I’m a shutterbug and I love creative ways that I can use photos, which is why I love these DIY candy bar wrappers found over at Dognbird!  Get the instructions here.

Photo: KisstheGroom via Dognbird

I made DIY candy bar wrappers with comic book ads a while back. I was pleased with how they turned out. I also love these mini chocolate bar favors wrapped with vintage wallpaper. Such Pretty Things has the complete tutorial on these DIY candy bar wrappers. You can also make these with the larger bars and they would look just as sweet!

I love cookie favors! Especially when the cookies are homemade and delicious – like these chocolate chip cookies! I’ve made cookies from this recipe easily more than a dozen times. Everyone loves these soft, delicious cookies and I assure you that you will too! They would be perfect wedding favors and one of the highlights of your cookie table. Not only am I giving you the recipe, but free downloadable labels for your cookie favors designed for IW readers by the talented Brittany over at Pink Peacock Designs. All you will need to wrap these awesome favors are some white CD sleeves, full sheet labels for printing out your free labels and scissors (scallop).

Chocolate Chip Cafe Cookies (These are like the big, fat, chewy cookies that you find in cafes – only better!)

Makes 18 big cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 egg

1 egg yolk

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Sift flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

Cream together melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended.

Beat in vanilla, egg and egg yolk until light and creamy.

Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon.

Drop the cookies 1/4 cup at a time onto baking sheet. Cookies should be approximately three inches apart.

Bake for 21 minutes on non-stick pans or 15-17 minutes on regular cookie sheet. Cool on baking racks.

Print out your cookie favor labels on adhesive paper.

Cut out labels with scalloping scissors. Adhere to white CD sleeves. Voila! Your fabulous favors are good to go!

Move over candy buffet, there’s a new reception idea in town and it’s just as sweet: the cookie table.

Actually, the cookie table has been a wedding tradition in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for quite some time, but it seems to be catching on in other parts of the U.S and Canada.

The NY Times wrote an article about it in December, and I’ve been seeing cookie tables pop up on other blogs.

According to the NY times, the cookie table is a longstanding tradition in PA. that possibly had it’s origins during the Depression, when elaborate cakes were not as common. Cookies filled the need because everyone could chip in, instead of one family sharing all of the expense. At least that’s one of the the theories.

“For as long as anyone here can remember, wedding receptions in Pittsburgh have featured cookie tables, laden with dozens of homemade old-fashioned offerings like lady locks, pizzelles and buckeyes. For weeks ahead — sometimes months — mothers and aunts and grandmas and in-laws hunker down in the kitchen baking and freezing. Then, on the big day, hungry guests ravage the buffet, piling plates high and packing more in takeout containers so they can have them for breakfast the next day,” says the NY times article.

The cookie is so important to some that it would be bordering on sacrilege to do without it.

Cookie tables are also big in Ohio, and some claim that is where they originated.

What surprises me is that this idea didn’t catch on sooner in other parts of  the continent. I mean, who doesn’t love homemade cookies?

Here are a few photos of cookie tables that just might inspire you to have your own cookie table!

Photo One: Mr. and Mrs. Happily Ever After; Photo Two: Adam Lowes Photography; Photo Three: Christina Montemurro Photography; Photo Four: Project Wedding; Photo Five: The McWoods

Tissue paper pom poms are one of the most inexpensive ways to decorate for your wedding. And they’re so easy to make! We made the pom poms in the above picture in just a few minutes. Here is a tutorial on tissue paper pom poms for your wedding.

What you will need:

8 sheets of tissue paper (this will make one tissue paper pom pom)

ruler

scissors

bone folder

pencil

wire

ribbon for hanging pom pom

We used 20″ x 26″ sheets of tissue paper. If you use this size, cut the width down to 17″ (17″ x 26″) and make 1″ folds. If you use 20″ x 30″ paper, make 1 1/2″ folds (you don’t need to cut this sized paper.)

Fold like an accordian fan the entire length of the stack of tissue paper. Use a bone folder to go over folds.

