Handmade Wedding Gift {DIY}

Two of our very good friends got married this past weekend and I wanted to make something special for them--something handmade and personal. They're the same friends who Larry and I made this 'nap time door sign' for and I knew they would appreciate something handmade. I toyed around with a few different ideas; some of which I will probably do for Christmas, but ultimately decided upon a hand-painted canvas with a print of their wedding vows. A few days before the wedding, I barely got my hands on the entire script to their wedding ceremony (thanks to the bride's sister and wedding planner) which created a dilemma as to what part of the ceremony I would use. Larry and I ultimately decided on the 'blessing' script in place of using their vows. It describes a marriage beautifully and it's as if we are extending that blessing to them onward from past their ceremony and wedding day.

It was a tedious process, there were lots of changes and I encountered a few bumps in creating her along the way, but ultimately it turned out beautifully! 

 

I started off sketching free-hand a simple damask print on the left side of the canvas. My original idea was to include their last name as well on the canvas but the blessing script we chose to use was a little larger than their vows so we didn't have enough room.

Multiple layers of paint when onto this canvas--at least two of the lighter gold for the damask print and two of the antique gold for the canvas surface. It took much time and patience, but it was worth the labor!

 

I printed the blessing script onto cardstock, adhered it to a specialty glitter paper and off-centered it to the damask print. I added two beautiful butterflies--something that is very meaningful and symbolic to the bride.

In addition to their canvas and a gift off their registry, I created two 'Newlyweds Night Out' Babysitting Passes. They have an adorable {almost} 2-year old and Larry and I thought they would like a few nights to themselves as newlyweds! :)

Their wedding took place in Pembroke Pines (right near Ft. Lauderdale, FL) at the Capriccio Ristorante-- it was such a beautiful venue, so intimate and ornate and everyone had such a great time!



Larry and I with the newlyweds!



They are SUCH a sweet couple

 

Wyatt was SUCH a trooper and seemed to be having a blast at the wedding;
dancing with the girls and blowing kisses to everyone!



Ashton made such a cute and beautiful bride!

Randy was definitely a fun groom!

We wish all three of their family the best of everything for their future and hope they love their gifts!

We can't wait for them to return from their honeymoon in Jamaica!!





"Nap Time" Door Sign

New Dremel tool for Larry=one more craft for us to take on together! :)

Larry received a Dremel tool from his parents for Christmas and I think I was just as excited about it as he was! Our first project was for our neighbor. They asked me to make a "Baby Sleeping" type sign to put on their front door for when their 1 year old was napping in hopes to keep from solicitors, etc. from disturbing the little one. Unfortunately this project had been put off for a few months with all of my Christmas and birthday gifts I had to make, but with this new tool, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to put it to use!

First step--draw on the design. I free-hand drew in pencil the words "Ssshhh...Quiet Please It's nap time" with the picture of a little crib and Zzz's below it on a piece of wood. Unfortunately during the first go around, there was a blow-out in the wood when Larry was cutting away (meaning there was a hole INSIDE the wood that "opened up" when he cut over it) causing a gap in one of the letters so we had to start a second sign. That go around, we took out the words "It's nap time" seeing as how we thought the crib was a good enough representation of the idea! :)

 

Larry cutting away and concentrating!! It took a good 20-30 minutes for him to finish--you can only go so fast when cutting AND it was his first real go-around with the tool. :) 

 

 

 I personally LOVE how it turned out when he was finished--"natural" and so pretty and I really wanted to leave it the way it was! We came to the conclusion that it would be better to add something to the letters so that it would be easier to read once it was hung. Unfortunately we didn't have any wood stain or a wood burning kit (yet!) so we decided to add some paint to the design.

He picked out the colors and I filled in the gaps! :) 

He then added two holes once the paint dried and I tied in some ribbon!

 Here is the final product hanging on our neighboors door for when they get home from Christmas vacation. Isn't it SO adorable?! :)

They were SO excited about their surprise when they got home!

Larry and I are both beyond happy that they loved their gift!!

Hope the sign helps the precious 1-year old get some beauty sleep! :)

Craft Storage

Once again, my boyfriend amazes me! He made this wonderful storage wall shelf from scratch! It started off with me just wanting an organizer for my ribbons that have been piling up, but he quickly turned it into a whole storage unit. In the end it turned out beautifully!

First, he made the frame!

Next, he added the back and dowel rods...then he hand-sanded facing giving it a rounded edge. He sanded this sucker SMOOTH!

Time for paint!! That's my job :) & yes I did this inside--painting outside in FL in 100+ degrees is not fun!

Give a night to dry...hang it on the wall and it's done!! SO beautiful!

My three dowel rods for all my ribbon

Two extra shelves hold my collection of glues/adhesives and basket for scrap ribbon!

I needed a smaller storage container to hold my hot glue sticks, super glue, etc. That cute jar on the right side of the shelf is what I thought of...and it only took about 10 minutes to make!

All you need is an empty glass jar with a lid (I used the peanut butter/jelly combo stuff that Larry loves!) some scrap fabric, ribbon, a rubber band and glue! 

Cut out a circle from your scrap fabric a few inches larger than your lid. I used a different larger circular lid to trace and cut out the shape. 

(You can see the size difference from the original lid)

Center and glue your fabric to the top of the lid. I used Aleene's brush-on tacky glue--my fave!

After drying, wrap a rubber band around the fabric to form and hold the "ruffles." 

Glue your ribbon around the lid, covering the rubber band...I used Aleene's Fabric Glue and a thin 1/8" ribbon for this. I ended up wrapping and gluing my ribbon twice around the entire lid for a little more thickness...

After it dried I added a tied bow with the same ribbon for a little extra detail :)

There ya go...a simple, cute craft container! The possibilities are endless with this...think mod podge and paper, different ribbon and any type of embellishments! I can't wait to make more!

Save those glass jars...GO GREEN! :) 

PEACE & Love

After much trial and error, I finished my hipster purse! I started off planning to use a Simplicity pattern, but after cutting out the pattern pieces, I soon realized I definitely wanted something different. All in all I ended up using two rectangles, a smaller one for the front pocket and two longer rectangular strips for the straps and sides/bottom. I encased batting between the peace sign fabric and pink lining for sturdiness as well as in the strap. I made my own pink bias tape out of the lining and used it as an accent for the front pocket and top. I added a zipper to the main opening and a rhinestone peace sign iron-on to the lower front corner. I originally made the purse to take to theme parks, shopping, etc. but am finding that I use it way more often than that!

After cutting, shaping, pinning and more cutting, I was finally happy with this simple design!...I also found out with this project that I'd LOVE to own a bias making machine!...maybe one day! :) 

The other newest peace sign in my life is from Larry! He is learning more and more in the carpentry world and he surprised me one day after work with this awesome gift!!

It's a peace sign picture frame that he made all by himself :) 

I added some paint...

...and bling!

I LOVE it and I love you babe! Thank you so much!

Garden of Anngela

Happy Belated 4th of July!! Our holiday weekend was unfortunately taken over by rain and clouds...so no exciting beach trips or lazy pool days, but we did still have some fun times with good friends :) One of the most exciting things was finally seeing Eclipse--I went with Jamie last night and it was awesome!! I am truly a Twilight/Jacob addict :) I love the books and seeing them come to life in the movies is always exciting!!
I also managed to slip in one DIY project the past two days...I have decided to try something VERY new to my world! Gardening :) Rather I should say...potted flowers. One kind for now inparticular...sunflowers!! A good friend from work Vanessa, picked up some sunflower, daisy and strawberry seeds and started a mini garden herself. After seeing the success she was having I was very excited for her! She gave me some of her extra sunflower seeds and I was anxious to get them growing. I made a trip to Wally World yesterday for a cheap planter and some Miracle Grow--because I'm pretty sure a miracle is what I'll need for them to grow! I have NEVER planted flowers or tried to grow anything on my own anytime recently...so this should be interesting and hopefully just as successful as Vanessa! 

But of course, I had to turn it into a project :)

This was the planter before I got my hands on it... 

I broke out my acrylic paints and brushes...

I started off by freehand drawing some simple flowers with a pencil. I then went over it with my paint in array of bright colors. I finally added some green dots and stripes for extra pizzazz...

I think it turned out super fun! 

Here is one side of the planter. 

The other. 

Hopefully I will see some pretty sunflowers in my future...if not, I will stick with just decorating the planters ;) Wish me luck!