Bridal Shower Table Decor

Like I mentioned in my last post, I had the opportunity to create decorations for my soon to be sister in law's bridal shower a couple weeks ago. Today I'll be sharing with you some of my table decor for the shower.

Blue Mason jars are super popular right now and for good reason. They are super cool! And, they are incredibly versatile. For the table decor I used them as vases to hold painted corkscrew (or curly) willow tree branches.

The bride's color choices are dark teal and lime green. To bring in the green I purchased some spring branches from the Hobby Lobby floral department and also used a couple of green vases for the bride's table.

I began with these jars....

....and these curly willow tree branches.

(I picked mine up off the ground at a local park.)

Then, I painted all of the branches using some left over white paint.

Once the branches were painted I bunched them together and tied them with jute before placing them in the jars. I didn't like the way the branches were leaning to one side or another, so I filled the bottoms with glass rocks to stabalize the branches.

Paired with a lime green photo cube.

Perfect.

I received lots of positive feedback at the shower with how the jars turned out, but I really wish I'd had more jars to use! I've been slowly collecting them over a couple of years and the prices are only going up thanks to their recent rise in popularity. I paid anywhere from $4 to $12 for the jars. I would consider anything in the $5-$7 range a fair price depending on size and whether it has its lid or not. However, I may have to soon adjust that number because at most antique stores I see them at they begin at $8 for the smaller jars and go up from there. I've found that estate sales are the cheapest places to find them, but they don't usually last long before someone's snatched them up.

So, what do you say? Have you done anything cool with blue Mason jars recently? I'd love to see your projects if you have!

I'll be linking up to these great parties this week. Go check 'em out!

Significant Dates Frame

Whew! It's been a whirlwind two weeks. Last weekend I helped host a bridal shower for my soon to be sister in law and then Monday I returned to my teaching job. There have been some extra challenges in getting my room in order this year due to construction in our building, so it's meant extra long hours for me this week and little posting. :-(

The good news is my room is pretty well back in order and I think I'll have the time to begin posting weekly again (maybe even twice a week!).

While perusing Pinterest a while back I came across a framed page of dates. Guessing based on the order of dates and proximity of years I think it was a list of birthdays for the family. I loved the idea and tweaked it a little to create a fun gift for my brother and soon to be sister in law. I also used the framed page of dates as decoration at her bridal shower. I'll be sharing lots of her decorations here in later posts.

Here's a shot of the final project.

It probably doesn't need step by step instructions but I'm-a-gonna give 'em to ya anyway! :-)

Supplies:
8 1/2 by 11" Raw wood frame (bought mine at the Dollar Tree---where's everything's a $1!)
Acrylic paint
Glaze or antiquing medium
scrapbook paper
color printer
Microsoft Word (or something similar with text tools)
sand paper (optional)

Step 1:

Paint...

the...

frame in a color of your choosing.

Step 2:

Mix a top coat color with your antiquing medium.

Or, just use a glaze.

Paint the frame again.

Somehow I didn't get a picture of the frame after this step...

Step 3:

Open a new Word document (or any software with text options). Word was easy to use because it centers the lines perfectly for an 8 1/2 by 11" paper. For the dates I used their birthdates, first date, engaged date, and wedding date. I typed them up in a fun font and used colors that coordinated with the decor of their living room. Then I printed the letters on a cream colored 8 1/2 by 11" piece of cardstock.

Step 4:

Frame and enjoy!

Like most craft projects this one is totally customizable and it's definitely got a personal touch! And as an added benefit, very inexpensive to make. Hope you find some inspiration from it!

I'll be linking up to these parties this week! Be sure and check 'em out.

And this link party which requires a direct link.

A Mailbox Makeover

This week's project isn't my typical craft project. My brother brought this one to me.

He works for a farm in my home community and decided the mailbox was in dire need of a makeover. He heard that I recently purchased a Silhouette and enlisted my assistance to get 'er done.

First he sandblasted the mailbox (I have no idea what this entails..it's just what he told me before he brought the mailbox to my house and dumped sandblasted dust all over my floor...I recommend cleaning out the dust before bringing it inside to work on ;-D).

Second he coated the box in John Deere Green and the lid in John Deere yellow. They actually sell licensed John Deere green and yellow at hardware stores. Who knew?! Not me, obviously.

Then he showed me a few graphics on the Internet he wanted to use on the mailbox for stenciling. I took the graphics and convered them to Silhouette shapes and after several rounds of using the lightest paper on the stickiest mat, I finally switched to a poster board material and was able to make some solid stencils without ripping it upon pulling off the Silhouette mat.

Tip for converting graphics to Silhouette shapes....the graphics with the simplest lines and fewest colors are easiest to convert.

We used a stencil adhesive on each of the stencils to adhere them to the mailbox and then taped around them to limit overspray.



It looked super sharp and those numbers are the house numbers. Don't they look just like a tractor serial number would? I thought it turned out awesome.

And, here's a few pics of the final product on its post at the farm.

The owners were stoked to have it and it was fun to make!

Linking up to these parties this week!