Another quick and easy wedding gift

We've been in our house for just over a year now, and we've gotten a few wedding announcements from people in the neighborhood.  They have been so kind to include us, but since we didn't actually know their children (the bride or groom), we just felt like it would be awkward to show up.  So we haven't gone.  Until last night.  Our backyard neighbor's daughter got married, and since they are our neighbors and my husband has had some interaction with her as he's been serving with the youth in our ward (she was in Young Womens - ages 12 to 18 - just last year), we wanted to go.  (HOWEVER, my daughter spent the day having a series of meltdowns, and by evening I was exhausted and she was still sobbing like the world was ending, so my husband and son went without us!)

That meant coming up with another fabulous personal wedding gift.

I love making wedding gifts.

I was a bit short on time and brain power, so I turned to the Web for inspiration.  And found this darling print on Etsy (this seller has a ton of cute prints if you don't have the skills to make them yourself).

Now, to personalize it more.  I went to their registry, as I always do, to find out what colors they are planning to use in their home.  Then I took a closer look at their invitation, discovered neither one of them go by their full names, and that they had quoted a line from a song on the inside flap.  Bingo!  Perfect text for the background.  So based on all that information, this is what I came up with:

(I used Photoshop Elements to create the image.
Fonts - background: Traveling Typewriter Monogram: Century Names/Date: New Cicle)

Then I painted another garage sale frame with Krylon Indoor/Outdoor spray paint in Peekaboo Blue, and put it together.

Quick tip: to avoid having any dust sandwiched in your frame, after you clean the glass and it has dried, use some dust remover (basically pressurized air in a can) to blow away any dust particles, then quickly put everything together.

Final product:

I hope they love it.  I do!  Think I might have to make one for myself....

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My latest wedding gift

I love to make wedding gifts.  Registries are a wonderful thing, and I certainly appreciated everything we got from ours...but I figure most people will probably shop from the registry and cover the necessities, so I can do something more personal and fun!  :)  A dear family friend got married last weekend, and I was trying to think of a new wedding gift to make (I was tired of my old fall-back ideas).  So, of course, I hopped on Pinterest and saw this, and this, and this:

And then came up with this!

It was pretty simple!  I took an 8X10 frame (courtesy of a garage sale) and a wood letter (courtesy of Michaels),

painted them with Americana Acrylic Paint in Bittersweet Chocolate, then gave them both a couple coats of Krylon Matte Finish spray.  This is for durability, of course, but also to give the acrylic paint a more attractive finish...it kinda looks dull otherwise.

Then I made my own script patterned paper in Photoshop, using the couple's names, wedding date and the saying "Happily Ever After."

Printed it out, and traced around the letter (put it face down on the backside of your patterned paper).

Cut it out, and modge podged it onto the letter.  (I love Modge Podge.)

Speaking of Modge Podge, after ripping off the part of the cardboard backing that makes the frame stand up, I then laid the rectangle onto my burlap, and loosely cut around it.  Then slapped some Modge Podge onto the cardboard, and carefully laid the burlap over it and smoothed it down.  After that, trim the edges off.

I took a strip of fabric, about an inch wide, and tied it around the top of the letter (which you unfortunately cannot do with every letter!),

then looped it over the frame.  This part was a little tricky.  I then put in the burlap covered insert, and pulled the two ends of the fabric until I got the letter positioned just right, then hot glued the edges down on the back of the cardboard, then covered it with another piece of cardboard to keep things neat and tidy.

Then tied a bit of lace around the letter.  I jazzed up a plain green button with some glitter,

and added a little rhinestone in the center, then hot glued that onto the knot in the lace.

THEN, for the final touch, I took my Martha Stewart Sanserif font clear mount stamps, and spelled out "truly, madly, deeply" and "since 2012" and stamped them onto the corners of the burlap, using Stampin' Up! Chocolate Chip ink.

Lastly, I put a quick bit of hot glue on the back of the B and stuck it to the burlap.

All done!  And I think it is great!

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Floating Frame Wedding Gift

My cousin got married just over a week ago, so of course I made a vinyl sign for a wedding gift.  This time I did it a little bit differently though, and used a floating picture frame instead of painted wood.  I mimicked a trendy design I saw the sister of a friend do for their other sister's wedding gift, with the splitting of the last name.  I thought it would be fun for this couple in particular.

Cut the vinyl out with my Cricut Expression, using the Storybook, Opposites Attract and Alphalicious cartridges.

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Life happens....and here's a wedding gift.

So part of the reason I've been moving S-O  S-L-O-W-L-Y with regards to getting my kitchen done is that I still have a life.  I have two small children who need/want their mommy, I have friends and family that I like to see and communicate with, I have my little family whom I want to feed good meals, I have husband who likes to hang out with me, and I've had a few other projects to take care of.
So, on that note, my sister (who lives an interesting travel filled life, currently situated in Alaska) was in town for her best friend's wedding last week.  She asked if I would make one of my wood signs for her friend.  I was more than happy to do it, not only for my sister, but for the bride.  My sister and Julie have been friends since they were in elementary school.  So we sat down together and came up with a design I am very happy with.

A 1X12 pine board cut roughly square, painted with Apple Barrel acrylic craft paint in Kelly Green, clear coat Krylon Low Odor Clear Finish.

White Oracal vinyl cut with my Cricut, using the following cartridges:

A Child's Year

Opposites Attract

Plantin' Schoolbook

Home Accents

(oh, and a note of explanation: in my church, we refer to each other as Brother or Sister -last name here- because we believe we are all God's children and thus siblings in the grand scheme of things. Julie was particularly excited to be Brother and Sister Drake, so that's why we put it on the sign.)

Housewarming Gifts

Well, I'm back for the new year.  Things were crazy crazy crazy for the holidays.  I had so many projects going on!  And, disappointingly, some of them I didn't take pictures of.  Oh well.

But here's something I did snap some pictures of.  We've had some close friends buy their first homes recently, so I made them a little something for a housewarming gift (though I think they would be good wedding presents as well).

Pine boards, cut to the sizes I wanted.  Drilled holes in the hanging plaque.  Then painted them both and applied the vinyl lettering I designed.

I think they turned out cute!  I still can't decide which style I like better!

Wedding gift - Name & Est. plaque

One of my favorites gifts to give friends who are getting married is a wooden plaque with their names and established date...you know, you've seen them, they're very popular.  And easy peasy to make too.  I buy pine boards in long lengths, cut them into the sizes I want (why yes, I am perfectly comfortable wielding a circular saw), and sand them down nice and smooth.

Then I paint them, generally with acrylic craft paint or sometimes with spray paint.  I always check out the couple's registry to choose a color that will go with the linens and towels, etc., that they have picked out.
The couple that is getting married tomorrow registered for brown kitchen towels and bedding, so I chose a nice warm brown color (believe it or not, that IS brown...forgive my once-nice-five-year-old camera).

Next, I design and cut out vinyl on my beloved Cricut Expression (thank you husband and parents).

Then I apply the vinyl, and Ta-Da!  Finished.  And I'm usually always VERY pleased with it!  :)

Here's a couple more I've made in recent years: