Project: Honor Candle

Project: Honor Candle

Inspiration: We're really interested in honoring our family on our wedding day, and that includes those who have passed away. The bouquet charms is one way we are doing it, but we wanted something more "public" as well, to let everyone know, particularly the aunts and uncles, that we are thinking about our several late grandparents. I liked the candles like this I saw online, but, knowing we couldn't do an open flame pillar, thought about doing a lantern.

I then remembered the craft I had pinned at one point about transferring images onto candles, and wondered if I could combine the two, rather than having a sign. I thought it was a nice opportunity to personalize the gesture to craft something meaningful.










Cost/Materials: You'll need a lantern with a big enough glass face that you'll be able to read the candle through it. I got mine at AC Moore - they have a great selection and this one was originally about $10 I believe, but I used a 40% off coupon to only spend $6 on it. The candle I used was flameless, for two reasons (1) to avoid any open flame issues with the venue, although it probably wouldn't create an issue, and (2) because I didn't want the candle to actually melt and result in disfiguring the transfer I was going to put on it. The candle did need to be real wax, though, for the transfer process to work. It's "Nicole" brand, purchased at AC Moore, and was relatively inexpensive. Other materials you need include white tissue paper (Dollar Tree), any piece of regular 8.5''x11'' paper, tape, scissors, a heat gun or hairdryer, a printer (inkjet worked fine) and something to protect your hands from the heat such as gloves.

How I Did It: I created my transfer image in Powerpoint. The first thing I did was check the size of the candle (how big of a surface did I want to cover, how tall was the candle, etc.) and then change the page size to make sure I worked within those constraints. Then I wrote our message in and used the same pictures (sepia-toned) of our grandparents that I had used for the bouquet charms. To keep them all the same shape, you can see the process in the photo (crop, mask to shape, basic shapes, oval). I then gave them soft edges since the backgrounds were all different.

The next, and toughest, thing to do is to get it printed onto the tissue paper. The first time I tried, I wrapped tissue paper all the way around the regular sheet of paper I had, and ran it through the printer. As you can see in the first photo, it didn't come out so hot. Thankfully, only a little ink and a tiny bit of tissue paper were wasted as I tried again. I found the best way to print on the tissue paper was to cut the tissue paper down to just larger than the size you need, and then tape it within the boundaries of the paper you're sticking it on, in order to hold it taut. Set the printer settings to "transfer paper" (just make sure this doesn't mirror the image!) and quality to "best." This resulted in the image printing much more slowly and coming out with higher quality/fewer wrinkles. After this, I didn't want to risk tearing the paper too much when I was separating it from the 8.5''x11'' base paper, so instead I just cut through both papers so that the two fell apart with no problem.

The next step was to wrap the tissue paper around the candle and start heating it up. I used a hairdryer for this, though I am sure a true crafting heat gun might have worked more easily. What happens is the wax starts to melt and basically soaks through the tissue paper, absorbing it into the candle. You can see it starting to happen in the picture to the right, in the spots where the tissue paper starts to become clear instead of white. 

You'll want to work quickly once you see the wax soaking through, because if you let it go to long, things will start to morph. If you get to a point where it's starting to pool, it's okay to let the candle cool down and solidify and start again later before things get out of control. Same goes for any little pockets/air bubbles that come up, like this one you can see on the right side of the candle. I waited until it was cool, then gave it a concentrated shot of heat and bravely smoothed it down with my finger.

The Outcome: Here it is in the lantern! The candle looks cooler when you can see it flickering, but you get the idea.

Lessons Learned/Tips: It gets hot holding something that you're using heat on! I ended up grabbing a kitchen mitt (see photo left, ignore toilet) to protect my hand, however I didn't realize it had some bits of crumbs on it.. which ended up melted into the back of the candle. I was able to get most of them out, but just make sure any hand protection you use is clean! And lastly I'd recommend that depending on where you're going to put the candle that you decide whether you want one that is scented or not. I hadn't realized this one was scented until I got it home, and it wasn't a big deal to me, but if you were going to use candles on the tables of a reception, you'd probably want them to be unscented so that the candle scent doesn't clash with or overpower the food.

Would I Do It Again: Yeah, this would be a fun craft to use in the future for other purposes, e.g., maybe transferring photos onto candles for an party or to give as a gift or something like that.

