An Easy Project...

I know, I know – this isn’t really the stuff that you want to see or hear about. This is a simple (and cheap!) project that I also knocked out this weekend while MOH was here helping me...but it’s NOT any of the big projects that I had posted about getting done. Sorry. Don’t hate me. I promise that I’m working on those, so this is just a little teaser in the meantime!

I found some plain, but cute, little vases at my local Wal-Mart a few weeks ago. At $1 a piece, I thought that they would be a great buy and the perfect thing that I would need to set at various spots around our reception. You know the cake table or the signing table or the escort card table might need a little floral love...these vases were the perfect size to add some floral accents without being a big centerpiece design or too overwhelming.

The problem with them? I thought that they needed a little something more...more panache, more jazz, just more. And since this was a simple DIY project, I started on it while MOH was busy working on my invites! (I’m SUCH a slave driver!) J

Here they are before.
To jazz them up a bit, I had seen a bee on weddingbee that added some ribbon to her centerpiece vases that added just enough of a touch of elegance to them that I was going to work off of. She had added a ribbon going all the way around the vase, and then crafted a bow to polish the look off. I found some ribbon that was a little sparkly organza in a black that was perfect for this the week before while shopping on Harry Hines Blvd in Dallas, TX.

First I measure off the length of ribbon that I would need. Then I cut 12 strips of ribbon.
I pulled out my handy hot glue gun and warmed it up. While it was warming up, I asked MOH for her opinion on bow or no bow...and she came up with an idea that was quite brilliant. Since she had been spending most of her weekend becoming “one” with the invitation suite, she immediately suggested that I use our monogram piece to jazz up the vase a little bit. I hadn’t even considered that as an option, so I set out trying it out.

But first I had to get the ribbon secured around the vase. I probably could have just used double-sided tape or something here, but I like the hot glue gun and it’s been feeling a little neglected since I finished all of my pomander projects. LOL.

One thing that I have seen is a bride making a template of sorts so that all the ribbons fall at the same height on the vases. Can you guess if I did that or not? Come on, take a guess...

If you guessed that I did, you would be...WRONG! Yep, you read that right folks. I can be anal-retentive with a touch of obsessive compulsiveness thrown in there for good measure about certain things be absolutely perfect (ahem, the invitations, cough) but this wasn’t one of them. Maybe I was fresh out of obsessiveness that day...but it also helps that these won’t be side by side. It would take a pretty discerning guest to compare these and see that they weren’t perfectly the same.

So a little dab of hot glue directly on the vase...in the general vicinity of where I thought it needed to go...Attach one end of the ribbon and press down so that the glue comes through the sheer material... And then wrap the ribbon around and press to the glue spot again to secure. After I let them dry for a minute, this is what I had. Following MOH’s suggestion, I taped a monogram to the ribbon to test the waters with it. I love that using the monogram would give me another opportunity to use it, as both B and I love it to death. And I think that the monogram gives the vase a very polished look, don’t you think?See for yourself. All in all, I’m happy with the final result. I’ve got to make some more of the monograms, and for the final product, I’ll use hot glue to attach the monogram as well...I don’t want to worry about tape coming unstuck. This was a cheap project that was finished in record time...a whopping 10 minutes. And all because I didn’t feel the need to measure them off! Just kidding.

Here’s a cost breakdown:
12 vases from Wal-Mart - $12.99
25 yard spool of organza ribbon - $3.24
Hot glue gun and sticks – leftovers from other projects
Monograms – leftovers from invitation suite
Total cost – $16.23

Making each vase a whopping $1.35!!! Yea for cheap and fast projects. In fact, these were so easy and simple that if I decide that I need some more vases to place around the reception venue, this would be a great choice. And I can easily fill them with leftover flowers from my centerpiece arrangements.

Did you have a project turn out so well for you? Not just how easy it was to complete, but also in terms of being budget-friendly? I’m curious to hear about it!

All images taken by me...and let me just mention now how HARD it is to do DIY projects with one hand while holding and focusing a camera with the other hand!