In love!

First off, credit is due to www.sawdustandembryos for the barn board tutorial (which I talk about here), and to www.threemangoseeds.blogspot.com for the inspiration for this sign. This is the picture I saw on Pinterest

I liked it, but I wasn't completely in love with it. Plus, I'm in the process of repainting our shutters and doors red to match the barn we just built, so I knew I wanted to incorporate red. Finally, the original idea used pallets. And, well, see my last post. 

So, I headed to Lowes, with the boys in tow. That's a challenge to tell you about another day. I purchased 6 1x4x6 (they are cheaper in longer lengths, but I had my SUV, so I opted for 6 ft boards instead of 8.) They were $1.68 a board or something like that. I also bought the red paint, which I'm going to use on our shutters. 

The first step was to cut the boards to length using a miter saw. Then, I splashed on some cream colored paint and white paint left over from other projects. After the paint dryed, I stained over very lightly (using Minwax Provincial.) The result were boards that looked aged. Read the linked post in the above for more details on this process. 

Next, I ripped a 1x4 in half on the table saw. I didn't take pictures of this step, but really, I just put the board through the table saw, nothing like rocket science or anything. Then, I cut the ripped pieces on 45 degree angles on the miter saw to make a frame. I should've painted the boards before attaching them to my sign, but I was too excited. (Sidenote, I tend to get really impatient when it comes to things like letting the paint dry!) So, I proceeded to attached the frames to the sign boards. The process looked something like this:

I laid the boards in the order I wanted them on a table, laying off the edge some. Then, I clamped the frame pieces one at a time, and ran in screws from the back of the sign to the front. This could also be done with nail brads. The only thing that holds all of the sign boards together is the attached frame pieces. Once the frame was attached, I taped it off to paint.

I painted the frame red, and pulled out my handy-dandy overhead projector. I projected up the words and traced with a pencil. (The font for "Welcome" is Great Vibes. "Friends & Family" is Minion Pro- my favorite font!) I painted very carefully inside the lines. Again, this is where I started speed working, so not too many pictures. After the words were done, I decided I wanted some squiggles, so I projected those up too. 

And, here's the finished project! As soon as our shutters are painted, this beauty will hang beside our front door. What do you think?

Two little boys and a craft for a girl

So, the last time I blogged, I was finishing up a craft for the twins' nursery. Little did I know they would make their appearance just a few short days later! Dwight and Jordan entered our lives on April 7.

This is them at one month; Dwight is on the left and Jordan is on the right. The first three months have been a heck of a ride. They are so much fun, and Greg and I often look at them and think, "Wow. They're really ours."

More on being a mama later. The boys are sleeping, and I want to share a simple, cute idea for a little one in your life.

I was glad to be able to make this easy project for Greg's cousin who just an adorable little girl.

The original idea came from Pinterest, but the link has since been deleted, so I can't give proper credit. I didn't take pictures as I went, but believe me, it was a piece of cake!

First, I took an old picture frame and removed the staples from the back. I painted the frame with acrylic paint. (I tried this on another frame first using spray paint. Bad idea. It ran like crazy. Save yourself the headache and use acrylic or latex.) After the paint dried, I measured the open space on the back of the frame and decided how far apart I wanted to place the ribbons. I put a dot with a Sharpie at the top and the bottom, and I measured the ribbon before gluing it on. The ribbon is fairly tight. This is the only picture I took, so you can see where I hot glued the ribbon.

The small strips of ribbon are hot glued in the groove of the frame where the glass would go. The ribbon for the hanger is glued onto the outside of the frame.

I turned the frame back over and put dots for the cup hooks. I pre-drilled with a bit, which made the hooks go in very easily. Then, I jazzed it up with a few silk flowers. And, voila!

So, if you haven't figured it out yet, the vertical ribbons are for hair bows. The cup hooks are for headbands, necklaces, etc.

I hear stirring babies, so that's all for now blogosphere...

Babies are almost here... time to finish up the nursery with one more craft!

I love the painted signs you can find at craft shops. I always admire the pretty paint jobs, but I some times gasp at the price. I came across a link on Pinterest to a tutorial for printing your own professional looking letters. 

I decided I could make my own sign for the nursery using this method. Best of all? I had all the supplies I needed, so the project was essentially free!

First, I found a nice scrap board in the garage. I cut it down to the approximate size I needed and proceeded to stain it.

Like my staining bench? It's a big cardboard box in the basement that I use so I don't get paint or stain anywhere. I started on the back of the board, then I did the sides. This way, I was doing the front last, so I could make sure it blended in well with the sides.

