Wedding Guest Board - DIY Alternative Guestbook

[0mfg33kette]

Hi Folks,

I've been commissioned by my sister in law to be to make an alternative wedding guestbook for their wedding in October.

I have made one of these before with basic papercraft and some handy artistic skills I've picked up over the years, but this one has a twist: she has asked for it to be "unique" and match the decor in their home - rustic, white and wood, so that it can be displayed in their home after the wedding.

Now, my skills in painting aren't good enough to get a woodgrain finish mimicked with paint, so I've come up with a brilliant idea to use raw timber veneer as the base cut into planks and assembled onto a sheet of MDF to resemble solid timber "palings" (plus side is that this will be lighter than timber, thus won't be too heavy to hang).

My concept and design is not my issue. At the moment, I'm trying to determine what products I will need to achieve the required look...

Question 1: do I stain the veneer with a clear stain bringing the veneer up and using the natural wood colour and grain? (I have QLD Maple veneer, and some Raintree veneer in case the maple is too dark/orange) OR Do I whitewash the veneer and distress it for a more rustic look?

It will later have material (designed to mimic birch bark), MDF heart and leaf shapes (painted white) glued to it as well as some MDF laser cut lettering (also painted white or black to offset the potentially whitewashed and distressed veneer)...

Question 2: what kind of white paint do I use for the MDF hearts and leaves? Once painted and dried, guests will be writing their names on them (forming the guestbook), however, I am not sure what kind of paint would allow for a pen or Sharpie in any number of colours without bleeding or not holding colour over time...

It's challenging and something totally new to me...

Can anyone make any suggestions or may have worked with similar materials for similar purposes? And can perhaps provide some input?

Your help and feedback is much appreciated!

[0mfg33kette]

@Simon Thank you so much!
I'll be sure to post some pics. I've almost got all of the materials I need for a rough layout (raw and unassembled), so hopefully will have some pics up soon. I've considered videos too, might make a great DIY for others too follow

[pat76]

@0mfg33kette

Thankyou for replying to me. Keep going do what you love doing. I shall be very pleased to see how you are going with your project. Don't worry about family, I think all family's are the same.
Pat76

[0mfg33kette]

Hi folks,
Little update, I've picked up a majority of the materials needed to make a start on this project, and I've got some pics to post (if I can figure out how to do it on the mobile version of the forum without starting a new thread - @Jason, maybe you can help?)
Anyways, pics coming soon of rough layout (raw/unpainted/unfinished) so you guys can have a peek!
As with any project, I've hit a snag and realised my initial measurements were too small for the overall look, so I've had to scale it up! Back to Bunnings of course for more MDF
I've also bought some paint and several types of Sharpie to play with the heart shapes.
Now I'm just a bit torn as to whether or not I should get a stain sample or two and play around with some finishes on a couple of off-cuts. I have a clear satin varnish, but, Honestly, I don't even know where to start there. I did have a look whilst in store to see what options were available but there is just so much to choose from! Eek!
Suggestions welcome of course.

[Jason]

@0mfg33kette,

To ensure you can add photos to a reply, just make sure you hit the reply button to one of the replies in the discussion. The quick reply box (the one with Join the Conversion on the top) is just for quick text-only responses. 

Apologies for any confusion caused. Feel free to let me know if you have any further troubles. 

Jason

[0mfg33kette]

Test Panel 1

Top 2 Choices

Update: 

What else to do on a cold wet blustery day? Test panels!

And voila, we have chosen a finish! Yay!

More to come as the project progresses

[Jason]

Thanks for the update @0mfg33kette. Great to see you are making progress.

Looking forward to seeing the finished result.

Jason