DIY

Today I wanted to share a little DIY project I worked on last month as a gift for my friends' wedding. I wanted to give them something personal that could also serve as a memento of their big day. After a little searching around, I finally landed on this idea from Pinterest, originally from Brooklyn Limestone.

Photo from this post.

She used a porcelain marker, which I tried desperately to find. Unfortunately, my local Michael's only had gross brown left... So I did a little more searching, and found that as long as you don't run the dishes through the dishwasher, a Sharpie will work just as well!

Options

So my next order of business was to choose the right dishes. I knew I wanted to find a serving platter and I thought a cute little dish (for dips, etc.) would be a nice accompaniment. I ended up choosing the set on the right because I thought that the proportions were more appealing.

Then I got to work sketching out different designs. I knew I wanted to include their names and wedding date, and that I wanted it to be fairly simple. They've just moved and I wasn't sure what their new home style would be, so I wanted to be sure that the platter and dish would go with whatever they have in their new place. After a dozen or so options, I chose one and was ready to sketch it onto the platter. I. WAS. TERRIFIED. Luckily, if you mess up - Sharpie will wipe off with a damp paper towel, as long as you do it right away.

In progress

I decided it would be easiest to center the design if I cut it out and taped it onto the platter, as seen in the photo above. I chose to use washi tape because it's not as sticky as regular tape and would be easier to peel off afterwards. I made sure it was level, and then used the tape as a guide for keeping my lettering straight.

Closeup of the final design.

After the hard part, I sketched a little heart onto the small dish...

 And filled it in...

And then it was ready to bake! (30 minutes in a 350 degree oven).

The finished product:

According to A Beautiful Mess, Sharpie will withstand handwashing but not the dishwasher, so I made sure to note on the bottom of each dish that they were 'hand wash only'.  So there's my little DIY wedding gift - what do you think?