southern fried gal

Remember the ladies event at our church where I did a centerpiece idea class? And I told you I would do the top two ideas separately? I did number two a while back. Ever wonder what happened to the top pick? Here it is! The above picture is a personalized version with BBC and Santa a year or so ago. I ended up sticking it in the wreath and putting a few red ornaments around it for display in my den.

Yes, I know Christmas has come and gone. This is still a neat idea and can be incorporated year round. PLUS it makes a great gift! I got the inspiration for this project from another blogger (if this is you, please let me know. I didn’t bookmark and I looked at lots of sites in preparation for the class I did. I want to make sure you get credit!) And also from the Christmas with Southern Living 2008 book.

See – wouldn’t this example be elegant for a wedding or wedding shower centerpiece?

I was tasked with creating something for participants to take with them at a cost of $10 or less. My main thing is simple with lots of WOW. I also like something that I can use multiple ways to get more bang for my buck. This was the perfect project in my opinion and others’ based on feedback from the event! So here’s how I did it…

First I started with 2 glass cylinders where one can fit inside the other. I got the smaller cylinder for $2.99 and the larger one with the flared top for $3.99 at Garden Ridge. The blogger that had the idea for the cylinders got hers at yard sales for even less! I had to buy 68 in total so a retail store was my best bet. It took the clerk about an hour to wrap all cylinders. And praise the Lord, none were broken throughout the entire process!

Then you just need vellum (~$1.00 or less) and double-sided tape (cheap and lots of other uses). You may need to cut your vellum to match your inside cylinder. I placed 3 strips of tape on the inside cylinder at top, middle, and bottom. Then I lined up the vellum on half of the tape, wrapped around the cylinder and finished the other end on the other half of the tape.

Then just drop that inside the larger cylinder. OR if you prefer, you don’t have to have the larger cylinder. In fact, I saw candles at Hallmark just yesterday that were crafted this exact way – tape and all! And for a lot more $$$, too!

The one that we crafted in the class was the verse to the right. I had it displayed in fresh greenery. I just printed the verse onto the vellum from my printer. You will need to let it dry a little longer than on regular paper. That’s how I did the Santa picture above as well and that one took quite a while to dry! The idea in the SL book was to do verses and words like this on square glass containers and adhere them with spray. I like the double-sided tape because you can easily change them out for different occasions. The second cylinder adds dimension and interest as well. There are a couple of others I played around with. Your imagination is the limit on these. I will be playing around with the idea throughout the year and will report back on all they fun uses I find for these!

Like this one – wouldn’t this be cute for a New Year’s Eve Celebration? I could see this sitting in the middle of a funky black feather wreath or several lined down the table. Or if you found shorter cylinders (or even use glasses out of the cabinet) you could put your party favors in them!

Speaking of New Year’s Eve – hope you all have a safe and fun evening ringing in the New Year! Until next year…