I'm kind of impatient, so I barely let the stain dry 15 minutes before I moved on to the next step. In Microsoft Word, I typed the phrase, "We love you to the moon and back." I used the font Optima ExtraBlack in size 110. I printed it off and was ready to proceed.

I cropped the bottom of the page off, so there was an equal margin at the top and bottom of the page, and then I centered it side to side and top to bottom on the board. I secured it with scotch tape. As you can see, my stain wasn't quite dry, because it bled through the paper, but it didn't affect anything.

I was skeptical of the next step, but it worked like a charm. I used a normal ball point point and traced over the letters. It was really hard not to peek, but I didn't want to risk pulling up the paper to look and then not getting the letters lined up again!

If I was going to do this step again, I might trace over each letter twice. It made a good imprint in the wood, but because the stain was dark, it was challenging to see.

I filled in the letters with acrylic paint and a small paint brush. After all of the letters were painted, this is what I had:

I decided it needed something else, so I found some star and moon clipart online, and I repeated the imprint process at the top and bottom. And here's the finished product:

This was seriously a super-easy project. From start to finish, it took a little over an hour. The technique is fool-proof! The sign is now hung on the nursery wall, so these babies can come at any time!

Nursery crafts numero tres

I was inspired by this link on Pinterest. I thought it would make a cute addition to the nursery wall. Like many things on Pinterest, it was easier said than done. However, a few headaches later, I completed my own take on the sunburst mirror:

Here's how I did it.

First, the tutorials on the web called for paint sticks. I felt straight-up weird going to the Lowe's paint counter and asking for 50 paint sticks. I considered swiping them from the unattended counter at Walmart, but a few months ago, I took about 30 paint swatches for another craft project, and I still feel a twinge of guilt. So, I started thinking of other options. I considered wood shims, which is what the link above used, but I wasn't sure how smooth of a finish they would have. I also thought about buying $.50 yard sticks at Wally World and cutting them down. Then, I realized I teach shop, and I have an endless supply of scrap 2x4s! So, as luck would have it, I had a couple of students who had nothing to do, so I put them to work. They used the table saw to rip the scrap boards into approximately 3/16 inch thick pieces. Then, they used the miter saw to cut them to 9 inch lengths. Voila! Problem one solved.

Next, I took the pieces home and painted them with acrylic paint, using the four main colors I'm decorating the nursery with. I started with 40 sticks, because I had no idea how many I would need to go around my 9 inch mirror.

I knew I couldn't glue the sticks directly to the mirror, so I decided to lay out the sticks on a cardboard cake circle. I used an 8 inch circle, since my mirror was 9 inches, but I later put a 10 inch circle behind it for reinforcement, and you can't see the extra cardboard behind the mirror once it's on the wall.

During this step, I also cut every other stick down to 5 inches. This helped free up room and gave the project some dimension. I used a ruler to divide the cake circle like a pie. The long sticks went down two inches on each line, and the short sticks went in between.

I used some hefty craft glue to glue the sticks to the circle, then I placed some heavy books on top while the glue dried. I repeated the same process to glue the mirror on top of the sticks. Two days later, I called it good!

So, here's how that wall of the nursery looks now:

I'm going to attempt one more craft project tonight. Details coming soon!

Nursery Crafts... Part 2

In the last post I shared Greg's and my big news. I also mentioned a few craft projects I've been doing to get ready for the little ones. Today, I have another quick, easy project to show.

I started with a blank, 11x14 canvas from Hobby Lobby ($5.97 for a pack of two.) I also had an assortment of paints, in cream, yellow, sage green, navy, and brown. I picked up a pack up round sponge brushes ($3.97, also at Hobby Lobby), and I went to town.

I started at the top with the biggest foam brushes, and I worked my way down, incorporating smaller dots and leaving more white space. In between brush sizes, I used my blow dryer to dry the previous coat.

I can't paint. It's a known fact. That being said, I guess I shouldn't be too upset with how this turned out. Hopefully it will add a splash of color on a nursery wall.

Back to the blog

So it's been a while since I've updated the ol'e blog, but here I am again. Since I posted last, Greg and I made it Facebook official, with this photo:

Yep, after some ups and downs in the baby-making world, we're expecting... TWINS! We are very excited to meet our little ones. They're anticipated arrival is May 1, though they could make their appearance sooner. Most common question I receive: how are you feeling? Answer: pretty good. I had some severe vomiting for about the first three months, but it's down to about once a week now. I'm getting some energy back, and as long as I can work around my growing belly, I seem to be pretty productive. Second most common question I receive: are you finding out what you're having? Answer: NOPE!

