According to a recent Brides Magazine survey, 85 percent of marrying couples (an estimated 2.2 million in 2010) will be making do-it-yourself projects. One place brides can turn to for help is Michaels, the arts and crafts specialty retailer. Brides can find trendy products, including an exclusive do-it-yourself invitation collection from the editors of Brides, wedding favors from Kate Aspen, and thousands of supplies for creating unique showers, parties, ceremonies and receptions.
Couples, who are looking for ways to make their day special without spending a fortune, can find silk flowers and greenery, aisle runners and lighted arches and garlands, as well as themed accessories like guest books, ring pillows, flower girl baskets and unity candles. Reception projects include silk, floral and candle centerpieces; place cards, cake toppers and stands.
Michaels also provides tools such as the Celebrate It™ Wedding inspiration book, featuring top trends and bridal styles (Classic, Natural, Modern, Playful and Romantic), an online wedding checklist and hundreds of DIY wedding project ideas with complete instructions at www.michaels.com/wedding.
And after the festivities are over, Michaels has hundreds of options to preserve wedding memories with scrapbook supplies, memory boxes, frames, photo albums and custom framing.
Jo Pearson, Michaels' Creative Expert for the past 23 years, has some money-saving ideas for summer weddings:
Ceremony Program Fan- Demonstration Project
This is a creative way to use a wedding program at an outdoor wedding for introducing the bridal party and keeping guests comfortable in the summer heat.
A bride can create 50 program fans for less than $30.
Need:
Cut the cardstock in half. The sheets will form the front and back of the fans.
Cut the photo to fit front of one piece of cardstock. If adding an accent colored border, cut the colored paper slightly larger than the photo. Glue the photo and border directly to the cardstock.
Print the program and cut to fit other piece of cardstock. Use a glue stick to adhere.
Glue the jumbo craft sticks end to end; leave the desired handle length on one piece of cardstock.
Glue the two cardstock halves together with craft sticks sandwiched in between.
Create decorative corners on the program fans by using the corner punch at each corner of the fan.
Using the ribbon, tie a small bow and glue to the handle.
SAMPLE PROJECTS:
Candy Bar:
A candy bar at a reception is the newest craze in the wedding world. Glass jars full of candy in wedding colors allow guests to treat their sweet teeth to this fun wedding favor. Guests can fill a variety of bags and containers with the candy and seal with a personalized sticker. Decorative scoops and jars add a personalized touch.
A basic candy bar will cost approximately $50.
Headbands:
The headband trend is an easy DIY project to style wedding day hair for brides and bridesmaids. A headband embellished with ribbon, feathers and rhinestones can be created for less than $15, a mere fraction of a department store where similar styles retail for up to $100.
Thumbprint Family Tree Guest Book:
This project is a unique way to capture all guests that attended a wedding and can be framed and ready to hang in the newlyweds' home. Each guest simply prints their thumb and signs the "leaf" on a pre-painted tree trunk and branches. (Baby wipes make clean up a snap.)
This project costs approximately less than $50.
Jewelry:
Every bride wants to look like a princess on her special day, and her jewelry must be exquisite! Michaels makes it easy to create that one of a kind necklace, bracelet and earrings. DIY jewelry pieces also make for inexpensive gifts for a bride to give her bridesmaids.
A necklace can be created for less than $50, up to 75 percent less than a similar piece from a bridal shop or department store.
Personalized Invitations:
Brides can easily personalize invitations along with response cards, labels, ribbons, direction cards and jackets with the help of wedding kits. Invitations come in a variety of styles, colors and patterns to fit a wedding theme. Patterned and monogrammed sealed wax adds an elegant touch to a finished invitation.
Creating a set of 30 invitations cost approximately $39.99, a tiny fraction of the cost of a paper specialty shop and printer.
Personalized Mini Votive Candles: Personalize mini votive candles to sprinkle around reception and serving tables to add a finishing touch of color.
Each candle can be purchased and embellished for approximately $2.66 each.
For more DIY wedding ideas, visit michaels.com
ABOUT JO PEARSON
As Michaels Creative Expert for the past 23 years, Jo Pearson's office is unlike most in corporate America – open her craft room doors to find a sea of color, feathers, flowers, glitter and glue. She began crafting at age 7, making potholders and selling them to family members and friends to earn money for more supplies. In 1986, she saw a sign in the window at her local Michaels in St. Louis and applied for a job. Since then she has been responsible for dreaming up literally thousands of projects for Michaels, Michaels.com, TheKnackKids.com and WhereCreativityHappens.com.
She has been a regular guest on national TV shows like Lifetime Network's "Our Home" and "Handmade by Design," and authored several how-to books. Jo's enthusiasm, creativity and knowledge have made her a favorite of TV audiences as well as readers. Her first series of webisodes, which debuted over the 2008 holiday season, had over 800,000 views on YouTube, and drove more than 170,000 unique visitors to WhereCreativityHappens.com, Michaels' dedicated site for ideas and inspiration. Jo's fun personality shines through on the brand new series of spring how-to webisodes, as she shares with viewers Michaels' philosophy that anyone can be creative with the right inspiration. All of the videos are unscripted, with Jo giving easy tips and techniques to save time and money while creating beautiful homemade gifts and decor.
"No matter what your skill level, you can have fun and make wonderful projects from the heart for yourself or friends and family," she said. "After all these years, I'm still learning new things all the time, and so can you!"
To view Jo's new videos, go to wherecreativityhappens.com
