Last minute crafty romantic gesture help!

jtr2803

Hi All,

Well there is nothing like leaving things 'till the last minute.....

My gorgeous boyfriend and I are off on holiday next Sunday and it's his birthday just after we get back, he claims to not want anything and to be honest the holiday has wiped us both out a little so money isn't abundant.

I wanted to take something with me that I can give to him after a nice romantic dinner (I did him a scrapbook for our first xmas together and he absolutely loved it so he likes handmade bits and bobs). So I today printed off the lyrics to the song 'At Last' by Etta James and we both really like it and I was thinking of framing it in some way BUT I don't just want to write it on a bit of paper and buy a cheap frame, I would like to put a bit more effort into it and make it very personal but time is of the essence.

Any ideas? Should I get a frame and just do some nice edging round the lyrics or shall I make the frame....can't be anything too large/heavy as it's got to go in my suitcase. Doesn't really have to be framed either.....what else could I do with the lyrics....

Would be very grateful for some creative ideas

nykied

I don't know about the actual lyric bit, but you could buy a wooden frame from a charity shop, sand it a bit and then paint it to match your house or his favourite colour?

nykied

Sorry, meant to say that those paint tester pots are ample for a picture frame and they're only about one pound.

qwiksave

You could illustrate around the song words - maybe with a collage of magazine pictures or photos of yourselves.

Found this as an example:


Plus other inspirational ideas from this site. HTH:)

jtr2803

Thank you both for the tips and advice

I first decided on a box frame so I could have 3d elements to it, then I thought about getting it printed on canvas which I would decorate but was worried that if I messed it up, I couldn't get another one in time.

I went to hobbycraft last night and the only box frame they had was a rather large one with three small windows which wasn't what I was looking for, tried TK Maxx for a frame but couldn't find one, was about to give up when I popped into Asda home and got a nice brown frame (will match our decor) with a slight recess for £6. Then I whizzed back to hobbycraft to see how to decorate it. After wandering around forever I settled on going for his favourite colours. The recessed part is in the middle with a cream 1" edge before the actual edge of the frame, I hope that makes sense? I was thinking of writing the lyrics all the way round the edge of the frame, leaving the middle free.

I bought a lovely deep purple card for the centre, some 3d silver glittery hearts, some bright orange ribbon, silver letters (to do our names) and some orange and purple tissue paper....not too sure what to do with it yet but it was 49p a batch so thought it may come in handy.

Current plan is to stick the ribbon is a diaganol pattern across the purple card and then put our names in the bottom corner, his running horizontally and mine vertically as they both end in the same letter, then have the 3d hearts in the middle. Does that make any sense?

Any ideas what to do with the tissue paper? I don't want it to be mega fussy....I did think about cutting the words for the song lyrics out of newspapers but the song has the word 'clovers' in it......can't see me finding that very easily in a paper :rotfl:

spiddy100

Hiya

I don't know if it's too late but I have just been making a present for my husband and printed off a map showing the area we had our first little flat and where we got married.

Could you maybe print off a map of where you first met (or another significant place to you both) and use part of that in the centre?

qwiksave

jtr2803 wrote: »

Thank you both for the tips and advice

I first decided on a box frame so I could have 3d elements to it, then I thought about getting it printed on canvas which I would decorate but was worried that if I messed it up, I couldn't get another one in time.

I went to hobbycraft last night and the only box frame they had was a rather large one with three small windows which wasn't what I was looking for, tried TK Maxx for a frame but couldn't find one, was about to give up when I popped into Asda home and got a nice brown frame (will match our decor) with a slight recess for £6. Then I whizzed back to hobbycraft to see how to decorate it. After wandering around forever I settled on going for his favourite colours. The recessed part is in the middle with a cream 1" edge before the actual edge of the frame, I hope that makes sense? I was thinking of writing the lyrics all the way round the edge of the frame, leaving the middle free.

I bought a lovely deep purple card for the centre, some 3d silver glittery hearts, some bright orange ribbon, silver letters (to do our names) and some orange and purple tissue paper....not too sure what to do with it yet but it was 49p a batch so thought it may come in handy.

Current plan is to stick the ribbon is a diaganol pattern across the purple card and then put our names in the bottom corner, his running horizontally and mine vertically as they both end in the same letter, then have the 3d hearts in the middle. Does that make any sense?

Any ideas what to do with the tissue paper? I don't want it to be mega fussy....I did think about cutting the words for the song lyrics out of newspapers but the song has the word 'clovers' in it......can't see me finding that very easily in a paper :rotfl:

Looking forward to seeing a picture if you can put one up?

As for tissue paper, it layers beautifully if you tear pieces up and stick them down with PVA glue. If you overlap the colours the overlap gives a different colour. Try on some scrap first to try the effect, wait until it dries (overnight) or use a heat gun. Can make a great background.

For the lyrics you could type them on a computer, and then cut the words up individually OR use a newspaper for the other words and just type 'Clover' on the computer.

HTH

suejb2

Off on a slight tangent but "At Last" by Etta James was our first dance at our wedding 10 years ago........ahh memories.Good choice O.P

jtr2803

suejb2 wrote: »

Off on a slight tangent but "At Last" by Etta James was our first dance at our wedding 10 years ago........ahh memories.Good choice O.P

It will be out first dance song if we get married too .

Sorry for not updating sooner, I managed to do it (with some help from my mum - never too old for mums help lol) last weekend and I think it worked quite well in the end. I didn't want anything too fussy and as mums printer had run out of ink I handwrote the lyrics which I think makes it a bit more personal as well?!

Just managed to upload a picture so hopefully I will be able to post it here.....

jtr2803

I uploaded it to FLickr so I can't directly paste the pic so here is the link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jodytyper/5716119255/

I hope it works, let me know what you think!

Vilamendhoo is the name of the island in the Maldives we are going to this Sunday (eek!) and it has his name and the nickname he gave me.

The little hearts on the orange ribbon are 3d but I expect it is hard to tell from the pic

Buttercup2305

That is really lovely