FAQ

(Source)

I've had a number of questions asked repeatedly, so I'd like to dedicate a post to answering them (not that I don't enjoy answering all of your comments and emails!).

How did you do the monogram (most often asked about for the aisle runner)?

I actually got the monogram from wedding chicks:

http://www.weddingchicks.com/freebies/invitation-suites/monogram-invitation-set-by-zenadia-design/

I filled out the info and they sent me a .png file and I just cropped it down to the monogram and saved as a .jpg file.  And then I could use it for whatever I wanted.  I'm using it for the aisle runner, the invitations, the save-the-dates, and a few other wedding items.  

Where did you get the wood for the Mr. & Mrs. chair signs?

I actually picked them up from Michael's.  They were 99¢ each.  The ones I used are 5" x 7" in a sort of plaque shape, but they come in a bunch of different shapes and sizes (the larger ones are a little more expensive and the smaller ones are less expensive).  

How did you get the photos to print correctly on the vellum paper for the table number luminaries?  

I have no idea.  Ha!  I didn't realize that this was something difficult to do.  I printed 3 to a page (4" x 6" photos).  I used my Brother DCP-7020 laser printer.  It only prints in black and white, but that was all I needed for these since I just needed a sort of shadow for the light to glow through.   

What fonts are you using?

This is mostly about the aisle runner.  For our names, I used Edwardian Script and for the dates, I used Copperplate Gothic.  Those are the main two fonts that I have used for everything from the Save-the-Dates to the invitations.  For the I Spy photo scavenger hunt, I used many different fonts.  In this order: Scriptina, BadaBoom BB, Girls are Weird, Ravie, gitchgitch, Sketch Block, Curlz MT, EraserDust, Gunplay, Amorino Beta, Burrito, Honey Script, Chicken Butt, Carnivalee Freakshow, Airplanes in the Night Sky, Evanescent, Nashville, Alice in Wonderland, Boingo, Riesling, Frosty, Harrington, Porky's, Loki Cola, and Clubland.  They were either already available on Microsoft Publisher or I downloaded them from www.dafont.com.  

Are you using a high temperature glue gun or a low temperature glue gun?  

This is most often asked about the photo frame card box or the sand ceremony frame.  I use a high temperature glue gun, but I don't honestly think it matters.  You should be able to use either one.  Either way, be very careful!  

How long did the Baby's Breath bouquet/boutonniere last?  

That's a good question.  I can't really answer though.  Because they are still awesome!  Well, that's not exactly true.  I broke down the bouquet to use in the centerpiece mock-ups.  It dried beautifully.  All on it's own.  I didn't actually do anything to it.  After I did the mock-up bouquet, I sat it in a glass and left it there.  And then forgot about it for several weeks.  Ha!  And it looks pretty close to the same dried as it did fresh.  I still strongly encourage using Baby's Breath!  :)

I hope that answers some questions.  If you've got any others for me, just let me know!  I always enjoy feedback from my readers.  :)

How to: Aisle Runner

As promised, here is the "how to" for the aisle runner that I made.

I started off with an aisle runner that I bought from Michael's. I had a 40% off coupon, so I got a pretty good deal. The aisle runner is nothing spectacular. I wasn't looking for anything elaborate because I knew I was buying it so that I could put our design on it.

To start off, I had to have a design to put on the aisle runner. I used Microsoft Publisher, but I'm sure you could use other programs. I created a new page size for my design so that I wouldn't have to blow anything up when I was done. I did some experimenting to get it to look the way that I wanted. I ended up having a 36"x22" inch page size. I wanted it to be 36" inches across because that is how wide my aisle runner is. I wanted the design to fill the runner (and it made it a whole lot easier to line the pages up with the runner!).

Then I put in my design. I added our monogram/logo and then put in text box for our names and a text box for our date. I used the two fonts that are being used for all of our other paper items (programs, save-the-dates, invitations, etc.): Edwardian Script and Copperplate Gothic.

This is what I ended up with:


I had originally planned to put the monogram and our names in navy blue and then the date in black, but when I started painting, I decided to do all of it in navy blue. I thought it would look better.

Anyway, it took me a while to get the design as I wanted it. I spent a few nights tweaking until I had a design I thought was perfect (and I also got the approval of Philip and my mom!). So, it was finally time to get started with the real work.

To my great surprise, Philip decided to help. We printed out the design (just in black and white since it was only for tracing purposes). It printed out on 12 sheets (4 across and 3 down). Then we had to piece the pages together so that they lined up perfectly. That required us to cut off parts of pages and to tape them all together.

This is Philip helping. :)

It took a bit of effort and time, but this is what we ended up with:

Since that took a bit of time (and because Philip had had his fill of helping), I decided to start the tracing the next night. So, to get started, I taped the design to our kitchen table so that it wouldn't move. Then, I laid the aisle runner over top of the design and lined up the edges (so glad I made the design 36" across!). Then I taped the aisle runner to the table as well so that it wouldn't shift during the tracing. I also laid some books at the top of the aisle runner to hold it steady.

The tracing was a huge pain in the you-know-what. I had to do it over two nights because my hand started cramping. My had was killing me. I used a mechanical pencil because it was what I had lying around. I would recommend using a regular pencil though. The mechanical pencil tip was so thin that it kept catching on the cloth and breaking. I think a regular pencil would be thicker and hold up a little better.

Also, make sure you hold the aisle runner still as you are tracing. Otherwise, you may be pulling the runner without realizing it because it will stretch a little. Be careful not to rub over where you've already traced because the pencil marks will smear and leave smudges on the white cloth (not pretty!). Keep in mind that the pencil marks do not need to be dark; you just need to be able to see the outline so that you know where to paint (this would be especially important if you are using light colored paints -- you don't want to see pencil marks through the paint!).

