Cones from hell

Let's chat about how I'm so not a DIY bride. I love being crafty (or pretending that I am) but I have confirmed that weddings are not the time to do so.

I decided for Preston and my big sendoff we would have people throw rose petals. Easy to clean up... we don't have to make the guests go outside from the hotel to blow bubbles or light fireworks, AND I can make super cute cones myself that are New York-ey. Right?? HA!

Well after about 5 hours trying to find NY paper online that 1-didn't cost $1/sheet and 2- didn't have a picture so you could still tell what it was if it was rolled up and cut, I gave up. Which was a big bruise to my ego because I pride myself on being able to find anything online. I have deemed myself an Internet genius. So I figure I'll buy black card stock and stamp my own paper. Should be easy enough right? In theory it was.

So I buy 400 sheets of paper and stamp my adorable NY stamp that I custom ordered onto every sheet. I laid them out so they could dry completely and not smudge and happily called it a night. Only took a couple hours. Not bad for doing it alone. So far we were golden.

So imagine my dismay when the next morning I go to scoop them up and the stamp is smudging! Something about the thick card stock and my high pigment ink didn't mesh well. In a bit of a panic I called a few craft stores and found out that there is a spray you can use on paper to seal in any ink you have placed on it. The issue was that 400 sheets of paper take up a LOT of room. And we couldn't just spray them on my parent's hardwood floor. So we had to move every sheet without them touching anything, lay down plastic, and re-arrange them for spraying. The room got so hazy and foggy. We had to open all the doors and windows and it was COLD. My poor Dad accidentally ruined 4 of them and I almost died. Poor guy felt so bad.

So another few hours down the drain and 3 trips to the craft store later they were all sprayed. It took WAY more spray than we thought (hence all the trips) which put me in the best mood of my life I assure you.

So another 24 hours of drying later and I could finally roll these bad boys up and glue them. Here's the issue, my sweet mother who was trying to help couldn't roll a piece of paper into a cone to save her life (Sorry Mom). Which not only surprised me but frustrated us both to no end. So I had to roll all of them by myself. Let's put it this way.... it took 12 hours. STRAIGHT. Of me standing in my kitchen rolling paper.

This was supposed to be easy and it turned into a frustrating 18 hour project. My Dad actually came home and ended up being a bit of a crafty wiz which kept the 18 hours from turning into an easy 25.

So after all of that, I like them, but they don't really look like they took as much effort as they did. So I'm writing this story because at the wedding I want you to ALL appreciate these damn cones hahaha.

I wish I had a picture of one finished. I took one with my Blackberry but it died beyond repair and I had to get a new phone. So you'll just have to wait and see!

xoxo