Well, for those of you who know me, you can atest to the fact that I am a nature inspired person who loves the outdoors. As is my husband, so we decided to tie that into our wedding to reflect who we are. I started with an idea I had seen, birch bark vases. I knew that was what I wanted for my centerpieces, and started to theme the wedding around them. When I started to search on how to make them, I found this was common among those who choose to DIY. So, I knew that I was going to use tall, skinny vases (I feared hollowed out logs would be too tippy) that I had purchased, and then cover them with birch bark. Well, being that I wanted a tall vase I had to have one large piece of birch bark to cover the entire surface area. Finding large sheets of birch bark to buy was like looking for a needle in a haystack....I searched and searched and searched, and then searched some more. Finally I found a contact of someone who had some, and I bought it right away!
The birch bark sheets came and my (now) husband and I started to make them. The birch was very very thick, and not very pliable. So, we decided to use contact cement to adhere it to the glass vase. After measuring, applying the contact cement and wrapping around the vase we then took cord and wrapped the entire thing as tight as possible so it would form, and stay. Some vases needed a few rounds of this. To camoflouge the "seam" I used wood glue and then filled it in with shavings/scraps of the birch. All in all it was a very time consuming process, but I loved loved loved the outcome!!
Feel free to contact me to find out how YOU can have these vases at your wedding!!!
I love these, where did you buy the bark from? or are you planning on selling the vases after your wedding? bwells.2.1design@gmail.com if you are planning on selling :)
ReplyDeleteI want birch bark vases for our wedding. I need 15 of them. I don't have to have tall vases. What do you suggest is easest?
ReplyDeleteYou can use actual birch or aspen logs and hollow them out - use shorter ones since you don't mind that they are not tall. You can find fallen dead aspens or birch to harvest from. You'll need to apply a sealant so that the wood doesn't soak up the water. Or, I did find several spots that sold smaller sheets of birch bark....Marshalls is a great spot to buy vases.
ReplyDeleteI worked out a deal with my florist and did some trade of flowers for my wedding and then she would get the vases which worked out great.
Wow!!! your center piece is beautiful!!! I want to make about 50 center pieces for my wedding coming soon. I wonder if you can help me to know where to buy birch bark to make these vases. My email address is nhatmaiqk@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your help :)
Would it be possible to email me as well where you got the birch bark sheets? Thanks so much! My email is rice.cassie(at)gmail.com
ReplyDeleteHi there I am looking to do the same thing but can not find the bark anywhere. I am in Canada and was wondering of you could please contact me with the info on where you bought the sheets!! Please!!
ReplyDeleteThanks
Rachelgeorgeous@gmail.com