Rustic Wedding Flowers

So for the wedding I knew I wanted to have rustic looking flowers. Now, flowers can be VERY expensive! For our wedding on a budget, I knew I wouldn't be able to do big huge flower arrangements. So, I decided very early into our planning that I was going to DIY it! Why not, right? What could go wrong...

So first up was finding bouquet inspiration. I knew our bouquets needed to have Billy Balls in them, so I could bring in that mustard yellow color. If you haven't seen billy balls, or craspedia, before they are beautiful! They have a deep mustard color and the best thing about them in my opinion is that they just dry out when you're done with them. They don't brown or lose their color, so you can keep them in your house afterwards. So to google I went. And this is what I came up with.

I'm unsure of the source since I saved it to my computer. If you know where it's from let me know and I'll credit the photo.

Isn't it beautiful? It was absolutely the look I was going for. After some research I found out that the white flowers in the bouquet are balsa wood, and the little green/brown flowers are called scabiosa pods.

I needed to order all my flowers so I could do them myself. I found the balsa wood flowers on a really helpful site called save-on-crafts.com I used that site a ton in our planning process.I priced scabiosa pods and found they were a little more then I wanted to pay so I tried to look for something comparable in color and size and found these:

Balsa Wood Flowers 18/$3.99  Himalayan Thistle Roses 12/$3.99

Both of the ones I chose didn't have stems (because that made them cheaper!!) So I added stems by buying floral wire and pushing it through them and hot gluing them for extra support.

I ordered my billy balls from a local florist here in town.

Then it was time to assemble the bouquets. I couldn't do this until 2 days before the wedding since the billy balls were fresh at the time of purchase. It made it a little stressful since it was so close to the wedding and the only backup plan I had was that the girls would just carry a handful of billy balls down the aisle.

I grouped the bouquets how I liked them and then used floral tape to secure each one.

I made the girls' bouquets on the smaller size. I didn't want them to be huge, just small and dainty. I made my bouquet slightly bigger. 

For the stems I covered some in burlap and others in twine and just hot glued as I went. They held up very well throughout the night and still til this day.

I loved the colors. I think they turned out great and I was very happy I could save the money! 

Now for some wedding photos. For my Mom, Mother-In-Law, and Grandma I made them singed flower pins with mustard yellow satin and tulle. 

The flowers looked great with the girls.

They were perfect in size. 

I also made the groom's and groomsman's boutonnieres. I used billy balls and smaller balsa wood flowers also purchased from save-on-crafts.

So, if you're worried about DIY-ing your own flowers, don't be!! Just plan it out and don't be nervous, just go for it!

Pottery Barn Knock-Off: Painted Numbers Canvas

When I saw this on Pottery Barn's website I knew that it would be perfect for my sister. It's totally her style. It's not for sale through the website anymore, but I can only imagine the price tag on something like this!

Photos from Pottery Barn here.

So, I decided that I should just make my own! I used a 20x16 canvas that I got at a garage sale for $2. I read on Little Blue Boo's blog about mod podging newspaper or phone book pages on your canvas to be able to sand it down at the end, and give it a more rustic and distressed finish.

 Here's what it looked like after it was covered in phone book pages.

 Then, I painted over the whole thing in an antique white acrylic paint. When that was dry I went over that with a bright white acrylic paint. I didn't cover the whole thing, but more in random places to give it a streaky effect.

 Once that was completely dry, I found my center and drew lines in pencil so that I could work in sections. For the numbers I used my Silhouette to cut out vinyl letters. I google searched "Pottery Barn Numbers Canvas Font" just to see if anyone knew which font they were. Lucky for me, Stephanie Lynn over at Under the Table and Dreaming had made a cute mini version and told us what fonts she used to make hers. So, I played around with mine until I liked it the best. I ended up using two fonts: Engravers MT and Century Schoolbook. I typed them into word and then went back and forth between my document and the picture that I had from Pottery Barn to decide which number fit best.

 I kept working in sections to make sure that all of my numbers fit correctly.

After I got all of the numbers places where I wanted them I used my brayer to make sure that all the edges were really stuck well. At this point I was busting at the seams to go spray paint it and see what the finished product would look like! 

I took it outside and gave it two good coats of flat black spray paint. I made sure it was completely dry and then brought it in and peeled away the vinyl letters! Loved it! But I knew I would love it better after I sanded it. I just used a piece of fine grit sandpaper, wrapped it around a block, and really hit the edges and where my phone book pages were a little crinkled.

 I was so super happy with it!

 I had to test it in my house before I gave it to my sister. I thought for a minute that I should just keep it!! :) Just kidding! I love the way the edges look and the crinkles. It really makes it look like a sheet of canvas.

Take that Pottery Barn!

Linking to:

 

 

   

Polly Want a Crafter? Craft Linky Party 5

DIY Cake Stand

Using a few basic supplies, you can make your own cake stand! I found this orange candle stick at a garage sale for 25 cents!! The plate is one from the wedding section at Dollar Tree! Using some E-6000, just stick them right together!

After it dried overnight, I spray painted it glossy white! I added a clear acrylic sealer after that was dry.

Super cute right? It's the perfect little stand for some good fall decorations. I think if I wanted to put food on it, I would add a little piece of scrapbook paper cut to fit.

I love an easy project! 

Fall Mantle

My fall mantle has been up for a couple of weeks, I just hadn't taken pictures of it for some reason.  The color block piece that you see on the right was taken from Jennifer at Hope Studios tutorial on a Paint Chip Mosaic. It's made out of paint chip samples for a home improvement store! Go check out her tutorial on how to make this super inexpensive artwork! Today I wanted to show you how I made my leaf art. First, I bought a certificate frame from, where else, Dollar Tree.

I spray painted the frame black. I removed the cardboard center and hot glued burlap to it.

Then, I cut out a leaf using my Silhouette onto cardstock as a stencil.

Silhouette Image Leaf_0476

Then, I used the saran wrap technique to apply my orange acrylic paint. I think by using the saran wrap, it doesn't give it such a "perfect" look. More like and aged, or rough look. 

I put it back in the frame and super glued some buttons on to give it some dimension. Simple. Easy.

Love it.

Dollar Tree Hurricanes

So I have been seeing these around the blogs. I'm not sure who originally posted the idea. If you do, let me know and I'll give them credit!

Dollar Tree is selling these glasses and candlesticks. $1 a piece, you can't beat that!

Add a strong adhesive to the bottom and you have a really expensive looking hurricane! The ones below are my Mom and sister's. For theirs we used the taller glasses also from Dollar Tree then mine in the picture above. 

Add some decorations to the inside and you have a really great looking piece, for $2!!