I made these personalized sugar cube wrappers to go along with a bridal shower gift for my friend Debbie. I bought Debbie’s sugar bowl and creamer from her registry (very pretty btw) and filled it with personalized wrapped sugar cubes in her pink and orange wedding colors with her soon-to-be married name: Ten Eyck (yep, there’s a space).

Personalized wrapped sugar cubes would also make a great DIY birthday or Christmas gift along with handmade fabric teabags for loose tea.

For the sides of the sugar cube wrapper I used a super cool free font called Aierbazzi to make personalized bouquets. Each letter in Aierbazzi is a plant, and when you type a word it puts the next plant right on top of the previous one, creating a unique bouquet for your words and phrases. This bottom plant on the sugar cube wrapper says “Debbie and Tony” and the top one says “Love Kathy.”

When you fold the sugar cube wrapper, the plants wrap around the sugar cube showing their wedding date on the bottom.

For Debbie’s new married last name I used the free Ostrich Sans font from the League of Moveable Type – those guys are so generous to give away such cool fonts.

This was my second DIY take on Debbie’s shower gift. I’d first planned on decorating sugar cubes with royal icing like these. But then I saw these personalized sugar cube wrappers by Alejandra from Always Order Dessert. Hooray! This would be perfect. Alejandra used tape to wrap her sugar cubes but by looking at her suggested pictures of vintage European and American sugar wrapper on flickr I experimented and figured out how to fold and wrap the sugar cubes without tape {see step-by-step folding instructions and printable PDF template below}.

WANNA MAKE IT? Free printable personalized sugar cube wrapper template, step-by-step tutorial instructions and supply list –>

Supplies for making personalized sugar cube wrappers:

• Kathy’s free personalized sugar cube wrapper printable template – this free template says “SUGAR” rather than “TEN EYCK” – just use Adobe Illustrator to edit the file (or contact me to help create your own personalized printable sugar cube wrapper PDF for a nominal charge)
• Free fonts – Aierbazzi and Ostrich Sans
• 1/2″ Square Sugar Cubes (I used Domino brand)
• White paper – get the thinnest paper you can get, it’s easier to fold (if you print at FedEx Office choose their thin 24# laser paper). It would also be fun to try sugar cube wrappers with clear vellum
• Self-healing mat, rotary cutter and clear plastic ruler (or Paper Trimmer)
• Computerand printer

Please post a comment and let me know how this craft idea works for you. And share your own photos at the MerrimentDesign.com Facebook page, “I made it!” flickr photo gallery or tweet a picture to @merrimentdesign.

How to make and fold sugar cube wrappers

Cut out my free sugar cube wrapper template and cut out using a self-healing mat, rotary cutter and clear plastic ruler (or Paper Trimmer). {NOTE: The photos say TEN EYCK but the free template says SUGAR – just use Adobe Illustrator to edit the file or contact me to help create your own personalized printable sugar cube wrapper PDF for a nominal charge).

Place the “empty” side of the sugar cube wrapper on your left. Flip the sugar cube wrapper face down onto your table.

Place two 1/2″ sugar cubes on the sugar cube wrapper one inch from the left. I use my well-worn self-healing mat as a quick 1″ guide.

Fold the top edge and crease. The sugar cube wrapper should meet the top of the sugar cube.

Fold the bottom edge and crease. The sugar cube wrapper should meet the top of the sugar cube.

Fold the left side of the sugar cube wrapper and crease, making tiny triangles on each side.

Fold the right side of the sugar cube wrapper and crease.

Fold the left side and crease.

Place it on your table and fold the left and right sides onto the top of the sugar cubes to make a triangle point.

Fold the triangle point up and crease.

Now you’re ready to fold the other side of the sugar cube wrapper. Fold the other side of the sugar cube wrapper up and crease with two tiny triangles on the left and right, just like you did on the other side.

Fold the right side of the sugar cube wrapper.

Fold the left side of the sugar cube wrapper.

OK, now read this step before you do it. Put the sugar cubes on your table with the open end towards you.

Using both hands, crease it so that it is slightly folded in. You don’t want to create a triangle like you did last time – this is more like an isosceles trapezoid and most of the design should still appear.

It should look like this.

Now slip the triangle end into the isosceles trapezoid end and fiddle with it until it’s flat.

Like this.

Did you make it? Please post a comment and let me know how this craft idea works for you. And share your own photos at the MerrimentDesign.com Facebook page, “I made it!” flickr photo gallery or tweet a picture to @merrimentdesign. Craft and pass it on!

COPYRIGHT NOTE: You’re more than welcome to use free pattern and how to step-by-step tutorial for your own personal use. Contact me for any commercial use – this includes etsy sellers.

I made this ring holder from a recycled cardboard egg carton as a gift for my friend Debbie’s recent engagement. Would you ever guess that this ring holder was made out of a recycled egg carton if I hadn’t told you? Is this crazy or what?

I’ve been eyeing our empty cardboard egg cartons before putting them into our recycle bin trying to picture something simple and useful. Then Debbie got engaged and I thought to make a ring holder.

Well, I realized pretty quickly that the pointy separator things on egg cartons are just too big to hold a ring — at least too big for my ring size and my fingers aren’t exactly dainty. So I played around with cutting and twisting and gluing the cardboard and figured out the best way to cut and manipulate the egg carton to create one small enough to hold a ring while keeping a nice shape.

I made a series of ring holder samples to see what style worked best. Here’s a white one…

…and here are two different ring holder heights.

I was so proud of Debbie’s finished ring holder that I almost kept it [just kidding]. Really I decided to make one for myself to hold my rings while I wash dishes because I do not like the feeling of having water under my rings, no not at all. So it appears that this ring holder is a great recycled crafty gift not only for a newly engaged bride-to-be like Debbie but also for an old married lady like me.

WANNA MAKE IT? Free pattern, step-by-step tutorial instructions and supply list for making my ring holder from recycled egg carton craft idea –>

Supplies for making a ring holder from a recycled egg carton:

• Empty cardboard egg carton – for best results use an egg carton with smooth rather than bumpy cardboard – I used Farmer’s Hen House Brand – Amish and Cage Free ;)
• Leftover paint (I used semi-gloss white for the undercoat and the eggshell Tiffany-esque turquoise blue from Elise’s table for the topcoat) or acrylic craft paint
• Metal washer (one per ring holder, get at your local hardware store)
• X-Acto knife
• Glue gun and glue sticks
• Q-tips
• Toothpicks

Please post a comment and let me know how this craft idea works for you. And share your own photos at the MerrimentDesign.com Facebook page, “I made it!” flickr photo gallery or tweet a picture to @merrimentdesign.

Grab an empty egg carton. Be sure to use an egg carton with smooth cardboard rather than bumpy cardboard; I used Farmer’s Hen House Brand – Amish and Cage Free ;)

Using your X-Acto knife, cut off one of the pointy separators at the base. Cut if off as evenly as possible.

Make a slit from the middle of the top all the way down one of the four slides.

Now twist it so the sides overlap. Pinch the top so it is as pointy as possible. Your separator will now have three sides instead of four. Glue it shut using a glue gun and glue sticks [and yes that is old glitter stuck to my glue gun; you never can really get rid of glitter, folks].

Now I forgot to take a photo for this next step so pay attention. You need to trim up the bottom of your pointy ring holder piece. But you are going to want it to lean a bit to the back (and make sure the glued seam faces the back). So use your X-Acto knife to trim off a the bottom of your pointy ring holder piece until it is even all around. Test it by setting it on your counter. Repeat trimming until you have an even bottom that leans a bit to the the back.

Cut out one of the egg holders from the carton using your X-Acto knife. Cut around it low as evenly as possible. If it’s a little uneven when you’ve finished, just run your knife around it again to even it off.

Flip the base over. Glue a small washer on the bottom of the base.

Now do this next glue gun step quickly. Run a thick bead of glue just on the inside of your pointy ring top. Quickly affix it to the base before the glue starts to harden.

By running your glue just on the inside of the pointy ring top, all the glue will stay inside and it will look nice from the outside. (Note on this sample below, I didn’t squeeze the top to be as pointy as the other ring holders – personally I prefer the ring holders to be a bit more pointy than this one).

Now you’re ready to paint. I have a crap-load of leftover paint so thought I’d make both white and turquoise blue ring holders. For simplicity I used white on all of of the ring holders as the base coats and then painted a couple of the ring holders blue for their final top coat.

So here’s where I got a little obsessed. I wanted a smooth ring holder. We’re talking SMOOTH, like mimicking a ceramic ring holder as much as possible. So I painted lots and lots of semi-heavy coats – like 5 or 6 of the white – using Q-tips over about a week’s time in the evenings while watching TV. I even let the paint pool a bit inside the base to hide the seams. You can paint your ring holder faster; just be sure to let the ring holders completely dry between coats. The painting gets a little time consuming but it’s worth it.

You can use toothpicks to hold the ring holders upside-down to paint the bottoms. Note that in the photo below I only have the washer on one of these four ring holder samples but I would definitely recommend using a washer on yours – it adds weight and turns it the ring holder into an tip-averse Weeble Wobble.

When you’re feeling pretty good about how smooth your ring holder is looking, go ahead and paint a top coat.

Again, I used sort of a heavy hand on the paint to make it look as smooth and porcelain-like as possible.

And voila! A ring holder made from a recycled egg carton and leftover paint ready to keep your rings safe and mess-free.

Did you make it? Please post a comment and let me know how this craft idea works for you. And share your own photos at the MerrimentDesign.com Facebook page, “I made it!” flickr photo gallery or tweet a picture to @merrimentdesign. Craft and pass it on!

COPYRIGHT NOTE: You’re more than welcome to use free pattern and how t0 step-by-step tutorial for your own personal use. Contact me for any commercial use – this includes etsy sellers.

These free printable wedding invitation and round place cards are part of the “Inspiration to Reality: My Modern Clementine” feature at Style Me Pretty in partnership with Bliss Wedding & Event Design and C STUDIOS. The chic design was inspired by 60s geometric bold patterns in black and white, clementine orange, fresh green and gold – and a touch of Mad Men.

Clementine orange and fresh green stripes cut through a bold 60s mod-inspired circle pattern on the graphic asymmetrical wedding invitation. The round place cards echo the invitation’s retro pattern on both front and back. Shimmery gold paper backs the invitation and lines the inside of the place cards to add richness. More detailed photos to come.

Soon I will be posting both the free printable wedding template and round place cards for you to use and print for your own 60s inspired, mod wedding. Be sure to check back. In the meantime, here’s the amazing gilded gold cake by Jan Kish of La Petite Fleur!

All photos taken by C STUDIOS.

Years ago I bought a vintage kissing couple pendant at a Manhattan summertime flea market. I wore the sweet thing ad nauseum, which you can see here in this summer cider and berry smoothie post that includes this photo of me fawning over Stephanie and Dale at the Green City Market. But then the clasp on my kissing couple pendant broke …and I was heartbroken. Since then I’ve kept my broken pendant in a ceramic bowl on my dresser. Then it occurred to me to give it a new life by scanning and enlarging it to make this romantic gift wrapping package decoration.

My friend Amy and I met in the second grade on the DeVaney school playground. She was the new kid and I asked if she wanted to jump rope. We’ve been friends ever since. Last weekend I was giddy to stand up as a bridesmaid in Amy’s Greenwich Village wedding to Jeff Hock. I needed to gift wrap a USB drive filled with music that I bought them to enjoy on their honeymoon flight to South Africa. And I needed to take the wrapped box through airport scanners.

WANNA MAKE IT? Get the full supplies list and step-by-step tutorial for the kissing couple >>>

Supplies:

• Kathy’s free kissing couple template with inside lid message (PDF) – includes message that fits the lid of a 3.5″ x 3.5″ size (TIP: Download a trial version of Adobe Illustrator or rent computer time at FedEx Office to customize the inside box message for your recipient). If you have a larger box use this template that contains three different sizes of the kissing couple (PDF).
• Eggshell blue wrapping paper
• Empty recycled jewelry box – mine was an old 3.5″ x 3.5″ Banana Republic box
• 1 sheet white card stock
• USB 20 Flash Drive
• Digital music or Amazon.com MP3 downloads (keepin’ it legal)
• Xacto knife, Self-healing mat and Metal ruler OR Good paper scissors
• Foam mounting squares (I used gray because I had it in the house but recommend white
• Scotch tape
• Paper-friendly glue
• Tissue paper
• Computer and printer

Please post a comment and let me know how this craft idea works for you. And share your own photos at the MerrimentDesign.com Facebook page, “I made it!” flickr photo gallery or tweet a picture to @merrimentdesign.

How to make kissing couple gift wrapping paper:

Make your mix on a USB (burning a CD-ROM is so 2000)
Purchase MP3s and move to your recipient’s USB drive. I included a couple old romantic favorites: “This Old Love” by Lior and “Reminiscing” by The Little River Band.”

Wrap your box TV-style Ever notice how on TV gift boxes are never wrapped closed? Well, that’s kind of what I needed to take on the flight just in case TSA needed to search my carry-on baggage. And as a side-bonus it keeps the presentation intact after unwrapping. Wrap the lid and the base of your box separately, ensuring that the blue wrapping paper fully covers the inside sides.

Download and print my free template of the inside box message. I have included a blank version on the template that you can use as is, or if you’d like to customize it, just download a free trial version of Adobe Illustrator or rent time at your local FedEx Office.

Affix your heartfelt message on the inside lid of the box using rubber cement.

Add the kissing couple
Print my free kissing couple template on white card stock and carefully cut out the shape using an Xacto knife and self-healing mat.

Cut foam mounting squares into smaller squares. I used gray removable squares that I already had but I recommend buying white for this project.

Peel off the backing and stick on the back of the kissing couple and heart.

Affix to the box for a slight 3D effect. Put the USB drive in the box and close. Forever kisses, forever bliss to Amy and Jeff!

Did you make it? Please post a comment and let me know how this craft idea works for you. And share your own photos at the MerrimentDesign.com Facebook page, “I made it!” flickr photo gallery or tweet a picture to @merrimentdesign. Craft and pass it on!

COPYRIGHT NOTE: You’re more than welcome to use free pattern and how to step-by-step tutorial for your own personal use. Contact me for any commercial use – this includes etsy sellers.

Whew! I finally edited and posted our episode of ‘Amazing Wedding Cakes’ that first aired June 2009 on WeTV …right after Bridezillas as a part of WeTV’s We Go Bridal night. Check it out below…

The background: While on the road in Austin for SXSW, I got a call from Mary Maher from Cakegirls. Cakegirls is a super creative bakeshop extraordinaire owned by two Chicago sisters, Mary and Brenda Maher. Cakegirls has garnered awards and press galore for their luxury cakes, wedding cakes and specialty cakes. Mary wanted to feature our poppy wedding cake on season 2 of ‘Amazing Wedding Cakes’, a nationally broadcasted reality cake TV show starring the Maher sisters and three other US cake creators from coast-to-coast.

After a little begging with Shane, we stopped by The Cake Girls’ Belmont Avenue shop on a cold winter day to film our segment. I brought along my wedding inspiration – a swatch of retro-poppy fabric – that we used as the central theme throughout our wedding, from our sewn fabric invitations to table numbers, guest towels, ring bearer pillow, place cards, sewn zigzagged programs, menu, reserved signs, whimsical flower garland “altar” and bridesmaid’s handbags.

I probably should have thought to brush my hair or put on a little makeup before going on national TV :) but overall it’s so much fun to see our cake as a part of the show. And I’m secretly relieved that I don’t come off too much like a Bridezilla…

I am totally in love with these DIY sewn fabric wedding invitations that I designed for recent bride Natalie Fayard.

Thanks to Google, Natalie and her mother found me and my sewn fabric poppy wedding invitations that were featured in the The Knot’s 2007-2008 Fall/Winter National Magazine. Natalie had found this lovely yellow, black, white and khaki fabric that has such energy and throwback personality:

One tricky wrinkle: Natalie’s fabric had a lot of large flowers (3″ – 4″) and smaller flowers that were not “perfect,” overlapping to create oddly shaped sides when cut out. To make things worse, the “perfect” flowers were so spread out that it would require oodles and oodles of expensive yardage to get a full-flower look.

So I noodled around and designed this variation for Natalie featuring half flowers layered on top of loose fabric leaves. I couldn’t be more more thrilled with this design twist …and to tell the truth, I think I like these even better than my poppy ones.

From Natalie: “A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!  Kathy, they’re awesome; you are so great honestly! …Thank you again so much for all your hardwork and all the time you took to assist me with this project. I look back and have learned so much.”

Supplies for making your own DIY sewn wedding invitations:

• Kathy’s sewn invitation text template in Adobe Illustrator CS3 (429K, uses Copperplate Gothic Bold and Spoleto from Novel Fonts, not Monotype. If you can’t find this version of Spoleto you could substitute Machiarge or Fenway Park)
• Luxe Cream A6 Size (4 1/2″x 6 1/4″) Note Cards – 25 Pack OR if you’re printing them yourself, get the 8 1/2 x 11 Luxe Cream Cover Paper – 10 Pack – 210g weight (also available in 8 1/2 x 11 Luxe Cream Cover Paper – 100 Sheet Bulk Pack, or other heavy paper
• A7 Flat Note Cards – 25 Pack in Curry (many other colors available)
• Flowers and leaves cut out of fabric – edges should be raw
• 4.75” x 6.75” fabric squares for invitation backs (optional) – edges should be raw
• Fusible interfacing (craft, medium or heavyweight)
• Yellow thread
• Computerand printer (if printing yourself)
• A7 Envelopes – 10 Pack in Curry (many other colors available)
• Paper trimmer OR X-Acto knife, Self-healing mat and Metal ruler if you’re printing yourself and cutting 8 1/2 x 11 paper
• rotary cutter, Self-healing mat and clear plastic ruler for cutting fabric squares (you will thank me)
• Good fabric scissors
• Good iron like Rowenta and ironing board
• Sewing machine

Please post a comment and let me know how this craft idea works for you. And share your own photos at the MerrimentDesign.com Facebook page, “I made it!” flickr photo gallery or tweet a picture to @merrimentdesign.

This time I created a special ‘how to’ video for you featuring a fun song called “Valley of the Dolls” by Mylo that my friend Chad Crosby included in a CD mix that he made for me.

Traditional step-by-step instructions and photos follow. Don’t feel like making them yourself? Contact me and I’ll help.

How to make your own sewn wedding invitations:

Print invitations
First design the text in Illustrator using my template or your own design. You can either get them letterpressed or print them on your computer or at Kinko’s. (Note: Buying A6 Flat Note Cards and A7 Flat Note Cards will save you a lot of time because they’re already the right size. However, if you decide to print them on your own computer and your printer can’t handle odd sizes, buy sheets of paper – 210g weight (also available in 100 Sheet Bulk Pack) instead of A6 Flat Note Cards, print 2 per page and cut to size.)

Cut flowers and leaves
Press fabric flat. Iron on craft weight interfacing behind areas of flowers and leaves to stiffen and add weight (you can skip this if you’re using thick fabric).

Cut out flowers and leaves, making sure to cut slightly *outside* the lines. Remember not every invitation needs to be exactly the same.

Cut all large and odd-shaped flowers so that they bleed off the top of the invitation.

Cut fabric for invitation backs

Iron craft weight interfacing onto fabric (if using thick fabric you can skip this step).

Using your Rotary cutter, Self-healing mat and clear plastic ruler cut 4.75” x 6.75” squares, one for each invitation back. Remember all fabric edges are intentionally left raw and unfinished.

Stack your invitation and sew
Place the fabric rectangle back face down on your mat. Layer on the A7 Flat Note Card next and then the A6 Size Flat Note Card printed page on top.

Sew yellow thread through all three layers 1/8th of an inch from the cream sides; you can either backstitch or tie it off (here’s a perfectionist trick: backstitch where the flower is going to go to hide your backstitch).

Here’s what the sewn fabric back looks like.

Put the flower on the top and slip a loose leaf underneath. Sew around the edge of the flower. Leaf edges will be raw and loose.

You will see the stitching on the back of the invitation; again, this is intentional to add to the texture and handmade feel. Voila!

Get creative! Layer flowers on top of loose leaves and sew around edges

Mix and match flowers and leaves to create a range of pretty invitations.

For instance, I made these leaf-only “more manly” invitations were for Natalie and Jeff’s single male guests :)

Create bunches of variations and have fun!

Don’t feel like making them yourself? Contact me and I’ll help.

Did you make it? Please post a comment and let me know how this craft idea works for you. And share your own photos at the MerrimentDesign.com Facebook page, “I made it!” flickr photo gallery or tweet a picture to @merrimentdesign. Craft and pass it on!

COPYRIGHT NOTE: You’re more than welcome to use free pattern and how to step-by-step tutorial for your own personal use. Contact me for any commercial use – this includes etsy sellers.

