Pompom Garlands by PomPom Galore

“Our everyday jobs immerse us in trends, designs, styles, accessories, homes and interiors. We’re done with bunting, we’re done with cup-cakes and we won’t Keep Calm! We’ve always loved wool pompoms. So we’ve started with a small choice of handmade wool pompom garlands…”  PomPom Galore.
 
PomPom Galore stag & white pompom garland. Image by Victoria Macken Photography.
 
PomPom Galore is brand new handmade business set to take the wedding and party industry by storm. A twist on bog standard bunting, pompoms give off a fun and playful vibe. Be as colourful as you like! Wind them around banisters, chairs and tables. Decorate the walls and hang them from the ceiling. Wherever you put them they are guaranteed to raise a smile. Pompoms tie in great with a winter wonderland wedding theme. Add some pompom happiness to your wedding day. 
 
Kat and Marisa are the founders of the vibrant new business PomPom Galore. Here is what they have to say about all of the pompom madness…
 

Where did the idea for PomPom Galore come from?

Working in homewares and interiors PR we are constantly in front of new trends and designs, decorations and products, often working at least 6 months ahead of the season. With the big craft movement, we’ve seen a lot of bunting. It just came out of a conversation in the office one day back in May.  We were surrounded by colour palettes, fabric swatches and product samples, working on trend forecasts for Christmas 2013. Our faces lit up when talking about wool pompoms and it has all stemmed from there. The conversation kept popping up, and our ideas starting spiralling seeing a gap in the market for a yarn pompom garland decoration. As the garlands are strung with multiple individual wool pompoms PomPom Galore just came out of a brief brainstorm. We wanted to use real wool. They are wool yarn pompoms on waxed cotton thread with loops at each end. They are a handmade product.

PomPom Galore colourful pompoms. Image by Victoria Macken Photography
 
What are your backgrounds and how has this helped with developing PomPom Galore?
Kat worked in product development for 14 years in the homeware accessories industry and Marisa worked in luxury interiors PR setting up her own business to work with small makers and designers from across the UK. We visit a lot of trade and design shows as well as working with bloggers and press all within this sector. We have utilised our shared skills, initially focusing on decorative garlands for Christmas. Working outside of regular office hours we have done the product development, website, branding and photography ourselves. And of course the marketing and PR. Kat’s brother, Jim Stephens, took the photographs on the hottest day of 2013 where we threw fake snow all over fir trees to get the festive look.
 
PomPom Galore multicoloured pompoms. Image by Jim Stephens.
 
How do you see PomPom Galore developing in the future?
We have been live since mid-September and have had a super response, especially from the wedding market who we introduced ourselves to via twitter #weddinghour. We’ve been sending PomPom Garlands all over the UK! Things have been hotting up in the last few weeks, with customers really getting the pompom garland vibe, and seeing how they can be used as an original decoration. The key to bringing the garlands to life was to get the styling right. From the start we knew how we wanted it to look. The garlands are extremely well made using the finest materials, we want customers to be able to use them year in year out. We see huge potential, and will be developing the range to introduce new colours and sizes for Spring / Summer 2014. We have just had a chat about Autumn / Winter 14 -15 too.




Colourful pompom garland. Image courtesy of PomPom Galore.

Marquee pompom decor. Image courtesy of PomPom Galore, taken at the beautiful Iscoyd Park wedding venue.

Fancy adding a splash of colour and fun to your venue? Find out more about PomPom Galore (I’m a poet and I didn’t know it)…
PomPom Galore www.pompomgalore.co.uk also at The Wise House www.thewisehouse.co.uk

Pinterest: For some great pompom pinspiration www.pinterest.com/pompomgalore
Twitter: @pompomgalore

Images by Jim Stephens, and Victoria Macken Photography

Hen Party Workshops with Crafts & Giggles

 
What better way to celebrate handmade at your wedding than getting your friends and family together for a craft workshop. Crafts & Giggles run hen parties and even come to your wedding venue to keep the little nippers entertained. This week I managed to catch up with business owner Katie to find out a little bit more about the hen party side of the business. Katie was even kind enough to throw in a special offer exclusive to  H&H readers, what a lovely lady!
 
