Wedding in a box

Happy hump day, all! I can't believe it's Wednesday already. With Monday off, I feel like this week is going by fast. Of course, by Friday the day will probably drag...why is that when you have a short work week, it always ends up feeling longer than a regular week? Weird...

Anyways, I used Monday to catch up on some things (laundry), run errands and tackle a couple projects, one of which gave me some trouble, so I'll have to hold off sharing that with you. I also had grand plans that included spray paint, but nature did not cooperate. It was snowing on Monday, and the spray paint can says to use in at least 50-degree weather. Hmm...I think I may be able to tackle that project in like, oh, May. *IdoloveMaine IdoloveMaine.* Spend only one winter here, and you'll soon realize it's necessary to chant this every once in a while in order to make it to spring. :)

I did get something done I'd been wanting to do for a while, and that was putting together a little tribute to our wedding day. Yeah, we've been married for like nine months, but I'm just getting around to this! (Still have a wedding scrapbook to work on too....someday.)

I bought this shadowbox from Joann's. I can't remember how much I paid, but I believe it was $14 regular price, and it was on sale -- plus I had a coupon, so I think it was around $10? I tried to find my receipt, but couldn't -- sorry! 

Next became the arduous process of picking what wedding mementos to include in the box. It was tough (gah, so many choices!), but I finally ended up with this.

Details in the photos might look a little weird since I edited out our last names

I included a copy of our wedding invitation and a photo of the mountain where we got married. The photo was actually used for the table card at our sweetheart table; the name of the mountain was very fitting...

...A copy of our save-the-date postcard...

...The label we (with the help of my father-in-law) made for the strawberry wine we made as gifts for our parents and bridal party...

...And the roses from my hubs' boutonniere and my bouquet. I wrapped them in the satin ribbon from my bouquet and added the pins from the bout and the bouquet. It kind of looks like a little men's shirt sleeve cuff -- isn't it cute?

The shadowbox found a home on our Target folding bookshelf that we moved from the living room to the bedroom. Voila!

(Sorry for the bad light. I took too long arranging these shelves and lost daylight! Blast...)

To coordinate with the colors in the shadowbox, I used other items in black, white and green. The shelf also features a couple other wedding-related items, like these cake topper birds and a sampler my mother-in-law made for my bridal shower. She recreated the motif from our invitation! I can't imagine how long it took her. Isn't she talented? That piece of birch is also a leftover from the table-name holders we my husband made for the wedding.

On the shelf below are the templates from our letterpress invitations. (I know these probably have a more professional printing name, but I cannot for the life of me think of it! I hope my father-in-law isn't reading...). My father-in-law runs his own printing business and made all our wedding stationery, then gave us the templates as souvenirs. The text is backwards, so the words are imprinted the right way. Aren't they cool?

(Please ignore that dirty white tray. I put something on it and it will. not. come. clean. Grr.)

The ceramic white vases are the I HEART U vases I bought for Valentine's Day from the Target dollar spot, just turned around! Although their message would go well with the romance theme I've got goin' on. They need a little somethin-somethin' in them, don't you think? Maybe when something outside actually blooms, I can snag a few stems and pop those in. So, like, June. :)

(The owl doesn't really scream love and romance, except that I love owls. A lot.)

The bookshelf is right across from our bed, so it's one of the first things we see when we wake up. It's a nice way to keep souvenirs from our day close and reflect on the happy times. I'm planning to make one for our honeymoon too, so we can dream about white sand beaches and a tropical vacation. And for maybe $10 or so, it's a cheap way to make some personal art.

What do you think? Are the dried roses a little too dead-looking and morbid to include? The hubs said no, but I think generally he just says whatever it will take for me to stop second-guessing a project and shut up about it. :)

How do you like to preserve and display important mementos?

P.S. See Sherry at Young House Love's wedding shadowbox here!

P.P.S. Want to see someone who mastered shelf arranging better than me? Visit Erin at Domestic Adventure and her fantastic floating shelves here!