DIY semi-fail...

If you recall I wanted to try my hand at a DIY project for our aisle decor. I found a lot of options that I wrote about here, and I decided to give these pomander balls a try.

Image via theidearoom.com

(You can find their directions by following the link above)

Let me start by saying that mine does not look like theirs... I followed the directions but sometimes you have to experiment and see that works for you. I find it's hard to explain in writing how you made something. Maybe I misinterpreted the instructions a little... Well I'm going to try my best to explain how I made my first pomander ball.  

First I gathered my supplies:

-Crepe paper in the color of your choice. I ended up needing two rolls

-I used  3" round Styrofoam ball (I think it may have worked better with a 2" ball though)

-Ribbon

-A glue gun

-Something to measure how long to cut the crepe paper. I used a tape measure.

So as you can already see, if I decide to do this again I'm going to make some changes.

First step is measure a piece of crepe paper about 2ft. Cut at 2ft, or rip like I did...

Next you crinkle it up the paper and flatten it back out. It makes the paper softer and easier to work with.

You then fold about 1/3 of the paper over.

Now you are ready to start making your rose. Roll the paper a couple times to get it started.

Now this is the hard part to explain, and it takes some experimenting. You continue to roll up the paper, but start to twist the bottom, sort of. I ended up just keeping the bottom between two fingers while rolling the paper. I found that when I twisted the bottom while rolling the paper into a ball, the flowers became too small.

I tried my best to make the flowers a big and as "flower like," as possible. What I did to make this happen was I kind of placed the paper where I wanted it to be while rolling them. I put my thumb under the folded part of the paper, which helped create the petal look while rolling the paper. Ugh. Its hard to explain, which is why you have to experiment and see what works for you!

As you can see below, my earlier flowers are just way to small.

There are some good ones in there as I got better at making them.

When you get about 10 flowers made, you can start hot gluing them onto your Styrofoam ball.

I think the Styrofoam ball I used was too big. I had to make sooo many flowers to fill the whole thing. And since I started out making these tiny skinny flowers it took forever to finish.

I also hot glued a ribbon on before finishing the ball, that way I could hang it on a chair.

So my first attempt was kind of a fail because I don't think it looks very pretty. The flower sizes are uneven and the smaller flowers don't really look like flowers. But I did learn how to make it better if I want to try again. I also bought some white crepe paper, so I might get a 2" ball and attempt a version 2.0 from the lessons learned in my first try.

On our shelf where it now lives. Far away from the curious kitties.

I'm proud of myself for trying my hand at my first DIY project! It may not have worked out the way I wanted but hey, there is room for improvement and you've got to start somewhere, right?

Have you done any DIY projects for your wedding that resulted in a semi-fail?

*All photos personal unless otherwise noted

No love for the poms

I love poms, also known as pomander balls. I think they are so fun, and can look very elegant if done correctly. Mr. Castle on the other hand thinks they look similar to a bath loofah.

Image via weddingbycolor.com

 Image via makeupandbeauty.com

I admit I see what he means, but I don't think he sees their potential. 

Image via theknot.com / Photography by Julia Newman Photography

Image via bubblybride.com / Photography by Paul Versluis

Image via weddingbee

I have typically seen them made out of tissue paper, but they don't have to be. They can also be made out of card stock paper, to give them a little less "loofah" quality.

Image via holiday-crafts-and-creations

Image via Pizzazzerie

Or they can be made with ribbons.

Image via Ribbon Box Events

Perhaps Mr. Castle will let me incorporate these babies as long as they look as un-loofah-like as possible. Here's a cute one.

Image via The Idea Room

My thoughts for the loofah poms is as aisle decor. In trying to keep our floral budget down, I did not include any aisle decor and I worry it might look a little bare. To remind you of our venue, and also because I can never look at enough pictures, here it is.

