Wedding DIY: Burlap Tablecloths

If you're like my mother, your first thought about burlap being used as wedding tablecloths is skepticism.
Especially when the plan is to couple it with a lace runner.
Lace and burlap? Really?
But I had a vision.
Plus my goal was to use things for the wedding that can be used later in my every day life.
I use burlap in the garden as a windbreak for the corn,
so I figured whatever I didn't use and/or the used tablecloths
could be used in the garden.
Or to transplant shrubs, etc.
So, on to the wedding part of things....
First, you need your burlap.
I had 21 tables 12 feet long to cover so I needed a large roll.
Don't go to wedding suppliers for burlap!
 I went to Gempler's online and ordered a roll.

 It was much cheaper.
Remember to get the 10oz weight, it's best when using it for decoration.

So once I had my massive (and heavy) roll of burlap,
I had to cut the pieces I needed.
  We determined we wanted about a 3" overhang on the ends so we needed each tablecloth to be 12'6" long.

It took a couple of days to cut them all
(mostly because we had to work around work and other obligations)

 After cutting the burlap,
it was time to attach the lace.
I ordered my lace through Battery Operated Candles
they had the size I needed (9" wide) at a decent price.
Make sure you give yourself plenty of time for shipping.
It took a few weeks for the amount of lace I needed to come in to fill the order.
When ordering, remember that the rolls of lace are not continuous
so you will have small scrap pieces.
You'll need to determine how many runners you can get out of each 10 yard roll
(speaking from experience- I had to order more last minute- and the company was great getting it to me in time).
When attaching the lace to the burlap, you'll need to find the middle of the burlap (in this case 20")
and the lace (4.5") and line them up so the lace is in the middle of the tablecloth.

Then it's time to attach it.
I originally planned to stitch the lace to the burlap.
I scratched that idea and went with hot glue for speed.
I glued the bottom edge of the lace to the burlap then glued the sides down.
You won't need to glue along the entire side,
just every few inches or so depending on how the lace is laying.
At the end, run glue across the bottom end again and attach it.
I don't recommend using a high temp glue gun to do this
as you will end up with burns and blisters.
You need to press the lace onto the burlap and glue does come through a bit
so stick with the low temp gun.
Also, the glue will come through the burlap,
so don't do this on a nice table.
I used a plastic tablecloth to cover the work area and just rubbed off the glue pieces afterwards.
And it's much faster if you have another person helping you.
Big E kept and eye on the position of the lace to make sure it was still centered
so all I had to do was glue.
It went pretty quick that way.

All in all, I was highly pleased with the finished product.
I'm saving some to use in the future for family cookouts.

Wedding DIY: Banner Making

I decided that since the wedding was on Flag Day,
we should go with some sort of patriotic decor though I didn't want anything too over the top.
And because the wedding was held at a state park,
I wanted something that would fit well with the setting

(nothing too frou-frou).

So, after checking out ideas on Pinterest

(if you don't Pinterest you really should, really)

I went with making a banner out of fabric pennants.
To start, pick your fabric.
Then decide on the dimensions of your pennants.
Ours were 9" wide by 11" long.
Make a template out of cardboard by first drawing a line the width of your pennant
in this case, 9".
Then find the center (4.5" for mine)
From the halfway mark,
draw a straight line 11" long.
Then draw a straight line from each end of the 9" line to the point of the 11" line to make a triangle.

Use your template to trace the pennants onto the fabric

Then you start cutting out the pennants.
I used pinking shear to prevent the fabric from fraying
since I didn't have the time or the interest in sewing hems.
But if you are so inclined or don't have millions of feet of banner to make,
that's an option.

It's good if you can get some cheap labor.
Note that we traced the template on the back of the fabric.
We also used regular pencils.
This way none of our lines would be seen on the good side.

Once they are cut out,

you need to figure out your pattern

(if you have more than one fabric print or more of one type of print than another,
it helps to lay things out visually)

Our banners were 74 feet long,

so the only area we had at home to work on them was the driveway.

That only works if the wind isn't blowing. 

So on to Plan B.

Luckily Big E has a friend with a large 70' X 100' barn

and we managed to work out the pattern there.

Big E wanted to try to determine how many pennants we needed using math

instead of needing to lay everything out.

While that would work in some cases

 (where you have a simple pattern or the same amount of fabric in each type)

it didn't work in our situation because

I'm a visual person who needs to see how things look.

Plus, we discovered that our original design plan wouldn't work because we didn't have enough 

striped fabric.

It took some playing around with the pieces to make a new pattern.

(math can't help you here)

Once the pattern is set,

it's time to glue the pennants to the twine.

I used a thick twine I picked up at Hobby Lobby

and hot glued the pennants to it by folding over a small amount of the top of the fabric.

I suggest not having a baby underfoot who

thinks playing and pulling on a pennant is great fun.

If you want a more polished look,

you can sew the tops of the fabric to provide a space to feed the twine through.

I wasn't doing that,

and the hot glue worked out just fine.

Here is the finished product.

Here is a shot with the banner in the background.

I was very happy with the results.

The simple banner went well with the rustic look of the park pavilion.

And those who weren't sure about the idea at first

ended up loving it. 

The total cost for making two 74 foot banners was about $70.

(and there was extra fabric I didn't need).

I'm hoping to use all the fabric for some sort of crafty project

that I can have to remember the day by.

Maybe a quilt.

Once I learn to quilt.

After the Wedding

"After the wedding..." has been the typical response to nearly everything for the past month.

We need to get the tomatoes staked.- "After the wedding"

The chicken coop needs some new paint- "After the wedding"

Let's plan {insert activity here}- "After the wedding"

I need to blog- "After the wedding"

Finally, that day has arrived, 

but not I'm in the process of moving.

So here are a couple of shots.

First a photo of a hen and a couple of chicks at the beach at Half Moon Cay, Bahamas.

Leave it to me to find chickens on a private island in the Caribbean.

(and take way too many photos of them).

Had I thought I could smuggle them through the ships security and through US Customs,

I would have grabbed one and brought it home.

 And last but not least,

a photo from our wildly wonderful photographer

Amanda Lester

Now it's time to get the jungle garden weeded

and start all those other projects that got left behind in the wedding process.

Almost Finished

This Mother's Day I worked on the wagon.

After painting it some more in the morning, 

we were ready to begin assembling parts in the evening.

Assembling the pivot head

Attaching the wheels with the new hubcaps

Completed front wheel section

Attaching the front wheels to the wagon bed

Here is the nearly finished product.

I still have the side panels to put together,

but they need another coat or two of paint.

And once assembled, I have the task of redoing the lettering.

With a little luck, I'll have it all done this week

and be able to move on to planting the freshly tilled garden.

Big E even gave up going to get ice cream 

to get this done for me for Mother's Day.

Painting: Round 1

So, we started painting the wagon.  

I don't think I need to go too much into the process, 

but I will say, taping wheels- HUGE pain in the butt.

We were running out of primer and we needed it for the metal pieces

so we didn't bother priming the wood. 

Now I need more red paint because it's going to take a few coats.

I LOVE the metal painted black.

Originally it was painted a greyish color.

And here we have the bird cage we purchased for holding cards.

We got it on sale but I hated the color.

It looks much better in white.

Hoping to get all the hardware I need (nails and bolts)

and get painting finished so I can get the wagon assembled by the end of the weekend.

Still Sanding

With my wedding happening in just over a month, 

the stress planning and preparation has hit high gear.

So I've been frantically trying to get the wagon to the priming and painting stage.

I managed 

(with the help of my brother, dad, Big E, an entire can of WD-40, 

a hacksaw and a reciprocating saw)

to take out the bolts and remove the metal pieces from the wood base.

As of last night, 

I think I have the metal pretty much rust free,

and now my attention is turned to the wood.

The two side panels have the original 1975 lettering,

so I was trying to come up with a way to be able to repaint it.

This font isn't used on any of the newer Town & Country wagons.

 

In a moment of brilliance, 

I thought of using clear page protectors and a Sharpie.

It seemed to work pretty well.

I made a couple of tracings, and I'll hopefully use them to make a stencil of some sort.

Afterwards, I went out and removed the nails from the slats and

the metal brackets that hold the slats.

Today I will begin sanding again, 

though I anticipate wood going faster than metal.

And somewhere along the line, 

I'll need to manage to find time to finishe making 21 tablecloths,

decorate 40 mason jar vases

and cut out an assemble 140 feet of pennant banner.

Oh, and organize my music playlists and download music.

And order a speaker system....

and make a batch of Sangria to make sure it tastes ok.

Something Old

I'm in the process of planning my wedding

that takes place this June.

(Which is my excuse reason for not blogging on a regular basis)

One of my tasks is to refurbish this old Radio Flyer Town & Country wagon

(I use refurbish over restore because I'm not sure it will end up exactly like it used to be).

After deciding that a wagon was needed as part of the ceremony

(I have a son and an infant grandson 

the son will be pulling the grandson and act as "co-ring bearers")

I happened to see this gem sitting on the side of the road with a bunch of other junk someone was calling a yard sale

(truly junk- and I'm being kind).

So Big E and I stopped to see the price and condition.

I got it for $2.00

For that price, we didn't look it over much and decided to just take it.

Turns out, it's not in hideous shape.

It's rusty, needs a new floor piece 

(there was thin veneer like stuff covering the bolts 

that had water damage but the main solid floor is salvageable),

needs new or reshaped brackets

and a back panel

(and a paint job).

 

My mouse sander knocked out a good bit of the rust on the handle.

There are some hard to reach rust spots,

so I might have to come up with a better plan.

I hear vinegar works well.

And in a flash of brilliance, I decided to see if Radio Flyer had replacement parts.

Turns out I can get the brackets

and a back panel for the same price or cheaper than fixing and building them myself.

I could order new wheels and other new pieces, 

but my goal is to keep as much of the original as possible.

It is a vintage antique afterall.

Of course learning this wagon is circa 1975 the year of my birth

I'm not so sure I like using those terms.