Paper Flowers

 
 I can’t show you *what* I’m doing with these yet but I wanted to do a post on how to make them. 

I’ll be sure to link to that post once I post the project and vice versa. 

You can use construction paper, printer paper, cardstock, whatever you want. Just remember that the thicker the paper the easier it will stay up. 

You don’t need a silhouette machine however it does make it easier. 

I made two types of petals and then made each one small, medium and large. You can have some fun with the shapes if you want. 

  
If you aren’t using a silhouette you’ll need to cut a “template” for each size petal and then trace it enough times to fill the page so that you are getting the maximum amount from each page. 

Once you’ve cut all of your petals you can start layering them or mixing and matching to create a flower you like. I did some with alternating petals, some with 3 color petals and even a few that are all one color. They all look great!! 

 These were the first ones I tried. I used cardstock and a glue stick. They seem to be holding up well. 

You will need about 5-6 petals (minimum) to complete each flower. 

Once you’ve chosen your pattern and have your petals laid out you will want to fold them each long ways so they are slightly bent and you have more definition. 

Now you just need to staple each petal at the bottom to the petal that it is next to and your done! 

It really is that easy and they can be used in many ways. Like I said I can’t tell you what I’m doing with them yet but they could be used for a photobooth back drop, wall decor, party decorations, etc. 

Holy Signage!

Have you ever seen all the wedding signs on Pinterest? Cute right? 

Once we got into planning I realized just how many signs we will need. I’ve gotten a few done but still have a long way to go. 

The  signs you will need of course depend on venue, activities, etc. 

I’ve got the following on my list but I’m sure there will be more. 

• Welcome 
• Ceremony
• Menu
• Games/activities
• Directional 
• Social media
• Ring bearer 
• Our story 

I’ve also got bridal party intro and memorial on my list but I’m not so sure those will qualify as signs. 

So like I said there are signs all over Pinterest but once again if you have a silhouette machine, you’re golden.  It also ended up being cheaper because the ones online go for about $45 a piece! 

I picked up a few chalkboards and wooden poles from Hobby Lobby to put them in the ground but I also happen to have some really thick black cardstock laying around so I’ve been using that too(hello free!).  

I used US Cutter to order the vinyl. They have some pretty good deals. I ended up with 6 rolls,  15 ft each of adhesive vinyl and 2 rolls of iron on for almost $100. 

Now you can make your signage as simple or intracite as you want but remember you will have to weed your design and sometimes smaller designs are harder. 

Again, I made this project more complicated by having some of the words be multiple colors. You really don’t have to do that to make them look good. 

How did I do it?

I started by creating a file through Adobe Illustrator but you can use the silhouette software too. 

Type in your text, have the machine cut the design and get to weeding!

After you’ve weeded (removed what you don’t need) you just place the design on transfer paper and then put on the board  

Now my fiancé will tell you I’m not the neatest person when it comes to anything so I didn’t measure or try to make sure it was straight but you probably should take the time to do so 😜 I wasn’t as concerned just because I know people will walk past them and likely not look back. 

The wedding party sign is actually my favorite but I won’t post that until I finish the border and blur out the names to protect those whose names are on it.  

In the meantime check out our yummy menu! I got this chalk board on sale for $8 at hobby lobby! 

   

  

 

Save the Dates

Or STDs lol. Sorry I had to. It just drives me crazy EVERYtime I see that acronym. 

So this is where things really got real. 

Save the dates. Now technically I should’ve sent them out in December but unfortunately we just got them out in the mail yesterday. 

Aye! That’s one way to describe the process. 

So first you establish the guest list and then your family decides to say screw your list, you need to invite these other 20 people you didn’t think of. 

Queue the awkwardness of turning them down. Now of course if your parents or whoever are contributing to the wedding they should have some say but sometimes you just have to have a limit. 

For example, my grandma feels it’s necessary for me to invite her whole church congregation. Lol, not really but she did try to slip her pastors address in there when I asked her for her list. 

This really is a hard choice because you don’t want someone feeling left out but we all have budgets and the wedding industry makes it hard enough to cut corners. Cutting the guest list is probably the easiest way to save money. 

My strategy? I’ll put them on my ‘B’ list. 

