A Special DIY Wedding Gift

Before Ashley's wedding, I decided that I wanted to give her  and Brent something unique and special. I actually thought this months before the wedding but was at a lost of what I could do. Then, I saw some inspiration on my newly married friend Alicia's Facebook page (p.s. Alicia has a blog you should check out!).

I loved this and after several questions to Alicia about it and how it was made, I figured perhaps I could do something like this.

I had a great vision in my head, but I wasn't quite sure I could pull it off. I decided I'd start with a canvas and use paint and my Cricut to create a gift. Now, some of you are probably asking, "What is a Cricut?" If you aren't aware, a Cricut lets you cut out die cuts. It is perfect for DIY projects. I got one for Christmas a few years back and have mostly used it for scrapbooking, but not to its fullest potential, but I have a feeling that might be changing!

So, I decided to use a two-tone approach to my creation for the then-future Mr. and Mrs. Byrd. Since Ashley's wedding colors were gray and yellow and she will be using the same colors in her house, I decided to use those colors for the canvas. 

I started by cutting out all my letters on my Cricut. This took a little longer than expected because I had to play with the sizes and fonts I wanted to use. I used some scrap paper to get it exactly how I wanted.

Once done, I cut all the characters out on contact paper. I had read online some bloggers had used vinyl, but considering the expense of vinyl, I thought I'd give it a try with the contact paper. 

Once everything was cut out, I placed the "EST 2011" on the canvas first and then painted the entire thing yellow. If you have ever worked with contact paper, you know that it sticks to everything -- everything, that is, except canvas. It really was not sticking well, so I took the wooden end of a paint brush (because it was nearby) and went over the letters to ensure they would stay down.

I was really nervous at this point because I had no idea whether this first step had worked, but I knew there was no turning back. I really wanted the end result to look professional and NOT homemade, so that made my fears even bigger. I decided the worst case scenario would include me redoing the entire project

But, I moved onto the next step, which was to place all the other characters on the canvas. I also placed some painters tape on the sides, so that they would stay yellow. 

Once done, I gave everything a coat of gray paint. After leaving the canvas to dry overnight, I carefully peeled off all the contact paper. I used a pair of pointed-tip tweezers to help get them up. Ironically, even though they didn't want to stick to the canvas, once painted, they were on pretty well!

To my surprise, after everything was off, it actually looked pretty good, but not perfect.

If you look real close, you can see that the colors bled through around the edges.

But, I decided I could fix this. So, I bought a teeny, tiny paint brush and started making touch-ups by hand. 

It took a little longer than expected, partly because once I started, I became a little obsessive with making it perfect. I think it was well worth it, though, because I was very pleased with the end product!

I gave it to Ashley the night before her wedding and was thrilled to see that she loved it! 

I have bought some additional canvases to make some art for our home. I have a feeling this might be a popular new gift for weddings and baby showers!

What do you think?

My Best Friend's Wedding

The reason I haven't blogged in over a week is because I took a week-long trip to Nashville last week for my childhood friend, Ashley's, wedding.

Ashley Newton and Brent Byrd

Ashley and I have known each other since kindergarten. Her family is my "second" family and is very special to me. She was maid of honor in my wedding six years ago, so it was a privileged for me to be a part of her wedding and help in a small way with all the prep work. You might remember back in January when Ashley invited me to be a bridesmaid. She and her mom, Leslie, are two of the most creative people I know and Ashley's wedding definitely showed that.

Ashley had so many creative elements of her wedding, from the milk and cookie bar to the favors. She  and Leslie had been working for months on various DIY projects so when I got into town, I joined them and Ashley's two college roommates, Chelsea and Allie, in helping out with the final touches.

We spent all day on Thursday putting together the flowers and bouquets. Her mom's living room looked just like a florist when we brought in more than four buckets of flowers!

We had to take off all the leaves and make 16 boutonnieres, eight bouquets and four corsages. It was a group effort, though we discovered Ashley definitely has the best eye for flower arrangements, so much so that she made her own bouquet.

We also had a few other things to do, including making heart birdseed feeders, which Ashley gave away as favors.

Stamping bags for the children's appetizers.

Creating burlap and fabric pennants.

And covering stools with burlap (which Ashley let me do ... it was good practice for my upcoming dining room chair project).

And that was only a few of the projects Ashley and Leslie had already done, including making dozens of chocolate cookies, stamping bags for their guitar pick favors and wrapping hundreds of silverware. Whew. I still don't know how they had managed to do all this! In the end, the efforts were not in vain because they made for a beautiful wedding!

Ashley and Brent got married at Front Porch Farms in Charlotte, TN. It's a beautiful house on top of a hill, which the owners, Kathy and Brian, built themselves. (I'll tell you more about that tomorrow.) It was a perfect wedding venue and Saturday, April 2, was a perfect day. Here are a few of my favorite pics from the the big event.

I'm so happy for Mr. and Mrs. Byrd! I pray they have a long and happy marriage together! Congratulations!

Design on a Dime

I love finding a deal, but I am also always drawn to things that are above my budget. The other day was no exception.

One of my favorite stores opened right down the road from my office.

So, of course, I took a trip on my lunch break to browse around. I had barely walked through the door when I saw a couch that I fell in love with.

I sat on it and made sure it passed the "comfort" test and THEN I looked at the price (which is what I should have done first) and discovered it had a pretty price of $1,600. So, I sadly walked away trying to forget about it.

I perused the rest of the store and also saw these really cute hanging vases.

But, I walked away with only one purchase ... a replacement pepper grinder (because we broke our other one).

Fast forward a few days to my IKEA trip I told you about last week. I didn't have any intention to look at furniture, but since I had to walk through that section to get to the next, I let my eye wander. And then I saw this ...

It was almost just like the Crate & Barrel version except that it was leather and half the price! Also, the headrests in the above photo are optional (and not an option I would choose). So, this is officially on my "wish list," which seems to be growing larger every time I go to IKEA! But, in all seriousness, I think I've told you all about my Rooms To Go couch that is falling apart, so this may have to replace it soon.

I also found these at IKEA.

They aren't quite as unique as the hanging vases, but they were also more than half the price at only $5.99 a piece! In addition, you'll see they are sitting on my new yellow tables. Having these blue vases is really what sold me on the yellow tables. The colors are great together.

I'm planning on filling them with sand and shells and hanging them on the wall in the sunroom. I think they will give it that great beachy feel for which I'm hoping.

Annuals

Saturday just happened to be a gorgeous day in Texas! It was a little over 80 degrees and sunny. So, Landon and I took the opportunity to clean out the weeds from our flowerbeds to get them ready for new plants.

I'm very thankful that the owners before us put in amazing landscaping and even more grateful that many of the plants were annuals, which came back. So, we really don't have too much to do this year except for a little trimming here and there and adding a few additional plants.

So, we got rid of that plant beside the pool, which was clearly dead, and cleaned out the area around the banana plants so they could come back through.

And, I took a look at the rose bushes and discovered this beautiful rose already blooming, which made me so excited about the rest to come through!

They are going to look amazing in a vase!

We haven't decided what will replace the "dead" plants, but will be working on that in April. If you have any suggestions, I'm open!

"Last Chance" Purchase

I went to IKEA the other day for one simple purchase and walked away with so much more. I always get myself in trouble when I go there, especially when I'm by myself! Okay, I didn't go too crazy, just a few decorative things here and there. 

One of my most exciting purchases were discovered as I was walking out. I saw these marked as a "Last Chance" purchase for only $4.99, and I just couldn't resist!

I normally wouldn't go for yellow tables, but I thought they gave the perfect sunny feel for the sunroom. Plus, did I mention they were only $4.99? How could you resist!