The Big Project: Table Favors

Remember on Monday I told you I was working on a big Etsy order?  Well, here it is.  Many, many months ago, I put a listing in my shop offering bookmarks as table favors for weddings, showers, parties, etc. figuring it was kind of a different idea: everyone at the event could get their own personalized bookmark that would hopefully be used and reused and enjoyed by all, unlike some of the things you get as favors.  And nothing really happened.

But as luck would have it, a few weeks ago I was contacted by a bride looking to order bookmarks for her wedding!  And she picked out one of my favorite combinations: navy blue, yellow floral print, and powder blue with a navy blue ribbon, based off of this listing photo:

We talked a little and tweaked a few of the details on the bookmark, and I wound up making 100 of them!  That is by far my largest order to date, and I am really pleased with the result:

I just wish I could get to see the tables where they are going to go!

Of course, with any new, big project there is knowledge to gain.  Here are some things I learned as a result of this experience:

1. It takes a lot longer to loop and tie 100 ribbons than I thought it would.  And it hurt my fingers more, too.  I'm going to have to factor that in the next time.

2. Something is inevitably going to go wrong.  In this case, my hole punch broke halfway through the stack.  Meaning, the part that punches actually broke off the thing so I couldn't try and salvage it if I wanted to, which I did.  Oh, and I needed more ribbon too.

3. I still really like this color combination even after looking at it for a long time.

4. These bookmarks came out way better than even I thought they would, and I thought they'd be great to start with.

5. It is very humbling to know that something I made will be featured on the tables at someone's wedding.  I know that's the goal here with offering table favors, but until I was actually making them, I didn't really think about that part.  A wedding is a really big deal, and I am just so pleased that someone liked what I make enough to give one to everyone there.

6. I would really love to do this again!

Over the weekend I decided that since I was making tabs for different pages here on the blog, I would make a page for wedding and party table favors.  This gives me a chance to post more photos of what I offer and more information than what I can list on Etsy.  I would love for this type of order to be a regular occurrence, and hopefully that will help show it off.  I know that I personally would love to get this type of favor.