Hand fans are the perfect summer wedding accessories, and there are so many styles to choose from. Today we’ll show you 5 ways to make your own DIY personalised hand fans; not only will they help keep your guests cool on a stuffy summer afternoon, but they’ll double as order of services and wedding favours.
Look #1 – Boxwood Beauty
What You’ll Need:
Instructions:
Step 1: Gather a few stems of boxwood and position them wherever you’d like on the fan handle.
Step 2: Use baker’s twine to attach the boxwood to the fan; wrap the twine around the handle a half dozen times to both attach the boxwood securely and make sure the twine stands out.
The Final Result:
Look #2 – Vintage Lace
What You’ll Need:
- Vintage Lace Personalised Hand Fan in Vintage Mocha
- Stationery Jewels in Clear Crystal (2mm)
- Pink Crystal Trimmed Lace (or plain pink lace embellished with jewels)
Instructions:
Step 1: Use your crystal jewels to add pretty, tiny details to your fan.
Step 2: Cut out a piece of the pattern from your lace, such as a flower design, and glue it to your fan. This adds some pretty texture, and you can even embellish this with crystal jewels too.
Step 3: Loosely tie your lace around the fan handle; if your lace is without jewels, add some with your stick-on gems.
The Final Result:
Look #3 – Purple Petals
What You’ll Need:
- French Whimsy Personalised Hand Fan in Victorian Purple
- Satin Ribbon in Deep Plum and Lavender
- Adhesive Jewels in Lilac (4mm)
- Paper Rose
Instructions:
Step 1: As with look #2, begin by adding subtle accents to your stationery with your crystal gems.
Step 2: Make your hand fan pop by adding a paper rose to the handle with warm glue; it matches the floral pattern of the stationery beautifully!
Step 3: Tie two lengths of ribbon to your fan handle; we used two different shades of purple to give a lovely two-tone effect.
The Final Result:
Look #4 – Country Sweet
What You’ll Need:
- Forget Me Not Personalised Hand Fan in Willow Green
- Satin Ribbon in Hunter Green
- Crocheted Border Handkerchief
- Green Craft Paper
- Floral Design Hole Punch
Instructions:
Step 1: Punch your floral design into both sides of your fan, being careful to avoid cutting through the wording or design of the fan.
Step 2: Overlap two of your fans with a piece (or pieces) of green card sandwiched between them. This will make your new floral-design-holes show through in green.
Step 3: Glue your fans together; avoid hot glue, as it could warp or show through the fan.
Step 4: Insert the fan into the handle.
Step 5: For a pretty country touch, or to make your hand fan as part of a wedding favour, add a handkerchief to your handle. Line the handkerchief up along the back side of the handle, but be careful not to cover any wording on the back of your fan.
Step 6: Flip your fan over and secure the handkerchief with a length of green ribbon. If your handkerchief is folded like ours, it will bend neatly for a beautiful natural finish.
The Final Result:
Look #5 – Make a Wish
What You’ll Need:
Instructions:
Step 1: Wrap your mini pencil with your string a few times and secure with a double knot. (If you can’t find mini pencils, buy a regular pencil and cut it in half. Then you can sharpen the leftover half for another pencil.)
Step 2: Attach the pencil to your tag: first thread your string into the tag from the front and leave your pencil hanging as much or as little as you want.
Step 3: Making sure you hold your pencil in position, loop your string back over your tag and through the hole again. Secure with a double knot.
Step 4: Thread one strand of your string through the fan handle tab.
Step 5: Tie the two strands of string together in a double knot and then a bow.
Step 6: Insert your fan into the handle.
With these fans, your guests can use the attached tags as wishing cards; they can write a wish for the couple and drop them in a “wishing well” or wedding post box during the reception.
The Final Result:
Find more wedding DIYs in our inspiration pages!
