DIY Photo Banner

Update: Right now, you can get 15 free 4x6 prints and free shipping at Snapfish. Just check your account. The offer is valid though July 16, 2019. It's a good time to print out the side photos for this DIY photo banner.

I love pictures. I had so many on my last phone that I had to delete an app or two if I wanted to take any more pictures. Really, my dinosaur of a phone was basically an oversized SD card.

I think a lot of people are like that too.

But, lots of photos on your phone comes in handy when you're planning your wedding and can quickly open a photo app and print pictures to create a DIY photo banner.

DIY Photo Banner

I've seen this done two ways. You can either print pictures of you as a couple or you can print photos of each of you growing up until now. The latter is really cute if you met each other later in life. That way, your family and friends can see your fiance as a child and vice versa. If you have grown up together, photos as a couple works better because then you're giving your guests a glimpse into your life.

What You'll Need:

• Chair sash
• Photos
• Clothespins
• Command hooks
• "Every Love Story Is Beautiful But Ours Is My Favorite" free printable (see below)

What You'll Do:

Print your photos. 

Hang the fabric on a wall in your venue. I used a chair sash and hung it with Command hooks (using a quick knot) since you can pull them down without leaving behind holes.You could go with something like jute cording, but I would worry about the clothespins slipping during the reception and you having photos all over the floor by the end of the night.

Quick aside: Be sure to double check that you're able to do this. Venues have their own rules about hanging things. So before you spend money printing photos, ask your venue if it's okay to hang -- and how they advise you do it.

Affix clothespins to each of the photos. You want clothespins instead of anything that involves glue, especially if you borrowed these from baby books.

Attach the clothespins to the fabric ribbon. Put the "Every Love Story Is Beautiful But Ours Is My Favorite" free printable in the middle and scatter the other photos around it.

Now, about that printable. I actually made it for you already so you don't have to. Just click the image below, save it to your computer, and then print it as an 8x10. I would print it somewhere like Walgreens photo instead of at home, so it's on photo paper, matches the other photos, and doesn't waste all your ink.

BRIDAL BABBLE: Would you make this DIY photo banner for your wedding?

Are ColorStreet Nails Right For Your Wedding?

When I was planning my wedding, my bridesmaids were so sweet. I tried not to be bridezilla, but I did pick their dresses and shoes. In our group message on Facebook, they asked if I had a color I wanted for their nail polish. I did pick a pale pink because I'm not a fan of French manicures, and let them choose whatever was closest to that at their salons. But recently, I got a pair of ColorStreet nails to try and it got me thinking: Are ColorStreet nails right for your wedding?

Quick side note. I tried ColorStreet, so I'm going to use that name throughout. That's a brand name for nail polish strips. That's a lot to type every time, though. Plus, right now, ColorStreet is the most popular nail polish strips. In the past, Jamberry was everyone's brand of choice, but I actually never tried those. So ColorStreet it is.

Are ColorStreet Nails Right For Your Wedding?

ColorStreet Nails are nail polish strips that come in a set of strips. You can get them in a variety of designs, with plain, glitter, floral, geometric, and a variety of other options. You can get them in either manicure or pedicure packs.

ColorStreet is sold by independent retailers (as an MLM company), but you can also purchase them online at Amazon or in store at Ulta.

The strips come with a small nail file, which is perfect if you're using these for your bridal party. That means everything your bridesmaids could need is included in the package.

And you do need that nail file to help with the application. The instructions mention using a nail file to remove the excess polish, so having everything you need in one package is perfect.

Each set comes with 12 strips, which means you have multiple sizes so you can could choose what fits your nails best.

For the most part, they're really easy to apply once you get the hang of it.

A friend's friend sent me a package of nail polish strips to try. I started with my thumb. I put a strip on, pushed it down onto my nail so it would stay, then filed the excess off with the provided nail file.

I didn't realize until a few nails in that if you are careful, and your nails aren't too long, you can actually do two nails with one strip. I destroyed a few of the strips when I filed them down before I realized that, so I didn't have enough to do a second application from the pack. But, if I would have known, I could have been able to get two applications from one pack and that's well worth the money.

Plus that means if you want your bridesmaids to have the same style at your bachelorette party and your wedding, they only have to pay for one pack to do so. They'll love that little bit of savings.

What's great, too, is that it dries immediately. That way, you can apply and move on with your day. You don't have to sit waiting for it to dry.

The nail polish strips were a little wider than my nails, so I did pick at the excess with my nails that were already done and that caused some nails to start getting ruined at the tips almost immediately. I was looking at ColorStreet on Instagram and someone suggested doing your thumb last so you could use it to peel off the excess. Keep that in mind.

ColorStreet lasts so much longer than regular nail polish, so it's perfect for wedding week. You can do these earlier in the week and still have perfect nails on your wedding day.

I squeezed in getting my nails done at the salon two days before our wedding, a couple hours before we were meeting all of our out of town guests for a barbecue at their hotel. I was nice to sit in the salon and get pampered, but my mind was racing while I watched the clock, hoping we didn't hit traffic on the way to the barbecue.

With ColorStreet, I could have done them in the car on the way to the barbecue (while someone else drove, of course), and had a lot less stress.

