Etched glass vase for Mother’s Day

Note: This post is sponsored by Plaid Crafts and Blue Print Social, but all opinions are my own. 

Just a friendly reminder, Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 12th… put a card in the mail pronto (early is always good)! And if your mom lives near by, bring her some flowers with a pretty etched vase on Mother’s Day, she’ll love it! Did you catch that… I etched glass with the help of Martha Stewart Crafts! It’s a first for me, and it was so not hard. I took me 2 attempts to learn how to etch glass, but that is my own fault for not reading the directions well enough. Go figure!

Handmade Mother's Day gift

 

Materials:

  • glass vase
  • painters tape
  • adhesive stencils for the letters
  • Martha Stewart glass etching cream and brush

Oh and see the pic on the right, that’s to show you that the etching glass has secret hidden instructions under the label. For a good 15 minutes, I was sure I threw away the instructions!

How to etch glass

 

I know glass etching sounds very fancy, but it’s way easier than you think! I started with a tape design, because I figured that would be less tricky. So, first you need to clean your glass with rubbing alcohol. Then, I taped my vase the same way I taped my shot glasses in the how to paint glass post. Then you literally just paint the etching cream onto your vase. Oh yea, and wear gloves… this stuff etches glass after all.

How to etch glass

Then wait 15 minutes, and rinse with water. OK, so you can see the thickness level above. That’s bad. It did not look good. The good news: You can re-do it!  I was mad at the vase and the cream, and started all over. This time, I decided to tape a lot higher and paint on the etching cream a lot thicker. Your glass should be white.  See:

How to etch glass

After you paint it on super thick… you just let it wait 15 minutes. Or 30, if you forget, like me. Then, run your glass piece under water. The spray nozzle worked better than the plain ol’ faucet for me.

How to etch glass

 

After I did that, I repeated the steps with the -G-R-O-W- adhesive stencils. My flowers need all the encouragement they can get!

How to etch glass

And here is a close up of the etched words:

how to etch glass

And one more pretty of the pretty vase:

how to etch glass

That’s all folks! Then fill with flowers and give to Mom!  If you want to see more fun Plaid Creations, check Plaid Crafts on out on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterset! 

*I wrote this post as part of a sponsored campaign with Plaid and The Blueprint Social. All opinions of Martha Stewart Crafts are my own.

 

 

Unique Guest Book Ideas {sign in book}

Sign in books are a great way to personalize any event, remember who you shared the event with, and makes a fun conversation piece for later!
Unique guest book ideas
#1:  Jenga
sign in book

Photo by Jennifer Roper via Oh Lovely Day

#2: Rocks
sign in book

#3: Thumbprints & Car

sign in book
sign in book
guest book
guest book
guest book
guest book
guest book
guest book
guest book
#14: Plates
guest book
#15: Oars
guest book
#16: A Bench
guest book
guest book
#18: Personalized note cards (Here’s a free printable for a baby shower)
(Punch a whole and use a binder ring to give the guest of honor a mini guest book!)
 guest book
guest book
guest book
guest book
guest book
#23: Single Sheet of Pretty Paper (FREE design)
guest book
guest book
guest book
#26. Guitar
Guest book
Unique guest books
28: Globe
guest book ideas
Which sign in “book” is your favorite? What did you use at your wedding or baby shower? Do you have any other fun guest book ideas? I love the birthday calendar, Jenga, a bench, and the globe!
Oh and if you’re in party planning mode… here are 24 food station ideas to make any party cooler!
Party bar ideas
Psst… Here are 10 more DIY wedding ideas and another fun post with 16 ideas for make your own food stations at weddings!

 

10 DIY Wedding Ideas

It’s wedding week over at the Country Chic Cottage, and since Andy and I’s one year anniversary was a week ago (2-22-2012), I decided it would be fun to reminisce and put together a little round up of DIY wedding ideas. If you’re new here, Andy and I moved from Texas to Florida in January 2012. We’ve since moved back to TX, we’re crazy like that! We got married in our Florida living, days after we moved, with only 4 guests. Lots more on that herePart 1Part 2Part 3Part 4, thank you cardschanging your last name, and the super simple wedding scrapbook.

I’ve also had the privilege of being in the maid of honor in 4 weddings, so I’ve been involved in some fancy, crafty shin digs too (unlike mine)!

diy wedding crafts

1. DIY Invites

DIY wedding ideas

 

 

2. Super simple wedding decor: The decor for our love celebration was totally free. I made a simple banner with card stock, and added flowers to mason jars we already had on hand.

DIY wedding ideas

3. Unique flower bouquet: This was my high school BFF’s bouquet, Annie.  She added pictures of her dad and grandparents so they could walk down the aisle together. Super sweet.

DIY wedding ideas

 

4. Use bridesmaids bouquets as reception centerpieces. This was also Annie’s genius. When the bridesmaids walked in, we plopped our pretty bouquets in a simple glass vase. Instant pretty centerpieces!

DIY wedding ideas

5. Here’s a fun tradition Annie and I found on ol’ internet back in the day, and she used the Turkish tradition at her wedding. All of the bridesmaids sign the brides shoe, the last name remaining will be the next to be married. Fun! You can see my purposely placed name on the ball of the shoe, I thought that spot was for sure to be danced away (I was not ready to get married in 2008)!

DIY wedding ideas

6. How to save your wedding cards… All you need is foam board, and XACTO, and binder rings!

DIY wedding ideas

7. Flower girl box: Clearly, Annie’s wedding was really cute! Annie had 3 flower girls at her wedding, an older one, and 2 littles. Here’s the adorable flower box the older flower girl carried.

DIY wedding ideas

8. DIY Thank you cards: Make personalized thank you cards on your computer and have them printed on nice paper at your local printer.

DIY wedding ideas

 

 

9. How to change your last name (and should you)? It’s a lot trickier and takes a heck of a lot longer than I thought!

DIY wedding ideas

10. This is the most important lesson I’ve learned of my wedding attending life. Please read how to write a wedding speech (or any party speech for that matter)!

DIY wedding ideas

 

And there you have it, 10 simple ways to spunk up your wedding. Well, kind of. And not embarrass yourself as the maid of honor, change your last name, organize your wedding cards, and even a fun wedding tradition! Honestly, this is kind of a hodge podge post of wedding cuteness… Maybe that should have been the title? Do you have any fun, simple DIY wedding craft ideas or ways to make your wedding easier, simpler, or spunkier? I’d love to hear…

Psst… Here area  few more awesome posts for people interested in a DIY wedding extravaganza!

1. 16 food station ideas

2. 24 more party bar/ food station ideas

3. DIY wedding cake toppers

4. 25 unique guest book ideas

5. A unique group gift for the bride (from the bridesmaids)

And for more wedding inspiration, visit the Country Chic Cottage for wedding week!
Country Chic Cottage

 

C.R.A.F.T.