Since I first starting posting these cocktail flags (and other Super Bowl goodness, like the Football Whoopie Pies) in 2010, they’ve gotten a lot of attention – and since I love everything football and food, I’ll be combining my football recipes and party projects over at The Football Foodie. Please join me there – I’ve created a permanent home where you can download all the templates for these flags.

I really love how everything turned out – the mix of gold, silver, copper and bronze shining against the natural elements of wood, kraft paper and greenery. It really captured that warm, rustic/modern, romantic feeling I was going for… with the shiny pop of metals to keep it modern and holiday-oriented.

My favorite detail is definitely the place card/favor box, which combines all four metal shades with the natural/rustic elements: brown kraft paper box, skeleton leaves, and romantic, copper-hued calligraphy. They are easy to make, so I thought you might appreciate a little DIY tutorial!

DIY: Mixed Metallics & Naturals Placecard / Favor Boxes

You’ll need:

• Brown kraft boxes that fit your favors (mine are 3.5″ x 3.5″ x 2″ boxes from Paper Mart)
• Wide silver ribbon (mine is 1.5″ from Michael’s)
• Gold cording (mine is also from Michael’s) – cut into lengths that will wrap once around your box
• Gold, copper and bronze metallic skeleton leaves (available at craft stores or from Save-on-crafts)
• Glue gun and sticks – low heat is best
• Scissors
• Silver cardstock (I’m using ’shimmer silver’ card stock from Paper Source) and a printer or pens for the place cards

Instructions:
1. First, either hand write or print out your names for the place cards onto a shimmery silver paper… then cut them, freeform, into leaf shapes. Size for each tag should be about the same as your skeleton leaves.

2. Using the glue gun and small swipes of glue, attach a larger leaf behind the tag, and a smaller one (in a different shade) to the front, sandwiching the tag in between the two leaves. Make sure to offset the top leaf slightly so that the name is readable.

3. Flip the bunch over, and apply a decent drop of glue to ’stem’ area, just a bit up from the end… then press the end of the gold cording into the glue and let it set.

4. Once it’s cool, flip the bunch over to the front and apply a thickish line of glue on the stem end – the same length as two widths of the cord you’re using. Then wrap the gold cord around twice, and press into the glue. Let it set until it’s secure.

5. Now, for the box: tie the wide silver ribbon around the box and secure with a knot (or, if you prefer, a bow) as shown. Cut the ends to reach about the edges of the box; an easy way to get the triangle shape is to fold the ribbon inward, as shown, and cut at a downward angle.

6. Unfold and admire your gorgeous little ribbon end.

7. To finish up: slip the cut/free end of the cord under the ribbon’s knot, pulling the tag up against the knot, and wrap once around the box. Tuck the end underneath the ribbon and secure with a small dab of hot glue. And you’re done!

Hope you like! Don’t forget to check out my post on Floridian Weddings for more photos of the table, details, and sources. And while you’re there, feast your eyes on the gorgeous tables from Chevrons & Stripes, Urban Flip Flops, The Things We Didn’t Buy, and i like it. i love it.

More photos of this shoot, and of the entire paper suite, are in the portfolio.

Rebecca and I asked three other South Florida bloggers – Alex, Marianne and Sarah – to join us in creating tablescapes meant to inspire winter and holiday season weddings (or any other event, really). The inspiration boards were posted today and they’re AMAZING – I love how each of us came up with something so different for the theme.

For my board, I was inspired by a mix of metallics – gold, silver, copper and bronze – with natural materials and textures. I envisioned a tablescape that’s simple and organic (without being too rustic), all glammed up with a modern palette of metals that will be bright and shimmery in the candlelight. I also wanted to give it a feeling of warmth and comfort with handmade items and DIY projects… the guests at this winter wedding would feel right at home!