Anywho, I've been working on some craft projects to get the nursery ready. The first one is not one I would replicate, but thanks to the help of my handy crafting partner, Toni, it's finished!

We're not really decorating with a theme, but the people that lived in the house before us left literally hundreds of glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling, so we're working in some star and moon accessories with the colors navy, brown, cream, gold, and sage green.

To complete this project (which in case you can't tell, is a yarn-ball mobile), these are the steps you need to follow:

1. Blow up balloons. We used 7 inch round balloons and 5 inch "super soaker" balloons. We started with 8 big balloons and 8 small balloons.
2. Create a mixture of Elmer's glue and water. We couldn't find any good web tutorials, so we had to guess here. We used a big, plastic bowl, poured in Elmer's, and watered it down so it was the consistency of a melted milkshake. This stuff gets really messy! We regrettably didn't cover the counters, but we should have.
3. Next, cut off a large section of yarn in the color of your choice. We used pieces that were 7 arms-lengths long. The large balloons would have been better with more yarn. Go with what you think will work. 
4. Dip the yarn in the glue mixture and wrap it around the balloon, alternating directions. We found the best system was to have one of us dip it in the glue, wipe off the extra glue, and hand it the other person, who wrapped the balloon.
5. After the balloons are completely covered, sit them on wax paper to dry over night.
6. Once they feel sufficiently dry, pop the balloon and pull out the pieces from the middle. (We experimented with spraying them with starch, thinking that the starch would help add stiffness to the yarn, but it really just made the glue wet again, and we ruined a couple of balloons. Without the starch, the yarn balls are strong enough.)
7. Cover an embroidery hoop with yarn or ribbon and attach a hanging system to the top. We used yarn in a cross pattern for that role as well.
8. Tie yarn to each yarn ball and hang it from the embroidery hoop in a pattern you like.

Voila! A complex project, but one I'm glad to see finished! Thanks Toni for your awesome help! Total cost break-down:

• Four spools of yarn: $11.88
• Two bottles of Elmer's: $2.46
• Two packs of balloons: $1.94
• Two embroidery hoops: $5.88
• Total cost for two nursery mobiles: $22.16

Pinterest Inspired

I'm slightly addicted to Pinterest.

Over the summer, I didn't spend much time on it, and you can tell, since I haven't blogged about any crafty projects lately. However, recently, I upgraded to a fancy new Droid, and now I can "pin" on the go from my phone.

Last week, I came across this project:

I thought it looked like an easy project to crank out in a day, and I had all of the supplies on hand, so I set out to replicate it. There weren't clear directions with the pin, so I made them up as I went.

First, I found an almost-empty box in the pantry. It turns out this box was the perfect size for the finished product.

Then, I created a template on construction paper to give the sides a little jazz.  I traced it onto the box and used an Exacto knife to cut it.

Next, I traced the template onto white cardstock to cover the box, and then I traced it onto scrapbook paper. I cut the scrapbook paper slightly smaller than the cardstock, so the cardstock would leave a white boarder. I also traced the sides of the box onto the paper.

After gluing the paper onto the box (I used a hot glue gun for the cardstock and a glue stick for the scrapbook paper), this is what I had:

I fiddled around making a tab pattern. I'm not crazy about how the tabs turned out, so I would probably do something different the next time. I gathered up my greeting cards that I had on hand, and filed them away into the finished product.

Any suggestions on how to do the tabs differently? What crafty projects have you been working on?

Our front door

One of my goals for this year is to keep something on our front door all the time. I think it makes our house feel more welcoming. Plus, it gives me a project to do every month and a half or so when I change out the door hanging. 


The best of today's project was it's cost. It was CHEAP. Here are the materials I bought, all from Wal-mart.


1 grapevine wreath: $2.50
1 bunch of silk hydrangea: $3
1 bunch of silk roses: $.94
1 bunch of silk honeysuckle: $.94


Total cost: $7.38


(I also used a glue gun and a stick, which I already had on hand. Also, I didn't use all of the flowers, so I saved them for another project.)


The second best part of today's project was the time it took to complete. Literally, in three minutes it was hanging on my door!


Here's the finished project:

Happy crafting!

The easiest donuts you'll ever make

Yesterday kicked off my spring break. I celebrated by getting up at the same time I normally do and making some donuts.


I saw the idea on Pinterest, and I thought, "Heck, I can do that."


So I did.