When you are done folding, use a ruler to find the centre of the paper and tie the tissue paper with wire.

Snip the tip of the tissue paper so that it makes a point. You can also create a rounded tip if desired.

Carefully, (tissue paper is very delicate so take it easy)  pull apart each layer of the tissue paper separating it from the centre.

Once you are done, hang the pom pom with ribbon or fishing line. Beautiful!

Tissue Paper Napkin Rings

For large dinner napkins, cut 5″ x 10″ rectangles of tissue. Stack five sheets and make 3/8″ folds. Tie with very narrow ribbon 20″ long.

For smaller napkins, cut 4″ x 8″ rectangles of tissue paper. Stack four sheets and make 3/8″ folds. Tie with ribbon as above.

I love this idea for diy sugar cookie wedding favors. Simply bake pairs of heart-shaped cookies from this recipe close together and include your monogram on the cookies!

Photo: Bride.ca

So you went out and bought (or DIYed) your gorgeous centerpieces for the wedding. Have you given any thought to what you are going to do with them with the wedding is over?

I have got a great idea for you!

Mithi over at Planet Mithi gave her DIY centerpieces to her guests as wedding favors. She bought a stack of florists’ cellophane flower bags and printed out ‘Thank-You’ on translucent sticky labels, which she stuck to the cellophane bags. Near the end of the reception, her sister and some willing helpers packed up the centerpieces in the cello bags and gave them out as wedding favors to whoever wanted them.

Neat idea!

I have made homemade sugar cookies with the recipe I’m giving to you about a half dozen times. Sometimes I don’t decorate them, and simply roll them in sugar. No matter how I make ‘em, they’re always delicious . And they would be superb wedding favors!

I decided to whip these up for Valentine’s Day. I am a novice cookie decorator, but I am still pleased with how these turned out!

Recipe for Homemade Sugar Cookies

1/2 cup butter (salted)

1/2 cup margarine

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

Instructions:

Cream butter and margarine well. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla. Mix well. Combine flour, baking powder and baking soda. Gradually add to creamed mixture. (You might have to do the last mixing by hand. )

Form dough in a ball and place on parchment paper. Place another piece of parchment paper over the dough.

Using a rolling pin to roll the dough approximately 1/4 inch thick. Use cookie cutters to cut out your shapes.

Place onto cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 16 or 17 mins.

Let cool. Decorate cookies.

Sugar Cookie Icing (Adapted from this recipe.)

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

2 – 4 teaspoons milk

2 teaspoons light corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

food coloring

Stir together confectioners’ sugar and milk in a small bowl until smooth. Beat in corn syrup and almond extract until the icing is smooth and glossy. Add more corn syrup if the icing is too thick.

Divide into seperate bowls and add food coloring to each bowl.

Place icing into sandwich sized ziplock freezer bags. Snip one of the corner’s of the bag and add decorating tip.

Use a knife to coat the cookies with icing. After the cookies have been coated, use the piping bag to pipe design. Add sprinkles etc. if desired. Let dry.

Enjoy!

I must say, these two cookies are my favorite of all. My two little girls decorated them.

These Valentine’s pops from My Little Cupcake look easy to make.

You need:

Heart Shaped Mold (helpful but not necessary)
Oreo Cookies
Cream Cheese
Wilton Candy Melts (In Pink or Lavender)
Wilton Sprinkles in Sparkling White
Valentine Candy Hearts

Click here for the full tutorial.

Okay, so  feather boas and moustaches were all the rage in 2009.

It’s time for some new photo booth props! When I saw these DIY party blowers over at Martha Stewart, I thought they would be a perfect photo booth prop!

For a paper tongue that will curl properly, choose a decorative paper that is about the same weight as photocopy paper.

Here’s what you need:

Plastic straw

Vellum

Double-sided sheet adhesive

Scissors

Decorative paper

Clear tape

Pencil

Rubber band

White glue

Decorative tape

For the full instructions go here. There is also a tutorial on Utterly Engaged.