The sparkling continues this week as we roll out five more projects that feature the Artistic integrated system of crystals, software, cutters and presses. If you’ve been following the series so far, you know we designed it with creative entrepreneurs in mind. This is a system you could easily use to make and sell projects as a home-based wedding accessories business. The options available for customized wedding gifts, accessories and reception coordinates grows every day. Table decor is especially popular, which is why put these lovely centerpiece candle vases on our list. Thanks to their super tough adhesive, crystals can be adhered on almost any fabric or paper surface… even lace! We started with simple cylindrical vases from the Dollar Store and ended up with vintage style stunners that will set the entire table aglow.
To get an idea of the potential in this category, spend just a few minutes on some of the creative shopping/selling sites. You’ll discover an impressive number of shops dedicated to providing anything and everything wedding related.
Here are the top eight:
All of our DIY Wedding Sparkle projects are structured to provide inspiration rather than act as full sewing and software tutorials. Each article describes the basics of how to make the base project, but not in the step-by-step detail you may be used to if you’re a regular S4H visitor.
Once you’re hooked on the idea and have your very own Artistic System, you’ll be able to visit the Artistic website, where detailed crystal design and application tutorials will be available as free downloads for all our techniques. These free .PDF files will be posted to the Artistic website soon after the conclusion of our S4H series.
We’ve also included handy links at the end of this article to project tutorials within our own S4H archives that will help with the base project construction.
Construction notes
Gathering and combining the lace for this project is as interesting and enjoyable as creating and applying the crystals. For our collection, we browsed the aisles of our local fabric shops as well as the shelves of thrift and antique shops. We also pulled out our scrap basket of special occasion remnants and added a few of our most treasured trims. There are no rules for what you must use, but if the lace has more of an open weave, the light from the candle will show through better. The lace strips can be layered and attached to one another or sewn to a fabric base as we did with our organza version. As we mentioned above, the crystals adhere well to even these very textured surfaces. We never felt we had to compromise the look in order to fit within the requirements of the Artistic system’s functionality; it’s very flexible and user friendly.
Layered wraps
- For candle wraps made with layered lace, measure the circumference of the vase and add 1″.
- Cut your lace trims to match this measurement.
- Measure the height of the vase from the rim to the base. We cut a piece of cardboard to this height and used it as a guide to get our trim overlap correct. You could also simply lay a tape measure on your work table as you layer.
- Topstitch each layer in place, layering and stitching one piece at a time.
- Apply the crystals.
- When the layering, topstitching and crystal application is complete, fold the finished piece right sides together, stitch a ½” back seam, and slip the cover into place over the vase.
Fabric + trim wraps
- For candle wraps made with a fabric base (we used organza so you could see the candle flame nicely through the fabric), measure the circumference of the vase and add 1″.
- Measure the height of the vase and add 1″.
- Cut your base fabric to match these two measurements.
- Press the upper and lower edges ½” toward the right side.
- Cut the lace trims to the width measurement. How many lengths of lace you need will depend on the height of your vase and your own custom design.
- Align the top lace trim with the upper folded edge and topstitch in place.
- Repeat for the lower edge.
- Add additional lace trim as needed to fill in the height, but still leave a nice open “window” of base fabric for the center crystal border.
- Apply the crystals.
- When the layering, topstitching and crystal application is complete, fold the finished piece right sides together, stitch a ½” back seam, and slip the cover into place over the vase.
Crystal application notes
When applying the crystals on delicate fabrics, like lace and organza, use a silicon sheet underneath to keep the crystals from sticking to the press or ironing board. Then, use a pressing cloth over the top to protect the delicate surface of the fabric and/or trims.
Similar projects
Here are three other vase wrap tutorials, which you may find helpful in construction and/or in providing additional inspiration for unique wrap designs.
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