Aisle Decorations - DIY Fun

The aisle decorations - what a pain in the butt these have been! Seriously. The chairs provided for the ceremony (plastic lawn chairs - ugh) aren't the easiest to work with so I've spent many loooong hours trying to figure out how to decorate them.

My first, and favorite, idea was shepherd's hooks with kissing balls. I love their simplicity and elegance.


But, alas, my wedding ceremony is indoors (it's COLD in Michigan in November) and cheap free-standing shepherd's hooks aren't really easy to find (darn budget!). I figured I would have to come up other ideas - bows tied to the arms of the chairs as a last resort only (I wasn't "feeling" those)!!

Well, last week, I was browsing a fellow Knottie's Wedding Bio and I saw that she had sheperd's hooks set up in pots - the answer to this indoor bride's dreams!! Can you guess what Mr Jones and I spent yesterday doing?? :)

Getting ready to start - I think Bo wants to help. :)


Halfway done with our first two - kudos to Mr Jones for helping!


Two down, four more to go!

My first (and favorite) DIY - Table Numbers

Throughout the planning process, I've been trying to find a way to include my kitty loves in the wedding. Unfortunately, as much as I want them to, they can't come to the wedding (though I'm sure some of their fur will be with me in some way as it always is). The logical way to include them is in the table numbers...but I wanted to do something a little different than Photoshopping numbers onto existing photos of them. Enter my spin on the pet table numbers! :)

First step was going to Hobby Lobby (LOVE that store) to buy 3-D cardboard numbers --- the easy part.

Second step was getting the kitties to cooperate --- the-not-so easy part. Sammy is super laidback/tolerant so I knew he wouldn't be any trouble. Bo, on the other hand, has a tendency to be a bit skittish. It was an interesting project, to say the least. But Mr Jones and I had fun...not so sure about the kitties.

A few of my favorites:







You can see the full set of the numbers here. (Photo credit goes to Mr Jones, of course...I was just the cat wrangler.)

While I still love the original plan for table numbers (and would have used if not for my insane love for the kitties), I felt there was something missing. Not anymore...my loveys will be there with us after all. :)

Wednesday's Wedding DIY

I have a few DIY projects for my wedding - the invitations, programs, unity candles, and memory candles to name a few. Water balloon luminaries take DIY to a whole 'nother level! Seriously...who would have thought to create these?! (Apparently, someone because there's instructions on the Internet!!) I'm in awe of some people's creativity.

You will need:
High-Melt Paraffin Wax IGI1260 - found here
Water Balloons
Double Boiler
Cookie Sheets

1. Fill a water balloon with tepid water.

2. Melt the wax. Optimum working temperature for this project is 180 degrees Fahrenheit. Try to maintain this temperature for your wax while working by keeping it on a double boiler.

3. Slowly dip your balloon into the wax to just below the water level in the balloon. Warning: Do not dip the balloon into the wax past the water level. This could cause the balloon to pop.

4. Hold the balloon in the wax for a few seconds, and then slowly lift it out of the wax. Dip the balloon a few more times, allowing some time between dips to let the wax cool.

5. While it is still quite warm, carefully set the balloon down onto a piece of paper or a cookie sheet, making sure it is level. This will create a flat bottom for the luminary.


6. Dip your balloon a few more times until it is the desired thickness. A good target thickness is 1/4 to 1/2 of an inch.

7. Set the balloon on the paper or cookie sheet again and let it cool.

8. When the wax is completely cooled, hold the balloon over a sink or bucket, facing away from you. Carefully pop the balloon with a skewer or knife and let the water drain out. Throw away the balloon shards.


9. To level the top of the luminary, heat a cookie sheet on the stove and place the luminary top-down onto the hot sheet and carefully melt the edges until it is level.


10. Place a tea light or votive inside the luminary and burn on a candle holder in a dark area.

Aren't they gorgeous?!

Latest DIY obessesion: customized aisle runner

Inspired by an old post I stumbled across at The Road to the Aisle, Ive decided I *might* want to make a customized aisle runner. A lot of brides decide to use their monogram; however, I can't find any scripts I like the "J" in so maybe I will use a phrase instead? A few I've been considering:

"And Two Became One"
"Forever Starts Today"
"Two Hearts, One Love"

I just ordered my aisle runner off eBay...can't beat the prices on there! :)

Busy Day for Mr Jones & Me

I admit, I stalk other Knotties' bios for DIY projects...and boy, have I found a ton of good ideas! My favorite one is creating our own personalized unity candles such as this:

Photo courtesy of Knottie Sn2BLee

I also want to have memory candles for loved ones who have passed away. Those candles will be very similar to our unity candle, but will have the name & relationship of each person we are remembering.

Photo courtesy of Knottie mink492

Once I had a general idea of what I wanted, I dragged (well, he technically came willingly) Mr Jones to Hobby Lobby in pursuit of supplies. We found everything we needed...and more! In addition to the candles, holders, vellum paper, and ribbon, we also found wood letters to spell out "We Do" on the cake table. I've tasked the Mr with spray painting them gold to match our wedding colors. I can't wait to see how they turn out...you know I'll post pictures when they're done. :)

After leaving Hobby Lobby, we headed over to Michael's. Armed with a 50% off coupon (thanks to Ebonee from "Becoming His Mrs"), I was in search of new invitations. Yes, I decided I wanted different invitations than the ones I had previously. After about 5 minutes of deliberation, we both agreed we like these:

We love the simple elegance of these invites...and that there are pockets for the RSVP card and the directions card. These are definitely more "us" than the previous invites.

What a crazy weekend

I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday weekend! Ours was super busy between planning, finding and purchasing Future Mr's wedding band, visiting with my aunt and uncle who live in Chicago, and (finally) telling Future Mr's mom about the upcoming wedding (she's been out of town and we wanted to tell her in person).

Yesterday was spent browsing local craft stores for DIY wedding invites and ceremony programs. Future Mr was a good sport about me dragging him around to all the stores...and HE picked out the invitations. :) I love that he's taking part in the planning. It's my wedding, but it's also our wedding.

The programs were a little trickier to find. We looked at all of the stores, but didn't see any that we fell in love with. Once we got home, I did a quick eBay search...and there they were, the perfect programs. Our monogram will be a J (of course) and we will probably change the ribbon color so it matches the ribbon on the invitations. Or maybe 1/2 and 1/2?