I met Stephanie and Rob at the first bridal show I participated early this year. They are very nice and sweet. ^_^
Stephanie and Rob bought most of the materials themselves, which is great in terms cost control.

Stephanie wanted something different for her centerpiece and in our first meeting, she showed me pictures of a branch centerpiece idea.
So after doing some research, we've settled on using manzanita branches. Since this wedding has many crafty ideas, I've listed few tips and tricks for those of you who are interested to recycle this idea for your own event.

But before that...Check out the pictures from the wedding! ^_^ 














Click here to see the full photo album


@@ Tips and Tricks @@

Materials for the branch centerpiece:
Clear cylinder glass vase
Ribbon (1.5-2" width)
Manzanita Branch (www.nettletonhollow.com)
Beaded garlands
Silk maple leaves
Glue dots (1/2" diameter; can be found in scrapbooking aisle of your local arts and crafts stores)
Glue dots (3/8" diameter)
Pruning scissors
Hacksaw and table top vice (to hold the branch while you cut it off with the hacksaw)
Colored mini pebbles for vase fillers (that somewhat double as the branch stabilizer)








When you purchase the branch, they don't come trimmed. So you would have to trim off the weak, small branches while trying to shape them aesthetically. Some of the branch branches out and that means you can't fit them easily into vase opening, so that means you would need to shorten the bottom of the branch using the hacksaw and vice.

Place and attach ribbons around the vase using the smaller glue dots (3/8" diameter), trim the excess.

Place beaded garlands on the branch - the key is to create an illusion that the branch is full without using excessive amount of garlands.

Randomly place the silk maple leaves using the bigger glue dots (1/2" diameter).
You can choose to give the centerpiece a fuller look by placing more leaves on the branch.

Hang the tealight lanterns on the branches. Make sure you pick a stable, sturdy branches to hang these.


Materials for the tealight candle lantern:
Clear "planter-shaped" tealight candle holder
Wire (I believe I used the 22 gauge flower wire - just make sure it's thick enough but still flexible)
Hot glue gun
Ribbon (1/4-3/8" width)
Glue dots (3/8" diameter; can be found in scrapbooking aisle of your local arts and crafts stores)





The first thing we need to do is to create the wire hanger.
What I did was:
- Encircle the wire on the bottom of the top part of the holder (on the above picture: it's the are right underneath the ribbon)
- Secure the "circle" by twisting the wire
- Repeat the process for the second hanger
- Place the two hangers and twist the top part together as to create the "hanger"

Using hot glue gun, apply hot glue on wire that touches both sides of the top part of the holder to secure them.

Place ribbon around the top part of the holder and try your best to cover the hot glue.
Attach the ribbon using glue dots, trim the excess.

Turn on the LED tealight candle and place it in the holder BEFORE you hang it.


I hope I explained this process well and that you find it useful.
Please feel free to email me if you have any questions in regards to this idea. ^_^


Before I close this entry, I would like to give a SPECIAL THANKS to my "new assistant" ^_^ : Rosalind a.k.a Rosie! Thank you very much for your hard work! I really appreciate it! 


Many happy wishes to you, Stephanie and Rob!

Thank you so much for this opportunity. It was an honor to be a part of your special day.
I really appreciate it. ^_^

Sasha and I had been talking about her wedding plans for about a year and one thing that never changed was her theme of Sapphire and Diamond. She also did not want to have floral centerpieces and I found this as an awesome opportunity to showcase a different style of wedding decor. She was very open to my suggestions and ideas and she also had lotsa great ideas herself!

One of the great things about this wedding is that the decor ideas are very much DIY friendly and I will share the sources and tricks to do a couple of these ideas.

To view more pictures from Sasha's wedding, please visit Papertini's Online Photo Album.

Thank you so much Sasha and David for giving me the opportunity to be a part of your special day! Many happy wishes and God bless you always! ^_^

This centerpiece is so easy to do, it's not even funny. Here's how:

Materials:
1 (one) strand of White Feather Boa - Cut into 4 smaller strands
- You can get this at any arts and crafts store (Michael's, JoAnn, AC Moore, etc.). It usually costs about $ 8 - $ 10 each.

