Sign-in Basket

OK... This is officially the first thing I've made for the wedding. I was inspired by this pin.  I really liked the idea of having a non-traditional sign-in for the wedding. Plus, Pedro and I are super competitive, so what better thing for our guests to sign than something that we will use over and over again (and have me win, of course)!? So, I needed a basket to put all the Jenga pieces in. I knew that this was going to be one of the first things guests would see when they came in, so I wanted it to be cute, but not overwhelming.

I was just going to do a wicker basket with ribbon, but I wanted to be a bit more creative... and ended up making this:

Not too shabby, eh?? Simple, yet ADORABLE!! And soooo simple. 

I started off with a few materials:
- The basket
- Lace
- Ribbon
- Burlap flower (came on a step with 2 others)
- Hot glue gun

With coupons, I only spent about $10 on this entire thing (and that is the entire roll of lace and entire roll of ribbon, plus 3 flowers... The basket only cost me $6, and I MAYBE used about $1.50 in other materials, if that).

 I forgot to take a before picture of all my material, so here is already started!

Simple, easy steps:
1. Measure how much lace and ribbon you need to go all the way around. Cut. (I left about 2 inches more, room for error)
2. I started with the lace as my bottom layer. I dabbed a bit of hot glue as I glued it all the way around. I did not do one big long line of glue, I just did a dot every few inches and at the corner. I made sure to pull it fairly tight, but not super super tight.

I put it just below the top... I used it as a guideline to make it even.

Just put a small dab... And be careful, cause the glue is HOT!

Toward the end, I made sure to wrap my extra around. You couldn't even tell!

This shows the corner where I started and finished. You can tell if you look for it, but otherwise, you can't really tell I overlapped. I used this corner as one of my back edges though, just in case!

2. Now here is what took me the longest time. I got the wrong width of ribbon. I thought it looked good in the store when I was playing around, but when I got home it was too wide. Me, being the stubborn (and busy) person that I am, didn't want to wait to go get thinner ribbon. So I improvised and used hot glue to fold my ribbon in half! If you got the correct width, GOOD FOR YOU!! And you can just skip this step.

No matter if you got the correct width or not, don't forget to fold over and glue your edges so they are clean.

Not too bad for homemade, right?

3. Start on the same corner you started and ended with your lace. This will ensure that you have the same 'bad' corner. I used the top of my lace as a guideline. I used a bit more glue with the ribbon to ensure it would stick to the lace and basket. Around the corners, I did lines of glue instead of dots.

After the coral ribbon was added. I was going to stop here, but I wanted to added a pit of pizzaz!

4. If you want to add an embellishment, here is your chance. I took a step with three burlap flowers and cut one off, as well as the little pearly looking things (not the most scientific name for them, I know).

I got this on sale.. Three flowers for $1.50!! Perfect!

ALL DONE! It took me about 15 minutes from start to finish. It probably would have only taken me about 7 if I didn't have to fix my ribbon. I thought it turned out great, and I think it is a cute little idea for the sign in table. I'm going to pair it with a chalkboard sign (to be also made by me on a computer program.. yes, I will post that too when I get to it). YAY! One thing made for the wedding!

Someone else liked it too.. Seriously, what is it with cats and boxes/baskets?!  You bet I got her right out of that!!

Hope you all liked it! If you have any ideas that would help others, or ideas, please comment! THANKS!!