I can’t believe I went over two months without posting anything! Working, planning the wedding and everything else going on in my life really took over all of my time. I decided to finally get some of the posts I have been wanting to write done before life gets busy again with school starting soon… The days just seem to fly by faster and faster the older I get!
So today I wanted to share my favorite diy crafts I did for my wedding ceremony. I had two of Isaac’s little cousins be the “ring bearers”, which actually meant one held a sign that said “here comes the bride” and the other held a ring box. I didn’t feel like spending the money to have someone else make them, and by the time I remembered I wanted them, we were only about a week from the wedding and I couldn’t have ordered them even if I wanted to! All it took was a quick trip to Hobby Lobby and a fun afternoon getting my hands dirty (and maybe getting a little light headed from the fumes) to get some inexpensive, one-of-a-kind wedding decorations that I loved.
Rustic Ring Box
Materials:
Small, unfinished wooden box
Wood stain
Paint brush
Paper towel
Small piece of quilt batting
Wide burlap ribbon
Scissors
Hot glue
Flower for decoration (optional)
1. Following the steps on the can of stain, stain the box.
Basic rundown of the steps: stir the stain, paint it onto the box going with the grain, let it dry a few seconds, wipe off extra with paper towel. Repeat for the rest of the box. Don’t forget to stain the inside too!!
2. While the stain dries, cut 24 inch long strips of batting, making sure they are the width of the inside of the box. Roll them tight. I tested them out to make sure they fit and looked good inside the box.
3. Cut 6-8 inches of the burlap ribbon and roll it around the rolled up batting. Hot glue the end to make sure it doesn’t unroll. Glue the edges closed as well.
4. *Optional Step* Secure the burlap rolls inside the box with some glue. Mine didn’t need any because they were so tight in there that I wasn’t afraid they would fall out.
Just put some hot glue along the bottom of the box and firmly press the burlap rolls inside until the glue has cooled.
5. *Optional Step* I decorated my box with a flower on top, but you can get as creative as you want! I just cut the stem off as close to the flower as possible, then used some hot glue to secure the it to the top. 
7. And you’re done!! I hope you love your new, rustic ring box. :)
Here Comes the Bride Sign
Materials:
Chalkboard (mine had twine attached already)
Wood stain
Paint brush
Paper Towel
Flower
Wire cutters
Hot glue
Chalkboard paint
Chalk or white colored pencil (optional)
This project was the easiest, because all it involved was a little hot glue and some chalk!
1. If the frame of your chalkboard is finished, skip to step 2. Mine was not, so I picked up a small can of wood stain at Hobby Lobby and a paintbrush I didn’t mind throwing away afterwards. I followed the instructions on the can to stain both sides!
Basic rundown of the steps: stir the stain, paint it onto the frame going with the grain, let it dry a few seconds, wipe off extra with paper towel. Repeat for the rest of the frame and don’t forget to do the edges and the backside!
Make sure it’s dry before continuing on to the next steps.
2. Cut the stem off of the flower (as close to the petals as possible) with wire cutters. You could also use some scissors, but the wire in the stem could ruin the blade. If you can’t cut it all the way through, get a good notch out of the wire then bend it back and forth until it breaks!
3. Decide where you want to place the flower, then using plenty of hot glue, attach the flower to the frame of the chalkboard. I glued some of the bottom petals to the frame as well to keep it stable and in place.
4. Now it’s time to write whatever message you want! This step is a little more complicated, but the good thing is that with chalk, it’s easy to erase and start back over. I just searched around on Pinterest for a font that I liked and copied it on the chalkboard using a chalkboard marker*.
To make it easier, if you are nervous about messing up, write it first (very lightly) with a piece of chalk or a white colored pencil and then go over it with the marker.
5. Once you’re done, you’re ready to rock and roll!! Have fun with your new sign :) Just be careful to not smudge the paint, or you’ll be like me… fixing it about 30 minutes before the wedding starts!
*Using a chalkboard marker is a much easier and cleaner way to write on chalkboard. You don’t have to worry as much about it smudging (though it can still happen), and you don’t have any chalk powder everywhere. I used the small marker, since it allowed for more precise lines. You can find these markers in Hobby Lobby!
Let me know if you try one of these crafts out! I’d love to see your results. 
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