I have several posts partially finished in the draft folder from before the gremlin attack that I need to sort through since I’m pretty sure it’s too late/too early for Christmas decoration posts.  Hopefully I’ll be back to pseudo-regular updates soon.

In the meantime I leave you with this….

…the single best thing to come from new product photography. Edible props….and no I don’t mean the plate!

Then, last week as I was wandering around Goodwill after dropping off a load of items we’ve finally cleaned from our closets I noticed a gold oval shaped frame.  It had icky dried flowers inside, but it still reminded me of one of my Spanish inspiration photos, and so for only 99 cents it came home with me.

While in Granada we stayed at the lovely Hotel Casa 1800, where lovely wooden & golden finishes were in abundance.

Outside each door, the room number was displayed in a lovely golden, oval shaped frame with a golden numeral on a dark background.  I thought they would make lovely take numbers, and took a quick photo to remind me.   So, with the icky dried flowers removed from my frame I quickly gathered up the supplies I would need to duplicate it.

Using my 99 cent frame, an xacto knife, glue stick and some leftover scrapbook paper I quickly threw together the following elegant table numbers.  I think these would look lovely leaned against a soft floral arrangement or sitting alone in a stand.  I also couldn’t resist the urge to switch out the black paper for pink to how romantic it would look.

These are super easy to make and just like the table numbers we used for our wedding, it doesn’t damage the frames.  This means you can reuse them later, maybe add photos from the event and gift to the special people who helped make the day happen.

1. Carefully remove the back, and then the glass from your frame.
2. Place the glass and your background paper on a cutting mat, and carefully cut around the edge of the glass with your knife.
3. Place the cut background paper into your frame, then add the glass, and finally the frame backing.
4. Place a printout of your number and the gold paper on your cutting mat, and carefully cut around the edges of your number.  You could also use an electronic cutter or even house numbers from the hardware store.
5. Apply glue with a glue-stick to the back of your number and apply to the middle of the oval.

Enjoy!  These are so easy to make, and could be a lovely, yet low cost solution for your table numbers.

What do you think?  Do you snap inspiration photos when you travel?

]]> http://dillpicklepicnic.com/2012/08/03/diy-golden-table-numbers/feed/ 1 http://dillpicklepicnic.com/2012/07/20/featured-occasions-magazine/ http://dillpicklepicnic.com/2012/07/20/featured-occasions-magazine/#comments Fri, 20 Jul 2012 19:55:19 +0000 Cece http://dillpicklepicnic.com/?p=2156 Hello!  I’ve been struggling to get caught up recently and failing it seems….or at least where my blog is concerned.  It’s been a bit crazy recently with how much my little Etsy shop has picked up.   So, while this post is a bit delayed it’s still quite exciting and a bit surreal.

Earlier this year I was contacted by one of the editors from Occasions Magazine  about creating a set of stirrers in a lovely charcoal gray to be featured in their Winter 2012 Edition.  Occasions is a really great magazine featuring venues & events around the Atlanta area.  My stirrers were included in one of the color features focusing on charcoal.

Obviously it’s surreal to see something you created featured in a magazine but I have to admit it was also  fun to have a reason to peruse a wedding/event planning magazine again!

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

I was paired with Cailin of A White Picket Fence, who lives in Toronto.  I loved glancing through all of her travels and feel a bit of jealousy that she recently visited Harry Potter-land since I wasn’t able to schedule it in during my last work trip to Orlando.  An interesting fact is during the time of this swap I was getting ready for my first trip into Canada.  With this in mind, Cailin made sure to include random bits of trivia about her homeland.

Thanks Cailin, your post card(s) made my day and I had no idea hockey & lacrosse were your national sports!  A bit of a funny story happened while I was trying to mail a postcard from Georgia for Cailin.  I mentioned that the swap happened while I was planning a ski trip to Whistler, so I picked up a pretty Atlanta post card with big plans to mail it from the post office at the airport as I left for my trip.  The reason is they have (or at least had) a really cute airplane shaped cancellation stamp with the ATL initials.  I neglected to think that with a  early morning flight they might not be open…so Cailin’s post card from Georgia was actually mailed from Canada.  Which just seems to go against this whole idea….So Cailin, I still owe you a post card that is postmarked from Georgia!

If you’d like to quickly make you own:

With my leftover stickers I was able to make over 6 feet of the bunting…which combined with the cupcake toppers is quite a bit of Valentine’s goodness for an expenditure of $1.07 (including tax)!   I’ve seen bags of rainbow foam heart stickers at my local dollar store this could be a fun birthday party decoration as well…one which your kiddos could help you assemble!

In case you missed the Easter egg ones, the process is super cheap & easy.

And repeat until you end up with these cute little guys!

I picked up the container of stickers in the Target dollar section but I’ve also seen large bags of these in rainbow colors at my local dollar store in the craft section.  The fun thing about the Target container was that after making cupcake toppers with the larger stickers, I still had a large amount of the smaller ones left over.  This means I have another project lined up tomorrow with the leftovers and rumor has it I’ll give them both away next week

Anyone else out there throwing together last minute Valentines ideas?  I’d love to see them so share those links!

We were matched with Pamela and her adorable pup Bentley.  We picked out treats and a toy for Bentley, and whipped him up a quick bow-tie collar.  Then, last week I brought home a large envelope from our PO Box addressed to Miss Cotton.  She knew it was hers the moment I walked into the door with the envelope.  I swear Cotton could smell a bag of Pup-peroni a mile away!

Pup-peroni is Cotton’s absolute favorite treat.  If we leave the bag out she will sit and stare at it for ages, and then cast a longing glace at them each and every time she walks by.  Since she dances around on her bag legs the moment you open the bag we refer to it as puppy crack.   In addition to the yummy treat Bentley & Pamela included a crunchy bone, a floppy toy and a sweet note.  We haven’t tried the crunchy bone yet, but she has already tossed the toy around the living room a few times so it’s a winner as well.

Thanks Pamela & Bentley and Thanks Kelly & Hannah for hosting such a fun swap!

For the cost of a stamp you can: Collect Box Tops & Soup Labels

Box Tops are found on various General Mills products that you already buy, like Avery, Scott, Cottonelle, Pillsbury, and other product packaging. For example we by Cascadian Farms granola bars, and they have Box Tops on them. We cut them off the packaging before it goes into the trash or recycle bin, collect them in a ziplock bag in our kitchen and mail them in once a month or so.  Same goes for Campbell’s soup labels…especially with cooler temperatures just around the corner (hopefully).

Box Tops 4 Hackleburg
This is a grass roots endeavor on Facebook, put together by a Birmingham mom and attorney to collect Box Tops for Hackleburg, Alabama schools. Hackleburg schools were destroyed which means they are starting over.She plans to deliver everything collected mid-September so you still have time to mail them a few!   
Click here for more information & Shipping Information

Box Tops for Schools Damaged by Tornadoes
This is another Facebook group started by a mom in North Alabama.  She is working to collect General Mills Box Tops as well as Campbell’s Labels for Education.  Whereas the group above is focusing on Hackleburg, Alabama schools, this group is working to distribute their collections amoung several schools effected by the April tornadoes.  They have already shipped collections to several schools in multiple states and are working with the coordinators of other effected schools to keep the effort going.  Click here for more information & shipping information

For the cost of shipping you can: Share pre-loved baby items

Boots on the Ground 365
This is a group of moms also near the Birmingham, Alabama area who have set out to help expectant moms who lost everything on April 27th gather the things they need to bring their new babies.  They are looking for new or pre-loved but in great shape baby items to help these families focus on the new blessing in their life, and even throw full baby showers for these moms-to-be.  One of the families they are helping is from my hometown…they lost so much more that most of us could even fathom, and these ladies are making a huge difference.   Click here for more information & Shipping Information

For less than $10 you can: Donate school supplies for devastated areas

Magnolia Disaster Relief

This is a group from the Atlanta, Georgia area.  They came together after the Tuscaloosa tornado, as volunteers from various organizations came together to help get relief items to the more rural areas that were effected by the storms.  Their mission is to aid our neighbors who have been affected by disasters (tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, fires, earthquakes, etc.). We especially focus on areas that have been overlooked by national media and national organizations such as the Red Cross or United Way.   They work directly with rescue squads in these areas to make sure that only the needed items are brought in, and that they are taken to places where they can be distributed to those in need.  Now post-tornado they are working to make “hit kits” with all the essentials (water, food, toiletries, tarps, etc) for a small community affected by a disaster (tornado, hurricane, flood, fire, etc). The kits will be stored throughout the Southeast and be delivered to communities directly after a disaster strikes. Then, they will work directly with rescue squads in these areas to match requests for help with resources to meet those requests.

One of the projects they are working on right now is gathering school supplies for the children in these rural areas who are still recovering post-storm.  Click here for a list of items needed & shipping instructions  and click on their logo above to learn a bit more about them and the ways you might be able to help them out!

I also noticed recently that I always take photos of the napkin wrap templates using cloth napkins…but the 4th of July is a perfect opportunity to show they work great with paper napkins as well!

(click here to download MS Word template)

I love how this one looks with my dollar store napkins and plastic cutlery!  The great thing is the napkin wrap holds the bundle together so you could make them up ahead of time!  Total Cost $2.14

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The font used in the template above is Lobster 1.4, which is free to download from Pablo Impallari.

New to Napkin Wraps?  No worries, visit this post for step-by-step instructions on how to use my napkin wrap templates!

(click here to download MS Word template)

The template above uses Monterey BT font which is free to download from SoFontes.

New to Napkin Wraps?  No worries, visit this post for step-by-step instructions on how to use my napkin wrap templates!

And now for a shameless plug….did you know I have an Etsy shop?  While it is 99% to blame for my lack of craft posts recently, I did take a break from custom orders to whip up a few sets of  red,white and blue cupcake flags and flagged straws!