1 (one) rectangular, clear vase
- For this wedding, we used the one from www.save-on-crafts.com:
4" wide x 3" deep x 6" tall at $ 1.69 each (when you order 12; excluding S/H)

1 (one) 1.5" Diamond Ornament
- Sasha bought hers from Michael's Art and Craft store, but you can also purchase it from Accent Decor
- Suggestion: Use a bigger size 3" or 4" to make sure the Diamond get the full attention.

Approximately 1 (cup) of MIXED of Large and Small Blue Diamond Beads from Accent Decor

1 (one) bag of Clear Marbles
- From any dollar store near you (I went to Dollar Tree to get these for Sasha).

Assembly:
(1) Mix in the mixed size diamond beads and clear marbles
(2) Fill the vase to the top
(3) Place the Diamond Ornament on top, center.
(4) Circle the vase with the quartered feather boa strand.

It should take you less than 5 minute to do all this for a table. ^_^ Badabing, badaboom!

 

Okay, so this one is more work than the first centerpiece and you need to make these WAY AHEAD - give yourself a minimum 2 weeks to finish these and they will look much better.


Materials:

1 (one) Tall, Clear, Cylindrical Vase (or whatever shape you desire as long as they're clear)
- For best result, the vase needs to be 12" height with 5" diameter if cylinder, or 4"-5" deep if rectangular.
- For this wedding, I used this vase from www.save-on-crafts.com:
12" tall x 5" diameter @ $ 4.99 each (excluding S/H)

1 (one) Submersible LED Light
- For this wedding, I used the lights in blue hue.

4-5 bags of clear marbles (they can be colored, as long as they are transparent)
- For this wedding, I used half container of the Cobalt Crushed Glass (4-10 mm) from Accent Decor

1 bag of vase filler
- This is the same kind of filler used to create the "iced branch effect"
- For this wedding, we used the ColorFill "Diamond" Vase Filler by Garden Splendor from www.save-on-craft.com (1 lb bag @ $ 3.29 each; excluding S/H)

1 (one) strand (minimum 3-4' length) of accent beaded garland
- You can get a similar style garland from Seefred.com for $ 3.75 each (excluding S/H)

Food Color
- To color the water

1 gallon of Water
- A faster way of doing this it just fill an empty 1-gallon milk/juice container and put a couple drops of the food color (or until the desired hue is achieved), stir.
- If the color is too dark, then just dump half of the container and add more water to tone it down.


Mixed of Small and Large Hanging Crystals
- Sasha fell in love with the crystal ropes from etherealdecor.com and so she bought these for the decor.
- Suggestions:
(1) I would suggest not to use these for this project as they are heavy and that is why for this wedding decor, I could not put more than 5 short strands on the curly willow. These would be perfect to be used with a sturdier branch like Mitsumata or Manzanita.
(2) So, in lieu of the hanging crystals, it is better to make your own strands using clear or colored beads (of different sizes) and string them together using a fishing line. These are available at any craft stores and they cost significantly lower and you get to put more hanging strands on these branches to create a more dramatic effect.


"ICED BRANCH EFFECT"

Materials:
For 1 (one) vase, you need a minimum of 20-30 branches of Dried Curly Willow
(remember, they are skinny branches, so the more the better!)
- I got these from Nettleton Hollow (3-4' height at $14.50 a bunch of 40-50 branches; excluding S/H).

Half a bag of ColorFill "Diamond" Vase Filler by Garden Splendor from www.save-on-craft.com (1 lb bag @ $ 3.29 each; excluding S/H)

Tacky Glue

Method:
Since we got this awesome idea from www.save-on-crafts.com, please follow the instructions on their website.


