DIY Kitchen Towels

Want a cute housewarming gift for a friend or favor for a home shower?  Check out these chic DIY hand towels and free downloads from Wedding Style Guide.  So cute!

DIY Mini Paper Parasols

Spotted over at Frenchie and Flea, this DIY project is adorable and super simple.  I think it would be fun for a summer party, bridal or baby shower, or even for a wedding.  Or, you know, a Thursday afternoon drink at home!

This project was created by A Field Journal.  For the full instructions and free download, go here!

It's in the Details: Pinwheels

Perfect for a summer wedding, pinwheels are equal parts whimsical and fun.  A great DIY idea (see a tutorial from Style Me Pretty here, one from Once Wed here, and one from Better Homes and Gardens here, you can make them for all of your guests as favors or place cards, or just for you and your wedding party.  Also fun decor for a birthday party or a baby shower...

Top Row:  Alyssa Alig Photography, green pinwheels via Brides, pink ones in pitcher from Better Homes and Gardens

Middle Row:  Via Green Wedding Shoes, pinwheels in garden via Hatch Creative Studio

Bottom Row:  First and last photo via The Sweetest Occasion, photos 2 & 3 via Snippet and Ink

DIY Book Cover and Bookmarks

I saved a great DIY project to close out DIY week!  I wish I could claim it as my own, but that would be stealing :)

This is my favorite DIY project I've seen on the blogs in a long time!  As I have posted in the past, my husband and I love books.  We have a million books.  We like to give books.  I would have loved to do this as favors for my wedding, but was afraid it would be too time consuming and overwhelming.  But with the help of this DIY project over at my favorite DIY resource blog, Twig & Thistle, the project is way do-able!

Perfect for a library themed wedding, you can cover your favorite books, or a blank journal.  Pick a pretty paper (Paper Source has lots to choose from), follow the instructions here, and enjoy!

Check out the full post on Twig & Thistle.  And you should totally check out all of the great DIY posts on Twig & Thistle!  Kathleen posts some amazingly creative ideas.

DIY Place Card Rocks

For a smaller wedding or a party, I love these DIY place card rocks.  Made with air dry clay, letter stamps, black architecture pens, and glossy varnish, they would make a great keepsake for guests.

Project found on the Violet Hours

DIY Welcome Bags

It is DIY week at Oh Lovely Day, and I want to kick the week off with a DIY project I did for my own wedding.  I've been to a lot of weddings.  AAAAA LOT!  And as an out-of-town guest, I have always appreciated a good welcome bag.  So when I was planning my wedding and knew a majority of our guests were coming to California from all over, I vowed to make them as comfortable as possible.

I wanted to make my welcome bag a little more personal than the generic brown or colored paper bag with a couple of things thrown in.  I wanted them to include what I believe are necessities.  And I wanted them to be easy and inexpensive for me!

Materials for the bags:

• Canvas tote bags (from cheaptotes)
• Iron-on printer paper (from office depot)
• An iron
• A printer
• An image to print

We had a monogram that we included on our save-the-dates, invitation suite, and other wedding details, and I wanted to put in on our welcome bags.  I had to reverse the image so that when it was printed and ironed on it would read correctly.  I bought enough tote bags to accommodate each out-of-town couple or guest for our wedding.  I printed a coordinating number of monograms.  Then I found a hard surface (a table works well- an ironing board doesn't work as well).  Follow the directions on the transfer paper packaging.  I laid an old pillow case down on the table, put the tote on top of that, and placed the printed paper where I wanted it on the tote.  Then I ironed each image on until I had done enough totes for everyone.

Next you have to fill the bags.  Here are what I consider essentials:

• 2 bottles of water (this is the most important thing, and one bottle is NOT enough unless for only one person!)
• Snacks (in ours I included special K cereal bars, a bag of chips or crackers, and a small bag of Isabella's Cookies, which are made where we had our wedding and are my absolute fave!)
• Hangover helpers (tums, advil, etc.)
• A map of the area and activities & restaurant recommendations
• Mints and/or gum
• An itinerary of events, including any shuttle departure times (if applicable)
• Sunscreen (if in a beachy area)

Here is a picture of our finished product, complete with itinerary and other items with our monogram:

Total approximate cost per bag = $6

Making your guests feel welcomed, comfortable, informed, and hydrated....priceless

Has anyone else done their own DIY welcome bags?

DIY Welcome Box

What a great DIY project to make for your out-of-town wedding guests!  Created by designer Suann Song of SIMPLESONG Design for The Bride's Guide and photographed by Kate Headley, the project and the photos were too cute not to share with you.  But check out the full post here.

From Simplesong:

I started with a simple wood box and lined it with Martha Stewart paper, both found at my local Michael's craft store. I then gathered things I thought would be useful and enjoyable for out-of-town guests, including a weekend schedule and list of local attractions, Metro passes, a Metro map, French macarons made by a local pastry chef, and M&M's in the pink and copper wedding color theme. Everything was pulled together with glassine or cellophane bags and custom labels (see template below). When completed, the finished box not only looks elegant, but only costs about $15!

Materials:

- Wood box from local craft store lined with pretty paper

- Double-face satin ribbon

- Glassine and/or cellophane bags

- Paper for printing (I like a heavy textured paper like Paper Source's luxe)

- Double-stick tape to affix tags

Template:

Click the link below for a simple template that includes the frames I created for this gift box. You can also purchase similar frames/designs on a site like iStockphoto, that sells royalty free artwork and illustrations.

simplesong_template_pink_plus

Finished product!

While the project may be a little pricey for a ton of out-of-town guests, it would be a great welcome for a smaller guest list or if you only have a few out-of-towners.  Next week I'll do a DIY welcome bag post that is very budget friendly as a second option.