I'm Moving!

Hello Everyone! I have decided to create a new blog.

The blog is called Melanie Gets Married, but don't let that fool you. I will be discussing wedding planning, buying my first house, going back to school, and trying to get into shape. I will also be touching on other aspects of my life that I think may be of interest, including DIY projects, and may even include a few yummy recipes as I try them out for myself. 

I will no longer be active on this blog, but may keep it active for a little while.

So please! Come check out my new and improved blog: www.melaniegetsmarried.blogspot.com

Wood Blocks Tutorial- Easter Edition

Due to the popularity of my wood blocks for Valentine's and St. Patty's Day, I decided to make a step by step tutorial, with pictures, for how I make my wood block letters. If you have a cricut this project will be easier, but since I don't have one, I have come up with another way to make them.

In order to make this, you will need:
-1: 2x4 piece of wood
-scrapbook paper
-mod podge
-scissors
-spray paint
-printer
-ribbon
-hot glue

1. Cutting: The first step is to cut your 2x4 into 6 pieces. I like mine to have varying heights, so I cut 3-6inch pieces, 2-7inch pieces, and an 8 inch piece.

2. Painting: The next step is to spray paint the wood to give it a cleaner look. If you like the look of the wood, you could skip this part, or choose to use a light coat of paint.

3. Choosing your Letters: While the paint is drying, you may begin finding a font for your letters. Once you have selected a font and sized it to your blocks appropriately, you may print them off and begin cutting them out.

4. Tracing your Letters: When all of your letters are cut out, begin tracing them onto a piece of white cardstock. I chose to trace my letters backwards so there are no lines on the front of them when they are on the wood blocks. Once they are traced, cut them out.

5. Sizing your Paper: When the paint has dried, trace out each block onto a different paper design and cut them out, You may decide you want them to be a little small than the block, so just trim each side a little bit until you have your desired sizes.

6. Decisions: Decide on the placing of each paper pattern and letter before you start using the mod podge.

7. Mod Podge: Now the fun begins. Apply a small amount of mod podge onto a piece of wood, then place the proper paper pattern on top. If you use too much mod podge, you will get bubbles in your paper, so be careful. 

8. Continue with the Mod Podge: Next, put a layer of mod podge on top of the paper pattern, lay down the letter, and mod podge again. Let dry.

9. Add Ribbon: Cut two pieces of ribbon for each block. I measure the height of the block and add another foot to tie the bow. Hot glue a ribbon to each side of the wood block. Then, add a little glue to the top of the block and adhere both sides. Tie in a bow.

10. Display your letters in your home.

Happy Crafting!
Love, Melanie

"Blow Some Good Wishes to the Mr. and Mrs."- Wedding Bubbles

Another wedding project can be crossed off my list. Adam and I have finished the wedding bubbles! I have wanted bubbles at my wedding for as long as I can remember, so I started saving 40% coupons for Joann’s until all my bubbles were purchased.  Adam designed the logo with the saying "Blow some good wishes to the Mr. and Mrs." he likes doing that kind of thing so I tell him how I want it to look and he goes to town. It ended up matching our theme/colors very nicely.

First, I got all of our supplies ready.

Then, I looped each piece of ribbon through the hole in our logo/saying.

Then came the tedious task of tying all the bows onto the bubble tubes. Here is the finished product!

I also made the bin for the bubbles, but that will be a post for another day!

Happy Wednesday!

Love, Melanie

Saint Patrick's Day!

Lucky Blocks

I enjoyed my Love Blocks so much, I decided to make some for St. Patrick's Day! I decided to go with the word "Lucky." I had leftover wood and spray paint. I found some cute green scrapbook pages in my collection and cut out the letters. Mod Podged it and finished it off with some green ribbon. Ta-Dah!

Happy Crafting!

Love, Melanie

Save The Dates

We sent our Save The Dates out a few weeks ago. Jordanne Marie Photographers designed them, and they turned out amazing! Once I received them, I couldn't stop looking at them! They were beautiful and I couldn't wait to get them in the mail.