What inspired you to start Crafts & Giggles workshops?

I was inspired to start Crafts & Giggles workshops to share my passion of art and craft, making it accessible to everyone. Not everyone believes that they are creative, and people rarely get the chance to be creative with the busy lifestyles we all lead. Crafts & Giggles allows people to have a taste of inspiration which I hope will open the door to continued creativity.

Pretty garter made at one of the Crafts & Giggles workshops

Who do you cater for?

We run craft hen parties, corporate events, baby showers, birthday parties and more. We take our workshops to every corner of the UK catering for up to 60 people per workshop. Our craft hen parties are the most popular party of choice.
 
What is your favourite workshop / product to make and why?

My favourite craft party workshop is our ceramic painting workshop. Everyone can choose to paint items for themselves, or if it is a craft hen party they can form a pretty tea set for the bride to be.

Where are the workshops held?
We take our craft hen parties across the UK providing crafts and giggles on the hens door step. If the hen party does not have a venue we are more than happy to help find the perfect place to run the craft hen party.

Crafts & Giggles hen party fun!
 
Crafts & Giggles hen party

 Is there anything that you do that you would consider to be a bit different from other workshops?

All of our craft hen party workshops are lead by professional crafts people. They all have their own expertise giving the hen party the best possible experience. Our craft hen party workshops are more than a workshop they are an experience which the hens will treasure as a memory.


What level are the workshops aimed at?

We make sure our craft workshops are suitable for all abilities. We often run craft parties where the abilities are diverse.


Why do you think craft workshops are a good idea for hen parties?

Our craft hen party workshops are full of crafts and giggles! They give the hen party the chance to relax in a creative atmosphere. They give the party time to socialise and to get to know people they may have never met before. You can’t get better than crafts, cake, chatter and creativity!
 
Crafts & Giggles hen party


Special Offer

As a special gift to all Handmade & Hitched readers, Crafts & Giggles are allowing the bride to craft for free at hen party bookings. To receive this fantastic offer just quote Handmade & Hitched when you are making your booking. This offer runs until June 30th 2014

 

You can find out more about Crafts & Giggles by visiting www.craftsandgiggles.com or contacting Katie at Katie@craftsandgiggles.com. You can keep up to date with latest Crafts and Giggles news and offers on Facebook and Twitter.

 
All images courtesy of Katie at Crafts & Giggles

Personalised Wedding Cake Toppers by Bells and Bobbins

Belles & Bobbins Wooden Peg Wedding Cake Toppers

How cute are these little peg people! Bells & Bobbins create wooden peg couples to look just like you on your wedding day. You can use them as cake toppers, or place them next to your guest book or on your top table. And the great news is that they have an offer on for free delivery at the moment too.

 

Bells & Bobbins Wooden Peg Wedding Cake Toppers – The Grooms
The wooden peg dolls measure approximately 9 x 3cm and can be personalised with outfits, hair, flowers and accessories to match yours. Bells & Bobbins even send you a picture of the cake toppers before posting to make sure that you are happy with the finished product.
You can choose to have the dolls dressed in fabric accessories for £70 or you can have them painted by hand for £35. The toppers are sent by special delivery to UK mainland addresses. Bells & Bobbins also accept enquiries about international orders.
Bells & Bobbins Personalised Wedding Cake Toppers -Bride & Groom

I really can’t get over how cute these are. Any of my friends who are getting married soon are going to be hearing all about them.

About the designer-maker

Faye set Bells and Bobbins up after making peg doll cake toppers for her own wedding last year. Faye has always loved creating things and plans to add more products to the Bells and Bobbins collection soon. To keep up to date with the latest news and developments in the Bells & Bobbins range check out the links below.

Website: www.bellsandbobbins.co.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/bells.bobbins
Twitter: @Bellsandbobbins

DIY Wedding Gift Idea: Floral Wall Art

I am in the process of moving house at the moment so my life currently revolves around packing cardboard boxes and adapting to living in an apartment that is becoming increasingly bare. I am in no way, shape, or form, a hoarder so it has been easy for me to decide what to sell or giveaway and what to take with me to the new place. I have been in a quandary however over what to do with a rather large vase full of paper roses that I created a couple of months back. How can I justify taking a load of rolled up old book paper with me that is probably just going to get squashed in the move? By creating something pretty out of them of course!
Here is what I came up with, a cute piece of wall art that would make a lovely wedding gift and this cost me no more than £5 in materials needed. You could even personalise this by writing the names of the couple and the wedding date underneath. If your handwriting is anything like mine, and it looks like a spider has crawled across the page with its legs dipped in ink, then you could type this out and stick it on.
Paper Rose Wall Art

Here is how I made it…

You will need:

Step 1:
Cut out a square of white card big enough to fit behind the cardboard frame that is inside the box frame. Stick double sided tape (or use glue) along the back of the cardboard frame and fix your white card to the back.

Step 2:

With your card now fixed securely to the back of the frame start positioning your flowers. You will probably fit about 9 good sized flowers into the frame.  Play around with the design before sticking the flowers down to make sure as much of the white card is covered as possible.

Step 3:

Once you are happy with your design start to glue the flowers down. You may need to squash them down onto the card a little so that they fit snugly.

Step 4:

Once you have finished sticking all your roses down allow the glue to dry while keeping the frame on a flat surface. If you frame the picture and prop it up at this point the glue will run and you will spoil all your hard work (yes, I did make this silly mistake!).

Step 5:

Decorate the edges with adhesive gems and add any personalisation such as text to the frame. Above or below the flowers would probably be the best place to add names and dates.

Ta-dahhhhh!

Paper Rose Wall Art

What wedding gifts have you made or would you like to make for a happy couple? I would love to hear from you. You can leave a message in the comments box below or catch me on facebook and twitter.

Michelle x

Wedding Bouquet Photo Charms

A photo charm is a beautiful way to remember someone special on your wedding day. Attach it to your wedding bouquet to keep that person close to your heart all day long. You could also use photo charms to frame a small poem or phrase that means something special to you. Simply type the words out making sure that the text that will fit the frame and print off. You could frame anything that has sentimental value and is small enough to fit, such as dried flowers or newspaper clippings.

After having a look on the Internet for bouquet photo charms, Smiling Blue Dog make some of the prettiest charms I have seen. Smiling Blue Dog is run by Angie who is based in Canada, but ships her pretty charms worldwide. Her Etsy shop has over 80 different charms to choose from so you will be spoilt for choice when it comes to colours and design.

Here are some of my favourites…

Wedding bouquet photo charm with pearl, heart and frame.

Wedding bouquet photo charm. Pink roses.

Wedding bouquet photo charm. Hearts memory charm.

Wedding bouquet charm. Blue shell pearl photo charm.

Wedding bouquet memorial charm. Dark green pearl.

Angie also has an interesting story behind her shop name. Here is a quote from the ‘About’ section of her shop.

‘Years ago I was trying to set up a new e-mail address on Yahoo. Every name I was selecting had already been taken, and I realized I’d wasted a lot of time and still hadn’t accomplished anything! Our dog Spike was needing to go outside and when I got up he smiled at me and was so excited to finally be going out… so out we went and in the sunlight his black coat shone almost blue. He was my smiling blue dog. I’ve stuck with it ever since.’

For more information about Angie’s charms and other creations have a look at the Smiling Blue Dog website http://smilingbluedog.webs.com/. Like many other designer-makers Angie is happy to work with you to create something unique for your big day.

Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/SmilingBlueDog
Facebook: www.facebook.com/smilingbluedogstuff
Twitter: @smilingbluedog
Blog: www.smilingbluedog.blogspot.ca

Images courtesy of Smiling Blue Dog