Jam Wedding Favours

I have been researching some ideas for a rustic wedding and I just have to share a gorgeous favour with you. Jam jar favours really bring home the theme of a rustic wedding.  Here are some images and a quick how to.

How to make Jam

Serve in recycled jars or purchase glass jars (125ml).  Add some gingham or hessian to the lid and tie together with a ribbon of your choice.  Attach a label thanking people for coming to your wedding, or have some fun and add sentences like “spread the love.” Remember to add your names and the date of your wedding.  You can use any fruit to make the jam below.  The recipe below will only make 10 cups, so if you have 100 guests, you can either enlist some family members or do it in stages.  The jam will be preserved in the jars.

Ingredients

• 1.4 kg peaches or indigenous fruit
• 3 teaspoons lemon juice
• 5 cups sugar

Directions

1.  Wash, peel, pit and chop peaches-you want 10 cups.
2.  Place all ingredients in a large glass bowl and let stand for 1 hour.
3.  Transfer to a large stainless or enamel pot.
4.  Bring to a full boil.
5.  Boil for 25 minutes to reach the jelly point-stir often and then constantly as the mixture nears the jell point.
6.  Remove and skim off foam.
7. Place jars in the oven, until they are hot.
8.  Ladle the jam into clean hot jars leaving 1/4 inch head space.
9.  Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
10. Decorate the lid and add the labels when the jar has cooled.
11. Your jam is ready to be presented on the tables at your wedding.

Glass jars: R3.00

Jam ingredients: R400

Sticky paper for labels: R50

Fabric: R50

Your time: free

Total cost for each jam favour @ 100 guests: R8.00

Hope you enjoy making these favours.  Come back soon for more D.I.Y. wedding favour ideas.

Lots of Love

Faye

Crafts

I had a great day yesterday.  I put my laptop aside and decided to haul out my now deceased granny's sewing machine.  I have to admit that I have a modern sewing machine, but I love using her 1800's Singer.  I am self taught, so my advice is probably not brilliant and there are going to be some seamstresses out there that will shudder at my advice.  At the end of the day, though, it all came together in the easiest possible way and I have to share my sewing adventure with you.

I am a self professed "jeans girl" and I have many pairs that have either dated or dont fit me anymore. With this in mind and the idea that once you have worn your wedding dress and do not want to donate it to charity or a second hand store, try the next most traumatic thing, cut it up.  Wow, that must sound terrible, but with upcycling (turning something old into something new) you can create a gorgeous patchwork quilt for your baby, which lets face it, is your next journey.

One pair of jeans were then cut, by myself, into 5 inch squares.  The pockets were put to the side, just in case, I found a use for them later on.  Placing two squares, right side facing each other, I sewed as close to the edge as possible. I then opened them up and proceeded to sew another square to the open square as before.  I did 4 squares in a row, twice and then hemmed the two sets of four together in the same way as I had done before with two individual squares.  Turning them right side up, they made a gorgeous denim patchwork.  Once I had completed enough rows of 4 squares, always connecting them to the previous squares, I turned the patchwork inside out and simply hemmed the outer edges together, leaving the top section open, to insert the cushion.  I then took a pair of old white pants and cut out a heart and hemmed the edges inward.

Turning the patchwork inside out again, so that the right side was showing, I then hand stitched the heart to the denim patchwork cushion.  I could not stop there and pulled some lime green wool from the cupboard and tacked it all the way around the heart.  Button holes were cut into the one open side and stitched.  Lime Green buttons were then stitched to the opposite side and the cushion was placed into the patchwork cover.  I closed the buttons and a gorgeous cushion is now on my daughters bed.

As soon as I have taken some photographs, I will post them.

Try it with your old wedding dress and cut squares from the fabric. Sew them together in groups of two and then four and so on until you have the width you require for the quilt.  Continue to make rows and then stitch them together.  If you are making a quilt, use an old sheet and stitch the patchwork to the sheet.  If you have various fabrics on your dress or fabrics from your decor, cut shapes out of them and either place shapes into the individual squares or onto the quilt as a whole.  This will make a gorgeous baby blanket made with love and very special fabric, your wedding dress.

Hope you try it and I know that you will love it.

Faye

How to carry on in a warming world

How to carry on in a warming world

Dror Eyal Photography

Dror Eyal


Eco Photographs???  The only way you can have eco photographs is to insist that all your wedding photographs are digital.  That way you can sort through the photographs and print the ones that you like the most.  You will always have a digital reference and can also post them to your wedding website for friends and family.  


