Final OOT Bags

So, after a myriad of posts about our Out of Town Bags (OOT Bags), I never actually got to post about completing them. Largely because it happened about 2 days before the wedding, and I immediately moved on to another project (like rehearsal dinner centerpieces, ribbon wands, etc). But I can say that at least I took some good pictures of a completed box, and my Matron of Honor's husband declared them to be the best welcome gifts EVER!

I tried to include a few items from Wayne's home state, my home state, the state where we now live, and few extra fun items. I got a little bit crazy; however, and I kept adding and kept adding and got to the point where Wayne was starting to think I had gone straight up bananas.

The whole idea started with homemade snowflake marshmallows from an Etsy vendor (Deidre Woods). I packaged up 4 per bag, with several packets of hot cocoa mix:

From there, I wanted to include something to represent Georgia. I decided to include honey butter biscuit mix and peach preserves. I found the preserves for such a good price that I ultimately included a jar of blueberry preserves as well:

Coconut and key lime cookies were chosen to represent Florida:

I couldn't resist these chocolate snowflakes that I found at the dollar store. I also included some Moon Pies to represent Tennessee. Did you know they were developed in a Chattanooga bakery?

I also found a wonderful Etsy vendor that makes soaps and lip balms and she created some custom winter-themed scents for my guests. I included 2 soaps and 2 lip balms in an organza bag:

The kookoo-bananas part came about the time I couldn't resist adding a bunch of extra snacks, like Georgia peanuts, saltwater taffy, fruit and nut mix, and chocolate mint kisses:

A bunch of fun extras included "Love" playing cards with custom labels, rum or tequila and mixers, a flamingo Christmas ornament, trusty Jack Daniels, Florida tourism brochures and postcards, and custom-labeled sunscreen (the wedding was in Florida, after all):

Just add water (or a couple bottles of custom-labeled waters) and voila!

The whole kit and caboodle was gathered in a large kraft gable box, tied with a red satin ribbon, and labelled with a welcome message! I also tucked a welcome booklet into each box to thank everyone that traveled for our wedding. To see the welcome booklet, click here.

I know a lot of people think welcome bags are unnecessary, and they might be, but everyone that received one went out of their way to thank me for the effort and tell me how much they enjoyed the gift. By the time the wedding started, most of them had already chosen their favorite item and couldn't wait to tell me about it!

Flower Girl Gift

We struggled with fun ideas for gifts for our flower girl and junior groomsman. They are 6 and 10, respectively and I just wasn't thrilled with any of the gift ideas that I found online.

After some discussion, we ultimately decided to get them personalized totes, filled with fun little presents that fit each of their personalities (Barbie and princess for her and Star Wars for him). I did some searches for personalized totes and they are expensive! And typically the only personalization is names and/or initials. Then I took a trip to JoAnn Fabric and Crafts...

Cue sunlight through parting clouds and a heavenly choir-of-angels-ish sound. I found cute tote bags that were a complete bargain at $3.99 each. I got a white tote with pink trim for Caroline and a blue tote for Carson. To personalize them, I purchased iron-on sheets designed for dark fabrics. They are pretty genius because you don't have to create the design in mirror image for printing.

A few minutes with some graphics software and a couple minutes in the ink jet printer and voila! personalized totes for less than $6 each!

I matched the pink of the handles and trim with my handy-dandy Pantone swatches, just to nerd up the project. It worked well; however, and gave the final product a professional look (if I do say so myself...)It's uber-girly and filled with Barbie and princess goodies like make-up, stickers, and craft supplies. And I found a cute Flower Girl teddy bear from Oriental Trading to top it all off.

Label love

I know... I get it... Address labels are supposed to be handwritten. It's in all the etiquette books. It's everywhere online. It shows that I'm a good hostess, right? And that I pay special attention to the details. It's warm and personal. But? No buts, that's the end of it. But, wouldn't it look charming and lovely to use a delightful font and print it on clear labels that basically disappear, giving the illusion of hand calligraphy? Nope. No dice. Old school here.

I can't; however, rationalize shelling out oodles of money for a professional calligrapher and I haven't used a calligraphy pen since middle school. My handwriting is so-so, but I wanted something a little more special than just an address on a lovely white pearly envelope. Enter Martha Stewart, goddess of all "good things" and weddings. I found her version of address labels here. And although she says that it's an appropriate option, I was still yearning for old school handwriting.

So I modified her idea so that the address block allowed space for my own handwriting. I found a high quality black pen and got to work. The other advantage was that I could print the labels on my ink jet. If I messed up, it was a simple matter of printing a few extras. A MUCH more cost effective solution than purchasing extra, expensive white pearly envelopes.

The labels wrap around and have the return address printed in the same font that I used on the Save the Dates and the actual invitations. A nice compromise, right? Oh, and how cute are my personalized Zazzle stamps?

