Oh make me over, part 3.

I've made several of these pomanders in various sizes and fabrics to be incorporated throughout a number of our centerpieces in different ways.

Sneak peek #3:

Oh make me over, part 2.

Sneak peek #2:

Frame (settings) and rose cabochons from Etsy seller, PinkyNoodles. I love her carnival of fun shop!
4 x 6mm Czech glass baby bell flowers beads in coral lemon yellow from Etsy seller, jewelsnfindings.
More baby bell beads in jet (black) and milky white luster from Etsy seller, mountainshadowdesign.
I added my Alice Kennedy Timeless Treasures fabric to the backs of these crystals (that came on this candelabra) to make them more fun.

Round crystal beads came with a different candelabra.
Black round and yellow faceted acrylic beads and the metal beads and chains from Athenian Fashions in LA's garment district. Thanks to Stephanie, who was very helpful and taught me how to attach the metal beads to the chains!

Two centerpieces completed. Now where am I going to store them until February??

Oh make me over, part 1

For the past week, I have been working on turning all that trash into (what I hope will be) fabulous centerpieces. So far so good.

I've decided not to post each finished centerpiece until after the wedding so that there will be some surprise elements for our guests.

Instead, I will post some sneak peeks as I progress through this never-ending list of centerpieces.

Sneak peek #1:

Hopelessly devoted to you.

Last Saturday, after the Renegade Craft Fair, we walked around the garment district in search of fabrics and beads. We used this and this as our guide. I found both fabrics and beads, but right now, I am obsessed with the fabrics we bought to make our pomanders.

We went through a few of those fabric stores that advertise the $1/yard fabrics. All those fabrics were crap. I know, many of those stores have nicer fabrics inside. However, inside was a mess...stacks upon stacks upon stacks of fabric. Keep in mind, I was not looking for yards and yards of fabric, so this was not worth the time and effort.

We ended up at Michael Levine, a REAL store.

Oh. My. Gosh.

It was fabric heaven. Rows and rows of fabric, neatly organized by fabric type and then by color. Ahh, my kind of store. It was like "Ooh look at this" and "Ooh look at that." I even changed our colors a few times with each fabric that caught my eye.

As you might have guessed, fabric here was not $1/yard. Everything I wanted was $8.00 - $8.50 per yard and absolutely 100% worth it!

I am in love with Timeless Treasures by Alice Kennedy. Her entire Taxi collection represents our wedding perfectly,in our original color scheme:

Timeless Treasures Alice Kennedy Taxi collection - fabric inspiration

How can you ooh and ahh with me if you don't enlarge it!

I am so so SO excited about these two purchases:

Timeless Treasures Alice Kennedy Kiwi collection
You can't see the pattern if you don't click on it!

Timeless Treasures Alice Kennedy Taxi collection (Taxi Leaves)

I also wanted this one but sadly watched another girl walk off with the last remaining yards (which, of course, makes me want it more):

Timeless Treasures Alice Kennedy Taxi collection

Of two things you can be sure...one, you will definitely see the first two fabrics we purchased throughout our centerpieces. And, two, you will definitely see the third fabric and one or two of the others incorporated somewhere else...possibly in attire.

Feeling hot, hot, hot.

We spent about 3 hours at the Pasadena Rose Bowl flea market on Sunday. During that time, the temperature kept rising from the 80s to the 90s.

See the resemblance?

lobster.

me.

A painful price to pay for more fun finds at the flea market.

a yellow suitcase.
This is going to be our wedding card box. We would also like to incorporate this into our Trash-the-Dress session.

a yellow stool.
This will be used under the jewelry box shown here for one of the centerpieces.

a bell jar.
We will incorporate this into a centerpiece with some of the other glassware shown here.

oval picture frames.
Minus the needlepoint, these will be used for the head table decor. I need 3 more.

large oval picture frames.

Minus the floral pictures, these will be used first in our engagement session. They will be used again for another centerpiece.

Yes, this looks like junk and yes, these are very vague descriptions of their use in our wedding. Quite honestly, I am not sure exactly HOW I am going to turn all this trash into wedding treasures. I have ideas but I don't want to reveal all of those just yet...I would rather show than tell. Be prepared for a lot of trials and even more errors.

You're just a product of loveliness.

There are so many crafty things going on this weekend!

Renegade Craft Fair

When: July 11-12, 2009 11am - 7pm
Where: California Market Center Penthouse
Admission: free!
Parking: $10 with validation

The Broke-Ass Bride posted about this yesterday. I am super excited about her post because my new favorite Etsy vendor, Oh Hello Friend, is going to be here. She makes the most lovely jewelry! I love everything she makes. Here are a few of my favorites from her Etsy shop:

oh hello friend. lemon sherbert

oh hello friend. chang(ed), set III

oh hello friend. blossom

oh hello friend. flower nest

I hope this is still there tomorrow when I find her booth:

oh hello friend. this is love

Rose Bowl Flea Market

When: Sunday, July 12, 2009 9:00am - 4:30 pm
Where: Rose Bowl in Pasadena
Admission: $8.00/person (They also have earlier admissions, as early as 5am, for an added cost)
Parking: free!

This is where we found our centerpieces shown here. It only comes every second Sunday of the month.

image from here.

