Event: Bridal (Wedding) Shower

This past weekend I threw a bridal (wedding) shower for my sister and her fiance. I made several crafts/decor for the shower. Here are pictures and instructions, enjoy!

Signage/frames: For the shower we went with a shabby chic, chalkboard, mason jar, burlap, peach and mint theme. The signage that lead guests to the shower location (it was in a large park and could have been difficult to find without signs) was created by using large wooden "frames" from Michaels (they were on sale for really cheap). The signs were wooden so I painted them peach or mint depending. I then purchased black poster board and cut the rectangle to fit the frame. I tied white ribbon onto the frame and then I hot glued the poster board onto the frame. I had trouble finding white chalk (seriously I looked everywhere) so I wrote the sign using white pastels.

We then created a tree full of picture frame and pictures. I had about 70 pictures printed from Shutterfly (I used pics later in a different decoration as well). I then used 15 smaller frames that I had purchased at Michaels and painted. I tied ribbon to the frame to hang it. I hot glued one photo to the back of the other photo and then hot glued it to the frame (after the ribbon had been tied). This way each frame had two photos. We then hung all the frames to the tree (I also made a large frame without a photo and we hung this low so everyone could take selfies, big hit!)

Wisteria Tree: I created 32 wisteria tissue paper decor and we hung them from one of the trees. Here is the tutorial on how to make the wisteria: Here

Doily Flower garland: There were two trees that you had to walk past before you got to the party and the frame tree. I made doily flower garlands for these trees. One was all mint and one was all peach. In the actual branches we hung extra lanterns from out lantern tree. For a tutorial on how to make the doily flower garland go here

Doily Garland: Above the gift table I created two doily garland on twine. We hung them from two trees. For a tutorial o how to make them go here

Clothespin Picture Garland: Using the extra pictures I had printed from Shutterfly I created a clothespin picture garland. I measured the area between the two trees where the food tables were going to go. I then laid out the twine to the correct length. I purchased fabric in the shower colors and used pinking shears to cut out small squares. I then used clothespins that I had dyed peach and mint (using the same method that I dyed the doilies with) to pin the pictures and fabric onto the twine. I also used extra doilies and pinned them on. We then strung the pictures in two rows from the trees.

Lantern and Parasol Tree: My older sister tied mint and peach ribbon and white lace to 24 lanterns. We then tied fishing line to the lanterns. We also had about 12 white lace parasols that we tied fishing line to the handles. We hung these from one of the trees and the extra lanterns we hung from several other trees.

 

Circle Garland: Using three sizes of circle punches and a variety of craft paper I punched out hundreds of circles. I then sewed the circles together in rows of 22 (assorted sizes). I glued all the rows to twine and hung them from the fence.

Rosebud Garlands:I create several paper roses and made garlands out of them. You can find the tutorial here

Initials: I purchased wooden initials for the bride and groom at Michaels, along with an and sign. I painted them peach and mint and hung them from the tree with white ribbon.

Pinwheel garland: Using craft paper I created pinwheels. I took two pieces of paper the same color and length and folded them up into long skinny rectangles (like how we used to make fans). I then stapled the center of each folded piece. I then unfolded the piece to create a half circle and stapled the two quarter pieces together. Once you have two half circles you then staple them together. I hung twine from the tree and used clothespins to pin the pinwheel onto the twine.

You can find the tutu table skirt at Baileyhadaparty on Etsy

Table Decor: We purchased peach table cloths and lace table runners for the dining tables. On each table we had mason jar center pieces with burlap and lace ribbon and a flower decor on each. In the mason jar we put peach carnations. We then put paper plates (in pistachio) and napkins with a fork and knife in each and a matching napkin ring in either peach, mint or burlap fabric with a twine bow.

For the bride and groom's chairs we made custom signs using chalkboards and burlap flowers:

For the food tables we created a farmer's market feel. We used tons of bushel baskets, mason jars, metal tubs and berry baskets.

 Each table had a custom made table skirt in either peach or mint fabric. I just strung twine from two chairs at home and cut 2" by 22" strips and knotted them onto the twine.
I then cut out small 2" by 2" squares from Burlap fabric and made garlands to hang on each table saying what the table was for.

For the chips we made cones from brown paper and glued small 6" doilies inside each. We then tied a piece of mint ribbon around the cone.

For the pink lemonade we emptied out small water bottles and created cute labels that said "pink lemonade." We purchased peach straws from Etsy and then added custom peach ribbons with the bride and groom's name and wedding date.

For the veggie cups we used small plastic cups and added labels that said with Veggies and Dip or Veggies without Dip. Inside each was ranch dressing with assorted vegetables.

For the dessert table I made rose sugar cookies in mint and peach and created a sign to place on the tiered display. I also made a sign for the brownies and some small chalkboard signs for the sour apple straws and favors.

The favors were made by cutting out long rectangles from craft paper. We then folded them so one side was slightly longer and sewed the three sides together. We filled them with jelly beans (the bride's favorite). The top was then folded over and hot glued and then we placed a label thanking everyone for coming.

I created the invitation using Illustrator and Photoshop. Here is what it looked like:

Here is a blank one if you want to use it for your party:

Crafts: How to Dye Doilies

Have you ever seen the doily garlands that they use at weddings and bridal showers? Not only do they fold doilies in half and string them to make an awesome garland but they also make them into flowers and create garlands (just search Pinterest for Doily decor and you will see tons of projects with doilies).  I thought they were really pretty and perfect for my sister's Bridal (wedding) shower. However the colors of the shower were peach and mint, not a very easy color scheme to find matching doilies in. I know I could have just used plain white doilies, but where is the fun in that? Instead I chose to dye the doilies myself. Here is how you do it:

Step One: purchase your doilies (I bought mine at Michaels and Hobby Lobby). and purchase food coloring (if you don't already have it). If you are going to be treading it onto twine for a garland then you will need to purchase twine (I also made flower garlands so I used green construction paper for leaves).

Step Two: Fill a frying pan with a very small amount of water (just enough to really cover the bottom of the pan). Add food coloring to the water. You want to add a lot of food coloring, it takes several drops to get the color dark enough to really give the doily a good color.

Step Three: separate the doilies. Place them into the frying pan one at a time. You can layer them onto each other (I did a max of ten at one time). But be sure you place them in one at a time. Let the entire doily get covered in the water and color before you place in the next doily. Leave them in for at least 20 seconds, you can leave them in for about a minute if you need to but it gets harder to take them out after too long.

Step Four: lay paper towels out on your table/counter. Carefully remove the doilies one at a time and lay them flat on the paper towels (do not layering them on the towels, you do not want them to touch).

Step Five: pat the top side of the doily with a paper towel to remove any excess water/dye, be very careful, just pat it lightly. Let the doily dry for a good 5-10 minutes. Then flip it over and move it to a new dry paper towel to dry the rest of the way (takes about 10-20 minutes for small ones to dry).


How to make the strung doily garland:

Step One: Take the now dry doilies and cut them in half.

Step Two: using twine thread it into one of the doily holes near the top where it was cut. Then string it back in the other side. Continue to do this until you have a garland the length you desire.

How to make the Doily flower garland:

Step One: Use the small 6" doilies

Step Two: Fold the doilies in half, now push in the two "corners" that were created by making the fold. Bunch up the opposite two sides and put hot glue in the center to hold it all together.

Step Three: Cut a piece of twine the length you desire

Step Four: Using construction paper cut out leaf shapes and then use hot glue to glue them onto the twine (you can do single or double leaves).

Step Five: Use hot glue to glue the bottom of the flower onto the leaves.