A Small Gift

Tomorrow we will be traveling to Rimini to spend the day with my father-in-law and his companion. This will be the first time we will see his companion since she had surgery.
I thought, I should make something for her. What about some roses! So using some small pieces left from my wedding dress, some silk shantung, some grosgrain, and some wooden skewers, I made this nice bouquet.
I do not usually use grosgrain and wooden skewers, or tulle for that matter to make rose bouquets, but it was what we had in the house.
I did pretty good! Now I just have to find a nice box for it, and I think I want to look around for another color ribbon for my bow.
And in a few hours this morning I finished! I still have more time in my day for other projects!!

Threads of Life

As I walked into the fabric store with my soon to me mother-in-law I was not sure what I would find. I had my photo research of what I would like my dress to be, but being the only fabric store for miles, in this little Italian town, I really did not know.

I immediately walked toward the silk section, which anything close to bridal was only shantung. I was fortunate to find a nice silver tone, which was close to my color selection from my research. So I purchased it.

When I it was ready to be worn for my big day, which was less than a month later, I still remember the first words my mother-in-law said to me. "Wow, the fabric looks so much different then it did in the store!"

The completion of my dress had given it so much life! It was a wonderful sight, I could not have asked for any other dress for that marvelous day!

The lifeless threads that ran through the lifeless yardage of silk shantung, now were given an unbeliveable life.

Bomboniere

I am completely new to wedding customs. What is a bomboniere? It is Italian for gifts or "favors" to be given out to guests. They contain, confetti, which is a sugared almond. Traditionally containing five symbolizing health, wealth, happiness, fertility, and long life. And they must be white for a wedding, they are placed inside a bag tied with ribbon.

The bomboniere is made up of a saccchetti or satch containing the confetti. It is tied with ribbon and it usually contains decorative flowers. Recently I made some bomboniere. My idea was taken from a wonderful book by Kumiko Sudo, " Handmade Gifts from fabric in the Japanese Tradition".

I visited my first Italian fabric store. They had the most assortment of fabrics I have seen so far, at a reasonable price. So I purchased some silk shantung, ivory for my petals and green for my leaves and stems.

Ready to be delivered, my box full of bomboniere.
Finally completely finished! So, my bomboniere were individually hand-made for my guests. I noticed that many, many, sites exist where they are sold.

They also now vary, not just the traditional ones are popular. Diverse favors are now given such as crystal pieces, kitchen pieces, figurines, and even candles to name a few. A bomboniere is given to show appreciation to the guest, and to be kept as a remembrance of a unique day.

Individually hand-made bomboniere. Using silk shantung, ivory for the petals and inside of satch. Green for leaves and stem, a thin ribbon used to tie the satch closed.

Comments are welcome and appreciated!