My love affair with burlap began a few months ago.  I offered to make wedding invitations for a friend who was getting married and when I asked about her colors, she mentioned that she loved deep purple, orange and the look of burlap. I also helped another friend make the table decorations which included mason jars, ribbon, lace,buttons and burlap. And finally, we made soap wrapped in burlap for the wedding favors.

I was first introduced to burlap a couple of years ago when I made a pair of ring pillows for a wedding.  I had no idea that burlap came in colors or stamped with images.  Burlap on it’s own isn’t too attractive, but when combined with lace or ribbon or cut into shapes it adds a rustic charm to any project.  So off I went to buy a whole bolt – 10 yards.

Invitations:  I used the burlap for the belly band of the invitation and as an accent flower.

I used the Sizzix Bigz Die –  Tattered Florals by Tim Holtz to cut the flower pieces out of scrapbook paper, cardstock and burlap.

Table Runners: I made table runners using the burlap and lace. Burlap is surprisingly easy to sew on.  I cut 12″ X 24″ pieces of burlap and then attached pieces of lace to each end.  They looked stunning against the white tablecloths.

Center Pieces:  The centerpieces consisted of 3 mason jars, one large, one medium and one small.  I found orange burlap with sparkles (so pretty) and cut strips to go around each jar.  We then added ribbon and a button to cover the seam where the ribbon met.  We filled the jar with daisies and baby’s breath.  The combination of the three staggered sizes against the burlap was beautiful.

Wedding Favors:  And finally the wedding favors.  My friend wanted to give handmade soap to her guests wrapped in burlap.  I used a recipe I found in The Natural Soap Book by Susan Miller Cavitch.  I highly recommend this book for first time soap makers and seasoned professionals.  I bought all my soap supplies from Brambleberry.com and used the Spiced Mahogany scent.  Everything smelled sooooo good!  I found wooden hearts, stamped their initials and then an army of friends hot glued them to a wrap of ribbon and burlap.  The overall affect was charming and very well received.

I will definitely be using burlap in future projects.

Hey who’s this burlap person?  And why do you love them.  It should say, “How do I love thee, Woody and Ellie? Let me count the ways.”