"He will cover you with His feathers.."

Before I say anything else, I have to say that I found this idea from a super talented woman's blog- here's the link to what started a new obsession : http://www.harbourbreezehome.com/2011/11/tongue-and-groove-signs/. She has now started her own Etsy shop. If you check out this link, I'm sure you'll find your way over there. I think my tongue and groove board might be thicker than hers, but I just found some thinner board like this at Home Depot that I want to get and cut down. I'm super excited about making more. Anyhow, I loved the look of her decor that she made- the bird, the colors, and the Scripture. I didn't end up adding the Scripture reference on this sign, but I'm working on another that isn't tongue and groove board that I will include it on. I have this in my entryway with my spring decor and it was just what that whole spot needed. I used the technique that has been super fun for me to use lately : painting a base coat, applying vinyl die cuts, then painting over and peeling the vinyl off before the paint dries completely. It's so fun to do that, it makes me feel like a kid with that little bit of excitement... otherwise known as "CRAFT NERD ALERT!!!!". It's always better if you're enjoying yourself, right? Check out the link and see what else this fabulous lady is coming up with!

The Best things in life aren't things photo holder

I finally finished this project inspired by one found on Pinterest. Here's the link to the original source and directions :http://andreanelsworth.hubpages.com/hub/Home-Art-How-to-Make-The-Best-Things-in-Life-Arent-Things-Decorative-Wall-Sign-Tutorial . I want to give credit where it is due. I loved this idea- and it can be tailored to how many pictures you want to display (children, grandchildren, etc.) I painted and crackled my wood, then painted and distressed some mini clothespins- I thought it might be a bit much to crackle them also- but, on their own, they'd be pretty cute that way :) I pretty much copied the tutorial other than that- I think the look of the ribbon on the clothespins adds a pretty touch. Anyhow, one more thing from Pinterest accomplished! This is going into our MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers- www.mops.org ) auction next month.

Comments and Suggestions box

This is just one of those random posts about something kind of crafty that I did. No big thing, but I'm pleased with how it turned out. This started as a plain white box with a lid- one that you'd put a gift in and wrap up. I was asked to "prettify" it for our MOPS group- (if you want info. on MOPS- here's my plug again : check out www.mops.org ) I cut a hole in the middle of the lid- trying to get it centered was tricky- it's not completely in the middle, but "gut genug"- good enough! I glued paper to the front, then wrapped the edges around, working carefully to make it neat. I only had one piece of paper for the bottom, and I knew that if I had the paper all the way to the top, it would get mangled when we put the top back on over and over. My solution: I traced the sides out, then used my corner edge rounder to make a scalloped edge, and glued it as high as the bottom of the lid when placed on the box. It actually worked pretty well. I used a sponge ink pad to shade the white part of the box that would show when the lid was taken off, so it didn't stand out. Last part was cutting the letters out of Cricut vinyl- using the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge. I added a few token flowers just to add some dimension and then placed small colored rhinestones along the sides. (Main reason for this is that I didn't have any ribbon that matched right at home, grr... but I think it's nice enough.) Consider it "prettified".

Ribbon and Wood Hair Clip Holder

I've been trying to figure out a way to keep my girls' hair clips contained (and somewhat matched- so I can find matching clips when we have them), and after perusing some sites and talking to my friends, I decided upon the ribbon and wood idea. I cut a small piece of wood from a 1 x 4 x 8, painted it 2 colors (a base color and top coat) and distressed it a bit- cause that's how I roll.... I then cut strips of ribbon and glued the top of them to the back of the wood, glued on more ribbon to make a hanger, and cut out some vinyl letters with my Cricut. (The Cricut letters are totally unnecessary, and you could easily Mod Podge some cute paper on the wood instead of painting it or do whatever you want). I just wanted the function with a bit of "cuteness" added. Waiting for the paint to dry took the longest amount of time. My girls immediately liked it- ooh, I suppose I could have made polka dots and their initials... that would have been cute.... Anyhow, I can now find the matches to the clips and see exactly what I have instead of digging around in a basket with them loose. I'm pretty happy with this. Unfortunately my method for organizing the hair ties is not as cute- I have them all around a long paper towel roll- functional, but not cute... Oh well, if you have any ideas for that, please feel free to share... because that paper towel roll really leaves a lot to be desired visually....

Valentine's wood projects

I found these wood Valentine's projects while perusing my blog reader... the conversation block idea I found from Brown Paper Packages, and I can't remember where the stacked lengths idea was from... so if you come across it and it was your idea- for the record, I'm not claiming it as my own, but thanking you for a cute idea! :) In the Brown Paper Packages project, she used fence posts, but I had 2 x 4 blocks, so I just used those. I painted 2 different colors on the blocks, then sanded to show the bottom color. I did the same thing on the other project too. I cut out the letters out of vinyl with my Cricut- Alphalicious font. I'm thinking the "love, kisses, Valentine wishes" project might look more "complete" with some ribbon, but I need to find some first... so we'll see. The conversation hearts are fun because you can arrange them however you want. So thanks to the ladies in "blog-land" for the cute ideas! :)

Christmas wood decor

I've continued to play around with wood, paint, crackling medium, and Cricut vinyl letters, and came up with this Christmas decoration. I like it so much that I want to make one that isn't in seasonal colors because of what it says about God and how I relate to Him. To me, He is my source of hope, joy, peace, and so much more, and He is definitely my Saviour. I used leftover pieces of 2 x 4's cut from the wood photo holders posted recently (from the http://www.howdoesshe.com/ site). I used a narrower piece of wood cut from a long board purchased and cut at Home Depot. I was originally going to put "Believe" on the long piece of wood as a separate decoration for Christmas, but then decided to use it with the 3 smaller pieces of wood. The whole thing was an experiment- I was going to put holiday words on the smaller pieces, and wasn't sure what all I was going to do. I'd also run out of the green and red paint, so I couldn't use the eight inch piece cut from the 2 x 4's that I had left over to put "Saviour" on, so I tried the one I'd originally intended for "Believe".. I'm really happy with how this turned out, and I can arrange the wood pieces however I want. I don't think my infatuation with wood, paint, and crackling medium is over yet... :)

Christmas wood block photo holders

I think I was inspired by http://www.howdoesshe.com/ for these with all their wood crafts, I can't remember anymore.. but I know at the very least that's what triggered my thinking... I happened upon these handy little blocks out of the generosity of my best buddy (also a very crafty buddy at that :) ) I decided to try and paint then crackle them with holiday colors, and add the word "joy" on them (since it's short and sweet, and these are small blocks). The crackling worked, and then I sanded a bit around the edges of them, to add even more detail to them. I used Weathered Wood Crackling Medium by Americana- I mentioned in my previous post with my wood signs that I have figured out how to make it work for me for the most part without it dragging and ruining the whole look.. I found it at Michaels for under three dollars, and it goes pretty far. Anyhow, I used my Cricut to cut out vinyl letters and stuck them on there- but you could paint them on there or use stickers, whatever you want. The next point of the experiment was to see if I could manage to get a wire photo holder in the wood without mangling everything. I used metal stem wire- found in the floral arrangement dept. in JoAnn's- it was a package of about 20, and I cut them in half. I wrapped one of the ends around the end of a pair of needle nose pliers to make the spiral holder, then added another loop in the middle by wrapping it around my finger. I used a finishing nail the same width as the stem wire to make a hole. I dabbed the ends of the stem wire in E-6000 glue before pushing them into the hole, and to my happiness, it fit tightly and securely. Woohoo! These were totally inexpensive- you could use scraps of wood for anything. I highly recommend using crackling medium to instantly make something a little fancier. I'm excited that this actually worked out- those ideas in my head don't often have success :) ..

Laundry sign

Have I mentioned that I love what you can do with a piece of wood? What I did: took a piece of wood and painted a base coat (bottom), then crackling medium, then a white top coat. I then used my Cricut to cut out vinyl words to go on the sign- this idea I've gotten from several blogs, so I can't specifically say which one, because I've seen it done in a variety of ways. How could you make it easier? Forget the crackling step, and just paint your wood the color you want. You could sand it a little to distress it, but that's not even necessary unless you really want to. I think I might donate this to our MOPS auction that we have in the spring.

Altered Paint Can

I found this can of sorts in Craft Warehouse- there are varieties that are completely metal (more traditional paint can, versus the shape, but not the function of this particular kind). I've had this sitting in my craft stash for a couple of years now, and I've been seeing versions of them all over the internet, I just hadn't had the motivation to do it, until not. Instead of covering the outside with paper, I placed it on the inside instead, and didn't need adhesive. You can switch it out to whatever you want inside. I measured around the outside with my measuring tape to see how long I'd need the paper, and also measured how high the can was too. I took about a 1/2 inch off of the height measurement so I wouldn't have to try and jam it under the lip of the can. I needed 2 pieces of paper to fit the inside, since my 12 inch paper was not long enough, so I just stuck a shorter piece onto the longer one and rolled the entire piece up, then popped it inside the can. As it unrolls you can push it along the sides to fit better. If you'd like you can add more adhesive at the ends to keep it still, but I don't mind how it looks. I used a corner rounder to make a scallop at the top, then inked it. I like how it turned out, it makes it a little prettier to me. I used my Cricut to cut out an initial out of vinyl, then stuck it on the outside, and added a few simple pretties to it, along with some flowers and buttons. I tied ribbon scraps to the handle to color it up just a little more. At that point, I just filled it with scrapping goodies for a friend. We made a simpler version of this for our MOPS table centerpieces this year. I cut out paper in the same fashion, then added a little cut out with this year's theme on it. We tied coordinating ribbon to the handles, then made flower pens and put them in the inside of the can for the ladies to take notes with during the meetings. We'll be able to reuse the containers with other papers if we want to, since we didn't stick anything on the outside (unlike this present for a friend in which I used the vinyl and the flowers/buttons.). Sooo, the moral of this story is: don't be daunted, these can be fun and simple little goodie containers, and easy enough to make. OOh, and I now apologize for the ugly dirty window tracks behind the can in the pictures, ICK! Note to self: clean those window sills and tracks!

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. :)