DIY: homemade wedding gift

before we headed to germany last week for our dear friends' wedding, we wanted to make them a special gift. i took inspiration from some etsy prints and decided to make them a wooden chalkboard that highlighted  their hometowns. 

what you'll need for this project:

- wooden slab

- chalkboard paint

- sharpie paint pen (white)

- acrylic paint (red)

- paintbrush

 - paint roller
- tape
- scissors

- state and/or country stencils/ templates

first, i cleaned the wood and then drew a circle around the rim of the wood with a pencil to help determine the size of the circle. next, i painted the first layer of chalkboard paint with a brush and roller. after at least 4 hours of drying time, i painted on the second coat of chalkboard paint.

once all of the chalkboard paint was dry, i took my stencils that had been cut out (this site has good templates for US states) and taped a small corner in place. then i took my white sharpie paint pencil and outlined the stencils. 

once i had outlined the stencils, i removed the stencils and then outlined the state and country lines a few times to make the lines more bold.

once the paint had adequate time to dry, it was time to add the hearts. i should add that i realize that georgia is a state and germany is a country but i felt like this would be cuter and more recognizable than the whole USA and germany or georgia and saxony. kyle is from atlanta, georgia and antje is from jocketa, germany (in the state of saxony). the wedding was actually held in jocketa and it is absolutely beautiful (pictures to come soon)!

i drew the outline of the hearts and plus sign in pencil and then hand-painted them onto the chalkboard. we wrapped the wood in some eyelet ribbon and signed the back with our best wishes for the lovely couple. we ended up giving it to them early to avoid it getting ruined during the travel from berlin to jocketa; however, antje and kyle ended up having it on their guestbook table at the wedding! we couldn't have been more honored or happier that they loved the gift.

we hope that this gift continues to remind them of their special day and that "distance means so little when someone means so much."

i can't wait to share our pictures and stories from our wonderful trip to germany.
xo