DIY Projects Archives - Rewrite the Stars

Blooming Parasol wedding decoration

Bring your DIY game to make these beautiful blooming parasol wedding decoration, a gorgeous project for your DIY wedding.

These floral parasols are one of my most likes pictures on Instagram, they are super simple to make and will make a gorgeous addition to your venue décor.

Bringing the Outdoors Inside with these Parasol Wedding Decorations

I have always been rather taken with bringing the outdoors inside and envisage these looking gorgeous in a clear roofed marquee or greenhouse setting.

The parasol has been around for many many years and most of us are familiar with seeing them as an accessory for wealthy woman in Victorian times. They go back a lot longer than this! Around 4000 years ago, they were used in Egypt and China and were made from natural materials such as bamboo and palm leaves. Back then the rules suggested that royalty and nobility kept their pale skin.

In the early 20^th Century, waterproof versions took over and made the parasol rather unfashionable. Nobility were now encouraged to show tanned skin as a show of their beach lifestyle.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

Parasols, I have used the traditional white, but there are many options for you to choose from now.

Flowers. I have used hydrangeas and gypsophila.

String or twine to attach to the ceiling

This really is the simplest project. Open the parasol and lay the flowers around the edges. I see no reason to secure them as the shape of the parasol keeps them in. I used hydrangeas, as I do love them and they have a large head. However, these are quite pricey. Gypsophila is a great filler and very economical so use plenty of this to give a full effect.

Both of these flowers dry really well, so you don’t need to use them fresh.

You will need to test out how to fix these to the ceiling of your venue, ensure that you take advice from the venue as to what you can use to attach them.

Do show me your makes in the comments.

Click HERE for DIY table plan idea.

Categories: DIY Projects, Lifestyle, Recipes, Weddings

Seville Orange Marmalade

This super tangy, tasty marmalade is fantastic to go into the ‘Spread the Love’ Jars project for your favours. This isn’t just ANY recipe for seville orange marmalade, this is Granny Ockwell’s Seville orange marmalade recipe!

My Granny was a wonderful cook and was known for her AMAZING Seville orange marmalade. Over the years that I have made it, I may have adjusted the method slightly, but the Ingredients remain just the same.

RECIPE for Seville Orange Marmalade

You will need:

A large pan – I have a Maslin pan

A long wooden spoon

Scales

Ingredients:

3lb Seville Oranges

2 Lemons

6lb Sugar

4 1/2 Pints water

TIP: Seville Oranges are only available for about 3 weeks a year around February time (this is what I have found)

BUT the good news is that they freeze really well so stock up when you see them.

Method:

Pour boiling water onto the fruit and cook gently for two hours. I tend to then leave them in the water overnight until they are cooled as I find them easier to handle.

Take them out and finely cut them up, I put the flesh back into the water. This is a very laborious process so be warned!!! Get your friends to help if at all possible because really thick cut is not overly nice (of course you may like it like that!

Next, return to the water and add the sugar. Bring to the boil for 15-20 minutes and then test.

I do this by putting a plate into the freezer and then drop some onto the cold plate and press along. If it crinkles it will set perfectly.

Next; make sure that you sterilise the jars; wash in hot soapy water and i then pop them in the oven to dry. Be careful to remove the rubber seal and metal parts if using clip jars.

Mini Kilner edible favour — edible favour spread the love

Finally, fill the jars and pop a wax seal on top. Leave to cool and then you can clip/screw shut and these will keep really well so you can definitely make these in advance.

Categories: DIY Projects, Weddings

Homemade Wedding Favours

A cute little project for DIY homemade wedding favours that is both thoughtful and edible! My yummy ‘Spread the Love’ project is a really sweet, but lovely favour idea.

I picked up these cute little Kilner’s and jars from my local Jeremy’s Home Store (It sells EVERYTHING, but is local to me) I have filled mine with Seville Marmalade – You can find the recipe here

TIP: If you do not have the time to make the marmalade, then simply buy a good quality alternative and spoon carefully into the jars using a teaspoon. It still counts as a homemade wedding favour!

You will need for your Homemade Wedding Favours:

Small Jars with either clip lids or screw tops

Either a homemade spread, jam or marmalade or a bought alternative

Wedding Table Plan Ideas

This is the start of a series for wedding table plan ideas, using an old pallet. The first one, is a peacock inspired project, a great way to upcycle for your wedding.

Peacock Inspired Table Plan

I adore the colours of peacocks and think this colour scheme for a wedding would be divine! Lets look at how I made a table plan from an old pallet as these are easy to come by and can lend themselves as a great base for many things for your wedding, this project is for a table plan. This Peacock table plan is a perfect addition to your outdoor wedding. The first for the wedding table plan ideas.

I wanted to change to colour of the pallet for a different look, rather than the usual rustic one that I have seen so I chose a vibrant paint, in ‘Peacock’ a waterproof one suitable for wood. It needed two coats and I painted the back sections too as I could see the natural wood at different angles.

Table plan deco patch letters

The table plan letters were from Hobbycraft and I deco patched them, I would probably have chosen better colours but with lock down, it was all I could source! I will share a tutorial on how to do this another time.

Next, I sourced some flat moss, I asked a florist friend to assist as I couldn’t locate any. I would suggest visiting your local florist and asking if they can order you some. I had one box but could have done with two or three.

