DIY: Paper Flower Centerpieces {Part 1}

Shortly after getting engaged Andrew and I committed to the idea of having all paper flowers at our wedding. I saw several different weddings on pinterest where they decided to do paper flowers and it really made me want to do it. I don't think I fully realized 1) How long it takes to make 1 flower, 2) How many flowers go into one bouquet/centerpiece. But my heart was set on it, and now that the flower making process is over, I am extremely happy with how it turned out. Here is the first of two DIY tutorials on how to make paper flower centerpieces.

You Will Need:

-Paper (we used scrapbook paper from Micheals and we bought 200 pieces of it)
-Glue (Liquid glue and hot glue)
-Jars
-Skewers
-Buttons
-4" Styrofoam balls
-Spray Paint
-Ribbon
-Scissors
-Sand

Instructions:

1) Make flowers by following this tutorial. We made 672 flowers total. It took us a long time. Andrew helped by cutting all the paper for me, which was much appreciated.

This isn't even all the flowers

2) Hot glue skewers and buttons to the flowers. I went to Lens Mill and bought a bunch of white buttons from their bulk bins, I also had a bunch in my sewing room that I used.

3) Spray paint jars desired colour (Andrew did this for me) and fill the jars with sand. We did this since we thought the flowers would make the centerpieces top-heavy and we didn't want them to tip over.

4) Hot glue the styrofoam ball to the top of the jar.

5)Tie the ribbon under the ball

6) Stick the paper flowers into the styrofoam until it is cover in flowers

There you go! It's pretty easy to do, but VERY time consuming. I am SO thrilled with how they turned out

DIY Wooden Guestbook

This was a really fun DIY project for mine and Andrew's wedding. We are discovering that we love working together on projects like these (which is probably good because I have a lot of them to do). We found this idea on pinterest when we were looking for a unique guestbook to use instead of the traditional book. We loved that this fit into our theme and could be displayed in our home after the wedding. Here is how we made it:

You will need:

-Two wood peices
-other wood things
-screws
-stain
-paint
-paint brushes

Instructions:

For the building portion of this project I will be handing the blog over to Andrew, since he built and stained the guestbook.

The first thing to consider about the guest book was how big we wanted it to be, I consulted Sarah for this and we decided on 3 feet wide by a foot and half tall. We went to home depot and bought three 6 foot lengths of 1x3 select pine and a 6 foot length of 1x2 knotty pine to be the support.

I cut the lengths of 1x3 using a radial arm saw and clamped them together making it approximately 18 inches tall and 36 inches wide. I then marked the length I needed for the supports on the back, cut them and screwed the supports on from the back so that it doesn't show from the front. I gave the whole thing a quick sand and it was ready for the next part.

The next step was the stain, Sarah and I wanted to age the wood more than stain it so I looked at some different processes and chose one that I thought would work for us. I took extra extra fine steel wool and put a bunch of it in a masonry jar then poured white vinegar over it. I let it sit for a week and the steel wool rusted and gave it a nice reddish hue. I applied it evenly with a sponge paintbrush and let it dry. It dried very red but there was a layer of rust residue left on the wood, I wiped it off and the wood looked great. That was the end of my part.

Now onto the painting portion!

After the guestbook was finished being built it was time to paint the heart on it. For this I printed out a 12" x 12" heart. I had to look up a tutorial on how to print it out, since it wouldn't fit on one page, but you can probably just free-hand it.

I had to use several coats of paint in order to get the look of the heart I wanted. Then I painted our initials onto the center of the heart.

We love how this turned out. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

What I Have Been Up To

I haven't posted much in the last month, and I apologize for that. Thing's haven't even been THAT crazy, I've just had a major wave of both lack of motivation to blog and writer's block. Not a good combination. But at last, I have an idea, and so I am writing it down.

It occurred to me that I haven't updated you guys on what I am currently doing. So that's what this is going to be.

I Started My First Coop Work-Term

Last summer I worked at NCR as an intern (basically was an unofficial coop student) and they asked me if I would like to come back for my first work term. And I said yes! So I started my job as a Software Developer one month ago. So far I'm liking it. I will be working there for 8 months. As part of my coop I have to do a work term report. And actually I am so excited about it. I have to make a blog/website and post about what I'm doing on my work term. I loved designing it, and if you are curious, you can check it out here. I will warn you, it's pretty technical, it's meant for future employers to look at to see what kind of skills I have. So far I have loved making that.

