Two years ago I helped to throw a bridal shower for one of my very best friends! It was so much fun to do and to help plan. I made some wool felt flower pins for the occasion (lots of them), which we then used as napkin holders for each of the guests. They were sort of "party favors" for everyone.
Aside from the chance to be crafty (which, obviously I love any reason to be crafty!) it also gave me the chance to see some friends from high school whom I hadn't seen since graduation!
What fun it was to catch up with so many friends. Several months after the party one of my friends from high school emailed me to tell me that her sister was engaged (that was hard to believe considering she was just a toddler the last time I had seen her!) and she wanted to know if I might be able to help with ideas and crafty projects for shower. I felt honored that she asked and excited to have something a bit different than normal to work on around here.
To start, she asked me to make a banner for the occasion. It's similar to the other banners I have made.
It's hard to see here, but I used seersucker for the background since that is what the men will be wearing
in the wedding.
and added some felt "billy button" accents as
well to match the flowers and color scheme.
In addition to the banner I also made some mini bow ties...
Similar in idea to the flower pins, mini seersucker bow ties to use as napkin rings for the shower...
And later as a hair tie...
or even a bracelet...
And since June is supposed to be the month for weddings, I thought I'd share a quick how to for the mini bow-ties in case you find yourself needing a little extra something...
Cut two 2 1/2" x 3" strips of fabric. Place right sides together and sew (using a 1/4" seam allowance) around three edges, leaving one short side unsewn. Flip right side out, press, fold unfinished edge inside, press again, then edgestitch the opening closed and around the entire rectangle.
Next, pinch the rectangle in the middle so that there are two folds, like so...
Place a hair tie in between the two folds...
And stitch down the center several times to attach the hair tie.
Next, add a few dots of hot glue to the center of the bow, wrap a small strip of ribbon, I used elastic, around the center, folding in the edge at the end.
And, you are done...
I made lots as you can see...
so instead of making my rectangles one at a time I made one long rectangle and then cut it into strips...
It was much faster to make 20+ that way. But, one at a time works well if you are only making a couple...
Have a great day!