If you do them during wedding week, you don't have to worry about chipping. With traditional polish, I usually have chips after a couple days. So for my wedding nails, I got gel polish done so I could assure they wouldn't chip before photos. The ColorStreet nail polish strips took about a week before they started to chip.

But, the nail polish strips did started cracking about three days into the wear. You can't tell that from far away, but I could see it. For a bachelorette party, or your honeymoon, that's no big deal. But for your wedding, where you will have photos of your nails taken, you might want to keep that in mind.

The cracks didn't turn into the polish falling off in chunks until 10 days in. And then I had to take them off. With regular polish, you could repaint the part that chipped, but you can't do that with ColorStrip nail polish strips. Removal is easy, though. You just use traditional nail polish remover. It does leave a little sticky film behind (like when you remove the price tag from a package and it leaves a little sticky goop), but you can just pull that off with your fingers.

So, overall, are ColorStrip nails right for your wedding? No, probably not. The cracking is the only deterrent for me, but that's enough. But for any other wedding-related event (like a bridal shower, bachelorette, honeymoon, etc.), these are perfect.

BRIDAL BABBLE: Would you wear ColorStreet nail polish strips for your wedding?

DIY Wedding Flowers Shadowbox

The day after my brother and his wife got married, they were heading off on a Mediterranean cruise. As we were saying our goodbyes in the hotel, my brother's wife handed her bouquet to my mom in case we were able to do something with the flowers. And, if not, no worries, she said. I immediately thought about a DIY Wedding Flowers Shadowbox.

See, when we got married, I preserved my flowers using silica gel. Well, not exactly my flowers.

We stayed the night at the hotel where our reception was, and when we got home, I realized that I left my bouquet in the room. We called immediately upon noticing, but they were gone. It broke my heart because I wanted to save them. So Pete actually called our florist and had them recreate and then deliver my wedding bouquet. And I was able to preserve those and use them in the projects I had intended.

I didn't want to make my brother's wife the same exact thing I made for myself, so I decided to use a few of their wedding items to create a full wedding shadowbox. It came out even better than I could have imagined.

DIY Wedding Flowers Shadowbox

What You'll Need:

• Shadowbox
• Wedding flowers
• Silica gel
• Large airtight container
• Triple thick clear glaze spray
• Scissors
• Straight pins
• Double-sided tape
• Wedding photos
• Wedding invitation 

What You'll Do:

As soon as possible, put the entire bouquet in a large plastic bag and tie it shut. I would recommend a small garbage bag with a knot tied at the top. You want to keep out as much air as possible so the flowers don't start oxidizing and discolor I got.

Then, keep the bag in the fridge until you've purchased your silica gel and container. That will also delay the discoloration of the petals. You can, honestly, keep it that way for a month, but the sooner you make it, the better.

This is a two part process. The first involves preserving the flowers in silica gel, which takes two weeks. The second is the assembly of the wedding flowers shadowbox. So, keep in mind that if you do want to make this for yourself or offer to make this for someone, it's not a project that will be completed quickly.

To Preserve The Flowers:

Take the bouquet from the fridge and remove it from the bag.

Carefully, unwrap any ribbon or burlap from the handle. It may be attached by pins, so look out for those. Don't throw these away. You'll use these to decorate the shadowbox later.

Very gently separate the flowers and any baby's breath or greenery. The petals are so delicate and may start falling off if you're too rough.

Fill the bottom of an airtight container with a layer of silica gel.

Place in a layer of flowers, baby's breath, and greenery on the silica gel. Cover that completely with another layer of silica gel. Add another layer of flowers and greenery, then another layer of silica gel.

If you're preserving flowers like roses, you'll want to pour some the silica gel directly into the top of the flower before (gently) placing it in the box. This will help it hold its shape better and will preserve the inner petals as well.

Leave the box in a dry spot for two weeks.

After they've sat, carefully remove the flowers from the silica gel being sure to discard any silica gel that is between the petals. You can pour the silica gel from the box into a large airtight, zip-top plastic bag and reuse it. I've used mine a few times in the last five years.

Individually spray each flower and piece of greenery with a layer of triple thick clear glaze. One layer is enough, but be sure to get both sides (and the inside of the flowers). Store them upright until they've dried. Overnight is best.

To Make The Wedding Shadowbox:

In the two weeks you're waiting for your flowers, print a couple of wedding photos from the couple and accumulate any wedding accessories you can: the invitation, the save the date, wine corks, escort card holders, etc. Of course, some of that takes pre-planning.

Take out the backside of the shadowbox and arrange your photos, accessories (including the burlap and ribbon), flowers, and greenery.

Once you have everything arranged, you'll be able to decide if you need to trim the stems off the flowers and greenery or the burlap/ribbon.

Try to keep things like the invitation or save the date as is.

Once you have everything as you want it, use the double-sided tape to hold down the burlap or ribbon. Then, if you have something like an invitation wrap, affix that to the front of the box.

Add a few petals on the bottom of the box to add a little depth.

Use the pins to affix everything else down. For the flowers, try to put two pins per (short) stem, then another two in the flower itself. You can glue everything down if you prefer, but I prefer the airy feeling the pins provide.

Put the back on the shadowbox and double check to make sure nothing moved before you close it.

Hang it on the wall.

BRIDAL BABBLE: What would you add to this DIY Wedding Flowers Shadowbox?

Want other ideas for your wedding flowers?

DIY Wedding Flowers Ornament