Backyard Wedding Ideas

Posted on June 1, 2016 by Roeshel

One of my best friends is getting married this summer! Celeste and I have been friends since 7th grade. We won’t discuss how many years ago that was! haha! Her wedding will be small, no more than 45 guests on August 20th. Our gazebo is the perfect spot for a for a small intimate wedding ceremony.

Michaels’ Makers June Challenge: Summer Party. A backyard wedding is the perfect fit for the June challenge. I got a big head start with ideas by browsing the aisles at Michaels. Celeste’s wedding colors are turquoise and purple and I’m having so much fun adding pops of color to our lush landscape.

It’s always a challenge for me to decorate for someone else, infusing THEIR style rather than my own. Since this is Celeste’s special day, I wanted to add decorative touches that reflect her style. Here are a few ideas from my ‘dress rehearsal’ over the weekend. But I have plenty of time to tweak, add, take away and work on creating a setting for making happy memories. There will be a white tent for shade and chairs for comfort…well as comfy as folding chairs can be; hors d’oeuvres and bubbles too and more planters, flowers and landscape work as we get into summer. In the meantime, here’s my starting point and a few ideas for hosting a small outdoor wedding ceremony.

Decorations:

• Aqua/turquoise painted flower pots (or tire planter and chandelier planter in my case) filled with purple flowers. I do this every summer anyway so coordinating my flowers and planters with her wedding colors works well. Last year I did reds, yellows and oranges. This year it’s all about shades of purple in aqua and turquoise planters and pots.

• Decorative Letter Accent: I LOVE these circle wooden letters. I painted a “J” in her wedding colors (aged with a trans-tint dye technique). I wasn’t able to capture how colorful this truly is in real life in a photo. But it’s a pretty personalized gift that doubles as a decorative accent.

• Michaels’ has SO many fun party decorations to choose from. Paper lanterns, paper fans, tissue paper honeycomb ornaments and poufs. I love the colors! I displayed them in the grape arbor/gazebo for this blog post but they’ll decorate a white tent with outdoor lights on the big day. Take a look at the outdoor lighting options Michaels’ provides too: pretty string lights, flameless candles, and my favorite solar options!

• Banner: Check out the wedding aisle at Michaels’ for adorable “Mr. & Mrs.” and other wedding banners. Mine is a DIY “LOVE” banner at the top of a curved gazebo frame … perfect for a photo opportunity. I’m going to layer it with a lavender and light aqua rag banner behind the l-o-v-e letters, around the top of the gazebo.

• Silk flowers around the grape arbor will add some color and romance to the greenery.

Chalkboard signs: So many to choose from. I love this framed chalkboard easel for instructing guests to take their “thank you gift”. One near the road to direct guests. One with their names and wedding date. I like having chalkboards on hand for labeling, designating areas, instructions, etc. for guests at parties.

Party Favors: Michaels’ is the place to go for wedding favors. The best selection of little containers (glass jars with flip top lids or corks, heart shaped tins, cute cardboard boxes) for candy or in our case, lavender bath salts.

Lavender Bath Salt recipe: Mix 1/4 cup of epsom salt with 3-5 drops of lavender essential oil into a mason jar. Shake and pour into glass container, top with a “thank you” sticker (included with the glass containers), embellish with coordinating decorative tape and ribbon.

Since it’s an outdoor ceremony in August, I’m also going to create some hand held paper fans for guests by printing the bride & groom’s names, wedding date, a poem or bible verse onto card stock or scrapbook paper, cutting out a pretty and functional shape then glueing to a large wooden popsicle stick.

Flowers: Silk flowers are budget-friendly and long lasting. If not for the bride’s bouquet, a great option for the “bouquet toss” at the reception, decor or a pretty accent to a table.

Unity Candle: Michaels’ has a section designated to a stunning collection of unity candles or create your own set from the candle aisle with a pillar and two tapered candle sticks. Crystal holders and a beautiful charger complete the look.

Refreshments: An August outdoor afternoon wedding ceremony calls for serving ice water and a few refreshments. A special occasion calls for glass. I love these mini glass jugs and coordinating straws. Any suggestions for finger foods? Dinner and reception are at another location later in the afternoon.

Are you hosting a summer party? Entertaining guests? There’s so much to celebrate during this time of year! End of school parties, graduation, Father’s Day, Independence Day, birthdays, backyard BBQs and more.

For more summer party ideas: From paper crafts, party goods and baking supplies to new outdoor lighting, glass and floral, Michaels is your DIY destination for all of your summer celebrations.

Be sure to check out all of the other Michaels Makers DIY summer party ideas on the Michaels blog.

Visit these talented blog friends starting at 11 p.m. CST for more summer party inspiration:

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DIY Floral Arranging

Posted on May 2, 2016 by Roeshel

The Michaels’ Makers’ April Challenge: Attend a class at Michaels craft store. Take a little time to indulge yourself with some “you” time, learn new skills, get some tips, spoil yourself with something handmade with love or whip up a handmade gift. Gather your friends and make it a girls’ night out.

