- North America Enclosures, Inc. Keepsake Display Memory Box 11" by 14" in white
- Oracal 631 (Exhibition) vinyl sheet in Soft Pink (this was a very large sheet, with adhesive backing)
- Oracal 631 (Exhibition) vinyl sheet in Silver Grey Metallic (this was a very large sheet, with adhesive backing)
I was a bridesmaid at one of my good friend's weddings a few weeks ago.
The wedding was in California. It was a beautiful ceremony and reception, and I was so honored to be a part of their special day.
Our bouquets were so beautiful, that I managed to get it to survive 100 degree temperatures and being shoved in my suitcase on the flight home.
I knew in my quest to save it that I wanted to do something special with it when I got home.
I read a bunch of different things online about how to preserve flowers. What I ended up doing was hanging the bouquet on a string in the closet. I did this for about a week and a half. Most of the instructions I read suggested hanging it for two to three weeks, but I was too impatient. I then sprayed the flower part of the bouquet with hairspray (again, another trick I read online about preserving flowers yourself).
I decided to showcase the bouquet and wedding invitation in a shadowbox. I may end up adding more to it, like a picture and my place card. If I do add to it, I'll be sure to post about it.
To be honest, I am not all that happy with the quality of the frame that I bought from JoAnn's. I'm so glad that they increased their in-store selection of shadowbox frames. However, with the particular one I bought, I did not realize that the entire backing of it is made out of foam poster board. However, the foam may have worked in my favor, being that I really had to crunch it down over the bouquet to get it to fit, and I wouldn't have been able to do that with a backing made of harder material.
I also found the vinyl sheets to be ridiculously difficult to work with. I'm glad I used them, however, because they did a good job of disguising the foam core backing of the frame. Because the large vinyl sheets were so finicky, I cut them into strips to ensure that I would be able to lay them down smoothly, without bubbles or creases. For the inside of the backing, I did alternating pink and silver stripes. For the back (not pictured), I simply covered it in strips of the silver vinyl. I thought I was going to have so much vinyl to spare, but ultimately really didn't. It was a crash course for me in vinyl sheets!
Overall, I am really excited with how this turned out. As I mentioned, I might consider adding a few more keepsakes from the wedding to it. If I do, I'll be sure to post the final product.
I've also included a picture of me and the bride (and the bouquet, in all of it's original glory).
