Weddingbee Blog

Please excuse the seemingly random title. I assure you it will make sense.

Like other bees, I too sent out a few early invitations to our friends in high places. Less than two weeks later, I received our first piece of mail. I carefully opened the first-class envelope from Disneyland (What the eff, Disney World? I see how it is.) and kept my fingers crossed I wouldn’t have a situation like Mrs. Lioness.

The Good: Mickey and Minnie spelled our names right!

The Bad: They hastily stuffed and sealed the envelope before the Sharpie dried.

The Ugly: The only part that was smudged to hell was the mister’s name.

I was bummed. How was I going to fix this? I can’t frame it the way it is: I’m not marrying Pfmndl!

Then I remembered a trick from my design-school days. Run don’t walk to your nearest art-supply or craft store and buy the following:

Image via Google Products

Make sure you have a roll of paper towels on hand; I’m a fan of Viva. Which tip you use depends on how much Sharpie you need to remove. In my case I used the broad end.

• Draw over the ink with one hand and blot/wipe it up with the other.
• Be sure to clean the tip of the marker before you use it again. You don’t want to transfer the ink back to your image.
• Work in small sections till you’ve removed what you wanted.
• Be patient (unlike Mickey and Minnie) and let the photo dry for at least five to ten minutes. No need to hurry, as you could end up right back where you started.

Once your photo is dry, rewrite the smudged name and it’s good as new!

This trick works on glossy-coated surfaces as well as plastic, but please do a spot test just to be safe!

Have you picked up seemingly random tricks that have helped you later on?