Patriotic Banner

Here is another project I made to coordinate with the other patriotic decorations I made for a friend. Pretty straightforward craft. I just cut the banner "triangles," made some embellishments, punched holes in the corners and assembled. 

I found the papers at Hobby Lobby, in case you wanted to give it a shot. The project is hanging on navy blue organdy ribbon. That's it!

Patriotic Chevron Decoration

This is another one of the crafts I made recently for a friend of mine. She had shown me a picture as inspiration and asked me to come up with some patriotic decorations. Not sure why, but this was a brilliant idea I had. I keep seeing chevrons everywhere and thought it would be a perfect way to represent the stripes in the flag. I think it is a super fun way to do it! I am just now kicking myself for not doing one of my own. I think it will be my next project. After all, it is my original idea!! Can't only be one of these in the world! ;-)

I made it by base coating the top of the wood board (purchased in the wood section at Joann Fabrics,) in navy blue and then base coating the bottom in red. I waited for the sections to dry, measured for the center of the board with a ruler, and then, using the width of painter's tape (about 1 1/4th inches,) I taped off the chevrons. With a light amount of paint, I painted the white chevrons with 2 coats of paint. Then when it was dry, I lightly sanded the whole surface to very gently distress it. I found the two layered wooden star at Joann Fabric store and painted the whole thing in the white color and then painted the surface of the small center star in navy. Sanded that piece lightly too. Before I attached the star, I wrapped the top blue section in red and white baker's twine, in a random fashion. Lastly, I used simple hot glue to attach the star to the board. Simple as that!

I am hoping that I will actually get motivated to make myself one. My friend just posted a picture of it decorating her mantel and it is just perfect! Very proud of this one...

Patriotic Wreath

I wanted to share a wreath I made recently for my "benevolent benefactor," AKA, friend Kim. She showed me a picture on Pinterest of a patriotic mantel, said she loved it all and then told me to go for it. I mostly used the photo as inspiration for the feeling of the projects that I ultimately completed. I did 5 total and will be sharing them all as I find time. This wreath is the first that I completed. I made it by wrapping two kinds of ribbon around a straw wreath form. I then made a poof out of tulle, and added some rick rack to the back of a tin star ornament that I disassembled to make it more simple and usable for me. The small tag was actually part of the star ornament but the design on the other side of it didn't match, so I used my Cricut to cut out the "4th" in navy blue and mod podged it to the tag. Then I hung that from baker's twine and a ribbon bow which served to separate the two ribbon colors. That was it! Easy and fun! 

Wooden Owl Magnets

I just had a birthday! Yes indeed. I also have a daughter and a friend who share it with me! Now, my daughter has a party planned for this coming weekend and I am busy busy doing projects for her. (More to come about that in a later post.) Turns out that I got to be celebrated too! My friends all got together to celebrate our groups early April birthdays with a potluck. SUPER fun!! I just love those ladies. So blessed to have them in my life. So we had chicken tacos, salad, fruit, beans, and yummy oreo cupcakes for dessert. Mmmmmm. (Beats the sandwich I usually have...)

Anyway, I really like to give handmade gifts to my friends, since we all like the crafty stuff. I wanted to make a little something for my friend Dana. I searched Pinterest and found the cutest owl magnets with clothespins to hold art or business cards, etc. Since I was given a new scroll saw from my Mom for my birthday, seemed like the perfect opportunity to get back into wood crafting. Discovered just how much I missed it! I am so excited!! SO... I sketched out a template and went to work. I sanded the cut out shapes, painted them, decoupaged paper pieces to the owl body and to the clothespins. I added heavy duty magnets to the back with hot glue and attached a jute twine hanging line. I figured that her name will be removed to allow for her beautiful children to display their artwork on the fridge. OR she could just take ownership of whatever metal surface she chooses... I really love the results. I want to make them for all my friends now!