A Unique Wedding Gift!

We've all faced the dilemma of what to give as a guest at a wedding. There are countless factors that add to the complicated nature of this conundrum. Maybe you're a bridesmaid who has already paid for a dress, shoes, hair, makeup, manicure and pedicure and you're feeling a bit strapped for cash. Maybe you're traveling and having to spend money on plane tickets, a hotel room, and even a rental car. Maybe you're incredibly close with the bride & groom and feel like it just wouldn't be adequate to buy them something off of their registry that will get lost in the sea of other Bed, Bath, and Beyond products, but you also want to be sure that you're getting them something they want. 

As a 20-something (for a couple more years anyway), I am invited to, and attend a ton of weddings for friends and family on top of the ones that we plan (don't try to make plans with me on a Saturday between March and October...), and therefore have seen just about every possible item that a couple could register for. I am never super keen on giving money (unless the couple has been living together for a long time and truly doesn't need help building up their household inventory), so I'm always trying to come up with one, quintessential gift that I can kind of make my "signature." That is to say that I like choosing one type of item that is usually around the same price point, that I can simply search for on the registry, and scoop up with very little additional thought. However, I am always wishing that I could go off of the registry and find the couple something really unique and fun. The only risk with that is that if it's similar to an item they've registered for, I would unwittingly make that gift less useful. I would also run the risk of wandering too far off the reservation and getting them something they won't like. After all, why wouldn't they have registered for my super-awesome-totally-unique gift in the first place?

As Carrie and I were strolling down our favorite aisle in the CVS last week, the As Seen on TV aisle (don't lie, you love it too), one particular product caught our eye. 

The Engrave-It Pro claims to "easily etch metal, wood, glass, plastic, & more." If this thing actually works, it could be a total game changer! What couple doesn't register for wine glasses, tumblers, or Moscow Mule mugs? If this was as "easy" as advertised, we could imagine adding monograms to items that we knew the couple actually wanted, but simultaneously make them totally unique! At less than $10, there was absolutely no way we weren't going to give it a try. 

The kit comes with the pens, two tips, and three stencil sheets with upper and lower case block letters, a few pre-written words ("peace," "love," "joy") and some decorative shapes and symbols. The first issue we ran into was that if you're writing on something rounded, these hard plastic stencils don't really allow you to manipulate them in a way that is easy enough to work with, so we decided to just try free-handing a single letter. 

Definitely not a terrible result for a first try, but even though it's very easy to use, and I think I have better-than-average hand-writing, I wouldn't feel overly confident free-handing like this on items I was actually going to give as a gift. I'm sure it would get easier with some practice, but it didn't seem like it was going to be the amazing solution we thought it might have been. 

But wait! Carrie remembered that we have countless sheets of totally flexible stencils that we'd purchased at places like Michael's and Hobby Lobby. She pulled out a sheet, we trimmed out a letter, and taped it to a new canvass to give it another try. 

Now that's more like it! After taping down the cut out stencil, it took about 5 minutes for me to get the H solidly colored in. So, if you bought a set of 6 of these glasses, you could easily get this done in under an hour, and have something undoubtedly special on your hands!

We think it looks pretty darn professional, don't you? The tip doesn't pose any threat to your fingers, so I was able to hold down the stencil and make sure I was getting good, crisp lines. We're pretty thrilled with the results, and I think it's safe to assume that I will definitely be adding this to my regular gift repertoire! 

Check your local As Seen On TV aisle, or buy online

P.S. Buy a set of 4 glasses, and do one for each groomsman, or engrave flasks, etc. For girls, if you have a steady hand, we think it would be gorgeous on a locket necklace, or you could use it on the soles of your shoes (if they're not rubber)!