DIY Wedding Details: Personalized Tote Bags

Since my wedding was really a destination wedding (I don’t know anyone that came that was actually from Cashiers, NC!) and most of the guests were staying at High Hampton, I decided to give each guest an in-room favor instead of favors at the actual ceremony.

These perfectly-branded paint can out of town baskets are just darling.  They are also budget-friendly and easy to DIY!   You can buy empty paint cans at most hardware or home improvement stores, and even some scrapbook stores. 

I always knew I wanted personalized bags (cuz that’s how I roll), and definitely wanted reusable ones to suit our Eco-Green endeavors… but being broke-ass doesn’t really suit either of those desires. So, when my sister and bro-in-law came through town on their way to Bali, and mentioned they could get bags made for a fraction of American prices, we were all about it. I sent the file to their contact in Bali, and the bags were ready within a week! My sis was generous enough to carry all 50 home with her, to save us shipping costs. We couldn’t believe how beautifully they turned out! They were even better than we dreamt they’d be.

It’s a crazy day in the real world everyone!

We’re so excited to share a wonderful and relaxing DIY project with you today from the fabulous Rebekah J Murray: a recipe for Herbs de Provence seasoned salts! They’re useful, easy to make, and would make great favors for a wedding or shower.

Although it’s getting cooler and crisper out, it’s definitely still warm enough to sit around a fire bundled under some blankets, especially if it’s to make s’mores! What is it about the trio of graham, mallow and chocolate that is so incredible? Whatever it is, it’s a universally accepted fact that s’mores make everyone smile, which makes them a perfect treat for your wedding guests! Whether as a favor or a snack to enjoy during the reception, here’s a roundup of some great DIY s’mores ideas:

Everyone loves sweet treats, so what better idea than this hand-stamped favor box that adds a personal touch to the always-popular edible favors.  Andrea Gray Harper stops by today to share the how-to!

Christen here again, loving lemon week! I hope you are all enjoying the lemony goodness. Today, I’ve got a round-up of lemony favors to send home with your guests. My favorite part about all of these? They’re DIY! First up, homemade lemon scrub for some silky smooth skin. Packaged in a cute container with some twine (divine or not) and even a label that matches your stationery, a body scrub is definitely a treat that your guests will love.

These adorable sachet favors make great gifts for your guests. They will leave your amazing event with the sweet smell of love (and lavender!).

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!

I love edible wedding and party favors, and Kelly Maron – mastermind behind Paper Stories and the hip Chicago bridal show Indie Wed – has stopped by EAD today to share her quick and easy how-to for S’mores on a Stick!  And even better, she has created three adorable printable tags for these goodies in two color palettes.  Print either the “Love on a Stick” or “Yum! Yum! Yum!” tags on sheets of label paper, and wrap around the S’more stick, or print the “Gimme S’more!” tag on cardstock, punch a hole, and attach to your S’more with decorative twine.  Voila – easy peasy S’mores favors!  Thanks Kelly for sharing!

This morning’s Pancakes & Honey Breakfast shoot featured several handmade wedding projects, and the team of Suzy from Lily Red Studio, Kelly Marie from Fleur, and Jaclyn Simpson Photography have been kind enough to share their DIY secrets with us! They created several projects – click on the links below to jump to the instructions for your favorite:

I’m in “Love” with these simple but beautiful blank book favors created by Laura of Orange Beautiful.  Any craft involving a xyron and fabulous hand-lettering is a craft I can get on board with!

In the depth of winter there is nothing more marvelous than a steaming mug of hot cocoa.  And of course, cocoa kits make the perfect favors for any winter wedding.  Sara Gray put together these adorable hot cocoa kits for the Inspired Creations holiday contest (run on over and sign up in the sidebar for the Inspired Creations newsletter, coming out tomorrow, and see the rest of the holiday contest entries!).

I love easy crafty projects, and was excited when Meg Perotti posted an easy step-by-step tutorial for making your own teacup candles!  Teacup candles make beautiful additions to any tabletop or lovely and thoughtful favors.  Meg thrifted her teacups at Salvation Army and Goodwill, and purchased candle making supplies on Etsy and at Michaels.

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.

I adore books as wedding decor – perhaps you want to give them as favors, use them in centerpieces, or hollow them out for use in your invitations.  However you’d like to incorporate books into your wedding, this nifty tutorial from ohdeedoh shows us how to transform paperbacks into custom hardbacks in just a few easy steps.

I fancy myself a fairly crafty person, but I’m also a fairly busy person, so I didn’t figure on incorporating a lot of DIY projects into my wedding preparations. Making table numbers and creating a guest book in Blurb with our engagement photos were definitely the easiest things I did myself. But the bigger projects I took on – our save-the-dates, invitations and favors – saved us a lot of money and went a long way toward personalizing our big day, which is what DIY is all about, isn’t it?

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!

Our photographer’s photos of our wedding will be ready this weekend, so while I wait for those to re-cap my ceremony with you all, I’ll share a couple of my DIY projects: passport wedding programs and African music CDs.  As I’ve mentioned, Dave and I are extremely lucky enough to have traveled extensively around the world; travel (in Africa primarily) is what brought us together in the first place.   So instead of a monogram logo, I created a mock passport visa stamp with our names and wedding date on it, and used it on nearly every DIY project I had including our invitations, website, napkins, programs, favors, thank you notes…you name it.  That $20 stamp from Simon Stamps was the best tool I bought throughout planning.