Wedding Gifts

My husband's cousin got married back in October and I made my favorite gifts for them.  I made them a Casserole Carrier and etched the casserole dishes.  I also got them a recipe binder and made a CD of all my recipes for them to have.  Let me show them to you.

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Wedding Guest book pages

My best friend, Laura, got married on April 30.  Besides being in her wedding, she asked me to work on her guest book.  She didn't want the traditional sign-in guest book.  She had seen a personalized guest book from this site.  Once I examined the pages closer and the price, I knew that I could work something up that wouldn't cost near as much.

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Casserole Cover

For those of you who have been waiting to hear about my casserole carrier, the wait is over.  You got a sneak peak if you checked out my etched casserole dishes tutorial.

I am sure many of you have a casserole carrier.  I have an ugly bright blue one that came with one of my pyrex dishes.  It is truly hideous!  I have always wanted something nicer, but I am not willing to pay the $50 or more that I find for one in many catalogs.

A couple months back, I am came across a tutorial for a casserole carrier over at 2 little hooligans. I loved this easy and personalized casserole carrier.  You can make this carrier can be customized to fit any preference or decor. I bookmarked this tutorial for when I had my fabric and the time to make one.  Well, I still don't have mine made, but I did make one for my best friend, Laura for her wedding shower.  This was part of a series of gifts for her.

Here is what I came up with:

I made a few changes from the tutorial over at 2 little hooligans.  Since I was using a larger casserole dish, I first measured the casserole dish to properly fit the cover.  Make sure to measure it with the plastic cover on it (if it has one) from handle to handle and the width.  There are two main pieces of fabric, the wider part to go around the middle and the long piece to go the length of the dish.  I expanded the sizes of each of these to accomodate for this casserole dish.  I made the wider piece 30 by 16 inches and the long piece  40 by 13 inches.

Then, I cut long strips of the main fabric and batting that were 2 1/2 inches by 33.  I used these as my handles.  When I sewed the two main pieces together, I stuck the handles in at the seams.  I didn't want to make separate handles, so tucking the handle ends under the seams worked perfectly and saved me time.

This casserole cover was a hit at the shower!  I love when my crafty skills impress people.  It is a nice pat on the back for all my hard work!  I also just love giving gifts that people can't buy at a store.

Here is the entire gift package:

I made her the the casserole carrier, two etched dishes(see tutorial), couple mugs (see tutorial), menu board (see tutorial),  and monogrammed coasters (see tutorial).  There you have it great gift ideas with the tutorials included.

If you make any of these I would love to see how yours turns out!

Etched Casserole Dishes Tutorial

Are you ready for another gift I made for my friend's wedding shower?  Here's a sneak peak.

Ever since I saw the etched glass on the Silhouette site, I have wanted to do it.  What better excuse than for wedding gifts?  I wanted to make my friend, Laura some personalized dishes.  The next time she goes to someone's home or to a potluck, no one can claim her dish, as it will have her initial or name on it!

If you don't have a Silhouette, don't quit reading! I will share ways you can do this without the Silhouette and without vinyl.

Here are the supplies you will need:

• Contact paper or vinyl
• Exacto Knife or Silhouette (or cricut)
• Printed word, letter or shape OR Design what you want on the Silhouette software
• Glass to etch (this can work on just about any surface) -I used two Pyrex dishes
• Foam Paint brush (one time use)
• Plastic gloves to protect your skin and Safety goggles would be good to protect your eyes as the Armour Etch is heavy duty stuff.
• Armour Etch-(see picture below) I bought mine at Hobby Lobby with my 40%off coupon, but you can get it at any craft store.  This is an expensive bottle, but you will get a ton of uses out of this.  I didn't use a fourth of it and I did four large dishes.

Now, if you are using the Silhouette, design your shape, letter or words.  Before you cut it, you will want to transform it to be backwards (180 degree turn).  Then cut it on vinyl.   This will let you etch the bottom of a dish.  You don't need to do the turn if you are doing the outside of a dish.  I did the bottom and wanted it to be read through the dish.

If you aren't using a cutter, you can print out any shape, letter or word on a normal piece of paper.  Make sure your object is backwards for the bottom of your dish. Then trace it onto your contact paper (white or clear would probably work best).  Use your exacto knife and cut out the object. 

Then take your contact paper or vinyl and adhere it to the bottom of your dish.  Make sure that it is firmly adhered and that there aren't bubbles near the interior as it will distort the shape.  I practiced on my own dishes first.  I didn't take the time to firmly adhere and watch for bubbles.  My name didn't go on perfectly as the creme leaked under the vinyl.  Learn from my mistake and take the extra care to begin with.  Once you've done this there isn't any turning back.  It's permanent!

Below is the "S" I did for a square dish. 

The next one I did her new last name "Starling."  Make sure to put on the inner parts of your letters or they will look funny.  Notice that her "a" and "g" have inner parts that could be overlooked if you don't pay attention to this detail.

Now following the directions on the Armour Etch, generously lather the etching creme onto the letters or shape. (This would be a good time to use your plastic gloves and protective glasses too). Brush up and down and from side to side.  Then I also dabbed it really well to make sure there was a thick coating.  If you notice, on the bottle of the Armour Etch it says that it won't work on Pyrex.  It will.  You just need to let it sit longer.  I think it said to leave the etching creme on for 5 minutes.  I did 15 to 20 minutes, which worked great.

