Be My Maid?

Happy Sunday!

I have my first wedding inspired post! This makes me giddy, because I am finally getting into the wedding DIY mode!

Relating to my last post, Pinterest has become my new online addiction. While ogling over the hundreds of 'wedding porn' pictures, I found my first DIY project to tackle. And if you are confused by the term wedding porn, read this article to understand the non-sexual meaning.

Here is my inspiration: found here

What a wonderful idea, no? I was immediately captivated.

This one is absolutely darling, but I wanted to make mine unique and special to the person I was sending it to, my Maid of Honor, Jen. We have known each other since middle school, and were attached at the hip until we graduated high school. Through college, we haven't seen each other nearly as much as we would like, but she is still near and dear in my heart. I had no question in my mind when Jeremy asked me to marry him, who my MoH would be!

Lets delve into what I sent to her, shall we?

I started with a little wooden box from Joann Fabrics. What actually made my idea so different than the one above is I couldn't find the cigar box shape they mention. This is where I deviated from the plan to create something unique!

I first painted the box blue with acrylics that I already have an abundance of. I then added these fantastic letter stickers I found at Creative Crafts, the local craft store, and used spray adhesive to attach the cut doily.

I wanted the outside of the box to be understated, but the inside to be a wonderful surprise of color! So I added the amazing pop of orange to go with the blue. I continued the doily and the letters on the inside of the box, but changed them up. The doily I painted blue to really make it show against the light wood, and painted the letters black to stand out against it all. I added epoxy letter stickers for the "be my" and "of honor".

For the contents of the box, I got a ring pop to highlight my "proposal" to Jen. I added a Starbucks gift card for how I would have asked if I could have seen her in person, and also to hint at any coffee-heavy DIY late nights we may have. :) Lets hope I stay on top of the planning, and not have too many frantic late nights! I also included a little poem {yes that is a Trena original, rhymes and all!}, to tie everything together.

How do you like it? How do you plan to propose to your MoH or all of your maids? I think it is a very honored privilege, and they should be asked in a special way. Whether its a personal meeting, a phone call, a beautiful card, or a box of goodies like this, I want to hear it. And feel free to be inspired by this to make your own MoH box! Jennifer loved hers!

Stamping in a New Way

Well Hello!

Let me begin with my newest time waster: Pinterest 

If you haven't heard of it yet, seriously go check it out. If you have, {which I'm sure you have}, I'll skip the formalities, and go right into the topic of this post.

While on Pinterest, I saw this pin: click here to see it on Pinterest

Cool: yes

New? No way!
I've used this technique a few times over my hours scrapbooking.

So I would like to discuss today the many {and truly limitless} household items you can use as stamps. You can use these in your scrapbooks, on your birthday invites, or anything your little crafting heart desires!

Let us begin, shall we?

The always handy pencil eraser. You can even get creative within this medium. Think dollar store shaped erasers, or the ones you can mold like clay! I'm giddy with the possibilities!

Good old scrap paper. Before you take that recycling bin out to the curb, pull out different papers. Then proceed to crumple them up and throw at the person nearest you... kidding! {sort of}
You can crinkle, fold, and roll paper to create all kinds of fun stamped designs.

Aaaah yarn. Or thread. or that rubber band ball sitting in your "miscellaneous" kitchen drawer. Don't lie, you have that drawer. We all do. ;) Dip this bad boy into some paint or stamp-pad ink, and roll away!

Anyone know what this stuff is? Its that stuff people put into their cupboards and drawers so things don't slip around! This particular brand is called GripIt, if you have no clue what I'm talking about. Its squishy, and always seems to have a cool texture to it. Stamp an entire blank page with this gem of kitchen supplies, or cut it into shapes first!

Oh tupperware. Or gladware, I'm not picky. Use the rims or bottoms of any of your plastic-ware to create cool, large shapes on your scrapbook pages. Think sleek frames around your text-block or pictures. Or just a massive bubble pattern for those sunny summer pages!

You didn't think I would forget possibly the coolest packaging invention ever, did you??? Shame. Bubble wrap is ahh-mazing. I have used it in my pages and on picture frames for a really cool effect! The best part about this stamp? You can still pop it afterward! YAY! Or use it for shipping things I guess....

Bottle caps! Those cool {and sometimes sharp!} edges can get a really awesome and unique effect on your pages. And I'm not talking about just the metal kind......

Thats right! Plastic too! Dip the corrugated sides of these little guys in some paint/stamp pad, and let fly across the paper! Or Use the rim for those perfect little circles :)

And lastly, Cardboard! This stuff is ALWAYS somewhere in our apartment, and I'm going to guess you are plagued with this stuff as well. Put it to your creative use! Pull off the top layer of a chunk to reveal the cool corrugated part, and stamp away, my crafty friend!

Like these ideas? What other things around your house can you find to stamp with? Have I sparked any stamping creativity?

If you create anything with these easy {and cheap!} stamping items, show me! I'll post them on here :)