Centerpiece Cents: $2 Candle Holders

Centerpiece Cents is back!  The rule is:  No centerpiece must cost over $5.00 each.  What if you have a lot of tables?  Vases and flowers are your best bet however, individual vases can be pricey, even cheap glass vases bought in bulk can be between $10 and $20 a piece and that's just the vase!  What are you going to fill them with?  Let's get creative.

Check out these pretty candle holders from Momtastic.  Easy easy easy and all of the materials can be found at the dollar store and hardware store.  Click the link below for the quick tutorial.

DIY: $2 Candle Holders | Momtastic

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Centerpiece Cents: Fabric Leaf Tree

Just discovered StumbledUpon and "stumbledupon" this awesome idea from Two Girls Being Crafty.  Thought it would make a perfect contribution to our Centerpiece Cents feature.

Click here for the tutorial and if you have an idea for a Centerpiece Cents challenge, here are the rules:

1.  Must be fairly easy for others to do (remember, brides will have to make 20 or so of these for each table at their reception!)
2.  Centerpiece must cost $5.00 or less to make.
3.  You must provide a link with either pictures or instructions (both is best!) on  how to make the centerpiece.
4.  You don't have to, but it would be great if you would follow us here or on facebook so we can all put our heads together and help brides and newlyweds on a budget!

Have an idea? Share it here by posting a comment below. Let's all help each other out.
Don't miss our blog party! Every Wednesday with the highlights showcased on Saturday.

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Centerpiece Cents: Repurpose your baking sheet

I literally walked around my house and put this together in five minutes.  It was 100% free using things I already had and you could do this for each table for a very small price.  And that's the idea!

The Centerpiece Cents challenge is that each table's centerpiece cost less than $5.00.  Click here to see previous Centerpiece Cents ideas and remember tomorrow is the Wednesday Blog Party so if you've got a great idea for a centerpiece that meets the requirements of the challenge, please come back tomorrow and share your idea.  Now on to the project.

What you need
A baking sheet
Some fabric, about 1 yard (or paint if you won't use the baking sheet again)
2, 3, 4 candles, whatever you want (I used medium pillar candles)
Some beads, rocks, marbles (I used fun necklaces with beads shaped like shells)
Masking tape

What I did
First of all, if you can find old baking sheets and they don't cost too much, consider painting them with a glossy color that matches your wedding colors, or just a glossy finish in white would be perfect.  The fabric is great but if you don't care about using these baking sheets for baking again, paint them, it just looks nicer.  Also, these painted baking sheets can be used as platters later down the road when you want to entertain guests as a cute and hip newlywed couple.

Now gather your supplies...

All we're missing here is the tape.  And yes, I did burn some cookies a few months ago.

Make sure the fabric is as tight as you can make it.  Secure it on the bottom with the tape.

Add your beads and candles and you're done!  Gorgeous.

Have an idea? Share it here by posting a comment below. Let's all help each other out.
Don't miss our blog party! Every Wednesday with the highlights showcased on Saturday.

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Centerpiece Cents: Citrus Centerpiece

A big thank you to DIY Weddings for giving me this idea today.  What I love the most about it is that it's really pretty and yet, doesn't require very many flowers, which saves you money.  The two examples below show that either whole or sliced, you can fill the vases with fruit, add a few flowers and it's a full and fresh centerpiece that would be beautiful for a wedding.

I would highly recommend using a small jar or vase (maybe spaghetti jar?) inside a larger vase.  Put the flowers in the jar or smaller vase, put that inside the larger vase, then fill with the fruit and water.  Keeps the flowers centered and in control.  Use the spaghetti jars, collect them from friends and family, and spend the money on the vases.  Plastic or glass would work.

Remember, each Tuesday the goal is to find a pretty and easy centerpiece that costs less than $5.00 per table.  If you are on a budget, you have to prioritize:  Do you spend more money on the photographer or the centerpieces?  The drinks or the dress?  The food or the DJ?

Here are some ideas for large plastic vases you could use for this citrus centerpiece, click on the picture for details or to purchase:

    

Don't miss our Wednesday Blog Party, your idea might make a perfect Centerpiece Cents idea.  Don't forget, the challenge is that it must cost $5.00 or less per table.

Have an idea? Share it here by posting a comment below. Let's all help each other out.
Don't miss our blog party! Every Wednesday with the highlights showcased on Saturday.

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Centerpiece Cents: Rustic Birch Candle Holders

It's Tuesday's Centerpiece Cents!  The rule is:  No centerpiece must cost over $5.00 each.  What if you have a lot of tables?  Vases and flowers are your best bet however, individual vases can be pricey, even cheap glass vases bought in bulk can be between $10 and $20 a piece and that's just the vase!  What are you going to fill them with?  Let's get creative.

Here's a rustic candle holder idea that is free, you only buy the candle.  It's from the blog Art Meet Craft and it serves not only as a centerpiece but also displays the table numbers. Get the tutorial here.

