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Looking for the perfect bridesmaids’ gift? Consider a Coffee Corset from the crafty Jenn Gee over at Etsy, a sexy and stylish gift for your coffee drinking bridesmaids, and for yourself! These coffee cup corsets are a great eco-friendly alternative to the plain old wasteful cardboard sleeves, since they are made out of fabric that can be reused over and over again. These corsets work for hot or cold drinks and are conveniently small enough to fit in your purse to go everywhere you go. There are over 200 coffee corset designs to choose from, all handcrafted by Jenn; you are bound to find one to fit each one of your bridesmaids’ style or personality. The perfect accessory for a morning latte!
These fabulous DIY paper bag flowers are a great eco-friendly bouquet alternative and one of the best ways I’ve seen to recycle your grocery paper bags. This eco-chic bouquet was creatively crafted by wedding planner Jesi Haack from Jesi Haack Weddings, using brown Trader Joe’s grocery bags. Jesi also added a few tissue paper flowers and a minimal number of fresh cut flowers to this beautiful bouquet as a final touch. I love shopping at Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, and can’t wait to make some of these paper flowers from my grocery paper bags for an eco-friendly party centerpiece!
Here are the DIY step-by-step instructions by Jesi:
1. Start off with a grocery bag. (love TJ’s, but Whole Foods or Henry’s will suffice)
2. Draw a circle (the larger the circle, the leafier the flower) and slowly taper it in to the center like a spiral keeping the lines about 1/2 inch away from each other.
3. Take your scissors and begin cutting along the line you just drew, furthest away from the center.
4. Continue cutting, following on the drawn line until you reach the center of your spiral.
5. Snip off the end of your spiral at the point that it begins to turn back into the bag (does that make sense?)
6. Beginning at the end of the spiral, start to roll up the paper until you reach the center of your spiral.
7. When you are finished rolling it, it should look like a tightly rolled up piece of paper. I know, I’m brilliant with words.
8. Place the rolled up paper in the palm of your hand and let it fall loosely apart. You may have to gently “help” it by turning the center of the flower to open it up a bit more.
9. For the stem, I chose a green pipe cleaner, but you could use your imagination and come up with something different or funky depending on your project. Flip the flower upside down, and tape the pipe cleaner to the base of the flower.
10. And here is the finished product
11. Add a few tissue paper flowers and it becomes a unique bouquet!
12. And to step it up a notch, we added a few tulips and a hydrangea. DONE
I just wanted to take the time to congratulate the good folks at the Eco-Beautiful Weddings Daily Blog for a beautiful premiere issue of their brand new bridal magazine.
Eco-Beautiful Weddings is the first and only eco-friendly, eco-couture international wedding maagzine. The premiere issue is out now now, absolutely free, so don’t miss the chance to grab yours. And check out their blog as well, if you haven’t already. Lots of great stuff there.
You can also browse through the new issue right now with their nifty online reader. Here’s some of what you’ll find inside:
The girls behind 100 Layer Cake on page 28
Green park wedding of Rebekah and Manuel on page 41
Luscious Lovelies Bouquet Feature on page 52
Naturelle Deux fashion feature on page 65
The Green Broke Ass Bride & Groom on page 92
Viewing the premiere issue of Eco-Beautiful Weddings Magazine online
These stylish monogrammed melamine plates can be the perfect bridesmaids’ gifts or a great table setting for a personalized bridal shower. Order them in bulk and keep them afterwards for the many future entertainment parties you’ll have after you tie the knot! Add them to your wish list on your wedding website’s registry page and have your guests buy you a set of your choice for everyday personalized kitchenware. These plates can be classy, bold, whimsical, or just plain fun! Customize your plate pattern color in many variations, along with your choice of text and typestyle. You can add your monogram, an initial, or a full name of your choice; up to three lines of copy. The plates are 10 inches round, made from high quality melamine, and are food-safe and dishwasher safe (not microwave-safe).
If you are having a wedding with a small guest list, these beautiful monogrammed plates are a creative way to incorporate your initials on your wedding day. Each monogrammed melamine plate range in price from $22 to $26 each, depending on the website. At www.LaPlates.com each plate is $22, and at www.MyCleanPlateClub.com, plates are $22 each as well, but if you buy them in bulk quantities of 4, 6, or 8, you get them at the discounted price of $16.50 each…one of the lowest deals I’ve seen for these personalized party plates. Also check out the personalized and popular plate designs at Boatman Geller’s site.
These bold plates can also make a green statement, as melamine–an organic compound–is used to create melamine resin, a very lightweight but durable plastic that’s BPA-Free (Bisphenol-A Free), so they’re better for the environment than disposable plates. Now you can replace paper or Styrofoam at your next social event with your very own personalized monogrammed plates! I’m sure you’ll be able to find a style that will match your personal tastes.
In an effort to stand out and do something different for their wedding, couples are getting very creative, and it’s really fun to see what they’re coming up with these days. I’ve seen nearlyweds take the time to make some of the cutest save-the-dates and wedding invitations ever, and one growing trend in this area is the stop-motion video. These take hours of work, but with a little planning and lots of patience the results can be something that’s surely unforgettable, totally personal and as unique as you can get.
All you really need is access to a digital camera, a computer with enough space to load your photos on, and a video editing software to create your stop motion video. You can use a tripod to set your camera in place for a better quality video, and just shoot away or have someone take the pictures for you. Remember, have a basic plan on how you want your save-the-date or invitation to progress, sketched out beforehand; it’ll make things so much easier for you. There are lots of articles and how-to videos out there that can help you make these cute stop motion videos. Just do a search for the keywords “how to make a stop motion video” to get some great tutorials.
There’s a number of free and shareware video editing software for Windows and Mac, such as Windows Movie Maker and JPGVideo freeware for PC, or iMovie for Mac. Give them a try!
Making a stop motion save-the-date or wedding invitation video is a great way to be eco-friendly as well. Just post your creation on your personal wedding website, blog or favorite video sharing site such as YouTube or Vimeo instead of printing and mailing them the traditional way.
The following fun and clever stop motion wedding videos are some of my absolute favorites. Enjoy!