Wedding Decor

I hate to start such a great post out on a sad note. I just couldn't make a post today without acknowledging him.

Today marks the 6 year anniversary of the loss of a friend and fellow firefighter to my fiance. 04/11/06 LODD Kevin Apuzzio.

He was a great guy, even though we only knew him for a few months he made a great impact in our lives. He was quite the jokester.

Thinking of you always, Kev.




Now for the happy part:

I tie the knot in 416 days. *faints*






Now that I've regained my composure...


I'm going to be a DIY bride. I refuse to spend a lot of money on one day but yet I still want it to be special. We are having a mixed theme. Country western and firefighting... :)

One thing I've seen across blogland is wooden, rustic signage, but man, these suckers can get expensive. I decided to try some of my own.

I started with some pallets, chopped them up and spray painted them.

Do yourself a favor and don't accidentally step one of them freshly painted. It's not good, for the wood or your sneaker. Not that I did that or anything.

I collected some carbon copy paper, acrylic paint, a thin paintbrush and my wording. I printed them in the font Simply Glamourous which can be found on my Pinterest here.

I had forgotten to take a photo "before" I traced it so you can see the pencil lines on the paper.

The carbon copy was hard to see on the brown paint. It was also hard to map out where I wanted the letters to sit. I'm so indecisive, I just put them down and traced them out.

Here comes the fun part. I do NOT have a steady hand. I used a small brush and very little paint. After shaking the paint up, I took the lid off and dipped the brush in the little bit of paint that was in the lid. Once dried I went over it a second time to darken it up a bit.

I was a little skeptical at this point. I didn't really like it and my dreams of having these fancy signs at my wedding were drifting away.

I took some fine sandpaper and just started giving it a bit of elbow grease. I did half of it and started jumping up and down. I was LOVING it. LOVE-ING!
Mr. Penguin even liked it. (Can I call him Mr. yet?) Fiance Penguin. HA!

Got the whole thing done and was ready to snap some pics.

Peek-a-boo Mr. Fiance Penguin.

I try to get all artsy photographeresque with my Droid camera phone, it's all I have.
Mr. Fiance Penguin says I should try to sell them. He said I can't sell this one though. I asked, "Why not? Wanna buy it?" He didn't take the bait. I'm a bit iffy about making them to sell, but maybe...just maybe.

I have PLENTY more ideas running around my head for signs. That poor hamster up there must be tired by now. ;)

Linking up to: DebbieDoos Newbie Linky Party, Craft-o-Maniac Monday Linky Party, An Original Belle- Make it yourself Monday, Serendipity and Spice: Manic Monday, DIY Project Parade, Vintage Wanna Bee: TALENT TUESDAY