Wedding Detail Series: DIY Entrance Tables and Centerpieces

Our theme was wine, so for our table numbers we collected wine bottles and removed the labels.  We then made our own labels with each table number and the names of the guests at that table.  We set them up in and around  two wine crates at the table before you entered the reception room.

At each table, we had a picture frame with the coordinating table number and names associated with that table. We wanted our wedding to feel intimate despite there being 113 people in attendance.  One way for us to initiate that was to put random facts (named Food for Thought) about the people at each table on the framed table numbers. ***On a side note, we wanted each table to be slightly unique.  We went to Goodwill several times over a few months, purchasing different frames (all in the same wood tone), 5x7 for the tables and 8x10 for the instructional pieces.  We also purchased various vases in different shapes and sizes to put as the centerpieces at each table (see below).

People really seemed to enjoy this part.  It was fun to share if they knew everyone at the table and learned a little about others if they didn't know someone at their table.  We received a lot of positive feedback about this detail.

The centerpieces on the table with the table numbers, was a glass vase (in various shapes and sizes) filled with corks we had collected over the previous year (as well some donated from friends and family) and a candle.  We ended up with thousands of corks!  We did not use them all for the centerpieces and are still trying to repurpose them (see other cork projects under the Completed Projects tab).  Surrounding the centerpiece was a vine wreath and grapes (in green and purple, in a variety of sizes dispersed throughout the tables).

The last piece at each table was our favors.  We made (yes we homemade hundreds of heart-shaped cookies a few days before our wedding) Swedish Ginger Snap cookies, Pepparkakor, using my husband's family recipe.  We purchased the bags they are in online and then made Thank You labels with our wedding date.  We also folded the napkins in a heart shape to coordinate with the cookies.  Again, yes we folded and ironed the napkins into the heart shapes...our caterer was going to charge us extra, per napkin to do this so we decided we could... :)  How we had time for anything else that week, I don't know!

Also at the front entrance was a table for sign-in.  We knew we would never look at a traditional guest book.  So, we decided to do a wedding guest quilt.  We had guests sign a square of fabric (which we pre-cut) with a fabric marker.  We made the center of our quilt as an example to display using pieces we had some of our family and friends do beforehand.

We printed our logo and wedding date on transfer paper and ironed it on to our center piece of fabric.  From there we arranged and sewed together our squares of fabric (with a lot of help and direction from my mother-in-law~ Thanks Kathy!).

On that table with our wedding guest quilt sample, we had a basket for blank pieces of fabric, a basket to put the signed pieces of fabric and fabric pens.  Otherwise, the table was decorated with a canvas of one of our engagement photos sitting on a winecrate which covered the projector displaying our slideshow on a screen behind the table.

Whew! That was a lot of information!  As I write all of this, I am again shocked that we put in this much time and effort.  However, I wouldn't have changed a thing.  We loved the way everything turned out and had so many compliments on the details we put in!

Project details:

Wine bottles~ Collected by us, friends and family; labels stripped

Wine bottle labels~ Blank labels purchased at Office Depot and then created and printed by us at home

Crates~ Free from liquor stores, just by asking

Corks~ Collected by us, friends and family

Picture frames~ Purchased at Goodwill for $.97-1.50 each

Paper for frames~ Purchased at PaperSource

Background paper in instructional frames~ Purchased from World Market

Vases~ Purchased at Goodwill for $1-2.97 each

Vine wreaths~ Purchased at Ikea on sale for $2 each

Fake grapes~ Borrowed from a friend, I think purchased from Hobby Lobby on sale

Candles~ Purchased from Ikea for $9.99 for a 5 pack of multi-sizes

Cookies~ Homemade

Favor bags~ Purchased online from www.clearbags.com $10 for 200 bags 

Favor labels~ Blanks labels purchased from Office Depot and then created and printed by us at home
Fabric for wedding guest quilt~ Hobby Lobby
Transfer paper for iron on logo~ Hobby Lobby

Pillow Cover With Ribbon Flowers

I've had this bright colored pillow for a long time but haven't had it out because it just don't go with the look of any of our rooms.

Well I decided to make a cover for it today so that it could have a place somewhere.

The previous covers I did were button covers and worked well so I figured I would do that again but add a little something extra.  I wanted to try some of those ribbon flowers to put on it.  

I made the cover the same way I did the first time: http://unleashingmycreativity.blogspot.com/2011/03/pillow-cover.html .  Except this time I added the flowers.  

First, I had to sew on the stems.  I did them by hand because the thick thread I was using wasn't wanting to participate in the sewing machine.

I made three stems.  Next I made the ribbon flowers.  I cut a circle with the extra fabric I had.  Then I sewed the ribbon on, folding it as I came to the turns.

I think they came out great and were a lot easier to do than I expected.

Next I sewed them to the fabric so that I didn't have to deal with glue.

Then I finished sewing together the front and back of the pillow cover as I did in the previous post.

I think it turned out good but there was one negative.  Sewing the flowers on the fabric, raised the fabric slightly when I was pinning the edges before sewing the cover together.  It made one of the corners end up a little uneven...Oh well, maybe no one would notice if I wouldn't have said anything :)  My lesson learned for next time!

What do you think?

Pillow Cover

 So, when I was really young I can remember making pillow cases with my paternal grandmother.  

 

(My sister, grandmother and me)

She had so much fabric in the room, I don't think I ever could have really appreciated it until now.  I've always had the desire to sew again, just haven't had the time or materials.  Well that has all changed!  My husband's grandmother gave us one, of her many, sewing machines that she was no longer using.

With that being said, I never really liked two of the pillows that came with our couch, so today I was determined to make covers for them!  

I went to the store and found the fabric and buttons I wanted and got started right away.  I bought two yards of fabric which was too much, but I wanted to be prepared since this was my first attempt on my own.  **Disclaimer:  I did do some research online for the amount of fabric I would need.  I also had to call my mother-in-law one time for sewing machine issues.  (Winding the bobbin...attempting to wind the bobbin...took several tries and wasted a lot of thread.  In fact, the original color I was going to use never took.  Luckily I had purple too and I finally got it!)

Anyways...here we go!  My pillows are 20"x20" and here are the steps I took: