4 Ways to Decorate Votive Candles

I have these pretty votive candles through Welcome Tia.  They are locally made from beeswax, and they smell and look great.  However, I've come up with a few ideas to decorate votives, if you want to them into something extra special or bring in your wedding colours/theme.

A doily wrapped around the candle would look great at a vintage-inspired wedding or bridal shower:

Use candlesticks to add height.  I'm always a bit nervous to use taper candles with little ones around, but placing a votive on top of a candle holder is elegant and safer:

Incoroporate your colours by tying string around the candle:

Or get your glue gun out and add cinamon sticks to the votive.  Bonus - it smells fantastic:

Happy Thursday!

Eco-Friendly Wedding Rings

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I bought my wedding band before really getting interested in green weddings.  My soon-to-be husband had given me a beautiful solitaire engagement ring, and I simply bought the matching wedding band.  Sam picked something that looked good in the same store for himself.  I thought I'd be wearing those rings until I was old and gray, but getting pregnant changed that plan - when my fingers fattened up like everything else, they didn't go back to their normal size after my son was born.  In the market once again for wedding bands, my options were to have my rings sized (pricey for platinum bands), or find something else, and something eco-friendly.  Around that time, a family ring was passed down to me, and my problem was solved in the most eco-friendly way possible - using something that has already been used and loved, and not purchasing new.

If you're not so lucky or don't like the idea of wearing a not-new ring, there are other options available. Eco-friendly wedding rings are getting easier to find and more stylish.  Here's a few ideas to consider when you're shopping around for that perfect wedding band:

-Rings that have been made from recycled gold.  In some cases you can bring in gold that you have, and have it melted down and used for your ring.

-Canada-mined diamonds.  Still ecologically destructive, but at least the workers are paid fair wages, unlike in some other countries.

-Lab-grown diamonds.  They look exactly the same as naturally formed diamonds, but with no negative environmental impact.

-Skip diamonds in favour of less precious (and more eco-friendly) gems.

-Skip gold, platinum and diamonds altogether and get a wooden wedding band.  My favourite is shown at the top of this post, and is Canada-made, from Touch Wood Rings.

-There's a lot of talk about "blood diamonds", which are diamonds sold to fund wars.  Very, very few diamonds are blood diamonds (it's estimated about 0.2% of diamonds).  If you're concerned, you can ask the jewelry store to provide a Kimberley Process Certification, which certifies that your diamond was not a blood diamond.

-Get a ring custom made by searching websites like Etsy for just the right designer.

A couple of my favourite websites for wedding bands are Green Karat, Brilliant Earth, Etsy, and Touch Wood Rings.  If you're in Winnipeg, Birks has the most comprehensive environmental policy that I've seen.

Good luck ring shopping!

Eco-Friendly Invites

The National Stationery Show is going on this week, and I've got paper on my mind.  When you're searching for stationery, here's a few terms to watch for:

Recycled content means a percentage of the paper is recycled (this can be as little as 10%, and as high as 100%)
Post-consumer waste is made from paper that has already been used, and has now been made into paper again.
Cotton paper is made from cotton, often from small pieces of cotton leftover in manufacturing.  The paper is usually thicker than regular paper, and very luxurious feeling.
FSC-certified paper comes from sustainable forests, and effort is made to lessen the environmentally impact and plant new trees.

As for printing, just as "recycled content" is often the bare minimum in eco-friendly paper options, "non-toxic" ink is the minimum in printing methods.  Veggie or soy based inks are best.

I have a few favourite paper companies:

Botanical Paperworks is a Winnipeg company that embeds seeds in their paper so when you're done with the paper you can plant it, and it will grow wildflowers!  Their paper is either 100% post-consumer waste or cotton.  The paper looks and feels great, and they also offer favours and gifts including seed packets and journals with plantable covers.

Kate & Birdie is also located in Winnipeg, and sells cards and stationery printed on recycled paper.

Earthly Affair, a US company, sells gorgeous wedding invitations that are made from post-consumer waste paper, or cotton paper.

Any other tips for picking eco-friendly stationery?

Crafty Thursday - Pinwheel Tutorial

A few weeks ago, I got to set up a little With a Flourish display table at an event I coordinated.  Inspired by the gorgeous Spring weather we were having, my theme was a little bit "vintage picnic."  I thought I'd write about the pinwheels I made for the table.

This is my first craft tutorial, so please be patient - I'm going to try to blog tutorials every once in a while, and hopefully they'll get better over time :)  Anyways, I used these pinwheels in the place of flowers in one of the vases on my table, but they would also be great hanging behind a dessert table at a bridal shower, or creatively displayed as place cards by attaching a name to the pinwheel and putting it on a place setting.  I used pages from an old hymn book because I wanted slightly yellowed pages and music notes, but pages from an old book or dictionary would work great as well.

Here's my little table with hymn book pinwheels in the middle (please excuse my poor photography skills):



First, cut three pages to the same size, and fold each page like an accordian:

Close the accordian and fold each page in half.

Glue along the fold and attach the two sides:

Glue along the outside edges of each piece and stick all three pieces together:

Then, attach the pinwheels to whatever you want!  I glued mine to a ribbon, and I think I'll make a longer ribbon and hang it across the wall for the next birthday party we have around here.

Weddings in Winnipeg - Red & Teal Decor

Weddings in Winnipeg has included one of my favourite colour schemes - red and teal - in their latest issue.  Thanks for including one of our designs in the magazine!  This is from a photo shoot we did in Fall, photo by blf Studios:

Fair Trade Friday

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Tomorrow is World Fair Trade Day!  I'm going to celebrate by going to Ten Thousand Villages, which will have live drumming, henna tattoos and other special events throughout the day.  There is a World Fair Trade Day website here, complete with articles and videos if you would like to learn more.  For the latest news in Manitoba Fair Trade products and stores, be sure to check out Fair Trade Manitoba.

If you are planning a wedding, there are several ways you can support fair trade through your planning.
Here's a few fair trade wedding tips:

Buy local whenever possible.  Local decor, food, candles, etc.
Skip the dollar store.  Purchase things like vases at thrift stores, borrow from friends, purchase from a store that supports fair trade artists, or rent.
Ask questions.  Ask the bridal shop if your dress was made in a factory that pays fair wages.  Ask your florist if the flowers for your wedding are fair trade certified. The more questions you ask, the more vendors know you're interested in fair trade wedding products.
Register at Ten Thousand Villages.  They have a great selection of items for your kitchen, furniture, and decor, and all artists are paid fair wages.

Happy World Fair Trade Day!

Please like me

Happy Tuesday!  There is a "how-to" post coming later this week for the pinwheels we are making above.  By we I mean me, with a little help from my favourite assistant.

I've just set up a With a Flourish Page on Facebook, which is better than the With a Flourish Group that currently exists.  Recently, Facebook changed their settings so you don't "become a fan" of a page anymore, you just click the "like" button.  Well, it felt weird to ask people to become my "fans", but it feels even more weird to ask people to "like" my page.

Strange terminology aside, please click here to like me!