Wednesday, March 18, 2009

The Giving Tree

Two months before Sister Bruschetta's November 2007 wedding, I decided she needed a fun card box. I still don't know what inspired that thought; I just woke up one day and told her I'd take over this detail, if she trusted me with it.

Crafty Miss Bruschetta emerged -- remember her? -- and despite the fact that she (um, I) had no idea how to go about creating it, settled on a papier-mache tree. Google led me to my inspiration photos and my inherently stubborn nature spurred me onward.


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Sounds like a mess, right? Nope! Although Lu (as we named the tree, since the day the project began [September 6] was also the day Luciano Pavarotti passed away) didn't immediately resemble a tree, he definitely took on arboreal qualities the longer we worked. (Sorry for the lack of step-by-step pictures! I'm a bad bee. This was eons before I even knew about Weddingbee, back when I was concerned only with capturing the picturesque finished project, and not the yucky in-process steps.)

Lu became a family project, with Sister Bruschetta helping craft branches from tin foil (which we affixed to the posterboard trunk), Daddy Bruschetta fashioning the board onto which we stapled (ouch!) the tree and Mama Bruschetta acting as my assistant while I painted one, two, three coats of brown to cover the newsprint forming Lu's body.

My favorite part of Lu is a toss-up between the hole in his trunk (to receive cards), the glitter-glue-rimmed leaves (each one edged individually in a complimentay autumn color) or the green felt "grass" (which appears to be growing up his trunk). Granted, Lu's branches don't look perfect, and his trunk's a bit square, but he seemed to command attention in his corner of the room -- with its red floorlength curtains -- and proved to be an excellent backdrop for guest photos.

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I know I won't have the time or patience to craft a cardbox like Lu for my own wedding, but still want whatever I do select to fit with the wedding. So, help inspire me! Your turn to share: Will you/did you create a unique cardbox?

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