Will you be my maid?

Finally, my very first (completed) DIY project... It took almost 5 months to complete! To be fair I did it in three parts and I had to wait for all my bridesmaids to receive them before I could blog about them here. Without further ado here they are, my bridesmaids' invites:

PART I:


Supplies:
* 6 pink tank tops with lace detail from Forever 21 - $6.50 each
* 1 white tank top for ME!
* Fabric Puff Paint - Light Pink, Medium Pink and Silver - Free (a gift from my MOH)
* Templates (printed on my computer in two different fonts to see which one looked best)


Then we (my MOH) slid the template under the shirt and traced the text with the puff paint. Make sure you have good light!

We actually did a bunch of test runs and discovered that she was much more consistent than I was so "we" decided it would be best for her to do them :D There was actually a psuedo -bridezilla moment involved but it all worked out.


We just put them in the window to dry. It takes about four hours for puff paint to dry completely.


This is the bride one... light pink on white.

We did my MOH's in silver on pink. We were going to write "Maid of Honor" but decided that would be way too difficult. At that point "we" had already done 6 so "we" were also pretty burnt out.

Part II:


These are the flowers I posted about a while back... which I attached to the tanks!


This one is mine! The paint leaked into the shirt a little and I am not quite sure why. It didn't do it on any of the other shirts.

This is my fabulous Maid of Honor's!


Here are the bridesmaids'! I put the flowers in different places so that each one is a little unique.

PART III:


I printed these "will you be my bridesmaid" templates from Wedding Chicks on cardstock and cut them into little luggage tags.


Then I just wrapped and tagged each one! (I have to find better ribbon but you get the idea!)

DONE!

It just took 4.5 months... on to my next project!

DIY project No. 1: Fabric Flowers

{100 Layer Cake}

I've decided to finally try to complete a DIY project that I started almost 3 weeks ago.

I do think of myself as crafty. I crochet, quilt, sew... I even know my way around a hot glue gun...I think. In honor of spring I have decided to make about two dozen fabric flowers to attach to my bridesmaids' invitations.

So Mr. Pancakes and I went down to the fabric district, and bought a yard of pink fabric, and a yard of white tulle.

Things I forgot: felt, buttons, beads and hot glue...It was a little overwhelming for me.

So this is the basic idea:
{100 Layer Cake}

Directions according to Lanie on 100 Layer Cake:
1. Cut out several squares of fabric in descending sizes to make the various layers. Your largest circle should be about 4 to 5 inches in diameter and the rest should be about 1/2″ smaller. This will vary based on how full you want the flowers to look. More layers, more full.
2. Round the squares off into circles. Don’t worry about getting them perfect as they will melt down unevenly anyway.
3. Slowly rotate the circle about 1 inch from an open flame. Go slowly as the edges start to melt. Get closer to the flame for a more dramatic edge effect.
4. For a modern flower that is more flat, only burn the edges slightly. For a more ruffly and girly look, hold the flower at both edges and slowly bring the middle of the fabric to the flame.

Here are some other DIY fabric flowers that I considered. Enjoy!

{100 Layer Cake}

{Wedding Bee}

{Maize in Montana}

{Primrose Corner}

{Once Wed}

{Birds of a Feather}

Have you tried any of these other fabric flowers? Or do you know of others that are particularly easy??

For the Fellas...

While sitting through a presentation on the human rights responsibilities of companies in extractive industries, I decided to start looking for save-the-date ideas. (No, I did not know when we are getting married, but it never hurts to be prepared.)

While searching for inspiration I found these amazing groomsmen invites! Unfortunately, I did not use them because my Mr. Pancakes had already invited all his groomsmen(via email...sigh). That doesn't mean that somebody else couldn't benefit from them!



These templates are available on The Wedding Chicks

Deciding on groomsmen was a pretty easy decision for Mr. P because he has a small group of guy friends he's really close to. They pretty much grew up together and even have matching tattoos... Plus Mr. P doesn't have any brothers or male cousins so there were no family issues to take into consideration. I, on the other, have two sisters, a FSIL, high school friends, and college friends...


How did your groom invite his groomsmen? Was it an easy decision? Who invited their attendants first you or Mr?