This is the second post of a recurring series by Abby Grace Photo. Abby did a TON of DIY projects for her stunning wedding this past winter and will be sharing them with you over the next few weeks!
As promised at the tail end of last week’s post, we’ll be chatting about favors today. FAVORS! (launch confetti and streamers). I loved going to birthday parties as kids because you always got a party favor. Coolest things ever. Unless you got one of those cheap plastic mazes with a  small, silver BB in it and a cardboard backing. Those were always a disappointment. Off topic- sorry!
From the first time I gave my favors any real thought, I knew what I wanted to do. My aunt Terry Lynn, the best baker/chef/culinary whiz I know in these parts of Virginia, makes INCREDIBLE jams and jellies. Last Christmas, she gave out three mini-jars of assorted jellies, and my favorite was Pear Honey. After we decided on the flavor, I had to seek out her help, and she ever-so-kindly agreed to spend a Saturday in October with my then-fiancé and I, making 200+ mini jars of jelly for our guests.
We ordered the jars from Candle Soylutions. They had so many different sizes and shapes to choose from. The recipe for the jelly was incredibly easy and only involved four ingredients– pears, pineapple, SureGel and sugar (surprisingly, no honey!). It was a ton of fun, and the jelly was amazing!
When it came time to label the favors, I knew I wanted to do some sort of personalized tag. I turned to my favorite papery, the Paper Source! Traci at the Paper Source was so helpful- I brought in one of the jelly jars and she helped me come up with a tag idea. I bought several packs of their blank, textured business card-sized cards and cut them in half. Using a snowflake stamp (from Paper Source, of course), Matt (then-fiancé, now husband [obviously]) and I stamped every single one of the cards with a cranberry pigment pad.
*DIY TIP* Word to the wise: pigment pads are different than ink pads. Pigment takes MUCH longer to dry. You’re best off stamping your project and leaving it out overnight to dry.
After the stamp came our wedding date, which I hand-wrote using the ever-popular Gel pens. We finished up by punching a small hole in the corner of each tag and tying them with silver elastic cord, which made it easier to assemble first and place on the jars later.
When you’re coming up with DIY wedding favor ideas, try to consider items that are easily mass-produced and won’t require hours and hours of labor. Have fun with them! Plus, you’ll probably have a lot left over afterward and you’ll be the one who gets to enjoy them.
On next week’s docket: DIY signage. Ooh, this one is gonna be good :)
