bouquet kit

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So a few days ago, I decided to purchase the Martha Stewart Tissue Paper Flower Bouquet Kit.  Walmart supposedly carries it but it was unavailable so I went looking around on the internet for it.  The cheapest I found was on Ebay for $6.99 + $2.43 S&H for a total of $9.42, which is just about the same price as Walmart.  (Click on the Ebay link if you want to purchase.  The seller has like 10 more.  Smooth transaction and speedy delivery!)

It.  Is.  Pretty.  Easy.  :-P  Except this one flower that keeps giving me grief.  :-P  I started soon after receiving my kit in the mail and have made about 9 flowers.  The kit allows you to make 24 flowers.

Everything included in the kit  (Source)

Miss Kitten provides a review, additional pictures and demonstrations of this kit!  Here are my pictures of my efforts:

My first flower, half fluffed

Fluffed!  A carnation, I believe.

This was my favorite one cause it's the prettiest.  Or most delicate lookin' perhaps.  They even come with male sex organs, I mean stamens.  :-P

My progress so far.  :)

I purchased the kit thinking I could learn how to make them from the pros (instead of guessing from tutorials online) and then get some orange tissue paper and make my own.  But currently, I am unsure what I'd use them for.  :-P  I don't think I'd want to carry a paper bouquet and I think the guys would squish it if their bouts were made of paper.  :)  Sooo maybe table decorations?

What do you think of them?  Any ideas for what I can use the paper flowers for?
  

more light to lead the way!

A few days ago I talked about things with light! and I've found a few more inspirations.

Mentioned by Miss Cola today, these look super easy to DIY and they look FAB. I think you just print on vellum, wrap around a vase, then add a fat and skinny ribbon! :) I also like how you can do all the tables like this OR you can make some short and some tall! (Source)

I also thought these illuminaries would be super cute but I think the day of will be busy enough without having to set these up!  (Or they might get entirely forgotten!)  And we'd have to think of a non-open-flame solution to light them, as they would be outside and most likely unattended.  (Source)

   

Sooo many table number ideas!  What to do... what to do....

   

6 m0nths t0 g0!

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We are officially 6 months out!  :-D  I'm sure it'll seem so long in forsight and so short in hindsight.


It was a busy day with CyberMonday  ;)  Well ok not really.  I only took advantage of two offers of free shipping (though no other discounts) and one was for some wedding decorations.
   

let there be light!

I pretty much just like this picture.  :oP  I would like laterns at my wedding but the ceiling is too high in the reception area and I don't really want to spend the energy thinking about how to incorporate them otherwise...

Whoo! paper lanterns that kind of resemble something of Chinese culture right?  :-P  (Source)

On the subject of lighted (lit) decorations... I intend to implement this fabulous idea from Martha in my centerpieces:

Click here for the instructions and here for templates!  They come in a BUNCH of different colors.  Thanks Martha (Stewart!)!  haha.  So you basically just put out the stripes onto vellum paper, wrap about a glass straight-sided vase with a candle in it and viola!  :-D  Easy peasy.  I'm also sure you can take the idea and design your colors, stripes, or pattern as well!  (They only have orange OR green stripes.  So I might have to remedy that.  :oP)  (Source)

          

attempt #2

I tried again today!  I put three little orange flowers and two leaves and I think it's a little better.  :-P  Gettin' there, I hope!  :)

And of course, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

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bouts attempt #1

My first hands-on DIY projects! (Somehow DIY/Photoshop-ing the save the dates doesn't seem to count the same in the hands-on category.) This was a pretty minor project... that wasn't all that exciting, but I'm gonna blog about it anyway! :-P

Come along with me on my boutonniere-ing adventure! Soooo.... Yesterday afternoon, I went to JoAnn's AND Michael's. Lemme tell you... anytime before or around Christmas time is not a good time to try to shop for silk/fake orange flowers. :-P JoAnn's had like 2 orange flowers and they were too BIG and ugly, and Michael's had some faded looking orange things. Both pretty fail. But then I picked up some berry looking ball-y things, some floral tape, and green ribbon that I hope is somewhat sort of hopefully no one will really notice if it doesn't 100% match the bridesmaid dresses we haven't gotten yet sage/green ribbon. I really wanted to find some orange flowers so I could practice and get rolling on these boutonnieres, and my mother has this cute bouquet of little fake orange flowers in the bathroom. I asked nicely and she said I could borrow some... if I cut them from the back. :-P

Here goes. My supplies!