Rubber Stamp Convention (RSC)

When: July 11 - 12, 2009
Where: Carson Community Center
Admission: $6.00 one day or $8.00 for two-day pass
Parking: free!

I know you can't read that! Click on the image!

I know, it sounds really geeky, but I've been a few times and I always walk out with something new to add to my craft supplies. It's not just rubber stamps! They do tons of demos and there are other vendors that sell paper, paper punches, trinkets, and embossing stencils. My favorite things are the box patterns from Darcie's Country Folk.

favor boxes?
I know you can't read that! Click on the image!

bridesmaid's gift box? I know you can't read that! Click on the image!

The way you [DIY] the things you do, part 2

Remember this:

that I made here?

I just found this lovely DIY wedding paper pomander from Once Wed:


I wish I saw the Once Wed pomander sooner. I was trying to layer too many flowers to keep the styrofoam from showing. She wrapped the ball entirely in seam binding to hide the styrofoam. Thank you, Once Wed, for your wonderful DIY projects.

I didn't have seam binding (I am not even sure what that is). I tried ribbon first, but that didn't work because it won't lie flat. I remembered I bought this thin mesh "thing" (possibly drapes?) for $1.50 in the "As Is" section of IKEA. I cut a thin strip (~1"), wrapped, and pinned at the top.

Instead of paper flowers, I cut fabric flowers. Using what I learned from my almost favorite book, Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts that I also talked about here, I finally bought some Stiffy (that mr. c cannot stop laughing at) from Michaels:


It is super easy to use. I just brushed on a thin layer of Stiffy onto the fabric with a foam brush, soaked up any excess with a paper towel, and let it dry flat on a rack.

I used the Carla Craft Ume paper punches for about half of the flowers. The small one is easy to use, even with fabric. After punching about 10 large flowers, my hand hurt so much I was ready to chuck that POS across the room. Okay, it's not really a POS, but I will keep the paper punches for their original purpose. Thank goodness for mr. c's gift also talked about here. I used my Pazzles Creative Cutter Inspiration to cut the remainder of the large flowers.

Then I was good to attach 30-35 of these:

to this:


to make this:

DIY-ing it attempt #2.

Baby, now that I've found you, I won't let you go.

My latest favorite obsession is the Pasadena Rose Bowl flea market.This past Sunday, we set out in search of treasures in the midst of all that trash for our DIY centerpieces. I have strayed away from my desire to use manzanita branches with pomanders for this...

Dining table full of purchases from the Pasadena Rose Bowl Flea Market

For her upcoming wedding, my friend, miss care, is asking her guests to b.y.o.C. (bring yo' own CENTERPIECE) with her color scheme guidelines, for the table they are going to be sitting at. How cute, creative, and budget-savvy is that!? I just barely met her last year, but she is one of the most creative people I know. She and her fiance' used my classroom a couple of weeks ago to film part of their VIDEO WEDDING INVITATIONS. Again, cute, creative, and budget-savvy!

mr. c and I are not as brave (and by brave, I mean trusting) as this lovely couple to put the centerpieces in the hands of our guests. But, I love that each of their centerpieces is going to be different and unique. So, I am now committed to DIY-ing all of our centerpieces by turning cheap finds into one-of-a-kind vintage-modern decor.

So, here are the pieces of trash that I am going to turn into creative centerpieces (hopefully not into pieces of trash in other forms):

Oops, and one more purchase that I forgot to mention...a 1950's ivory lace tea-length dress, probably to be worn for our Trash-the-Dress session with Chris Austin. It's totally not something I would normally wear and I love it.

The way you [DIY] the things you do

DIY-ing it attempt #1.

Scrapbook Paper Pomander
Construction Time: ~1 hour

Materials:
2-inch styrofoam ball
2 different color or patterned scrapbook paper
large flower punch (I used Carl CarlaCraft Ume-L)
small flower punch (I used Carl CarlaCraft Ume-S)
quilter's pins
6-inch ribbon strip

Click on image for larger view.

Directions:
1. Punch ~30 large and small flowers.
2. Make a loop with the ribbon and attach to styrofoam ball using stacked large and small flower with a pin.
3. Using that as your center point, continue to attach stacked large and small flowers with pins, allowing the flowers to overlap so that the white styrofoam doesn't show.
4. Adjust flowers as necessary to cover entire styrofoam ball.

Not too shabby for the first DIY-ing it. Punching "x" amount of flowers would definitely make my hand hurt. But, mr. c fixed that by getting me the greatest birthday gift ever...

Pazzles Creative Cutter Inspiration

According to mr. c's research on the forums, this is even better than the Cricut (everyone has seen those infomercials). With less than a month left of the school year, I am tempted to play with it, but I am trying to wait until summer vacay. I did test out a few flowers and mr. c made this hot little number:

For my next DIY-ing it attempt, I want to use fabric instead of paper. But, the punch won't go through the fabric. I learned that if I stiffen the fabric, I can punch my flowers or better yet, use my Creative Cutter Inpiration. Thank you Martha Stewart for this tip from her Encyclopedia of Crafts that I picked up at Costco:
This is my new favorite book...well, at least it comes a close second to "Twilight." Sorry, Martha, ya don't got nothin' on Edward.