Some Fairy Dust to Sprinkle in Your Bath

Recently, my mother-in-law and I came up with a shower favor that, in my very-biased opinion, is awesome.  You may recall the Once Upon a Time invitations I shared a few weeks ago… well, we decided that “fairy dust” bath salts would be an adorable favor to thank all the guests for coming.  So of course, I had to share them with you because I think these could be used for weddings or bridal showers just as easily!

Our bath salt favors in action (and yes, I took that photo!)

These were so simple to make!  First, we took a few drops of scented oil (we found Philosophy Amazing Grace fragrance oil at Save-On Crafts) and mixed them with equal parts epsom and sea salts.  Once we liked the level of fragrance, the salts were funneled into jars.  We got ours from the local craft store, but Save-On is a great resource for jars too!

Once the salts were in their jars, we added little hang tags.  The above tags were from madebyjackie on etsy, and were super affordable, but you could make stickers or tags at home too.  I love how easy it is to personalize these little dudes, and they look so cute on a table too!  If you are related to me, there’s a good chance you’ll be getting bath salts for your birthday, just FYI!!

Do you have any DIY favor tips?

A Compendium of DIY Pinwheel Love

I was recently reading a post about pinwheels over at $2000 Wedding, and ever since I’m been stark raving mad about paper pinwheels.  There is something so utterly romantic and playful about them!  And I feel like they have so much hidden versatility, not to mention their absolute customize-ability and cost-effectiveness!  So far, I’ve come up with 10 potential ways to use them, many of which could save you considerable cash:  

  

- Have guests waive them in lieu of bubbles, rice or birdseed when sending you off! 

- Incorporate them into floral centerpieces. 

- Or, forget the flowers altogether and use a bunch of pinwheels AS the centerpiece! 

- Write guests’ names and tables on them, and use for escort cards. 

- Top cupcakes with mini-pinwheels for a playful cake table. 

- Leave them on the kids table for the young and young at heart. 

- Tuck them into the napkins at each place setting for a whimsical favor. 

- Give them to your flower girls to carry during the ceremony instead of a basket. 

- Put your pinwheels on extra-long sticks and plant them in the ground for a festive aisle runner. 

- If you really want to get creative, you could even make your invite with instructions for how to turn them into pinwheels. 

  

Anyways… I clearly have no life… if you want to learn how to make your very own adorable pinwheels, the blogosphere is filled with great tutorials!  I’ve compiled some of my favorites to share but if you know of more, I’d love to hear them!  What would you do with pinwheels at a wedding?   

via Paper Source

via BHG

via Intimate Weddings

via Style Me Pretty

via Once Wed

 

Bacheloretting, Just $4.74

So, it’s not news that I heart VistaPrint.  But I recently learned that VP makes T shirts and totes, with prices starting at $4.74 (or in some cases, free, if you have the right coupon).  And so I did some looking into it.  Turns out these inexpensive tees are actually quite cute, and of course you can even upload your own design.  Now, I love companies like Zazzle and Custom Ink too, not to mention the adorable custom finds you can get on Etsy or Wedding Chicks, but hey, times are tough.  Sometimes you have to make the call to cut costs, and this is a good way to do so while still getting a product completely personalized (for instance, you could put each gal’s name on their own shirt; or make the bride’s a little extra special)!

Wouldn’t these be wonderful, affordable bridesmaids gifts?  Or perfect for an upscale out of town bag?  Personally, I always love wedding swag and have not stopped wearing my most recent wedding related item, a zippered hoodie from friend P’s bachelorette.  In fact, I *may* or *may not* have recently designed some tees for two different events I’ll be a part of in the near future, and I’m so excited with how they came out!  Here’s some of my favorite VP options!

And remember, if you order from VistaPrint, be sure to use Ebates so you can get cash back too!! 

Oh yeah, and I almost forgot, they make tote bags and hats too.  What designs are your favorite?

Adorable Favor Alert: Preserves from Tea!

I am currently in the process of planning a baby shower for a good friend.  Well actually, I’ll clarify, I’m planning like 6 baby or bridal showers right now, but this one is the first of this year and will be a very small brunch shower, so I’m super excited about it.  The mother-to-be specifically asked us to keep things relaxed, so the six of us planners kept it light and divvied up just a few tasks: invitations (with one extra for mom’s keepsake), a floral centerpiece, something sweet for desert, and favors.  Favors was what I picked, because of couse I love them!

We also settled on a french country theme for the shower (mom appropriate!) in shades of robin’s egg blue, soft oranges and yellows, and sage green- which happen to also be the colors of the baby’s under-the-sea nursery theme (baby appropriate!)  In this way, we’re hoping a few of the keepsakes might be useable in baby’s room when he gets here!

