"Those who wish to sing" sign

Yay!  I finally made something for my own home- specifically, my girls' room.  I've been working on so many other things that I haven't felt like I've had a chance to work on anything for myself for a while.  This sign was on my "to - do" list, and was one of the first things I cut out with my jigsaw.  I wasn't sure how I felt about how the shape of the wood looked until I painted it and distressed it, now I really like how it turned out.  I love this saying and it makes me think of my little girls, who are always singing.  There's no way to stop someone if they have a song in their heart, is there? :)

Make your own wood tray!

       First things first :  I found the tutorial for how to make this tray at : http://www.shanty-2-chic.com/2012/04/diy-magazine-tray.html .  This blog is fantastic for tutorials on how to make your own, well, lots of things! I didn't add hardware other than the handles.  These handy dandy wood trays are made from furring strips- not the smoothest wood you could use, but it adds to the distressed, less than perfect look.  It also made this tray around $5 ish dollars or so to make- including the handles.  It's a pretty decent size tray too- sturdy!
       So the details:  I painted parts of it brown, then aqua.  I decided it was a bit too aqua for my liking, added a vinyl stencil, then painted white.  Before the paint dried, I peeled off the stencil, revealing the undercoat I'd distressed a bit.  I'm still not completely sold on how I painted it, but I'm not sure what I'd do differently.  I have more wood in my garage to make another one, and I want to put some kind of a word on the side, I just can't figure out what I want to put.  I can't really paint it until I decide. Bahhh! 
      I definitely recommend making these- I did use my miter saw instead of the hand saw the tutorial recommended.  Maybe mine was really dull, but I tried it and it just was not a happening for me.  Then I ended up with an uneven cut.  Double Bahhh!

Talk about a quick craft!  If you have a spare picture frame you're not using, and a whole lot of hair clips that need to be organized, then here's a great idea to help you out.  I took an empty frame that I found at a rummage sale (50 cents,can't be beat!! ), sanded it and painted it, then hot glued strips of cute ribbon to the back of the frame.  I started to run out of ribbon on the last one, so I looped it and glued it to make spots for our headbands to fit in.  Both the frame idea and the looping I've seen on blogs and Pinterest, but never seemingly to a specific person....   Please excuse the layout of the pictures- if they're a little bit wonky it's because I haven't figured out the new format of Blogger...   if you have a lot of headbands, you could make a frame devoted to the headbands in addition or instead of the clips.  So go reduce, reuse, recycle! (and ORGANIZE in the process! :)  )

Grandchildren

     I  made this sign for a friend from church, who decided that it would be the perfect gift for her mother.  It was a pretty simple project- paint the wood black, then a sage green, distress with sandpaper, and add vinyl lettering.  I know of a few grandmothers who would enjoy this sign too ;)

Children's Name sign

     First things first, let's give the credit to what inspired me to make this in the first place : http://aimee-weaver.blogspot.com/2011/05/sign-projects.html .  This supremely talented woman makes beautiful signs, which inspire me in a huge way (UNDERSTATEMENT! )  Anyhow, I made this for a friend from church.  I used the technique of printing the wording out, then rubbing in pencil the back side of the paper, and attaching it to my board with a little piece of tape as a hinge.  I then traced around the words, and when I took it off, the paper had transferred a light outline from the pencil underneath.  This is a great technique, and not one I thought of on my own either.  I honestly can't remember where I found it now, since I've looked at so many blogs and sites that have given tips on sign making.  I used my fine tipped brush to paint in the lettering.  It takes a bit of practice, but the second time I tried it on this, I was much happier.  Yes, you heard that right, the SECOND time- because I was not happy with the original font I'd chosen when I painted it in.  So, I PAINTED OVER IT AND STARTED OVER.  'Cause I'm anal-retentive like that.. yes, it's painful being me in so many ways- the least of which is creatively.
       For my board, I used a scrap of MDF board and used a piece of scrapbooking paper with this shape as a template.  I used my jig-saw to cut this out.  This also took a little bit of practice, but I'm getting better at using my jig saw :) .  I used contact paper measured and cut into strips to make the stripes- it makes such a clean line, I love it.  I only had to clean up a few spots here and there.  I would have had this thing done at least a month ago if I hadn't re-done it... bummer.  My friend was very happy with it, and that's what counts, right? ;)

hair goodies

I've been on a hair flower making kick lately- I have 2 girls and they like hair goodies, and have you priced that stuff in the stores? Exxxpensive! I found tons of tutorials online, and used some of them to make these. The hair clip holder is one I made for our MOPS auction (www.mops.org) - I used a metal hanger from Craft Warehouse for a template and traced around it so I could cut one out of thin MDF board with my jigsaw. I will share the links I used for my flowers- all but the middle spikey one I used tutorials for. The link for the first row of flowers (left to right) is : http://www.littlethingsbringsmiles.com/2010/12/felt-fun.html .
The middle row of flowers are made by cutting an approximately 36" x 1" strip of felt, then cutting slits across the one inch side to about 1/4 inch of the end (if you go too far you'll cut it off). At that point, you use a glue gun and glue and roll the felt strip up, and add a clip on the back. You can fluff it out to make it nicer.
The last row to the right- the very top flower, tutorial : http://thecraftysparrow.blogspot.com/2011/11/makeitmonday-twine-felt-fall-wreath.html
The bottom two on the last row, tutorial : http://www.thelittlegiggler.com/2011/06/felt-hibiscustutorial.html The only difference is that I used a hot glue gun instead of sewing.

These are just miniature versions of the big ones on the hair clip board, you can refer to the link above- I didn't use the bigger petals with these, I just used the little petals that lined the bigger ones. I thought they were kind of cute that way.

I found the tutorial for these ribbon rosettes here : http://www.thenshemade.com/2011/03/flower-tutorial-2.html

These are just a handful of the tutorials I've checked out (and the easiest to me). Happy flower making! (and money saving! )

Spring blocks

It's a new season- well, it's supposed to be, but if you looked at the weather outside my window today, you wouldn't think spring, that's for sure! I decided to make some fun "spring" decorations for our MOPS auction- although I'd like to keep these for myself. I don't know why the "n" looks wonky in this picture- I think it was how I was standing, I assure you it's lined up right if you look at the first picture :) . I used my trusty technique of base coating the wood first, then applying vinyl, painting over it, and peeling off the vinyl to reveal the brown underneath. I used the Storybook Cricut cartridge for these images, and I'm happy with how they turned out. So many options to try!