DIY Wedding Date Plaques

Where have I been? I've been here at the Sunset Coast, just busy making plaques and decorations and food for a wedding shower. So the shower was last Saturday and I'm finally at the computer and editing pictures.  I first wanted to show you the plaques I made for 2 different wedding showers. Oh, and a  little on how to do it yourself...

 Have you seen all the great stuff on Etsy.com for weddings? A friend asked me to make her daughter a plaque similar to one she had seen at a shower and wanted me to paint it. Now, I love a painting project. But lettering?... I don't think so! I'm horrible at that kind of fine painting. So I went on Etsy, found someone that made plaques and asked if I could just order the vinyl lettering and make my own version of a wedding dates plaque. Well, the nice people at Jolie Mae Collections were happy to help me. They had lots of choices of vinyl colors and fonts and even helped me with the wording a bit. They have a great selection of wedding signs.. isn't this one cute?

 Since I was 'cheating' on the lettering, I decided to fancy up the plaque itself. After getting the lettering, I measured how big I wanted the plaque to be and made a pattern for cutting out the wood. I have a big roll of drafting tracing paper. It's about 20 inches wide and has been very useful for  dozens of projects for many years. I found it at an art supply store and it has been great stuff to have. My plaque ended up being about 18 by 21 inches.

I folded the sheet into quarters and using a bowl and some free handing,I drew out my design.

I traced the design on a piece of mdf wood and cut it out with my jigsaw. I was anticipating a disaster, but after sanding, it actually came out nice and didn't take long. For the white plaque, I added 2 holes for ribbon to serve as a way to hang it. The black one (you'll see below) was thicker and I could put a hanger on the back.

So on with the painting... prime, paint--you know the drill!

The vinyl letters come on a sheet with a backing. First you rub the back of the letters with a credit card , when they stick to the front sheet they are ready to apply. You lay the letters on the surface where you want them and again rub thoroughly with a credit card. Slowly and carefully, pull off the top sheet and the letters will be applied! 
I topped it off with 2 coats of satin polyurethane to protect the finish.

 Aren't these brides-to-be beautiful with their plaques? 

Jessica and Morgan's has different wording.  "When he stole her heart, and popped the question, and she stole his last name." The dates reflect first date, wedding proposal and wedding date. I like the chalkboard look it took on by using white lettering on a black background!

And here's Katie at her wedding shower. Ribbons at the top match her wedding colors, which will really be gorgeous navy and coral. I had a great time helping give Katie's shower!

 

Thanks for visiting today. Next time I'll be sharing lots of wedding shower details! It was a beach theme in a beautiful backyard in Long Beach, California. See you soon with all the pictures and recipes!

Have a celebration of something today! 

Cindy