Rustic-Elegant Winter Wedding Centerpieces

My youngest sister got engaged in October and asked if I'd like to put together the centerpieces for their December wedding receptions, one to be held in a community dance hall with a live band and the other, a more formal setting, in a church hall.  Of course I was thrilled that she asked me!

The goal was to put together a centerpiece that would work for both receptions, was Winter-y (yet warm), rustic (for the groom) yet elegant (for the bride), and coordinated with the wedding colors which were blue, white, silver, and brown.

(I gathered several inspiration pictures for the centerpieces, but my favorite, and the one that I followed the most closely, was a beautiful Christmas Tablescape at Beechtree Photography.) 

I mixed old and new items to keep the cost of each Centerpiece under $20. 

I would have liked to use real candles in the centerpieces but open flames were not allowed in either of the reception locations so battery operated candles were used instead.  Each centerpiece had two 3 1/2" tall candles (purchased at Dollar tree for $1 each) and one 6" tall candle (purchased at a local craft store on clearance for $4 each).

The silver berries came on a garland with ten sprigs each.  I bought them at JoAnn's (40% off) for $3.99.

The freshly cut evergreens came from the shrubs in my parents yard.  My dad pruned more clippings than I needed so I'd have plenty to choose from.  I used handheld pruners to cut them to the sizes that I needed at the time I put the centerpieces together.  It doesn't sound very glamorous that they were shrubs, but it was convenient and they didn't cost a penny.

I've talked about my Grandma's cute little pine cones before, I used some of the pine cones that I gathered from her yard.   We also used several larger branch clippings from her trees to set around the frames on the photo table.

One bunch of flowers ($6) was enough for all eleven centerpieces.  

The 16" silver tray on the bottom left is a lightweight plastic serving tray from Dollar Tree and the 12" plastic platter on the right was .99 at Wal-mart.  I was a little nervous to use them because I was worried that they would look cheap.  I actually considered using silver metal pizza pans (which surprisingly looked quite nice) but in the end opted to just save the money.  Once the plastic trays were filled with the logs, evergreens, and flowers I think they worked out just fine.

I put together eight centerpieces for the tables and three centerpieces with larger vases (pictured top right) that were placed on the serving table and a photo table.  I was so happy to have found the three vases (that were all exactly the same) during one of my thrift store visits.  It was a rare and fabulous find for sure!   I paid $1.50-2.00 for each of them, a great buy.  

Most of the vases were purchased at thrift stores, ranging in price from .50 to $2.50.  Eight of them were new from Wal-mart, four large ($4) and four small ($3), twenty-seven in total.

Before the first reception I washed and dried each vase, sorted them into groups (short, medium, and tall), and gave each of them a table number and a letter (ex. 1a, 1b, and 1c).  Each log was cut for a specific vase so the heights of the centerpieces on each table would all be fairly close to the same.  I labeled the logs with the corresponding number of the vase and then put each set of logs in a grocery sack for an easy set-up.  On the day of the reception we simply matched the numbers together.  I also cut the berries apart ahead of time and placed the batteries in the candles to make sure they all worked.

The picture above was taken at the end of the reception when we were cleaning up.  It's not a great picture, but you can see in it how the logs and vases were labeled.

The candles all needed to be turned on and placed in the vases right before the reception so I had helpers with this.  I didn't notice until now, while writing this post, that the large candle was in the wrong vase on one of the tables.  Of course it's the table that I took the most pictures of.  It's funny that I never noticed it before now when I can't do a thing about it.  :)

Cost Summary

Each full table centerpiece ranged in price from @ $15-$17.  The single vase centerpieces cost @$7 each to put together.

Vases: .50 to $4.00 each
Candles: $1 for the small, batteries included, at Dollar Tree; $4 for the large at a local craft store that was closing (I used dollar store batteries for the large candles, they worked great for both receptions.)
Epsom Salt (Snow): .88 each (1 carton per table) at Wal-mart
Logs:  Donated and cut by my dad
Silver Berry Garland:  $4 (on sale for 40% off) at JoAnn Fabrics
Silver Serving Trays: $1 at Dollar Tree and Wal-Mart
Small Pine Cones: Free from my Grandma's Trees
Greenery:  Free from my Parents Yard
Flowers:  One large bunch for $6 (check your grocery store)
Ribbon:  .88 for a 3 yd. Spool from Wal-mart

The centerpieces ended up being just what we'd hoped for with their rustic natural pine cones and  logs, elegant glass vases, warm flickering candles, soft sweet smelling flowers, freshly cut evergreens, shiny silver ribbons and tray, and sparkling white (Epsom salt) 'snow'.  And...as you can imagine they smelled wonderful too!