Finding the right photographer is not something to be taken lightly.  A photographer has to be able to capture the magic of your wedding.  His lens has to capture each moment creatively.  Photographers who randomly shoot pictures and then pass off your double chin as a natural photograph will ruin your very precious moments, captured on film for an eternity.  You will go to a lot of effort to look beautiful and have your day go by without a glitch only to be left with awful pictures.  Unfortunately this is where you do not attempt to find the cheapest solution.  The key solution to avoiding wedding photograph hell is to meet with a few photographers or visit their sites to see weddings they have shot in the past.  You will connect with the right photographer through his work.


I spend hours looking for eco vendors and suppliers and I love wedding images.  However, a wedding photographer pattern often emerges where the same boring shots are taken time and time again.  A group of groomsmen jumping with sunglasses on, the bride standing in arches with a bunch of flowers etc.  The best photographers are the ones who capture the emotion, the mood and the personality of the bride and groom.  Someone who allows you to see into the love of the couple.   


In one such search I found a South African photographer Dror Eyal.  His images are incredible, different and captivating.  Please have a look at his site and browse through the wedding albums or simply watch the flash player.


I have included some of his photographs I liked best. Enjoy!

Mother of the Bride, Mothers Day Competition

Most of us turn into Bridezilla at one time or another, whether we like to admit it or not.  Usually, however there is only one witness, your Mom.  This is an extremely stressful time for the mother of the bride.  She has to be so many things to so many people but most of all she has to see her little girl walk down the aisle and away from her side.  This is the woman who has been someone’s daughter, someone’s lover, a caregiver and a nurturer.  She planned your first birthday, took care of you when you were sick, consoled you when you were heartbroken and now she will be there on the most wonderfully special day of your life…..your wedding.  This is no easy feat.  She will cry when you put your dress on for the first time, help you through the stressful times and agree with you when you are clearly turning into bridezilla, telling everyone else how well you have handled the stress of organising a wedding.  

She will fold invitations, remember the things that you forget, pay vendors and still love you at the end of it.  Why? Because she is your mother, she has brought you into this world and because she loves you with every bit of her soul.

Your Moms efforts should not be expected or go unnoticed by you.  Yes, she will still love you after you abuse her compassion but you need to love her back.

Before the wedding invite your Mom to a special day with just you.  Go to a botanical garden for a picnic or go to a spa for some relaxation sessions.  You could also get a bottle of wine and buy some beauty treats for Mom, like Esses' organic skincare range for more mature skins. 

COMPETITION

Please send your name, the date of your wedding and what eco steps you have taken in your wedding plans to myecowedding@telkomsa.net.  Your wedding will be featured on myecowedding.blogspot.com and you will also receive African Organics shampoo and conditioner and Esse serum and moisturiser.

Competition closes 6 May 2010.

African Organics has a wonderful array of organic hair care items and Esse who they are associated with have the most amazing skin care products.  They are giving away a shampoo for dry/treated hair and a conditioner as well as a rich moisturiser for mature skins and a skin serum.  These are incredible products and I swear by them because I use them myself.  Not only will you be giving Mom a fantastic gift but you will also be introducing her to products that are eco friendly and organic. 

Esse

Esse’ full facial and body care range comes as close to organic as there is to find. Certified organic by EcoCert, animal friendly by Beauty Without Cruelty SA, fair trade by PhytoTrade Africa and endorsed by the Vegan Society, discerning consumers can be assured of effective and ethical beauty treatments.  Esse incorporates many of Africa’s Sub Saharan plant ingredients, all sustainably harvested, for their amazing skin care benefits.  All products are 100% bio-degradable and free of all undesirable ingredients including parabens, petrochemicals, pthalates, synthetic fragrance and artificial colourant. Products are packaged in glass, for easy re-cycling and Esse offers a re-cycle initiative to any customers wishing to return empties.

African Organics

African Organics presents for the first time in South Africa, a 100% natural range of hair and body care products.  With years of experience in formulating to natural and organic standards, our formulators were presented with a brief to produce a 100% natural range that everyone can afford to use without compromising on quality.

Rooted in Africa, the plant ingredients we include have adapted to the harshest conditions on the planet by producing some of the most powerful protective ingredients known to man.  The sourcing of these ingredients also creates opportunities for local communities to benefit from the profits in sales of these raw materials through fair trade initiates.  These initiatives ensure sustainable harvesting and fair retribution.

In the interests of healthier humans inhabiting a healthier Earth, we are committed to not using parabens, petrochemicals, sulphated surfactants, animal products, ethoxylated or PEG ingredients, propylene glycol or any other ingredients red-flagged by leading international certification authorities.