Handmade, Repurposed, Burlaps Coffee Bags

Starting today on our handmade burlap gift bags for all of our guests.  Saltspring Island Coffee graciously gave us their extra burlap coffee sacks.  We shall make good use of them.   We visited their Richmond store and picked up a nice bundle to start with.

We are not like other wedding fair where you receive swag bags full of advertising material.  As we are a homegrown event we try to give all of our guests their own wedding favour as they leave.  In the past we have given away flower seeds and macaroons.  This year we will have a handmade 3D paper heart in our little handsewn bags to give out. 

I will give a shout out now to all my little crafty helpers who really go above and beyond the call in helping me pull all the DIY elements together.

Vintage inspired table setting.

We may be still in the dark of winter, but  with spring around the corner what better way to celebrate the blossoming of new life than a DIY vintage inspired table setting.

These gorgeous fair trade blooms are courtesty of Whole Foods Cambie Market.  We supplied the vintage bubble vase and the mason jar and the lovely ladies of the floral department created a display of subtle pinks and greens with a vintage flair in mind. 

The table runner is a handmade creation upcycled from an old wool blanket which was felted and cut into the shape of a giant leaf with green thread accenting the edging.

The wooden table numbers are created from recycled tree ends from a Christmas tree lot, with tiny holes drilled into the tops and recycled metal curled into a post to  hold the table card.

Green stemmed vintage wine glasses are accompanied by handmade ceramic dishware from eikcam .  Full dishware sets can be customed ordered from eikcam and make a great wedding gift.  Visit Grace at her studio at the Mergatroid Building on Vernon street in Vancouver.

Handmade paper hearts to decorate are made from reclaimed booksand handmade papers and stitched together with embroidery thread.  Holes are made through 6 sheets or more of paper with a awl and then pulled apart to create the 3D effect. 

Large mason jars work beautifully as vases and can be found at any second  hand store.

This vintage bubble vase was found at a second hand store for $2.00.

All of the vendors listed and the DIY ideas shown could be found at The Grassroots Wedding Fair.  More DIY and vendor spotlights will follow.

Photoshoot Contributors:

photography: sweet earth photographics

ceramic plates: eikcam

floral arrangements: Wholefoods Cambie Market

DIY elements:

paper hearts

felted leaf table runner

table number holder

DIY Ideas you CAN do yourself

There is something about a wedding that can bring out the inner artist.  It is time to plan one of the biggest parties of your life, celebrate life, love and happiness with your key people, and go wild (or not) with some great artistic ideas.  Many websites exist for great inspirational ideas, but you do not have to look far for creative inspiration in this city.

What I really really like about Vancouver in the past few years is the great crafting movement that is blossoming.  The past Christmas season was spectacular with multiple markets filled with amazing artisans.

One of those market places and hubs of artistic inspiration is Blim, a community based arts resource centre.  They not only put on markets, but have classes that encourage diverse expressions of art at all levels.  Check out their schedule and add a unique flair to your wedding.

So, a little word about Blim!

BLIM is a Community Based Art Resource Center which facilitates screen-printing, button making, drawing, knitting, local underground audio, film screenings, animation, video, dance, spoken word, visual art, creative workshops, and crafts in the independent field.

BLIM is conveniently located in the heart of Vancouver’s DIY art spaces on Main Street.

BLIM believes in presenting work that is still deemed as art, yet not quite embraced by the music world or gallery context, but deserves a platform for expression. As well as to facilitate the general public towards creative projects.

BLIM is a non-funded arts facility run by and for artists and community? This requires the hard work of Yuriko Iga, Noel Macul, and the many volunteers.

In order to remain autonomous to governments systems, it is our choice to act as a market-driven business without funding. We have managed to survive solely on sales, service, and the wonderful support of the people of Vancouver for the past 5 years.

BLIM also raises funds by collaborating with various organizations both in the arts, media, and community field such as Powell Street Festival, Public Dreams, Langara Institute, Emily Carr, New Music Vancouver, and VIVO.

BLIM has received coverage in the local entertainment arts guide and was voted best “Low profile event space” in Vancouver Magazine, as well as “Best Innovative Arts Space” in the Terminal City.

We just recently got voted “Best Place to Whip up some Art” in the Georgia Straight.

