Spooning Since...

I'm back!! It's been a busy summer and it's not about to slow down just yet.  I wanted to give one quick update and share a project that I created for my sweet friends to celebrate their upcoming wedding.  Last year, our good friends, Peter and Anna, got engaged and are to be married this coming October. 

I am so excited!  Not only because this means that I get to stand up with them as they make this very important commitment to each other, but it also means that I get to buy them gifts.  AND make them gifts.  P & A have a beautiful home just a mile or two from me.  It's historic, full of charm, packed full of items that I would pick out myself, and yes, I'm insanely jealous of their sun room and second floor balcony.   Because we have so much in common, it makes buying gifts for them easypeasy!  I just buy or make something I love and I know they'll love it too.

This is what I came up with:

One of the blogs I follow, Thistlewood Farms, posted about this project back in June 2012.  She actually posted about using PicMonkey, but included this adorable project.  Her original inspiration is from here, but I love TF's more rustic version.  I stored this idea in the back of my mind to create for a friend who would appreciate it.  So when Peter and Anna got engaged last October I knew this would be the perfect gift for them.  (Yes, I've been planning their wedding gift for almost a year...even before they were engaged!)
 

I tracked down the spoons at an Estate Sale a few months back (more on this later).  I had been looking around for spoons but didn't settle until I found two silver spoons that were antique, beautiful and worthy of display for many years to come.

The metal stamping set is from Michael's.  And the aluminum sheet metal is from Home Depot (it's actually some pretty heavy duty stuff - I'm sure a thinner product would've worked even better).

And the frame is also from Michael's. 

It took me two practice rounds of hammering the stamped letters, once on foil and once on another piece of aluminum sheet metal to get the letters straight.  This was my second try and it still wasn't looking so good.

I added a piece of leftover drop cloth (from reupholstering the chair) as the canvas and stuck everything to it using the hot glue gun. 

They've already hung their gift in the dining room.  Maybe it will help them remember the year that they met (Anna had to ask Peter for this...) and also serve as a reminder to spoon together - even when they might not want to. 

Congratulations friends!!  I can't wait to share your special day very soon!

As a little "lesson learned" - I wouldn't recommend stamping metal with a hammer on a butcher block kitchen island. 

Oops.

It needed to be sanded anyway.