This project is SO darling!!! It also looks amazingly easy, and you could use these for so many different things… even place cards. I just adore the entire thing from the vintage tea cups to the antique flatware. So sweet! After you take a peek at the finished product, just head on over to Intimate Weddings (click here) to take a look at the instructions.

Photo from Intimate Weddings

I saw this idea on Martha Stewart Weddings’ website, but I thought that it would be fun to go out, have fun and personalize this DIY post the best way we know how … by going on a tour of the Hill City itself. After perusing the downtown area and the historic districts (with my 9 year old son who was a great help in finding the numbers!), I came up with the numbers 0-9 that can be used to make unique table numbers for your wedding reception.

This is a fun way to incorporate your hometown or even places that you and your fiance’ frequent. Take photos of the numbers from your favorite restaurant, where you met, the proposal location or even places you lived when you were growing up. The possibilities are endless, but the end result is the same … an adorably different way to mark your reception tables!

This full set of photos is available on Flickr, so feel free to view the numbers there. The photos on Flickr are labeled as to what streets the numbers came from, and you will see that I tried to incorporate some of the most important streets in town. Enjoy this fun DIY post!

This is the sampling of our Flickr set of photos that I found in Lynchburg. Feel free to download these, or have your own fun evening of hunting for the perfect numbers.

You will need to take photos first, and have them printed. If you want double sided numbers (as in a number on each side of the card), be SURE to print out two of each number. Try to estimate the size table number cards you desire. I printed these out to be a 4×6 size, yet I did some trimming after they were printed. The supplies you will need are: your printed photographs, thick scrapbooking paper (I purchased mine at Michael’s), a paper trimmer and double sided tape (scrapbooking tape works well for this).

Begin by folding your paper in half. I purchased 8.5″ x 11″ paper and folded it into an 8.5″ x  5.5″ card. Then place your photo on top of it to see how much of the paper you will use as a trim. You can cut your photograph if necessary … I did trim! Here there is about .5″ of the green paper trim around the edges. This will help you determine where to make your cut on the paper.

Proceed to cut your paper. My blade was very sharp, so I decided to cut the paper while it was still in half, but you may need to open the paper and cut it as a single sheet if your blade is dull.

Take your double sided tape, and use it to adhere the number to the cardstock paper. Turn the paper over and repeat if you are making a double sided card with a number on each side.

Once you affix the number to the front of the cardstock, you can run a thin line of tape along the inside edge of the fold so that the card will stay folded once it is put into place.

Stand your card up and admire how adorable this will look on your reception table! I love how the “6″ seems so 3-d due to the shadows and the time of day I took the photograph. This “6″ was from a building on Rivermont Avenue in Lynchburg. It has a very Art Deco feel to it.

Here is a sampling of the finished table numbers. Remember … they all do not have to be uniform in size and shape because they will be on different tables. The “9″ here is slightly skinnier due to the styling of the number.

That is a darling project, isn’t it? I know a lot of you scrapbooking and crafty types can take this DIY a bit further by adding embellishments and fun flairs of your own. An alternative could be to place each number in a frame instead of adhering them to cardstock. Martha Stewart Weddings suggested using mat board (used in framing), which would offer a heavier weight for outdoor weddings.

If your table numbers enter into double digits, just put two of our numbers together, or have fun hunting for combinations such as “10″ and “17″ on your own … trust me, this is a challenge! Hopefully I have inspired you to add a hometown flair to your wedding, and I am looking forward to sharing more hometown DIYs with you in the future.

I am on “blogiday” this week spending time with family and friends. I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas and that you get a chance to relax and take a little bit of a break, too. I will see you with everything fresh and new in January!

Something has to be said for the combination of budget shopping and creativity … call it resourcefulness, thrift or thinking out of the box, but this project definitely exemplifies all of the above! When Emily Kim Bart found some planters on clearance (I love it when things are budget friendly) for just $1.25, her thoughts started churning, and she was able to turn the planters into adorable little markers for the food at her wedding.