Thanks for stopping by, enjoy your long weekend!

Today's Fabulous Find...Rustic-Elegant Winter Centerpiece for Under $20

Sharing at these fun parties!
Lil' Luna    Home Stories A to Z    Skip to My Lou

Craft-O-Maniac    Under the Table and Dreaming   Tator Tots and Jello    Funky Junk Interiors

Paint Stick Snowman {Tutorial}

After I cut the paint sticks down to make the Printable Christmas Tree Ornaments I was left with a bunch of tops.  Wanting to find a fun use for them, I decided to make them into little snowmen and a 'snowgirl' too! 

The snowmen are pretty simple to make, my two youngest kids each made one.  They picked out their own fabric, painted them, and drew the faces on by themselves.  My son thought it would be fun to color his green. :)  I helped with hot gluing the hat and scarf on.  We glued magnets on the back of them so they can use them to hang up the pictures they draw. 

(I apologize for the poor picture quality in this post, they were taken with my video camera.)

How to make a paint stick snowman...

1. Cut a paint stick top to 4" long and paint it ivory or white.  Add brown paint on the edges, see step 4.  (There's no need to round the top of the stick, I sanded this one at the experimental stage of the design.) 
2. Cut a strip of fabric for the scarf and a rectangle piece for the hat. (I used fabric scraps from other projects.)
3. Turn the rectangle up at the bottom, put some glue on the paint stick at the bottom of the hat, and wrap the fabric around to the back and overlap it.  Hot glue the overlap shut.  Tie a piece of jute in a knot around the top of the hat. Wrap a piece of wire (or a ribbon) around the top of the hat, twist it in the back and then pull the loop up for the hanger. 
4. Use a fine tip sharpie marker to draw the face on.  (I ran a google search on snowmen clip-art to get some ideas of how to draw the faces.)  I used paint on a rag for the rosy cheeks and the nose.  Put a thin piece of fabric over your finger, dip it in paint, blot it until it's nearly dry and then gently rub the paint on for the cheeks.  Add some dark brown on the edges of the snowman using this same method. 

You can use an orange marker to color in the carrot nose.

 This one makes me smile!   The hat turned out so poofy. 

And here we have the 'snowgirl'.  She's my favorite. 

The little berries and curly twigs were part of a wall hanging, I just 'borrowed' a few.  The burlap is from a 2 yard piece that I bought several months ago..it's the burlap that just keeps on giving.  I've used it on a lot of projects and still have a large piece left.  It's hard to go wrong with burlap...and it's so cheap too!

Today's Fabulous Find...Paint Stick Snowmangirl!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

What?!?  This is different! 

 

Printable Paint Stick Ornaments {Tutorial}

Are you looking for fun and in-expensive Christmas tree ornaments or gift tags, to make for yourself, or maybe for a neighbor or teacher gift?  If so, this might be just what you've been looking for!

Pin It

There is no need for vinyl on this craft, the sayings are all printed and copied onto scrapbook paper and then Mod Podged onto...get this... a paint stick!  The best part...they cost next to nothing!  I've put a tutorial together with all of my tips and tricks.  (Don't be alarmed by the length of it, I just like details and thought you might too!)  They are really quite simple to make.

It was a light bulb sort of moment when it came to me to use 5 gallon size paint sticks to make these ornaments.  Paint sticks are the perfect thickness, the wood is already fairly smooth, and they come free (or close to it)! 

Ready to get Started?  Here's what you'll need:

Paint sticks:  The paint sticks must be the large 5 gallon sticks (nearly 1 1/2" wide).  Lowes will sometimes give them to you for free as well as Home Depot.   Home Depot sells them in bundles.  Wal-mart sells them for .28 each.  Sherwin Williams paint sticks are too narrow, so don't get them there. 

Tip:  If you ask the employee if you can buy some from them to make a craft, most often they will just give them to you for free.  Yep, FREE!