{1. Gold dress from H&M via Real Simple, 2. silver bay leaf garland from Jamali Garden, 3. copper lights from YLighting, 4. table setting from Crate & Barrel, 5. gold lined bowl by Etco, 6. glitter slingbacks by Jimmy Choo, 7. monogram napkins from Martha Stewart, 8. birch candles from Pottery Barn, 9. sparkle birch branches from Nettleton Hollow.}

Check out all the other boards here – next week, we’ll be posting the photos and details behind each table!

Hope it helps you find the perfect something for someone on your list! Check out the gift guide here… I’ll be adding to it throughout the month.

Did you see the adorable Florida cookies I posted about yesterday? Well, we’re hosting a fab giveaway today on Floridian Weddings – one lucky cookie lover will win $50 towards any custom-designed goodies of their choice from Couture Confections.

Enter here, and good luck!

I printed the yellow and white stripes onto white card stock, die-cut a gable box pattern, then scored and folded into the box shape. Rebecca and I stuffed them with citrus candies, a clementine, and adorable Florida cookies made by Couture Confections.

Wouldn’t those cookies make the most amazing welcome gifts for wedding guests? If you’re planning a wedding in the area, I might be able to help you with that… check back tomorrow!

I’d love to line my long reclaimed wood table with a shimmery modern table runner, and wind garlands of expected (boxwood and acorns) and unexpected (golden feathers) elements around gold candles and green mercury glass votives.

• Winter Solstice table runner from World Market
• Acorn, boxwood and feather garlands from Jamali Garden
• Golden pillar candle and holder from Jamali Garden
• Gold leaf chargers from Save on Crafts
• Taupe dinner plates from CB2
• Triana yellow plates from Crate & Barrel
• Jester green candleholder from Crate & Barrel
• Amber optic stemware from ZGallerie
• Silver lustre napkins from Crate & Barrel

I wanted something a little more modern than your usual ’spooky’ invite. Inspired by the candy corn paper confetti, I went with a orange, yellow and white chevron stripe… it’s bold and graphic next to the black background and white text. The idea is to add the confetti to the envelope, giving your invitee a little sweet surprise upon receipt.

You’ll need:

• White card stock
• Envelopes in your choice of color (orange would be perfect, but I was out)
• Craft knife and straight edge (and/or scissors)
• Corner rounding punch (optional)

Directions:

1. Download the printable Halloween templates* (make sure to save the file to your computer rather than open it in your browser)
2. For the invitation, open up the PDF and change out the text in the field with your party information; then print (page 1) onto card stock and cut between the crop marks (a straight edge and craft knife/exacto work best for this)
3. For the candy corn confetti, print (page 2) double sided onto card stock; when printing from Acrobat, make sure to check the auto rotate and center option (do not scale) and double check that you’re inserting the other side into your printer correctly so the bands of color will line up on both sides after printing.
4. Cut the printed candy corn into strips – yellow on top, orange in the middle, white on the bottom.
5. Starting at the end of the strip, cut off about 1/2″ at a 45 degree angle – you’ll be left with a little right-angle triangle; then cut your first triangle candy corn shape.







6. Continue cutting triangles from your strip – half of them will be the classic candy corn bands of colors, and other others will be reversed (I didn’t use these, but if you’re not picky…)
7. As an additional step, I rounded the corners with a punch (but I think they’re still cute without it).
8. That’s it! I added 10-15 pieces of candy corn confetti into the envelope, on top of the invitation, so they’ll spill out upon opening.

Hope this comes in handy for ya! Any fun plans and/or ideas for Halloween? I can’t wait to see what fabulousness everyone comes up with for their celebrations.

{*I’m happy to provide DIY printable templates free of charge for your personal, non-commercial use. Please do not alter, distribute or sell them without my consent. © 2011 Make Merry! LLC, all rights reserved.}

…but it’s mostly done! If you’re in the area, I’d love to meet with you in my new little space in downtown West Palm Beach. Hours are by appointment, and directions are here.