I am not expecting you to go out and find exactly what Emily did, but a lot of the secret in doing DIY projects is personalizing it and making it your own. So, I encourage you to think about things in a new way and appreciate them for the possibilities like is shown in today’s post. Enjoy this little DIY, and hopefully it gets your mind’s wheels turning, too!

Here are the planters before the project was started. Not too bad, but repurposing them is definitely a great idea at $1.25 each!!

The pieces were disassembled, and both can be used for other projects somehow. The wooden planters are sturdy, but they need some sprucing up.

Cream colored paint was lightly applied to the wood in order to give it a whitewashed look for a vintage, garden wedding.

Emily added extra moss to cover the top of the planter. Small signs were printed off of the computer onto cardstock. I love how the handwriting adds a personal touch … of course it helps if you have nice handwriting! Holes were punched into the paper, and Emily used sticks that she found in order to impale the paper. What a cute effect this has … perfect for a casual wedding.

Thank you, Emily Kim Bart, for sharing these with us. I love to look at items and think about what they could be turned into with a little bit of effort. The fact that she combined a DIY with a small budget is a definite plus. I wonder what this will inspire Hill City Bride’s readers to do. Any ideas?

For the first 12 days of December, I am reposting my personal favorite photography postings. There are just so many that deserve attention once again … and these postings are not only getting attention, but they are getting a prize. That’s right! On December 13th, voting will begin to determine the best posting of 2011.

The photographer who submitted the winning posting will receive a $50 gift certificate to Gerald’s in Wyndhurst (what a great way to take a break and have a nice meal out during the holidays!). The couple featured in the winning posting will receive a $50 gift certificate to Charley’s in Lynchburg and also a $25 gift card to Starbucks … what a great date night!

So, whether you vote for the couple that speaks most to you and has that special spark, you root for the couple that has the most creativity or you even choose your favorite based on whose photography most aligns with your personal style, take a moment each day to look at the postings so that you can help us determine Hill City Bride’s winning couple and photographer.

It goes without saying that this wedding is close to my heart because of the bride and groom, plus I love the fact that so many HCB vendors were involved in their special day! Without further due, here is today’s favorite:

I love looking through wedding photos … especially when they are filled with details, and this wedding is no exception. Well, maybe it is a teeny bit of an exception. You see, this is a special wedding – the wedding of one of HCB’s very own vendors, Brad Bennett of Shaking Hands Productions. I could not think of any better posting to kick off Hill City Bride’s 2011 year!

Combine that with the fact that it was photographed by Adam Barnes of Adam Barnes Fine Art Photography, took place at Riverview Manor and the flowers were done by Elisha Dudley of Petal Flower Company; and you have a big event for the whole Hill City Bride family!! As a sidebar, I was given free reign to look through the photos and choose them myself, hence the lengthy posting.

A few neat details are included in the photographs, such as the use of pears … 280 of them were picked from Riverview Manor‘s property, and they functioned as place cards for the wedding. The location table cards (as you will see “Hershey, PA” below) represented all of the different places they had been as a couple, and the cross roads sign showed some of the distances that people had traveled for the wedding. One guest hailed from Germany!

Have fun perusing Brad and Lyndsey’s wedding photos, which took place in September of 2010.

I wish heartfelt congratulations to Brad and Lyndsey … a beautiful couple both inside and out. I hope that they have a wonderful lifetime together, and I am so glad that they are a part of the Hill City Bride family! Also, be sure to visit the lovely website of Adam Barnes Fine Art Photography … it is definitely a feast for the eyes.

Unique place cards are a way to add a touch of fun and whimsy to your day all while keeping with your theme. Enjoy this assortment of idea starters today!

Photo credits: Martha Stewart (photos 1-4), Flickr by Special Invite (photos 5-6) and Flickr by ecolectic events (last photo)