Hi everyone! I’m Megan, from Megan Brooke Handmade, and I’m back today with another easy and inexpensive diy wedding project. Last month I showed you how to make your own silhouette wedding cake toppers. Today I’m showing you a fun project for your save the dates.
You may have seen those pretty tea or dish towel save the dates floating around online. They are super adorable, but the price tag can be steep when it comes to buying them already printed. I love the idea of the save the dates being something guests can keep and hold onto, but blowing your budget at the start of wedding planning is never good. So today I’m showing you an inexpensive way to make your own diy tea towel save the dates.
Here’s what you’ll need to start with…
Dish towels, handkerchiefs or tea towels
Printed image {printed in reverse}
Mod Podge Photo Transfer Medium {comes with foam brush}
Piece of cardboard
Parchment paper
Sponge
Before we get started, there are a few things to note. I got these white ‘tea towels’ from Hobby Lobby. They are actually bandannas. I know, that might sound weird, but they are almost the size of a typical tea towel, just a little bit shorter. But any type of fabric like a vintage handkerchief or pack of dish towels will work.
When it comes to creating your graphic, you can create your graphic in any program. I personally used Gimp. Just make sure you reverse the image before printing. Also, be sure to print your image using an inkjet printer {not laser} on regular paper {not photo paper}.
First you’ll take a piece of cardboard and put it underneath the fabric where you are looking to transfer the image. Place a piece of parchment paper between the fabric and cardboard to prevent any sticking.
Next, you’ll place your graphic face side up on a piece of parchment paper. Using the foam brush, coat your image in the Mod Podge photo transfer medium.
Coat it enough to where you no longer can see your image underneath.
Pull the image up off from the parchment paper and place it face down on your fabric. Wipe off any excess medium on or around your image.
Let that dry for at least 24 hours.
Once it’s completely dry, wet a sponge {squeezing out most of the water} and place on top of the image. Make sure your entire graphic gets wet.
In circular motions, rub your image with your sponge. The top layer of paper will begin to flake off, revealing your image underneath.
Re-wet your sponge and image and repeat if there’s still ‘fuzz’ and flakes of paper attached.
Here’s what your graphic will look like when you are done.
This type of medium creates an almost rustic and ‘worn’ look which is great for a rustic or vintage wedding theme.
Want to go a step further with your save the dates? Dress up your envelopes with a fun envelope liner. All you need is a standard envelope {that will fit your tea towel} and a piece of scrapbook paper.
Start by tracing the top part of your envelope. Move your envelope down a bit to re-trace leaving space where your envelope sealer will be.
Just slide your scrapbook paper in and seal it to the envelope with a little glue.
Now you have a pretty handmade tea towel save the date and a pretty handmade envelope to match!
Tie your tea towel up with some cute jute string or twine and slide it in to be mailed to all your awaiting guests.
I’ll be back next month with another diy wedding project, but in the meantime, I would love for you to stop by the blog to say hello and check out some of my other wedding related posts like 10 tips for planning your wedding or 5 reasons why you should hire a wedding planner. You can also follow Megan Brooke Handmade on Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook and Google +.
Until next time!
Megan
Trish Flake
Latest posts by Trish Flake (see all)
- Easy Leopard Painted Pumpkin - October 18, 2021
- Embroidered Swedish Dishcloths - May 3, 2020
- Easter Egg Decorating Party - March 21, 2020
How fun! This is such a cute idea and thank you so much for the tutorial!
Leslie
I love your tea towel. It’s amazing what you can do with Mod Podge!
Simply stellar idea, and great tutorial, I can see so many possibilities here! Thank you!
This would be so special and people would definitely remember your wedding with this pretty towel floating about the kitchen! I have actually never seen this idea before, but I am in love with it!