One paint stick will make 4-4" long ornaments and 1-snowman ornament

(Snowman ornament tutorial hopefully coming soon, my camera just quit on me.)
Edited to add:  Click here for the snowman tutorial.

These are only 19 of the 28 Templates available

No vinyl required... Vinyl can be expensive, and not everyone has access to a craft cutter.  But don't worry, you don't need one...the sayings are printable...and I'm sharing them with you for free!   There are 28 different words/sayings to choose from. 

The Printable Templates are to be used 
FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY 
in your own home, church, or to give as a gift. 
They cannot be used on any items for sale or profit, this includes all fundraisors, sorry, no exceptions.

Template Example:

This is an example only, don't use this image, the quality is bad.  

*IMPORTANT:  If you are having problems downloading the templates it may be because you linked over from another site.  You need to be on the direct link to this post to be able to access the file in Google Docs.  Direct link:  http://todaysfabulousfinds.blogspot.com/2010/11/printable-paintstick-ornaments-tutorial.html.  Also, if you are using a work/school computer, your administrator may prevent you from downloading them from Google Docs, try downloading them to your personal computer if it doesn't work for you. You should'nt need to send me a Google Doc request to share them. Thanks!

• Download the template here  (You can click on download or print.) 
• The document includes a blank template so you can make up your own personalized sayings if you'd like. 
• Print the templates with your home printer onto white printer paper, use the normal or high quality setting.
• Copy the template onto scrapbook paper using a copy machine.   (Choose what paper you like, keep in mind that lighter to medium toned prints that aren't busy work best. The paper I used is from a book called Signature Suite by Jen Wilson)  This is an important step.  If you print it on an ink jet printer and don't use a copy machine to copy it to the scrapbook paper, your ink will run and blur when you Mod Podge the paper on.  ( Exception:  If you have a laser jet printer you can skip this step and print it directly onto the scrapbook paper, I've been told that the ink won't run.) 

Black Wire:  You can buy it at JoAnn Fabrics for $1.49 per roll. 

Accents (optional):  The star, heart, and snowflake rustic accents, are made by a company called Darice.  Check your local craft store.  They cost around $1.00 for a pkg. of 6-8.  The bells were $1.00 for a small bag of about 30.

  

Paint:  You can use acrylic craft paint, or spray paint them.  The color I used for this set of ornaments is Valspar's Velvet Brown spray paint.  It's the color of a Hershey's candy bar...yum!  You can choose whatever color looks good with your scrapbook paper and tree.  If you prefer a lighter color, Krylon's ivory spray paint is a good choice as well.

How to make them in 10 Steps

1.  Clamp the paint sticks together in bundles and mark and cut them every 4".  The best way to cut them is with a band saw, if you don't have one, you can use a jig saw, or a miter box and hand saw. 

2.  Lightly sand the sticks to smooth any rough parts (mostly the ends).

3.  Drill 2 holes in the upper corners just bigger than your wire.

4.  Paint the sticks. 

5.  Distress them by sanding the edges to expose some of the bare wood and then wipe the dust off.  (If there is writing on the stick that will show through the paint, use that side as the front, the paper will cover it.  You may need to sand the writing off of the border area a bit before you paint it if you are using a light paint color.)

6.  Cut out your print.  Make sure it is sized to the block.  (Trim to fit, if necessary, so there is about a 1/8" border of paint showing around the paper.) 

7.  To get the inked look around the edges of the paper, find a rag, put it on your finger, dip it into dark brown paint, blot most of it off, and then lightly run your finger along the edge of the paper.  You could also use a brown ink pad (I don't have one, so I improvised.).

8.  Brush a thin layer of Mod Podge onto the stick.  Place your paper on it, gently smooth it flat, and let it dry thoroughly.  Brush a thin layer of Mod Podge on top of the paper, being careful not to run your brush over it too many times and making sure the paper is flat and smooth.  Let dry.

9.  Cut a length of wire 9" long.  Gently push it through the hole in the stick from the back and through the paper about 1".  (It helps to put your finger over the hole where the wire is coming through so the paper doesn't tear.) Bend the wire up in the back.  (If you are adding an accent, put it on the wire now.)  Use needle nose pliers to twist the wire in a circle, then use the side of the pliers to push the wire down flat against the ornament.

