Make Your Own Wedding Favors

Wedding favors are a thoughtful gesture at your ceremony or reception. They give your guests something to remember your day by. If you make your own, they are even more meaningful and they are also less expensive than if you buy them.

All it takes is a little imagination to come up with great ideas for favors you make yourself. Here are a few to get you started.

Buy black and white stones from an aquarium or craft store. Find a glass, white, or black shallow container that you like, and layer the stones in it. You can paint inspirational words on the stones, such as "Love," "Joy," "Peace," etc., or put your names and wedding date. These make lovely table arrangements as well as favors for your guests.

Get small wooden boxes at a craft or dollar store. Spray paint them in your wedding colors or decoupage them with wedding pictures from magazines, etc. Fill them with candy, tie them with ribbon, and glue on a small flower or trinket.

Buy inexpensive wooden frames (available for about $1), paint them in your wedding colors, instert a photo of the wedding couple, and glue Hershey's kisses to the corners.

Steal a Victorian idea and make nosegays. All you need is poster board or construction paper in your wedding colors, or you can glue giftwrap to poster board to make patterned nosegays. Cut a 12" inch circle for each nosegay you want to make. Cut each circle in half diagonally; roll each one into a cone shape and glue it securely along the seam. If you like, punch a hole on each side of the cone and thread ribbon in your wedding colors or white through it and tie a knot to secure your ribbon handle. Fill with candy, rose petals, or whatever you like.

Another extremely easy, very popular idea is to make scrolls. You can print quotations, love poems, or simply thank you's to your guests on these scrolls and put them at each place setting. All you need is parchment or other decorative paper. Cut the paper in 5.5" by 8.5" lengths, print what you want to say on them, roll them into scrolls, and tie them with ribbon.

Need more ideas? Check origami websites or books for lots of paper projects. Look at children's Valentine craft websites and books for cute, quick ideas. Walk through craft stores, and see what inspires you.