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So, I am throwing all caution to the wind and I have decided to share my first initial with you, and TF's first and last initials. I am doing this, because I started making my wedding favors last night and I am so darn excited about them that I want to share, but they involve our monogram.
When I first started thinking about favors, I knew I wanted to give something that would last rather than be eaten up in an instant like candy. I also didn't want to give out something that would just take up room in people's junk drawers until it was unceremoniously thrown out in a few months, years or decades.
I had seen some beautiful apothecary bottles with cork stops that were filled with sand and shells, and I thought that would be a really pretty thing to have at our wedding because they go with the coastal theme and they would also look nice on the tables and could add to the decor. However, the bottles were pretty expensive and I couldn't really figure out what people would do with them once they got them home. It seemed a bit to tsotchke-esque for what we were going for.
About a week after TF and I were engaged, Laura and I were in a Michael's near where I used to live and we saw square glass ornaments on sale. They were 4 for $2.99! It dawned on me that I could still give our guests the sand and the sea like I wanted to, but instead of having them in the apothecary bottles that would just sit around the house, we could make ornaments for them to have to put on their trees at Christmas (if they feel like it)...This made more and more sense as I considered that I have always tried to collect an ornament from places that I visit so that I can have a small memento to remember what I was doing that won't clutter up the house, but that I can take out once a year and appreciate. Also, when TF and I met each other's parents for the first time it was around the holidays and when I got to his parents house they were putting up the tree. His mom had two clear plastic boxes filled with ornaments that TF and his brother had received every year since they were kids that all had something to do with what they had done during the year. It is a tradition that they still do to this day...So we grabbed up as many as we could and I took them home until it was time to figure out what exactly to do with them.
A couple of months ago, I discovered this site, www.cyberislandshops.com when I was flipping through my Coastal Living magazine. I was able to find shells tiny enough to fit into the opening of the ornament in bulk. I bought four bags for $9.99 each, but I will mostly likely only use a little more than one for the ornaments; the rest I will use for the centerpieces.
When I was filling the ornaments with sand, I realized that they became very heavy, very quickly, so I decided only to put a little bit of sand in and some of the shells. But the ornaments ended up looking a little skimpy, so I thought maybe I could put a piece of paper (that coordinates with the invitations) inside them with our monogram on the front and the date of our wedding on the back. Getting the piece of paper in the ornament proved to be a bit of a challenge, but I think I have figured it out. Of course, I say that on the beginning end of making 125 ornaments!! Once I got the paper in the ornament, I decided that since you can't see the back of the paper that well, I might as well put the date on the front, along with the monogram, so for future ornaments, I will be doing that. It also cuts down on the number of pieces of paper that are glued to each other that I have to get into the ornament and then uncurl.
Anyway, I am sure I have bored you enough, so without further ado...here is the example ornament that I made to base all of the rest off of. You can see that there is a blue ribbon at the top to tie it with. The second picture shows the ornament sitting next to all of the paper pieces that I put together last night in preparation for making the rest of them. The final ornaments will also have a bit different sand in them. I am going to use concrete mix because it looks more like beach sand than the craft sand that I used in the example.
5 comments:
Well, I personally am quite impressed. Good job on coming up with unique and personal favors. Those are the best kind I think. How do you plan to display them? Will the be at the guests seats at the reception or in a basket?
Your ornaments are really pretty and perfect for your theme, especially since there's a family tradition with Christmas ornaments.
Are you using that luscious pearly blue paper from the Paper Source? (I'm so excited - they're opening a store 5 miles from my house!)
Zann, they will be at each place setting, I know that means that some people will take home two, but I just don't have the funds (or the patience) to come up with a second ornament and figure out where to put them on what tables depending on who is there with their spouse, etc.
Madretz, you wil LOVE LOVE LOVE PaperSource...although some things are a bit overpriced, the paper (the real reason to go there) is divine!!
We are using the stardream sapphire cardstock for our save-the-dates, invitations, envelopes, response cards, and escort cards.
The luxe cream paper is the accent paper for all of the above as well as the seating cards at the tables and maybe the menus...if I decide to make them.
Your wedding favours are lovely, very well thought out!
My son & fiancee are being married this year. For wedding favours we are making a gazillion gallons of strawberry jam (I live in a strawberry growing area) and giving everyone a small jar of homemade jam, suitably decorated with ribbon, calligraphy monogram, and the date.
Ooh, I love this! I left you a comment on your blog.
And the strawberry jam is another good idea!
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