5 Tips for Choosing Your Wedding Colors

When planning for your wedding, it's normal to want everything to be absolutely perfect from the location to colors to the family and friends gathered around you to help you celebrate your big day. If you haven't decided on a color palette yet, here are six great tips to help you choose your wedding colors.

Customer Photo Courtesy Tracy M.

Picking the Perfect Wedding Colors

1. Take in the Scenery. Your wedding location is one of the first places you should look for inspiration. After all, if the colors you choose don't coordinate with your surroundings, you're likely to be disappointed. Lime green and orange probably won't look that great in a church with teal and purple accents.

2. Start with One Color. Stop worrying about color combinations, if the task is overwhelming. Think about one dominant wedding color that you want to use. Once you've found your main color, then move on to picking one or two accent colors.

3. Consider Your Flower Options. It can be extremely difficult to color match intense hues with traditional flowers. Make sure your color options can be reproduced by mother nature if you insist of real floral bouquets. If you're up for a new spin--pardon the pun--on wedding flowers, consider Pinwhirls bouquets and pinwheels that look great in any color combinations.

4. Carry Swatches. Once you've picked your wedding colors, get them on swatches and carry them with you in your planner or purse. You'll never know when you'll stumble across something and wonder if it matches your colors. This method makes takes the guesswork out of finding decorations, stationery, apparel and accessories that coordinate perfectly with your wedding color theme.

5. Use Color Effectively. When it's time to decorate, make sure your colors are noticeable. Using elements of color repetitively in every aspect of your wedding and reception will create a dramatic scene as well as give a sense of continuity and flow to the entire day.

Planning a wedding is a big deal, and with so many colors to choose from it's no wonder brides find it difficult to settle on their favorite palette.

We want to hear from you! What colors did you go with for your wedding, and how did you choose them?

25 Graduation Gifts that Won't Break the Bank

Last week, we talked about graduation party tips for those anticipating a little party planning this coming May. But what if you've been invited to a graduation party?

It's common to get a gift for any graduate, but especially for a high school graduate as many will be preparing to live away from home for the first time. So leave the fancy cars and European vacations for those independently wealthy relatives of the grad, and consider these thoughtful but affordable graduation gifts:

25 Affordable Graduation Gifts

1. Books
2. Rolled quarters (for the laundry facilities on campus!)
3. Sheet sets
4. Hot plate
5. Small microwave oven
6. Photo album or digital photo frame
7. iTunes or Phone card
8. Briefcase
9. Desk calendar or monthly planner
10. Space-saving storage accessories
11. MP3 player
12. Printer or ink refills
13. Charging station for electronics
14. Compact tool kit
15. Lunch tote
16. Shower caddy with supplies
17. Jump drive
18. College themed T-shirt or sweatshirt
19. 30-minute recipes or Bento recipes cookbook
20. School supplies
21. Headphones or earbuds
22. Watch
23. Customized survival kit (think coffee, favorite snacks, mini sewing kit, etc.)
24. Personalized diploma frame
25. Restaurant gift cards

If you're still having trouble coming up with the right graduation gift, think back to your own graduation. What items were the most useful or the most loved?

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You can get great graduation party invites, banners and more printed on custom papers that match your grad's school colors at Pinwhirls.com!

Graduation Party Tips & Supplies

It won't be long and the class of 2012 will be celebrating graduation. You just can't celebrate graduation from high school or college without a great party. We've got some great graduation party tips for you as well as some fun ideas for creating fun DIY graduation party supplies with Pinwhirls.com products.

Graduation Pinwheel Party Favors

Graduation Party Planning Tips

Dont' Be Afraid of Trying Something Unique: Mortar boards and tassels are the standard in graduation party decor from banners to cakes and invitations. To change things up, try decoration with items that symbolize the grad's hobbies or major -- like yellow and gold music notes or red and black lab coats and beakers.

Use Photos for a Collage: You can affix photos to poster board or create a digital slideshow presentation featuring the graduate's accomplishments and activities while at school. Include everything like soccer practice, choir, the senior trip, and parties with friends. Ask family and friends to contribute photos if you need help collecting some fun candid shots.

Games and Activities: If you have the room and budget for music and a dance floor, go for it! You could also feature a trivia game that includes questions about the graduate. The person who answers the  most questions correctly gets a prize and a special photo opportunity with the grad.

Graduation Party Supplies

For the perfect graduation party, don't forget these party supplies:

• Invitations
• Banners & Pennants
• Cake and Cupcake Toppers
• Thank You Cards

How to Dye Easter Eggs Naturally

Store bought kits make dyeing Easter eggs a cinch, but you can also dye them naturally with a few ingredients you might already have at home. Part of the fun of using naturally dyes is that your eggs will truly be unique, each one a surprise.

How to Dye Easter Eggs Naturally

1. Hard boil white eggs. Brown eggs, obviously, will alter the colors making your final product not so pretty. Since the goal is to later eat the hard-boiled eggs, you might want to follow these tips for boiling eggs that are easy to peel and eat.


2. Select natural dyes. Beautiful, vibrant colors can be found right in your kitchen. To make red, we recommend using beets. Turmeric will give you a nice yellow color. And, surprisingly, red cabbage will give you a blue hue for your your eggs.


3. Follow the basic recipe. Heat 1 quart of water in a saucepan with 1 Tbsp. white vinegar and 1 Tbsp of salt. Stir in the ingredient you will use for coloring and continue to simmer from 10 to 30 minutes until the water reaches the color you want.


4. Leave the egg in the colored water until you're happy with the color. Some pigments are absorbed by the egg's shell more quickly than others. So be patient, you may need to leave eggs in the natural dye for up to 60 minutes for best color saturation.


5. Experiment with colors. Add different ingredients to change up the dye color, or try double-dipping your eggs. What happens when you dye the eggs in the beet mixture and then the cabbage mixture? Will red and blue pigments give you a purple egg?

Do you use natural dyes? What ingredients give you the boldest colors?

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Don't forget Pinwhirls customers can save 10% to 15% on custom party pretties at Phinwhirls.com! Stop by our Promotions page for all the details!






Photo credit: dieraecherin from morguefile.com