The Guest Book Tree

I've always been confused by the idea of guest books. That frilly book always placed on a podium with an overly-extravegant pen has never quite made sense to me. When I saw the idea for a guest book tree, I knew that was my perfect replacement. I love art, and having a piece of it that would remind me of my amazing guests seemed like the perfect plan. Think about it: your guest book is probably going to go into a box never to be seen by human eyes again. A guest book tree, however, is out on a wall for you to look at and admire every day! Perfect!

My Mom, being the artistic genius she is, painted my tree on a piece of canvas from Michaels. She then bought me stamps in different shades of green to make the "leaves." We kept a box of huggies baby wipes right by the stamps to clean the guests fingers. :) My sister decorated a little chalkboard with "leaf your print" on it. SO cute. It turned out great! I hung it in our walk-in closet. It definitely is a great reminder of our wedding and the people that made it so wonderful.

Homemade Ornaments

What you'll need:
Styrofoam balls
Mod Podge or spray adhesive
Glitter
Faux craft pearl strand
Glue


Boredom inspired this fun project. I was sitting in my kitchen while my hubby, a new teacher, was at his first parent teacher conferences. I looked in the bag of craft supplies my mom sent home with me. I had everything I needed to make these! I would recommend using white styrofoam balls... mine were green and were very tough to cover. Overall, they were a super cute way to prepare for Christmas. I do recommend wearing rubber gloves to prevent your hands from looking like an extra ornament.

1. Cover styrofoam ball with mod podge.
2. With a newspaper underneath, sprinkle glitter of choice over entire ball. Let dry.
3. Cut pearl strand to make a loop to hang your ornament.
4. Push the ends of the pearl strand so one pearl on each end is pressed into the styrofoam. Cover the pearl with glue.
5. Sprinkle glitter over glued pearl.
6. Let dry completely before hanging.