I did a bunch of wedding related things

I found my dress, the caterer, the suits, booked engagement photos (for next week!!), made thank you cards, picked invitations and wording, and bought the superhero shirts. Overall a ton of things, which I have ideas to post about, I just need motivation.

Overall, I'm very happy. I love the working life much more than the university student life. I'm a big fan of routine and I just don't get a good routine going when I'm in class. I am hoping to be posting more in the near future, so keep an eye out!

That's what I've been doing, what have you been up to? Leave a comment!

Tea of the Week-Warmth (Cinnamon Spice with Orange Blossom)

This weeks tea of the week is another one of the teas I bought when I first went back to work at the beginning of May. It's called warmth cinnamon spice with orange blossom and it's made by Tetley.

One of my friends recommended it to me and so when I saw it at the store I had to pick some up. This tea is a very comforting tea.  I'm not sure why but cinnamon teas tend to remind me of Christmas, and that makes me think of warmth and comfort. I love it, and I will definitely be buying more when I run out of this can. I love drinking this tea at work when I need to relax a little bit. Computers can be so frustrating sometimes so I try to take a break and have some calming tea whenever I can. I love this tea for work and if you are looking for a nice comforting caffeine free tea, then this one might be for you!

What's your favourite tea this week? 

Crazy Dreams

I've been sick all week with a cold. This is one of the worst colds I've had in a while and it has lead to two strange dreams nightmares that I thought you guys would find humerous. Here we go!

Dream Number One - The Dishes

This dream seemed to come at an odd time. Andrew and I recently registered for wedding presents and we registered for these dishes

Well, in my dream all we got for gifts was dishes! Like hundreds of them. And I woke up because I was so panicked with what to do with all these hundreds and hundreds of plates! Weird. 

Dream Number Two - Birch Branch Overload

This dream happened the worst night of my cold, and it happened four times in the one night. And every time I woke up panicking. In this dream the worship pastor from Andrew's church was selling us his unused birch branches for our wedding. But since Andrew and I already had so many branches from the trees that got hit by the ice storms I didn't need all the branches he was selling. So I asked for half of them instead of all of them. But he said no, we could only buy the whole pile or a quarter of the pile of branches. So I asked for two quarters. But he still wouldn't sell them to me! 

Both of these seem like really silly dreams now, but at the time they woke me up in a panic. Now I just laugh about them! I hope they made you smile! Happy Thursday!

Tea of the Week-Summerberries

This weeks tea of the week is in celebration of summer. I'm so excited that the warmer weather is here to stay. I'm actually sitting outside while I write this weeks tea of the week. It's really nice. This weeks tea of the week is Summerberries by Tetley. This tea is very fruity and has rosehip, hibiscus, apples and strawberries. I think I'm going to look for more teas with strawberries in it, because this tea is delicious! It's a little bitter though, so I think I will add some sugar to it when I drink it at home.  I also love that this tea is caffeine free, since I'm trying to watch how much caffeine I'm putting into my system. I've been finding that this tea is a great pick me up at work when I'm feeling a little tired, since the bitterness wakes me up a little bit.

This weeks tea of the week also features the new mug I got for my birthday from Andrew! One of my friends got this mug at her bridal shower a few years ago and I've wanted one ever since. As you can see it says "Mrs." on the front and on the inside it has a heart at the bottom of the mug and says "I found the one my heart loves. Songs of Solomon 3:4". It's adorable and I love it.

Tea of the Week-Bellini (Peach Orange)

Don't get me wrong, I love loose leaf tea. Something about measuring out the tea leaves feels so mature. It's a very sophisticated way to drink tea. However, it isn't very practical for work. There are so many more utensils to clean with loose leaf tea. I also find that loose leaf teas tend to be more fragrant, and I don't want to bother anyone at work with the tea smells So I've been trying to find some new bagged teas to take to work, since having tea with me at work is clearly a must.

With that being said, the next few weeks are going to feature some bagged teas that I've recently found that I am loving! The first os bellini peach orange by tetley. My friend let me try this tea when I was at her house recently. I love it. The container describes it as "A delicious infusion of peach and orange with a just a touch of ginger to brighten your day." I think it is absolutely fantastic. As soon as I tried it I knew it was going to move up to one of my number one favourite teas of all time. And I've tried a lot of tea! It's sweet, and relaxing and not bitter at all like I thought it might be. I just wish they had it at the grocery store we have in town, so I wouldn't have to drive into the big city to get it. I'm hooked. And I highly recommend it.