Make your own Table Numbers!

My sister's wedding is coming up FAST and she needed some help putting together table numbers. Shes doing really tall arrangements so she wanted something big so that they aren't dwarfed by the centerpieces. She said she found something she liked for a total of $150 on Etsy.....I told her I would save her some money and put something together for her for MUCH cheaper.

She said she wanted tables numbers in frames so I went to the dollar tree and lucked out. I found these 11x14 picture frames which were the perfect size and I knew exactly what I wanted to do right away. The theme of her wedding is "winter wonderland" so I picked out some snazzy white glitter scrapbooking paper (that looks like snow) at my favorite store (Hobby Lobby) and got to work.

Things you will need:
- Dollar store frame (your choice of size)
- Scrapbooking paper of your choice
- Posterboard (optional)
- Cardstock
-Spray Paint
- 3M 150 grit sandpaper
- Scissors
- Computer
- Printer
- xacto knife
- Double sided tape

Step 1: Before you do anything else if you dont like the color of the photo frame, you'll need to spray paint it. If you're going to spray it you have to sand it a little bit first. You have to rough up the surface so that the paint will stick really well. (Be careful though, you dont want to scuff it up so much that you can see the scratches through the paint. This is why I used #150 sandpaper....its not really gritty and won't scratch too much.)

Then you can lay out your frames and spray them. Here are some tips to get a nice, even coat...
#1 Hold the tip of the can at least 6 inches away from the object your spraying

#2 Hold the tip down and spray as you move your hand fairly quickly across the object once. When you get to the end of the object stop the spray, repeat 2 or 3 times but not too many. You dont want to glob too much paint on too soon, thats when you get nasty drips or peeling....you'll have to do at least 2 coats so just be patient.

#3 Dont hold the tigger for too long over one spot, it gets drippy and looks terrible.... this is why they call it spray paint not drip-all-over-the-place-because-you're-too-lazy-to-do-two-coats paint

Step 2: While the first coat of your paint is drying take your scrapbook paper and size it to your frame. My frames were 11x14 and standard scrapbooking paper is 12x12 so I cut my paper to 11x12 and then cut an additional strip to tape to the bottom to cover the whole frame......

....Let me save you OCD people some trouble.... if you do it this way there will be a line and it will bother you and make your eye twitch.....

I know you can't realy see it SUPER well but right under the 2 there's a line.... and it drove me crazy.... so I changed my design up a little bit to compensate. Now if you're using like an 8x10 or 5x 7 frame this is a moot point, since you can just cut your scrapbook paper down to size with an xacto knife...(I highly suggest using a ruler and really measuring the right way to save hassle in the future)

If you want a big frame then you can solve this problem by getting some posterboard and creating a matting in the background. I cut an 11x14 piece of gray posterboard and cut my scrapbook paper to 7x10 to leave about  a two inch border all the way around.

Tip: I would definitely suggest that you do enough of each step for all the tables at the same time. I made a total of 8 table numbers so I cut 8 pieces of poster to 11x14. Then I cut 8 scrapbook pages to the right size. Then you're going to cut 8 numbers (see next step). This way you can just assemble everything all at once.

Once you've done some cutting go outside and spray another coat of paint on your frames you multi-tasker you!

Step 3: Find a font that you like and size your table numbers to fit on your scrapbook paper (I did 6x8 letters). Then print them out. Then transfer the numbers to the cardstock you want to use. If you're not sure how to do that go here and find out how!

Step 4: Cut out the numbers carefully!

Step 5: Assemble everything. Put your scrapbooking paper in the middle of the posterboard (I highly suggest that you use a ruler and MEASURE where the middle actually is....) and adhere. I used double sided tape on each corner. Remember this is going in the frame so it doesnt have to be cemented on there, it just has to stay in place. If you have a smaller frame and don't want to use matting you can skip this step all together.

Step 6: Put double sided tape on the back of your numbers (you'll probably need to cut the tape to fit) and place these in the center of your scrapbook paper (I didnt measure this, I just eyeballed it).

Step 7: Go grab your frames once they're good and dry, put the glass in, add your table number, put on the back, and shazam you've got yourself a table number.

I spent a grand total of $2.36 per table number. You can't beat that!

So take your wedding theme, find a scrapbook paper that fits with your colors and design, and go to town! Use a posterboard backing or don't, do whatever looks good for you! I'm of the belief that there's no need to spend all kinds of crazy money on stuff that's going to sit on a table for one night of your life. And...now you have frames to keep afterwards and put all your wedding pictures in afterwards!