Image via Palos Studio

The only decoration we currently have planned is a flower arrangement for the top of the gazebo. I'm sure if that was all we had it would still look amazing. But I'm really liking the last one made out of crepe paper so I think I'll give it a try!

Do you have any experience making poms? Have you seen them in person? Did they look like a loofah?

Time to put the petal to the metal

We are making a trip home to California in 3 days. I'm so excited! The fiance is especially excited to be driving again. Me, I'm more excited about getting some wedding planning taken care of!  We haven't been back since March when we chose our wedding venue, so there's a lot to do. One of the big ones on my to do list is to find a florist. I am a huge fan of flowers. I love them, especially at weddings but I don't really want to spend a lot of money on them. So our flower budget is on the modest side.

Early in our engagement my Mom told me that a family friend, who was my girl scout troop leader when I was a little, does wedding flowers. I thought, great I'm not looking for anything fancy and I'd love to give her the work. So I didn't really think about it much after that. Then as the months started ticking down I decided to get in touch with her and find out what her prices were. I wrote her saying I was interested, and I told her a little about our wedding. Her response was, "I am looking forward to creating beautiful, elegant, and yet simple wedding flower arrangements and bouquets to add to your special day!". I kind of felt awkward because I didn't say I wanted to use her yet... So I wrote another email asking specifically if she had any pictures from previous weddings she had done and how much she charges for her services along with pictures of flowers I liked. I got no response... It's been almost two weeks since I sent that email and I am kind of feeling a little nervous about using her now. To be on the safe side I'm going to meet with some other florists on my trip to California. I don't know when I'll be back out west so I need to make it count. And with only 8 months left the clock is ticking! I can't wait until we get that one figured out. Then I'll have another big one to cross of my list!

But in the meantime, let me show you what I like!

Gerber Daisys, LOVE

 Love all the different types of flowers in this bouquet

 

 But then I love the simplicity of this bouquet. Just the orange roses, *sigh* beautiful.

I really like this simple centerpiece. It's a nice blend of the green and orange I want

All above Images via theknot.com

For the life of me I can't remember where I got this picture. I love the idea of my bridesmaids having a bouquet of mostly greens, with pops of orange.

I have a ton of other pictures but these are my favorites. I also like the trend right now of putting fruit in with centerpieces.

Image via theknot.com

In the end I'll probably go with a less is more type of feel with the flowers. I've even considered doing my own flowers and ordering from fiftyflowers.com... But we'll see if it comes to that.

How important are wedding flowers to you? What's  your favorite flower? Any advice on selecting a florist?

These are a few of my favorite things...

Rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens....

video via youtube.com

I'll be honest I prefer the original, Julie Andrews version of this song...but I couldn't find it. So Lea Michele will do.

In the quest for planning the perfect wedding, there are things I come across that I just LOVE and drool over. Most of them I can't use for my own wedding, but still they have become some of my favorite things...

A guest book poster where people sign their name on "books". So cute.

 Image via Etsy.com, seller ssanchez

Or a puzzle guest book. If I was having a small wedding I would totally do this...

Image via Etsy.com seller BellaPuzzlesToo

I don't think I've mentioned this yet, but I love turtles! I have been collecting them since I was about 8 and it has become the kind of thing where people say, I saw this turtle (pillow, doll, earnings, salt and pepper shaker, etc) and I thought of you. So a turtle cake topper could be really cute.

Image via Etsy.com, seller  Garden4Arts

But I like the idea of incorporating our kitties into our wedding as well! How cute would a little mini us with our kitties be topping our cake!

Image via Etsy.com, seller urastarhouse

I love cute signs like this for the sweetheart table

 Image via Etsy.com, seller sweetestmoments

And of course the "I do" stickers for the bottom of the shoes.  I love it!

Image via Etsy.com seller yourhappilyeverafter

As the song says, "these are a few of my favorite things..." I could make a 100 part post about my favorite things, but I chose these select few because these were the things that I found early in my wedding planning that stuck with me. 

What are some of your favorite things?