A basic Save the Date was included with our photography package, but I had always wanted to have magnetic Save the Dates. Simple fix... I purchased some Magnetic Tacky Dots at Michael's...with a 40% off coupon, of course. These were extremely easy to work with, just peeling off the paper to expose the sticky part, and sticking them onto the back of the Save the Dates.

Next came the envelopes. I thought it would be cute to put fingerprint hearts on each envelope, so I bought an ink pad and put Adam to work. We both contributed a fingerprint to each heart for personalization.

I love the way they all turned out, and was a very proud bride when we put them in the mail to send to our guests. I guess I'm just nerdy like that :P

Love, Melanie

Wedding Ramblings

As of last night, I have been engaged for exactly 52 weeks. In the past 52 weeks, I have spent hours upon hours surfing the web for fun wedding ideas. I have decided to take on a lot of wedding projects myself, to save money and to make the day a little more personal. My Fiance, Adam has been extremely supportive and helpful with everything, and I couldn't be more thankful. I haven't even heard him complain once, which makes me realize even more how lucky I am to spend the rest of my life with him.We have already completed so much, but we have a   L O N G  way to go. The wedding is August 24, which gives us just under six months to finish everything. I can't wait to see how everything turns out, and share with you all on here.

These are the things we have made/will be making ourselves:
Wedding Vow Canvas- for one of the entryway tables
Adding Magnets and Fingerprint Hearts to our Save The Dates (designed by Jordanne Marie Photographers)
Wedding Programs and box to put them in
Bubbles and boxes to put them in
Card Box
Favors
Vases- for half the centerpieces
The Letter M- for one of the entryway tables
Table Numbers
Place Cards
Menu- maybe
I Spy Game- maybe
Bride Hanger
Girls Jewelry

Keep checking back to see my progress. Hopefully we can get it all done in time for the big day!

Love, Melanie

Make Your Own Chalkboard

I found this chalkboard tutorial on Little Baby Garvin's blog months ago, and fell in love with the idea of doing a weekly picture while pregnant to show the growth of the baby bump. I am not planning on using it for pregnancy pictures anytime soon, but I thought it would be cute for writing other messages. I began searching every thrift shop I came across to find a large frame I liked, but never had luck. Finally, I found one I loved. It is a little smaller than I would have liked, but for $2.95 you really can't go wrong.


Here is a before picture of the frame:

The process for making my chalkboard was a little more complicated than I had anticipated. When I took the picture apart, the wood backing was cracked around the edges. So off to Home Depot I went. I bought the thinnest piece of wood they had, and had them cut it for me. Finally, I was ready to make my chalkboard.

I spray-painted the frame white. Then I used chalkboard paint to paint the piece of wood. I did about 4 coats just to make sure it would look nice. I used paint and a roller, because I heard the chalkboard spray paint didn't work as well. Once the paint was dry, I put the board into the frame, and hammered the nails down.

Then came my first chalkboard creation. Although I need a little practice with the spacing, and some prettier handwriting, I am excited to finally have a chalkboard to doodle on.

Happy Crafting!
Love, Melanie

Sneak Peek: Salvation Army Frame

I never thought I would be so excited to find this 3 dollar frame today at the Salvation Army. Stay tuned to see what I'm making with it.

Happy Crafting!
Love, Melanie

Decorative Fabric Balls (Saint Patrick's Day Edition)

I had some fabric leftover from my wreath, so I decided to make some decorative balls for my glass vase. It was the perfect addition to my St. Patty's Day decor.

In order to make this, you will need:

-fabric

-pins

-styrofoam balls

-scissors

First, I cut the fabric into strips. The size of each strip will depend on the size of your balls, mine were 3 inch balls. My strips ended up being somewhere between 0.5 inch-1inch wide, and about 9.5 inches long. I eyeballed these measurements so they were not exact each time. Each ball required 8 strips of fabric, but that will depend on how thin you make them.

Once your strips are cut, you are ready to begin. I began wrapping the fabric strips around the styrofoam ball and using one pin to join the ends. Continue this process until the entire ball is covered.

When your entire ball is covered and you can no longer see styrofoam, you have finished your first fabric ball. Repeat these steps to fill an entire vase, bowl, etc.

Happy Crafting!
Love, Melanie