1 year "Paper" Anniversary Plaque

There are particular blogs I read daily. Some people read the daily paper with their coffee, I chose to read the ramblings of Stephanie & Katie... they are my bff's and don’t even know it! So when they announced their new LinkUp

“Saw it. Pinned it. Did it.”

I jumped at the opportunity to post my first of many DIY projects.

                    
I racked my brain as to what to do for my new hubby for our 1 year anniversary. We were already spending money on our trip so I didn’t want to spend a ton, plus, I’m a lover of DIY and I will use any excuse to make something myself. I perused pinterest and esty… NOTHING. I was going crazy.  

So for this project I took the paper anniversary quite literally and used……… PAPER! That was a thinker.

For inspiration I took some of these ideas and threw it into one!

For our wedding, Pastor Larry asked Michael & I to come up with words describing one another and he would incorporate them during our ceremony.

                            Let’s just say, we know each other well and

           I don’t think either one of us were surprised by the chosen words.

I hope that this plaque sits in my home forever, whether it be on a bookshelf or hanging on the wall. Hell, maybe my kids will love it and want it one day to remember their Ma & Pa. God I hope they never call us that! Sure most people when looking at it at first glance wont know what the words stand for or even the roman numerals, but I kinda think that’s what makes it special.

So, let’s get to it… how to make a simple diy paper anniversary plaque.

My dad saved a newspaper from the day that Michael and I tied the knot, but you can use any background. I even thought of using a map of the location since our wedding was semi-destination.

What you will need:

1.   8x10 canvas, mine is from Hobby Lobby. I made it small so that it can subtly sit anywhere in my room as decor.

2.   Jar of Mod Podge, also from Hobby Lobby.  (ALWAYS use a 40% coupon!)

3.   Foam brush, found anywhere! I feel that the foam brush allows the mod podge to coat evenly.

4.   Newspaper, map, etc. for the background.

5.   3M CLEAR Full Sheet Labels

     Clear an area where the canvas can sit overnight. I propped the canvas over a paint can, so I could completely wrap the newspaper over the sides of the canvas to the back for complete coverage.

First lightly cover the canvas with a layer of mod podge (it has a glue consistency) so the newspaper has something to adhere to.

     Then I cut various sections out of the newspaper usually around 4”x4”… some were 3”x6”, some were 1”x2”. Just try and keep the print small so that the words you chose for the plaque aren’t competing with a bold newspaper headline. Avoid any print with a picture in the background or overly bold text. 
 

Lay the strips of newspaper in various angles and all different directions so that it looks random.. you really can’t mess this part up. Along the way smooth out any bumps so the newspaper is flat on the canvas.

     When the canvas is completely covered by the newspaper, again give it an all over coat of the mod podge and let it dry over night.

     Finally, you can use any print program that you want, I used power point simply because it is already set to an 8x11 frame and allows me to move the words in different text boxes to the location of my liking. Choose your words, your favorite quote, a picture of the two of you, etc. and arrange to your liking.

Here is where you will use your 3M CLEAR full sheet labels. You will need an inkjet printer. Use these labels as you would a sheet of paper, place it in your printer and print! It may need to dry a few minutes to avoid smudging. Next peel off the backing and align the label with your newspaper covered canvas and STICK! Viola! Trim any edges or fold them over the sides of the canvas, you wont see much of a seam.

Last, take your mod podge once again and give it a good final coat. Don’t worry, it comes out clear! I'm loving how it turned out & the hubby really appreciated how much thought I put into it.

 

Pin It!

Hopefully this little guy will be sitting on our bookshelves for years to come!
                            Dream Job #25: Professional Pinterest Pinner 

Anniversary Recap

So this definitely happened a month ago, but bear with me I'm still getting use to this whole blogger thing... This trip is actually one of the reasons that I wanted to start blogging. Mike and I will be moving somewhere where we know NO ONE, other than the people in his office, so I see many side trips in our future, “exploring” if you will. I want to document all of the fun things that we do in Virginia and the surrounding areas so that everyone will want to come visit us!! Until then, our one year wedding anniversary recap in Virginia Beach, VA.

My friend Alissa, whom I know from high school and college moved to Virginia Beach when she was in the NAVY, her husband is still a Chief in the Navy so the lucky ducks live life on the beach! Mike and I wanted to go somewhere beachy/relaxing and not too pricy, so I hit Alissa up one night for her "reviews" on VA Beach. We ended up staying a few nights with Alissa & George, and a couple of nights in a suite in the VA Beach town center. We had a blast meeting all of their friends, (NAVY people are awesome/crazy!) we hung out at the local hot spots and even got to go out on a friends boat for a day!

Alissa & George

One of our favorite bands, O.A.R. was playing at the American Music Festival which is held right on the beach, no shoes allowed! We’ve seen this band a dozen times; from Texas to Louisiana, now in Virginia. Every show is better than the last! They are such a fun, rock out, reggae, “I’m feeling good” band. A must see!

 

We had a boat day on Alissa’s friends AWESOME boat!!! We went to an “island” with an outdoor bar called the Tiki Hut. Pretty popular place apparently. We all eventually swam ashore, had some drinks, played corn hole, and listened to a band… great day in my book! Our sunset drive back to the mainland included MULTIPLE dolphin sightings!

 

Chief George took us to the Navy base one day. IT WAS AWESOME! I’ve never been to any sort of military base, so I was truly surprised to see that it’s basically a little city within a city. The HUGE Navy ships are everywhere; it’s just like the movies! Ha. We got to get up close and personal with the spy planes that George is in charge of, personal items weren’t allowed, so no pics, sorry!

Monday, our actual anniversary we hung out at a local beach and just lounged… it was nice and relaxing. Our dinner that night at Mahi Mah’s, was probably the 5th time we ate crab on our trip, but we never got sick of it! Mike and I are huge foodies; and when I say foodies, I mean WE LIKE TO EAT! Everywhere we go we try the local cuisine and end of gorging ourselves. Needless to say our anniversary dinner was delish! 

For dessert, of course, we ate the top of our 1 year old red velvet cake. Now, I had several people warn me that this was going to be bad, disgusting actually... Including everyone that asked me about the cake as I CARRIED IT THROUGH TWO AIRPORTS, sent it through the metal detector and sat it on my lap the entire way to Virginia! We were gonna eat our dang cake on our anniversary! Well I’m here to say, it wasn’t terrible, but it was definitely very sugary! 

yep, I'm the dork that took one of my table numbers to take our 1 year anniversary photos!

Now, PRESENTS!!!!!!! The paper anniversary. I put a lot of thought into this gift, I scoured pinterest for ideas, and even Etsy… nothing! I was super frustrated, until I remembered that Pastor Larry asked Mike and I to provide him with 5-8 words describing what we loved about one another and he would present them to us during his sermon. Words + paper = perfect gift! My gift to Michael was a canvas covered in newspaper with the words we used to describe one another. The newspaper was from our wedding day that my dad saved for us, so it had special meaning. I loved how it turned out! 

Michael, being the good listener that he is, got me tickets to the Lion King, I’d been talking about it nonstop for months!!! And don’t worry, there is a tutorial coming for the Paper Anniversary Plaque. Until next time...