Ingredients
1 tube of refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
Vegetable oil
4 tbs butter
Cinnamon sugar

Directions

1. Remove the biscuits from the tube and cut out the center using a cookie cutter or other round object. (I improvised and used a shot glass.) Save the middles, because they make the perfect bite-sized donuts. 
2. Fill a large skillet with about half of an inch of vegetable oil. Heat until it is nearly boiling. Place the donuts carefully into the oil using tongs. 
3. Use the tongs to check the undersides of the donuts. After a few minutes, they will turn golden brown. At this point, carefully flip each of the donuts over. 
4. After the bottom is golden brown, remove the donuts from the oil and place them on a plate lined with paper towels. Allow the oil to drip off. When they are cool to the touch, brush them with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Be sure to sprinkle the top and bottom of the donuts.
5. Voila! Enjoy. Store the leftovers in an airtight container, and they'll keep for a few days. 

Simple Welcome Plaque

I've been seeing all of these cute Valentine's wreaths on Pinterest, but I haven't being feeling all that motivated to try one. Nonetheless, I have been thinking our front door needs a little somethin', somethin'. I was cleaning the garage the other day, when I found these 1/8in plywood pieces I had cut down for another project. I had a pinkish colored spray paint, so I figured I could do something with them. I was right!

The best part of this project is that I had everything I needed on hand. After spray painting the plywood, I picked out a lighter pink sheet of scrapbook paper and some white cardstock. I freehanded the biggest heart, and then I traced it on the white paper and trimmed it smaller. I repeated the process with the third heart. I glued the three together and onto the plywood with a glue stick. I pulled out the white letters from my scrapbook goodies, and I glued them to the plywood with a glue stick also. I put a couple layers of Modge Podge over the whole thing. The white ribbon was in my scrap drawer, and I put it on the back with my trusty glue gun. I also glued a strip of scrap felt on the back at the bottom, so when the wind blew, the plywood didn't knock on the door.


Up went a wreath hanger on the door. On went the plaque. Project finished!

Easy as 1, 2, 3

1 curtain rod, mounted to the wall
2 sheets of contrasting scrapbook paper
3 frames with mats

Yarn Covered Bottles... TBD

I'm calling this post "TBD," because my opinion of this latest project is to be determined. Actually, I pretty much like it, but it's just so different than anything else I have in my house, so it will take me a little while to get used to it. Here's what I'm talking about:

These babies cost me a whopping $6.17 to make. That includes three spools of yarn, which still have a bunch left on them. I had a glue gun and glue sticks, so I'm not counting that as an expense, and I just hacked the twigs off of a tree in our woods.


The project was actually pretty simple. I saw the idea on Pinterest, but I couldn't find a tutorial, so I made it up as I went. First, I started with some empty, clean beer bottles. (Disclaimer, we are not alcoholics. We just rarely empty our recycling.)

Next, I hot glued the end of the yarn to the bottom of the bottle. I did the first few this way, and they took me about 20 minutes a piece. Then, I switched to starting at the top of the bottle, and I cut my time to 10 minutes a piece. It is definitely much easier to start at the top. 

As you go, wrap the yard around the bottle. Keep the yarn pulled tight, and you'll only need glue at the top and at the bottom. I used a couple of different methods. One of them was to hold the yard in place and spin the bottle around it. As I got more efficient, I started wrapping the yarn around the bottle three or four times, and then pushing it toward the yarn that was already wrapped, instead of going one row at a time. 

Voila! Here are some of the finished products. These were my first few. I got better as I went. 

I placed them on the top of our entertainment center and cut some twigs from a tree in our woods. I experimented with spray painting the twigs, but I liked them like this better. I may throw some polyurethane on them to make them glossy. 

Most of my living room is cream and burgundy, so I'd like to tie some red into the bottles, but I haven't quite decided how yet. Perhaps some flowers.


So, there you have it. Bottles. Yarn. Hot glue. Life is good.

Hello, cute magnets.

I didn’t even need Pinterest for inspiration on this one! (Though I’m sure it’s on there somewhere!) These magnets took 20 minutes top from the time I started until they were hanging on the fridge with dry Modge Podge.
 

Spray paint clothespins any color you’d like.

Place magnetic strip on the back. (I used the kind that already has adhesive, but I put a couple of drops of hot glue for extra durability.)

Place the magnet on the backside of scrapbook or other cute paper and trace. I used scraps, because it takes so little paper. Cut out the traced shape.

Cover the side of the clothespin that does not have the magnet with Modge Podge, and place your paper on it. Cover the front paper with more Modge Podge. Pardon my sausage fingers. 

Allow to dry.

Marvel in their simplistic beauty and functionality.