You're Invited!

Please note that if you would like to be surprised my the arrival of my invites- STOP READING NOW!



SERIOUSLY, STOP READING IF YOU WANT TO BE SURPRISED. I MEAN IT.



ARE YOU SURE? IF YOU'RE STILL READING THIS IT MUST MEAN THAT YOU WANT A SNEAK PEEK AT THE INVITES.



SO HERE THEY ARE. WITHOUT FURTHER ADO...



WELL MAYBE A LITTLE ADO...



My invites! Ta Da!



After many slight (and not so slight) snafus. Snafu #67: Exploding glue all over the living room. But they're done. They're lovely. And they're on their way!

DIY Boutonnières

If you've read my earlier post, you already know my desire to try my hand at DIY boutonnieres. Admittedly, I started slow. I wasn't sure where to begin the structure of the mini floral arrangement. I could have searched for one of the thousands of articles online, but my computer was in the other room, and I was feeling stubborn. It's just silk flowers and floral wire, for crying out loud!

After a little trial and error, I actually put together a boutonnière that I'm sort of in love with! It has the right blend of earth tones and reds, and even has a little sparkle. I even used some of the same floral elements that Mom and I used in the centerpieces and pomanders. I must say, if I can toot my own horn a little bit, I'm very pleased with the results.

Although it took me MUCH longer than expected (Don't all DIY projects seem to do that?), It actually saved me a good bit of money. Had I ordered them from one of my favorite vendors on Etsy, it probably would have cost me about $75, which is quite reasonable, don't get me wrong. With all my supplies, I think all six will cost me about $30. Plus, I have the satisfaction of having done them myself and I'm proud of that!

I definitely won't be quitting my day job, largely because I'd have to charge about $60 per boutonnière to account for my time! Would you consider DIY boutonnières?

DIY Guestbook

So, in an earlier post, I described our wish tree, which will be a lovely addition to our gift table. At the time, I hinted (OK, outright told you about) a DIY guestbook that would allow for a little more creativity for our guests.

There is a wonderful online vendor called the Guestbook Store, which offers great alternatives to traditional guestbooks. While I love their designs, I didn't love the prices... plus, I wanted to use our names instead of the generic "bride and groom." So, I thought to myself, "hey, I can do that," which is almost always what I think to myself when I conjure up new diy projects. I'm about 60% right when I say that to myself. This time; however, I was indeed right. I CAN do that.

So I took inspiration from designs from the Guestbook Store, and got a little more inspiration from clever brides on Weddingbee, and voila! DIY Guestbook pages! I customized them with fun questions about us, and the ubiquitous bird, branch, and snowflake designs and I'm so happy with the results.

Front:
Back:
I plan to place pages on each table at the reception with a note, encouraging guests to fill them out. At the end of the reception, I plan to have members of the wedding party gather up the completed pages for safe-keeping.

I sized them to be 8" X 8" so that they will fit perfectly in scrapbook page protectors. I think it will be a fun addition to the collection of photo albums and scrapbooks about our wedding!

Extra! Extra!

Read all about it! I love a reason to make a newsletter, and what's more news-worthy than a wedding! To keep guests informed, even before the invitations go out, I created a wedding newsletter. It contains a little behind-the-scenes information about the wedding, travel arrangements, accommodations, and information about the area. I also included a little section on weather and what to wear, which seems to always be in question for wedding guests.

I also directed guests to our wedding website and this blog. Is it weird to write a blog post about a newsletter that talks about a blog post? Oh well, circular logic aside, Enjoy!

Make a Wish (Tree)!

OK, so I was torn between two guest book ideas. I loved the idea of the wish tree because it is beautiful and it is a Scandinavian wedding tradition, a nod to my Norwegian roots. I found a beautiful photograph in a Weddingstar catalog, featuring a manzanita branch with tissue paper blossoms. I also loved the idea from Martha Stewart Weddings, which provides guests with sentence starters like "Love is..." and "We wish you..."

I decided to combine them into a wish tree, with cards that guests can select to finish and hang on the tree. There will be 3 sentence starters: "We wish you," "Love is," and "Once upon a time."


Guests can complete the cards and then hang them on the branch. I also designed a corresponding sign to place next to the tray.

I even found a beautiful silver tray and silver snowflake pens for the wish tree.

I think this idea will be a beautiful addition to the decor of the reception. What it doesn't do; however, is really provide guests a chance to write more personalized messages. As a result, I've created fun guestbook pages that will be placed on each of the tables at the reception. They are a fun combination of conversation starters and a guestbook. The pages will be sized 8" X 8" so that I can slide them into scrapbook page protectors after the wedding. You'll have to wait for a later post to see those... A girl has to have a sense of mystery after all!

These "Bouts" Are Made For Walkin'

Down the aisle, that is...