I love the board and large wood plate they used for making the table number too.  The plants, the food, the mason jars, it all goes together so well and costs almost nothing.

Every Tuesday we feature a cheap, easy, and pretty centerpiece.  Want to share your idea?  Post it in the comment section or email it to me and we'll put it up here next Tuesday with a link to your blog.

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Centerpiece Cents: Crepe Paper Rose Ball

Remember, each Tuesday the goal is to find a pretty and easy centerpiece that costs less than $5.00 per table.  If you are on a budget, you have to prioritize:  Do you spend more money on the photographer or the centerpieces?  The drinks or the dress?  The food or the DJ?

This easy and pretty idea came from our Wednesday Blog Party and we thought her contribution would make a perfect Centerpiece Cents idea.  Don't forget, the challenge is that it must cost $5.00 or less per table.

 
The Crepe Paper Rose Ball from Sew Chic & Unique is perfect.  Imagine the ball in whatever color matches your wedding colors, tea lights all around, big beautiful white and black table cloths...  it would look so pretty and it wouldn't cost you much at all!  She used it for her apartment so there's an idea for you.  You can use these as your centerpieces at the reception and then keep a few for your new home.

The idea was inspired by House of Smith's and she used the paper crepe balls to hang from the ceiling.  I love that idea too!  Especially if you have small tables and want the look of a centerpiece but don't want to take away from any table space.  Grab her tutorial here.


Have an idea? Share it here by posting a comment below. Let's all help each other out.  Don't miss our blog party! Every Wednesday with the highlights showcased on Saturday.

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Centerpiece Cents: Tissue Paper Candleholders

This easy and pretty idea came from our Wednesday Blog Party and we thought her contribution would make a perfect Centerpiece Cents idea. The goal each Tuesday for Centerpiece Cents is to find an easy and beautiful centerpiece that is affordable too.  In fact, the challenge is that it must cost $5.00 or less per table.

So from My Girlish Whims comes this very cute tissue paper candle holder idea.  What's nice is that you can easily customize this with your own wedding colors or to match your flowers.  These vases are inexpensive, tissue paper is cheap, and glue is cheap.  Perfect!

Visit her blog for the easy tutorial and make sure you've got your project ready for the Wednesday Blog Party tomorrow.

Want to see more Centerpiece Cents ideas?  Click here.

Have an idea? Share it here by posting a comment below. Let's all help each other out.
Don't miss our blog party! Every Wednesday with the highlights showcased on Saturday.

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Centerpiece Cents: Ice cream bucket

The idea for Centerpiece Cents, and really the blog in general, is to find the cheapest way to accomplish the beautiful wedding and reception you want.  Many people will say that a $500 wedding is impossible and that's not true.  You can do it, you just have to be open-minded and creative.  Now, most people will have more than $500 to plan their wedding but would still like to save as much money as they can, so these ideas can help everyone.

My project for today's quick project is converting an ice cream bucket into a centerpiece.  Using it as a bowl/vase, I painted the bucket a dark brown and filled it with greenery and flowers.  The flowers I used were fake (and I'd use real if you can because they smell so good, although fake flowers are completely fine) and I already had them.  My ice cream bucket and paint were things I already had too so this project was totally free (remember the rule is all centerpieces must cost less than $5.00 each).

Think about it like this too: When you're watching those home-improvement shows and they talk about home-sellers "staging" their home for an open house, it's all about appearances.  None of the furnishings are meant to last forever or be over-analyzed.  They are meant for the moment and so are these centerpieces. 

If you're on a budget and you need centerpieces for twenty tables, you need to get resourceful and think about how you can achieve the look for that one event.  Will this ice cream bucket last forever or be on display atop the mantle in your living room?  Nope, but it will make a wonderful centerpiece for the evening and no one will know.

Here's where it started.  In the freezer, hiding from me.

I ate the ice cream (like I do) and painted it with a thick glossy dark brown paint.
Two coats.

After it dried, I filled it with balled up plastic grocery bags as my base
for the floral arrangement.

I filled it with different flowers and greenery, a little moss on the bottom, and it's done.
With tea light candles surrounding it and the lights dimmed, who's going to say,
"Hey, didn't this used to be an ice cream pail?  I'm outta here."

Over at Cornflower Blue, Cortney has some great centerpiece ideas too, here's a picture from her guest blog post yesterday.  I like how she's picked one simple flower and used it for several different decorations.

Have an idea? Share it here by posting a comment below. Let's all help each other out.

Don't miss our blog party! Every Wednesday with the highlights showcased on Saturday.

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Centerpiece Cents: Yarn and Jars

It's Tuesday's Centerpiece Cents!  The rule is:  No centerpiece must cost over $5.00 each.  What if you have a lot of tables?  Vases and flowers are your best bet however, individual vases can be pricey, even cheap glass vases bought in bulk can be between $10 and $20 a piece and that's just the vase!  What are you going to fill them with?  Let's get creative.