So when thinking about favors for a group of NYC ladies, I wanted to make sure the favor wasn’t the usual diaper pin or plastic baby.  And nothing too chotchky- we all live in relatively small spaces and none of us need extra clutter.  Of course I hit Etsy looking for something good and I totally found it!  These tea-flavored preserves by homemadebyshari were just the ticket!  Shari let me order 7 different flavors (so everyone at the table can ooh, ahh and trade to get one they’ll like) and she even put pastel gingham fabrics on the lids to coordinate with the shower’s french country theme. 

Le sigh!

I think these would be such a great favor for bridal showers or even weddings too, and at $2 each they’re quite reasonable!  The flavors I ordered include honey vanilla chamomile, blueberry, cinnamon apple, country peach, lemon zinger, tangerine orange, and wild berry.  But there are many more options to chose from as well. 

As an aside, I decorated a little basket with gingham ribbon for each guest to put a baby book in, in lieu of a card, which will likewise coordinate with all the goodies.  I can’t wait to see everything come together!

DIY Matchbooks

If you are planning a wedding, you may have seen all those adorable, personalized bride and groom match books out there.  I know I loved them, and absolutely HAD to incorporate them somehow into our wedding.  But they’re kind of pricey when you think about what a small detail they are.  The solution?  Make them yourself!

I gave my matchbooks to J. with a box of cigars to pass out on the wedding day, but you could leave these near doors or on the bar, restaurant style, for guests to pick up as they mill about!

Here’s a quick overview of all the different ways I’ve seen brides do this (each image links to the source, with instructions for making your own!):

Mod Matchbooks

Simple Elegance

Paired with Sparklers

With Candles as a Favor

And so with this inspiration, here’s what I came up with!  All it took were some mailing labels, some scrapbook paper, and some penny matches purchased from the dollar store.  Cute, no?

With the fancy cigar box...

Up close and personal

Who Wants Candy?

Candy buffets.  The.  Greatest.  Wedding.  Invention.  Ever.

If you have not yet heard about candy buffets and weddings, you are going to love this (and you might be living under a rock- these are everywhere these days)!  Candy buffets are quickly becoming the hottest way to give guests a wedding favor, and its easy to see why.  If you’re going the platinum wedding route, Amy Atlas’ dessert buffets will be right up your ally…

the Halloween edition

old fashioned candy

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Pashmina Valet- a Good Idea Gets Even Better

Flip Flop Valets- Hot or Not?

Alright, I’ll just say it up front, I vote HOT.    Flip flop valets are among the latest and greatest in wedding trends, and I have to say, I’m all about them!  You could easily and inexpensively make one of these for your own wedding- Old Navy has a sale every spring where they sell flop flops for $1, Jack’s $.99 store near me sells them, and Michael’s and Target often have them in their discount crafty bins for $.25-$.50.  If you live in NYC, you could also buy inexpensive Chinese sandals from vendors on the street and use them the same way.  What a fun easy way to personalize your wedding!  And think of all the cute little puns and sayings you could come up with for your basket sign.   From “sole mates” to “dancing shoes,” the sky might just be the limit!

click image for source

click image for source

click photo for source

click photo for source

click photo for source

 Of course, if you love this idea but would prefer to pawn off the work, or don’t feel creative enough to pull it off on your own, Kate Parker Weddings would be glad to make a flip flop valet for you… just be prepared for the accompanying price tag (starting at $225).

Hello Kate Parker Lovelies!

 What do you think?  Do you love it?  Would you do it?

Showered with Love! The Details…

I may have mentioned once or twice that the women in my life are amazing, but it bears repeating once more.  And here’s the main reason why- they are thoughtful, caring, and made me feel like the luckiest girl in the world yet again.  They also happen to be incredibly talented and creative, as you are soon to see.

The shower was held at Sayen Gardens in Hamilton, NJ, in a historic house that might just be the cutest house I’ve ever seen.

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Ladurèe s’il vous plaît

I don’t speak French, but I might have to learn after trying the Macaroons of Ladurèe, my amazing discovery of the week!  My good friend H. brought me a sampler package of macaroons back as a souvirnir from her recent trip to Paris, and in it were six flavors of the most delicious treat I have tasted to date- rose, caramel with salted butter, pistachio, strawberry, vanilla bean and lemon.  She gave them to me smiling like the devil, and I tasted the delicate lemon first.  Swoon!  I of course acted like I was going to save them and savor them over the next two weeks, but in spite of my good intentions, I went straight back to my office and devoured (as slowly as I could) the remainder of my tasty treats.

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