Making your own crystal hair accessories

If you want to save yourself a bit of cash for fancy creating something handmade for your wedding then crystal hair accessories are pretty easy to do with some practice and the right tools.

The tools you will need are wire cutters and needle nose pliers, both available from a craft shop, but if your considering taking up making jewellery as a hobby you might want to buy these in a set.

You'll also need hair grip or pins, metal wire in 0.4mm gauge and crystals that you want to use.

First cut yourself a piece of wire roughly 20cm in length, the longer wire gives you something to grab hold of. Thread the wire between through the gap in the hair grip or pin and wrap it around the top of it at the bend and pull it tight. Wrap at least 3 times. Once the wire is wrapped securely, thread on your crystal and wrap the wire again around the grip another 3 times. Pull this tight, then cut the wire with the wire cutters close as possible to the hair grip. Flatten the cut end of the wire against the hair grip using the needle nose pliers, to complete your crystal hair grip. Repeat for the number of grips that you need.

Wedding Wishing Tree

You'll have to excuse the week or so I haven't posted, it's been Christmas and more importantly I took a little time off to give birth to my daughter (who's gorgeous by the way).

Today I thought I would write about wedding wishing trees.  I live in the UK and we don't tend to use this lovely tradition but I bet it will become more popular as the years go by as many American customs tend too.

Instead of a wishing tree we tend to use guest books and it's in these that the wedding guests write the hopes and dreams for the happy couple.

But I like the wedding wishing tree over the guest book for a number of reasons.

• They make a very pretty wedding decoration
• You can make it yourself
• The tags can be incorporated into a memory book with photos of your guests a other momentos from the day.

Here's a video to show you how easy it is to make a wedding wishing tree


If you want to buy the tags for your wishing tree then head over to etsy and check out these wedding wishing tags.

Wedding Table Center Pieces

Table center pieces make a huge impact when it comes to decorating your wedding reception.  You can either pay someone to create them for you or make them yourself.  Above is just one video from Youtube giving you some ideas but there are loads more to be found across the web.

Gold and Ivory Wedding Theme

Gold and Ivory make a stunning wedding theme, they're classical colours which denote elegance and luxury and there are plenty of wedding accessories available to make having this colour choice easy.

Below is a small section of the ivory and gold wedding theme treasury that I created a few days ago on Esty.  If you click on the image then you'll be taken through to the treasury and you'll be able to see all the handmade wedding items included on it.

For this wedding theme colour combination I also designed a new bridal comb with ivory and gold pearls, topaz Czech crystals and clear Swarovski crystals all fastened to the clear plastic comb with gold toned wire.

What's really good about this colour combination is that gold accessories are readily available after Christmas at discounted prices.  Look for gold toned plates to put ivory candles on as table centrepieces Jazz up this simple display by adding topaz glass pebbles or beads around the candles or wrapping gold toned wire around the candles.

If you're looking for more inspiration for your gold and ivory wedding theme, then head over to my Pinterest board and take a look.  You can view it if your not even a member and if you want to sign up (it's free) just leave me a comment at the bottom of this post.  

View the Pinterest board here: Gold and Ivory Wedding Inspiration

Advantages of choosing handmade Wedding Tiaras

My background is designing bridal accessories such as tiaras and wedding jewellery so it stands to reason that at some point I'll sneak a few blog posts in about handmade bridal accessories. This one focuses on the advantages of handmade wedding tiaras and the difference between these and manufactured ones.....

When you choose your wedding tiara you've got 2 options, you either chose something that was machine manufactured and often imported or a handmade tiara by a specialist.

Manufactured tiaras tend to be cheaper as they are mass produced and churned out quickly. 

Handmade tiaras tend to be a little more expensive because each one is made by an individual without the use of machinery.

However the main advantage of choosing a handmade one is that you can ask for what every you want. If you prefer another metal colour, ask, if you want to use another colour of crystals, ask, if the pearls are the shade you were looking for, just ask. A good tiara designer will be happy to work with you so you get the tiara that you really want. Something that's to your specification and your budget

Each handmade tiara is unique as even though they may have made the same tiara before human nature makes it impossible for a exact replica to be made by hand.

If you're looking for a bespoke wedding tiara, one created totally to your specifications than head over to my etsy store and click on the link for the "request custom item" (its half way down the left hand navigation bar).

Paper Wedding Bouquet

Ok so you might not have even considered having paper flowers as your wedding bouquet, but realistically why not.  You're not trying to imtate fresh flowers with silk ones instead you taking a traditional element of a wedding and putting an unique twist on it.

Over on etsy I've found loads of sellers who can make these paper wedding bouquets for you but you can actually make them yourself.  Just remember it will take time, so if you've got a few spare hours and a stash of paper in your wedding colours then go for it.  You can find plently of videos on you tube.

If you're not a crafter and still want a handmade wedding, then take a look at some of these paper wedding bouquets below and click through to see their etsy shop.

Black and White Wedding Theme

If you're undecided on your colour choices for your wedding theme, then you can't go wrong with black and white.  It's a simple classic combination and one where you don't really need to worry about shades or items not coordinating.

What's great about this colour scheme is that you could also add a shot of another colour without it being too over the top.  Additional bold colours work well such as orange, teal, red and emerald green.  Just a splash here and there will make a huge impact.

A black and white wedding theme also allows the bride to wear an alternative colour wedding dress and really stand out.

I've created a collection of black and white handmade wedding accessories and decorations, here's a small selection but all my choices can be seen here: Black and white wedding theme.

Source: etsy.com via Kerrie on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Kerrie on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Kerrie on Pinterest

Let me know what you think, and you can always visit my etsy store here: Handmade Bridal Accessories.