DIY Wedding Challenge 2010 - Spring Bird Table Numbers

I can't express how much I love how my spring bird table numbers turned out!  They were a lot of work, and took months of careful planning - but the end result was better than I could have ever imagined!

Materials:

Floral arrangement birdies I ordered mine online here
Floral moss I got mine at the dollar tree but you can get it at a craft store too
Wooden numbers from a craft store
Craft Paint
Hot Glue gun and glue
Wooden disks (My friend's dad cut these)

Steps:

Ok well this took months of planning and patiently waiting for the weather to dry out.  You have to make sure that the wood is relatively dry before you start using it or else it will rot.  In the meantime you can do the following.

Paint the numbers with 1 coat primer and 3 coats paint one each side.  Make sure you prime.  If you don't the paint will look very streaky.

Once you get the wood bases and the numbers are painted, you're ready to do the fun part! Assembe the cuteness!

Use your hot glue gun to glue the numbers in place. I was actually suprised by how well it held.  (You can actually pick them up by the numbers and the bottom doesn't rip off!)  Next apply a decent amount of hot glue along the "floor" area of the base where the moss will go.  It does not have to be neat or cover every piece of the surface - but kind of weave a line of glue over a bit of it.  I tried to do half at a time.  Like glue moss the area in front of the number and then repeat the process on the back side.  That way the glue won't have time to cool and you can have a good hold on the moss.

Quickly grab some moss (more is better than less) and smoosh it down over the glue lines.  If you dont' grab enough moss, you won't have a lot between your fingers and the glue and you may burn your fingers.  I did burn mine a few times in the process but not too bad :) If you have too much after the smooshing, you can simply pull off the excess.

Once your moss is glued to the base, you can choose where you want the birdies to go and glue them on with the hot glue.  Make sure you wipe up any major drips because nothing looks worse than a birdie with a big blob of glue under it.  (See what I'm getting at?)  It's better to start with less glue and add where needed on this step.

Anyway, this project was a lot of fun and turned out super cute. It cost a little more than I anticipated (each wooden number is about $1.50...so double that for tables past 9) Add in the cost of moss, paint, hot glue, and birdies....it isn't the cheapest DIY project.  BUT I think the impact they will make is worth the cost.  I hope you like them!!