DIY Table Decorations

We had our engagement party last weekend at a local pub, it was pretty last minute although as I knew I was going to be away on my birthday I had already planned an informal meal/drinks on the Sunday already with a few people. We just made it more of an 'event' and invited lots of Toms family and friends as well.

I spent most of last week sorting out who was coming, booking the room and sorting menu choice but on Saturday managed to whip up some last minute table decorations.

I have a collection of jars that I keep for things like this (Tom was amazed I finally used them as I've had them ages!) so I thought I'd make 2 types of decoration, one for flowers and one for candles. I went into town on the Friday and picked up my materials

The stuff on the left is all from various pound shops, some organza, ribbon, balloons, mini pegs, paint (I also later got some table confetti and banners). The candles are all from Wilko, the small ones were £1 each, the large ones were £1.70 and the packs of 3 were £1.75.

I started with the painted jars, squeezing the paint into the inside of the jar and moving it around with a foam brush. I had hoped to get them all a light blue colour by mixing the blue and white paint but the first one came out marbled and I liked that better!

I left them all drying upside down to let any excess paint drip out (note: because of the paint being quite thick they take forever to dry and were actually still wet on Sunday when we were using them, so if you're trying similar do them further in advance!) then moved onto the candle decorations. My plan was to wrap the jars in the organza fabric add the ribbon and voilà! The first one I tried sticking down the organza to the jar but it didn't stick very well and I discovered wasn't really needed

These first 2 I also added in another sheet of organza but the finished article was a bit too fussy for my liking and since there were going to candles inside and the material kept going over the top (Fire Hazard!) I kept the rest of them a bit more simple!

I just wrapped the jars in the organza and tied the ribbon around the top and the bottom to secure it and add decoration

At this point I actually wasn't too keen on these bit I figured once they had candles lit and were glowing softly they would look prettier.

I had some ribbon left over so glued some around the top of the painted jars

And here they are in action

My mum very kindly got us the balloon bouquet

I ended up not using most of the candles, only using the small ones from the packs of 3 to put in the jars, as I felt we had enough and there were a lot of people eating so didn't want to crowd the table too much.

I really like the painted jars and have kept them, I added in a plastic cup to each one to put the flowers in. 

The decorations in total including the balloons and banners only cost £23.60 as it was mostly from pound shops!

We had a lovely party, with a meal and then a game of skittles as we had hired the back room with the skittle alley in and an evening of (far to much) drinking! 

I will probably not talk too much about weddings etc on here (we don't even have a date set yet or anything although looking at next year) although any projects like this that could translate to a non-wedding/engagement event or home décor (I'm going to find a home for some of those painted jars in our home) I will share. I'm sure there will be a lot of projects to do for the wedding and some of them will be of interest.

Garden Party Shopping Haul

I said last weekend that I would share what I bought at the Gloucester Quays home and garden party soon, over the weekend I finally got round to taking photos of my shopping haul

The 2 on the left were £9.50 each or 2 for £18, they are watering globes you fill them with water and upturn them in the soil, they keep plants watered for up to two weeks. I can't wait to try them out once we get our pots planted, as pots need a lot of watering and it means we can leave them if we go away and not worry about our plants dying. I haven't tried them yet but if they work I will order more (from here) as they look better than other irrigation systems I've seen that include plastic pots or tubing.

The candle holder was only £5, they had smaller ones for £3 and larger ones for £6. It's going to go out in the garden but in the winter I might bring it indoors as it would work inside too. From here.

These fridge magnets were only £1 each so I got three, from here. They came with free chalk which is a nice touch, they're a bit small to write more than one word on but could be cute for little messages.

Also while Mum and I were waiting in the shopping centre for Tom to pick us up I got these from The Works, they have 3 designs in each box of 9 cards, and were £1.99 each on buy one get one free, so it was a bargain £3.98 for all 4. I like to have some cards on hand in case of last minute occasions (Or if I have forgotten to by one!) and these are pretty cute.

So that's my little load of shopping, I also discovered a great second hand book shop in Cheltenham Saturday so bought in a load of books and will be going back (Already nearly finished one so probably soon). I may have also bought 2 dresses on my way home...

Gloucester Quays Home and Garden Party

There's a home and garden fair on at Gloucester Quays over the bank holiday weekend, me and my mum checked it out yesterday. The weather was actually ok for most of the day and there was even some sun for a while! There was a nice selection of stands, some garden, home décor and food with some live music and talks by celebrity guests (although we didn't catch any of these).

I could have spent a fortune on all the pretty things (I will do post on the stuff that I actually bought soon) but tried my hardest not to buy things that I couldn't see a place for!

First up these glass works from Aspire Art Glass

I was tempted by the grey swirly coasters in the middle above, but we already have our coasters that I DIYed a while back (I will do a how to on those soon!). The hanging ornament below was lovely and it's a bit hard to see in this picture but it had a kind of tree in the middle.

The rest of the hanging ornaments were great (They did them in birthstone colours for each month) and I would have bought one but couldn't think of anywhere to hang them, they would look lovely in a garden or hanging off a shelf.

Next to them was tokyo dolls and their lovely homewares and accessories. These door knobs were lovely, and if I had a project going on I would have so bought the blue flower ones

These hand creams were cute and a few would look great on a dressing table

I liked these hanging ornaments but again couldn't find them a place in our home

The lamp shades and chandeliers were also pretty and could add some interest to a room

I also liked these pictures, you could maybe try DIYing a version of these but I loved the one below and the home sweet home one.

This cupcake hanging menu holder or recipe holder (I'm not 100% sure what it is) would look lovely with some handwritten recipes in it or some thinner cookery books

These hanging candle holders from Mahouts were so pretty, and we don't have anything to hang them from in the garden but if we had a tree or something to attach them to I would have bought all 3.

There were also these brilliant candles from Beautiful Things by Becky which gave me so many ideas, I have made candles before as gifts at Christmas and used jars but the tea cup ones looked great!

These hanging hearts were just £1 each and a few of them hung from drawer pulls on a dresser or in a girly bathroom could look cute

 The candles in tea cups! They would look so cute and kitchy in a kitchen or dining room

And these egg cup ones would be perfect for Easter, as a table decoration or a gift. 
More glassware from Wendleberry Glass I really liked the heart and leaf artwork

These candle holders were interesting and I can imagine when the candles are lit the light would shine through and the colours would look great

The glass bowls and chopping boards were also interesting and in a bedroom the heart bowls would look nice on the bedside table for earrings or glasses etc

From Purple Holly there were these really cute homewares, I ummed and ahhed over getting these salt and pepper shakers but as we don't have a dining table I decided not to

These Orla Kiely vintage style mugs were lovely but not quite big enough for me (I like a massive mug of tea!)

 There were also vintage style egg cups

The vases were nice for small bunches or single flowers, sometimes you just don't need a large vase for a few flowers as they look a bit pathetic all on their own in there!

There were also loads of slate/blackboard things around, like these fridge magnets which I really liked

This stand from Butterfly Crafts had some beautiful little crafty items, like these cushions

This bunting would look pretty in a nursery or kids room

Also these funky lego cufflinks and flower earrings and hair slides

There were also lots of foods stalls around, actually it seemed they were equal in number to the home and garden stands which I hadn't expected. All in all it was a nice afternoon, although there are a fair few stands it isn't massive so you can see all the stands in an hour or two. If the weather had been better we could have sat watching the live music but it was just too cold to sit outside for any amount of time!

The event is running until tomorrow and it's worth a look I did buy some things, mainly for the garden, and I'll do a post on what I bought soon.