Hello, Beautiful!
This weekend I had the honor of co-hosting a bridal shower for one of my best friends (who also happens to be one of my bridesmaids and my ADPi little sis), Randi-Carole! She is going to make THE most beautiful bride in just 37 days (eek!) when she marries her soulmate, Josh.
RC was so sweet to offer to throw me a bridal shower BEFORE I was even engaged (like, the second I texted her that Thomas was acting funny, hehe), and I couldn’t wait to do the same for her! RC & I met in college in 2009 in Clarksville, TN, so it made sense for the showers we threw for each other to take place there. We each had our own hometown showers where we grew up, but we wanted to make sure we got to celebrate the moment with the ladies who’d been there for us throughout our college years and beyond . . . Lord knows we “kissed some frogs” back in the day, but I digress!
I mentioned RC is my sorority little sister – I fully attribute my love of crafting to our sorority, ADPi. Being in a sorority means all kinds of things, from lifelong friendship to philanthropy to networking as an alumna (I really could go on and on about the benefits). But it also means tons of fun stuff like decorating Homecoming floats, meeting your husband at a haunted house (okayyy, that one may just be a specific perk I lucked out with, I cannot guarantee you that one on behalf of Alpha Delta Pi, sorz), and, you guessed it . . . CRAFTING!!!!! There were so many reasons to DIY everything back then, but the main one was:
- I was in college. Hi. I was poor.
Needless to say, there were a lot of incentives for me to get crafting during my college years, and I was never crafting alone. Crafting with other sisters helped me pick up a lot of their tips & tricks, and it also created a therapeutic connection to the activity that I still feel today. (Can I just be Allie from “The Notebook” and have my own painting room yet? *Waits patiently to see if Husband even reads this thing.*) I was also constantly under a time and budget crunch – due to technically also, ya know, having classes to attend and a leadership scholarship to keep – and helped me learn to create a high-quality crafty craft without breaking the bank or wasting my whole day.
One thing I knew I wanted to do for RC’s shower was create a couple of beautiful “W” initial letters she could keep forever to remember the special day. Those letters could of course serve as décor at her bridal shower, but even better, they could be displayed in her home forever, a testament to her new last name – Williams – and the time of celebration that surrounded that transition for her. Armed with knowing her wedding colors and the vibe of her home (talk about neutral perfection), I plugged in my hot glue gun and went to work!
If you want to create an easy peasy DIY letter to celebrate your friend or decorate your own home, keep on reading for the tools and steps you’ll need to do just that!
Letter Option #1: Twine-Wrapped Letter
Tools You Will Need:
- Hot glue gun*
- Wooden letter**
- Roll of twine
- Assorted rustic ribbon
- Kitchen scissors
- Optional: Decorative faux flower***
*or Gorilla Glue – It’s really up to you here. I started out using Gorilla Glue but felt it was seeping into the wood of the letter too much, so I started using my (20-year-old, no joke) hot glue gun. Some of the wispy little strands created by hot glue can be so annoying, but if you can deal with that you probably have the patience to deal with pretty much anything as a person.
**You could also definitely use an acrylic letter, but I personally feel it is easier to wrap twine around wood. If not secured/wrapped as tightly as possible, the twine could easily slip off a less coarse material.
***Honestly, the flower I attached to Randi-Carole’s letter was one that detached from a faux arrangement we used at our rehearsal dinner and had somehow made it back to us in all of our boxes of wedding décor. It was a last-minute touch I decided to add when I came across it in my craft supplies, and since it was a peachy-blush color, I thought it would be special to attach a tiny piece of my wedding weekend to something tied to her wedding, and I just went with it!
Steps:
- Step 1: Turn on hot glue gun and remove all stickers & packaging from the wooden letter while it heats up.
- Step 2: Turn wooden letter face down so the BACK – where we want ALL evidence of our hot glue to be hidden – is exposed.
- Step 3: Add a drop of hot glue to the top of the letter. Wait “two Mississippis” before lightly pressing the twine or ribbon into the drop of glue (so you don’t burn your hand, girlfriend!).
- Step 4: Give the drop 5-10 Mississippis (max., hot glue is pretty fast-drying if ya ask me) before you begin wrapping that twine around the letter until your heart’s content!
A Few Tips:
- Mix it up and make it your own! Wrap your letter all in twine, mix it up every few inches, or wrap it entirely in ribbon. I 100% played it by ear when making mine – while cooking chicken stir fry for dinner – and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.
- As you wrap more and more of your letter, make sure to keep tabs on the front side versus the back, especially if you are multitasking. You don’t want to pour yourself a glass of wine, return to your little crafting area, and get back to it only to realize you forgot that you turned your letter over to the FRONT to take a good look at your progress – just like that, you’ve got a hot glue dollop on the cute side.
Letter Option #2: Floral Letter
Tools You Will Need:
- Hot glue gun
- Wooden letter*
- Decorative faux flower
- Acrylic paint that matches your faux flower color(s)
- Paint brush
- Kitchen scissors
*You can use an acrylic letter for this one, too! It’s really up to you and whatever is available at the store nearest you.
Steps:
- Step 1: Paint the front of the letter and allow time to fully dry (2 hours minimum; I usually leave mine out on our deck overnight).
- Step 2: Turn on hot glue gun and remove all stickers & packaging from the acrylic letter while it heats up.
- Step 3: Using kitchen scissors, snip off each flower bud until you have enough to cover the letter.
- Step 5: Turn wooden letter face up so the FRONT – where we painted and where we want ALL evidence of our hot glue to be hidden at the base of all our beautiful flowers – is exposed.
- Step 6: Add a drop of hot glue to the top of the letter. Wait “two Mississippis” before lightly pressing the green plastic flower bud into the drop of glue.
- Step 7: Repeat Step 6 until the entire letter is covered in flowers.
Happy Crafting!
Until next time, Wild-Hearted Wanderer.
xo
eg
