The "Guestbook"

It's finished... Yay!  I was sweating it out there for a little while!  My cousin wanted something "different" for her wedding guestbook.  She found what she wanted on Pinterest and began looking around.  She priced them on Etsy and it would have been 150.00 for the one she was interested in.  That was way out of the budget and when you have a cousin who will try anything once, she figured "we" could pull it together.  I "surprised" her by giving it to her at her bridal shower today :) 

All these hearts had to be sprayed with an acrylic sealer

After drying, all the edges were edged with brown sharpie marker.

The hearts will be signed by their guests and dropped into a slot at the top of the frame.  The hearts fill up the space and the finished piece can be hung up after the wedding.  This heart in the mason jar?  The first of 100 that had to be edged.  Good times.

The main "ingredients"

The frame is a shadow box.  I found burlap "paper" for the background and added a strip of ribbon to cover the seam where two pieces of paper meet in the middle.  Thank goodness my husband is always around to help me out when I get in over my head.  He cut the spacers to allow for the hearts to drop smoothly into the box, along with cutting the slot in the top and creating the piece that makes it look like a bank slot; he also helped with some of the assembly.  The heart in the middle is actually sandwiched between two panes of glass.  Needless to say, it was a bit complicated and I couldn't have done it alone.  I had to laugh...when we were testing it out, the whole thing reminded me of a plinko game with the little hearts all fitting around the big heart in the center.  My favorite part... the cute little sign :)

The finished product!!

I was so nervous that it wasn't going to come together, that she wasn't going to like it, but she was THRILLED and it made her cry when she opened it :)  The groom-to-be was also very impressed and both can't wait to see it fill up on their special day.  Yay! Success!

My favorite part of the shower... Cookies! Yum :)

So, all in all, it was a good day... only one more event to be involved in before the wedding (her bridal party is planning a bachorlette party... ps. I am not a fan of these).  The big day is in September... hopefully I will remember to get a picture of the "book" when it is all filled!