Water Balloon Luminaries

We have another gorgeous DIY project for you today! Rafters of Cedars creates some of the most gorgeous chuppas we’ve ever seen and we’re incredibly lucky that Diana has shared this tutorial on how to create your own monogrammed embroidery hoops. They would be lovely as an accent piece at weddings, anniversaries, or also in children’s rooms.

A mid-winter brunch soiree can be just the ticket to an elegant yet intimate affair.  We designed this graceful table with the soft, white light of a winter snowfall in mind.  Simple wood elements and subtle nods to nature brings the outdoors in, highlighted by the romantic old-fashioned floral arrangements in muted tones of yellow and gray. A few easy handmade elements accompany our little brunch tabletop—download our step-by-step instructions for pinecone place card holders and paper-wrapped vases and use them to help inspire a wedding, bridal shower, or simply for a festive winter celebration!

If you’re searching for seasonal inspiration for your Thanksgiving tablescape, look no further—Holly Heider Chapple has designed the most gorgeous, organic spread and given you the steps to recreate it at home! “My intent when I created this design was to come up with a concept that a beginner could do,” as well as use flowers that are readily available at grocery stores, Holly says. She’s definitely succeeded with this simple how-to! Follow along with this beautiful images from Genevieve Leiper Photography, and let us know how your own Turkey Day tablescapes turn out!

Leaves are falling, pumpkins are out and apple cider is calling our name! That’s right, fall is in full swing and at Elizabeth Anne Designs, we couldn’t be more excited to celebrate the season. To help us bring the beauty of fall indoors, we have an amazing DIY floral arrangement from one of our newest Vendor Guide members, Blooms by the Box. Blooms by the Box is an amazing resource for those wishing to create their own wedding floral arrangements. They have a wide variety of quality flowers that you can order wholesale, as well as all the tools, vases and containers you could ever need!  Their expert advice and tutorials like the one below make bringing your floral dreams to life a snap.

A while ago, we shared this Modern Yellow and White Tablescape and everyone loved it so much that for today’s Friday Flowers we’ve got a tutorial for you on how to create it yourself! Designed by Dani at Studio Fleurette, this tablescape is fresh, modern, and easily modified for any style of event! Change out the type of flowers used (switch out the craspedia for roses perhaps?) and voila – a completely new look!  Here’s the down-low on creating this organic, stylish tabletop.

This doily and cupcake liner garland adds a romantic, handmade touch to your decor, and it’s super fun and easy to do! You can use the doilies as they come, but we decided to tea-stain ours to add a little color. We also used a variety of different sized cupcake liners to add dimension.

Hammered spoons are a beautiful addition to your wedding tabletop.  Perfect for an elegant, rustic wedding, use them as favors, escort cards, or table numbers – the options are endless.  I’m so happy to have McKenzie Brickl of La La Soiree and Kate Sommers of KNG Sommers Photography stop by EAD today to share a step-by-step tutorial for creating your own hammered spoon place cards, and you can see them in action on a lovely olive green and gold tabletop they created!

There is just so much pretty in this shoot, I’m over the moon! Kelly Maron Horvath of Paper Stories, Lauren LePine of Ryan Alexander Events, Lynn Fossbender of Pollen, Stevi Savage of AveryHouse, and Shannon Spellman of Plate have dazzled me with their interpretation of glitz and glam for the Inspired Creations Contest, it’s an absolute wonderland of handmade charm.  Mercury glass accents, mother-of-pearl buttons, satin ribbons and gilded china from Plate are just a few of the ways that the team incorporated glitter and glam into their tabletop and dessert display.  And since the Inspired Creations Contest is all about being fabulous on an approachable budget, everything from the sewn paper bunting to the ribbon table runner, escort card holder, cake topper, and even the cake itself was created by Kelly, and all of the decorative accents used in the shoot were brought in from the team’s homes and studios. 

As promised, to go along with this morning’s Parisian Masquerade Ball Inspired Creations Contest shoot, Courtney Callahan of Courtney Callahan Paper, Natalie Walsh of Hello Darling, and Jenn Gaudreau of Jennifer Kathryn Photography are back to share how-tos for their fabulous DIY projects with us!  Click on the links below to jump to your favorite project.

Last weekend I visited the adorable Chicago floral shop Fleur and learned to build a beautiful and simple terrarium!  Terrariums are perfect housewarming or hostess gifts, or easy create-ahead centerpieces.  They are simpler to make than you think, and (bonus!) they last a long time and require little attention.  Follow along below or view the printable instructions here.

Super cute and easy, this sewn heart garland is sure to brighten your Valentine’s Day party or make an adorable addition to your wedding decor.  View the printable instructions, or follow along below!

If you love flowers but don’t love having to throw them out after your big day, a fabric flower bouquet is just the right thing.  Andrea Gray Harper shows us how to make this adorable bouquet – view the printable instructions here or follow along below!

Boutonnieres are an easy DIY project, great for floral beginners and fun because you can use the basic technique to make all sorts of variations to customize it to the look of your wedding!  I picked up the pretty peach roses, white ranunculus, and eucalyptus at my local Whole Foods, but of course, any flowers will work.

Garlands and streamers are a colorful and fun way to add personality and punch to your wedding decor!  Here’s a roundup of some of my favorite ideas.

Whew!  This morning’s fabulous Victorian-inspired holiday shoot was just full of holiday craft ideas!  Kristen from Kio Kreations was kind enough to provide tutorials for all of her wonderful creations and you can find them all below.  Since this post contains lots of projects, you can either scroll through all of it, or click the links below to jump down to the section you’re interested in seeing.

Looking for an easy, pretty addition to your thanksgiving table?  Rachel from Heart of Light created these super-simple printable napkin rings that would be perfect.  I love the accent of a sprig of fresh herb, or tuck a flower inside for a more romantic tabletop.

These string spheres are genius, I tell you.  Pure genius for pennies. Wrap yarn/string around balloon. Spray with fabric stiffener. Pop balloon, and voila!

After our first look and a quick glance at everything in the tent, I went back in hiding to the bridal trailer, aka, dumping ground for all my crap and place where I could silently freak out. I typically read about people wanting to come and see the bride before the ceremony and the bridesmaids having to shoo them away, but I actually didn’t have that problem at all and had a good amount of time all by myself. Luckily my two girlfriends and sisters kept me company up until the venue coordinator came by and told me “It’s 5 until the hour, but not that many people are here. What do you want to do?”

After our first look, I took a quick walk-through of the tent, looked around, and just stood in awe. Everything I had planned for was set-up. I pointed to one of the tables and said “Oh, wow! That looks so nice!” and my cousin turned to me and said “Well, you should like it! You picked everything out!” Good point cousin–but I hadn’t seen it yet. It had all been hypothetical. Seeing everything come together was a big deal.

Understatement of the year: I feel like I spent a lot of time planning this wedding. But the end result? A day filled not only with people that we love but details that I loved as well!