Monday, February 23, 2015

Tutu Mania!

So everyone on Pinterest has been seeing the adorable homemade tutus that are "so cheap and easy" according to every pin description. 

And, I can tell you, they are pretty easy to accomplish. It doesn't take a lot of skill. What it does take a lot of is:
Time
Patience
Tulle

First:
Determine what you want

Do you want a tutu that stands out like a ballerina? 
Do you want a knee length tutu skirt? A full length one?
Do you want a tutu dress?
Do you want a tutu table skirt?


Second:
How big of an area are you covering?

Is it a baby?
Toddler?
Child?
Small adult?
Large adult?
Side table?
8' round?
12' rectangle?


Third:
How do you want it to attach?

Do you want it on a ribbon you can tie?
On elastic you can slip on?
A "tutu" top or headband?


Fourth:
Materials

Ok. So. Once you've answered your core questions you get to start to look for materials. I will tell you personally I've gotten things from China (eBay), save-on-crafts, & Joann fabric.   There are TONS of places to look. Those are just my go-tos. 


To give you an idea of how much tulle it truly takes I'll post my completed tutus below with approximate yards and time. 

Custom "ballerina style" tutu skirt for infant and headband. 

1 bolt of pink tulle
54" x 25 yards
1 spool of 2" zebra ribbon
1 baby headband

Time: about 2 hours





My neice's 1/2 birthday baby carrier skirt

This started out as an attempt at a table skirt. I ended up running out of tulle. 
1 bolt (54"x25 yd) white tulle
1 bolt sky blue tulle
1 bolt pastel blue tulle
5 yards of 1/4" thick elastic. 

Time: about 2 hours



Flower girl skirts

1 6 month floor length flowing skirt
1 6 year old floor length flowing skirt

2 yellow knit headbands
1 bolt (54"x25yd) stiff burgundy tulle
1 bolt normal burgundy tulle
2 large spools (6"x100yd)
2 yards burgundy lace cut in strips

Time: about 6 hours






Adult tulle skirt


4 bolts (54"x25yd) light pink tulle
2 bolt (54"x25yd) taupe tulle
1 large bolt (60"x40yd) ivory tulle
1 spool 2" ivory satin ribbon

Time: about 8 hours

This guy was a beast. I'm 5'7 and it was knee length. I'm a size 16 and it went around me. It was a MONSTER. 



But it turned out beautifully for my boudoir shoot. ((Warning almost nudity. Covered boobs in hands.))




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Close if you don't want to see my hold my boobs in my hands!



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Ok you were warned. 










Good luck in all your tulle adventures!
Tell or show me your tulle tales in the comments!

Monday, February 2, 2015

DIY Flowers

So as many of you may know, I'm a Floral Designer by trade. I did all of my own flowers for my wedding and would never suggest doing that, but if you're trying to save money and can handle the stress...I'm going to give you a tutorial. 




First:
Decide what flowers you want. 
Not all flowers are year round. Some are only in season certain months. Also, some only come in specific colors. 

This site has a great list of lots of the flowers you can get in which colors and their names. It also has great pictures for sizing options as well:

Second:
Check to see if they are available at the time of your wedding. There are two ways to do this. Google: x flower in (month you're getting married). 

Or go straight to the websites that you will be ordering from and check to see if they have a month-month availability section once you've looked at that flower. 

Third:
Find them and price them. 

Locally: farmer's markets are great places to get flowers locally. Also, many Kroger stores will have a good quality and variety of flowers available for small bunches. 

If you are buying in bulk there are some sites online that sell to the public (and that ice used and know are reputable)
Http://samsclub.com
Http://flowerexplosion.com
Http://fiftyflowers.com

If buying silk or dried flowers to add to your arrangements I suggest:
Save-on-crafts.com
Afloral.com
Etsy.com (and search for specific items. Read reviews before you buy, but I've had positive experiences with sellers on etsy). 


Step Four
Order your flowers. Schedule the delivery for 2-3 days before your event so that your flowers have time to be delivered, come back to life, and be made into arrangements. 


ARRIVAL DAY
As soon as your flowers are delivered bring them inside. Cut open the boxes they will look like this:

Use scissors or a knife to cut open the box and unwrap the flowers. They will be wrapped in plastic (and possibly also cardboard)

If wrapped in cardboard they may look something like this:


As you unwrap the plastic keep
The small pouches of "plant food." It will look like this (about the size of a tea bag):


Take this and add it to buckets or vases of water. I normally put mine either in 5 gallon buckets (from lowes or Home Depot), or spare vases if I want to keep them in smaller group:


Before you place the flowers in the water you need to take a few steps:

Remove all leaves that you know you don't want / will fall below the water line. 

Cut the stem off at least two inches at an angle

This will allow the plant to soak up more of the nutrients and keep it alive longer. 

If it is a flower that needs to "bloom" put it in sunlight. 

If it doesn't need to bloom put it somewhere cool. 


If you have a basement that can be a cool enough area. Or if you keep your house in the upper 60s that should be fine. They will live longer if kept cool. 



DAY 2
So "Day 2" is after your flowers have had the opportunity to soak up the flower food and try to bloom out. If some still need to bloom leave them in sunlight while you work with others. 

Arrangements such as bouquets can be made and put back into water afterward to stay alive. Remember to get fresh water and flower food before putting your arrangements into a container to give it maximum life. 

I cut all of my arrangements with blunt ends. It doesn't give it as much ability to soak anything up, but it also keeps what was in there inside. So say you "dye" a flower. The food coloring the flower soaked up will stay in the flower after you cut from a pointed to a blunt end becaue you've stopped it from "going back out."

Arrangements that are completely wrapped in ribbon should not be put back in water. It wont do anything except get your ribbon wet. So put those in the fridge away from the cooling apparatus so they don't get freezer burnt. 

Arrangements that are small such as Boutineers and corsages should also be kept in the fridge to stay fresh. 


For more delicate flowers try to keep them cool for as long as possible (hydrangeas especially). 



EVENT DAY
Take the flowers from wherever you are storing them and put them into something to carry. If they're in cases I generally use a clothes basket with towels weaved between the bases to keep them steady. Put cooled pieces inside a cooler bag (like you get at a grocery store) for transport. 
Cooler bag from SAMs club


Once you arrive at the location put the arrangements either in a cooler or somewhere dark and cool until time for use. (Or if you're getting married in gal or winter and it's below 50 degrees outside you can leave them outside). 



Don't forget to wipe off the ends of bouquets before handing them to he bride or bridesmaids (if they've been in water). And to put corsage pins with corsages and Boutineers so they can be attached easily. 


If you have any questions or would like a price quote on what it would cost to have your wedding done by me visit: http://marlipaigefloral.com