Project: A Lovely Love Story

Project: A Lovely Love Story

Inspiration: I came across the "Lovely Love Story" by Edward Monkton when I was reading this article on Offbeat Bride. We have some other readings in mind for the ceremony, so I thought about where else we could use it. It was sort of silly, so I decided maybe it could go in a coloring/activity book for the kids. But, I decided I'd like to share it with more than just our adorable ring bearer and flower girl. So, I decided I would make a display of it. At this time I also remembered the super cute dinosaur cake toppers I had seen online. We wouldn't be using those for a cake topper because dinosaurs aren't thattt special to us (although with the excitement on my fiance's face the entire time we were watching Jurassic World, you might think otherwise), but what if I used something similar for little props/visual interest!? Thus the project was born. Here is a link to the dinosaur cake toppers (per the picture included) that I really liked and drew my inspiration from.

Cost/Materials: The dinosaurs are probably going to be the biggest cost if you do this project. I originally thought I would go with bigger ones (that would run closer to $6-10 a piece) but since I am perpetually cheap and found some adorable, albeit miniature, ones for $2 each plus coupon, I ended up with those. I got them at Michaels. Also at Michaels, I had picked up these black foam numbers and symbols, just because they were on clearance, but it ends up they worked out perfectly for the hat and bow tie. These could alternatively be made with paper/ribbon, but I like the look of the foam. The gemstones were another clearance find at 90 cents for the whole package, and the small piece of tulle was borrowed from a roll I got at Dollar Tree for a different project. I used super glue to keep the accessories on the dinosaurs. For the story, I used Vistaprint to get an 11''x17'' print to make the story easy to read at a distance wherever we set it up (I'm thinking near the photo booth so people have something to check out if they're waiting for their turn, or at the bar). I got a easel stand at Hobby Lobby to hold the story up, but it ends up it's too small because the poster print isn't as stiff as I thought it would be - I'll need to find something else.

 How I Did It: One of the first things I did was re-format the story. I kept the integrity of it and of course cited the author, but I wanted it to read smoothly, since the story refers to its two characters as "The Dinosaur" and "The Lovely Other Dinosaur." To show the differences, I stacked their back-and-forth parts, and gave them different fonts. Then, I just had some fun decorating the dinos! Originally I just had a necklace on the "bride" dino, and a bow-tie on the "groom" one, but it wasn't quite enough. My fiance suggested a top hat for the groom, which I fashioned out of pieces of the foam (cutting them up and supergluing them together), and then I gave the bride a veil to match. I superglued all these accessories. Even though all the elements had a bit of adhesive on their own, it wasn't enough to trust, especially if guests are picking them up to check them out.

The Outcome: They're looking ready for a wedding! I'm pretty pleased. Can't wait to see what it looks like all set up and whether people like it!

Lessons Learned/Tips: I learned that the "poster" stuff from Vistaprint isn't all that thick, so it's a bummer that I'll need a taller frame/easel to support the story, but not a big deal.

Would I Do It Again: Yes, but I might use slightly bigger dinosaurs. They are super super cute, but they're really dwarfed in comparison to the story (2.5'' dinos, 17'' tall story board).

Project: Bouquet Charms

Project: Bouquet Charms

Inspiration: I knew I wanted some ways to honor our several late grandparents, and I saw the bouquet charm idea online. What I liked most was the idea that they get to "walk down the aisle" with you.

Cost/Materials/How I Did It: I'm going to actually just point you to the blog post that I used to create them! I followed these directions pretty much to a T, using similar products I got at Michael's. I really liked how things turned out with charms by Bead Landing. So, here is a link to the directions, and thank you to Sarah for writing great ones! http://sarahsaving.blogspot.com/2014/01/diy-photo-pendant-for-under-250.html

The Outcome: I'm really pleased with these. They were easy to make, and are the perfect little sentimental detail for my bouquet.

Lessons Learned/Tips: One thing I did a little differently from Sarah was that I didn't use (at least what seemed to be) original photos. I took pictures of the photos I wanted to use, then sent them to my e-mail. I opened them in Picasa (my favorite free photo editing tool), cropped them down to the sizes I would need, and turned them all sepia tone. This way I didn't have to worry about ruining any original photos, and I was able to print all four of my own grandparents for about 7 cents (yes, I couponed to get one 4x6 print at Walgreens).

Would I Do It Again: Yes, and I'll have to soon since I don't have the pictures from my fiance's side yet!