I've been searching for fun and creative boutonnière ideas for our December wedding. It was one of those items that I knew we'd have to do, but didn't really get excited about. That is, until ETSY changed my mind. Now I'm so excited about another diy project that I can hardly contain myself. I had never dared imagine anything other than a rose, a leaf, and some baby's breath. Silly me! Look at all the fabulous items from ETSY vendors (Erica Cavanagh, Kate Said Yes, Emily K Botanic Studio, and Boutique In Bloom:

I love the idea of incorporating organic elements like small pine cones and feathers, with silk elements like faux berries and pearls.

I think I'm probably going to tackle this project myself, along with some ETSY inspiration. I definitely want to create something unique and one-of-a-kind for the fellas!

Bridesmaid Survival Kits

I've been so inspired by other brides' projects that I've found on the web, especially bridesmaid survival kits. I hadn't really considered these before I saw them on other blogs, but after seeing all the great ideas, I had to come up with my own.

So, after a very productive trip to the dollar store, I now have 3 survival kits:

Final list of supplies:
Body spray
Deodorant
Mouthwash
Tums
Tylenol
Breath mints
Shout wipes
Lip gloss
Lint roller
Sewing kit
First aid kit
Manicure kit
Tissues
Cotton swabs
La Fresh wipes (nail polish remover, deodorant, makeup remover, hand sanitizer)

All of these handy items were enclosed in a little makeup kit that I also found at the dollar store.

I used the same design elements on the tag, but I changed the colors to match the case. I also incorporated the mint green that is on the Bridesmaid tote bags that I purchased each girl (Oriental Trading). Once it gets closer, I'll add a little pack of Hershey's Kisses.

The back of the tag has the following poem:

This Survival Kit was made just to say,
I'm thrilled you're beside me on my wedding day!
There's chocolate to give you that sugar high,
And a packet of tissues in case you should cry.
Lip gloss to help you care for your smile,
If a nail should break, I've included a file.
There is Shout if you should spill on your dress,
And mouthwash to keep your breath minty fresh.
There's Tylenol and Tums if it's ill that you feel,
And Band-aids to help you tackle high heels.
I've put everything in this handy pack,
So you'll know that this bride has got your back!
This kit was created so that you can see,
How much you mean to the bride-to-be.

I know that some folks think these little extras are unnecessary, but I think it's a sweet little gesture. Plus, I'll know that my girls will be ready to spring into action at any sign of trouble! :)

Dessert Buffet Favor Bags... Almost Done!

In my previous post, I lamented the ink depletion that brought the DIY factory to a halt this week end. Case in point? My dessert buffet favor bags. I set my printer to complete 5 pages of these little babies and then left it alone and went back into the living room to get started on another project. After all, printing high-quality on photo paper takes a long time on an ink jet printer.

After about 20 minutes, I went back to check on them... only to find 1 usable page out of 5. I had completely emptied the yellow ink cartridge and the last 4 pages were a strange dark violet color instead of brown. After a moment of brow-furrowing frustration, I tossed the unusable pages in the recycling bin and got to work on the 12 I was actually going to be able to finish.

We had already selected half-pint tin tie bags for use with the dessert buffet. I am planning on enough candy/cookies to look cool, which will be waaayyy more than the 50 of us can eat in 4 hours! I plan to have the bags as favors that folks can take with them for the road.

To decorate them, I created round labels that coordinated with the rest of my DIY projects. I printed them on photo paper to give them a glossy, professional finish.


Then I used my 2.5" paper punch from EK Success to punch out each of the labels.


I used a 3.0" scalloped circle paper punch to punch scalloped circles out of red card stock.


I adhered the round labels to the scalloped circle and then adhered the scalloped circle to the tin tie bags.


Although red card stock that I ordered is a little darker than I would have liked, I don't think anyone but me is going to notice. I'm very happy with how they turned out and I think the bags will look cute on the dessert buffet table. So, although the project is not quite done, I'm tentatively checking this one off the list!

Lip Balm Lovelies

I was a DIY machine this past week end. I doggedly plowed through project after project... until my printer ran out of ink! Ugh. With no motivation to voluntarily go out in the 95-degree heat in my un-air conditioned car, I came to a stand still.

Before said ink depletion, I finished by lip balm labels. I love only having to do 15 OOT bags, it makes doing things by hand actually feasible and not an act of mind-numbing tedium.

To make the labels, I used a string wrapped around a lip balm tube to find the circumference. Combined with the height of the lip balm label, I had my lip balm size: 2.125" X 1.675". I printed 12 on each sheet. I used laser brochure paper, which is slightly glossy and a little heavier than regular paper.

I had tried to use photo paper, which is even heavier, but the photo paper had NO interested in being cylindrical and no amount of adhesive could convince it!

I just cut out each label by hand and used a Tombo adhesive runner to adhere the labels to each tube. All in all, it only took about 1/2 hour to print, trim, and adhere all 15 labels.

