DIY Boutonnieres: why they can only be worn in dry weather)

After looking and looking on the boutonnieres, I thought the colours should be different. I'll have a white bouquet, and my bridesmaids' bouquets will be yellow-orangey. Wade's boutonniere should be white, and the groomsmen's should be yellow-orangey.

So I bought acrylic paint and made 5 of the mini calla lily boutonnieres into mango calla lilies. They're gorgeous: I have a bit of red on the tips, blended into orange then into yellow. they are based on the following picture:

Then I realized the paint is water soluble. So if it rains, the calla lily boutonnieres' colour will run onto the tuxedos!

Now what do you think I should do? Rinse the calla lilies to try to remove the paint? Leave the paint as-is, and hope it doesn't rain? (Though I think that'll guarantee it will rain.) Do you know of any sealant or spray that will reduce / prevent running of the paint?

DIY Boutonnieres (only to be worn in dry weather)

So ... when BM Emily was here back in January, I put her to work making boutonnieres for the groomsmen and Wade. I took pictures so I could blog about it ... but never got around to it until now!

We started with the silk mini calla lilies:

We glued the callas to big leaves (from my silk hydrangeas in the centrepieces):

And glued alligator clips on the back:

Here's BM Emily holding a finished product:

And here's me holding 2 finished products:

What was Wade doing? Well, it was Saturday night (hockey was on) so he was doing this:

All 6 boutonnieres (groom, best man, 4 groomsmen):

Aren't they cute? There's something missing, though. It looks like it would be better if there was something on the bottom. Silk berries? A bow?

(I'll explain why they can only be worn in dry weather tomorrow.)

Michael's Coupon Time!

You know you're going to use it. Drag along your fiancé, BFF and mother. Then you can use 4. Then go again tomorrow and again on Friday. Assuming everyone agreed to go with you everyday, that's 12 half-off items!


Note: I couldn't convince that many people to go that many times in that many days, unless I had something I really needed, and asked really nicely. Really nicely. And possibly bribed.

Tuesday on etsy week: Invitations and other Paper Elements

Today, I am going to focus on invitation options on etsy. I'm currently looking at ideas for the rehearsal dinner expectations. I think I have figured out that I would like letterpress for the wedding invitation, which is expensive, but so luxurious and stunning! (More on that another time & day.) However, I don't have the money (or rather, the desire to spend that much) on rehearsal dinner invitations, too. So I'm going to focus on budget-friendly potential rehearsal dinner invitations available on etsy.

If you want to look something up, such as "rehearsal dinner invitations", start by looking up exactly what you need. Maybe it's out there! But you should also follow up your first search with a similar search. DO NOT look up "invitations": you'll get a million hits. But look up similarly-themed items: "save the date invitations", "bridal shower invitations". Some of these items could be customized to be a lovely rehearsal dinner invitation. You could even look up keywords such as "quirky invitations" or "elegant invitations", depending on what you want.

Some of these potential rehearsal invitations could easily become an elegant wedding invitation. Hmm ... something else to think about (whaaaat ... more decisions! But my brain is FULL!)

The first card and invitation designer also happens to be Canadian-based. Black Cat Concepts is based out of Aylmer, and sells quirky and fun invitations ($44 for 25 invitations) like this: Black Cat Concepts promises that everything is customizable, so this invitation could easily be modified for a rehearsal dinner! Bonus: this seller does NOT charge extra shipping, so you pay the price you see!


This designer is another Canadian: Card Creator is based in London (Ontario)! The bridal shower invitations (left and right) are $1.40 each; the pool party invitation in the middle is $1.20 each. Every invitation is cutomizable, so I could easily turn any one of these three invitations into a rehearsal dinner invitation. I don't know how I could use a pool party theme for a rehearsal dinner in early June. Maybe I could rent an indoor pool ... I'll have to think about that and get back to you.












Cheer Up Cherup is a designer who creates these quirky invitations. Although these invitations are for bridal showers, she could easily customize something based on these designs for a rehearsal dinner. At $1.75 / invitation, the price isn't too shabby!












Today's final Canadian designer is Diane By Design. This invitation costs just $1.75 each, and is a very cute Save-The-Date. On her etsy shop, Diane says she LOVES custom orders, so I'm sure she could turn this Save-The-Date design into a rehearsal dinner invitation!

Janee's Elite Designs is one of the more expensive options that I'm featuring ($3.75 per invitation), but that doesn't mean these are the most expensive invitation out there. Trust me, prices can go waaaay up. I just can't justify spending $10 per invitation for the rehearsal dinner or a bridal shower. These are lovely, three-dimensional, slightly quirky invitations:

This designer, Nifty Pear, welcomes customizing invitations and paper products. These invitations are $15 for 12 invitations:


In fact that might be a safe assumption for most sellers on etsy: because everything is handmade, most sellers are willing and enthusiastically able to create custom pieces of work!

Case in point: these bridal shower invitations are available at $12 for 12 invitations from Razzle Dazzle Designs. However, the seller welcomes custom designs for any occassion. So in this case, think of the shop as examples of what she can do. If you're looking for the stereotypical bridal shower invitations - this is a great card. But if you want something different (or you look nothing like the bride on this invitation! I don't have that bum!), just ask! From her "shop description", it looks like she wants to do custom work! If you don't want the stereotypical invitations, just ask! I couldn't use this design for a rehearsal dinner (ha, Wade would love that), but I'm sure we could come up with something that we'd both like.
Tuesday's hint: when ordering items from another country, investigate what (if any) the taxes / duties / import fees will be, and factor that into the cost. There's nothing worse than spending $100 on items, to have it arrive with a charge of $45 in duties. The cost of these fees depends on the country of origin (as far as I can tell, the US costs the most) and the method of shipping (anecdotally, I have heard USPS charges the most). If you're ordering from a domestic seller, you may get charged taxes, or you may not, depending on how that seller works. These are all questions to ask that may affect your budget!

It's sale time!

Just in case you need half-off something, whether it's silk flowers, Christmas decorations or scrapbook supplies. If you need more than one thing, print more than coupon, and use it every day the rest of the week. Or drag your fiancé every day with two coupons, and you can get two things every day.
You can click on the coupon to make it bigger.

Michael's Coupon: 50% OFF

Yes, this is half-off until Friday: