Torture Yourself With Crafts

For my cruise ship wedding last year, I sent out message-in-a-bottle in-a-suitcase invitations to our guests. They turned out pretty cute!

Step One - Assemble the bottles

MATERIALS USED

5oz Glass Bottles with tapered corks purchased at www.ebottles.com
7" x 2" x 2" Shipping Boxes http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EUI8WN0?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage
Light brown decor sand purchased on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A7FWBJ6/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
mini seashells purchased on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0055TMP2W/ref=oh_details_o06_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
your invitations and rsvp cards (mine were created by my very talented sister, PamplemoussePaperie, https://www.etsy.com/shop/PamplemoussePaperie)
Southworth® FSC Certified 55% Recycled 25% Cotton Linen Cover Stock, 8 1/2" x 11", 65 Lb, Ivory, Pack Of 100
Office Depot® Brand Shipping Tags, Size #1, Pack Of 100
Scotch® Expressions Washi Tape, 5/8" x 393", Airplane
Scotch® Expressions Washi Tape, 5/8" x 393", Silver Glasses
Scotch® Glue Dots, Pack Of 300
Elmer's® Extra-Strength Office Glue Stick, 0.88 Oz
kite string from the Dollar Store
frangrace oil - i used Sun & Sand purchased on Amazon and it smells just like vacation!! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00424ML5C/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I printed my own invitation to save both money and time, so the first thing I did was cut down my invitations and RSVP cards to size. I made the RSVP cards 3.5" x 5" because that is the minimum size the USPS will deliver.

I learned the official USPS sizes for postcards taken from their website as follows. (http://pe.usps.gov/businessmail101/mailcharacteristics/cards.htm)
To qualify for mailing at the First-Class Mail postcard price, it must be:

Rectangular

At least 3-1/2 inches high x 5 inches long x 0.007 inch thick

No more than 4-1/4 inches high x 6 inches long x 0.016 inches thick

Next I rolled up the invitations around a cheap round pencil. You don't want the "fancy" name brand pencils because they are not round. I then tied the string around the rolled invitation.

Fill the bottle with sand.

Then add some mini seashells.

Put a drop of fragrance oil on the cork and let it dry.

Put my rolled up invitation in the bottle and then stuffed in box with RSVP card. I shredded some blue paper and placed on the bottom of the box for some cushion. I also numbered the back of my RSVP cards so I could match those that came back to my list because sometimes people forget to write their names on their RSVP. Doh!

Next it was time to wrap up the box. I used the leftover paper from the confetti stick project which was purchased at Home Depot.

The stamp was an engagement gift from my sisters!

Return address on the back:

Make sure you have a helper through all of this.

Ta Da!

I made 160 flutter fetti wands for my sister's wedding. I went to Party City to just buy them, but they only had like nine in stock. I'm not going to lie, it was a lot of work and I wanted to quit a million times, but they were awesome!

STEP ONE - Make the Wands

We followed this YouTube video to first create the wands. Tips - I used way more wood glue than I thought I would! My boyfriend cut some sheets of drywall to use as little work stations. I bought all the supplies at Home Depot.

STEP TWO - Paint the Wands

I love playing with spray paint (especially since it is illegal here in Chicago), but spraying 160 of these things left my fingers in pain for days!

STEP THREE - Cut the Confetti

Here is the final pain in the ass step. While at Party City I took a peek inside an ALREADY OPENED box of wands so I could see how they were constructed. I couldn't find stacks of confetti for sale like these anywhere!

So I just bought all different colors of tissue paper and cut it up myself. Then I pushed the stacks inside the tubes. I got a dowel a little smaller than the wand to sometimes help guide the stacks into the tubes.