A simpler blackboard guest book

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Effing Martha Stewart. Why does she have to make everything look so easy? Of course her magazines showcase all the other amazingly talented crafty people in the world. I already know that I am craft challenged. But I can't give up hope. I just know that one day, when I'm planning a party, and I decide to attempt one of her amazing party ideas it will work. I will burst in to tears and my knees will buckle and I will fall in to a triumphant heap on the floor. But until then, I will try as hard as I can to figure out easier ways to achieve end results similar to hers. Take the blackboard guest book featured in Martha Stewart Weddings for instance. Seems pretty easy right? Well, these types of standing blackboards are expensive. I thought that instead we could use blackboard paint and make our own. But all my wood working helpers told me it wouldn't work. Why didn't you try to make it yourself you ask? Because I am even worse with home improvements then with crafts. Just as I was about to give up on the idea A came through with the perfect blackboard we could borrow. Yeah!!!! But alas, the board had to be set up indoors so with unnatural lighting and camera flash, this idea was doomed.
Above is the best shot that I got. Our intention had been to make these in to a digital photobook for the guest of honor. As hard as we tried to get everyone to write a message, we missed more then half of the guests at the party. If there had been one entry point, this would have worked a bit better. Or if we could have had it in a more prominent place at the party, people would have seen it and been a bit more playful. I could see this working. But next time I would certainly do it differently. To start, I don't think you need the big chalkboard. Recently I have seen two alternatives that I feel would work great.
Paper Source has these Wallies that adhere to the wall. The pack comes with four so you can either use just one, or do some sort of creative layout. These are sold for $19.95 and say they are removable.
There are also options available from One Step Ahead. They sell a 2 pack of 9" x 12" panels for $9.95. It comes in slate or schoolhouse green. They also have an option for a 25" x 38" panel for $24.95. I would certainly give this idea a try again in the future. Once I fail a second time, though, I write it off as an impossible task. So far on this list is surfing, being in the cold and giving myself a pedicure. Has anyone else used this guest book idea? I am curious about the results...

S-

Inspiration photo via Martha Stewart Weddings

Photo of world's most adorable boy by me

Wallies photo via Paper Source

Letter chalkboard panel photo via One Step Ahead

BTW - this week is moving week. This will probably be my last post. Check back next week!!!!!

Be my guest

We've moved to www.cupcakesandcutlery.com - you'll be redirected to this post in a moment.

Dear Minutes,

Look, I know that there are only so many of you in a day. But I wanted to bring you up to speed on a few things. Have you heard of cloning? Cause they are doing it with sheep now. That isn't useful to me. But if you could get cloned, minutes, just think of all the stuff I could get done. Like O's party pictures. People are asking for them. And I just don't have enough of you to get those posted. Take right now for instance. I have a few spare of you and I am doing a super quick post so as not to leave the readers hanging (fyi, I usually write these the night before they show up on the blog). But then you know what I am going to do? Go to sleep. I don't feel good. My 4 month old is also sick. I imagine he'll want to take a chunk of my minutes in the middle of the night. Just because he can. So please, I beg you. Just say you'll look in to it. Also our ground transportation has improved by leaps and bounds. So instead of flying, like your kind (time) seems to do, please use a slower mode of transport. It would really help us all out. You see, I co-hosted an amazing bridal shower a few weekends ago, and those pictures need to get posted too. The Paper and Cake downloadable tablescape was AWESOME and I really want to show you what we did with it. But, time flies and that post is still on the to do list. At the shower the bride showed me something super cool though, and I am not sure why I didn't think of it (on account of how super cool I am). So I am going to take a few of you minutes and show you her beautiful guest book. We have all done the digital photo books by now. We've probably even branched out a bit and made recipe books. But she did one for her wedding guest book. Had this been around when I got married (or it probably was but hardly any one had digital cameras back then) I totally would have done this. She took her engagement photos and uploaded them to Shutterfly and is using that as her guest book. The rest of you are probably like, duh, but I hadn't thought of that!! For about $30.00, she has the best keepsake ever!!!! We used a blank Kolo photo album for ours but then you end up with all kinds of empty pages. Same thing with a traditional guest book. Not sure why most books include enough space for everyone at your party to leave their sentiments, which is usually their name or a brief sentence, but also enough room for the service staff, all your vendors, the little kid down the street and his science teacher. Lame. There are a ton of options available for these photo guest books including however many pages you want, cover finishes, design elements, font styles. Sheesh! I am so jealous. Of course all the other photo sites do these books too, but I really like how hers came out so I am sharing hers. You can purchase one just like it from Shutterfly. Thank you for your time, minutes (ha!). I appreciate you hearing me out.

Sincerely,

S-

Board, Not Bored

I LOVE these! While I’m pretty sure these blank board books were created for scrapbooking junkies, they could be used in so many other cool ways. How about a guest book full of wishes for a baby shower or a first birthday party? Or, if you’re feeling a little more crafty, how about rounding up the kids and letting them create their own stories at your next soiree? The books come in a small size which is 5”x 5” for $3.00 each or a larger 8” x 8” book which are $5.00 each and are available online at Romp. You can also get a version from Oriental Trading but I’ve heard they don’t hold up quite as well. My inner Martha can’t wait to get her hands on one (or twenty).

a-