Crepe Paper Flowers - Part 2 - How 2!

So I had an inquisitive poster on Weddingbee.com asked if I could post instructions on how I did my crepe paper flowers.

I think alot of it once you have the basic concept, the possibilities are endless. Also I would like to say that I will be the first to admit I'm not the most fantastic at explaining how I do my DIY projects but I give them a shot. With this I tried to include a lot of visual. So excuse the picture heavy post!

(Tools needed; Scissors, wire cutter/pliers/, 28 gauge wire, PVA glue, Skewers, Floral Tape, Buttons and crepe paper)

My Crepe paper that I'm using is GALA brand which is 240cm long x 50cm wide. I find I can either make four big ones out of these or 17 small ones.

(slide your crepe paper out of the packet sleeve)

Place your template over the top. This can either be a circle, a heart shape, or leaf shape. Those are the three main ones that will get you variations.You can combine them all in one, or just use a particular shape for each flower.

Also, use a template in regards to how big you want your flowers. So i.e the bigger the flower, the bigger template you use when cutting your crepe paper, and in reverse. The smaller template the smaller the flower. Logic right?

Cut around your template.

Also some people at this step here "prepare the petals" Prepare means by either stretching them a little, cupping them or rolling the edges in with a pencil, so they take more of a curve. It's up to you tho what you would like to do. I don't usually do anything on my small flowers but on my big flowers cup them a little so they don't just lay flat.

Now would be the time to cut your flower tape into three 10cm pieces for later use, as your hands will probably be covered in glue.

I'm adding a button for the bud. (You can also use a different coloured crepe paper and cut a small section and glue it to the skewer then wrap it around so the top 2cm of the skewer is covered.)

To add the button I take about 15 cm of wire and thread the wire through like you were sowing on a button on a shirt. (you will need the pair of pliers as this can be a little fiddly).

Wrap the wire around the skewer so the button is attached.

Place your skewer like the picture below and add a small bit of glue.

Cinch it around the skewer

So it looks like this or something similar. :)

My original instructions that I gathered when I was doing the research for this was to glue all the petals to the skewer. Well this just ended up in a sticky and soggy situation and my flower looked a little sad! So this is the only part that you will use glue to secure the first petal. From now on in I reccommend using floral tape.

Start adding your petals around your bud.

Then secure it with your floral tape by wrapping it around the base. (Now you wont need glue with the floral tape, as floral tape stretches and secures it itself. I admit I sat there for about 30 seconds when I first started going.. Whattttt.... as I had never used floral tape before. I may be the only person ever in history to do this tho.)

Add more petals if you want to make it bigger, using the same process with the floral tape. I usually use three pieces of floral tape in my creations.

End Product :)

If you have any queries on the above, just leave me a comment and I will clarify or alter my instructions.

Coastal City Bride - Charis xx

Invitations - 75% complete and many redbulls later..

My own DIY invitations are nearly done!!

Warning: my instructions aren't that great, but you can get the idea!

I thought since I stress out easy to get my stationary underway- 6 months before they need to be sent! (how is that for organisation!)

Find an inspiration, with mine it was envelopes. (They say you should always choose your envelope size before you create anything, as their is no point in producing something and then having to search high and low to find an envelope to fit your pretty creation).

Choose paper that reflects your theme, you should have one main colour, a contrast colour and then if optional a print pattern that you can be coordinated throughout your wedding.

I chose my main paper to Burgundy Stardream Mars and the contrast colour to be a light gold in the Stardream selection.

My print came from a download of my fave wedding websites Styleguide.com.au http://styleguide.com.au/pdfdocs/WSGIssue3ModernSpicePatterns.pdf it was originally an inspiration on there to be used for wrap for candles, but I decided that instead of paying $2.10 a sheet from a paper store for a patterned paper was a little bit rich and that I could print this design on to gold paper and I could save a few dollars.

I found my gold paper at K-mart (similar to walmart?) for $4.00 AUD dollars for 25 sheets. I bought 7 packets.

