Make your own eco-friendly seed bomb favors #Favor DIY#eco-friendly#wedding favors Updated Oct 12 2015 (Posted Jul 5 2012) Guest post by Hanna My wedding is based on eco and environmentally friendly themes so when I found Mademoiselle Chaos Blog on making seed bombs, I thought it would be perfect for our wedding favours. They're very easy but quite messy to make. It took me and my other half about two and a half hours to do in terms of time. It was great fun and we really enjoyed making them. Here's what I needed to do in advance: I was drying flowers — native species — in my microwave to go into the favours to add to the texture and colour. I did a lot of research into the best paper to use, so when we were throwing out our recycling I was keeping the better quality, mostly white, paper, so that my favours weren't grey (which is what happens if you use newspaper). Even my old to-do lists for our special day went into the mix. Then we got our hands on an old blender — many blogs online strongly recommend you don't use your expensive kitchen blender for this as it is heavy going and can burn out the motor. Related Post Green wedding favors for your eco-friendly offbeat wedding Choose green wedding favors for your sustainable wedding -- check out five awesome categories of eco-friendly wedding favors. I researched the best seeds to get. I wanted something which was going to be in flower in August (when my wedding is) and was going to be beneficial to the butterflies and bees, native to Britain, and seed well. I ordered my seeds from Naturescape. I got 100g which was the smallest amount and I have sown some for decoration on the day. In terms of quantities, I did approximately 100 sheets of paper and used approximately 40g of seeds and I made 133 seed bombs. Here's what you will need: paper: approx 1 sheet per favour shredder to shred your paper bowl bucket jug warm water native seeds (I used 40g for approx 100 favours) dried native petals: I used tea leaves, coloured tissue, glitter, food colouring (these are all optional) cheesecloth, or muslin, or thin tea towel ice cube trays: semi soft silicone variety worked best a tray or two (to dry favours on) Here's how you make them: I shredded the paper. I saved around 100 A4 sheets and covered the paper in warm water and left it to soak overnight. We took two small handfuls of soaked paper and added warm water until it covered all the shredded paper. Then we whipped it up in the blender. We blended it until it looked like the above. We did batches of paper until we had filled our bucket with pulp. We then blended the petals, and added them to our bucket with the seeds and mixed well. Then we strained the pulp through a tea towel. We put the towel over a washing up bowl to catch the water, which we then use to water the plants. We gathered up the edges of the tea towel, and twisted and squashed to get the water out of the pulp. After squeezing the pulp looked like this. We pressed the pulp into the ice cube trays. As we pressed, a bit more water came out. We carefully pressed the bombs out of their trays and rested them on a board to dry. Hey presto — your seed bomb favours! Guest post written by Hanna I am a nanny and work part time with two little rascals. I love my job and all the challenges it throws up! I am a bit of an eco-chick and into recycing, fair trade, low food milage, free range meat, and meat free Mondays! I am big on creative and love making things (especially with little people). http://tribe.offbeatbride.com/members/smillie0 PREVIOUS The "Tie the Knot Festival" wedding weekend NEXT Vintage snack: A visually impaired bride's best friend Show/Hide comments [ 27 ] Groovy – could you add some class of natural dye (I'm thinking beetroot juice for some reason) to make them colourdy? Reply Hi, I know people do put dye (food colouring, i think) in them but I don't know if natural dyes would work, I guess they stain paper if they get dropped on them but I wouldn't like to say definite yes. If you wanted to get the best result from the dye you would probably want to make them from the highest quality white paper with as little ink as possible but I guess if you want a hint it wouldn't be a big issue about the ink. Onion skins is another natural dye that springs to mind. Hannaxxx Reply Yes, beets,raspberries, really any raw fruit can be boiled down for a dye. Also make some TickleMe Plant Bombs as this plant will close its leaves and lower its branches when tickled. Find the TickleMe Plant seeds on line. Reply Hi I have just used a green cardboard egg box and that looks pretty good. Reply Thank you for the mention of native species! Reply You're welcome. x Reply Definitely, native species are the way to go! Also, I think you don't need so many seeds for your recipe. It will save money to buy less, as well. If you have too many seeds in the seed bombs, the plants choke each other out as they grow. If the seeds are fresh and have a good germination rate, just a few in each bomb will do fine. The petals are a very nice touch. 🙂 Reply Thanks for posting this tutorial! I was literally just looking at seed bombs to buy last night, but I was worried that they would be non-native to my area Reply You're Welcome. I did come across a blog saying that she had decided against seed favours as she had relatives who were going back to different countries so would only be navtive to those attending who were local. Luckily all our guests are local. I am hoping it will help wildlife as well as look pretty. Best of Luck, my advice would be make sure that they are completely dry before storing them as if you don't they will sprout (take this from experince!!). Hannaxxx Reply This is a great idea, and pressing them into ice cube trays to make shapes definitely was a cute addition 🙂 Reply Awesome tutorial – thank you! Will be giving these a go over summer (looks like a child-friendly activity too!) 🙂 Reply How do you plant them? Do you soak them? Do you crumple them up? Do you just stick them in the soil? Reply You plant them whole in the soil, I don't think that you could crumple them if you squash the water out of them properly when you make them. Hannaxxx Reply Thanks! Reply Thank you for all your lovely comments. Hannaxxx Reply Has anyone made these weeks or months in advance of giving them away? Would they fall apart or start sprouting seeds if you made them months in advance? Reply Hi sorry, I have only just seen this!! Yes you can make in advance as long as you dry them thoroughly and I would suggest keeping them in a dark place. We had a few sprout whilst they were drying out but the ones we have left over after the wedding have not sprouted at all. Hannaxxx Reply Hi there, can you tell me what you recommend as flowers you added into the mix for colours/textures? many thanks Kate Reply Hi Sorry have also only just seen this! I basically picked the flowers in my garden and my bosses garden and my mothers garden. Most worked well the more colourful the better the whites and yellows did go a bit brown. I tried to get small flowers like tree blossoms and violets. Hannaxxx Reply Can I ask how much this cost? I'm trying to decide whether to buy seed bombs or make my own. Reply Hi, Had a go at making these this werkend for our wedding in a couple of weeks. Was just wondering how long the take to dry? Thanks Reply Have you had any feedback from those that received the gifts? Did the seeds sprout for them? I ask because I see that these are different from other recipes as there is no compost in them. Reply Hi Kara, I am not in Britain, I'm in Australia, I received a wedding favour seed ball about 2 or 3 years ago, I wasn't sure exactly what to do with it or what it was (maybe a small tag with instructions would be handy? Not necessarily stating what will grow, but just what to do with it) so I just planted the whole thing just how it was. Soon after I got a lovely cluster of seedlings sprouting, which I separated once they looked nicely established. My little mystery seed ball produced a couple of tomato plants and wild roquette, the roquette self propagating very nicely and multiplying and still in abundance in my garden now. The poor tomatoes are another story, but I'm not good with tomatoes! I don't think mine had compost in it, it looked kind of like a bath bomb, very clean and white. I loved it, I would recommend using a couple of hardy vegetable plants, herbs and flowers. A really special, unusual and memorable party favour that has complemented many meals since! Reply Love this! Did you price out pp what they cost to make? Reply Hi, do you know if using a hairdryer on cool to dry them out would have any affect on the seeds? the only reason I ask is I am planning on making these way way way in advance (at least 6 months) as I have a lot of other stuff I need to get done :0) and because you say that drying them thoroughly they should keep for x amount of time xx Reply This is a nice option. I definitely want to do seed bombs as a favor. I like the paper option, must of the recipies I've seen use potter's clay powder mixed with mulch, peat, or loam. I have to do more research as to which would seed better in our region/climate/heavy clay content soil. The paper route makes me think of the artsy craft papers you see at fairs. Its hard to choose. Thanks for all the info. Reply Whats the best way to dry these out? Reply Join the conversation Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Sign me up for your offbeat awesomeness newsletter! No-drama comment policy Part of what makes the Offbeat Empire different is our commitment to civil, constructive commenting. Make sure you're familiar with our no-drama comment policy. Biz owners & wedding bloggers Please just use your real name in your comment, not your business name or blog title. 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Groovy – could you add some class of natural dye (I'm thinking beetroot juice for some reason) to make them colourdy? Reply
Hi, I know people do put dye (food colouring, i think) in them but I don't know if natural dyes would work, I guess they stain paper if they get dropped on them but I wouldn't like to say definite yes. If you wanted to get the best result from the dye you would probably want to make them from the highest quality white paper with as little ink as possible but I guess if you want a hint it wouldn't be a big issue about the ink. Onion skins is another natural dye that springs to mind. Hannaxxx Reply
Yes, beets,raspberries, really any raw fruit can be boiled down for a dye. Also make some TickleMe Plant Bombs as this plant will close its leaves and lower its branches when tickled. Find the TickleMe Plant seeds on line. Reply
Definitely, native species are the way to go! Also, I think you don't need so many seeds for your recipe. It will save money to buy less, as well. If you have too many seeds in the seed bombs, the plants choke each other out as they grow. If the seeds are fresh and have a good germination rate, just a few in each bomb will do fine. The petals are a very nice touch. 🙂 Reply
Thanks for posting this tutorial! I was literally just looking at seed bombs to buy last night, but I was worried that they would be non-native to my area Reply
You're Welcome. I did come across a blog saying that she had decided against seed favours as she had relatives who were going back to different countries so would only be navtive to those attending who were local. Luckily all our guests are local. I am hoping it will help wildlife as well as look pretty. Best of Luck, my advice would be make sure that they are completely dry before storing them as if you don't they will sprout (take this from experince!!). Hannaxxx Reply
This is a great idea, and pressing them into ice cube trays to make shapes definitely was a cute addition 🙂 Reply
Awesome tutorial – thank you! Will be giving these a go over summer (looks like a child-friendly activity too!) 🙂 Reply
How do you plant them? Do you soak them? Do you crumple them up? Do you just stick them in the soil? Reply
You plant them whole in the soil, I don't think that you could crumple them if you squash the water out of them properly when you make them. Hannaxxx Reply
Has anyone made these weeks or months in advance of giving them away? Would they fall apart or start sprouting seeds if you made them months in advance? Reply
Hi sorry, I have only just seen this!! Yes you can make in advance as long as you dry them thoroughly and I would suggest keeping them in a dark place. We had a few sprout whilst they were drying out but the ones we have left over after the wedding have not sprouted at all. Hannaxxx Reply
Hi there, can you tell me what you recommend as flowers you added into the mix for colours/textures? many thanks Kate Reply
Hi Sorry have also only just seen this! I basically picked the flowers in my garden and my bosses garden and my mothers garden. Most worked well the more colourful the better the whites and yellows did go a bit brown. I tried to get small flowers like tree blossoms and violets. Hannaxxx Reply
Hi, Had a go at making these this werkend for our wedding in a couple of weeks. Was just wondering how long the take to dry? Thanks Reply
Have you had any feedback from those that received the gifts? Did the seeds sprout for them? I ask because I see that these are different from other recipes as there is no compost in them. Reply
Hi Kara, I am not in Britain, I'm in Australia, I received a wedding favour seed ball about 2 or 3 years ago, I wasn't sure exactly what to do with it or what it was (maybe a small tag with instructions would be handy? Not necessarily stating what will grow, but just what to do with it) so I just planted the whole thing just how it was. Soon after I got a lovely cluster of seedlings sprouting, which I separated once they looked nicely established. My little mystery seed ball produced a couple of tomato plants and wild roquette, the roquette self propagating very nicely and multiplying and still in abundance in my garden now. The poor tomatoes are another story, but I'm not good with tomatoes! I don't think mine had compost in it, it looked kind of like a bath bomb, very clean and white. I loved it, I would recommend using a couple of hardy vegetable plants, herbs and flowers. A really special, unusual and memorable party favour that has complemented many meals since! Reply
Hi, do you know if using a hairdryer on cool to dry them out would have any affect on the seeds? the only reason I ask is I am planning on making these way way way in advance (at least 6 months) as I have a lot of other stuff I need to get done :0) and because you say that drying them thoroughly they should keep for x amount of time xx Reply
This is a nice option. I definitely want to do seed bombs as a favor. I like the paper option, must of the recipies I've seen use potter's clay powder mixed with mulch, peat, or loam. I have to do more research as to which would seed better in our region/climate/heavy clay content soil. The paper route makes me think of the artsy craft papers you see at fairs. Its hard to choose. Thanks for all the info. Reply