Pomander Flower Frames

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July is upon us and what does that mean? We are in the middle of Wedding Season! Better yet to me, we are in Bridal Shower Season, and I’ve been crafting for one of my best friend’s showers! I ended up being able to use a couple of the flowers leftover from the bouquets and decorations from a different wedding to make these cute little frame accents!

The best part of these is how easy they are to make; the floral foam makes it super simple as it already has the adhesive on the back and is the perfect size for making little pomander style accents to frames, signs, or table numbers. I made two types, one that was mixed hydrangeas, for my friend’s shower, and one that was spray roses for a more English feel.

Supplies:
Oasis Deco Mini Foam
Silk Flowers of your Choice (I used Purple Hydrangeas, Lilac Hydrangeas, and Spray Roses on mine)
8 x 10 Frame
Tacky Glue (Optional)

1.     Start by removing the heads of your silk flowers. Mine popped off no problem but you may need wire cutters based on the flowers you choose.

2.     Remove Floral Foam from its attached grid. Starting at the top of the round, push the head of the flowers into the foam. If they are having trouble staying put, use a little tacky glue to keep them in.

3.     Once you have arranged the flowers as you wish, remove the adhesive backing on the back of the foam. Stick directly to the picture frame you have chosen and you’re done!

Yep it’s really that simple and they look adorable! An added plus with this foam is that if you want to use real flowers, you can simply soak it in water beforehand and then press the flower heads directly into the foam like the silk ones, just make sure to keep a little bit of their stems on. Fresh flowers will last a couple days this way. These Flower frames are super easy to make and are a cute addition to any shower, as an extra accent to wedding signs or table numbers!

D.I.Y. Wooden Wick Candles

This post contains affiliate links, meaning that if you click on a link I will recieve a small comission. This costs you nothing extra and I only promote products I use and love! You can read our full disclosure here

These lovely crackling candles first came to be based on my own bridal shower. One of my friends won one as a prize and absolutely loved it! When it finally burned out a couple weeks ago, I went looking for a way to replace it as her birthday present. Luckily, I had the thought to check for the wooden wicks first!

I love these wooden wicks compared to the regular ones, where you can achieve the comfort of a crackling fire with a little candle. I didn’t realize it would be so easy to make them myself, or that amazon would have had such an assortment to choose from (last time I doubt that Amazon doesn't have everything under the sun).

Now, I have a wonderful assortment of these candles which were cheap to make and so nice to have! I would highly recommend making them if you have candle stubs at home; I used the ends of my wedding candles for them and was able to make a bunch of them in both leftover favor jars and teacups as prizes for upcoming showers and gifts for my friends! These also work wonderfully for Bridal Shower favors, Wedding Favors, or Baby Shower Favors!

Some things to note on this project: for your candle making supplies, you need a pouring pot or an old pot you don’t care about to melt the wax. I made the unfortunate choice of using one of my cooking pots with an old measuring cup and it took me a good couple hours to get all the wax remnants out. Seeing as I could’ve bought an actual candle pouring pot for a little over $10, it would’ve been a far better choice and I wouldn’t have been spilling wax all over the place!

Supplies:  
Wooden Candle Wicks
6 oz Jars with Lids
Candle Wax*
Candle Pouring Pot
Powdered Candle Dye
Essential Oils for Scent

*I used leftover candle stubs, but the wax linked here will make about 26 -6oz candles

1.  Melt wax on low heat in your pot. If, like me, you are using candle stubs, remove the wicks from the old candles once the wax is completely melted using either tongs or a fork.

2. For these candles, the full wax wick is far too long. Cut the wicks in half with a pair of scissors, then remove the candle wax from heat and soak them in the wax for 10 minutes. Soaking these wicks is VERY IMPORTANT, they are not like the standard wicks that are already coated in wax and not soaking them will lead to the candles not staying lit.

3. Once wicks have been soaked, remove them with tongs or a fork. Once they are cool enough to handle (I was able to touch them immediately) insert them into the metal holder stands included and let dry.

4. Now, attach the wicks to the bottom of your jars by dipping the metal holder into the melted wax, then position at the bottom of the jar. 

5. Let the wax cool for a couple more minutes, then add color and fragrance of your choice. The ones I have recommended are great for candles, bath bombs, soaps, and bath salts, so you can get a lot of use out of them! I made pastel pink, purple, and yellow candles that were scented as peppermint-lemon, lavender-lemon, and rosemary-lemon (I know you can't tell that I like lemon).

6. Pour cooled (but still liquid) was into the jars. Reserve about 25% of your wax to remelt and top off your candles if a divot is created in the middle due to the wax cooling. The cooler the wax is, the less of a divot will form. Some of mine with the cool wax needed no additional wax to fill in, while the ones where I started with hot wax needed a lot of extra to make them look nice!

7. Once candles are cooled and solidified, remelt the excess wax and fill in any divots that were caused during the first pour. Now you have a lovely set of candles for your home or favors for your next party!

The crackling of these candles makes me want to make a slew of them for a fall or winter wedding, just with different colors and scents. :) What would you make these cute little candles for?