DIY Paper Mache Letters

   

One of the first crafts we attempted for the wedding were large paper mache letters with our initials. I had seen a few pins on pinterest that showed letters covered in twine and =letters covered in moss - both which I really liked. My mom had found a few paper mache letters here and there at JoAnn's and Hobby Lobby of different sizes, 23.5 inch and 12 inch are the two sizes we used in the picture above. As they sat in our basement (aka wedding staging central - pictures of that to come later I can't ruin all of the surprises before the wedding) we were brainstorming ways to cover them.

I can't remember how we thought of doilies to cover them, they may have been sitting around the house or after three hours of walking in circles in Hobby Lobby searching for a sign they may have fallen into our basket - not sure. But regardless, doilies popped into our mind. The wedding is all in grey and white so the white doilies were perfect. They are also very inexpensive and you can buy variety packs of different sizes: here are links to doilies at JoAnn's, Hobby Lobby, and Michael's.

To actually adhere the doilies to the paper mache letters all you need is a simple decoupage glue. Different sites vary on how to make the glue either 75% glue, 25% water or 50/50. I used about a 50/50 mix of elmer's glue and water.

Then, using a paint brush I found doilies of different sizes and either ripped or placed them whole onto the letters. They dried quickly (probably an hour or two) and look great! The entire project probably took about an hour.

Picking a Venue

My fiance and I had been talking about getting engaged after graduating from the University of Maryland, so of course after he popped the question I had already narrowed it down to two places. We both make pretty quick decisions and are usually very confident in our choices which has really been a blessing for us during our six-month engagement. I found our venue by looking at wedding photographer blogs, I not only got to check out photographers but venues at the same time. The two venues I had narrowed it down two were the Howard County Conservancy and Union Mills Homestead.

Here are the photography blogs and couples I must have looked at 100 times, I feel like I know them.  Some of them are new finds and make me more excited than ever!

Howard County Conservancy
Lisa Boggs Photography - Aubrey and Alex
Dani Leigh Photography - Anne and Ryan
L Hewitt Photography - Adam and Jordan

Union Mills Homestead
Ferry Huang Photography - Ashley and Adam
Lydia Jane Photography - Mr. and Mrs. Ewing
Far/Wid Photography - Adam and Valerie
Kathy Fruendel Photography - Amanda and Jason

We went to visit the Howard County Conservancy first, and the woman we met with was extremely friendly and helpful. They also have a small barn, an outdoor garden and path and an indoor tall open room overlooking the property. The area is gorgeous and the rental fee for the location is $2,000 for a Saturday in the summer. You can bring any caterer in, however if you'd like to set up early you have to pay for each additional hour you rent and they do still have all of their normal weekend activities. They are a nature conservancy first and that is their main focus, but it is gorgeous.

The second venue, Union Mills Homestead is what we picked for our venue. As soon as we drove up I instantly knew it was the place. When I had called prior they explained to me that they were almost completely booked for the next year, almost two but that a weekend had opened up due to someone dropping out. When I arrived on site there were two other brides there visiting and were waiting to see if I would confirm the venue, otherwise they wanted the date. We walked around the outside of the venue while waiting for Tom to show us inside the barn. The outside is perfect, there is an outdoor garden and location for the ceremony, an old house used as a museum and a working mill.

The inside is what really sold me. The barn is already decorated with white lights and lanterns covering the barn:

To top it off, to rent the Homestead it is a total of $700 for the entire weekend starting early Friday morning until Sunday evening. There isn't a place to get ready on the premises, but we rented a local house nearby and a few hotel rooms for the guys and girls to get ready for the day. 

This place is magical! Can't wait! 

DIY Paper Flower Wall

Hello first blog post! (Well first public blog post, I do have a private blog from the 10th grade that will be quite the time capsule some day...)

I'm getting married on September 8th (47 days and counting) and coming from the crafty family that I do, our wedding will have lots of personal touches. My fingers will also be completely burned to the nubs from my nimbus3000 glue gun, but the guests will enjoy the details. My first inspiration for the wedding was this pin I came across on Pinterest:

I absolutely LOVED this flower wall and after some research found that it was made 100% of paper. So I went on a mission and dragged my loving mother into it (she is my crafting buddy and inspiration.) We started one night watching Pretty Little Liars (one of my guilty pleasures) and messed around with a huge pack of 8 1/2 x 17 paper we found at a discount store. These were some of our first creations:

We sat on the living room floor and searched for websites with instructions on how to make flowers with only paper, tissue paper and of course, a glue gun.