10.  Hang them on your tree, and every time you see them, think "Wow, I made those!" :)

If you have any questions, please feel free to leave them in a comment or e-mail me.  If you make them leave me a link, I'd love to see them!

As soon as I can get to the store to buy a new camera, I'll show you how to make a snowman ornament using the top of the paint stick. :)  Edited to add:  Click here for the snowman ornaments

 

Today's Fabulous Find...Paint Stick Ornaments!

Edited to Add:  I just finished another set of Paint Stick Ornament Templates with the Names of Christ and Christlike Attributes.  Click here for the templates and for new ideas on how you can use them!

You might also be interested in:

Paint Stick Ornament Templates, Names of Christ in Latin and Hebrew

and

Paint Stick Ornament Templates, Names of Christ and Christlike Attributes in Spanish

(Added 12/1/2016)

***This post is linked to some really fun parties! 

Please link to them from my side bar and check them out!

*FYI: The Christmas Subway Art Printable is almost done and will be posted
in time to switch out your Thanksgiving print, by Monday if I can find a camera. :)

Fall Pumpkin Patch

Today was a beautiful day, not too hot, not too cold.  The unmistakable feeling of fall was lingering in the air, you know that feeling, right?  Wanting to take full advantage of the nice weather, I sat outside at the patio table and made myself a little Fall Punkin' Patch while I watched my own 'little punkins' play. :)



These may look familiar to you if you've seen my 2x4 Pumpkins.  They were my inspiration.  I used the scrap wood and other leftover items from the kits from our Ladies Craft Night to make them.  I actually already had the vinyl letters too.  So once again, free craft!  Oh, how I love to make things for free!

They fit perfectly on my kitchen window sill.

How to make your own Fall Pumpkin Patch

*The blocks are cut around 2 inches wide (they vary some), and are 3 1/2 inches tall (width of the 2x4). 

*The paint color is pumpkin orange (Wal-mart) with spice brown (JoAnn's) mixed in to darken it.

*All of the sides were lightly sanded and the corners were sanded down to the bare wood.

*It was sprayed with a clear acrylic sealer with matte finish. (I like to spray them because it makes the color look more vibrant.)

*Glue the stem on with hot glue, wrap the wire around it and curl the ends.

*Tie, raffia, a strip of fabric, ribbon, whatever you like around the stem and embellish with a silk fall leaf.

*Apply the vinyl. 

These were so easy and fun to put together! 

I think you might have fun making them too. :)

The Fall Pumpkin Patch...Today's Fabulous Find!

Also, today I was pleasantly surprised to find out my Halloween Fish, Say what? post was named at JDaniel4's Mom.com as one of her 'Great Posts I Came Across This Week'.   This was the first I had heard of this site and I think it's great.   It has a lot of ideas for kids, moms, and more. 

You might want to check out JDaniel4smom...Today's 2nd Fabulous Find!  

Linking up with these Fabulous Parties!

Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming

Sunday Scoop Weekend Wrap Up Party at I Love Nap Time

Show and Share Day at Just A Girl

Flaunt it Friday at Chic on A Shoestring
Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative
The DIY Showoff Parade
Made By You Mondays at Skip To My Lou
Making the World Cuter Monday
Motivate Me Monday at Keeping It Simple
Craftastic Monday at Sew Can Do
Anything Related at All Thingz Related
Take A Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Craft Edition
Halloween Pumpkin Parade Party at Under the Table and Dreaming
Topsy Turvy Tuesdays at I'm Topsy Turvy
Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog
Letting the Creative Juices Flow at These Creative Juices
Handmade Tuesdays at Ladybug Blessings
Sugar and Spice Party at Seven Thirty Three
Power of Paint Party at Domestically Speaking
Look What I Made at Creations By Kara
Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts
Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Design
Hookin Up with House of Hepworth
Show Off Your Stuff Party at Fireflies and Jelly Beans
Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple
Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage
Thrilling Thursday at Paisley Passions
Look at Me Party at Fun to Craft
Its So Very Creative at It's So Very Cheri
The DIY Living Party at The DIY Club
Tip Me Tuesday at Tip Junkie

How to Make a Palm Tree

Are you having a luau this summer?  Are you looking for a cheap yet impressive way to decorate?  Then you may want to make yourself one of these:

 

...or two or three!

