Back At One

Lately, I’ve been up to my eyeballs sorting through wedding stuff.  Packing up stuff, putting it all away, bring order back into our lives, and most importantly trying to re-purpose leftover wedding paraphernalia.  Everything from house plants to table runner fabrics and even these table numbers.

What in the world am I to do with 20 table numbers?  My first instinct was just to chuck ’em, but that just ain’t my style.  I tend to hold on to things FOR-EV-ER (she said as she channeled the Sandlot).  Then I had one of those epiphany moments when the light bulb clicks on above your pretty little head and you basque in its glow…re-purpose them as art, wedding date art.  So I pulled the table numbers that made up our wedding date, August 10, 2012.  Thankfully, we didn’t get married on the 30th or some other obscurely dated day.

Eight…ten…twelve…which strangely reminded me of the Brian McKnight song Back At One.  You know, “one…you’re like a dream come true…two…just wanna be with you…three…girl it’s plain to see that you’re the only one for me…”  I’m almost ashamed that I still know the lyrics to that song.  Then it prompted me to make up my own lyrics to the song, “eight…yeah I like to skate…ten…let’s go home again…twelve…oh I like to delve…” definitely not the song writer in the house.  That’s Colby’s job.  He came up with quite the ditty about Goose and squirrels today.  So now that I’ve put a damper on the Brian McKnight sing-a-long…back to the art installation.  Colby and I are both believers of working with what we have, which sometimes comes out of laziness.  So when we couldn’t find our picture hanging kit, and didn’t want to go to the hardware store, we improvised.

That’s the back of the table numbers.  Instead of nailing in a picture hanging bracket on the backs of the numbers, Colby stapled in a piece of twine.  Here’s a closeup:

The twine system also helps in that you don’t have to be 100% accurate with the location of the nails you put in the wall.  It gives you just a little bit of leeway.  So as for the location of the wedding date art, we opted for the void-of-all-things-art master bedroom.  Specifically above the window behind our bed.

But just after snapping that pic, eight, zero and two all came crashing down onto the bed.  It was like synchronized number crashing.  So Colby fixed it.

Look for the blue moon folks!  Colby used a glue gun!  And then we moved the art to the other window in the room so table numbers wouldn’t come crashing down on our heads while we slept at night.

We started by first hanging the middle number, going with the old eyeball approach.  No measuring, no strategically calculating the optimal nail hole location, just plain ole wing it.  But starting with the middle number made spacing easier.  Notice how Colby is giving me the evil eye?!  Wrong kind of eyeball it approach.

It may have been deserved since I made him pose for an “adjusting the number” picture.

To attach the numbers to the wall we simply drilled in a trio of screws.  Nails would have worked just fine but Colby capitalizes on any opportunity to whip out his power tools.

And there you have it, our wedding date as art, using re-purposed wedding reception table numbers.

And they proudly hang above the window in our master bedroom.

They may move or migrate as the room evolves but they’re working out just fine where they are.  We’re thinking of adding a few more wedding mementos in the bedroom on that wall space to the right of the window.  Maybe a portrait or two and a shadow box.  And I dig a monogram.  So we’ll see how that shapes up.  No pun intended.

I’m just grateful that we moved the numbers from above our headboard window.  Especially since my side of the bed is the side home to crashing numbers.  That would be just my luck to wake up with a shiner thanks to a figure crashing eight.

Now, Colby has no excuse to ever forget our anniversary.  No excuse since it is literally written on the wall!

Pssst…What bedroom art have you been installing lately?  Or any other creative ways to bring wedding memories into your home?  Do share!  And can I get a wha’ wha’ for any other nineties gals out there!  Who secretly sing themselves to sleep courtesy of B. McKnight!