Two orange flowers already assembled together with floral tape, a sprig of berry looking ball-y things, a spool of floral tape, green ribbon and a leaf I cut off from the orange flowers. :)  (Sorry lighting is so poor)

Sorry this picture is focused on the WRONG thing (fingers bad, flowers good) but you just add piece by piece, and you just wind the floral tape down, making sure to keep it all tight and together.

Btw, I did not know that FLORAL TAPE WAS SO STICKY!!! Not like... you put it on and it won't come off... but it's just some tacky stuff! But it's quite wonderful how you can rewind and redo parts and it'll still be sticky.

And here is my prototype! :) I thought it was rather cute for a first try. haha. But I think it's a tad bit on the small side. I was working with limited supplies and floral options. I would definitely like to try the orange flower I WAS looking for... it's a bit bigger and it'd look nicer with bigger flowers that won't get lost in the mix. I like how the ball-y things give it more dimension though they wouldn't competely cooperate so they're all just kind of bunched up in a row back there. I think I'd like more a leafy backdrop.

Close up.  I don't know why the little balls have spots on them. Ew. >_<  I didn't do it well on this but I like it when there's an arch of grass in the back.  :-P

I'm excited cause when I do have the supplies I want to work with, I think it could go well!  And they'll cost like... 35 cents each or something.  :-P  What do you think I can improve on?  Are there too many berry balls?

   

aminals

So last night I was checking up on some blogs and discovered these butterfly centerpieces on Steven Curtis Chapman's assistant's blog about an event they threw!

LIVE BUTTERFLY CENTERPIECES!!!  (Source)

Holla!  How unique would that be?!  :-D  AND then... so I did some "research" and... discovered that you can freakin' grow your own butterflies from a KIT.  haha.  (And Tim said that Mama Condon has done them before for her class!  I should go ask her how that turned out.)

   

$15 at Amazon for 5 butterflies and a little collaspable looks-like-a-mini-laundry hamper-net-cage-thing!  Granted they are painted ladies and not the monarh ones... but who cares?!  I can raise my own butterflies!!!  So I definitely would want to try this out beforehand cause we don't want dead butterflies at the table when people are eating.  :)  Unless they die before the people come in and we glue them to the net.  HAHA.  (Source)

So I told Tim about this brilliant discovery and he suggested BETA!  Fishy fishy fish! 

  

He suggested suggested ecospheres... which are really cool but the smaller one is like $80 and we don't love our guests that much. Sorry. We rather buy you better food/dessert! ;)  (Source)

I like the flowers over this one!  I don't particular like betas... I don't think they're very... pretty, they always look sad.  haha.  But this arrangement is quite simple and nice.  (Source)

This one could've used more than one fishy... but it's the turtle-food kind of gold fish and those are like 10 cents each so... we can buy lots of them!  (And they're orange)  (Source)

I love this one!  Perhaps since it fits with the orange scheme and all.  The wreath at the bottom makes the fishbowl look comfy, though the arrangement might be a little 80's like.  And they're GOLDFISHIES!  That are orange!  :)  (Source)

This looks dangerous?  Haha... ok maybe not "dangerous" but those candles will melt and bad things could happen to that fish!  And it looks so cramped.  Esp if the 20 year old "boys," I mean our friends start playing with the candles, flame, fish, or all of the above!  (Source)

I just thought this picture was cool.  :)  Esp with the upside-down city reflecting in the bowl!  (Source)

One of the fortunes I got from them fortune cookies (I should tell that story sometime!) DID say FISH.  So... I don't know if it was pointing towards fedelity, fertility and abundance or our centerpieces.  hehe.  :)

So what do you think?  I've seen fish centerpieces but not butterfly ones before!  (And the butterflies wouldn't be terribly expensive if they worked out aka don't die.)  Would you like live aminals at your table while you eat?  Annnnd get to take it home with you at the end of the night?  :-D