DIY Wedding Part 2 - Dyed Crinoline and Cornhole Boards

Dyed Crinoline

Pinterest is every bride's dream come true and I had seen many pins of beautiful white dresses with a hint of color peeking from the bottom. I thought this was perfect for my own wedding, especially since I was using such bright colors!!

To say I got lucky is an understatement. JoAnn Fabrics did not have the exact color of orange I needed per my color swatch from David's Bridal, but they did have a lighter and darker orange. I bought both, mixed the two together and followed all the directions on the box. When I was done, it was perfect!!

I figured no one would see the top portion of the crinoline, so I bunched it up into a plastic baggie and secured it very tightly with several rubber bands. It ended up leaking a tiny bit and it didn't look the greatest by itself, but (like I said) no one saw that part so I didn't care!!

I used my stainless steel kitchen sink to put the dye in (I didn't want to dye my white bathtub). I also had several junk towels that I put around the edges to avoid sloshing the dye around onto my counter tops or kitchen floor (I have a large rug and carpeted kitchen, so I didn't want any orange marks left behind!) I was able to wash them and throw them back into my junk towel pile, orange stains and all.

I also used a large plastic spoon and plastic gloves. I moved the crinoline around as much as possible to make sure the dye was distributed evenly. I worried a lot that it would be too dark, but I kept going anyway, realizing that it was dark because it was wet.

This picture was taken after lots and lots of careful rinsing. I carefully placed the crinoline in the opposite side of my sink and rinsed the excess dye forever (okay, maybe not forever, but it felt like it). I rinsed, squeezed, prodded, and more. I wanted to make sure there was no way I would be dripping orange dye all the way to my washing machine.

In my washing machine, I used my normal detergent (home made, of course) and the delicate setting. I checked on it often to make sure it wasn't getting tangled up and that the lace borders weren't fraying away from the crinoline. When I hung it up to dry, I was still nervous there would be orange dye dripping everywhere, so I placed a junk towel underneath, but I was just being paranoid...

The end result!! It came out perfect and I got a ton of compliments on my wedding day! It was a great addition to my very simple white dress. I was worried that it would show through the dress, but it didn't at all - it only peeked out from the bottom. Friends and family still make comments on what an awesome idea it was and how it matched so perfectly when looking back at wedding pictures. =)

Cornhole Boards

  

I'm going to be honest here, while this was my idea to have boards at our wedding, my hubby to be was the one that built these. I know how to use tools, but I have made it 7 years so far without telling him so that he will make projects for me instead of doing the work myself. Shhh! 

What he did, was find a template online that provided all the measurements for corn hole boards. He even checked the official corn hole rules and regulations to confirm that the measurements were accurate. (What a guy, right!?) He purchased all the wood he would need and large hinges for the legs to fold in and out for set-up and storage. We also were able to find paint close enough to our wedding colors and his mother found bean bags in the wedding colors at a flea market. 

First, he made the boards from wood in his workshop. I was working at the time, so he sent me lots of picture messages to get my approval. This was one I received when they were both finished: 

 After they were done, he painted them each a solid color. Our wedding colors were pink and orange, so we decided to make the boards opposite of each other. He didn't trust himself or his artistic ability enough to paint the initial on the board, so once the boards were dry, I used a pencil to mark our last initial and painted over the pencil marks. I did have to erase one at the bottom and fix it to make it uniform, but it turned out nicely once it was all dry and ready to go. 

Again, we received lots of compliments at our wedding from guests and this is something we can pull out for years to come when we have friends over! (We also had another set of Ohio State boards that a friend let us borrow at our wedding, which made it easier for everyone to get a chance to play.)

Children - Clothing Storage

I have a basement. That floods. That being said, I store things in my basement in large, plastic storage totes on large plastic racks. I love storage bins and I even buy them in specific colors for specific items (example: green for Christmas decorations, blue for clothing, and so on). I could go on and on, but I just wanted to share with you my latest accomplishment. (Some might simply call it nesting, but I do this kind of thing even when I'm not pregnant!)

Pictured here are the bins of all the clothing I have received or purchased for my little one on the way. I have chosen to use purple bins to store little girl clothing and I have labeled all of the totes by what age or size clothing is in it. I have a bin for Newborn size, 0-3 month, 3-6 month, 6-9 month, and so on. I also have a tub for accessories, shoes, or otherwise un-sized or one-sized items as well.

I also used various sized tubs for the clothing. I figure it might be easier to fill a tub all the way or buy an additional tub in the same size. I wanted to keep these ones nice and small so that my daughter and I could move them more easily since most of the larger storage tote lugging usually falls on my husband... Not only that, but I am assuming these sizes will only last short periods of time and the smaller totes can be stored easily in my daughter's closet until she grows out of them and they're taken to the basement.

DIY Wedding Part 1 - Bridal Party Gifts

My husband brews his own beer and I'm an avid wine drinker - so creating personalized beer mugs and wine glasses for our bridal party gifts was the perfect idea. I knew my friends and family would get quite a bit of use from them AND they were super cheap (less than $30!!) and easy to make!!

The Dollar Tree near us has large wine glasses and beer mugs, so for $1 each, we were already ahead and I could afford to mess up on a few practice glasses. After minimal research, I found Armour Etch on Amazon.com for $15 and got it within 2 days via Amazon Prime (If you keep up with my posts, you will soon discover the reason why my friends have dubbed me the Amazon Queen). Lastly, I purchased some stencils and stickers in different fonts from Hobby Lobby. The only other supplies I needed were painters tape, paper, a knife, toothpicks, and cotton swabs. I already had that stuff on hand.

Wine Glasses

For my bridesmaids, I made wine glasses with their first initial engraved on it. I also etched around the base a heart beside my own name as a kind of signature to the other person. These were the more difficult of the two sets to make because I used stencils to make the letter etched into the glass. Not only that, but the stencils I used were thick plastic, so I essentially had to create a stencil from the original stencil using paper. I will admit it was a pain in the butt, but entirely worth it to get the look I wanted.

• Create Paper Stencil - I traced the letter I wanted to use on paper, then used an Xacto knife to cut the letter from the paper without tearing outside of the stenciled letter. It's a lot trickier than it sounds! Trim the paper to a workable, wine glass size and you're done.
• Wet Paper Stencil & Seal Against Glass - This I discovered AFTER I had ruined the outlines for several other glasses. I found that if I wet the paper, I could seal it against the glass and avoid gaps that the Armour Etch could seep through. 
• Lightly Apply Armour Etch - I found it easiest to simply dip a cotton swab into the bottle and dab it onto the glass showing through the stencil. I didn't use a lot of the solution - just enough so that I could clearly see the outline of the letter I was creating. 
• Remove Stencil - Since there was always the chance that the Armour Etch could seep outside the letter outline, I had to use steady hands to remove the stencil. From there, I would quickly use a clean cotton swab to remove any solution that had gotten where it wasn't supposed to. It is important to move fast because the Armour Etch only takes 5 minutes to etch into the glass and it's permanent, not like etching paints that can scrape off...
• Outline Letter - At this point, I would use a toothpick (since it has a more defined point) to clearly outline the letter freehand so that it had a strong, straight, solid edge. I have no advice for this other than to work quickly, have lots of light, and use a very steady hand. Once I was satisfied with the shape of the letter, I would fill in the shape with Armour Etch to make sure the entire letter was covered enough to etch properly. 
• Signature - Around the base of the glass, I used a toothpick to add a small heart next to my name in cursive. I used very small strokes and very little Armour Etch to do this, then I made it thicker and focused more on the detail of it once I had the basic outline done. 
• Rinse and Dry - After the 5 minute waiting period was over (sometimes I would even wait longer or until the Armour Etch had begun to dry), all I did was rinse the Armour Etch off of the glass, wash the glass, and dry it. (While the glass is wet, you can't see where it's been etched, so it needs to be dried too clearly see your handiwork.) 
• Repeat - If I was unsatisfied with exactly how the glass turned out or if I saw noticeable toothpick lines, all I did was apply more Armour Etch as evenly as possible, wait 5 minutes, then rinse and dry the glass. They certainly were not perfect when I was done, but they did look great and everyone that saw them was very impressed!!

Beer Mugs 

I knew my husband (to be) would want his glasses done differently, meaning less elegant, more manly. When I asked him about it, he said he wanted the person's full name on the glass and he had seen an example online that he liked, so of course, I tried to mimic that example. These glasses were way easier to make, mostly because I didn't have to mess around with silly stencils. 

• Create Name - Using stickers (in a font selected by my hubby to be), I put the name of his groomsmen going down the glass. I tried to start as close to the middle of the glass as I could, using the middle letter of their name to make sure it was spaced evenly from the top and bottom of the glass. Great thing about the stickers was that if I wasn't happy with it, I could peel it back up and then stick it where it belonged. I also tried to keep the placement uniform in relation to the handle of the mug.
• Press Edges - This step was important! In order to avoid the Armour Etch from seeping underneath the sticker, it was important to make sure that sticker was seriously stuck all around the edges. I pressed and prodded every single letter around each tiny edge to make sure nothing could get under it. 
• Create Name Box - Using painter's tape, I created a rectangle around each name, again, making sure the edge where Armour Etch was to be applied was stuck firm with no space for liquid to seep through. I also made the box big enough that you would be able to tell there was etching in the glass. I didn't put the tape right smack up against the letters and I certainly didn't try to make them all the same size, although if you were to make a set all with the same name or intials, you might want to do that.
• Apply Armour Etch - Using a cotton swab, I applied a generous amount of Armour Etch in the rectangle I created and I was fairly messy about it. I went right over all the stickers and everything. It was a nice break from the tedious work I did with the wine glasses. I just made sure to smooth it around evenly and take any of the big chunks off to the side and onto the painter's tape.
• Rinse and Dry - After 5 minutes, I rinsed the glasses and peeled the painter's tape and stickers right into the trash. I washed the glasses, dried them, and I was done. The guys were all super excited to have their own special mug to drink from and surprised that I had done them myself - they were sure we had ordered them from somewhere!!

Brief Intro

Hey All!

I just wanted to start this blog to keep track of projects and ideas that I've accomplished. I take a lot of pictures (I'm a before and after kinda gal) and am always trying new things and searching for ways to make my life easier and less expensive... I figure sharing with the world my many "experiments" may help others trying to accomplish the same goals. =)

A little information about me: I go by Mandi and I'm currently 25 years old. My husband and I are both teachers and are expecting our first child in 10 days! There's certainly a lot more I could add, but I'll leave it at that since this is the internet and all...

Stay tuned - I'll be adding entries soon on my many projects and Pinterest experiments soon!

<3 Mandi