DIY Frustration

I know this isn't much of a post, but I've been trying to get things done lately re: the wedding including making things happen on the many DIY projects I've set for myself.

One of these projects is decorating a display stand for the cupcakes.  With the help of an awesome crafty friend of mine - Nicole - we started the project and, when I tried to continue it myself, I found that I was getting extremely frustrated with it not coming out how I wanted it to, and having difficulty making adjustments.  When I realized that I was getting seriously irritated with the cardboard, glitter, hot glue, and ribbon itself, I decided that I need to step away.  At that point, it wasn't worth the frustration and, in the interest of protecting my sanity, I realized that I need to go back to the drawing board on this one and simply scrap the current plan for a new one.

Thankfully, I - using Nicole's know-how and ideas -came up with something in the same vein and that seemed more manageable given my now-lowered threshold of patience.

Once I get that going, I'll add a post on it, I'm sure.

I think I have learned the lesson now that, when it comes to crafting and DIY, things that get complicated are not my forte; I'm definitely better at things that are simple and virtually fool-proof....I simply do not have the make-up for much more than what I've posted previously.  I mean, I like being creative, but smaller/simpler projects definitely satisfy my crafting hankering and that's enough for me.

DIY: Table Numbers

A simple DIY project that I completed a while ago: making the numbers for the tables.

Materials:

1. (18) 5"x7" wood frames
2. Spool of 1/4" red ribbon
3. Turquoise cardstock
4. Tan cardstock
5. Glue stick
6. Printer

This project is pretty straightforward, so I figure that not too many details are needed.

After giving the frames to Chris to drill the holes in the top parts of the frame for the ribbon to go through, I first made the backing.  

Using a simple floral image, I printed full-size pages of the image onto the turquoise cardstock and trimmed the paper to the needed 5"x7" size.  

Then I used Publisher to create the image on the tan cardstock, selecting a plus-shaped flourish - which I made red in color-and overlaying the numbers in the Captain Howdy font.  The size for these is 4"x6" so that there would be about 1/2" of the blue peeking out as the border.

Cut the pages, and glue them onto the blue - trying my best to center them and only mildly failing towards the end. Once dry, pop the whole deal into the frame.

After that, the harder part: adding the ribbon.  I found that it was easier to do the ribbon if I left the backing of the frame off. It also took a bit of wriggling to get the ribbon through the 1/4" holes and then some adjusting to get the ribbon to tie well enough.

Pretty simple, but it did take a few hours all-told to complete:

I made more than eight, but I was too lazy/demotivated to take them ALL out of the box for the photo.

DIY: Soap for Out of Towners

One part of the out of towner (OOT) bags that was 100% Chris' idea was to hand-make soaps for our guests.

So we did!

To start, we accumulated the following items:

1. Clear vegetable glycerine melt-and-pour soap base
2. Essential oils in various floral scents
3. Coloring
4. Heart mold

Following these directions, we made a couple of dozen soaps.

Then, when they were hardened, we put them in the same (unstamped) glassine bags that we're going to be using for the candy buffet.

After, I made a small tag (2" x 5") that Chris then printed on cardstock and cut.  I folded the bags over and stapled the tags to the front of the bags.

Here are the tags that I made:

The Result:

They turned out to be pretty cute, if I do say so myself!

It doesn't hurt that Chris was very proud of his idea. :)

DIY: Wishes and Advice

This post includes a few separate DIY projects to make my whole Wishes and Advice Card set-up.

Wait.

Maybe I should back up a bit because I don't think I've posted about this before.

Ok.

So.

I decided some time ago that I wanted to do something just a little different for my welcome table, particularly I wanted to find an alternative to the traditional guest book.  I found a few ideas online and ultimately decided to do my own take on the Wish Tree.  

Partly, I liked the idea because a couple of years ago, as part of my Christmas gift for him, I made a jar of inspirational quotes for Christopher.  I found lots and lots of quotes that I thought he would like - with a variety of topics and tones - and put them in a jar (on small pieces of card stock) for him to take on a [semi-]daily basis.  

The gift went over well, so when I stumbled upon the ideas for the wishes and advice trees and such, I mixed in my own flavor by deciding on having a Wishes and Advice jar.

The idea is that our guests will take a blank card and write either a wish or advice for us as we begin our marriage.  I liked this idea instead of a guest book because this is more interactive, creative, and hopefully will lead to a more treasured keepsake than a traditional guest book.

With that in mind, the idea resulted in creating several mini-projects:

(1) the cards themselves

(2) the jar

(3) an explanatory sign

and

(4) pens

Up first: the cards themselves. I created a template in Word, but it can easily be done in Publisher so that fours cards fit on each page (approx 3" x 4").  I found a pretty floral image online (like this one), adjusted the image so that it was a watermark and set it as the background.  Then I decided on the wording (after a few attempts) and added it in.  The result:

I used a beige card stock, printed about 160 (cards not pages), and used my really awesome paper slicer to cut them out and voila! the task is done!  And without any finger cutting.

Second task (and arguably the most fun): the jar itself. I used a mason jar that I'd procured at some point in the past, small paintbrushes, and acrylic crafting paint (and one small piece of ribbon).  I painted the design I wanted, wrapped a bit of gingham ribbon around it and it was done.  I tried not to worry too much about getting the paint perfect since I'm not an artist and it really wouldn't matter anyways.  Result:

Third is the sign: I figured that I should probably explain to my guests what the whole thing was about.  Using a cheap frame, I added a matting page using the same floral print from the cards and printed that on a piece of blue card stock, before adding the explanatory message.  I took a little while to decide on the wording and the fonts to make both clear and as concise as possible:

For the fonts, I used Font Paradise which has a really great program that makes it super easy to actually use the fonts you've downloaded. And yes, it's totes legit and not a virus.

Fourth were the writing implements: take one part ballpoint pens, one part silk flowers, and one part florist tape.  Cut the flowers so that the stem runs along the barrel of the pen; wrap the floral tape around and around until the whole pen is covered.  The backside of the tape will be sticky, but that will go away with time.

The total set-up:

I'm pretty satisfied.  :)