DIY Fringe Backdrop
Ready for a super easy and super cheap DIY that will take FOREVER?! haha! This is definitely one of those show stopper pieces for a party, but you will spend many nights tying lots and lots of knots!
SUPPLIES:
$1 plastic table cloths. I got mine from the Dollar Tree and Walmart.
Cutting mat and rotary cutter with extra blades (you can use scissors, but wow it will take a lot longer)
Optional : something to hang the backdrop on until you’re ready to install it. I used an old backdrop stand, but I would assume you could work directly on the wall using Command Hooks.
DIRECTIONS
Decide how big you want your backdrop to be. I cut the poultry netting into large pieces and fastened them together with zip ties. I also zip-tied the poultry netting to an old backdrop stand.
Cut roughly 1-2” strips of plastic table cloths. No need to measure or unfold them. You can literally just use a rotary cutter and cut strips very quickly.
Unfold each individual strip until you have A LOT. I would recruit someone to help you.
Tie one strip at a time to the poultry netting by folding the strip in half and feeling the tail end through the loop. (example below)
Continue until you achieve the desired look you want.
Trim any pieces as necessary.
Use several 5lbs command hooks to install the backdrop to the wall.
TA-DA! Admire your work!
FAQ:
How big is your backdrop? Mine is roughly 8x8ft
How many tablecloths did you use? I didn’t count but I estimated that I used about 60.
How long did this take? Roughly 10 hours for one person.
Can I use scissors instead of a rotary cutter? Yes! It will just take a little longer.
Make Your Wedding Uniquely Yours
From the food you serve to the music you play, you can customize your wedding to suit you in both big and subtle ways. See how we planned a wedding with personal vows, the Grateful Dead, vegan food, bubble gun dance floor, and incorporated our dogs without them being there!
My biggest piece of advice (besides hire a wedding planner) is to make your wedding yours! If you want to ditch a tradition, or all of them for that matter, do it! For example - I definitely got some looks when I told a few people that we decided to do online RSVP’s, but I’m SO glad we did it! It kept count for me, saved on paper and postage, and encouraged everyone to look at the wedding website I spent so long on - haha. If you followed my wedding journey you’ll know that I DIY’d A LOT and that alone gave my wedding a ton of personal touches, but we didn’t stop there!
All of my vendors and links are at the bottom of this post.
Style
Pick the look that reflects YOU! I opted for a strapless dress and paired it with some big awesome earrings that I ordered from an etsy seller based in India. I didn’t go with a veil, I decided to wear my dress the whole time instead of changing into a dancing dress, I added a custom faux leather jacket at night, and I changed from my sparkly heels into wedged sneakers for comfort after the ceremony. My makeup was very glam and featured glitter on my eyes, big lashes, and a red lip. My hair fell IMMEDIATELY because of the humid rainy weather, but I opted for a sparkly hair piece, wavy hair (rip, lol), and extensions for a fuller and longer look. Zach chose a paisley tux jacket and he and all of his guys wore skeleton Grateful Dead socks as a nod to Zach’s favorite band and the fact that we were getting married the weekend before Halloween.
Ceremony
The focal point of our ceremony as you walked in was the beautiful geometric arch that Zach’s dad made for us. It started with a Pinterest photo that I showed him, and he created my vision perfectly. Zach and I will be using it in some way in our new house that is currently being built (ahh so cool!). During the ceremony we each stood by 5 girls and 5 guys, I had two maids of honor and Zach didn’t choose a best man because he didn’t want to rate his friends, haha. Zach and I laid out our ceremony word for word with the help of our officiant. My biggest request to Zach was that our vows be personal and that we read them out loud (don’t forget to hire a DJ that will mic you so that your guests can hear you). We decided on five individual vows that started with “I promise” where we swapped back and forth with personal banter that was secret to each other until that moment, and ended on “I promise to always be your best friend” and “I promise to always be your best friend, too.” Our ceremony also included a rose ceremony that thanked our parents and ended with us presenting a rose to each of them. The venue also featured several of the signs that I DIY’d including welcome, seating chart, order of events, drink menu and more.
Reception
We knew we wanted time for photos after the ceremony so we entertained our guests with a cocktail hour complete with a digital photobooth featuring a DIY where we made big heads of our dogs Sweetpea and Loki to use as props, passed hors d'oeuvres that included options for everyones dietary needs (a big reflection of Zach since he is vegan), alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks with custom '“Drunk in Love” koozies, and a playlist that Zach made himself! (We would have also had cornhole had it not rained). Our guest tables were lined with floating candles that I sourced and planned, numbered with another simple DIY that Zach and I did with dried flowers, and each table had crayons and a coloring sheet of our dogs Sweetpea and Loki that I had custom made by an illustrator on Etsy. We did our grand entrance to “Beastie Boys - Fight for Your Right to Party” where I debuted my custom leather jacket that I DIY’d days before the wedding with my new last name on the back - it was awesome! Zach also created another playlist for dinner where we snuck away to the greenhouse on the property and had a private dinner with just the two of us featuring a gorgeous table setting from Prissy Plate Company and Stem’s Atlanta. I highly recommend doing this! It was quiet, we talked, enjoyed the food, and could hear Zach’s playlist in the distance - so magical. Speaking of food, we hired a caterer that knew how to make delicious vegan food! We opted for a few non-vegan options, too - but really made a point to create a buffet that reflected our personal tastes. When it was time to cut the cake, we chose five cupcake flavors (2 vegan options and 3 non-vegan options) that sat under another smaller arch also built by Zach’s dad. Besides the formal dances, we chose to only play upbeat music for the entire night complete with bubble guns on the dance floor and my bridesmaids surprising me with hilarious animal heads. We ended our night with a sparkler send off and “pretended” to leave in one of Zach’s dads old cars (we hired a car to actually take us home though as we had been drinking).