Assembly:
(1) Fill the vase with the marbles (NOT the vase filler) first.
(2) Tuck in the submersible LED light (make sure you turn the light on first) as center as you can in the marble pile.
(3) Sprinkle some of the vase filler (NOT the marbles) to cover the LED light.
(4) Tuck in the branches in the marbles until they are secured.
(5) Fill the vase with the colored water about 3/4 full.
(6) Pour in the vase filler.
By pouring these last, it will create a "floating shaved iced" effect because some will fall into the bottom of the vase, some will suspend in the middle of the vase, and most of them will stay afloat.
(7) Place the accent beaded garland by twisting and turning them around the branches (random placement is better).
(8) Hang the crystal/homemade clear-bead strands randomly on the branches.


Hope you find these useful and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email me!
Remember...Suggestions and ideas are free! ^_^

I met Stephanie and Rob at the first bridal show I participated early this year. They are very nice and sweet. ^_^
Stephanie and Rob bought most of the materials themselves, which is great in terms cost control.

Stephanie wanted something different for her centerpiece and in our first meeting, she showed me pictures of a branch centerpiece idea.
So after doing some research, we've settled on using manzanita branches. Since this wedding has many crafty ideas, I've listed few tips and tricks for those of you who are interested to recycle this idea for your own event.

But before that...Check out the pictures from the wedding! ^_^ 














Click here to see the full photo album


@@ Tips and Tricks @@

Materials for the branch centerpiece:
Clear cylinder glass vase
Ribbon (1.5-2" width)
Manzanita Branch (www.nettletonhollow.com)
Beaded garlands
Silk maple leaves
Glue dots (1/2" diameter; can be found in scrapbooking aisle of your local arts and crafts stores)
Glue dots (3/8" diameter)
Pruning scissors
Hacksaw and table top vice (to hold the branch while you cut it off with the hacksaw)
Colored mini pebbles for vase fillers (that somewhat double as the branch stabilizer)








When you purchase the branch, they don't come trimmed. So you would have to trim off the weak, small branches while trying to shape them aesthetically. Some of the branch branches out and that means you can't fit them easily into vase opening, so that means you would need to shorten the bottom of the branch using the hacksaw and vice.

Place and attach ribbons around the vase using the smaller glue dots (3/8" diameter), trim the excess.

Place beaded garlands on the branch - the key is to create an illusion that the branch is full without using excessive amount of garlands.

Randomly place the silk maple leaves using the bigger glue dots (1/2" diameter).
You can choose to give the centerpiece a fuller look by placing more leaves on the branch.

Hang the tealight lanterns on the branches. Make sure you pick a stable, sturdy branches to hang these.


Materials for the tealight candle lantern:
Clear "planter-shaped" tealight candle holder
Wire (I believe I used the 22 gauge flower wire - just make sure it's thick enough but still flexible)
Hot glue gun
Ribbon (1/4-3/8" width)
Glue dots (3/8" diameter; can be found in scrapbooking aisle of your local arts and crafts stores)





The first thing we need to do is to create the wire hanger.
What I did was:
- Encircle the wire on the bottom of the top part of the holder (on the above picture: it's the are right underneath the ribbon)
- Secure the "circle" by twisting the wire
- Repeat the process for the second hanger
- Place the two hangers and twist the top part together as to create the "hanger"

Using hot glue gun, apply hot glue on wire that touches both sides of the top part of the holder to secure them.

Place ribbon around the top part of the holder and try your best to cover the hot glue.
Attach the ribbon using glue dots, trim the excess.

Turn on the LED tealight candle and place it in the holder BEFORE you hang it.


I hope I explained this process well and that you find it useful.
Please feel free to email me if you have any questions in regards to this idea. ^_^


Before I close this entry, I would like to give a SPECIAL THANKS to my "new assistant" ^_^ : Rosalind a.k.a Rosie! Thank you very much for your hard work! I really appreciate it! 


Many happy wishes to you, Stephanie and Rob!

Thank you so much for this opportunity. It was an honor to be a part of your special day.
I really appreciate it. ^_^