I went outside and grabbed a bunch of medium rocks and some long sticks from my yard.  I decided I'd use these as the anchor for my idea to hang pictures.

Then, I took a spaghetti jar that I'd washed in the dishwasher, my glue gun, put the rocks in the jar and went to work.  I used some dark gray yarn and my trusty glue gun secured the end of the yarn to the jar and I started wrapping the yarn tight around the spaghetti jar.  About half way I squeezed a small horizontal line of glue on the jar just to make sure the yarn stayed in place and then once I got to the top I glued the other end to the jar.  The original idea was to make a vase that would hold branches and those branches would hold some family pictures or table numbers.

Here was my original plan:

I used the jar lid to trace the circles for the family pictures.

It just didn't look great.  I mean, this isn't exactly wedding-reception pretty.
Back to the drawing board.

So I had my jar, the rocks for my base, I needed something that would look pretty instead of spaghetti jar with sticks.  I walked around the house grabbed some flowers out of another vase and added them to this yarn-jar.  It looked much better.

Different shapes and sizes or different colors of yarn would be beautiful too! 
Think of three different sizes of jars wrapped in the same color of yarn arranged together on each table.

Add a tagged number to the flower to mark your tables.

Now the pretty flowers and leaves cover the top of the jar (you could also wrap the yarn all the way to the top) and it looks nice!  Who would know?  Think, if you're on a budget and you have 125 people coming to your wedding and you have 15 tables, how can you afford to buy 15 vases and stay in your budget?  Remember, most of your money should go into the things that people will remember and enjoy.  Like the food, music, your dress, the cake, etc.  Centerpieces should be beautiful of course, but there are ways to get the gorgeous colors and decor you want without spending more than $5.00 per centerpiece.

What you'll need:

1. Yarn
2. Glue gun
3. Clean spaghetti jar
4. Rocks (to stabilize the flowers)
5. Paper (if you plan on using the centerpieces to mark your tables)
6. Silk or real flowers

The price breakdown:
Yarn... $1.50
Spaghetti jar... $1.25 (after you enjoy some awesome spaghetti first)
Silk flowers... $2.00
Rocks... Free
TOTAL:  $4.75

Now, I'm not sure how much you want to count the spaghetti jar against your cost since you're using it after you've had the sauce for a meal plus tell your friends and family to save all of their jars for you.  Different shapes and sizes or different colors of yarn would be beautiful too!  Think of three different sizes of jars wrapped in the same color of yarn arranged together on each table.  If you're getting the jars for free and you buy a couple of extra balls of yarn, a few more flowers, you're still looking at a nearly free centerpiece.

Every Tuesday we feature a cheap, easy, and pretty centerpiece.  Want to share your idea?  Post it in the comment section or email it to me and we'll put it up here next Tuesday with a link to your blog.

Don't miss our Wednesday blog party! Every Wednesday with the best projects showcased on Saturday.

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Centerpiece Cents: Pickle Jar Project

Each Tuesday we feature an affordable centerpiece and keep this strict rule in mind:  Each centerpiece must cost $5.00 or less.  While this may seem too tight of a budget (I've been to many many weddings where the centerpieces alone cost over $50 a piece) you'll see that you can have cute and fun centerpieces without breaking the bank.

What I like about this particular centerpiece is that it's easily under budget and an especially smart project since it's up-cycling things in your home and keeping them out of a landfill.

Quick tip: To remove sticky labels from glass jars or mirrors, try using your hairdryer.  Turn it on high and point it directly at the sticker and around its edges.  This will loosen the glue and should make it easier to peel off after a minute or so of using the hairdryer.

What you'll need for this pickle jar project:

1. Small glass vases (the kind that come free with a flower or you can buy them really cheap at a thrift store)
2. Large and medium sized pickle jars (or spaghetti jars, jam jars, etc.)
3. White spray paint
4. Bonding glue (the really really good stuff)

Here's the finished project above and make sure you check out eighteen25 for the full tutorial.  She has an amazing blog too with other great ideas so be sure to stop by and visit.

Tomorrow we are hosting our Wednesday Blog Party.  Stop by and contribute your best new project!
Have an idea? Share it here by posting a comment below. Let's all help each other out.

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Cute and creative idea for your tables

Hey look, another use for those spaghetti jars!

This is so cute and wouldn't cost too much to make.  These would be so cute on the tables at the wedding reception.  Match the colors to your wedding colors and start collecting those spaghetti sauce jars.  I think it would look cute to have other jars that match for the other accessories.  For example, baby food jars for the salt and pepper. 

Click here for the tutorial.

Have an idea? Share it here! Let's all help each other out.  Don't forget, every Tuesday is Centerpiece Cents where a centerpiece idea is highlighted and the only rule is that the entire centerpiece must cost less than $5.00 to make.  (That's per centerpiece, not the centerpieces for all of your tables.  Calm down, deep breaths.) 

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