BLIM COLLAGE BUTTON MAKING

Monday, January 11/February 8 | 7 – 10 PM | $20
Featuring: Yuriko Iga

Group Rate (6–8 people or more): 10% OFF/person

Mini art, collage, graphics, drawings, or text in a 1″, 1.25″, 1.5″, 2″ or 3″ button. Bring images in 1″, 1.25″, 1.5″, 2″, or 3″ round format, or the materials you wish to work with. We provide other materials such as magazines, reference books, photocopier, markers. 25 buttons of any size included. There will be a snack bar, good music, and fun to be had!

PLEASE PAY 48 HRS BEFORE WORKSHOP.

GOCCO PRINTING

Saturday, January 9/February 13 | 2 – 5 PM | $60 (includes all materials)
Featuring: Kaytee Kilgour

Group Rate (6–8 people or more): 10% OFF/person

Learn to make your own beautiful hand printed greeting cards using the Japanese Print Gocco Machine. Gocco is a portable hand held screenprinting device invented by the Japanese to make mess free screenprinted cards at home.

Please bring your 4″ × 5″ image on black & white carbon photocopy. The cost of workshop is $60 for whole afternoon which includes 20 cards with envelopes. We provide other materials such as inks, screens and bulbs.
There will be a snack bar, good music, and fun to be had!

www.savegocco.com

SCREENPRINTING

Water based, oil-based, vinyl based inks.

Group Rate (6–8 people or more): 10% OFF/person

Level 1: Wednesdays, 6:30 – 10 PM Emulsion application and water-based inks

workshop-$58 (incl. tax & service charge)

$50

DIY Decorations – Leaf Garland

Natural looking leaf garland is a beautiful way to decorate for a green wedding.  It is a handmade creation that is not difficult, although you do need time to put it all together.  It involves fantastic thrift store searching, felting, cutting and sewing, and anyone can carry out this lovely DIY decorating idea.

Feel good not only about reducing and reusing, but taking a creative role in the design of your wedding decor.  This garland is so versatile that it can be used over and over.  It is such a simple yet beautiful accent.

We shall have this decorating idea on hand at The Grassroots Wedding Fair.

Step 1:

Take a trip to your local thrift store.  You are looking for 100% wool sweaters in your wedding colours.  If you can find old vintage sweaters the better.  They have to be 100% wool to felt properly.  Choose 1-3 sweaters to start and feel free to mix colours.

Step 2:

Wash your sweaters in hot water.  If you have a washing machine bag or even a pillow case place the sweaters inside the bag.  Place tennis balls in your washer if you have any.  Otherwise wash the sweaters with jeans.  The sweaters need to be agitated and balls in the washer work really well. 

Some sweaters may have to be washed more than once.  Place in the dryer and you should have lovely pulverized felted material to work with. 

Even if your sweater does not felt perfectly you can still cut out your leaves.  Try a few and decide if you can still use them.

3. Cut sweater into strips and then start cutting out your leaves.

4. Sew the leaves by hand or by machine so that they form a chain.  You have options here.  You can sew long stitches by hand through the leaves, with one stitch per leaf, or you can sew the leaves end to end, but this will include a lot of stopping and starting.  The other method is to simply run them through your sewing machine, slowly, one after another until you reach your desired length.

Try decorating your leaves with various stitches of different colours or sew two leaves together of different colours and stitch rip out sections between the stitches. 

5. Hang and stand back in awe at your lovely creation.

This garland can be adapted to almost any type of floral creation.  If you have a summer wedding, try simple flower cutouts in bright colours.  For a fall wedding, choose an array of reds, oranges and greens.

DIY Wedding Ideas

Sometimes when it comes to our weddings we want to do things ourselves.  We can be inspired to great heights from the work of others and desire to recreate the idea.  Isn’t it great then to find a site that offers these inspirational ideas up for recreation. 

Craft: transforming traditional crafts  is an online blogging community that offers up great ideas for many crafting projects.  Simply enter ‘wedding’ into the search box and you will be rewarded.  Sometimes all we need is an idea to get us started.  Inspiration for all you crafty couples-to-be is at your finger tips.

At The Grassroots Wedding Fair we shall have mini design installations with great DIY decorating ideas on display for craft savvy couples-to-be to recreate.  On our main website we shall the ideas posted with instructions to follow.  We will have a few sneak peaks up soon as all our busy craftors are working away on design ideas right now.  We may be competing with Santa and his elves.