Weddingbee boards

So after my post being all down on myself, all the bees made me feel loads better, and a couple of people asked for a tutorial on how to do the favor bags. 

They were actually really easy, just time consuming.

Supplies

Muslin bags (I bought mine in bulk from papermart.com and got about 300 for less than $70)

ribbon in your colors (I got about 50 spools of ribbon from Michaels for $0.50 each, I probably needed 150 yards total for about 300 bags, I am swimming in this ribbon now)

crochet hook 

rubber stamps (I used a graphic peony stamp and "all you need is love" stamp from Michaels)

ink in your colors (I used versamagic in sage, memories dye in chestnut, and pigment in violet)

stamp cleaner and an old toothbrush to keep your stamps clean

The muslin bags from papermart came with an ugly rope tie.  I first cut them all out (find a nice movie to watch while you do this because it is BORING)

Then I cut equal lengths of ribbon.  They were roughly 9 inches long, but I kind of eyeballed it.  I like the variation in lengths of the ribbons, I think it gives it a pleasing handmade feel.  Use the crochet hook to thread the ribbon through the hole where the rope tie originally was on the muslin bags.  I used two pieces of ribbon per bag, and knotted them on opposite ends.

Then comes the stamping fun.  I did a few practice runs on a piece of paper to find the right color combinations and arrangement.  I ended up doing purple peonies with purple words, and sage peonies with chestnut words.

The stamps show up a bit paler on the muslin than they do on paper, so you might need darker ink than you think you do.  It's really important to press firmly and evenly over the whole stamp to make sure the detail shows up.

And now, photos!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3638/3490577996_f3a2d456f5.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3408/3490576756_c1089151d5.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3627/3489760285_ea3365aa8b.jpg?v=0

We set them out next to our candy bar.  We had 3 kinds of chocolates from Koppers Chocolates.