Weddingbee Blog

After 3 days of intense slaving, I finally finished my DIY aisle runner. Here’s the step by step and what I used to create this 55 foot masterpiece:

First: Design your motif in a program like Photoshop. Be sure to create your image with really high DPI (Dots Per Inch), that way when the image gets blown up, it doesn’t become too grainy. I worked in 300 DPI, which transfered to a large image (4 feet across) just fine. Take your creation to your favorite local copy shop, and have them blow it up to the size you need. I blew mine up at Kinkos for $4.50.

I used acrylic paint ($6) and some cheap paintbrushes ($2 for a set of 3) from Michaels. I was afraid that craft paint might be too thin for the cloth and bleed too much, but this might not be the case….I’ve just never worked with it before so I erred on the safe side and used the thickest oil based paint I could find. I also purchased 18.5 yards of Muslin cloth (5 feet wide) from the dollar bin at a fabric store ($18)

Tape your paper design to the underside of your aisle runner. You might want to do a better job of ironing beforehand than I did.

Paint.

Voila.

I also painted stripes up the sides for a more finished look. I hope it will add a personal touch to our ceremony! It will definitely have to be ironed the week of the wedding.