Making of a Wedding: The Card Box and Escort Cards

Once dd had decided on a lovebirds theme for her wedding, she started coming up with a lot of creative projects for me to work on. But by far the most challenging was her idea for a birdhouse shaped card box for the reception table. Truthfully, I had no idea of how I was going to pull this off... and at first I started collecting and saving all shapes and sizes of corrugated boxes, thinking I would cut them apart and reassemble them somehow to resemble a birdhouse. However, after searching online for a suitable paint to use, I learned that warping would be a problem with the corrugated board. Then while browsing at a local art supply store, I came across some foam board, and this turned out to be  the perfect solution!

I sketched my "pattern" onto some graph paper and proceeded to cut the panels of the birdhouse from the foam board. This was my first time working with foam board, and I was pleased to find that it cut so easily and smoothly with an exacto knife. After cutting the panels for the birdhouse, I sprayed them with several thin coats of Rust-oleum metallic spray paint (Pearl Mist) until I got the desired shimmer.

After the paint dried, the birdhouse was assembled using a combination of hot glue and tacky glue. The roof was made so it would easily lift off like a cover to a box, with a slit where guests could easily slide their envelopes into the the box.

Next, the fun part...decorating! Added rows of large pink scalloped "shingles" to the roof  (scallop border from Cricut Accent Essentials cartridge welded to rectangles from George cartridge in Design Studio)  using Bazzill cardstock cut with my Cricut and chalked. Fancy flourishes on the front are from From the Nest cartridge and the heart frame for the opening from George. Perched two pretty feathered doves on the front to finish it off. 

Considering this was my first attempt at constructing something out of foam board, I guess it didn't turn out too bad. Only problem is that due to my lack of spatial reasoning, this turned out way larger than expected, standing about 2 feet high, and 10 inches in depth. LOL, now that the wedding is over, I have no idea what to do with it!

And this is the reception card that was passed out to the guests. To keep with the theme, I used the same graphics and embossing folder that I had used previously on the invitations...

On the inside was a short thank you note from the bride and groom and a pocket that held each guests' beverage tickets, table seating assignment and name plates for their placecards.

I found these photo storage boxes on sale at Pricebusters and covered them with pretty Basic Grey papers and Bazzill cardstock to hold all the cards...

.... filed alphabetically so the girls at the reception desk could easily pass them out to guests as they arrived.

Okay, that's it for this time. I hope you will bear with me as I do have a few more "Making Of A Wedding" posts to do. Afterall, this was my one and only dd getting married, and our family and friends lived, breathed and crafted "wedding preparations" for the past 12 months!