Create a beautiful vintage box for the cards you will receive on your BIG DAY!

Supplies:

• A vintage suitcase – there are many vintage suitcases for sale on your local Used.ca site. I picked this one up on UsedVictoria.com for only ten dollars.
• Old book – you must have a friend who has some old, tattered books collecting dust in their basement. If not, people are always giving these away in your local Used.ca site’s “Free” section.
• Lettering stencil – I picked this one up for only a buck at the local dollar store. Save even more money by printing a stencil for free online.
• Paint and paint brushes – choose a colour that matches your wedding decor
• Burlap rope or string
• Ribbon
• Scissors
• Measuring tape
• Glue stick
• Nail or one hole punch
• Cardboard or poster board

Instructions:

Step one

Measure the width of your suitcase to determine how large your letters need to before hanging the CARDS sign. For instance, this suitcase was 21 inches so I divided this number by five.

Step two

Place your stencil over the poster board and measure out your letter pieces. Since my suitcase was 21 inches wide, I measured out my letters at four inches wide for each one. Make sure the stencil letters you are using are smaller than the sign pieces. Using your scissors, cut out the sign pieces in the shape of houses.

Step three

Using a glue stick, glue your vintage paper on top of your five sign pieces and cut excess paper off around the edges so you have a house shape once again.

Step four

Place your letter stencil onto the sign piece and paint it with your chosen colour. I recommend taping the stencil down so the paint doesn’t seep through the edges. If you need to, touch up the lettering with a small paint brush after you pull off the stencil. Let the paint dry.

Step five

Take a large nail or one hole punch and poke two holes side by side at the top of each sign card.

Step six

String your burlap rope through the holes of each sign to spell out CARDS and attach to your suitcase with tape. Place a piece of fabric in the bottom of the suitcase, tie a pretty ribbon to the handle and you’re all done.

In less than 30 minutes, you’ve created a beautiful vintage suitcase card holder to hold all your memories. And if you want, you can use the suitcase for your honeymoon afterwards.

Useful links

Used books

Used luggage

Used wedding supplies

Craft supplies