Patriotic Pallet Tray

I was recently commissioned to make some patriotic accessories for a relative. I was given some odds and ends from a goodwill store, and challenged to make them into some cute Americana decor. One of the pieces was a woven serving tray that I just couldn't get to cooperate. I decided that it would be much easier to make one on my own. And so I did! This is what I came up with. It was a matter of cutting some wood pieces about 18" long and then painting them, then I cut the 13" rails and painted them as well. Next, I attached the handles, which I decided to distress a little with sandpaper, to give them a little more character. To further embellish my pallet tray, I decoupaged some scrapbook paper flags that I had cut out and finally added "God Bless America," that I had cut out of vinyl with my Silhouette. I used the outdoor Mod Podge over the whole piece and then finished it with Annie Sloan finishing wax to make it more durable for outdoor use. That's about it! I have plans to make some more of these. I picked up some additional handles today, in fact. I am so excited to see what I can come up with! Stay tuned!

He is Risen Sign

I have been happily making a bunch of these He is risen signs for the last few weeks. They are so quick and easy to do! In fact, I recently shared this craft with a group of about 20 women, all part of my MOPS/MomsNext group. We got together on a Thursday evening and we all went home with a version of the cross sign. It was a total success! Even the ladies that aren't that crafty had an easy time doing this one.

I purchased the crosses at Hobby Lobby and cut the boards myself. The words were cut on my Silhouette machine and then we decoupaged the paper onto the wood pieces. Then we embellished.

I have posted a couple of my favorite examples. Really, the sky is the limit! Just find coordinating paper and a few supplies and you are ready for for action.

Bunny Wreath

So, I realized that I had been neglecting my little bloggy-poo. Thought I would at least post some pictures of what I had been working on lately. This little bunny wreath I created for my crafty group to do this weekend. Straightforward craft really. I just think it is super cute. Should be a fun night with my lady friends! Looking forward to it!

I just cut the bunny out of wood, tied a bow around its' neck, attached it with some craft wire. I tied some tulle around the wreath form in a bow and added some foam eggs that I had on hand. I cut the words from vinyl using my silhouette and decoupaged the decorative paper over the wood sign, which I also cut with my scroll saw.

Though you can't really tell very well in this picture, I used some light pink ink and a sponge to the inside of the bunny ears, just to give it some color.

Let's call this bunny done. Tada!

MOPS Leadership Nametags

With the beginning of each school year, a new year for MOPS and MomsNext begins. For those of you not familiar with these organizations, they are groups for moms of all ages- MOPS for those who are pregnant through preschool age and MomsNext is for moms of school age kids. They are great if you are in desperate need of friends or support or just an outlet for relaxation. I have benefitted so much from joining the group and am on the leadership team. I do creative activities with a couple other ladies. We are having so much fun planning for the new year! The next theme is "A Beautiful Mess" and the Bible verse that accompanies it is Ephesians 4:10- "For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." I am so excited!! 
Anyway, we recently had our leadership planning retreat and it was decided that we needed to stand out a little, in the sea of moms. We wanted them to know that we were available if they had a question or if we could help them in any way. Thing is, we only had generic looking plastic covered boring nametags. Those wouldn't do for me. Nope. So... I volunteered to come up with a design and to create a tag for each member of the steering committee. 23 in total. This project was so fun! I just went to Hobby Lobby, invaded their ribbon section and started my collage. I ended up using my Silhouette to cut the vinyl names and my labeler to create the position titles. I had blank bottle caps and found the jewels that I put in the center in the scrapbook section. I bought the paper, feathers, and burlap flowers there too. The chevron washi tape was something that I got online somewhere. I honestly couldn't tell you where. Maybe Pick Your Plum?? Not sure. But that stuff is everywhere these days. I cut out the oval shapes with my Big Shot machine. Then I glued all the pieces together with my hot glue gun and decoupaged the whole surface with Mod Podge. Simple as that! Not a hard craft, but definitely time consuming. It took me "some" hours to finish them all. But I think they are totally worth it. I am sure we will be easy to identify with our beautifully messy tags.

Wooden Disc Necklace Gift

A while back, I had made some washer jewelry with Mod Podge Dimensional Magic and scrapbook paper and a couple of embellishments. They became pretty popular both on Pinterest AND in real life with the people who received them as gifts. Got me thinking... I wonder if I could come up with something else using the same technique. I had recently picked up some wooden circle discs and discovered that they would be perfect to make some pendants with. So, as luck would have it, I needed another gift idea for my MOPS table mates to celebrate the end of our year. I made them each their own necklace with an affirming word decoupaged onto it and some little rhinestones and a scrapbooking paper flower embellishment.While I was at it, I made myself one, only I skipped the affirmation and rhinestone and added my initial and a pearl bead. Finally, I screwed in a tiny eye hook and hung it on leather cording. Works for me!

Teacher Appreciation Pencil Decoration

I was hanging out with my husband the other day on one of our ultra glamorous dates, and we ended up at Home Depot. As we were wandering around the SUPER fun brick section (sense the sarcasm,) I saw a small little box full of what looked like potential pencils. I had seen an inspiration piece on Pinterest and thought I could totally swing my own version. What a perfect gift for Teacher Appreciation week!! I was able to finish 3 of them in about 1 1/2 hours.So, I had recently finished a project for my Mom and had some left over paper that was the same color as a pencil. Score!! I also found some paper that reminded me of an eraser, so it seemed like I was in good shape. I used my handy dandy Cricut to cut the names out of vinyl, some twine and ribbon for a hanger and some eye hooks from my craft stash. I painted the tip of the project with black paint to simulate the lead. And that is about it! I suppose I could have cut the wood with my new scroll saw, but if you find a box of 12 stakes on a glamorous Home Depot date, for $2.79? You buy them. Then you make pencils. The end. ;-)

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!

Mickey Mouse "Wash Your Hands" Sign

I was asked by a friend to make something to go in her kid's bathroom. She showed me an inspiration photo and told me that she wanted a Mickey Mouse "something" to hang on the wall over their toilet. I had never seen their bathroom before but was given the freedom to be creative. So, I just went for it. I was so excited to see a picture of the finished product hanging on the wall and the colors matched almost exactly! So relieved! She said she was happy with it and so that makes me happy too! I am once again, a "professional" crafter! Yay! How I did it: I found some cute Disney themed scrapbook paper and rickrack and ribbons and started crafting. I made rag roses into the shape of "mouse parts," and printed the cute little reminder saying on the paper and cut the printed paper strips down to size. I decoupaged them onto a 12x12 mdf board that I purchased at Joann craft store, and then added the embellishments. I ended up adding white buttons to the corners to finish it off, right before it was delivered. You'll have to take my word for it. ;-)