Rock out
Get everyone in their places with these cool rock place holders

By Kathryn Allen

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As wedding season commences, so many new and fun DIY projects can be found, discovered and implemented to make your wedding stand out just a little bit more amongst the masses. One of the most unique ideas for a DIY wedding place card is Amanda Kingloff’s beautiful rock place holders. Author of The Violet Hours, Kingloff generously shares with Equally Wed her thoughts and inspiration behind her creative project.

“I’m a born crafter,” she says. “So naturally my wedding was an opportunity to put my skills to work. Most of the details were very much handmade—from the invites to the gift bags to the table runners. I wanted the place cards to be more than a piece of cardstock that would live in a suit pocket until the next wedding, so I came up with the idea of the rocks. Making them was a labor of love, but my wedding guests are still telling me where their rocks live in their homes, even one year later.”

Although the pet-rock fad of the ’70s has long died out, this treasure of a craft will certainly live on among your guests. Simplistic yet extraordinarily elegant, Kingloff’s rock place holders are versatile and an ideal DIY project for any type of wedding.

The supplies that you’ll need to start the project are white air-dry clay, a sponge, cooking oil, small letter stamps, paper towel, Q-tip, glossy varnish, sponge brush, parchment paper and a rapidograph pen. Get your craft on by following the directions below.

  1. Form clay into an organic rock shape, about 3 x 1 ½ x 1 inch tall. Smooth with wet sponge and let dry for ten minutes.
  2. Dip your finger in olive oil and smear across the surface of the clay. Stamp letters into the clay to spell names (the oil allows for a clean release). Blot oil off with a paper towel, and smooth any dings or divots with a wet Q-tip.
  3. Let rocks dry completely on parchment paper, which may take a few days due to density of the clay.
  4. Using a sponge brush, coat dry rocks with varnish just over the name. This will dry in less than an hour.
  5. Using a rapidograph ink pen (the tip is very fine and almost functions like a syringe dispensing ink), fill in the letters with dark ink.
  6. Let ink dry and coat entire rock surface with a final coat of varnish.

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