As you can imagine, January and the winter months are considered the off-season when it comes to photography, especially here in DC where winter weather can happen at any time. There are still the occasional weddings and family portraits (indoors!), but for the most part it’s a time to recharge and rest up before the busy months that run from March through November. I think this time is important and keeps us all from experiencing burn out. However, it really doesn’t take long for me to get bored! This winter with all of my spare time, I decided to get a job to help occupy myself and give me a creative outlet. I ended up finding a position at every girls’ favorite store, Anthropologie. I love everything about the store, and the main reason why I took the job was because part of it involved helping out the visual team with their amazing displays throughout the store. If you’ve ever been there, you know what I’m talking about…. all those little (and big) hand-made art pieces that make the place so magical and whimsical. We recently took down the winter windows in order to prepare for spring and I wanted to share them. (My display coordinator was kind enough to grab a few shots of the window before it came down.) One of the girls who I work with took some home with her to use at her wedding as decor and I thought- what a great idea!

What you are looking at is one of our main winter windows- you may have seen something similar at your local Anthropologie this holiday. It was made from hundreds (possibily 1000+, but we lost count!) white poofs that the girls hand-folded, hand-wired, hand-cut, then hand-unfolded. They were primarily made from tissue paper, but additionally there were poofs made from freezer paper, wax paper, cellophane, newsprint, trash bags, and more. A chicken wire frame was constructed for all of them to be attached too, creating a delicate snowscape. This was truly a labor of love and I’m not claiming to have conceptualized this project or made it all on my own, but I was trilled to be a part of it after it all came together! How absolutely stunning would this be as wedding decor!? The white would be the perfect fit for a winter-themed wedding. You could also adapt this concept to fit the look and feel of your wedding. Maybe you make poofs in pinks or oranges or whatever your colors happen to be. I can picture them being made from a combination of tissue paper and beautiful patterned paper like this found at your local Paper Source.  Maybe you tie them from strings and hang them from the ceiling instead of attaching to a wire frame. 

The poofs were fairly easy to construct, but just as a warning, something of this size and scope was extremely time consuming to create. You can probably do some research and find some pre-folded and cut so all you would have to do is unfold them. You can also adapt this concept to a smaller scale make fewer. For example, I can picture a dozen or so of these hanging from branches at an outdoor wedding!

Basic Instructions:

Take several sheets of your material (we used about 12 layers) and fold it accordion style. Secure the middle with either wire or string (however you plan on hanging it). Cut details into each side of your long strip of tissue, as if you are making a paper snowflake. The more you cut, the more floaty and delicate your poof will be. We used a combination of straight cuts (to make a frayed effect) and a die cutter to get some more intricate shapes. Then, carefully unfold your poof. You’ll find the intricate ones take a little more time to unfold to keep from tearing them. 

And just as a sneak peak, here’s a look at what went up after the poofs came down… any guess on what they are!?