lantern to hold cards
Supplies:
- Lantern. I purchased mine from Michael’s
- clear acrylic. I purchased mine from Low’s and had them cut it down to size for me.
- Glowforge or
I started out by measuring one of the glass sides of my lantern. I used the piece that was on the door, which was a little smaller than the other sides. I thought this would be the easiest to remove and replace. Also, it would be easy for guest to open the door if a card got stuck or anything. If you do not want guest to know the door is there, the I suggest measuring the glass on the other side. Also do not forget to measure the designs on the lantern, which cover some of the glass. You do not want to make engrave text that will be hidden behind these designs.
Once I had my measurements, I made a template in Inkscape. Next, I added my words and a cut out for the envelopes. I made my card slot 0.4 inches tall and 5.3 inches long. My glass door was about 6 inches wide and 12.4 inches tall. I then made sure my words and slot where far enough from the edges that the designs on the lantern would not cover anything up.
I then ran a piece of clear acrylic through my Glowforge to make a new sheet to fit inside my door. Once the wedding is over, I can remove this clear acrylic and put the original glass back in place, and use my lantern as décor.
The words were a little hard to read, so to finish this piece off, I painted the engraved areas with white acrylic paint. I painted my engraved areas before I removed my protective tape layer. This helped keep the smooth areas of my clear acrylic clean of paint. If you get some paint on the clear acrylic, then you can simply scratch it off, or get a wet paper towel and wipe it off.
Cricut Method
A Cricut Maker can engrave into 1 mm and 2 mm thick acrylic. Any thicker and the acrylic will not be able to fit under the roller. You will need the engraving tool for this, which currently only the Cricut maker models can use. You could also cut and apply vinyl to your clear acrylic instead of engraving the text into it.
For the cut out for the cards to go through, the maximum thickness the Cricut Maker can cut through is 0.02 mm. I tried cutting plastic that was 0.02 mm thick with the both the fine point blade and the deep point blade and several passes with both, but did not have much luck. You can check that post out by clicking here. I recommend using clear plastic or acrylic that is no thicker than 0.007 mm. I have heard the Cricut Explorer Air models can cut up to 1 mm thick materials with the deep point blade, but I have not tried it. You could also just have your guest open the door to the lantern to place their cards inside.
I am very happy with how this piece turned out. It is even more beautiful than I imagined. It looks so elegant and expensive.
Table numbers
Supplies:
- acrylic cut down to size
- wood base. You could also make your own base with Jenga blocks
- permanent vinyl
- optional: pre made base and acrylic
I purchased my table numbers. It just made more since for me to purchase them, than to make them. If you want a different look, you can make them. For my table numbers all I had to do was cut my numbers out of permanent vinyl, and place them on the table number signs I ordered.
You could also engrave your numbers into your acrylic like I did for the lantern card holder above. Once my acrylic was engraved, I applied some paint into the engraved areas to help the engraving stand out more. If you get any paint on the smooth non engraved acrylic areas, then you can easily wipe it off with a wet paper towel. If they paint is already dry, then you may need to scratch it off.
The wood base also came with my table signs If you need to make your own base, then you can glue two or more (depending how large your table number is) Jenga blocks to the bottom of your acrylic to help it stand.
If you would like to make your own table numbers, then you will first need to purchase acrylic in you desired size and shape. You can also purchase lager sheets of acrylic from Lows and have them cut it down for you. You would then do the same technique I did when making my other small signs, use clear sticker paper (I used Avery clear sticker paper) and print your design onto your clear sticker paper. You can do a print then cut with your Cricut machine if you would like it to exactly cut around your designs. Make sure you calibrate your machine before doing a print then cut. I walk you through how to do this here. I wanted to utilize the entire clear sticker paper and did not mind cutting around the edges of my design with scissors. Once your design is printed and cut, you just apply it to your acrylic like a sticker. I recommend using a roller to help get any air bubbles out. You can also paint the back of your acrylic to help the words and design to stand out more.
I decided to leave the frosted plastic covering over the back of my table numbers, because it made the numbers and everything easier to read. There are also spray paints you can use to create a frosted look on acrylic. I have not tried this though.
Gift favors
Supplies:
Alternative options:
- wood cutouts
- metal cutouts
- acrylic cutouts (if you do not want the magnet to show, then you will need to paint the back)
- Permanent vinyl
- heat gun” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>heat gun
I always enjoyed the gift favors at a wedding. They help me to remember the special day. My dad has a stack of matches from weddings he attended several years ago and received as gift favors. Every time we light birthday candles he brings out his stack of matches and says who’s wedding they came from before using one to light the candles. So, for me the gift favors are very important, and I wanted to have something people would keep and use daily.
I decided to make wooden magnets for my gift favors. Everyone in my family seems to enjoy and use magnets on their refrigerators. My fiancé came up with the design for the guys and I came up with a design for the ladies. We could have done one design for everyone, but he really wanted a crane, and I wanted something with flowers and geometric shapes. So, we decided to make two different designs. We also like that a family would get two different favors instead of two of the same this way.
I created the designs in Inkscape, and cut them on my Glowforge. I did not worry about taping my wood, because a lot of people seem to like the burnt look. I then used Gorilla glue to glue a magnet on the back of each wooden piece. I made both wooden magnets about 3 inches long.
If you do not have a way to engrave into wood, then you could buy precut wood shapes (acrylic or metal shapes would also be nice) and then apply permanent vinyl to each piece with your information and design. Then, glue a magnet to the back. You could also use a scorch marker and a high temperature heat gun to create the burned wood look. I tried a scorch marker once, but did not have a hot enough heat source. So, it did not work well for me. I plan to try it out again at some point. You can check out that post by clicking here.
I am very excited to see how my guest like their wooden magnet favors. I have never received a magnet as a favor, but I think guest will really like them. A few family members have already seen them, and they were all very excited about them. What has been your favorite favor you have gotten from a wedding? I think my favorite was from my brother’s wedding. They are both chemical engineers. They made little wood stands to hold plastic test tubes that help nerds candy. Once you finish they candy they are great to put a flower in for decoration.
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