Dyed Crinoline
Pinterest is every bride's dream come true and I had seen many pins of beautiful white dresses with a hint of color peeking from the bottom. I thought this was perfect for my own wedding, especially since I was using such bright colors!!
To say I got lucky is an understatement. JoAnn Fabrics did not have the exact color of orange I needed per my color swatch from David's Bridal, but they did have a lighter and darker orange. I bought both, mixed the two together and followed all the directions on the box. When I was done, it was perfect!!
I figured no one would see the top portion of the crinoline, so I bunched it up into a plastic baggie and secured it very tightly with several rubber bands. It ended up leaking a tiny bit and it didn't look the greatest by itself, but (like I said) no one saw that part so I didn't care!!
I used my stainless steel kitchen sink to put the dye in (I didn't want to dye my white bathtub). I also had several junk towels that I put around the edges to avoid sloshing the dye around onto my counter tops or kitchen floor (I have a large rug and carpeted kitchen, so I didn't want any orange marks left behind!) I was able to wash them and throw them back into my junk towel pile, orange stains and all.
I also used a large plastic spoon and plastic gloves. I moved the crinoline around as much as possible to make sure the dye was distributed evenly. I worried a lot that it would be too dark, but I kept going anyway, realizing that it was dark because it was wet.
This picture was taken after lots and lots of careful rinsing. I carefully placed the crinoline in the opposite side of my sink and rinsed the excess dye forever (okay, maybe not forever, but it felt like it). I rinsed, squeezed, prodded, and more. I wanted to make sure there was no way I would be dripping orange dye all the way to my washing machine.
In my washing machine, I used my normal detergent (home made, of course) and the delicate setting. I checked on it often to make sure it wasn't getting tangled up and that the lace borders weren't fraying away from the crinoline. When I hung it up to dry, I was still nervous there would be orange dye dripping everywhere, so I placed a junk towel underneath, but I was just being paranoid...
Cornhole Boards
I'm going to be honest here, while this was my idea to have boards at our wedding, my hubby to be was the one that built these. I know how to use tools, but I have made it 7 years so far without telling him so that he will make projects for me instead of doing the work myself. Shhh!
What he did, was find a template online that provided all the measurements for corn hole boards. He even checked the official corn hole rules and regulations to confirm that the measurements were accurate. (What a guy, right!?) He purchased all the wood he would need and large hinges for the legs to fold in and out for set-up and storage. We also were able to find paint close enough to our wedding colors and his mother found bean bags in the wedding colors at a flea market.
First, he made the boards from wood in his workshop. I was working at the time, so he sent me lots of picture messages to get my approval. This was one I received when they were both finished:
After they were done, he painted them each a solid color. Our wedding colors were pink and orange, so we decided to make the boards opposite of each other. He didn't trust himself or his artistic ability enough to paint the initial on the board, so once the boards were dry, I used a pencil to mark our last initial and painted over the pencil marks. I did have to erase one at the bottom and fix it to make it uniform, but it turned out nicely once it was all dry and ready to go.
Again, we received lots of compliments at our wedding from guests and this is something we can pull out for years to come when we have friends over! (We also had another set of Ohio State boards that a friend let us borrow at our wedding, which made it easier for everyone to get a chance to play.)
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