DIY Table Chart

Materials- Corkboard, paint (optional), business card sheets, pushpins, a printer or pen, stickers (optional)

I used an unused old cork board that was laying around my house. I then painted the ugly frame of the cork board a bright white to make it look new. I printed the names of all the guests on the front of the business cards using a computer printer and then placed a sticker of their table number on the back. Then I attached each business card to the board with decorative push pins found at Michael's. And I attached some short directions in the center top of the board "Please find your name and look at the back." I displayed the board on a black decorative table easel  with candles, roses and a picture of the two of us. It turned out beautiful! 

diy wedding tree guestbook

A personalized wedding tree "guest book" is a wonderful way for your guests to have some fun. Unlike many guest books that just sit in a closet collecting dust, my husband and I have our "guest book" hanging on the wall so that we can enjoy looking at it everyday. 

I bought a picture frame from JoAnn's and a cardboard piece of canvas. I had to cut the canvas down to make sure it would fit in the opening. I decided to put a canvas inside the picture frame because I knew it would be much sturdier than just using the cardboard backing that comes with the frame. After the paint dried, I drew out the tree with a pencil and then went over it with a fine point Sharpie. Last, I wrote "Our Wedding Tree" and our wedding date "5.14.11" on the bottom using a Sharpie.

I bought 3 different ink pads from Michael's so that there would be a variety of leaf colors. I made sure to have baby wipes for the guests to clean their thumbs after making a print. After they left their thumb print, they waited a few seconds for the ink to dry and then wrote their name either on the leaf print or beside the print. 

I made a chalkboard sign to include on the table for directions. ""Leaf" a thumbprint and sign your name"

After the wedding, I put the glass that came in the picture frame back in the frame to protect the tree. 

diy newspaper canvas art

This is an extremely easy way to display a favorite quote on the wall.

All you need is a canvas, newspaper, Elmers glue, paint brushes, and some paint.

Take the newspaper and tear into small pieces (as small or as big as you would like). Then take your glue and a paintbrush and brush the glue on the pieces of newspaper and attach to canvas. This will be messy. Allow the newspaper to dry and then lightly brush a coat of glue over the whole newspaper covered canvas (this will create a glaze over the canvas and assure that none of the newspaper will come up). After the canvas fully dries, paint your favorite quote or any other idea you have!

diy creative reception send-off

I've always loved the idea of guests lining a pathway with sparklers to send the couple off, it's such a fairy-tale ending to the wedding reception. My dreams were "crushed" when I found out that my reception venue would not allow sparklers. So my creative mind had to think of something. I didn't want to do birdseed or the ever popular bubbles, so I came up with something unique. Since my husband is in the Air Force, what better way to send us off "on our journey as a couple" but to throw paper airplanes? So I sat down with my mom and a friend and folded 80 paper airplanes out of red card stock and wrote USAF on a wing of each plane. Since I used card stock (I couldn't find red in regular paper) I had to put a folded piece of tape in the inside of each plane to keep them from un-folding.

NOTE: Make sure that you fold a paper airplane with a blunt end. You don't want to be pegged with 80 sharp airplane points. 

diy picture display

I found this idea on one of my favorite wedding websites, Style Me Pretty. This is a super cute extremely easy way of displaying pictures of you and your fiance and add some personal touches to the reception.

All you need is string, pictures, clothespins, any printed out letters (I decided to say "Love Birds" and printed out some clip art pictures of birds to hang), and a place to hang the string. Finding a place to hang the pictures and string was probably the most difficult part of this project.

diy wedding centerpieces

An amazing family friend very graciously offered to do our reception centerpieces as a wedding gift. After experimenting multiple times with different fruits, berries and leafy things, this is her GORGEOUS final product...

diy wedding favors

I had an extremely hard time finding affordable wedding favors for 120 guests. I thought it was pointless to spend much on wedding favors (since most wedding favors get thrown away or people don't even pick a favor up). So like many other wedding aspects, I decided to do it myself and get creative!

Andrew's nickname for me is Jellybean so we decided it would be special if we gave Jellybeans as favors. Since we got married after Easter we were able to buy Jellybeans at discount prices at grocery stores. I bought white cardboard boxes at Michael's for less than $20, bought 2 roles of aqua ribbon for $3, and ordered stickers from Vistaprint with a Vistaprint credit I had. I enrolled some family and friends to help me put everything together. The final product turned out super cute and less than $1 each. 

the beginning.

I am new at blogging so I don't really know the "rules" of blogging but I guess I have to start somewhere. First off... I'm going to go ahead and apologize for any spelling or grammar errors (please look past them). To say the least, English classes were not my cup of tea.

I suppose I should start with a brief introduction of myself....

I have always had a passion for art and being creative. I took every art class I could from an infant through high school. Then I went off to college and decided to get a degree in "something that would make money." I suppose I knew that I could always fall back on my artistic abilities if I didn't pursue a job in my degree (marketing). So throughout college, I focused on finishing my marketing degree and having fun with friends and couldn't find the time to do art.

But NOW.... I got married in May to an amazing guy and my best friend. My husband Andrew is an officer in the Air Force and will be going to flight school to become a pilot in a few months. Currently, we have 62 days til he goes active duty. SO we are sitting around, enjoying the last few months of freedom and to say the least I have lots of free time which means I get to be creative again. By being in the military I get to share my creativity with others and travel around with my art. And what's the best way to communicate, stay in touch and share creativity with others (other than FB, of course) but to have a blog!