DIY Tumblers, Bachelorette Style!

Hi everyone! Exciting news, guest blogger Leah  is back with us this week teaching us how to make both a thoughtful and useful DIY project! 

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I’m baaa-aaaack!  As promised, I had a little something up my sleeve for the Bride’s bachelorette party.  The Bride and twelve of her nearest and dearest spent a lovely weekend in Healdsburg, California.  After an amazing day of wine tasting (well, let’s face it, wine DRINKING), we were in need of lazy day by the pool.  And what better pool partner than a personalized plastic tumbler for staying hydrated?  So, here it is! 

I shopped online for a good buy on plastic tumblers before landing on these gems-turquoise with a touch of bling.  I purchased them in bulk and they arrived unscathed within days.  Before personalizing them, I cleaned them in simple soap and water and let them air dry.

After the tumblers were dried, I took letters that I had printed, and placed them inside the cup.  You can use stencils or vinyl letters, but printing from my computer allowed me a few more font options.

  

With the letter placed firmly against the inside of the cup, I used white enamel paint to paint on the first letter of each bachelorette partier’s name.  In the event of repeat letters, I used a different font.

As the paint dried, it tended to bunch a bit…gravity at work.  To avoid too much clumping, I rotated the cups and turned them upside down to even out the paint.  After the first coat dried, I applied a second coat.  This made the letter more opaque and cleaned up some of the brush strokes.

  

Once I had all of the letters painted, it was time to add some pop to the presentation.  A local store was having a great sale on reusable ice cubes.  I stocked up and loaded each tumbler with about a dozen ice cubes.

Then, I printed out five super delicious wine drink recipes.  As we would be in wine country, I thought this seemed appropriate.  I tried to match the drinks to our Bride (Emerald Isle for her Irish roots, a Spanish mixed drink for her time in Spain, etc), but a yummy drink is a yummy drink. 

I cut out each recipe and punched a hole in the top.  I lined these up with a name-tag made for each girl and tied them around the top of the cup. 

The cups traveled to Healdsburg from San Diego via Folsom, so I was very nervous as I opened the box at our rented house; but, they all made it in one piece and complemented the weekend nicely.  As the sister-to-be, it was fun to be a part of the bachelorette weekend—meeting friends, drinking wine, lounging by the pool, and…of course, staying hydrated. 

Thanks for letting me “Make It Happen Monday” as the fiance’s sister.  Can’t wait until the next time I MIHM as an official Girls Team Sister-In-Law!

Birthday Sign - DIY Gift

Last week, my Girls Team partner was off enjoying vacation while I was panicking about what to get my dad for his birthday. My dad is hard to shop for because he never wants anything, and I feel like I get him a rotation of the same gifts every few years...books, golf balls, something for the pool. Repeat. But this year, I wanted to do something different and clever. My dad has been working so hard to help with all the wedding planning over the last 8 months. He has been so supportive, from acting as a psychiatrist to master carpenter. So, I wanted to get him a thoughtful gift related to this. 

As our loyal MIHM readers know, my dad has been spending a lot of time in the garage, a.k.a. the MIHM Wood Shop, making signs and more signs. I decided I would make him a gift to thank him for this, but also to show him I've learned a thing or too from hanging out in the wood shop with him! So I settled on a sign for the garage. 

I went to Michaels and bought a wood plaque, wood letters, glue and orange paint. Then I went to Lowe's to buy mini tools to spray paint. I was able to use the last of the chalkboard paint and gold spray paint we already had in the MIHM wood shop. 

Chalk paint pens, orange acrylic paint, new brushes, all-surface glue. Not pictured: Chalkboard paint and gold spray paint.

How cool are these wooden letters from Michael's? $1.29 each, very affordable. The only downside is that Michael's staples the price tag to the back of each letter, so if you plan to work with these, set aside about 20 minutes to remove the heavy duty staples. Blurg.

Mini tools from Lowe's, ready for my favorite product: GOLD SPRAY PAINT. :)

First I painted the wooden plaque with chalkboard paint. If you're a regular reader, you know I can do this in my sleep by now. Also, since I wasn't actually going to be using chalk or chalk paint pens on this piece, I skipped the primer.

While the plaque was drying, I painted the letters orange. 

I did two coats for a more solid look. (I chose orange for the Giants, obviously.)

Then I spray painted the tools. Unfortunately the hammer was too big for the wood plaque, so I didn't end up needing that item.

I let everything dry for 24 hours. Then, I used a special all-surface glue from Elmer's to glue the letters and tools to the board. I was worried about the glue not bonding to the chalkboard paint. So after I glued everything, I put a sheet of wax paper over the plaque, and weighted it down with some heavy blocks. I let this sit overnight with the pressure bonding the letters and mini tools to the plaque. When I came back the next day, everything was set and solid!

I was so excited to give my dad his new sign to decorate the garage - MIHM Wood Shop - and he was very impressed with my work! Now he is just deciding where to hang it in the garage. Happy birthday to my dad, our MIHM construction guru!