Wedding Invitation Keepsake

Many years ago - 35 to be exact - my co-maker and I got married. We made a house, three kids, some books and bunch of other stuff over the years. One of my favorite keepsakes from the moment we agreed to make things together for the rest of our lives, is this lovely framed memento of the wedding invitation we sent my cousin. Instead of tossing it after the happy event, she thoughtfully decorated and framed it, then boxed it up and sent it to us as a wedding gift!

While tidying things up recently, I found myself regarding it anew and thought that in the course of freshening it up a bit, I could reverse engineer her great 35 year old gift into a nice Instructables for newly wed makers.

Cheers! And thanks again, Cousin Joanne - I still love this gift!

You'll need:

• A wedding invitation (or any invitation or announcement)
• Shadow box frame or a frame with some space between the glass and the final product
• Silk plants or dried flowers
• Felt or small felt board
• Glue

Pretty straightforward : Center up your invitation, and use either glue or a paper adhesive to attach it to the felt board. Then arrange your dried or silk flowers at the corners of the invitation - or all the way around... whatever you think looks best. Consider the space you'll need in your frame, too, as you work.

Arranging the dried flowers at the corners really made for a nice arrangement in this case. No need to overdo it - you just want to set off the invitation in an attractive fashion. My cousin thoughtfully used fall colors, since we got married in October. You can select appropriate colors, plants and flowers for any time of year.

Put it all together!

Of all the wedding gifts we received 35 years ago, this is the one we see and enjoy everyday. It was thoughtful, personal and pretty, and has traveled all over with us and enjoyed a prominent place wherever we've lived.

Framing an invitation or announcement for a friend or loved one can have a similar impact on him or her, and truly be the gift that keeps on giving.