Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Do It Yourself Wedding Centerpieces


Do it yourself wedding centerpieces are inexpensive to make. They can be somewhat labor intensive however. Still, they can be made in one fun evening with the help of a bunch of friends, a bottle of wine and some snacks! It is a good idea to make a sample and see how you like it before making all the others. If you are using fresh flowers, you need to know how long it takes for them to start drooping. Do they have to be put together at the last minute, or can they be done a day or two in advance?


Paper envelopes work well for storing each seed variety. Before storing test to make sure the seeds are dry enough by attempting to bend them. If the seeds snap instead of bending they are sufficiently dehydrated for storing. Large mason jars work well for storing your seed envelopes. Prepare a jar for seed storing by placing a small, cloth bag filled with dry, powdered milk in the bottom of the jar. This will help to absorb any moisture from the storage container. Place the seed envelopes in the jar, on top of the bag and tightly seal the jar. Next place the jar in the freezer for two days. This helps to kill any diseases that may be infecting the seeds. Find a place for long term storage that is a cool, dry, and dark where the temperatures remains fairly stable. A garage, storeroom, pantry, closet or even a drawer will work well.TomatoesLettuce5) Photo boxes: This saves a lot of time. Simply place a gift in the photo box and add a tag and a bow. Photo boxes come in an array of colours, patterns and sizes and you can find them for almost any occasion, giving the gift the feeling of being wrapped.Always harvest seeds from the best plants available. Choose healthy disease-free plants with desirable qualities. Look for the most flavorful vegetables or beautiful flowers. Because seed set reduces the vigor of the plant and discourages further fruit production, wait until near the end of the season to save fruit for seed. Seeds are mature when flowers are faded and dry or have puffy tops.Candles make lovely wedding centerpieces and can be done way in advance. Votive candles floating in a small glass bowl of potpourri or fresh flower petals. Take a cake plate and arrange candles of different heights around it, using your colors. Tuck a few fresh flowers around the spaces on the plate just before the reception. Don�t use dried or silk flowers for this purpose as they burn too easily. Pick up some tiny potted flowers, wrap the pots in tissue and ribbon, and arrange in the center of the table�using them later as favors, of course.With lettuce you will need to take care to separate varieties flowering at the same time by at least 20 feet to avoid cross pollination. Some outside leaves can still be harvested for eating without harming seed production. Once half the flowers have gone to seed, cut off the entire top of the plant and allow it to dry upside down in an open paper bag for 2-3 weeks.Peppers6) Recyclables: You can use movie posters, newspapers, pieces of fabric, comics, maps or whatever else you have lying around the house! Depending on the occasion or the recipient, you can be as basic or as creative as you like.� For Christmastime, decorate tiny little trees, sprayed white with little balls in your wedding colors. Or Fill a little wicker sleigh with tiny faux presents and decorative balls�or Christmas candies wrapped and then used as your favors.Toward the end of the season and while healthy pods are still being formed allow the pods on some plants to dry brown before harvesting. This is about six weeks after eating stage for beans and four for peas. If frost threatens, pull the entire plant, and hang in cool, dry location until pods are brown.If possible, allow tomatoes to completely ripen before harvesting for seed production.

To your beautiful wedding!




Author: Bobbie Hamilton


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