Make a really unique encasement for displaying your wedding invitation and youll have made a family heirloom and keepsake. Its really easy to make and will allow you to hang the invitation on a wall or just set it on a stand. You will need two panes of glass which are slightly larger than the size of the invitation.
Use an extra invitation to make the keepsake. If the invitation is one piece of printed paper you need to do nothing to it. If the invitation is one that opens use it in an open manner to display inside the glass. You might need an extra large glass pane to do this. Center the invitation and use a strip of double-sided tape to hold the invitation in place. After the paper is centered on one of the glass pieces glue the second glass on top of the first.
If the keepsake arch youre making will hang on the wall glue a piece of twine onto the glass at this time. Glue one end of the string towards the top corner of the glass and the other end of the string to the opposite corner to make the wall hanger. Glue the twine close to the edge of the glass. If the arrangement youre making will stand on a shelf omit this step. Use glue dots to attach the two glass panes together. The dots are inexpensive and can be found at any craft store. Position the dots across the top, down the sides and across the bottom. Stay close to the edges when you put on the dots of glue. Place the top glass onto the other glass to encase the invitation. Dont worry about the fact that you can see the glue through the glass. Theyll later be covered by the arch. Use a bendable wire to make the arch that will cover the corners of the glass. Bend the wire to an arch shape that reaches from one bottom corner of the frame, across the top, and down to the other bottom corner. There are many different things you can use, along with the wire, to make the archway. Have you ever seen those flat, white, circular cotton pads, used for removing makeup? They work great! Punch a hole in the center of each one and slide them onto the wire. Or, cut circles from a plastic grocery bag and add them to the wire. Another option is to slide silk flowers onto the arch. Cut circles from foil, scrapbook paper, or even white fabric. After the wire is completely full glue it onto the top glass pane. When you glue the arch to the front of the glass pane position it to where it hides the two top corners. Outline the arch shape onto the pane, with hot glue, then quickly set the wire arch in place. The fluffy circles on the wire will cover the top corners and make the entire arrangement look like an arch. If you are making the type of keepsake that stands on a shelf youll take steps to create the base now. Use a piece of wood as the base for the archway. Glue two narrow strips of wood to each other, across the bottom of the glass, trapping the panes between the wood. Glue the small wood pieces, along with the glass edges, to the larger single wooden piece. The large base will hold the whole arrangement and the smaller pieces will help hold the glass in the center of the base. If you made the archway with the makeup remover pads, or the plastic circles, you can further embellish it with tiny silk flowers. Embellishments can even be placed between the panes before theyre glued together. Stickers, confetti and other flat objects can be glued to the first pane of glass, along with the invitation itself. Make the keepsake arrangements for your parents, in-laws and yourself. The keepsake can be made from a wedding picture instead of an invitation. If you dont have the items needed to make the arch just trap the picture or paper between the panes and use metallic tape to hold the edges of the panes together. The tape dispenses like Scotch tape and is found at craft stores. The golden accents of the tape give the final wall hanging glitz and glamour. Get out a few of your wedding pictures, invitations or thank-you cards. Theyll make great family heirlooms one day.
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