DIY Wedding Seating Chart

My mom, dad, sister, and I helped make the seating chart at our wedding.  All of my family was onboard at this point in the wedding planning because it was getting to be crunch time.  

Here is how we made it:

- I started by taking a very large frame and painted it white.  

- Then I sanded it down to look distressed just like I did for the chalkboard menu frame. 

- My dad cut a large piece of cork board to fit inside the frame. 

 - Then I sprayed an even thin layer of Aleene's Fast Grab Tacky Spray onto the surface of the cork board and gently spread some linen fabric over the front of the cork board being careful not to leave any air bubbles beneath the fabric.

- My sister printed out the title and guests names with a fancy font she found onto some nice card stock paper.  We organized everyone by last name on our seating chart.  I thought it would easier for everyone to find their name this way.  

- My mom found some decorative pins at a hardware store and used them to pin the guests names on the chart.  

- The wooden heart was left over from the table numbers I made so I added a little personal touch by writing onto it with a brown paint pen, "Find Your Table" and stuck it onto the board with the pins.  

  

Bridesmaid and Groomsmen Gift Ideas

When Jon and I were researching bridesmaid and groomsmen gifts we had a hard time coming up with something unique and meaningful to give to each member of our wedding party.  We wanted the gifts to be something special and something that they would use after the wedding too.  After looking around quite a bit, here is what we came up with.

I gave each of my bridesmaids a turquoise cotton stretchy dress.  I bought them for my bridesmaids to get ready in the day of the wedding since they were comfortable, they slip on and off easily so it wouldn't ruin makeup and hair, they were the same color as our wedding, and they could be worn again.  I bought myself a white one to wear (since I was the bride and the bride always wears white :).  I also gave them their turquoise beaded necklaces they wore in the wedding and the flower hair clips I made for them to wear in the wedding.  

Here is a picture of the girls all in their dresses as we were getting ready.  The dresses were from Target.  :)

Photo credit: Mark Janzen Photography

Jon gave each of his groomsmen a branding iron and a pair of branded grilling gloves.  Each branding iron was unique because each one had the first initial of each guys last name.  The initial was also branded on the grilling gloves that came with it.  I think it is safe to say that the guys loved their gift!  I mean, what is more manly than grilling a piece of meat?  ;)  Now they get to personalize each piece of steak they grill with their last name initial.  

If you are interested here is a link to the website that we bought them from.  It was perfect because it was a specific package just for groomsmen.  http://www.barbecuebrandingirons.com/pkg_brand_gloves.htm 

If you are interested we also got gifts for our ring bearers, flower girl and guestbook attendant.  For our ring bearers, we gave them each a baseball bat that had their name, the title "Ring Bearer", and our wedding date engraved on it.  I'm pretty sure they love this gift since they are both really into sports.    

Here is a link to the baseball bats:  http://www.PersonalizationMall.com/Personalized-Wedding-Party-Baseball-Bat-i21484.item?productid=6183&sdest=Search&sdestid=17040928

For our flower girl and guestbook attendant we got them each a pretty bracelet with a heart-shaped charm on it with the first initial of their first name.  They looked sort of like these.  

We got the bracelets from an engraving store in our mall called Things Remembered.  Here is a link to the online store.  http://www.thingsremembered.com/

From Wedding Decor to Home Decor

When purchasing items for our wedding I always made sure it would be something I would want to use later for decoration in our house.  Here are some pictures of items that have been taken from wedding decor to home decor.  

Birds and birdcage at our wedding

Birds and birdcage in our home (on our mantle) 

Mason jars and card box (lantern) at our wedding

Mason jars and card box (lantern) in our home

Antique bottles at our wedding

Antique bottles in our home

How to Make a Chalkboard Menu

I made a chalkboard menu to display at our wedding so guests could see what they were having for dinner.  Here is how I made it!  :)

First I took an old frame and painted it white.  

Then I roughed it up with sandpaper to make it look weathered.  

Then I sprayed it with some Aleene's Spray Acrylic Sealer so that the frame would be protected.  

After that I took a smooth piece of wood (had my dad cut it down to the right size so that it would fit in the frame) and sprayed it with some Krylon Chalkboard Paint.  

Once it was dry we placed in the frame and wrote down the menu with some white chalk.  There you have it!  

DIY Fabric Flower Hair Clips

Today I want to share with you the fabric flower hair clips my sister and I made for my bridesmaids and flower girl to wear at our wedding.  They were really easy to make.  No sewing involved!  We just took several different turquoise patterned fabrics and some ivory tulle and started making them.  Each one was a little unique from the next because we mixed up the fabrics.  If you are interested in making them yourself you can find a great tutorial at Little Miss Momma.  Instead of making the girls headbands to wear, I made hair clips.  I bought some alligator clips and glued one side of the clip in between two pieces of felt.  I think they looked great in the girls hair; it added that extra pop of turquoise color I wanted!  

 Photo credit: Mark Janzen Photography

Our Antique Kitchen Hutch

A little while back Jon and I bought an antique kitchen hutch off Craigslist!  We have an empty space in our kitchen dining area and think it would perfect there.  Of course it will look a lot better with some paint and no more yellow wallpaper on the inside.  Yikes!  I plan on painting it a barn red color and then making it look a little distressed, but my ideas may change.  I am looking forward to working on this once Fall weather rolls around.  I would prefer not to be painting in my garage in triple digit weather!  Anyway, here is a pic of the hutch exactly how we bought it.  I think it has a lot of character.  The man we bought it from said it probably dates back from the 20's or 30's.  Wow!  I will show you how it turns out once I'm done with it.