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DIY Wedding Invitation Ornament

My dear friend from high school, Fran, is getting married to the love of her life, Arturo…TODAY!

Fran & Arturo
Photo credit: Erica Berger

They have already been on many adventures together, traveling the world, but I trust this new adventure of marriage, will be the best one yet!

It was all I could do to hold off posting about my wedding gift to them until today.  I’m über excited about it.  Here it is: their wedding invitation ornament.

DIY Wedding Invitation Ornament via The Thinking Closet

This project was inspired by Christy at From Glitter to Gumdrops; you can check out her original tutorial, which is pin-tastic.  I’ve had it on my “Gifties” board for quite a while now.  Since Fran and Arturo’s first Christmas as a married couple is just around the river-bend,  I thought this would be the perfect gift to make for them.

With my parents in town this past week, my Mom and I tackled this project together – – cutting, twirling, and stuffing to our heart’s content.

Part I: Cutting

DIY Wedding Invitation Ornament via The Thinking Closet
I love that their invitation text is printed in both English and Spanish.

Part II: Twirling

DIY Wedding Invitation Ornament via The Thinking Closet
We used a Crayola marker as our twirling instrument.

Part III: Stuffing!

DIY Wedding Invitation Ornament via The Thinking Closet
Here’s the ornament hanging on our “Christmas” palm tree!

We topped the ornament off with green and cream ribbon to match her wedding colors.  It really turned out just as I had hoped.

The next picture just cracks me up; a “behind-the-scenes” look at our photo shoot.  We were worried about a gust of wind blowing our glass ornament to the ground, so here’s my Mom in protector-mode:

DIY Wedding Invitation Ornament via The Thinking Closet
Doesn’t my mother have beautiful hands?

With one down, I thought it’d be easy enough to create a second ornament for their tree…this time, one inspired by a significant piece of music.

DIY Sheet Music Ornament via The Thinking Closet

I have the honor of singing a duet with Fran’s sister in the ceremony during communion; we’re singing “I Can Only Imagine” by MercyMe.  I’m really excited about it because we arranged it so it’s half in English, half in Spanish (I love any excuse to sing in Spanish).

For the ornament, I printed out the sheet music on cardstock, cut the lyrics and music into strips, curled them (gently), and my Mom did the stuffing magic on this one.

[TIP:  We found that the tighter curls didn’t work as well on the cardstock, which wasn’t as thick as the invitation paper; it tended to ball up too much inside the glass.  It worked better for the paper to only have a light curl to it, so it hugged the glass.]

DIY Sheet Music Ornament via The Thinking Closet

Working on these ornaments, I thought of all of the other important events you could commemorate using this method – – baby showers, graduations, birthdays.  Go wild!

*                   *                   *                   *

Frances and Arturo: my prayer for you is for best-friendship through life’s mountaintops and valleys, God’s peace in all circumstances, and for an ever-deepening love with every passing day, every new season.  ¡Salud!

Fran & Arturo
Photo credit: Erica Berger

Here’s where I link up!

This is Lauren, signing off.

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78 Comments

    1. Ha ha. Christy, she totally was! And it’s funny, I’ve always thought she had such beautiful hands, so I’m glad she got to be a hand model that day. Thanks for the comment love, Christy!

  1. Love this! Very Cute! And such a great way to use invitations that would generally end up in the trash. I wonder if I still have my sister’s wedding invitation? She just got married this summer and that would be a great first Christmas together gift!

  2. Lauren, You made my wedding day and this gift will be cherrished for a lifetime together with Arturo! Thanks for being such a wonderful friend and sensational writer! love following your blog xoxo

    1. Aw, Frannie. Thanks for saying that! It was truly such an honor to be able to sing with your sister during the ceremony and with my Dad on piano. Thank you for including us! It was such a beautiful day…mostly because you and Arturo are such incredible people. I’m so excited for you two!

  3. Thank you so much for sharing your project on A Crafty Soiree! I’ve featured yours this week and it will be in the post up this Thursday at midnight EST. Please come by and check it out and thank you again for joining us.

  4. Those ornaments turned out great! I made two of them a few months ago, one for my brother-in-laws wedding and one for our best friends from college. It’s such a great idea, we didn’t have any ornaments for our first Christmas after getting married, and it’s a fabulous way to make a great memory as well as an ornament. 🙂 Thanks for sharing at The Fun In Functional!

  5. Oh what a special and practical gift to treasure! I love thought-filled gifts more than anything. A very special tribute to your dear friends…and a special honor to get to sing at their wedding. WOW! So glad you shared.

  6. I recognize those hands and that shirt in the “twirling” picture! This is such a sweet project you and Marms did together. Such a meaningful gift and beautiful as well! And the pictures of Fran and Arturo are gorgeous! Amen to your prayer at the end.

    1. It was so fun to create together…in fact, we’re hoping to do some craftiness along with you, JoAlyce, and Sarah this Christmastime (like old times!). So, prepare ye!

      And yes, the photographer did an awesome job. Can’t wait to see the wedding photos!

    1. Thanks, Carla! Yes, the music one was also really fun to create – – and it seems everyone has a song that’s really meaningful to them, so it could be a fun and easy gift to make for family and friends this Christmas.

  7. stopping by from the create & inspire blog hop – what a beautiful project – and so thoughtful, i just love it! (i’m pinning it right now!)

  8. Hi Lauren, Thanks so much for leaving a sweet comment on my blog so that I could stop by & see yours! I’m enjoying my visit to your beautiful site. And I have to say this engagement photo of your friends is the best I have ever seen. Instead of a posed shot, it is a real moment between them – wow – you can see the love in their eyes. And I think your ornaments are so great – they will treasure them every Christmas for many years to come.
    Great to “meet” you!

    Warmly, Michelle

    1. You’re too kind, Michelle! Great to “meet” you, too. 😉 And I think you’re right about the photographer capturing some real moments between them; the pics were great! I can’t wait to see the ones from their wedding day…. Cheers!

  9. I absolutely love this idea! How very creative! I am your newest Pinterest and RSS follower. I hope you’ll stop by Posed Perfection for a visit soon and maybe even a follow back. Have a great week!
    Blessings,
    Nici

    1. Thanks for the visit, Rachel. You inspire me so much!

      I know – – the same is true for me. I have a file folder of all those invites; they’re so beautiful – – it’s a shame not to be able to do something with them!

  10. Now THAT is an adorable idea – makes me want to maybe do that for a holiday greeting!! I love it! Thanks so much for stopping by my blog. Glad to have found yours too. 🙂
    – Claire

  11. It was so much fun to be part of this process as your assistant!! And very special to see Fran and Arturo get married yesterday! Your gift will make their first Christmas together extra special!

    1. Thanks, Mom! You were such a wonderful co-creator; we’ll have to make it a tradition to make things together during our visits. Reminds me of when we’d make Christmas ornaments each year with JoAlyce and Sarah!

          1. Yes, it would be wonderful if you could come up with the idea and I’ll pick up the supplies!!

    1. Borrow away! I borrowed it from Christy at From Glitter to Gumdrops in the first place and I believe she borrowed it from someone else. Gotta love blogland for sharing great ideas. Sharing is caring!

  12. What a wonderful gift! I will put this on my list for future gifts as well. You and your mom make a great team – enjoy your time together!

  13. What a wonderful and memorable gift. They will treasure it…
    It will be a memory that keeps on giving every year! What a thoughtful gift ….

    hugs ~ Crystelle

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