Burlap and wedding bells

So we are going to pretend that August and September never happened. To be honest it was a very big blur. I can't even really remember where it went but now its the beginning of October and I have completely neglected this blog. We have been doing lots of things so I feel its time to step it up. Plus, we broke ground two weekends ago on our bump out project that we talked about earlier this year.

But I do want to talk about the project that we worked on for my brother in law's wedding. The dilemma: an outdated swan stain glass picture in the reception hall. My sister in law hated it. It taunted her and screamed traditional and old fashioned. So after some discussion we decided that a really cool burlap tapestry would be cool since they were going for an outdoor/ modern barn theme. I started thinking about what we could do and I figured I would create some stencils of something meaningful.

We laid out some burlap on our small kitchen table and got to work. Originally she wanted a poem on the burlap but with the small time before the wedding + my hectic job + my growing belly, I couldn't make it work. It happens. But I believe things like that always lead to something even more creative and fun. And I think in this case it did. We decided to go simple. We would do L & G. (The first letter of their names) It would be simple, not too distracting.

I found some great font using howaboutorange.blogspot.com. They have links for free fonts to download. Of course since this was in August, I don't have it anymore. I will keep digging. Anyways, I sketched it out on freezing paper and then I cut out the stencil with an exacto knife. I have to admit that while I was working on this I was plunged back into my college days in my dorm room at 1AM trying to finish a project for one of my art classes.

After they were all cut out, I laid them out on the burlap and ironed the freezing paper onto the burlap. This keeps the spray paint from spreading. I also ironed on the scraps around the letters to prevent the spray paint from going everywhere.

It was ready to go. I had to work late so my hubby jumped in and took the burlap outside and sprayed the stencil with trust ORB. It came out great.

Next up my mother in law, who has a great site called Tess' Totes, sewed canvas to the back of the burlap so it would be thick enough to hide the swan and to create a way to hang the piece using a dowel. Unfortunately we could not find a picture of it from the wedding so here is a shot of it in my MIL's craft room. It's a little wrinkled from the wedding but it came out great.

Here are some other highlights from the fun day. They had great weather, a great party and her bridesmaid dresses were uber flattering; especially for a preggo like me. :)

So what else have I missed? I will be back with some bump out updates, fresh homemade tomato sauce and other nursery projects.