DIY Coffee Filter Monogram Letters

As I may or may not have mentioned a few times before, my sister got married over Christmas break! As her maid of honor (and more importantly sister) I got to help out with a lot of dreaming and scheming to make the big day happen. One of my favorite projects was planning a bridal shower in our hometown for her. Showers are SO fun, because you get to plan crafts, food, the whole shebang! Today I'm sharing one of my favorite DIY projects from that day! I wanted something fun to hang above the food table, and created....

DIY Coffee Filter Monogram Letters

What you'll need: 

cardboard, sharpie, scissors or a boxcutter, coffee filters, coffee or tea, cake pan, hot glue

1. First, you'll need to draw the shape of your letters on the cardboard and cut it out. It's important to try and find cardboard that is thick enough to hold its shape, but not too hard to cut through. 

2. Next, start folding your coffee filters. I used about 50 for two 1.5 foot tall letters. You'll need to fold them in half, then in half again to create a triangle shape like shown below. Try not to squash them too much during the process — you'll want them to still look ruffly and keep their folds. Place your folded filters into a cake pan. 

3. Brew tea or coffee and pour it over your letters, trying to distribute them evenly. I used coffee for half of mine, and tea for the other half so that my end result would have two slightly different colored letters. Pour enough coffee to coat all of the filters, but try not to leave too much liquid sitting at the bottom. Your filters will start to flatten out at this point, but as long as you don't push down on them they'll regain their shape after they dry. 

4. Put the pan in the oven! Check on them every once in awhile, and once they are completely dry take them out. (IMPORTANT: They need to be completely dry. If they're damp at all, they'll eventually start to mold. This happened to me with my first batch... it was disgusting. Learn from my mistakes! That being said, I'm assuming they'd catch on fire or something if you left them in for too long. Lesson learned: just check them. A lot.) My filters were dry after about 15 minutes on medium heat. 

5. Hot glue the filters onto your cardboard letters in your desired pattern! 

(Excuse the poor quality photo! My phone that had all nice photos of this project finalized bit the dust recently... so I stole this from my sister's Instagram.)

And voila! An elegant party decor idea that is (literally) made of trash.

lyric designs: Sam & Caleb

Hello, awesome readers! 

Lately, I've been picking up more and more design jobs, especially invites/programs/etc. for weddings. These are my favorite things to design! It's so fun to work with couples to get to know their styles and create something one-of-a-kind for their special day. Over Christmas break my sister got married (YAY!) and I got to design all of the paper products for her and her lovely husband, Caleb. 

All of the hand-painted details were my favorite part. They had an idea of what they wanted I got to be a part of it coming to life. 

Interested in having me design something for you? You can get ahold of me by clicking on the "contact" button at the top of the page, or check out my portfolio. 

Sam's Wedding Shower Inspiration

As I mentioned here, my sister got engaged a few months ago! As the maid of honor, I've been in charge of planning a bridal shower for her. Which has turned out to be a VERY good thing... it helps me get the wedding-bug out of my system by living vicariously through planning for her. ;)

Today I'm sharing some images that have been inspiring me while planning for the shower! 

1// [source] These flower embellished toothpicks are adorable and would be so easy to make! 2// [source] I'm thinking I could recreate this look pretty easily with coffee filters and cardboard letters... DIY post coming soon! 3// [source] I'm on the hunt for some brightly colored feathers. 4// [source] This would be the perfect backdrop for a table setting of delectable desserts, am I right? 5// [source] We're trying really hard to bring a springtime feel to a winter wedding. I'm trying to make wildflowers happen! 6// [source] These doughnut rings are one of the cutest things I've ever seen. And so easy! 

Any other bright ideas? What's inspiring you this week?

B & R

Last weekend I was so lucky to get to be a part of the wedding of some of the very best people I’ve been graced to meet in my life so far. My good friends Becky and Robert tied the knot in the one-of-a-kind city of Grand Rapids!

Becky and I met while studying abroad together in the unforgettable land of Romania this past year. She’s one of those oh-so-rare people who come into your life, and you instantly know that they’re never going to leave it. I have learned so much from her and feel incredibly lucky to get to spend time with a lady so wise and passionate.

The wedding was so them; they wanted to have time to spend with the people they love, so they rented out an entire camp for the weekend. It was great to meet up with friends I hadn’t seen since school let out, explore the woods, and dance my tail off. Since I was so busy preparing for the wedding, I don’t have too many pictures of the actual festivities. But Sir Matt and I did take the opportunity to take a mini roadtrip and do some exploring of our own…

 The two actually decided to get married while Becky and I were overseas in Romania, and since there were only a few months until the June date they had in mind, Becky and Robert began planning over the magical powers of Skype. I got to listen to her gush about this incredible man and all of the plans they had in store. The girls living in our apartment at the time (Apartment Jane, as it was so dubbed) even decided to throw her a “Pre-engagement Bridal Shower” with our limited Romanian resources. And when I finally met Robert this past winter, I realized why she was so smitten! These are one those couples who are going to change the world people.