DIY: Chair Signs

Last week I shared with you guys the inspiration for the chair signs I wanted to make.  If you remember, these are the ones that I loved the most, but was determined not to spend $30 on.

(etsy seller thebackporchshoppe)

Well my original plan was to make these the next time I went home with all the scrap lumber we have laying around, but I didn't make it quite that far.  Today my horse class got canceled out at the farm because it was pouring, so I decided to make a trip to Hobby Lobby.  Mind you I had absolutely nothing to do for the rest of the day, so I was doing some serious wandering.  Somewhere between deciding to make our boutennieres, wondering if I should pick up screenprinting (You can never have to many hobbies, right??),  and buying a $5.00 album and paper to scrapbook our engagement pictures, I found these really cute wooden plaques.  So I scooped up two of them, along with some paint and came back to my apartment to start another project.

I painted them with black acrylic paint and let them dry completely.

Then I applied a medium, per directions on the back of the bottle, that creates a crackle of whatever you paint over top of it.  (I bought this one from Hobby Lobby and the brand is folkart, but I've also used Walmarts before and it works just as well.)

After the medium dried, I painted on a contrasting top color.

This is literally 2 seconds after I finished painting it.  It was already cracking as I was working my way across it..

I let the paint dry completely and then I painted on my words.

And here they are finished minus a ribbon to hang them with.

This project was so simple and took very little time to actually do, it was just all the drying in between that took awhile.  I really like the shape of these better than the simple rectangles I had in mind, so I don't mind that it cost a little more than free.

Price Breakdown:

2 wooden plaques @ $2.99 = $5.98

Crackle Medium = $1.98

Top color paint = $0.99

Black = previous project

Total: $8.95

I'm probably going to go back and buy two more wood plaques next week when I'm sure they will have their 40% off coupon, and then just return them from my original receipt.  That way it will cut the price almost in half =]  But I was just to antsy to wait and had to get them today!

The only thing left is a ribbon to hang them, and I need to wait til I go home for that since I left my hot glue gun there.

Side story: My roommate walked into the living room and I showed her how cute they were and she asked me, "Aren't your chairs going to be up against a wall?"  I quickly responded with, "Shut up, they're cute!! I know they're totally unnecessary, but they're cute!!"

I realize they serve no purpose, but sometimes the cuteness is all that matters.

What do you think, a green ribbon to match my colors, or a more neutral one to match the signs??  How are you saving your seats?

Saving Our Seats

I was sitting here today after classes thinking about what small project I could take on for the afternoon.  You know, instead of doing homework or studying or any other number of things I should be doing.  It's really probably not the best idea to be planning a wedding during my last semester of classes, but oh well!

So I decided now would be a great time to throw together some cute "Mr." and "Mrs." signs for the backs of our chairs at the reception.  Totally not necessary, (everyone knows where the bride and groom sit) but super cute!   I've got tons of paper and stuff here at school with my scrapbooking supplies, so why not?  You can never say no to a quick, free project.

So I started searching the internet for inspiration to find out exactly what I'd like to do.  Here are some of the winners:

(source: Wedding by Color)

(source: Miss Mascara from Weddingbee)

(source)

(source: Mrs. Taffy from Weddingbee)

(source: Mrs. Cupcake from Weddingbee)

And then I saw these next two beauties from Etsy seller thebackporchshoppe and decided this is what I'm going to do.

Both sets cost $29.95 and then you have to add on the $5.00 for shipping and that's way more than I would ever think to spend on seat signs.

But I really like that these are made out of wood, because then I can hang them up in our bedroom after the wedding on each side of the bed.  We would go with the Mr. and Mrs. set because Mr. T has told me before that after the vows I'm not his bride anymore, but his wife(!) or Mrs.

So, I'm going to make these.  We have soooo much scrap wood in my dad's shop that I can easily find some and cut them to size.  I've also used crackle paint like this before that I bought from Walmart and it worked wonderfully.  Then all I will need to do is paint on the words, which won't be a problem with my previous experience.

So next time I'm home for the weekend I'm going to crank a couple of these out and we'll be set!  I'll be sure to show you how they turn out.

Are any of you adding cute, maybe unnecessary, decorations to your reception??