Fall Blessings/Give Thanks Wood block decor

I decided to try this out in the same manner I did the wood blocks for the photo holder craft, it was all looking good ( to me) until I inked.. now I'm not so thrilled with it, even though it does add a bit more to it. Don't you just hate it when you are making something and you're liking the way it looks, and add just ONE more detail, and it's a commitment detail that you can't really undo, and then you don't like it much after that point. Bah!!! Anyway, I used extra scraps of wood left over from the wood photo holder project. I can use it for early Fall and then around Thanksgiving too...

Welcome/schedule sign- frame/glass/vinyl, fabric

Well, I finally finished it- the new sign we'll be using for our MOPS group (if you want to know more, check out http://www.mops.org/ ). I used a 24" x 30" frame. I used spray glue to attach fabric to the back of the frame, ribbon with Terrifically Tacky Tape, and used my Cricut to cut out the vinyl for it. I tell ya, trying to make sure everything was even and not all wonky was a challenge ( I did not use the Transfer Paper they recommend using with vinyl, I'm cheap... ) It was intimidating working on such a big scale, and I've only used vinyl on a very small glass frame. I want to do a lot more now that I've tried it. I think making just a welcome sign or a sign with our last name and "est. 1994" (when we were married) would be cool too, especially with a fabric background. Lots of fun! If I had the room, something of this size could be cool for a daily schedule... lots of possibilities!

"My Blessings" wood photo holder

I found this idea on http://www.howdoesshe.com/ - a really cool blog, there's lots of fun wood projects on there. I want to try more. We'll be doing this for October's craft in the MOPS group I'm involved in. If you're interested in MOPS, you can check it out at http://www.mops.org/ - MOPS is a great opportunity for support and connection with other moms. This picture shows what I did for the example for the group, and therefore can be finished in the given time we have for crafts for that meeting. I plan on doing another one (or more :) for gifts), and I think I'll maybe paint the blocks and sand and ink around the edges, but I didn't want to add too many extra steps for the meeting. It felt good to craft again, I've been busy with summer and kids and such, along with working on another mini album for a friend, so it felt good to whip this out. It comes together really fast!

Recipe box redo

As you can probably see by the pictures of my recipe boxes (the brown, torn, sun faded ones), they're kind of hurting in the "appeal" department. I've had them forever, and they've served me well. The other day I was looking at them though, and thinking, gosh those things look ratty! I had several more in my closet being used for pictures (which I think is their original "purpose"- but since my recipe cards are bigger than the average recipe box, I went for the picture boxes), and since these are on their last legs, I took some of the ones in better shape and lightly sanded them (since the paper was glossy), and then took my trusty acrylic paint and went at them. I used crackling medium with one, and went for a "plainer" look on the second, thinking a) if the crackling doesn't go as I liked, I didn't do the work on 2 boxes for naught, and b) it's a nice 'contrast' to the crackling to have the eyes rest on. I played around with the lids, and I think I like using the crackled lid on the solid colored box... The beauty of it is that I can switch them around if it starts bugging me. I used my Cricut to cut out some red vinyl numbers for the boxes, just for whimsy. Anyhow, I didn't spend a thing- I already had the supplies that I needed right here at home, and now my kitchen is starting to look a little more coordinated with the colors. I don't know why I'm on that color combo kick right now of that aqua-ish with red... I think scrapbooking paper has inspired me. I suppose the bonus of painted things like that is that if I want to change things up, I'm not committed to those colors, I can just repaint or cover with paper....anyway, I hope you might have gotten an idea or two about changing something up without having to go out and spend money to do so...

Dollar Store Frames Revamp

I found the idea for this from I think it was Dollar Store Crafts- a site/blog, something like that. She spray painted the frames (they started out this oogly brown...) and then added neato things to be framed. I did basically the same thing, except I used my monogram acrylic stamps and stamped two Fs and an H. I then used one of my Cricut cartridges to cut out "home" "family" and "faith"- a few handy little bonuses on the cartridge. I put the vinyl on the OUTSIDE of the glass, and the stamped images on the inside. I really like how it looks... they're now on my mantle. What took the longest was having to spray a couple of coats (separately) of the spray paint on the frames. I think I need to invest in a can of spray primer. Anyhow, here's to having vision to overlook the initial "ugh" of something, and to spray paint! And to the ladies who inspired me to find these frames in the first place from the Dollar Store. :)

Is it bigger than a breadbox? No, it IS a breadbox!!

I found this breadbox in a thrift store near our house, and it was 2.99, and a lime-ish green. Not particularly shabby, but I knew it had potential. I played around with some paint- a Caribbean blue color, with some crackling and an undercoat of brown paint. I decided it was a bit too bright for me, not to mention the crackling medium was dragging in places and didn't look good. I think the problem was that the paint was too thick. So, I mixed a bottle of the blue with a bottle of white and it was a bit lighter, and then added some water to thin it down enough so I could get full coverage with one stroke of the brush across and not have the brush drag and mess up the crackling medium. On this project, I tried a different brand- Americana weathered wood crackling medium, in which you allow it to dry. I had previously used DecoArt brand crackling medium which requires you to NOT allow it to fully dry. I think I'm just getting aggravated with crackling at this point (at least on bigger projects), but I have figured out that the thickness of the paint used on the top coat can make a big diference in the success of the attempt. I haven't yet tried the spray crackling medium from Valspar- I so want to try it, but it's 6.50 a can and you need a base coat and top coat color, meaning, a little chunk of change for something you've never tried before and not sure what success you'll have with or like. The advantage of the spray would be that you don't have a brush dragging through the medium and smearing it..... Okay, I'm seriously rambling here. So after repainting/crackling the whole thing, I'm happy enough with it to put in my kitchen, but NOT for bread- I'm going to use it for my dish towels. I'm glad I changed out the knob too, those suckers are expensive though! I have a little set of wood drawers that I need to switch 3 knobs out by the time I'm done and I don't want to spend that money on them, and I need smaller knobs.. but I'm digressing again... Anyhow, I think my distressed little breadbox is a happy distressed at this point...

More Frosting Spray projects- Toothbrush holders and Q-tip jar

So just to clarify on the Frosting spray- it's the Valspar variety I used on my Mason jars, not the Betty Crocker kind for cupcakes and cookies and such . ( Just clarifying because of the mystified expression on my 8 year old's face when I said the words "frosting spray" and "glass".) Anyhow, I bought these glass containers at the Dollar Store in their craft/candle section, and I used my Cricut to cut out letters for the toothbrush holders and a pretty little design for the Q-tip holder, from vinyl. It is quite handy (but completely unnecessary), if you revisit my post on the Mason jar teacher gifts, you'll see why, and the link to the original poster of this idea- who didn't use a Cricut, or vinyl. I needed two holders for toothbrushes since we now have 2 bathrooms. I still have more plans for the Frosting spray....