Pom poms in action

Here is a link to the pom skewers on Sawyer and Sprout.

Busy with pom poms

I never thought I'd say that. But I am. I'm so excited to show you my latest wedding-related craft. Won't give anything away until I can show you pictures of the final look, but it includes these:

kusudama flowers

I've been making origami flowers for kicks. Looking for a good paper manufacturer for thin, double-sided origami paper, but so far not much luck. Here's a bouquet with red, orange, and peach flowers.

 

Super pretty :) They brighten up a drab November day! These are kusudama flowers -- it takes about 20 minutes to make one flower, but isn't the result worth the time? I think so.

DIY: Stir sticks // cupcake toppers

These can be used in drinks, on cakes and cupcakes, as fruit skewers, or to pierce a slider. No matter their end design location, these little guys are super cute and can be made in a night!

I used:

• grosgrain ribbon, $6/4 yds
• small BBQ skewers, $3/100 sticks
• a lighter to seal the ribbon ends, $3

These little guys are super easy, but take some time. Cut all your ribbon to a pre-determined length. I find the length changes based on ribbon size. Do one, cut the ribbon, unravel it, and cut everything else to match.

 

Watch your fingers! I burned myself more than once, so take your time!

Ribbon as a table runner?

I can think of so many variations on this idea.

• Table names matched to ribbon colour
• Same coloured-ribbon in different patterns on each table
• Matching the ribbon to a family plaid pattern

Ribbon weave tabletop, Martha Stewart

Up-cycling burlap coffee bags? Yes, please!

I keep seeing up-cycled burlap coffee bags and can't help but sigh. Oh, how I want to make my very own burlap coffee bag pillow!

Via

Via

Apple Snapple

First, a totally random blip: Doesn't Apple Snapple sound like "Go faster!"? I think so. "Get this done! Apple Snapple!" or "It was over Apple Snapple!" Well, I think so, anyways.

On to the point of this entry: Oh, Snapple Iced Tea, how I love thee! I have one every day with breakfast and the bottles add up. I keep looking at them wondering how I can reuse them somehow. And it hit me, just reuse them as bottles! The embossed S is perfect for my one-day-would-be last name. I could print off my own labels for a special occassion. And I could pair it with a sweet paper straw. Maybe use as escort cards? Maybe just serve as is? Here is the before. I'll post an after once I make it happen!

The lot date scratches off with a little elbow grease, and the label just peels off.

Paper straws, via

How I love thee, autumn!

Was perusing etsy and stumbled across these fantabulous felted wool acorns and I WANT! But instead of just purchasing them, I want to learn to make them :) I'm thinking of making a hundred and filling a candy jar -- totally unexpected, right?

Simply gorgeous:

Via

Found a great variety of wool roving for less than I could find on etsy here.

Gorgeous invite design

My Google Reader grows daily, and I just discovered Paper Crave. Loooooove!

Found these there. Aren't they simply TO DIE FOR gorgeous? Sigh.

The whole suite

The invite

Find more of this suite on Paper Crave here. Find more pics posted by the bride and groom on Flickr.

Julia's cake

Here is the cake I made for friend and coworker Julia's wedding. She wanted three flavours, three buttercream icings, quilted fondant, and sequined ribbon. I didn't think it would all come together in time, but I got it in under the gun!

Sure, there were mishaps: a broken 16" base, torn fondant, running out of icing sugar, misplacing my quilting tool 3 hours before the wedding starts; but it was all worth it!

Attaching the ribbon at the hall

Standing by the finished product!

A side view. That's a lot of shimmer dust...

All cut up. Chocolate, vanilla, almond.

DIY bath bombs!

I am not big on baths, but when I have them, I want to relax in a pool of hot water with bubbles, scrubs, an eye mask, and my ipod. Book optional.

So when I stumbled upon this great site called Instructables, and the first link on the right was for bath bombs, I knew I had found a new addiction.

I love all things DIY, and this is my next project -- alongside the DIY tea leaf soaps ;) These could make great gifts for your wedding party as you could customize the bombs to your bridesmaids' tastes!

