Felt Sweet Pea Name Tags/Magnets

Materials:

• Green felt (made from recycled bottles)
• Pompoms
• Embroidery floss and needle
• Glue gun and glue sticks
• Craft magnets

To make the peas-I folded a sheet of bright green felt, and cut a crescent moon shape retaining the folded edge. I did this to save myself time sewing. I made 26 peas total, I only used one sheet of felt for the whole project. Once I had all the shapes cut out from the felt, I stitched up the sides and a little bit along the top. This forms a sort of basket shape. I hot glued 2 or 3 pom poms into each. I flipped them over and hot glued a small piece of magnet to the back-so the guests could take them home and use them as a fridge magnet.

This project started as a party favour, but at the last minute was transformed into both a favour and name tags for the guests. Shortly before the baby shower, one of the guests mentioned to me she really didn't know most of the people attending and that she was really bad with names. So rather than buy paper name tags that would be thrown out at the end of the party I added names to the peas I already made.

I typed up all the names of the guests, printed them out and cut them into little rectangles. I attached the names to the felt with a small piece of double sided tape. I made sure the tape came off cleanly. As a final touch, I added a safety pin. Guests wore them at the party, it was a cute way to add to the sweet pea theme.

Mary and Doug's Wedding-Favours/Escort Cards

DIY Magnetic Board

To serve as a combination of decoration, escort cards and guest favours I fancied up a magentic message board I bought at walmart. I originally was going to spray paint the frame silver but I decided to keep it black. I like the contrast between the white and silver motif and the frame. I picked up a roll of wedding gift wrap-white background with an oversized floral damask pattern. I cut the paper to size, and used spray adhesive to adhere it to the message board. I went a bit overboard on the glue, it was a bit bumpy so I used a bone folder to smooth it out. I used a bit of double sided tape to adhere the corners for extra durability.

This particular board is 22 inches wide by 35 inches long. It's the biggest one I could find.

This project could easily be adapted for a home office, craft room or children`s bedroom. Simply pick a pattern you like, in the colour scheme of your choice. I find the thicker wrapping papers are best, you want it to be thick enough to withstand some abuse, but not too thick that magnets won`t stick.

The escort cards themselves are small silver magnetic photo frames. I ordered these ones online from a wedding favour store, but I have seen them in stores. Husband created the name cards with Adobe Illustrator in a grid pattern. Remember to measure the insert that comes with the frame, and watch the margins to make sure the text doesn't get cut off by the edge of the frame. It might take a bit of trial and error to get it right.

We printed them at a copy store, cut them out, and stuck them in the mini frames while watching t.v. We organized them alphabetically by last name on the message board-easy to do since the backs are magnetic. Since we only had 57 guests, it was easy to fit all the little frames onto the board. If you have a lot of guests, make two board and split the alphabet.

The frames served as both escort cards, and a useful favour to take home. Guests can simply add the photo of their choice and stick to the fridge, or any other magnetic surface.