What personal touches did you add/want to add to your wedding? Leave them in the comments below :)
My Dress: Wedding Angels in Roswell, GA (if you get alterations make sure you request Karan)
Zachs Suit: Savvi Formalwear
Bridesmaids Dresses: Etsy
Groomsmen Grateful Dead Socks: Stance via Amazon
My Earrings: Etsy
My Ceremony Heels: Asos
My Reception Wedge Sneakers: Bebe Hi-Tops
Hair: My Hair: (Maxine from Arrow Salon) + Bridesmaids and Mothers Hair: Meg Me Beautiful
Makeup: Meg Me Beautiful
Hair Extensions: Laced Hair
Bouquet and Arch flowers: Venue’s personal florist
Formal Place Settings: Prissy Plate Company
Private Dinner Flowers: Heather with Stem’s Atlanta
Hand Lettered Place Cards and Tiles: Haley at Wilde Flower Paper Co
Pampas Grass: Sourced from Cut Flower Wholesale in Atlanta, GA
Venue: West Milford Farm in Cumming, GA
Photographer: Diamond Eyes
Photobooth: Smilebooth
Videographer: LT Photo + Film
Illustrator for coloring page: Etsy
Custom Koozies: Etsy
Catering: Penni with Flavorful Events
Cupcakes: Splat
Athlete Bath Bombs
The other day I was thinking about what to buy for one of my best friends who already has everything when I remembered that she handmade me a present a few years ago and I wanted to do the same for her. (Hi Liz, now you know what part of your Christmas present is). Anyways, I was pretty excited about it, so I decided to share it with you incase you were in need of a good handmade Christmas gift as well. Now you can make these for anyone who loves a good bath, but I've catered these two recipes specifically for athlete recovery. Be ready because your house is about to smell amazzzzing.
Epsom Salt and Coconut Oil Bath Bombs : (makes 3)
Benefit: Coconut oil is moisturizing for the skin, while Epsom Salt relieves pain and muscle cramps, eliminates toxins from the body, soothes sprains and bruises, etc. Although you can use whatever essential oil you'd like, I chose Patchouli. A more earthy scent, this essential oil is known for being an antidepressant and sedative, helps speed up the recovery of wounds and prevents them from developing infections, and lastly is an aphrodisiac.
1 1/4 cup Baking Soda
2/3 cup Corn Starch
2/3 cup Citric Acid (It took me forever to find this. I found it in the canning section of Walmart)
2/3 cup Epsom Salt
2+ teaspoons water
2 teaspoon essential oil (I used patchouli)
2 1/2 teaspoons melted coconut oil
4+ drops of food coloring
Items You Will Need:
Mold (I bought mine on Amazon, here)
Mixing Bowls
Whisk
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Tray
Metal Utensil
Start by combining the four dry ingredients and whisking until the clumps are gone. In a separate bowl, combine and mix the water, essential oil, and coconut oil (don't forget to melt your coconut oil). Optional: you can go ahead and add the food coloring now for one color bath bombs, or later if you want multi colored bath bombs - like I did below.
Now you're going to SLOWLY whisk in the wet ingredients with the dry ones. If the mixture starts to fizz, go slower. Once it's all combined, it should be the consistency of wet sand. If it's too dry, you can add a bit more water. I separated my final mixture into a few different bowls so I could add different colors to each.
Now you need to OVER fill both sides of your bath bomb mold. I found that packing in the mixture tightly and adding a bit more at the end before I put them together worked best for me. Do this over your bowl because you're going to lose some of the extra as your fitting the two sides of the mold together. Lightly tap the filled bath bomb mold with a metal spoon (or whatever you have around). Begin by removing one side of the mold carefully, and then the other. Put on a tray and let it dry 1-2 days, That's it! I had no problems with the mixture not sticking to each other or breaking apart, but they are very delicate so be gentle.
The next is the Oatmeal Bath Bomb. Quick tip: Although this one is pretty and full of benefits, the oatmeal in the mixture made it harder for both sides of the mold to stick together. It's totally worth it and I've put more tips in the recipe section to help you out. I recommend only using one color or not using the food coloring at all. Incase you don't have the mixture damn enough, this allows you to retry without mixing up your pretty colors.
Oatmeal Bath Bomb (makes 2)
Benefits: Oatmeal makes for a very relaxing bath. It's great to cleanse your skin and lock in moisture. Lavender is known to be anti-inflammatory, reduces anxiety, improves sleep and helps heal wounds. Witch Hazel disinfects wounds, helps balance skin, treats sunburn, etc.
2/3 cup Baking Soda
1/3 cup Corn Starch
1/2 cup quick oats
1/3 cup Citric Acid
1 teaspoon Witch Hazel
1-2 teaspoons water
1 teaspoon essential oil (I used lavender for this one)
You'll want to follow the same method as before. Whisk the dry ingredients together in one bowl and the wet in another. Slowly combine them together and try not to let the mixture fizz. Once it's the consistency of wet sand, pack and overfill both sides of your mold. If it doesn't stick together, try whisking in a little more water and attempt again. I found that making the mixture a little more damp than my first recipe helped the two sides of the mold to stick together.
Lightly tap the filled bath bomb mold with a metal spoon (or whatever you have around). Begin by removing one side of the mold carefully, and then the other. Put on a tray and let it dry 1-2 days before using!