Next step was to make a template of my design. (I went for a simple DL size with an angular cut at the front, to create a little interest instead of it being a straight cut)

I cut my printed design to fit the middle section of my DL invite and secured it with double sided tape.

After looking at this FH decided, that was a little boring and that we needed a bit of "edge" to the invitation, his words. So we went to the local craft store - Spotlight (like Michaels) and I purchased 15 x 7m x 3mm ribbon in a terracotta colour and 20 x 7m 10mm ribbon in the same terracotta colour, like so. I placed the 3mm ribbon along vertically of the middle of the invitation and the 10 mm along the edge on both sides from the middle to the angular fold as seen below. I sealed the edges of the ribbon with a lighter to stop the fraying.

We decided that having a blank front was boring and we would need a monogram wrap! The wrap was simple to create. I designed the monogram using Microsoft publisher and it simple square as this would be easier to cut than a round monogram, using my printed design and the burgundy as backing.

(I had to sharpen the image to put it on here as it didn't show to well on original photo)

(150 of them later)

(ta da!)

I have just finished the rsvp cards that go in the invitation, but that will be another post. I have also yet to do accomodation info, the actual wording for the invitation and map. I'm putting them on hold for another month or so!

Coastal City Bride - Charis

DIY - Named Cake Tablecloth! Twice Done!

Last weekend after being inspired by a blog called Becoming his Mrs, I decided that if this lady could do it. I could do it too!!

http://becominghismrs.blogspot.com/2009/09/another-day-another-diy.html

Such a fab inspiration, I highly recommend her blog.

My FH and I are happy with how it turned out, it was a bit of a process as I had to do it twice (reason explained below).

Things you will need;

1. Table cloth to match your cake table, or suitable one that can be adapted. We picked ours at our local discount store ($10.95 AUD).
2. Acrylic Paint (Acrylic is not water proof) of your designated colors or what you would like to paint. I picked up 2 tubes of Jo Sonjas's Matt fluid acrylic paint. Burgundy series 1 and Pale gold series 2.
3. A fine quality paint brush.
4. Printer that you are able to enlarge your design on. Either in the Program Publisher or word. You can print this out on A4 and have it blown up to A3 size or however big your project.
5. Plain scrap paper - if you are thinking printed newspaper will do, I would think again as it could leave marks on your tablecloth. Another suggestion is use waxing paper to line the table.
   

I set our design underneath the table cloth (so you can see your design underneath) with the plain paper as a backing to stop paint from going through to your perfect dining table (I was tempted to trace the outline in light pencil but I didnt have a eraser to undo it).

With a steady hand and nerves of steel on Mum and Dad's dining room table I painted. The whole process was nerve wracking due to being afraid of spilling paint and not being able to wipe it off without leaving a mark! It took me about 1hr to complete the design.

The paint was very quick to dry so after impressing myself with my DIY project (I am not a pro at this DIY thing but I find I'm getting better with each project) I took it home and hung it up on a high table for it to set overnight.

Unfortunately, I own a moggy of a cat called Raz who decided while we were sleeping to use the rest of the tablecloth which she had pulled conveniently on to the ground and used it as a resting spot.

We woke up in the morning to find stains on the table cloth and one very guilty looking cat!

I was very emotional and it took me about a week to warm up to the cat again. Needless to say I had to chuck the table cloth out because you can't wash it and had to go buy another and redo the whole process again!

The new table cloth with its fresh painted design is now locked away from the putty cat, so its paws may never touch it again!!

Coastal City Bride - Charis xx

Team Burgundy and Gold!

Oh dear, How forgetful of me! We decided on our wedding colors since July and now!

Our Main colours are Burgundy and Gold for decorations and stationary and sub colours light blue and tangerine(burnt orange) For the bridesmaid dresses we chose something different but I will post that as soon as I get a good picture!

They say colors can either make or break a wedding. Honestly it wasn't a too bad experience for me. My original colours were Burgundy, Black and Silver. Then as soon as I found my wedding dress (another post you will have to wait for!) is a light gold colour. I realised those colours would just not go!

Coastal City Bride - Charis xx