Were you aware that Michaels offers craft-themed classes?! There are so many to choose from – from painting to knitting or crocheting to paper crafting to jewelry making, kids’ crafts, floral arranging and more. I found most classes were free, only the cost of supplies. A great way to try a new skill or craft, a fun way to set aside time for yourself or to get together with friends. Productive too – you walk home with something you create!

I simply enrolled online (I chose the project DIY floral arranging) then showed up at the scheduled date and time with my friend, Dana.

We started with shopping to purchase the materials needed for DIY floral arranging from a printable supply list. The twist: choosing flowers and a container with our own preferences for a custom DIY floral arrangement. Our instructor, Brittney, was close by to answer questions and make suggestions.

The printable class description and supply list when I signed up online for the class provided me with a coupon too – 10% off our entire purchase. Score!

Our class size was 6! So fun and what a joy to see the creations! Because of the shopping, we sort of worked in two groups of three, our group getting an early start so I did miss out on seeing the other groups’ finished projects but from what I could tell, they choose some pretty unique supplies too (a tall glass cylinder with burlap and neutrals, a birdcage with ivy and a glass lantern with sea shells)…so fun that you have the option to choose what appeals to you personally. I was there at 6 p.m. and home by 8 p.m., a small time frame and a little indulgence…me time!

When I’ve done floral arrangements in the past, my techniques have varied: 1) buy a pretty bundle of silk florals/bouquet, place it in a vase and call it a day to 2) snip the stems with wire cutters and haphazardly, errr..’artfully’ arrange them in a container. The “handpicked bouquet” technique (haha), kind of like this one last spring:

So, getting some ‘professional’ tips was a welcome help!

DIY floral arranging tips I picked up at the class:

Secure floral foam to the bottom of a vase/basket/container using hot glue/glue gun to keep the arrangement secure.
Separate stems using wire cutters to desired height.
Michaels’ has a “pick machine” which gives floppy wireless stems a pointy edge to place in foam. So cool!
Starting with the center, poke a stem into the floral foam then work in “triangle” placements (threes) around each stem.
Slightly bend wire stems to give flowers a more life-like look. Real blooms are heavy and droop, faux florals have strong wire stems. Give it some “life” by ‘curving’ the wire stem.
Camouflage foam with moss or stones. Use picks to secure moss.

I really enjoyed the friendly atmosphere, making acquaintances with new people too. And I now I’m excited to display a pretty centerpiece perfect for spring.

Have you attended a local class at Michaels? Did you even know about them? What would interest you most? I plan on attending more for sure, opening a whole new world for making local friends who share my passion for DIY and taking a couple of hours on occasion to improve my crafting skills or trying something new.

Here are a few floral arrangements from class. Pretty, right?

Our inspiration from Michaels:

Dana’s: I love the copper accent with turquoise, purple and green!

A pretty spring collection from Maggie…

Mine: I’m in love! I’m inspired to add a few more spring buds.

And that artichoke! ::swoon::

Michaels offers free classes in their stores! You can try out a new craft skill for just the cost of supplies. Another great way to explore your creativity is by trying out a craft kit. Michaels has everything from sewing kits to art kits and everything in between.

See more Michaels’ class experiences from these blog friends:

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DIY Keepsake Mother’s Day Gift

Posted on April 1, 2016 by Roeshel

The Michaels’ Makers’ April Challenge is all about Mother’s Day and this project will be for celebrating my daughter who’s now a mom too (Ali, don’t look! lol). I couldn’t resist scooping up this opportunity to get creative and practice a little DIY influence on the littlest one in our family by making up a DIY keepsake Mother’s Day gift.

Materials we used:

MAKE Market LED wood plaque kit – LOVE (Alphabet Soup Collection) available at Michaels’ Craft Store
2 colors of paint and 2 foam brushes (or sponges)
painter’s tape

What we spent: Under $15

Time we invested: Less than an hour (+ paint drying time)

What we did:

1. We protected our work surface and applied a thin coat of paint to his little hand then carefully pressed it to the wood plaque. We washed his hands immediately and let painted handprinted plaque dry.

2. Using painter’s tape, we secured the stencil to the plank sign, lining up the word “love” so we could see the drilled holes in the empty stencil space.

3. Next, with a foam brush we applied paint to the stencil (using a sponge technique using a little paint…don’t glop it on or it will seep under the stencil) to paint on the word “love”. We removed the stencil, filled in any spaces and let the paint dry.

4. Last, we pushed the string of LED lights through the drilled holes from the back side and added 2 AA batteries.

5. The kit comes with hanging hardware and foam/felt for protecting the wall. Attach according to packaged instructions.

Very simple. Very cute. And a special keepsake from baby to mom. Display on a shelf or add to a gallery wall. So sweet!

Those little LED lights provide a powerful glow in the dark!

Michaels has everything you need to craft the perfect handmade gift that will make Mom’s day! Grab your coupon, shop and get creative. Handmade gifts are my favorite for Mother’s Day!

If you don’t know where to begin, you can always take a look at some of the fun projects on Michaels.com or the other 49 Makers’ ideas on The Glue String for to see how they personalized their crafts starting at 10 a.m. EST April 1, 2016:

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Category Archives: Michael’s Makers

Backyard Wedding Ideas

DIY Floral Arranging

DIY Keepsake Mother’s Day Gift

Materials we used:

What we did: