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!!





Brad Charm Necklace {Tutorial}

I stumbled upon a fabulous post from Ashley at Lil Blue Boo on her mini brad charms tutorial. It is beyond simple and you can truly make almost ANY type of charm from this idea. Her tutorial is amazing and perfectly detailed, so I'll just give you a brief run down. :)

:Supplies:

Metal brads--any size or shape

Mod Podge Dimensional Magic (or Embossing Powder)

Jump rings

Embellishments

The idea for these charms is very similar to that of my mod podge dimensional magic bracelet but you first have to "make" your charm. To create your charm out of the metal brad, remove the two prongs from the back by wiggling them back and forth until they fall off. To make the hole for the jump ring, simply use a hammer and nail to "poke" through the brad. It's MUCH easier and quicker than it sounds--just give it a few small taps! Trim and smooth any sharp edges with your nearby nail tools. :) You then decorate the inside of your brad--use paper, fabric, stickers, jewels, photos, embellishments...anything! Once it is all glued in and secured, add your jump ring. The next step is when Ashley used embossing powder, but I went with Dimensional Magic since I already had some on hand. It gave me great results! Keep the charms as level as possible when drying. Every now and then give the jump ring a wiggle so that it doesn't dry into the Dimensional Magic.

For my first charm I used a paper sunflower scrapbooking embellishment. I also wanted to do a summery charm, so I cut the word 'tan' from a summer themed scrapbook page and added a sticker jewel for my second. For my third charm I stuck on a glitter-gold sticker with the letter 'a.' I was a little concerned about the paper flower curling or the glitter from the 'a' spreading but they all turned out perfect once they dried! The hummingbird design was cut from a piece of scrapbook paper. This was made from a bezel-set charm that I found at Michaels on clearance forever ago--I finally found the perfect project to pair it with!

As I first applied the Dimensional Magic

The Dimensional Magic will get more clear as it dries

Once they are dry you are all done! Add them to a bracelet or necklace and show her off.

I got lots of compliments the first day wearing her--people are always so impressed (but not surprised) that I made the charms myself!

They really do look store-bought...but little do they know how simple it is to make!

Happy charm making!

Thank you Kelly from Running With Glitter and

Ginger from Support Blog for Moms of Boys for featuring my charms!

Custom Photo Album

I seem to inherit many strange things from people once they find out I craft--anything from old clothes to broken jewelry to...photo albums!! I recently received BOXES of the plastic, small 4x6 photo holders that have the standard (or ugly as I call it) front and back cover. With a little patience I figured out a way to re-vamp the outside to make it personalized. My first one was a gift for my good friend Danielle--an album for her son's first Christmas! 

Between some paper, ribbon, stickers, foam stickers and a cute snowman hole-punch, it ended up being a perfect, simple Christmas album! Danielle loved it too!

 

If you come across any of these in storage, the dollar store or your throw-away pile, think outside the box and get creative! I'm excited to make these for people when they have special events or occasions!

Bachelorette Party Invitations

I had the pleasure of working on the bachelorette party invitations for a fabulous lady from my previous job. We are planning an AWESOME full day of nothing but girl time. It's going to be a blast! Brainstorming on the cheapest route to make 25 invitations was pretty difficult--especially because the bride-to-be is such a fun and personable girl that I knew the invites couldn't be just plain old printed invites. Being on a budget didn't allow for much customization and flair either! But, with a little bit of card stock, Mod Podge Sparkle, Mod Podge Paper, and curling ribbon, this is what I came up with! :)

Such a simple but fun design. 

Using the various fonts made the card have a little bit more flair as well.

The colors for the party are purple, silver, white and black. I printed the text on white paper and Mod Podged it to the purple card stock. I then went over the wording with Mod Podge Sparkle. This is my new FAVORITE thing of all time! It adds just the right amount of bling to your project, which is PERFECT for the bride-to-be since she loves anything that sparkles! 

 (Sorry, the bling is really hard to catch on camera--and no the paper corners aren't coming off, 

that's just a bad angle with the sparkle and lighting!)

After folding in the corners, I used the prettiest curling ribbon and tied bows to secure the invites. 

Here they are!! Well, SOME of them anyway. There were 25 in total. While printing invitations would have been the EASIER (& possibly cheaper) route to go, this was still VERY cheap seeing as how I already owned the Mod Podge Paper  and white printer paper (all I had to purchase was the Mod Podge Sparkle and purple card stock--which was on sale 40% off!) All in all, I received many compliments on the invitations. I hope the bride-to-be loves them and we have a fabulous time celebrating before her big day!! :)

Happy Birthday to Mom Wells & Christina!

Today holds the birthday to two very special people! Larry's mother, April Wells and one of my best friends, Christina McElheney. 

I've known Larry's mom for over 8 years now. We have grown so close over the years...so close that when we are out together people think we are mother & daughter :) She is an incredible mother and wife and I love her very much!

I've know Christina for almost 6 years now (who's counting? haha)...We've stayed good friends throughout all of our up's and down's...and believe me, we've had many over the years! She is a good friend & I love her! 

Hope you both have a great birthday!!

**Update!!**

Here are photos of Jamie & I's secret project :) ...Mom Wells' birthday gift! We hand painted each of our names, as well as "Sun Kissed Beauty" onto pink metal beach buckets with Sharpie paint markers. We added some ribbon, glued on some crystals...and voila! It turned out super cute! We stuffed them with lei's and plastic shovels (for finding and collecting shells at the beach of course!) and filled her bucket with lots of girlie goodies...a candle, air freshener, body spray, loofa, soap, etc. We go on vacation to Longboat Key every year and never have anywhere to collect our shells other than plastic zip-locs!...This year we will be prepared :) We were so excited to give it all to her, and she LOVED it! 

 

I also made a tag and card with the help of my Cricut! :)