels I have ever owned. After 2 years of wearing them every chance I get I've managed to bang them up and have since tried searching for another pair. Unfortunately Enzo doesn't seem to be making them in the beaded finish anymore, they are all fake-ass looking crocodile texture and this weird sponged on paint patterned vinyl. Wack. I have tried looking for these in a neutral finish that I could dress up with shoe clips or something, they are so comfortable I could wear them all night.

The search continues...

Accessorize-Search for Jewelry

I had a rather hot and cold weekend.

Hot=engagement shoot in downtown Harrisburg which will provide sick photographs that will be posted here and turned into our guestbook.

Hot=my sister coming home from school and helping me finish the lacey lanterns.

Cold=losing a bell-shaped art deco camphor glass filigree necklace for the SECOND time on Ebay. The first time was out of my hands, the bidding went way over my budget. This second time was totally my fault for hesitating. This one was a reproduction of an original art-deco period piece. It was also sterling silver instead of gold. I also have a $100 budget for jewelry. This piece was $100 just for a necklace.

This is the expensive gold one.  HOT!

I can explain it away all I want, but the point is what I want is not easy to find. I’ve been scouring the internet for 2 months solid and have only found 2 of these pendants. Obviously I’d like gold, it makes a better investment, but the reality is my budget may not buy a gold version. I’ll continue to make my rounds at the local antique shops and continue the search, but I’m still disappointed that I didn’t have the balls to go for the one I found.

Anyone ever miss out on something they really wanted for the wedding?  Did it work out for you in the end?

DIY-Honey Favors

The future hubs and I both love honey, especially tasting really crazy types like white Hawaiian, Spanish heather, etc...  So when I told him about this sweet idea I found on Weddingbee he was totally down.  I set the favor budget at $50, so the more we spend on containers the less we can spend on the actual honey.  I spent hours scouring the internet for affordable glass containers.  The test tube idea is great, but I wasn't having any luck finding a local source, and shipping for buying them online was outrageous. 
Ebay had the best prices, but it was still going to be $30-$40 for 50 tubes, wack!  So I just started searching for 'glass jars' and 'glass vials' and finally found my awesome containers.

I picked them up from guy who used them for dioinized water in a lab, so they will be thoroughly sanitized before we use them.  $13.50 including shipping, and they have SCREW LIDS!!!  Don't get me wrong the wax over the cork thing is an incredibly cute idea, but when I saw these screw-on lids I realized how much easier it would be for people to re-cap them between usages.  Each bottle holds 1 oz.  I'm going to cut little squares of cool vintage scarves to cover the lids, tie off with ribbon and a tag and there you go-instant awesome.

We got these for such a good price that we are either going to go nuts and order super expensive, exotic honey (his choice), or stick with a well priced local honey (my choice) and offer a second favor, like a candy bar set-up with bags people can fill and take home.  What's a good candy to do this with?  We were thinking almond Hershey's kisses (we are less than an hour from Hershey) or those customized M&M's with our initials or something.  Any ideas??