Cristin Siegel made this sophisticated wedding card box covered in decorative paper to collect cards at her sister-in-law Mara’s wedding reception. Pretty crafty and much cuter than a most of the pre-made money boxes being sold out there, don’t you think? And it coordinated perfectly with Mara’s black-and-yellow wedding theme to boot.

This craft would also be great for storing photos or papers in a den or office, sans ribbon, of course.

Supplies for how to cover a cardboard box with decorative paper:

• Sturdy box (cardboard shoe box or other; be sure to choose a deep one if you want to cut a card slot)
• Bookbinding PVA glue
• Paste brush (Cristin used a silicone basting brush)
• Decorative paper for outside and inside
• Satin ribbon

Find a sturdy box with a lid and make sure that both the bottom and the top are in good shape.

NOTE: If you’d like to cut a card slot for people to drop cards in, first be sure you’ve chosen a box that’s deep enough. Then cut a slit in the box that’s 1/4″ wide and at least 6″ long. Cristin opted to skip the slot, instead decorating the inside of the box as neatly as she did the outside. If you’ve chosen to cut a slit, then in subsequent steps below you’ll need to cut your decorative paper and wrap it inside the slot to finish it off.

Spread book binding glue on the box and wrap the top and bottom individually with decorative paper. Tip: Cristin recommends using natural or recycled paper because the texture helps to hide any wrinkles or imperfections you might get in the box because of the glue.

Optional: If you’d like to add a ribbon to the lid: Cut one piece of ribbon that will goes from inside the left side to the inside of the right side. Glue one end in place, stretch the ribbon across the top of the lid, and glue the other end inside the lid. Cut two more pieces of ribbon long enough to act as ties. Glue one end to the underside of the box, leaving the other end loose. Repeat on the other side. Once dry, tie the two ends together into a bow. No need to be too particular about the ribbon ends, as you’ll cover up the ribbon ends on the inside with the yellow paper.

For the inside Cristin chose a solid yellow color wrapping paper, but she wanted it to be textured to better match the outside. Measure one piece of paper for the interior bottom and four pieces of paper for each of the four interior sides. To get a textured effect, ball up the paper up tightly in your hands to get it to fold and wrinkle. Smooth it out again and you’ll now have a textured look. Glue the paper inside the box. Repeat on the inside of the lid, covering up the loose ends of the ribbon.

Did you make it? Please post a comment and share your own photos at the MerrimentDesign.com Facebook page, “I made it!” flickr photo gallery or tweet a picture to @merrimentdesign. Craft and pass it on!

Mary and Brenda Maher of Cakegirls are two of the most talented and inspiring self-taught ladies I’ve ever encountered. Their cakes are not only totally original and visually arresting but taste delicious too (I’m a sucker for the chocolate fudge cake with chocolate mousse).

So when Mary called me last week while I was in Austin for SXSW to see if we were available to film a segment for their reality TV show, Amazing Wedding Cakes on the WE tv network, I couldn’t say “yes” fast enough. Oh, and I was able to convince Shane too :)

As you know, Cakegirls made our bold and tasty poppy wedding cake based on a swatch of retro poppy fabric that we gave them. The cake they created added edible flair to the poppy theme that we also used on our sewn poppy fabric invitations, sewn return address envelopes with custom stamps, table numbers, ring bearer pillow, place cards, sewn zigzagged programs, menu, reserved signs, whimsical flower garland “altar” and bridesmaid’s handbags.

The entire Amazing Wedding Cakes crew was so friendly that they made the whole process seem like a piece of cake (oof). And it was super fun to get a little glimpse into the television show making process.

So set your TiVo for Amazing Wedding Cakes on the WE tv network (find your local airtime). And Chicagoans, be sure to check out Cakegirls in Roscoe Village for your weddings, baby showers, birthdays and other special events. Their cakes are the best.

I’m posting the free tutorial for how to make sewn fabric teabags for loose tea by request. Jessica Mullen wrote: “I saw your beautiful photos from the tea party and I have a quick question. I was wondering how you made the tea bags for the make your own tea take home favors. I would love to do this for a baby shower I am throwing in 2 weeks. Any other ideas to make a baby shower more special using the tea theme? I love your ideas!!”