To make the giant paper poppy (top right) and tissue paper flower (bottom right) we used directions from Martha Stewart Crafts. To make the paper rose, we used these instructions (also from Martha) but instead of crepe paper, we used our thick white discount store paper. 

The last flower in the bottom left was a random creation of our own by cutting simple petals shaped like pointed ovals, folding them in half, and making the same center as the giant paper poppy. We learned that the more imperfect you cut them, the more realistic they look - and the more petals you add the prettier they are :). That means more work as well.....

So by the end of the night our living room floor looked like this:

One last addition in this picture are the cupcake-paper carnations. We made this out of boredom and only have cupcake (things? what are they called? holders?) left. But guess what - found 'em on Martha Stewart as I am searching now.

My main goal was to have flowers of all shapes, sizes and texture as long as they were white - but I really wasn't sure how it was going to turn out. The next issue was figuring out how to make a wall like in the original Pinterest find. In our basement we had three huge thin metal panels that my mom had used to attach design ideas (she is an interior designer...it's in my blood!). Well, we took those out of her studio (weddings call for sacrifices...) and decided to put magnets on the back of each flower. We used simple round magnets the size of nickels, they are really inexpensive as well. Not everyone has these laying around, and they actually wouldn't be too difficult to construct - a thin sheet of sheet metal that can be measured and cut at your local home improvement store and then lined with a relatively thick wood trim. You'd want to secure wood around the entire perimeter of the metal as well as two-three horizontal pieces to make sure the metal stays firm and doesn't droop inwards. 

Here are a few pictures of what the three panels are looking like so far:

 

We are hoping to cover all of the remaining grey background that shows through with simple white leaves that we can attach underneath some of the flowers.

The pancake-loving fiance also added a loving touch with a flower or two. (But only two, and in exchange for a warm cooked meal and some Parks and Recreation episode watching...

He's a keeper. <3

                       

Update: Finished Product!! :)

Update 8/21/2013 - I'm now making a second wall with more DIY steps. You can see more about it here.
DIY Paper Flower Wall Take 2!
DIY Paper Flower Wall Take 2: Part 1
DIY Paper Flower Wall Take 2: Part 2 Large Cardstock Flowers
DIY Paper Flower Wall Take 2: The End Results

Our Engagement Story

Because this blog was inspired by my engagement and wedding crafting (and my future Sister-in-law whose blog makes me laugh out loud every post) I am going to recap our engagement so my two followers can read it, but more so I can have it later when I'm old and my Clinque makeup stops working it's magic.
Erynne (Andrew's sister) texted me that night and asked if we wanted to go to Yellowfin for dinner at 6:30 because her in-laws were in town and the whole family wanted to have a big dinner. So Andrew and I said of course, we love Yellowfin. It was our first date and I had always kind of hoped he would propose there, but Erynne's in-laws were in town and their family likes to go to Yellowfin. 

On Friday night, March 16th 2012 Andrew came over to my parents house to visit me but he was really sick, so instead of going back to DC he decided to go back to his house in Annapolis. I thought it was bad food because we aren't that great of cooks but it turns out it just MAY have been the nerves. The next morning I sat on my deck alone waiting for about four hours for him to finally say he was ready to come over. Normally we go to the Eastern Market to get crepes and watch approximately 5 too many TV episodes on Netflix, so I was really at a loss for what to do with myself as I sat alone enjoying the nice day.  After I finally got weird enough, Steph took me to Target to get me out of the house. Side-note, we all know Target is a terrible place to go when bored because no matter what you end up walking out spending $60, on what you ask? The end of the clearance aisles? A new pair of their famous cheap flats...not cheap if you buy them in every color. ANYWAY, unknowingly to me (because he was texting me the whole time) he was actually meeting my parents at Einstein's bagels, (their favorite place in the whole world) to ask them for their permission to marry me. 