Now, I figured it would be easy armed with my trusty glue gun. However……the moss is damp and therefore would not take hold easily if at all! I have wedding kit (as I am part of Concept Coordination Team) and I have a staple gun. This worked wonderfully!! Once the moss was in place, (I wanted to see the colour in places) I glue gunned my letters in place.

Table names for your pallet table plan

The table names and lists were purchased from an etsy seller for under £10 and I printed them here on pretty shimmer card. I chose a simple peacock feather design. This is a very cost-effective way of buying your wedding stationery if you have the means to print it at home.

I selected ferns, grasses and some pink roses to decorate, all from my garden. If you do not have a garden I would suggest foraged in the hedgerows and in the countryside. Be sure to know what it is you are picking though and do your research as some plants are poisonous. Also be aware that it is illegal to pick some of our wildflowers.

Foraging

It being summer, the fields and hedgerows are abundant with gorgeous gifts. One lesson I did learn was that ferns wilt very quickly in the heat and sun. I completed the decoration with peacock feathers – which oddly my cat was obsessed with!

And there you have it! I hope you give this project a go and tag me in your designs on Instagram as I would love to see.

Categories: DIY Projects, Weddings

Place Name Ideas

Looking at some alternative place name ideas for your table design/ how about these lovely pear place names? You can use these instead of place cards for your tables, guests are sure to love them.

I rather like to use what I can find naturally to come up with designs and these pear place names are no exception! These lovely pear place names are perfect for your DIY wedding for that luxe detail.

Pear Place Names

We have a pear tree growing in the garden and to be honest, they were really rather hard! Which made them perfect to use for my project. Of course, if you need to buy them, ensure that they are not ripe so that they last.

Pear trees bear fruit that is harvested late summer to October. Pear wood is often the preferred wood for wood wind instruments and furniture.

Pears were cultivated in China as early as 2000 BC!! And history shows that they were also popular in Roman times. Old cookbooks shows that they stewed them and also made souffle type dishes!

Anyway, I digress! for this project;

DIY Project – Place names

You will need:

Under ripe Pears

Gold Leaf

PVA Glue

Glue gun

Gold Ink

Green Card

Eyelets

I decided to add abit of glamour in the way of rose gold leaf and I simply used some PVA glue to add this around the bottom of the pear.

For the actual ‘name’ I made leaves out of card and wrote in gold calligraphy, I stuck these onto the fruit using a glue gun. The other option was to insert an eyelet at the top and attach around the stem with some thread.

If you are incorporating fruit into your design, I think these are really cute. Fruit can bulk up your table centres and add another dimension.

For another idea, you could try using real leaves – I would recommend camelia or something of a strong structure. Next time the pears appear, I will try this!

As always, I would love to see your fruit creations in the comments.

Go HERE to read about Inner Wellbeing and your wedding.

Categories: Beauty, DIY Projects, Weddings

How to Make Rose Water

Dreaming of the summer whilst wall to wall grey skies cover me like a blanket, sigh. Dreaming of the blooming roses that I can make rose water with.

I always think we do not appreciate the summer when it’s here and now I really wish I could catch some rays that have that magically uplifting power!

In the summer I always like to make rose water from the petals of my roses in the garden, so here I am showing you ‘how to make Rose Water’

I use my rose water for many things; I add it to sweet almond oil for a gorgeous face oil, a toner, a refresher, its such a gorgeous thing to make.

Foraging

In preparation for the summer foraging, I thought I would show you how easy it is to make DIY Rose Water, it’s a great gift or wedding favour.

I think it would be a lovely fresh spritzer to add to your bathroom baskets or into the bridal parties’ rooms.

I am so lucky that I have a couple of rose bushes in the garden and one has a beautiful fragrance.

YOU WILL NEED:

Saucepan and lid

Bowl

Fragranced Rose Petals

Distilled water

Funnel

Coloured glass bottles

HOW TO:

I pick the petals as the rose is nearing the end of its bloom as I like to enjoy them in the garden first. I collect a bowl full first thing in the morning. Place a heatproof bowl that will fit inside your saucepan to collect the hydrosol as it drips down.

HYDROSOL: This is the condensate water that is collected through distillation. You can make all sorts of these; I am planning to make a geranium leaf one later this year, it smells sublime and evokes memories of my grandmothers green house.

Turn the saucepan lid upside down so that the dome can let the hydrosol drip down and into the bowl.

I use distilled water that I purchased on Amazon in order to have the purest hydrosol possible.

Put the petals around the bowl in the saucepan and cover with the water. Simply heat gently and collect the condensate in the bowl. Add ice cubes to the top of the lid to create extra condensation.

Decant the liquid into coloured glass bottles (to protect from light) using a little funnel.

When I was ready to use, I decanted into pretty bottles and sprays (keep these in the fridge for a really fresh spritz!)

Summary

I did note that the fragrance lasts a few months only, so if you are making for your wedding, ensure to prepare around 6 weeks prior to use.

For more DIY favour ideas go HERE

I would love to hear if you have made some?

Bringing the Outdoors Inside with these Parasol Wedding Decorations

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

RECIPE for Seville Orange Marmalade

Method:

You will need for your Homemade Wedding Favours:

Peacock Inspired Table Plan

Table plan deco patch letters

Table names for your pallet table plan

Foraging

Pear Place Names

DIY Project – Place names

Foraging

YOU WILL NEED:

HOW TO:

Summary

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