Waterproofing Matches

Remember when I said I'd post something about waterproofing your matches and I still haven't? Well, surprise! That's what today's post is about. We waterproofed matched because they were going to be next to food and I didn't want anything to taste weird or the matches be impacted either. This is also good for a summer post since grilling out and camping trips that happen in the summer typically require fire. It's rather easy to waterproof your matches.
You need a candle or wax and matches.
 Let the candle burn for a while so you have plenty of melted wax to work with. Or melt wax in a small dish. This doesn't have to be very deep. We used a tea candle.

Then dip the match's tip into the melted wax. Make sure you coat all of the tip. I got some of the stick to just to make sure it was coated completely. The dip in the wax doesn't need to last too long either and one coat works just fine. Make sure you don't ignite the match while dipping in the candle.

Then let dry. My mom and I stuck them in holes we had punched in a graham cracker box so they would dry rounded and undamaged. Since it's wax, they dry and cool very quickly.

And you're done. See, told you it was super easy.

Centerpieces

For our centerpieces on the tables at the reception I wanted something not on Pinterest. Not that Pinterest is bad, I just didn't want to have the same reception as everyone else. Then I was stuck. It's kind of hard to think of these things on your own. Jordan had beta fish in cool vases. Jaime had cornocopias of flowers (she got married right around Thanksgiving). Brooke (who also got married right after Christmas) had ornaments. The bar had been set! I thought of something but I Googled it just to see what it would look like. There weren't many options on Google but it looked like it could work. So it was settled. We would have books as centerpieces.

I wanted thick, hardback books that had red covers. In order to save money we went to every thrift store around us. We nearly cleaned out all the red covered hardback books! But we found some pretty good finds. Plus, if you're like me and love the smell of old books it was great. It took us some time to do this but we bought about 4 or 5 books for each table.

Now came for the set up. We placed 2 table runners on the table over a white tablecloth. One was wider and was red. The other went on top of the red and was the gold color. We found square and circle mirrors at the dollar store and also battery powered candles (off-white and darker red.) We placed the candles wrapped with a band of ribbon on the mirrors and gave each table two candle and mirror combos. We then sorted the books in size order so it was easy to put them on the tables in nice stacks. We then plopped a Harry Potter book or Lord of the Rings book in the pile because these are our favorites! Now, our centerpieces were personalized.

To top it all off, we put 4 framed (gold frames from Target, Wal-Mart and the dollar store, not too hard to find them) pictures of us on each table. Three of the pictures were from when we were little and one of the both of us. And voila, beautiful centerpieces!

When deciding centerpieces think of the theme your wedding has or stick with the wedding colors. Pictures are always and easy go to and they're also fun. There are a lot of things you can do with pictures. Pinterest is a pretty good place to look for ideas of things to do with pictures or anything else, really. Think of something that fits both your personalities even if it's subtle.  If your venue allows candles, those create a wonderful glow to the room and can be more pleasing than regular lights. Battery powered candles work great too. Flowers are also a simple and elegant option. Flowers are especially welcome at spring and summer weddings. Centerpieces should enhance the overall feel of the reception hall and the wedding itself.

Twig Votive Holder

This is quick, elegant, inexpensive, and GREEN craft. It took me less than 30 minutes start to finish!

Of course, the original idea came from Pinterest. I am working with two other women to organize a Women's Day at our church. We expect about 300 women to come for classes on crafts, self-reliance, physical well-being, cooking, sewing, and spiritual topics. We selected this craft from Pinterest, and today I decided to give it a try to see if it will work.

Here's all you need: 

Oops, I see I cropped out a glue gun. You need that, too. You can use any jar or votive holder you have around. I selected a small glass that is about 3 inches tall and 3 inches in diameter.

Collect twigs from your yard. (Or come to my yard and collect them. We have millions!)
Use the shears to cut them to about the same size. After a while, decide it is easier just to break them, and stop using the shears. They should be fairly straight and without knots.

Spread a patch of hot glue about 1.5" x 1". Use the hotter setting so that you have more gluing time. Start gluing the sticks on the glass. Since I held it in my hand as I worked, I set it on the table after every patch of glue to slide any long sticks upward.

Continue all the way around the glass. It takes very little time! Sometimes I used tiny, short sticks to fill in empty spots. This is what the top view is like. 

I tried different types of ribbon when I was finished-grosgrain, satin, sheer-- but I didn't love them. I finally settled on some floral wire that looks like jute. Real jute would have been great, too.

Here's how it turned out:

Very rustic!

Mod Podge Halloween Decorations Giveaway

First and foremost, it is Brooke's birthday! If you want to wish her a happy birthday, feel free to leave her a nice little comment on her post.  
So in case you all didn't know, Brooke, my mom and I had birthdays this month. To celebrate, the Wayward girls have or are going to have a give away each week. This week is my week! 


This week's giveaway is 2 Halloween themed vases!  Last week I posted about mod podge and meant to not tell what I was doing. But I forgot I had put it in the title and totally gave the surprise away. Silly me! 

And I know by next week Halloween will be over :( But there's always next year!
There are four different ways to enter:

• One entry for becoming a follower of our blog, and commenting on this blog post to tell me about it.
• One entry for following us on Twitter, and commenting on this blog post to tell me about it.
• One entry for tweeting this post, and commenting on this blog post to tell me about it (with a link directly to your Tweet).
• One entry for Liking us on Facebook, and commenting on this blog post to tell me about it.

Each of these should be in its own SEPARATE comment! So if you like us on FB, follow us on Twitter, tweet about this giveaway and or are a follower of WGC, each of these should be it’s own separate entry.

CONTEST NOW OVER!
PS my birthday was on the 11th and none of you wished me a happy birthday, how rude...I guess I can forgive you all... :)

Fourth of July Candles

In keeping with our patriotic theme, these embellished candles could serve as a great 4th of July centerpiece. They would look nice with Jaime's pinwheel garland. You could even print out Jordan's graphic and apply it around a  blue candle using the same method as used to apply the stars.

To complete the candles, you will need:

1 tall white candle
1 medium red candle
18" of a blue plaid (or other blue and white design) ribbon, and 18" of 1/8" blue satin ribbon
2 star charms
blue tissue paper
hair dryer or heat gun (follow the directions for your gun and don't get burned!)

For the red candle:

It's pretty obvious-- just tie the ribbons around the middle of the candle. Tie the charms on the thin ribbon. Done!

For the white candle:
Cut  stars of various sizes out of tissue paper (I printed some stars from my computer for a pattern.)
If you have a star punch, use it!

To apply the stars, you can either lay the candle on its side and rotate it or stand it upright. Either way, be sure to put something under it to collect any drips. Start heating up one small area with either the blow dryer or the heat gun. The blow dryer could take a couple minutes for the wax to start melting.

Once the wax begins to melt a little, the surface of the candle should get  shiny. While it is shiny, apply a star and gently smooth it onto the surface. Continue heating the star until it adheres. A layer of wax will form over the stars. Continue applying stars on the rest of the candle. Sometimes the heat will blow off a star that you have applied. No worries, just stick it back on!

It's that easy!

Happy 4th of July!

PS-When burning the candles, make sure the tissue paper doesn't get near the flame.