Tasty Treats
Know your way around the kitchen? Then you can make some sweet treats as a bridal shower favor.
No, don’t roll your eyes — even if you have trouble rolling balls out of Playdough, making chocolate favors is easy. You can find chocolate molds in almost any shape at any craft store. All you have to do to make impressive-looking favors is pour melted chocolate into the molds (use the chocolate discs designed for melting, which you can find at any grocery store. Chocolate chips stay lumpy when melted).
Now heat the chocolate gently — a microwave is ideal for avoiding the burn — and pour it into the molds. When everything’s cooled, tuck your gorgeous creations in a small decorative box. Add a personal note, and your masterpiece will make a lasting impression.
If you’re not up for the mess of melting chocolate, cookies and cupcakes are even easier. Cupcakes decorated like wedding cakes are a big hit. How about jars of homemade jam so you can “spread the love?”
Lend Some Light
Candles make another great homemade bridal shower favor. You can make them in a variety of shapes and sizes. If you add aromatic oils to the wax, you can experiment with your own aromatherapy candles. There are limitless possibilities, and your guests can mingle while passing around various scents.
Candles are easy to make, and you can find tips for making them online or in craft stores. The same stores will carry supplies, such as a candle-making cooker and various molds. Now add a cheesy but cute saying, such as “Their love will burn for eternity” or “A Perfect Match.”
Fresh, Flirty Florals
Floral favors are perfect for spring or garden weddings. For a pretty package, adorn white baker’s bags (like lunch bags, only white) with fresh flowers you’ve purchased at a florist, or blooms from your own garden. Arrange petals and leaves over the bags, and then place newspaper over the flowers in an area where they won’t be moved for at least a week. Set some heavy books on top, and let the flowers and petals sit for a week. When you uncover the bags, you’ll find delicate floral imprints.
Continue the flower motif by tucking flower seeds in your pretty bags, or a flower bulb wrapped in cellophane. Include a note inviting guests to “plant the seeds of love.”
Don’t toss the flowers you used to decorate! You can use packing tape to make charming stickers from your flowers. Lay the pressed flower on top of the non-sticky side of the clear packing tape. Seal the flower in by laying another piece of the tape, sticky side down, on top of the flower very slowly. Now you’ve got one sticky side left to use as a decorative sticker!
Popular Floral & Garden Themed Favors
Personal Bookmarks
Your homemade favors don’t need to be exceptionally complicated. Try making simple bookmarks. Stencil on your favorite poem, or the words to your favorite love song, and laminate them with contact paper or clear packing tape. Lay the bookmark down on the sticky side of a piece of clear packing tape. Lay another piece of tape, sticky side down, over the top, then cut off the excess tape. For another simple idea, make small paper fans with a poem or love song written inside. You can also print the program or menu for the shower inside the fan.
Music to Their Ears
Since most computers now have CD burners, creating CD’s for your guests to enjoy is a fun and easy venture. You can include songs that are special to you or the bride, or a collection of classic love songs. You can decorate the CD’s with a personalized label. You can also make your own liner notes, explaining why each song is special to you.
Whether you’re on a tight budget, or simply want to put a little of yourself into your bridal shower guest’s souvenirs, homemade bridal shower favors will be a big hit that your guests will remember for a long time.