Our House Divided! My Auburn Garter and Gantt's Alabama Cake Topper

Something that everyone is Alabama knows is the phrase “A House Divided.” Well, Gantt and I are such a household. I am an Auburn Fan. Gantt is an Alabama Fan. And there is only one day of the year that we are unlikely to speak to one another. But instead of focusing on the controversy, I saw it as an opportunity to get creative and to show Gantt that I loved him even though he roots for the wrong team. 

About a month after we got engaged, I knew that I wanted to do a University of Alabama Themed Groom’s table. I decided that for the groom’s cake topper and as a wedding gift to Gantt I would order a mini National Championship Helmet and have it signed by Saban himself. In a surprisingly short amount of time, Coach Saban sent back the helmet with the writing “Congrats Gantt and Niki, Roll Tide, Nick Saban.” It was a perfect detail that I knew Gantt could later display in his office. The hard part about the process was keeping it a secret from him for almost 7 months! To finish off his Alabama table, my mother and I made a houndstooth table cloth which we had monogrammed with “Roll Tide,” and I made some picture frames with houndstooth bows to display pictures of Gantt and his love for the Tide. 

But of course, I had to have Auburn somewhere in the wedding! As another surprise for Gantt on our wedding day, I sported an Auburn garter set I made! I knew that when it came time for Gantt to find the garter, I wanted him to see two things: Aubie’s face and the 2010 National Championship. I handpainted a large Aubie face decorated with orange and blue rhinestones and large print that said “War Eagle.” I then sewed my Aubie masterpiece to an orange and blue satin garter I also made. The throw away garter was also orange and blue satin adorned with a 2010 National Championship pin. It was the perfect touch to start our house divided marriage. 

Here are some pictures of these details and the process of making my garter:

I hand sketched Aubie

I mixed up the right color orange and started painting with a very fine brush

All outlined!

Highighted the orange and blue

I decided to make it smaller and WAR EAGLE was added

Rhinestone paw print and I cut it out.

I added orange and blue sparkles to really make it stand out

I sewed the garter using orange and blue satin

Casing and elastic

It's finished!

 I then did a second garter for the throw away garter with a bow and the National Championship Pin! Take that Saban!

Gantt's Cake topper

Congrats Niki and Gantt!

The first time Gantt saw the cake topper! You can also see the picture frames I made for the table. Cake by Foster Street Bakery.

Look at the face seeing the garter! haha

Great Picture! Gantt's cousins battling it out for the garter.

With Gantt's cousin, Griffin, who caught the garter and MaryAnna who caught the bouquet!

boo...

Monogram Mirror with Tutorial

During my weekly daily stroll through Hobby Heaven, aka Hobby Lobby, I passed by a section in the store that I have never crafted from: the glass section. I decided to stop and see what was going on in this uncharted territory. I stumbled across some Armour Etch Cream, and after I read the label for its uses and saw the word "mirror," BAM! I had my next project. I would monogram a mirror! I had seen this technique done on the Martha Stewart show and memories of my want to do this came flooding back in. Plus, this solved the "what are we going to put over the dresser" dilemma in the soon to be (10 days!!!) Pierce Apartment-hold (it's technically not a household yet). So here's some pictures and the tutorial on how to create this:

Materials:

For the Monogram: 
-clear vinyl contact paper
-a box cutter or other type of precise blade
-a mirror
-Armour Etch cream (make sure to get this kind, not the cheaper version. Trust me, you'll end up just buying this one in the long run)
-a print out of any type letter you want to use ( I used a monogram "P" in about 700 pt. font)
-tape
-paint brush or sponge

If painting the mirror too:
-Spray Paint
-Newspaper
-Glazing Materials (see This Post)

Directions: 

To get started on our mirror, my mom graciously donated an old wooden mirror we had at the house. Little kitty once again, was my assistant....

Little kitty held the mirror up so you could see it...

 I first spray painted the wood an ivory.

After the spray paint had dried, I glazed the mirror in order to have the same finish as the dresser. For instructions on how to glaze furniture, see my post Click Here.

The mirror after the glaze is wiped off.

After the spray paint and glaze are set, remove the newspaper and clean the mirror well with Windex.

In the area where you want your monogram to go, stick a large piece of clear contact paper to the mirror. Try to not have as many bubbles as possible.

Next, tape the letter print out on top of the contact paper EXACTLY where you want your monogram to be.

Time to cut! This step can be time consuming depending on what kind of letter you use. If you do not have a steady hand, I recommend using a more print style font rather than a script like the one I used.

Use the print out letter as a stencil and cut all the way around it.

After you have cut the letter out, remove the contact paper of that letter where you have a stencil on the mirror.

Next, apply the etch cream. I used a fluffy paint brush for this step. You can use a sponge, but you will get more application with a paint brush.

You want to apply a THICK THICK layer onto the stencil. Let it sit for about 10-15 minutes.

Rinse the cream off with either a water hose or a damp paper towel. Do NOT rinse in the sink. This cream may damage the finish on the sink!

REPEAT!! This step will take several applications. Just keep rinsing and repeating until you get your desired frostiness.

After you get the mirror just as you want it, remove the contact paper and TADA! you have a monogram mirror.

Here is our monogram mirror!

My Dothan Shower

Here are some pictures from my Dothan bridal shower...

Me with all the hostesses

My Aunt Teresa, Mom, and Aunt Pam

Me with my future sister-in-law, Kaki