magic wands.

barg. i have tons o' free time these days, so i have been creeping around on wedding websites, seeing things i wish we'd done, or had time to do, or maybe that someone will let me do for their wedding? HEAR THAT, BRANDEE / CARRIE / PETTIT / LEAH / WALSH / VANNASTER / NICOLE / MEAGAN?? because these ribbon wands are friggin' tight and would be so easy to make. since bubbles are a huge mess and green pastures has a no sparklers/no confetti/no rice/pick up your own rose petals policy, our choices were either lavender (stupid expensive) or birdseed (terribly painful, as it turns out). i even like the cheesy tag line for a sign in front of the bucket containing these suckers:

give a wave of good wishes

to the new mr. & mrs.

yep. i know. it's super trendy and queso and i love it. what i don't love is that i saw this project pre-wedding and decided against it. there is a great tutorial here but i honestly think you could crank these out even faster if you use hot glue. hot glue is the answer to everything, people! it's like the electric sister of duct tape. i am always shocked when i see people using the kind of glue that is wet and has to dry (aka Old Timey Mess Hardly Ever Works Glue). do they not know about hot glue? i mean, i shelled out large cash for a ban.do headband and after one wearing, it up and BUSTED, only to be repaired forever by a tiny dose of hot glue. anyway, this is a down-to-earth, cost-effective DIY that can be made in a short amount of time by the most un-crafty of people. in my mind, this wand-making process goes like this:

1. figure out how much material you need and purchase it. as a recap, materials are RIBBON, DOWELS, SPRAY PAINT, HOT GLUE.

2. cut ribbon to size. cut dowels to size.

3. spray paint dowels.

4. hot glue ribbons to dowels.

5. locate vase or bucket-type item and put wands inside.

6. wait anxiously for wedding.

{images via style me pretty and photographer max wanger, plus the last two are from a google search called 'wedding wand' and i've lost track of the source}