So Sunday came and we woke up and went to church. Funny thing was he insisted on bringing his north face coat. The super thick winter one with a hood. Yeah weird, we were late though so I didn't bother saying "You're weird" more than 6 or 7 times. After church we talked to people for awhile and then came home and hung out at my house until it was time to go to Yellowfin. I was getting super anxious because I had been sitting around the house all day (and yesterday waiting for him to "feel better") so I ramble off a million options of things we could do, none of which included being calm and watching television. He suggests we go mini-golfing, much to my surprise!!!  So Stephanie (my sister) Andrew and I pack into the car and drive away. I had pleaded with my parents to go with us, why? I'm not sure - because every 23 year old secretly wishes they could get a hole in one and finally earn back all of the embarrassment they suffered through their childhood always coming in last? No.... So, who comes rolling around the corner into the mini-golf parking lot? No one but Barb and Joe Johnson themselves! The whole event was pretty funny...and I found out my parents and Steph knew he was going to ask me that evening so Stephanie, little jokester she is, kept saying all these sly jokes, "you know what movie I loved but haven't seen in awhile? the proposal." And I had no idea!!! AND when we were golfing my dad had a really good shot and andrew went and hit his ball out of the way, and I said "oh wow that's symbolic" as a joke, but everyone laughed too hard......May I also add that I did get a hole in one. I'm not lying. 

After mini-golfing and three agonizingly long minutes of the end of the Michigan State basketball game, I convinced him to go early and to walk around Nordstrom Rack. In the car on the way over I thought something might have been going down because Yellowfin is the place we had our first date and all of our anniversary dinners - but it is also one of his parents favorite places too. So I was texting Erynne telling her that I wanted her to meet me at Nordstrom's but she said that they were all on their way back from the aquarium and would have to meet us at Yellowfin. I also asked if Ian's parents were coming and she said yes. I told Andrew that and he acted all mad like "oh really?? that wasn't part of the plan I thought it was just going to be a nice dinner with my parents and Erynne and Ian." So that made me really believe that he wasn't going to ask me because he promised he would never ask me in front of his family. So then I was like oh ok well I don't think he is going to. But his hands were all clammy. I commented on that. Clammy hands are weird. 

Evidence of Erynne's lies are below...

Then we got to Nordstrom's rack and bought Stephanie some expensive shampoo for her birthday and apparently while I was looking at clothes he called Ian and asked if he was there. Ian was planning to hide and take pictures. So then at 6:10 we left and went to Yellowfin. I asked him if it would be ok if we got there that early and he was like, yeah its fine we can just go walk around on the piers - which we do sometimes, so I didn't think anything of it. So we parked and he called Ian and asked if he was there and they talked about something and Andrew was like "ok they are a few minutes away lets walk around."

So we walk down to the pier and I start talking about Nathaniel (the little guy I've babysat for a few years and my little buddy - see picture on right) and all the things of mine and his father's that he has thrown into the water (funny because Andrew was terrified the ring would fall in the water and I just kept laughing and laughing about how funny it was when he threw his dad's watch) anyway, so we are walking around and then we go sit at the end of the pier. ALSO he brought his jacket with him (and it was beautiful out) so I kind of thought something about that but didn't say anything. I also told him I always get cold in there and I should have brought a jacket, but he said I could use his. So that was a good cover.

We sit at the end of the pier talking for about five minutes about the houses, Nathaniel, the first time we started hanging out and I made some weird comments about my typical conversations (bugs, creatures, goofy jokes, stray hairs on chins...you know, normal everyday conversation.) Then he called Ian and I guess Ian told him he had arrived so Andrew said "ok Ian and Erynne are here, want to head up so we meet them?" So I started to stand up and he said I love you, and I said I love you too, which was totally normal and then I stood up and turned around to grab his hand and walk away and he was on one knee and was like. "no, I REALLY love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, will you marry me?"  I didn't say anything I just put my hands up and was like OH WOWWWWW. 

So he opened the box and it was just like a movie and then he put it on my finger and I kept saying how beautiful it was! And laughing because I was talking about such random things and babling on about NOTHING? And then he told me Ian was hiding taking pictures and that made me soo happy!! Because I love LOVE pictures. Above is a picture Ian took and I had framed.

The reactions from our friends afterwards were the best: