JUST MARRIED SIGN

I found these really cute frames and hearts at Michael's leading up to Valentine's Day.....they were natural wood when I found them (sorry, I forgot to take a few pics before I started painting).  When I spotted them, my mind skipped right past Valentine's Day and went on to other ideas.....The first thing I thought of was the styled photo shoot my daughter and I were cooking up, plus I thought they would make an awesome "Just Married" sign for one of her June couples (we offered to make their sign for them).   Hey, what could be better?, two projects for the price of one!!!

I used craft paints to hand paint the hearts, using a sponge brush.  It went really quickly, although my usual anal retentive self, I had to go back with a small brush to get all the nooks and crannies since I didn't want the bare wood to show through.  That's okay....I just put on some great music and went to town...painting and singing away.  For the small hearts, I then sprinkled some (large particle) pink glitter on top which made them sparkle oh so sweetly!  For the larger hearts, I used an off-white as my base color and then trimmed the inside edge with pink paint using a fine brush.

For the frame, I went with spray paint...it was going to take way too long to hand paint (plus we had moved out of the below zero temps and I could use the garage).  While the paint was still slightly damp, I sprinkled a bit of the pink glitter on top...pretty.   I sprayed all of the pieces with a clear matte finish to seal and protect them.    
After we used the hearts and frame for the photo shoot, I transformed two of the hearts and the frame into a chalkboard that we could write on for the "Just Married" sign.  I had shared some chalkboard projects in a previous post and as I mentioned you can use chalkboard paint on virtually anything to create a chalkboard. So, I chose to use cardboard.  Yep....you heard me right!   In this particular case it was the perfect solution since I wanted something really light since we would be hauling it with us to the wedding, plus I wanted an easy and cost effective option to remove the chalkboard in the event I wanted to reuse the frame for a future project.  The cardboard was heading for the recycle bin, so I snagged it before it made it there.

Just a word of warning....be aware that the cardboard definitely soaks in the paint, so it takes a couple of good coats to get the right finish.  I used a really awesome font to write the words and went with chalkboard markers versus plain old chalk since I wanted it vibrant and dust free.  Last step, I opted for velcro to secure it to the frame.  I used the loop on the frame, that way if I removed the chalkboard and wanted to hang it on the wall as is, the soft side would be on the back..no harm, no foul. For the hearts, I did use my glue gun to secure the chalkboards.There wasn't much room around the inside border for velcro and I know I can easily remove them from the heart without too much difficulty since they're so small.

....and there you have it.  Can't wait for June 7th!  This wedding is going to be very unique, so this sign will fit right in....stay tuned to my Facebook page for the wedding photos.