Sunday, November 14, 2010

My Latest Hobby, Headbands!

I've been making headbands with fabric flowers for awhile now, but never anything quite this elaborate. My amazing photographer friend asked me to try and make some fancy headbands she had seen on etsy for her photo shoots and this is what she got! I can't get enough of them! And so I made some more for my mom's photography!









Love Birds

It's been awhile since I've posted....That's what being a brand new teacher will do to you. Any extra moment I have is spent grading or making a new activity for class! But here is one of the cakes I squeezed in!

I made the bird toppers with fondant and then brushed them with shimmer powder and stuck them on tooth picks. I was pretty pleased with how they turned out!




Sunday, August 1, 2010

DIY: Sign Tutorial

A tutorial has been requested! The following is a step by step process of how to make the signs used for Alyssa's centerpieces.


Step 1: Cut out rectangular blocks. The blocks I made were small enough that I just used a miter saw to cut them. I didn't measure them before I cut because I like the look of the random sizes.

Step 2: Spray paint blocks. If you are going to hang these, you only need to paint one side and the edges. If you are going to have them free-stand, you need to paint both sides. I just waited until they dried, then flipped them over and painted the back.


Step 3: Measure the blocks.

Step 4: Create print. I designed the prints in Photoshop, (though Illustrator would be great too) using mostly picaboo backgrounds as my base and fonts from dafont. When starting the design I made sure that the image size margins were 1/2 inch smaller than the block so as to show the black border. Then I simply printed them on glossy photo paper.


Step 5: Glue the print to the block. Once the prints were cut out, I used photo safe spray adhesive to mount them to the blocks.



Step 6: Once the print was centered on the block, I secured it by rubbing it with a soft cloth, starting in the middle and working my way out. This helps not only secure the print, but gets rid of any air bubbles as well.


And there you have it! Pretty simple huh?

Here's a taste of some of the designs I made for Alyssa.







Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Alyssa's Centerpieces

Designing and making Alyssa's centerpieces has been such an awesome project! Since her wedding is a bicultural one, I really wanted to make something unique that reflected that Spanish/English-ness of the reception. The result was fabulous custom Spanish/English signs for each table. They were super easy and fun to make!



The next element was the flowers. Oh how I adore fabric flowers. I made several different kinds as accent pieces for each table. Then I got to thinking... since this reception is going to be such a guest centered fiesta, how fun would it be to have a little gift for those that stay and help clean up and such. Consequently... I made each flower as a brooch by simply putting a safety pin on the back so that if Alyssa wants, she can give them to her guests at the end!

So here it is, the final product... A $10 a table centerpiece!

- A fun piece of scrapbook paper for a splash of color
- 3 or 4 fabric flowers (brooches) in black, green or cream
- A picture of Alyssa & Guillermo in cute Dollar Store frames
- A custom bilingual sign
- Babies breath in a Dollar Store vase



Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Frayed Flower Bouquet

This is an inexpensive alternative to the Jewelry Bouquet but is just as unique!


Vintage Brooch Bouquet

I made this bouquet using various jewelry pieces; necklaces, rings, brooches, bracelets, hair pieces, etc... It was a little spendy and took a lot of time to stem every piece, but it was well worth it and I LOVE how it turned out! Now I have an heirloom that I can pass on to future generations.



Sunday, July 11, 2010

Alyssa's Bouquet

I'm super excited to be helping with my dear friend Alyssa's wedding. Here is the first element. THE BOUQUET!