Free Manzanita Tree and Shells

When I first thought about writing this entry I had yet to see the damage that was done to our home by Hurricane Sandy. It's hard to find a silver lining for the fact that I am officially "displaced" due to 3 feet of water that flowed throughout my entire house. Now that I am settled in my parents home in Boston, I can see the extent of the damage in the New York area from a distance of sorts and am deeply affected by the families who are without power during this winter season.
 I sat on finishing this post due to the fact that there are so many devastated families and neighborhoods on the northeast coast. In some ways it would be insensitive to write about collecting twigs for a wedding that at this point is probably canceled due to the fact that many venues, let alone homes are ruined. But being as that I'm obsessed with DIY and helping others save money during these trying times I wanted to share an idea I had while watching for falling branches during my first coffee run after the Super Storm Sandy. Brides-to-be in the northeast who desire a wishing tree for their special day and are still able to celebrate their nuptuals should try to salvage large sections of the fallen trees in their neighborhood. Start looking for long wide tree branches or saw some off of larger sections. In my opinion I wouldn't worry about stripping the bark off. Instead I would sand down any particularly rough patches and just paint the whole thing for a clean consistent look. Try to look for branches that have the most width, which will make for the most drama.

Here is a great Manzanita DIY from Wedding Chicks which also includes a free wish card template made especially for card stock. You can also checkout my previous Manzanita post to get some centerpiece and decor ideas.

Martha Stewart Weddings

Those of you who live near beaches can also take advantage of the seashells and driftwood that has been cast ashore from the storm. Above is an image from Martha Stewart Weddings site. They painted a branch from a Manzanita tree to give a beautiful coral effect. With a smaller piece like this it would be much easier to strip the bark of any type of wood to attain this smooth look.

Do you have any creative twig ideas? Share them with us!

How To: Dye Feathers

Dried by Morning

I've had this idea in my head for an ombre feather piece for a while. I could not,however, find the right color and look on any feather vendor's sites. So I looked it up on YouTube and thanks to the high demand for feather extensions there were a few DIY tutorials.

What you'll need:
Rit dye
Distilled white vinegar
Feathers (dont have to be white, but should be clean)
pot
bowl of plain cool water
Papertowels

How to:
• I used Rit's fushia color (i didn't have the patience to order the Jaquard acid dye that was recommended for feathers. Fly Dye was also one mentioned but I have yet to find a link for this)
• I brought a small pot with one part vinegar and one part water to a rolling boil then added a table spoon of dye to the water and stirred for 10 seconds and turned down the heat.
• I also had a container of plain cool water beside to stove for rinsing.
• With a gloved hand I dipped or dropped the feather into the dye and stirred for upto 15 seconds or less . It really depended on how dark I wanted it.
• I fished out the feather with a plastic fork and dropped it into the water to rinse. If it was too light I would dip it back in the pot of dye.
• Not sure if it helped but I would carefully take the feather out of the rinse by its quill so as to keep the plume smooth.

Wet Feathers

• I then laid them smoothly on a paper towel to dry and when I was done dyeing all of them I took another towel and pressed it on top to make sure they were not drenched.
• After 15 minutes I rubbed apart some of the plumage with my thumb and middle finger to make sure they dried all the way through and smooth.

What I learned: that there are dyes specially for animal product (i.e. Wool, feathers, silk) and there are dyes for plant product (i.e. Cotton). Rit dye is available almost everywhere and it mentions everything from silks to nylon.  I personally found that the colors were pretty vibrant and easy to control. So I will be using it again in the future. There were a few variations of techniques the ranged from very professional to just for crafts which I list below. Like Goldylocks I found a technique that was just right for me.

Here are the videos I watched on YouTube:
I basically used this technique the most : EscapeNormal
This was interesting but she used food color: SherryWolfe
And this one gave me ideas for drying larger feathers and showed me how resilient feathers can be: BlueWhaleArts

Let me know how yours come out. Send me a photo or let me know what techniques you use.

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Professional Hair Color @ Home

Last night while surfing the web I found this great site called eSalon.com . The site has real colorists who create a custom salon quality semi-permanent or permanent hair color for you based on your individual apearance and desired hair color.The process is simple, you answer a quick survey that asks you questions concerning things like your skin tone, natural hair color and ethnicity. Then you tell them the color you desire which is shown on a model so you can get a good idea as to what it will look like. And in case you were skeptical (like me) that you are actually getting a real live human to process your order, you can upload up to 5 pictures of yourself and even add specific details to your request about your lifestyle and concerns.
"Many clients incorrectly identify their natural or current color- people tend to think their hair is darker than it actually is," says Kim, an eSalon colorist.

the best part about this online service is that you can get it for just under $25 including shipping. But if you click here, you can try a free trial and only pay $4.95 for standard shipping or $6.94 for express shipping. Just remember to give yourself 4weeks before the big day to try any new color. This will give your stylist a healthy amount of time to correct any mistakes you may make and all coloring to settle.