The DIY Bride Crafty Countdown by Khris Cochran, The Taunton Press, 2009. Photos by Jack Deutsch, © 2009 The Stonesong Press, LLC
Another installment from the DIY Bride series, The DIY Bride Crafty Countdown guides you through the months leading up to your wedding with projects to fit your timeline. Khris Cochran carefully emphasizes taking careful stock of your abilities, helpers, and available time to help you avoid even a touch of Bridezilla! While none of the projects are particularly elaborate, they’re all quick, fun ideas that will let a busy bride-to-be avoid the cost and boredom of cookie-cutter wedding planning. (It’s very much aimed at women, so if you’re a crafty groom, just take a breath and dive on in to the pink pages anyway!)
I really like how each project is rated time-wise. Some are suggested as projects for fiance and fiancee to work on together, others as a fun thing to do with girlfriends, and yet others are aimed at the bride solo. There’s a great budget call-out for each project too, so you get a good sense of what the final cost will be. As you go through the countdown, you’ll find cute ideas like the S’mores Save-the-Date kit for an outdoorsy wedding, paper heart thank-you cards, and a flower girl basket made from a vintage doily. As you get closer to the actual wedding day, the how-tos include sweet fondant owl cake toppers, cupcake-in-a-jar favors, and a bunch of floral decorations for the reception.
I think my favorite project is for the groom, though — an elegant feather boutonniere that would look good on either a tux or a T-shirt. We’re sharing this project with you here, so download the PDF and enter the Giveaway after the jump!
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Book Giveaway Time!
One lucky Craft reader will win a copy of The DIY Bride Crafty Countdown. Just tell us why you would like this book in the comments! All comments will be closed by Noon PST on Wednesday, June 16, 2010. The lucky winner will be chosen randomly and announced later on the site. Good luck!
52 thoughts on “Book Review + Giveaway + Pattern: DIY Bride Crafty Countdown”
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My fiancee and I are both crafty wenches and would advice on how to cut costs but not corners!
We’re still trying to see if we can do it for the date we want but my fiance and I are getting married in six months and we’d like to have as much crafting involved as possible. Partially to cut costs but also because we believe crafting to be important.
My Best Friend is getting married in 5 months and I promised to help her make a crafty classy wedding. Help me fulfill my promise! This looks like a great book!
The man I am going to marry is on the other side of the continent right now, and is going to be on tour in Russia in the coming months. I can’t go with him, and it’s going to be a long, painful wait. I am already using crafting ideas for our wedding as a means of passing the time and feeling closer to him (Great timing on the month’s theme, CRAFT!), and the more idea sources I have, the better. It’s something I can do for both of us, and sharing my projects shows him that even though he’s not with me, I still love him, and want him, and look forward every day to the time when we’ll finally be together again. Help me fill my time with a labor of love?
I’m already crafting a bunch of stuff for our august wedding, but would love more idea’s! Plus my sister-in-law to be is getting hitched next spring too!
So far I’ve hand painted all the invitations, place cards, programs; my fiance’s mother is making our guest book; fiance’s brother is making our card collector; fiance’s aunt is making my dress (which i designed); I handmade individual special request cards, tip cards and personal note cards for each of my bridesmaids and groom… um, oh, I’m making corsages for the mum’s, and bouttonierres (sp?) for the guys; fiance’s mom crocheted our flower girl’s basket; I made a billion (ok slight exageration) organza flowers to decorate the tables at the reception and the favours are currently being designed…
So lots already going on, but i’m always up for more idea’s and inspiration :) I’m loving the variety of crafty skills that my family and friends are putting to good use in creating this wedding- it makes it much more about the creation of a new family when everyone gets to play a part :)
I’m shooting for a wedding date of Aug 9 this year – 8.9.10. It’ll be at my fiance’s parents’ house, with tons of handmade stuff. We may need to postpone due to a friend’s illness, but whenever our date is, my hands will be all over it!
I would love this book so much! I have been engaged for a month now and that realization of how much needs to be crafted is kicking in! help me!
I’m helping with my best friend’s wedding and helping her make a ton of stuff–this book sounds awesome and would help inspire a bunch of cool projects! And by the time I get engaged I will be so excited to make some for myself! :)
I just got engaged in April, so what a perfect way to start planning!
I am recently engaged and I would love this book to help me with craft ideas and tips for my wedding!
I am recently engaged and I would to win this book to help me with crafty ideas and tips for my own wedding!
I’m getting married in September, our wedding is in our backyard and I’m doing everything myself with the help of friends and family. I’ve managed to do a lot, but it’s starting to feel like overwhelming amount to do.
I’ve been searching blogs online for ideas (and this months theme has been a godsend) but having a book to reference would be very helpful
I’m getting married next summer and want to make it as personal and DIY as possible.
I would love to win this book so I can add it my community library’s collection. Mahalo for the op.
I am about as cheap as you can get. I have never bought anything full price. I think its the hunt thats the best. I love making anything and teaching others to make crafty things. I think it would be awsome to have a wedding of nothing but craft stuff!
I want our celebration to speak of us, what a wonderful guide to use to help us achieve this goal. It also would help to keep my little hands busy and soothe the inner ‘bridezilla’! LOL
I’m getting married in Sept and I was just doing some wedding crafting today!! Making paper butterfly garlands from old french books on Canadian politics. I could always use some more inspiration!!! Hope I win!!
We are planning a total DIY wedding, potluck and everything. So I could definitely use any help I can get. Thanks so much for you graciousness.
My twin sister is getting married later this year; having a book full of crafty goodness would mean I could help her out on her special day. :)
My fiance and I will be married this time next year. I have no clue what to do about a wedding. We want to make this a truly “us” wedding, but, we’re both kind of stuck with ideas. I’m kind of afraid if I don’t come up with some kind of master plan, the caterer is just going to take over with his florist and his decorator. We can’t have that! It was hard enough convincing him we wanted a Mac and Cheese station for dinner! Can you imagine what his decorations are going to look like?
Oi.
I need all the help I can get here.
with a tight budget and only 3 months to go this would be perfect to help get my sisters on board – I’m trying to prove that you can have a diy/greener wedding whuch still looks stunning
My son is engaged and getting married in the near future. This book would be very helpful and inspiring.
I’m planning my wedding for next year, and while we would love to spend all the money in the world on it- we just don’t have the money to spend. Any way to make our wedding personal and save some money at the same time would be fantastic.
While my man and I haven’t quite set a date yet for our wedding, it’s very important to both of us that our wedding is as unique and quirky as we are. We already plan on making most everything ourselves for both the ceremony and reception. This book would be such a great help and source of inspiration for the two of us.
I’m getting married sometime next year. So far, I’ve started in on liqueur for cocktails, but all other crafting has been neglecting. I’d love to sneak a peek at this book!
I will be needing this book in the near future :P