Wish Rocks
submitted by karena33

Materials

Polished Black River Rocks
($1-2 per bag of approximately 50 rocks- Michael's, Lewscraft, Walmart)
Extra Fine Gold or Silver Permanent Marker - Pilot Super Color Brand
($4-5 - office supply stores, ie. Grand & Toy, Business Depot)
Blank white paper - to practise your writing on Newspaper or paper towels - for underneath your project & to let the rocks dry
Optional Materials:
Flat-back Rhinestones
($3-$4 for package of 50 - available at craft stores but
cheapest place I found was Walmart) 
Crazy Glue Precision Pen
($4-5 - office supply stores)

Directions

1. Write out a list of the words you want to use in advance (suggestions are below).  Divide the words into "sizes" by number of letters so you are organized to know what words you can choose from for each size of rock.
2. Go through the river rocks and separate into approximate size groups, ie. small, medium and large.  Look for the nice flat ones although you can use almost all of the rocks in the bags, the best ones are the ones with a nice clean flat side. 
3. Practise writing your words with the marker on the white paper.  Press down with the tip of the marker a couple of times to get the ink flowing.  I used a "script" type writing although printing works as well.  Depends on the look your going for but I found capitalizing the first letter quite large and then, script or hand-writing the rest of the word created the best look (see pictures).
4. Write your words on your rocks.
5. Let dry for about 5 minutes before touching.
6. Optional Rhinestones:  If you wish, add one rhinestones using the precision crazy glue pen, put one tiny, tiny, drop (did I mention tiny!) of glue on the rock and then, press your rhinestone in place.  Choose where your rhinestone is going to be placed carefully so you are putting the glue on a flat spot of the rock - otherwise the glue can have a tendancy to run and will leave residue marks on the rock.  Although it would be easier to use larger rhinestones, I choose tiny ones as they looked classier and didn't overwhelm the "wish words".  Leave the rhinestone to set for approximately 10 minutes.
7. Voila!  You are done!

Variations

• You can use other colors of rocks but I do recommend the "polished" ones as the more porous types of rocks make the ink bleed and run. 
• You can use other colors of markers, ie. black but stick with the Permanent versions and I found the "Pilot" brand to work the best and last the longest.  They are a little trickier to use than a standard marker due to the ink being "flowing" but the end result is much better and definately worth it.
• Use the rocks as "Place Cards" with your guest names on one side and the "wish word" on the other side.  Set the rock on your napkin at each place setting.

Word Suggestions

Inspire
Create
Dream
Imagine
Love
Celebrate
Happiness
Smile
Giggle
Laugh
Hope
Peace
Friendship
Cherish
Wish
Serenity
Share
Joy
Family
Devotion
Blessings
Understanding
Discovery
Strength
Creativity
Party
Dance
Your wedding date (ie. 11-21-03)

Have fun & enjoy!