diy for the birds, with downloadable template (now including rice template)
There are a few wedding traditions that I’m intentionally ignoring, but throwing rice is one I really like. Since rice gets slippery, and the “modern” bubble blowing is not my style, and sparklers get a bit scary after all your friends have had a few drinks and are too eager to say goodbye… we decided to go with birdseed. Instead of having our guests toss birdseed at us after the reception, we’re going to do it post-ceremony and pre-family photos.
I bought a bunch of glassine bags from uline, and designed labels that go with our invitation suite. I printed and cut out the labels at home (on cardstock), then we did a quick and easy zig-zag stitch on my sewing machine to hold the bag closed and attach the label. Once the labels were cut, and with help from a couple friends, we knocked this project out in a couple hours.
Here it is, step by step:
Download Birdseed Layout File*
cut them up
fill the bags
a double fold is prettier
zig zag stitch, then snip off the ends of the thread
and voila!
[You can find bigger photos on the Mint flickr page.]
*please note these files are for peronal use only and are copyright ellie snow.
Responses to “diy for the birds, with downloadable template (now including rice template)”
ashley
March 11, 2009 at 8:51 amvery nice, love the stitiching. thanks for sharing all of your fun wedding projects, and congratulations!
ashley
March 11, 2009 at 8:53 amor stitching. oops.
Kate@ Kids and Cocktails
March 11, 2009 at 8:55 amSuper cute and looks so easy! Are the bags easy to open?
Thanks for sharing!
erin
March 11, 2009 at 9:36 amwhat a sweet idea. i love the colors.
ellie
March 11, 2009 at 9:55 amthank you! they are easy to open – the glassine tears easily.
two brunettes
March 11, 2009 at 11:33 amsooo cute! is there a certain needle you had to use on the paper?
ellie
March 11, 2009 at 11:37 amnope! both the cardstock and glassine are so thin that my regular needle was fine.
kate
March 11, 2009 at 1:22 pmi love this ellie! the stitching looks fantastic.
Julia
March 11, 2009 at 5:16 pmSo, so cute! I love the stitching!
Lyndsay
March 12, 2009 at 12:35 amWhat a great idea – the zigzag stitch is so fun too!
Isabelle
March 12, 2009 at 8:27 amI love your idea, it is just great !!!
Sure it will be an unforgetable moment
ellie
March 12, 2009 at 10:19 amthank you!
Amy@OldSweetSong
March 12, 2009 at 10:42 amHoly crap these are cute!!
knack
March 13, 2009 at 8:26 amgirl…. your attention to detail is amazing! These are so great!
Sarah
March 13, 2009 at 4:11 pmooooh! looove this idea! :)
Anonymous
March 14, 2009 at 7:06 pmwhat size bags did you use? i love this idea!
sandra
March 14, 2009 at 7:45 pmthis is so cute! and not as wasteful as using rice. but one question – will you end up w/ birds/pigeons flying around to eat the stuff? that could be disastrous. and gross.
ellie
March 14, 2009 at 9:09 pmI used the 2 3/4 x 4 1/4″ size from Uline.
And Sandra – hahaha. No, no birds will fly around – there will be a couple hundred people and I don’t think they will be that brave. The toss and run thing happens so quickly, you know. Then afterwards, the staff at the church will sweep it all up.
If that happened, it would definitely be gross… and also I’m sure it would have no chance of becoming the wedding tradition that it is!
Design Lovely
March 14, 2009 at 9:49 pmWhat a great idea! I love this! The stitching and everything is adorable!
WL
March 17, 2009 at 2:38 amHi! I love this idea and want to do it for my own ceremony but I prefer the old-fashioned rice and wanted to replace the word Birdseed with Rice:). I was wondering if I could ask you for the non-pdf format of the template? If you could email me, I’d be so grateful.
Kelly
March 19, 2009 at 2:26 pmingenious idea! i love sewn paper.
xo
kelly
Anna Gamboa
April 10, 2009 at 5:12 pmLove the idea.. the stitching pulls everything together beautifully.
Thank you for the idea!
Anna Gamboa
San Diego Wedding Insider
Sarah
May 5, 2009 at 11:38 amI love this idea. I am planning on using lavender buds–would it be possible to get the template in Word so I can change Birdseed to Lavender? Thank you so much, your ideas are wonderful!!
ellie
May 8, 2009 at 12:21 pmHi Sarah – The template can’t be converted to Word, since it uses Mac fonts – which I actually can’t distribute for copyright reasons. I’m sorry! I think throwing lavender is a great idea!
Anonymous
June 21, 2009 at 11:27 amThis is really cute. Only think is, birdseed is very small and round. If the guests throw birdseed at the couple, it could easily get in the bride or groom’s ear and destroy their hearing.
I know it sounds unlikely, but it can happen with rice (google Juliet Gordon Low) and I wonder if the probability of such a thing happening would increase with birdseed as it’s smaller.
But besides that, I have to say that I really love the idea of creating these cute little packs to fill with something else. <3
Christiana
June 30, 2009 at 12:33 amWhat a gorgeous project! I was wondering if the packets were easy to open? Did guests rip them, pull a string…? Thanks!
ellie
June 30, 2009 at 9:06 amhi christiana, yes the paper tears very easily! it’s like opening a sugar packet.
Ashley
August 5, 2009 at 10:27 amHi Ellie – Just wanted to let you know that I’ve been following your blog for a while and LOVE it! Also – I made these birdseed packets (which slight variation) for my wedding and they turned out so cute and the toss was lots of fun! Thanks so much for sharing this project :)
Laurie
March 15, 2010 at 11:21 ami love the birdseed idea, however when i try to print it it comes out very smal, it looks bigger in the pictures I was just wondering is there a way to print it bigger? I tried zooming in and that didn’t help.