The woman who offered the tutorial also has her own etsy shop called Coco Island Soaps. If you don't want to make them yourself, you should definitely buy through her. Support small businesses!

Giant cupcake liner

What a brilliant idea! I've been wondering how to make the bottom of my GIANT cupcake look cute, and I stumbled upon this fabulous tutorial to make a candied wrapper.

Before pic (this cake serves 12!) from Wilton.com:

Process pics and tutorial thanks to Oh, Sugar!:

Is this woman amazing, or what? Love love love!

P.S. Once married, my initials would be...

Totally random thought of the day:
Once my man and I get hitched, my initials will be P.S.

Is that not totally the cutest possible combination? Just imagine the stationary! Le sigh...

bite-sized babies!

Friday night's launch party was a success! Lots of great feedback and three orders!

Thank you to all who showed up; it was great to see you all and I hope you enjoyed the night as much as I did.

I was so frazzled that I didn't take pics until everyone had left, so unfortunately, there aren't pics of all the flavours. But here is a selection:

Four different flavours on this tea tray.

The vanilla was a little dry, so I think I might change the recipe a little.

The chocolate pound cake was not as popular as the double chocolate with the double chocolate icing, but still no complaints!

bite-sized tags

So the official launch party (and first taster night) for bite-sized is this Friday and I'm making flavour tags so people know what they're eating. And they turned out so cute! I bought the manila tags for business and order cards and the theme just grows. Next I'm make a huge sign for my lawn that will look like a shipping tag with the cupcake on it.

Here are the tags:

 the set

icing and half of the cake flavours

 half of the cake flavours and the icing tag

 the cards that will be posted with the matching cupcakes

bite-sized is better

OK, so when I get interested in something, I throw myself at it. I am jumping head-first into this whole cake world and loving it!

I already have some orders to do cupcakes for special events and might even be doing a wedding cake.

I am so excited! I'll have to start posting pics of my cake creations asap.

I have created a one-woman business called bite-sized (apt for my stature) and orders can be placed through the website.

Whether you're referring to food or my brand, bite-sized is better ;)

bite-sized.ca 

... if the main link doesn't work, try http://sites.google.com/site/paigeisbitesized/ instead.

My first fondant cake

Happy Birthday, Meg!

I am so happy to have made my first fondant cake for one of my best friends.

Here it is!

Tissue Flowers

I can't wait to try making these! I read through most of the comments and want to try alternating the tissue paper in colour -- like, pink, white, pink, white -- to see how that would turn out.

Finished look

One commenter said she made them in the 60s out of kleenex for her wedding!

Up close and personal

Get the How-To on zakka life. It's easy and the finished product is just stunning! You could make these for the wedding getaway car, for a bridal or baby shower, or attach to floral stems and keep them in a vase year-round. Happy crafting!

Really Bad Kitty

OK, clearly, I have a thing for off-the-beaten-path. Especially when it comes to wedding-related floral arrangements! Found these hand-stitched, multi-coloured felt bouquets on etsy in a shop called really bad kitty.

And I love!

 

This is an example of a few hand-stitched felt styles.

  

total cuteness, I know. 

And she's also got other faboo items...

boutonnieres (who needs a corsage when everyone could wear these?!?)

pomander

satin and button bouquet

different colour choices for button bouquets

More non-floral bouquets

I think it ironic that a button-down bride would carry a flower bouquet but a trendy bride would carry a button bouquet. Yes! I said BUTTON! While browsing etsy (a daily occurrence, truth be told) I found a stunning fabric bouquet and then found a button one!

Gorgeous fabric bouquet found at the Milkpod Studio

Matching boutonnière from Milkpod Studios

Does it get any more gorgeous than that? Plus, this crafty seller will work with your colour scheme and make something truly one-of-a-kind for your Big Day.


Found these tulle flowers next, checked the seller's other items and found the button bouquet!

Tulle bouquet from Jillian's

Button bouquet from Jillian's

Don't you just love the look? What do you think -- would you carry a fabric or button bouquet?