Once you finish the tracing, you're ready to start on the painting. Let me just warn you that this step is going to be extremely tedious. This is especially the case if your design has small details. It's much easier to paint thick areas than teeny-tiny areas. Unfortunately, my design had a lot of tiny areas.

I bought black paint and what was supposed to be navy blue paint. I decided that the navy blue was really more of a royal blue, so I mixed up my own batch of navy blue by adding some black paint to the royal blue paint. It came out a beautiful dark blue color.

I used Apple Barrel Acrylic paint. I wasn't sure what kind of brush I would need, so I just picked up a huge pack of brushes from Walmart for about $3.00. I had to do some experimenting to see which brush would work right for me. For the tiny details on my design, I had to use a medium width brush with a flat tip. I could dip it into the paint and draw the paintbrush along the cloth sideways. It made the job less tedious than having to continuously pick up the brush when using a smaller brush or one not flat-tipped. You can see my supplies here:


I'm sure for a design with larger details, a larger brush would be needed. I've heard some brides say that for larger designs, a foam brush works best. You'll probably have to do some experimenting to see what works for you.

Once I got my rhythm down, I painted.

And painted some more.


Then, for a slight change of pace, I painted even more. And, this is what I ended up with after a few nights of painting (I was going crazy with all the tiny details, so I had to spread out over a few nights!):


One word of warning: Be very careful with your paintbrush. Be careful where you set it down and make sure your brush does not have too much paint on it. You don't want it dripping paint onto the cloth where it's not supposed to be! When I finally finished the aisle runner, I jumped up excitedly... well, my dogs got excited, too. So excited that they knocked into me and made me drop the brush onto the cloth. It wasn't a huge deal. I had to get a bleach pen out and clean up the mess (lots of blotting and then resoaking the spot). It took extra time that I shouldn't have had to use on this project. So, just be careful with your paint and paintbrush!

This project was really pretty simple, but it was very time consuming. I'd say that pretty much anyone could do this project if they have some time on their hands and if they have some patience. If you don't have a lot of patience, I would recommend that you make sure your design does not have a lot of small details. Make your design have thick lines so that it will not be so tedious. But, I think you can see that it is worth the effort. I now have a beautiful aisle runner. :) If you do decide to go through with the aisle runner project, be sure to let me know how yours turned out! Good luck!

Aisle Runner - Finished!

I have another DIY project finished: the aisle runner! I'm really happy that it is finally done. It was a royal pain. It took me a few weeks to finish it because I just didn't have the patience for it recently. There were lots of tiny lines and it took a while to figure out which paintbrush was going to work the best.

http://roadtotheaisle.blogspot.com gave me the idea to do the DIY aisle runner. I really liked the idea of taking something simple and personalizing it. So, without further ado, here it is:

It's not perfect (one of my lovely pups bumped me as I was standing up and I dropped the paintbrush onto the fabric... I will eventually get the spot out, but for now, I'm just glad that the biggest part is done!), but I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Soon, I will put up my instructions (a few changes from Road to the Aisle) and some pictures of the journey to the finish. ;) However, for now, my hands need a break!

Chaos

Lately I've been working on a dozen different DIY projects at a time. I start working on one and then I think of another idea or come across an idea that I absolutely adore online... so then I start working on that idea. I really do love working on all of the projects.

However, I've discovered today that I haven't managed to finish very much. I'm in the middle of each of these projects. Some of them, it's not entirely my fault. For instance, with the pocketfold invitations, I haven't been able to find the metallic gold paper/cardstock that I need for the background (in between the dark blue cardstock pocketfold and the ivory paper invitation). It's just too plain the way it is. I want the gold to go between to give it a little oomph. :)

Here is what they look like so far:

[My pocket-fold mock-up]

This one is just my mock-up of what I want the pocketfolds to look like. I like them so far. Again, I just want that extra "oomph" for the actual pocketfolds. If I can't find the metallic gold that I want, I will probably just end up choosing another color... I'm pretty sure I want it to be metallic though. The rest of the paper I have used is matte, so I think I nice shiny paper will give it that extra kick.

I'm also working on some reserved signs for the special people in the wedding. By that, I mean the MOB, FOB, FMIL, FFIL, the grandparents, etc. The people who will be sitting in the first rows. I really like my mock-up of those, but I am having some glue difficulties. I will hopefully be able to get them together tonight (or maybe tomorrow)... it just depends if I find a glue that wants to cooperate.

I also have a basket full of bubbles that are complete and a basket full of bubbles that are incomplete. The ones that are not finished are just waiting on labels. Philip liked the white labels better than the clear labels and I only had one sheet of white labels left... and I keep forgetting to pick up white labels for the bubbles. So, here they are:

[The basket of completed bubbles]

[A completed bottle of bubbles]

[The basket of incomplete bubbles]

I also have my aisle runner in limbo. I have almost completed the tracing (pencil outline). I am really dreading the painting... I think that's why I have been more focused on the other DIY projects for the time being. It's really going to be a pain. There are lots of very thin lines in the logo... it's going to be a headache and a half.

And, I'm trying to get our Halloween costumes together... Halloween is on Sunday! I really love Halloween. I've been counting down the days. However, now that it's only a few days away, I realize how much I still have to do before the big day! Ahhh! But, it will be finished soon. :)

I am hoping that since I have blogged about some of these unfinished projects, it will light a fire under my bum and get me into gear! So, hopefully in the next week or so, I will have some new blog posts about my completed DIY projects. :) Wish me luck!