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Happy February everyone! I’m celebrating it with some new stock on the etsy.com store! I’ve been a busy little bee in my time off, and have a whole bunch of newbies online for your purchasing pleasure. Remember, you’d throw more money at a lesser quality product walking through the mall…why not plan ahead and support hand-made crafts, created with love and care. Your support goes directly to the creator (me), who in turn supports independent suppliers and crafters. A whole lotta love going on there! Hey, and these would be perfect for your lady friend come Valentine’s Day (you have to be quick though, as postage times are a little out of my control).
After spending ages online searching for candies that might be suitable for party favours it was a trip to Newry that lead to the discovery and purchase of fruit flavoured rock candy! We cleaned the store out of their supply for less than twenty Euro! Unfortunately, I could not find anything like it in Dublin…now maybe I wasn’t looking hard enough, although I did spend WAY too much time Googling for sweet shops.
The baggies, however, we did find in Dublin, and for the grand total of five Euro we walked away with about a thousand of them. Not that we need that many but they couldn’t get rid of the damn things! Perfect for us. The tags, which will feature a decoration, possibly a message, or double as seating name tags, were found in London and purchased for under two pounds…per hundred, so there’s some leftovers of those too. And the ribbon is from a little Dublin store, A Rubenesque, in Powerscourt for around five Euro. Easy peasy!
So, the main organisation is pretty well complete for the big day. After Friday most things will be in hand, with just the wait ahead of us! In the meantime my creative juices continue to flow and I have made myself some 40-odd pinwheels for guests to decorate the day and for them to take a little bit of cheer away with them. You see, we can’t really decorate the official government venue, but I can ask our family and friends to hold up a little bit of colour while Mister Emmet and I walk down and up the aisle! Anyway, below is my handywork…anyone having a kids party in the next little while want to commission me I’d be more than happy! Just looking at them sitting and waiting in their boxes makes me smile!
Okay, this is probably as ludicrous as I get. I’m now stressing over not having to stress!
So, in six weeks Miss Stephanie will become Missus Stephanie, and the list of To Dos is becoming increasingly shorter. The worry now is that things have been left in the (hopefully) capable hands of others, and delegation is not something I’ve ever been particularly good at. Intellectually, I know things will be fine, but emotionally I can’t help but be a little stressed out about the situation.
A quick run down the list of things to be procured and the only item that remains outstanding is the bouquet, as I’ll have to investigate Galway florists over the weekend but I have done a practice run and although I may not be a master florist I’m not entirely disappointed with the outcome. When I’ve located my source things will be well and truly in motion.
Mister Emmet is heading off to meet with our venue manager to finalise numbers, menu, drinks and cakes and to arrange the deposit. Then we’re off to the ceremony venue to see where it is exactly and to scope out some potential photo locations. Beyond that, the dress is well on its way to being finalised and is due for pick up mid-March, Emmet’s suit and sundries are all in order, RSVPs are in, the rings have arrived, the kombi is booked, as is the photographer, the decorations are in hand, the favours are packed…so why I am still stressed out about it all!?
I have to say that while I can see why some people opt for a wedding planner I think it takes something away from the experience. I may be stressed (which, by the way, has helped with the slimming down, even if only slightly – bride and groom, both) but I don’t think I’d have it any other way. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed engaging with people who care about their product, from the candy seller in her old school sweets store in Newry, to the staff at Nimmos/Ard Bia who take pride in preparing wholesome food from local supplies, or the South American shoemaker who custom made my ballet flats because my feet are slightly too big for their standard sizing. Let alone the permission it has given me to flex my own DIY muscle and stamp my own creativity and our own identity on what is, at the end of it all, our day!
The experience of planning a wedding is different for everyone, granted, but for me it has opened a whole new world and shown me that you can still stamp your mark on your life however intertwined with the mass-produced world we become.
….and the fun ain’t even over yet!
So, finally finished first editions of a couple of decoration ideas. I’ve got some pics here, but please remember – these are first drafts! They’re not great, but I enjoyed the therapy of making them. I want to make more bunting but have retired the idea for the moment…they take a fair amount of time if you’re making them by hand, but with a sewing machine it’d be way easier, so I might resume that course of action when we’re back in Australia. The poms I’m very pleased with. Even though it’s a first try it turned out okay…although next time I’ll make sure the paper is facing the right direction or use tissue paper that is coloured on both sides. They’re relatively easy to make, you can make them any size and you could probably turn them into garlands or something similar if you wanted, so I reckon these are a go-er. I’ve also decided that I might give pinwheels a go! They’d be great on the table in a vase! So, need to locate some 1/8 or 1/4 in dowel rods, which thus far has posed a challenge.
How to Make Fabric Bunting
1. Create a triangle template – mine was 10cm across the top and 20cm between the middle of the base and the tip of the triangle – this is quite small but a good ratio to use. 2. Fold your fabric in half and pin the template on. 3. Following the template cut the triangles out of your fabric. 3. Each flag is made up of two pieces of fabric. If you want the stitching exposed place the fabric triangles back to back so that the up-side is showing. 4. Using a contrasting thread and a blanket stitch begin sewing from one of the base corners, making your way around the point and back to the opposite base corner. There’s no real need to stitch over the base as it will be hidden under the ribbon. 5. Repeat for all flags. 6. Take the ribbon that you’ll use to join the flags together and fold it in half. I would recommend ironing the ribbon on a low heat to ensure it stays folded. 7. Leaving a minimum of about 20cms of ribbon at each end (for tying) pin the flags along the ribbon between the folds. You can choose to leave a gap between flags – I left a 5cm gap between each – or have them meeting. 8. Begin stitching a regular stitch from the edge of the ribbon all the way along the bottom of the fold, ensuring that the flags are being caught by the stitches. 8. When all of that is done, hang your bunting!
How to Make Tissue Paper Poms
1. Take about 8-10 layers (I used 10) of tissue paper and cut them into a square. 2. Start at one end and fold the layers in a concertina fashion. 3. Use some wire or thread to tie the centre of the tissue. If you use thread, as I have, make sure you don’t crinkle or bunch the centre, just tie it loosely so that the paper is held together. 4. Trim the ends of the tissue paper. I chose a curve shape but a point can also look good. I also like a deep cut, so start a good inch or so from the edge of the paper – I think this gives the illusion of there being more paper than there actually is. 5. This is the hard part. Being gentle carefully pull the layers apart, pulling away from the centre in order to form the rounded shape. Remember that tissue paper is pretty delicate and liable to tear, which is just a tragedy if you’ve come this far! 6. Attach a length of ribbon, string or what-have- you to the centre wire or string and hang! You might need to do some fluffing to even out the layers around the pom.
