Transform Your Wedding and Honeymoon Ephemera into a Work of Art

by Helga Strauss

When you celebrate big events or go on vacation, do you find yourself collecting papers, receipts, business cards, etc.? I sure do!

So, when I got married, I found myself with a big bag of papers that I had saved up: my wedding invitation, receipts from our honeymoon and oh so much more. I just had to do something with it all. And one sleepless night gave me the answer...

I collaged and painted this beautiful heart painting that now hangs in our dining room.

If you look closely, you'll find bits of ephemera that remind us of this special time in our lives. Here, under a layer of paint, you can see the flap with the return address that was on our wedding invitations.

It's tough to see but this was the key card for the room on our honeymoon in New Orleans.

And peeking through the green paint, you'll find a newspaper clipping from our wedding day...record high temperatures...no wonder we were all sweating, lol.

You can make a painting like this too! Simply purchase a large canvas. Paint it with yellow ochre acrylic paint. Then glue on all of your treasured bits of ephemera in a puzzle like manner. Then, with acrylic paints, paint a heart over top and add layers of acrylic paints in your favorite colors. Wipe away some paints to make it so that words and such can shine through.

Before you know it, you'll have a special work of art that all will enjoy.

Helga Strauss is an artist, designer and owner of ARTchixStudio. Subscribe to her blog, My ARTistic Life for weekly inspiration and fun, creative giveaways.