With 15 days leading up to my wedding, I thought it would be nice to post some of the wedding projects I've been working on to make our special day extra special.
I'm frugal - not cheap. So when it came to making my wedding special, I wanted a few finishing touches that really made guests think, "Boy, I never knew Meredith was so crafty... how did she manage to do such incredible projects AND manage to keep a full-time job and train for a marathon AND buy a house AND..." you get the picture.
Below you'll find a brief "how to" for a Card Box (for envelopes/cards at the reception). I've had time to work on a handful of other projects, but let's start here. (I'll post more later). For now, let's break down how to make the Card Box:
Card Box. There are about a million varieties of card boxes out there ranging from cute and simple, to really intricate and complex. Mine falls in the middle. I was inspired to make one that resembled one from Etsy.com.
Step 1: Buy materials. Hobby Lobby had the best selection for shiny fabric (resembling silk, but not expensive!).
- 1.5 yards of navy fabric
- 1 roll of 1.5" ribbon
- Clear Tacky Glue (any fabric glue will work)
- 2 square boxes with lids, one larger, one smaller (we found ours at Hobby Lobby)
- 2 Flower Clips (found at Michaels that matched our ribbon PERFECTLY!)
- Lay out the fabric on a large, clean table
- Place bottom section of box at the edge of fabric
- Hold fabric to edge of box and roll the box until entire box is covered with fabric (this lets you see how much fabric you need)
- Cut fabric, giving yourself extra on all sides (you can trim later)
- Glue edge of fabric on corner of box
- Hold fabric in place until it's semi-dried (when it can stay on it's own, you're good)
- Glue next corner, wrap fabric over corner
- Repeat for all 4 sides
- Trim remaining fabric and glue if necessary
- For the top & bottom, cut a slit in the fabric so you can wrap the fabric smoothly inside the box and on the bottom.
- Repeat for remaining bottom of box and lids
- In the lid of the larger box, cut a square hole just smaller than the size of the bottom of the smaller box. (Remember, the smaller box will sit on top of the bigger box, and you want the envelopes to fall through to the bottom, so leave yourself enough room for the envelope to clear into the bottom of the big box)
- Cut a square hole in the bottom of the small box so that there is still enough room to glue the little box on top of the big box lid.
- Cut a long, narrow slit on the little box lid. This is where guests will put the envelopes. Remember to glue down the remaining fabric so it looks clean and classy!
- You don't want to take any chances with anyone stealing envelopes (sad, but true, people steal). Be sure to glue the big box lid to the big box. I'm using industrial Velcro to glue the little box lid to the little box. That way, it's hard to open (people might think it's glued), but I won't have to destroy my Card Box after the wedding like a pinata!
- Glue ribbon around bottom of each box
- Add embellishments (flowers, ribbons, rhinestones, name labels, etc.)
If I had to do it again, I would have gotten different sized boxes (perhaps 3 shorter ones like the original inspiration), but other than that, I LOVE this project!! I feel so accomplished and it doesn't hurt when you look at the cost of the one on Etsy ($110 vs $17). See? I'm not cheap, I'm crafty!
(Note: Hobby Lobby, Michaels and JoAnn Fabrics ALWAYS have sales/coupons. I have not purchased anything full priced for any of my projects. Sales associates can sometimes help you by letting you know when items will go on sale. Example: ribbons go on sale every 3-4 weeks at Hobby Lobby. If they're not 40-50% off when you're there, check to see when the next sale is, or bust out your phone with the Hobby Lobby app to use a coupon!)
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