Looking for a unique wedding send-off? Try ribbon wands! You can make them yourself for under $1 each and they are a nice little take home gift for your guests (your flower girls will LOVE  ’em!!)

Ribbon wands are waved by wedding guests as the bride and groom exit the ceremony and/or the reception. They look gorgeous waving in the breeze – and the ones I’m going to show you how to make sound lovely too. (I attached little bells to the top of the wands.)

I made these ribbon wands in a snap – and you can to. How? Read on for the full instructions!

Ribbon Wands

Materials:

12 inch wooden dowels

small bells

five feet of ribbon per dowel (I used two types of ribbon for each wand, but you can use one of you want to)

eye screw

split ring

scissors

fray check

scotch tape

Insert eye screw into top of dowel.

Place split ring on the eye screw.

Add bell to split ring.

Place ribbon through the split ring and tie it in a knot. Repeat if adding more ribbon.

Apply Fray Check (or something similar) to the ends of the ribbon. When I did this to the satin ribbon it left a faint watermark. It was barely noticeable, but if you are bothered by it you could consult with your local fabric store and see if there are other options. I cut the ends of the smaller plaid ribbon in a ‘v’ shape to prevent fraying. This did not work on the large satin ribbon, so I used Fray Check. In the photo below the Fray Check has not dried so it is very visible. Once it dries it is very faint.

Wrap the ribbon around the wands and secure with a small piece of Scotch tape. Place in a mason jar or bucket for your guests to take.

Have your guests wave your DIY wands as you exit the ceremony!

I love unusual things – and that applies to weddings too. Which is why I thought these pre-wedding photos shot at the bride’s father’s carpentry shop were really neat! What a great setting! Meaningful, unique and tad edgy. Photos by Indonesian photographer, Ian Photography.

By Darin (hubbie)

My brother-in-law introduced me to the art of coffee making several years ago and we’ve been using his french-press method ever since.  When the folks at Senseo came along and offered us a coffee maker to review that would automate our coffee making experience, I was a bit skeptical.   But, I must say, if you enjoy coffee, this makes a fine cup for your one-at-time needs.

You’ll need to stock up on the little coffee pods and always have some on hand.  If this will be your main source of java for your morning wake-up and you like your coffee strong bodied (like we do), then you might be using 2 pods per cup of joe.  Here’s how it breaks down using some amazon.com numbers:

Senseo Coffee Maker:  $64.99 – one time purchase . (Amazon.com link)

Senseo Coffee Pods (Breakfast Blend) = $27.84 / 108 pods @ 2 pods/cup = $0.52 / cup.  (Amazon.com link)

So if you’re on the go and need a single cup for the road, 50 cents brews you a very fine cup of coffee.  My favourite is the Breakfast Blend.

Now, there’s a caveat here. I checked out the reviews on amazon.com and there’s lots of 5 and 4 star reviews on this coffee, and plenty of tips and techniques to make that big cup out of just one pod, so do some reading up on other coffee junkie’s methods there too as you might be able to get it down to just $0.25 a cup with some practice.

The nice folks at Senseo are sponsoring a giveaway here on IW and offering up a Senseo Coffee Maker to one of our readers.

Here’s what you need to do to have a chance at winning:

1. ‘Like’ us on Facebook (already a fan? no prob.)

2. Leave a comment at the end of this post telling us about your favourite at-home coffee making method. Remember, it’s how you make your coffee at home, not what your favourite coffee shop brew happens to be.

3. Cross your fingers and wait until I announce the winners on August 15, 2010!

You have until 11:59 p.m. August 13, 2010  to enter. This contest is open to residents of Canada and the U.S. only. Winners will be selected by random number generator.

Good luck!

Full Disclosure: I love coffee. Senseo gave me a coffee maker for free to try. I like their coffee. I have provided links in this post to the coffee maker and the coffee pods via my amazon affiliates account and if you make a purchase when you get there, amazon gives me a cut. That’s what keeps this website going. That seems to be how a lot of other bloggers do it too. Some are up front about it like us, others aren’t. We hope you find this site helpful and see that we’re not all fluff-n-buff and full of fake rah-rah-rah-siss-boom-bah about the stuff we get to review.

Are you getting sucked in to the white lace vortex? Read this article on wedding spending in the Globe and Mail.

Looking for some wedding send-off ideas? Something other than confetti and rose petals?

It was the against the rules of the church that Darin and I got married in to have confetti or rose petals thrown as a wedding send-off because of the mess. Your church or ceremony venue might have similar rules. If this is the case, here are some charming alternatives:

Wedding sparklers are fun and make for great photos. (I love this photo by kabloomstudios!) It would make a great painting!

Ribbon wands are another charming (and colorful) wedding send-off! 

Photo: Elizabeth Anne Designs

Photo: Style Me Pretty

Photo: pink posh

Bubbles are magical, and once again make for fabulous photos.

Photo: Red Lotus Photography

Photo: Caroline Ghetes

Check out this fancy bubble wand.