This is a great reccomendation I’ve seen online. Sometimes people even create a 3 tier list. We luckily didn’t have that many people to worry about. 

Basically you send the save the dates to your ‘A’ list and then depending on how many no responses you receive for  invites you send out invites to the ‘B’ list. 

Hopefully if they are on that list they aren’t too close with anyone on the ‘A’ list and won’t find out you even had save the dates. 

Now do I have an intention of actually sending them to my ‘B’ list? Nope. But hey it helps get them off my back. Maybe if they suggest someone I actually know, I will follow through with sending them. 

Sorry but if I thought of 250 people before I thought of your suggestion, then they probably aren’t significant. 

So I got SUPER lucky because my mom is a graphic designer so I put her in charge of my website and print material. It honestly is pretty cheap to have things printed. I would definitely recommend buying a template off etsy or designing your own and having them printed vs ordering from a company.  

Envelopes can be pricy though. Who knew there were so many options for liners? 

The most expensive thing for us was postage. Now we went a bit overboard (thanks to my designer mom) and ended up with heavier save the dates that cost 71 cents a piece to mail. You probably should consider this before you decide to add an item with the save the date. 

Another thing to remember. Do NOT order your save the dates or invites based off your total guest list. You’ll end up with double or more of what you need. Make sure you order enough for each address/family. I think we ordered about 20-40 extra just to be safe. 

It’s always good to have a few extra for last minute pop ups and of course a scrap book! 

So here’s what we sent:  
 
Again. The carnival theme and that banner. The banners are cute but very very time consuming. –  I’m going to hang one in my office! 

We used our silhouette cameo machines to cut out each banner flag and then strung them together using twine. 

I ordered the custom stamps from Zazzle is was like $100 cheaper than other sites I found and I got them within a week of placing the order. 

We also used a sharpie with a holder in the silhouette machine to address the envelopes. Time consuming but much better than paying or doing them yourself. Not to mention my handwriting is similar to that of a three year old so I wasn’t even going to try to tackle that task. 

I’m so relieved they are done and sent out! They might’ve taken 8 hours and 6 people but we made it!!  

Dumpster Couch

Okay, so the title isn’t appealing but check out these couches (below) we happened to find in the dumpster while moving out of our apartment.  

   

Prior to finding the couches,  I saw a pin on Pinterest where someone painted their couch opposed to reupholstering it so I knew what I was doing as soon as I found these.  

I looked through several different blogs and found multiple methods so I decided to give it a try.

To do this you need paint ( I used paint for the interior of a home) and a fabric medium. 

We went to Lowes and got our paint. I think it was called “Caribbean Breeze” or something along those lines.  Then off to Hobby Lobby for the fabric medium. 

Now I’m not sure if this was just a popular craft at the time or what but Hobby Lobby was completely out. Then I went to Jo Ann’s and they only had two bottles in stock.  So I got the two bottles and decided to order the rest on Amazon. 

I used this Martha Stewart  Fabric Medium.  

I should also mention this is a time consuming process. Unless you have a big empty room this is a warm/nice weather project. 

How to paint a couch: 

1. Make sure the fabric on the couch is clean. 
2. Use a spray bottle or hose to dampen the fabric of the couch. 
3. Mix your paint medium and paint. I did a 3:4 ratio using a cup to measure. – 3 cups of medium for 4 cups of paint. 
4. Now paint the fabric. Use as little paint as possible and try to go with the grain of the fabric. 
5. Our couches took 3 coats of paint before I was happy with the color.Make sure you let each coat dry completely before you start the next. 

And you’re done! As I said, it takes a long time. That’s because you have to wait so long for it to dry. 

I worked on them about a week total, maybe a little longer. 

Here are a few pics from the process. 

   
 
I still need to make the trim black but check out this before and after. 

  

We’re going to use the small one as the seat for our photobooth at our wedding and the larger for a lounge area. 

Yay for free wedding finds 👍🏼 They also happen to work perfectly in our living room too. 

A lot of people ask me if the couch is hard from the paint. The answer is yes but don’t let that stop you.  It’s not super hard to where it’s uncomfortable , it just feels stiff. Within less than a month they softened up a ton so the more you use them the more comfy, just like every other couch 😉