My fabulous and recently married cousin is graciously handing over the candles and glass votive holders she used at her wedding. The only condition is that I continue to pass them along to future family weddings. Fine by me! I’m happy to.
She used hers in such a pretty way – simple glass votives (jars? holders?) with white candles anchored by shiny black rocks. I loved it. Super cool and modern.
But because I can’t do the same thing (uh, copy cat?), I’ve been brainstorming some ways I can make these my own.
Here’s a good idea of their shape and size:
(Above) The ones she is giving me are larger than these, but the shape and proportions are right on.
I don’t want to spend too much making these babies mine, so I limited myself to the paper aisle at Michael’s knowing each glass “makeover” would cost me about 50 cents.
(Above) First up – a sheet of acetate with a lacey design.
(Above) I love it! I made sure to use the edges on the top to make use of that nice scallop. This was as easy as cutting a strip to fit the length of each glass and using transparent tape to hold down the seam. Easy peasy.
Next up – some faux frosting and monogramming….
(Above) I quickly cut the letters out by hand (I would have used a real stencil for the “real deal”… this looks very amateur hour at the moment… I was too hungry to find my vinyl letters) but I do like the idea. I love the frosty look – which was achieved by wrapping vellum paper around the glass and using my transparent tape to keep everything in place. The tall glass is a light blue vellum and the small glass has a slight damask pattern.
Next up - gold and glitter!
(Above) Goooooold (in Austin Powers Goldfinger voice)! They sell sheets of glitter at most craft stores, but it’s a little thick. If you look closely I had to use two transparent hair bands instead of tape to keep the sheet of glitter on the glass. I love the way the candle light emits from the bottom like a hovercraft. The taller glass is wrapped in transparent gold paper which I am not liking at all…
Since the tall glass looked too plain and flat, I grabbed a sheet of distressed gold and see how I liked it..
Whoa! I can’t tell if the distressed gold looks like super cool mercury glass or an Ed Hardy t-shirt.
Moving on… I saved the best two for last.
BOOM!
I saw this idea of cutting the vellum in a chevron pattern in the most recent Martha Stewart Weddings, so I can’t take any credit. I did do it an easier way which I’ll share in a minute.
I loved it so much I kept going…
BOOM x 2!
(Above) This one is most me (especially with that striped ribbon I threw in there… from the Halloween selection at Michael’s) and definitely fits the most with our overall aesthetic. Modern, crafty, geometric-y, stripe-y and natural colors.
To get the chevron pattern it’s super simple. In the Martha Stewart article, they want you to use some sort of pattern stencil ($$$) but it can be done totally free. If you want horizontal chevrons (like mine), you fold (don’t crease it!) your paper vertically and cut at an angle. Like this:
(Above) If you’re confused on which way to go, tell yourself to make a back slash. This reminded me of making construction paper hearts in grade school.
(Above) Close-up shot!
These are now sitting up on my mantel in my bedroom, looking all crafty and cute.
Lessons learned on on this project:
- Scrapbooking paper comes in two sizes. Get the larger size – otherwise it won’t wrap all the way around your glass
- Use transparent tape, not scotch tape
- Don’t half-ass lettering, even if you’re hungry
- Martha is always right
You guys are going to know everything going on at my wedding before anyone actually gets there. And I like it that way!
HAPPY FRIDAY!
xo, emily
p/s: I LOVED all the comments on the balloons-as-bouquets post last Friday. So many good watch-outs, comments of support, etc. We will definitely be using balloons in some way that day (maybe during our reception entrance) but probably not walking down the aisle. The disadvantages are too many and the advantages are too few in terms of using them at the church. At any rate, I’ll have a DIY on those soon!
p/p/s: Dress shopping day is only a week away. Squeeeeee!