They are really quite simple to make and the best part is that these trees were FREE!  They actually ended up costing me nothing to make because I used what I already had.  I apologize that I don't have pictures of the process, but I think you can look at them and get a pretty good idea of how they are made.

The Trunk

1.  Start with the center tube (12 ft. long) of a roll of carpet.  A local business gave us two of them at no cost.  They would throw them away anyway. 

2.  The first roll was cut at 8ft. using a small hand saw.  This left me with a 4 ft. piece that was used to make the shorter palm tree on the table.

3.  The second tube was cut at 10ft.  Since we didn't need to worry about ceiling height we could make them tall.  They even fit in the back of a van to get them to the church.

4.  We used regular sized brown paper lunch sacks for the trunk.  Start by cutting the bottoms off of the sacks then crinkle the sacks up (this adds texture to the trunk).  Slide a sack over the tube from the top to the bottom of the trunk.  Staple or tape the sack in place around the tube at the very bottom of the trunk.  Take the next sack and slide it from the top to the bottom and then over the first sack about 2 inches or so.  Turn the bottom of the sacks under an inch or so to create the look of the lines on the trunk (the bottom of the sack is not taped, only the top).  Repeat these steps until you get to the top of the trunk.

5.  The top sack is a larger size sack.

6.  To finish it off between the small sack and the large sack at the top of the trunk, cut a strip of brown paper about 2" wide and long enough to go around the tube.  Cut slits in it every 1/2 inch.  Wrap it around the tube and tape it in place.  Curl up the ends of the fringe after you paint it.

7.  Make your base (so your have something to keep the trunk stable) and then paint.  I used a dark brown craft paint and a sponge brush.  Just lightly brush the sacks to create the look that you want.  I really had a lot of fun with the painting.  I felt so artistic!

The Base

I wish that I had a picture of how we did this.  I hope these directions make sense.

1.  We used scrap 2x4's and plywood to make the base.

2.  Cut a piece of plywood to about 3 ft. square.  Cut a 2x4 about 3ft. long (make sure it will fit inside your tube, you may need to trim the width down some).  There are two ways that you can attach the 2x4 to the plywood:  You can screw through the plywood and into the bottom of the 2x4, or you can attach brackets to the side of the 2x4 and the top of the plywood.  Is this clear as mud?  I hope you are understanding!

3.  Slide your tube trunk onto the 2x4 and it will now stand.

The Fronds

Now this is where I had to get creative.  We were working on a budget and wanted to make the trees as cheap as possible.  I thought of using paper, but it would cost more than we wanted to spend to make that many fronds.  I ended up using green plastic tablecloths.  We already had them from a previous activity and they worked great! 

1.  Make a pattern with an old newspaper for your fronds.  I made a smaller pattern for the short tree and the top 2 fronds in the tall trees and a large pattern for lower fronds on the large trees.

2.  Cut the fronds out of the plastic tablecloths.

3.  The fronds will need support.  I cut 1 1/2" wide strips of  very sturdy cardboard and taped them to the back of the fronds with packing tape.  Leave a length of cardboard for the stem (about 8-10). 

4.  Cut slits all around the plastic on the leaves.  I cut them the lenghth of a kids size of scissors and about 1 1/2" apart. 

My leaves by no means looked perfect.  They are up so tall, that it really doesn't matter if everything is cut straight and even.

Coconuts

1. Cut a paper sack open.

2.  Crinkle it up.

3.  Wrap it around something round.  (styrafoam ball, baseball, etc.)  This helps you shape the coconut.  Crinkle up grocery sacks and stuff them in the center of the paper.

4.  Wrap tape around the ends of the sack to hold it closed and then paint them.

5.  When dry, take three coconuts and hook them together with large safety pins or whatever you have.

6.  Tape them to a bamboo skewer.

Assembly

1.  Place enough pieces of green floral foam in the top of the trunk so it is secure.

2.  Tape bamboo skewers to the cardboard stem on the fronds if your cardboard is not sturdy enough to push into the foam.

3.  Push the stems into the foam to place each fronds.

4.  Bend the cardboard down to form a curve in the frond.

5.  Attach the coconuts by sticking the skewers in the foam.

 

Okay, so maybe these can take a bit of time to make, but it was soooo worth it!  If you have fun doing these sorts of things it won't seem like work at all.