Most of the time at weddings, guests start with the drinky drinky BEFORE they do the write-y write-y, which results in misspellings, sloppy handwriting, and writing rather inappropriate comments in what is otherwise thought of as a "nice, sweet" guest book.
So to combat that, we decided on a simple fingerprint tree in lieu of our wedding guest book. I had some unexpected "extra time" at home over Christmas, so I made it my mission to create this tree from scratch.
Some options on Etsy.com were about $50 for a custom, personalized tree (no frame). Again, I'm not cheap, I'm frugal, and that paired with my desire to be crafty, this was the perfect project to tackle.
Supplies needed:
- Printed copy of what you want your tree to look like (I blew mine up on 11 x 17 paper)
- Illustration board (pick the size you want based on the frame size you want. I made the - rookie - mistake and picked a 15 x 20 illustration board from Hobby Lobby... then realized that picture frames are 16 x 20 and I would need to get a custom frame or get creative with my matting)
- Wax paper (large enough to cover the entire tree size you printed out)
- Permanent Marker (fine tip Sharpie worked best)
- Mechanical Pencil (no "lead" needed, just the pencil instrument)
- Masking tape
- Brown art marker (medium tip worked well)
- White paint pen (optional)
- Sticker letters (optional)
- Picture frame
- Tape printed out tree to a clean table (one small piece of tape per side is suffice)
- Tape wax paper over tree to secure it from moving around
- Trace outline of tree with Sharpie on to the wax paper. (Note: trace it exactly how you see it, it will make a future step easier)
- Lift wax paper off table/tree
- Remove paper tree
- Place Illustration board on table
- Tape illustration board to table to secure it from moving
- Tape wax paper over illustration board
- Use a mechanical pencil (no lead needed, just the plastic tip is needed) and begin to press along the sharpie lines you made in Step 1. This creates an "indentation" in the illustration board that will be used as a guide in Step #3. (Note: When in doubt, trace on the inside of the sharpie lines. If you go wider, you end up with some really, really thick branches/twigs in Step #3.)
- Remove wax paper
- Trace over the indentation on the illustration board with the brown marker.
- Fill in the outline using smooth, long strokes so the tree looks natural.
- Use a white paint marker (fine tip) to draw the heart in the center of the tree with Bride & Groom's initials.
- Lightly draw a straight line (pencil) under the tree for the Bride & Groom's name and another line for the date.
- Place stickers (or use a pen, depending on your handwriting skills!) to spell out the names/dates.
- Erase any extra markings on the illustration board
- Insert into frame (preserves picture from random dangers (small children, pets, dust, etc.) before the wedding!
Illustration board: 2.99
Brown pen: 1.99
White paint pen: 1.49
Picture Frame: 18.75
Total Cost: $25.22*
*Note: I used 50% off coupons for all items above, and had both a 50% off a single item PLUS a 25% off entire order for the picture frame! Double score!
As far as ink goes... this was a struggle to figure out. After countless web searches and hearing from fellow brides encountering the same problem, I just decided to "wing it" with some ink I found at JoAnn Fabric. I'll find a picture of the ink and the stamps and post it so you see what I'm using.
Also, I'm hesitant to have guests actually use their fingers for this, so I found some really cute 3/4" rubber leaf stamps (Hobby Lobby) ($1.49each @ 50% off) so guests don't walk around with a green finger all night!
No comments:
Post a Comment