Thanks, Jessica! Here’s how to make sewn fabric teabags for loose tea. My friend Heather came up with this idea for our Upper Crust Social Club Ladies’ Late-Night Tea Party and I liked it so much that I decided to make a gold sewn tea bags variation for my mom as a DIY gift. So we’ve provided two free templates below, or you can easily make your own custom labels for your own teabags.

Supplies for handsewn fabric teabags:

• Heather’s free how to make your own teabags template and matching tea tents for display (PDFs – ready to print as is) or Kathy’s free how to make your own teabags template (Adobe Illustrator format, just download a trial version of Illustrator and change the names to customize) …or, create your own tags using Adobe Illustrator or Microsoft PowerPoint
• Sheer fabric to make tea bags (we used remnants from my living room curtains that has a nubby texture)
• White thread(or gold thread)
• Thick black craft thread (or gold thread)
• Straight pins
• Craft glue (Aleene’s, Elmer’s, etc.)
• Thick white paper (I like luxe cream cover weight paper)
• Hand sewing needle
• Self-healing mat, rotary cutter and clear plastic ruler OR good fabric scissors

Supplies for packaging:

• White paper bags with a handle
• Clear plastic treat bags
• Pretty stickers OR 8 1/2″ x 11″ sheets of sticker paper (ink jet) or buy laser sticker paper from an office supply store to make your own custom stickers on the computer like we did
• Chinese noodle take-out boxes (optional)

:: For Making Your Own Tea Bags ::

First, cut your sheer fabric into 3″ x 2.5″ rectangles using your self-healing mat, rotary cutter and clear plastic ruler OR good fabric scissors. Pin the rectangles together in pairs.

Machine sew around three sides of the teabag using white thread, leaving about 1/4 inch on the sides. I love the raw edges of the teabag, so embrace any fraying.

Thread your handsewing needle with thick, black thread, or use colored embroidery floss. Weave your needle in and out of the front side of the teabag and then around the back side of the teabag, leaving long extra thread pieces on both front and back. Be sure to avoid sewing the top of the tea bag shut. No need to tie any knots on this step.

Print and cut out your tea labels using one of the two free templates provided, or making your own in Adobe Illustrator or PowerPoint. Fold them in half and place a dot of Elmer’s glue on one end …a little goes a long way. Place the teabag string ends on the glue and close to seal.

Create a “loose tea bar” using clear cups and other assorted small bowls. Fill your teabag with loose teas (my favorites including Blood Orange Tea are from Adagio Teas …check them out. You can get free shipping with a $50 purchase).

:: For packaging ::

Buy clear plastic treat bags to put in a tea bag. Seal using pretty stickers, or make your own custom stickers like we did by buying 8 1/2″ x 11″ white printer sticker sheets and creating your own label in Adobe Illustrator or Powerpoint.

Provide white paper bags with a handle and Chinese noodle take-out boxes for people to carry their goodies home. Relax and unwind!

COPYRIGHT NOTE: You’re more than welcome to use free pattern and how t0 step-by-step tutorial for your own personal use. Contact me for any commercial use – this includes etsy sellers.

Please post a comment if you use this project and let me know how it works for you. And you can post your photos to our “I made it!” flickr photo group. Craft and pass it on!

I really like this thoughtful detail from Cristin and Adam Siegel’s Chicago nuptials. Cristin tied handmade name tags around the tops of water-filled glass Ball mason jars to hold the bridal party’s bouquets during the reception. And aren’t the bridesmaid bouquets that feature orchids and fiddlehead ferns lovely?

Supplies:

• Thick paper in two colors (Cristin used solid and patterned natural shades for her fall nuptials)
• Rub on letters
• Ribbon
• Hole punch
• Glue stick or rubber cement
• Ball mason jars
• Pre-cut paper flowers (optional)

You should be able to find the supplies in the Joann.com scrapbooking section. Cut your paper into a tag shape. Cut narrow rectangles and glue them about 1/4th inch from the end. Position the rub-on letters and follow the directions to transfer them one-by-one onto the tags. Optionally add pre-made paper flowers.

Punch a large hole into the top of the tag, slip the ribbon through the hole, and wrap and tie the ribbon around the top of the jar.

Like this project? Be sure to check out Cristin and Adam’s popular free template for their Giving Tree Save the Date Wedding Announcement.