Have Yourself a Cheaper Sign

A couple of friends and I had noticed some adorable signs at Barn Owl Primitives which we had convinced ourselves we could do cheaper. (She charges $70 plus $16 for shipping!! That is WAAAAY out of my range of affordability.) And so... we made our own. We got together one morning to give it a shot. You know what?? It was not hard at all to make. Now, Barn Owl hand paints hers, but we decided to do the Silhouette stencil method. We each varied our technique a little, but ended up with similar results. Mine was done by painting a board about 11 1/2 " x 18" in a red shade of acrylic, twice, then allowed it to dry. Then I applied the Silhouette cut letters and painted a light buttermilk acrylic over the whole board and allowed that coat to dry for a few minutes and then removed the vinyl letter stickers and allowed it to dry completely. Then you are supposed to apply the negative space of the "little" vinyl sticker to the board to stencil the word. I brain farted, of course and applied the "positive" word sticker to the board inappropriately. Grrrr. So, I had to come up with a solution to my issue since I ran out of time and had finish my project at home WITHOUT a Silhouette to cut another word with. (HINT: If anyone would like to send me a COMPLETELY AWESOME Silhouette machine for Christmas, I would love you forever.) Anyway, I ended up tracing around the "little" with a pencil and then removing the stickers and hand painted it. Hooray! I was a quick thinker. I am absolutely in love with the results. I attached a tulle bow to the hanger that I had added and am displaying it on my wreath hook (until I make that wreath that I have been dreaming about... to be continued...)

Rudolph Chocolate Bars

  

 I always like to do cute little treats for each of my kid's class parties for all the holidays. Since my new best friend Pinterest came along, the cute factor has been elevated. (Here is the little Hershey bar reindeer that I have been working on for my youngest son's class. All it took was a chocolate bar, a bunch of cardstock and punches and some chenille stems. Super cute, if you ask me. The tag saying was my husband's idea. It reads, "Go ahead. Enjoy. It would be 'Rudolph' you not to! Merry Christmas!" I thought it was brilliant so I went with it. Might be beyond the first grader mindset, but, oh well. Their parents might chuckle. 

Clothespin Photo Frame

My oldest daughter is going to another birthday party sleepover and so it was my challenge to craft another gift that a teenager might appreciate. I LOVE these kind of challenges. I was recently given a couple of pieces of cut wood scraps and one of them happened to be painted already. I kept thinking of something that I could do with the painted piece and along comes a super cute project on Pinterest, yet again. I thought it would be perfect so I put it together this morning. All it took was a little Mod Podge, a wooden clothespin, and some various ribbon and trims. Here is the result. Hope she likes it!

Repurposed and Upcycled Cuteness

One of my crafty friends has a relative who was in the cabinet business and recently offered some old doors and wooden pieces to the craft group I belong to. I was so excited! After all, a couple of weeks ago, I had been to a boutique and participated in a hands on tutorial, through a chalk paint demonstrator, and walked away with a cute little frame (which I added to my fall decor) and an old breadboard (that I later embellished and am holding for Christmas.) This little hands on tutorial is what spurred our group to make a bunch of other goodies with the generously donated cabinet doors. I am still in the process of embellishing and re-purposing my little stash. What fun I am having!! Serious amounts of it, that is for sure.

 I have another friend who was in need of a wedding gift and had something in mind that she was looking for and asked if I had seen anything around town like what she was describing. Well, I hadn't. But I did have a fabulous idea and one of my doors would soon have a new home. So I was commissioned. I purchased the wording at Target, spray painted the door, added picture frame hooks and sanded it down. Then I created the bow with some tulle I had on hand and added a cute little flower and picture frame ornament. I know I would have loved to receive such a gift. My friend seemed to be happy with the results! Upcycling at its' finest!

Another couple of projects have come about from the same batch of awesome cabinet doors. I made a family prayer board. I painted the door black, added chalkboard paint to the center panel, distressed it, then added "pray" with vinyl lettering. It is hung near the entrance to my kitchen so that every time I walk by or when we are sitting at our table, I am reminded to pray. I need to work on a blessing board too. We certainly have our share of those too!! ;-) 

The red and blue doors are mad at me right now. They are feeling neglected and abandoned. And they should! That is because they have been sitting over in my craft corner for a few weeks, BEGGING to find a place or be embellished or SOMETHING!! (And driving me crazy...) Let's just call those abandoned doors, works in progress. My husband said, as I lay them on the table to take a photo, "I like the red one." Now, for him to have an opinion of anything crafty is madness. Madness, I tell you. ;-) So, that must be rectified immediately. I am thinking of figuring out a cute way to display it as a countdown to Christmas or something fun like that. I will be sure to post the results. As for the blue one... I am thinking it would make an excellent gift. Once I think of a clever saying for it. We shall see! I also made one last item which is probably my favorite item I have done so far. Unfortunately, I'll have to be a tease and just tell you that it is the cutest shabby chic little double chalkboard that you ever did see! ;-) I loaned it out to use as a sample for one of our local MOPS groups who were also blessed with the opportunity to make some similar projects at a recent meeting. All thanks to a retired cabinet makers daughter and her willingness to facilitate it all. How awesome is that??!!