Once your have given the etching creme enough time to work properly.  Put your gloves back on (and glasses) and rinse all the etching creme off.  I rinsed and then took off my vinyl (or contact paper) and then rinsed again.  You can even wash the bottom now with some soap.  I wouldn't scrub it, but a light washing is fine.  Let it sit overnight to settle in.

There you have it.  Personalized dishes that make a great gift!  It is dishwasher safe too, after all, it's permanent!

Here are the her final dishes.

If you are wondering what the dishes are laying on, you'll have to be patient.  That will be my next wedding gift tutorial to share with you.

If you try etching glass, I would love to see your finished item!  I hope this tutorial was helpful.  Let me know if you have any questions!

Happy Crafting!

A Few Wedding Gifts

I promised to share with you some of the wedding gifts I made for my best friend's shower.  This is just 3 of them.  I have more to show you with tutorials and I am making some for the wedding this weekend!

The first one I made was a Menu Frame.  I love the scrapbook paper that I found for the background.  In case you missed how to make this Menu Frame, you can find the tutorial here.

I tried a new coaster for her (I have over 300 to use up).  This time I used some nice scrapbook paper and cut out a fancy S using the Silhouette.  You can easily print out a letter and cut it with an exacto knife.  If you want to learn how to make inexpensive coasters out of tiles, here is the tutorial.

I also gave her the Couple Mugs.  Here is the tutorial on how to make these.

These were all a hit with the ladies at the shower.  The other gifts were as well.  I can't wait to share each one with you!

Happy Crafting!

Cute Couple Mugs Tutorial

I have a friend who is getting married soon and I wanted to make her some unique and personalized gifts.  I've had wedding ideas on the brain for months.  Over the next couple of months, I'll share all the things I am making the wedding couple.

Tonight I made these cute couple mugs.

The other day, I was browsing at the Dollar Tree and came across two nice mugs.  Since they were plain white, I knew I could do something with vinyl on them.

Everyone has a favorite mug.  I decided to make a mug for each person so they will always know which mug is theirs.  Mustaches and lips are popular these days so I used those and added the Mrs. & Mrs.

I used my Silhouette to cut out the design.  Then I used the transfer tape to grab the vinyl and adhered it on to the mugs.

The vinyl I used is removable so these mugs need to be hand-washed.  I think they turned out nice.  I hope her and her husband enjoy them.

Next time you see a plain dish, cup or decorative item, get creative and personalize it.  You will have a unique item that you can't buy in stores!



We are linking up this project to all these wonderful parties.  Go visit them for more great ideas!

Our Weddng Week Part 1

Today is my Dad's birthday.  He's 30 plus 38 :-) Happy Birthday Daddy!

I can't believe November is almost over.  I'm already feeling the December rush.  Family pictures on Wednesday, shopping, baking, planning, decorating... all needing to be done.  YIKES!  With all the holiday stress on the horizon, I'm glad I have great memories of the last two weeks in November to look back on.

We just got back from our "Wedding Week" in Florida.  I was so fortunate to be asked to be a bridesmaid in my friend Mandy's wedding.  It was beautiful.  There were seven bridesmaids and we were lucky our bride was no Bridezilla.  We were allowed to pick from any black, long gown we wanted. We were all thrilled with the dresses we got and we were able to pick dresses that looked best on us.  What a bonus!  Now, if I can just find somewhere to wear my beautiful gown to again.

Mandy's wedding was in Melbourne,  FL.  Melbourne is south of Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral on the east coast of Florida. We stayed right on the beach.  It was a little cool to splash in the waves (even though I saw a few brave souls doing so), but a morning walk on the beach was perfect!  Mandy had a block of rooms, reserved, at the hotel, for her wedding guests.  She had baskets for each room.  The baskets contained a map of Melbourne, bottled water, crackers, muffins, fruit snacks, trail mix, and my favorite... CHOCOLATE!  There was a little note from the bride and groom attached to each basket.  What a great welcome for guests!

Mandy chose to have her wedding on a Sunday afternoon.  I've been told many venues offer great rates for Sunday weddings.  What a great way to stretch a wedding budget!  Because she had her wedding on a Sunday, one of her wedding favors was a red or black paper bag filled with goodies and a note.  (see pictures) What a great economical wedding favor!

She also had her favorite, rock candy, at each place setting. This worked wonderfully to help sustain the kids, while waiting for the buffet line to open.  The only thing I would change is the color of the rock candy.  She chose red, an accent color to her black and white wedding.  Although it was very pretty, my youngest daughter got some on  her dress and as hard as I tried, I just couldn't get the stains out.  I would suggest a clear rock candy wrapped in colored cellophane or with a ribbon in a coordinating wedding color.

Mandy also had the BRILLIANT idea of having a basket full of new flip flops on the edge of the dance floor.  My feet were miserable before these lifesavers came along.  I know Old Navy offers flip flops for $1/pair at least once a year.  If you're planning a wedding, I'd say stock up when this amazing sale comes around!

There were many wonderful things about this wedding.  The bride and groom wrote their own, very personal vows.  So special. They played their favorite music while the wedding party walked down the aisle. So personal.  They broke out into a phenomenal dance routine at the end of their traditional first dance.  So fun.  This wedding was their wedding. It was so personal and unforgettable. I am honored that I was asked to be a part of it.