Plus, these were a budget bonanza because I got the lip balms from a colleague that was giving them away as promotional items! AND, they're even tropical flavored (which I think is some sort of pineapple - coconut combo), which is perfect for a Florida OOT bag!

One more project done!

Mmmm... Cocoa

Remember the snowflake marshmallows discussed earlier? And the cocoa packaging I highlighted in an earlier post? Well, I finally finished that little project, and it went something like this:

Step 1: I printed all the labels on glossy photo paper and trimmed them to size. I busted out my trusty Xyron machine, and ran all the labels through to make them adhesive. Thank goodness for this wonderful machine, which has saved me oodles of time using glue sticks or tape runners.


Step 2: I adhered ribbon around the pillow box, making sure the ends met on the front of the box so that they will be hidden by the label.


Step 3: I adhered the label to the front of the box, hiding the ribbon ends.


That's it... a completed set of personalized cocoa packets, ready for packing into the OOT bags!

My Favorite DIY Project So Far (OOT booklets)

Also known as my OOT bag booklets. These are a labor of love, for sure. I say "are" instead of "were" because I've only finished one. They are 8 pages, front and back, and time consuming... to say the least. But boy am I pleased with how it turned out!

I printed the pages on white card stock and trimmed each page to 5.25" X 7.25." Then I mounted each page (front and back) on dark brown card stock, trimmed to 5.5" X 8.5." I cut a small piece of red card stock to wrap around the front and back of the booklet. Using a small finishing nail, I pierced 2 holes through all the pages. I used silver brads to hold the whole thing together.

Due to the thickness of the completed booklet, I wanted to add a ribbon tie to keep the booklet closed. To secure the ribbon, I attached it to both covers, between the card stock and printed pages.

The entire booklet consisted of the following pages:
Welcome Postcard Photo
Welcome Message from Bride and Groom
Description of Contents
Schedule of Events
Directions
Local Map
Things To Do
Places To Eat
Photo-sharing Information
Explanation of Local Landmarks
Crossword Puzzle
Word Search
Maze
Sudoku (2 Puzzles)

Here are some highlights:

Scanned image of a Weeki Wachee mermaid postcard

Welcome letter from us

Schedule of events

One of the Sudoku puzzles

Although it will take me a big chunk of time to finish 15 of these lovelies, I think our guests will really appreciate the personal touch. And if our guests don't notice, then at least it was a fun project to work on!

Visit Florida (a.k.a. More OOT Bag Fun)

Next stop on the OOT bag express? Informational brochures. On my last trip home, I stopped at the Florida Welcome Center to collect informational brochures to place in my OOT bags. Not only did I want to highlight all the state has to offer (aside from theme parks), and I wanted to find anything highlighting the local area where we will get married. Boy did I hit the mother lode! I found information on hiking and paddling trails, state parks, and even travel tips for Florida.

I also spent some time shopping in local gift shops for cute local post cards. I found some kitschy Florida postcards with flamingos and alligators and I found cards from local attractions. Take a look at the booty:

In order to package them up for guests, I opted (for once) to take a relatively simple approach- I wrapped them like a package.

I took curling ribbon that you would commonly use to wrap gifts, and twisted it around the entire stack of brochures and postcards:

Although I had 3 rolls of curling ribbon, it was difficult to find enough to wrap all 15 stacks of brochures because I had a "helper," trying to steal and eat all the loose ribbons:

Despite all the "help," I was able to get all 15 stacks wrapped in a little under 1/2 an hour, so it was, by far the easiest OOT bag project to date.

My DIY Pomander

I've mentioned before that I am fascinated by pomanders. They are just such lovely little balls of happy that I can't resist. When envisioning my ceremony, I saw myself gliding down an aisle lined with them. I couldn't resist the urge to try to make one. How hard can it be, right? It's just clipping silk flowers and jamming them in a styrofoam ball, isn't it?

My first vision was an orb of snow white carnations, perhaps with a few pearls tucked in for some sparkle. Well, trips to JoAnn's, Michael's, A. C. Moore, and Hobby Lobby yielded exactly zero white carnations.

Hmmm... now what? Roses? Perhaps, but when they are too large, the ball looks a bit comical. Comical is NOT what I'm going for in my ethereal vision of pomanders. Do they have to be white? I guess not, let me see what I can find in the red department. So I did. I decided on mixing red and white flowers, with small pearls tucked in for a little gleam.

So I got to work, clipping the flowers off the stalks. I got a little help from my buddy:


In the end, I really like the mix of colors and I lurrrvvve the pearls. I even like the organic quality achieved by tucking in leaves here and there.

We also have seven silver lanterns that we plan to alternate: pomander, lantern, pomander, lantern... you get the idea. Pretty and festive- what more could you ask for?