WYLTC Chalkboards

Today we are sharing our take on chalkboards, this month's theme over at Wood You Like To Craft!  Ours is a copy cat version of a chalkboard we liked at Ballard Designs.  Super simple and it involves no painting!


Make sure to head over and see all the cute ideas that Wendy, Krystal and Melinda have shared this week!

WYLTC Tidbits!

In case you've missed what's been going on over at
Wood You Like To Craft this week
make sure to head over and see these great ideas and tutorials for
April's theme of "Mother's Day".
Here's our Photo Flower Bouquet

Wendy from Craft Goodies

Krystal from Sassy Sanctuary

Melinda from Under My Umbrella

We were so touched by the personal stories and reflections of Motherhood by these amazing crafty women! It's obvious why we love crafting with them so much~they craft with heart!  Can't wait to see what next month's theme will be!

WYLTC? Mother's Day Craft

We are hosting Wood You Like To Craft this month

and our theme is "Mother's Day"!

Come check out our cute Mother's Day Wooden Flower Bouquet

and stay tuned for what Krystal, Wendy and Melinda have to share this week!

WYLTC? Crafty Sisters Chevron Heart Flower Garden Stakes

It's our turn today over at Wood You Like To Craft with this month's theme of Chevron and we are sharing a simple Valentine's Day wood craft you'll want to add to your "to do" list! ~ Come on over and take a peek!

Wood You Like To Craft Is Back!!!

Our wonderful little group of Wood Crafters from Wood You Like To Craft
took a much needed hiatus for the last couple of months.
With babies being born and moving across the country it was a much needed hiatus as you can imagine.
Well this week we are all back~so in case you've missed it so far our theme this month was chosen by Melinda from Under My Umbrella and it was CHEVRON!

Monday Melinda started us all off with her cute Chevron frame:

Tuesday was Krystal from Sassy Sanctuary with her sweet LOVE letters:
Wednesday is Wendy from Craft Goodies with her fun and easy Chevron accented frame:

Tomorrow we'll be doing Chevron Crafty Sister style~so make sure to come back to visit and check out the full tutorials at Wood You Like To Craft!

"Heavenly" Gates

Hello!  Long time no post!  Life has been busy with Christmas, putting away Christmas, kids, and snow...lots of snow! Our kids were thrilled to have a snow day off from school, full of sledding, fort building, and a little work too.

I recently made "heavenly gates" as a prop for a church activity and thought it would be fun to share how easy it was to make. The gate had to actually open enough to let the little kiddies walk through, so with a some researching I came up with something that worked.    

I found my inspiration on a Halloween site...yeah, that doesn't sound so heavenly! :) They show you how to make fake Halloween cemetery fences for the front of the yard out of PVC and wood 1x2's.

For the main part of the gate that includes the PVC and 1x2's -I used the directions from Haunters Hangout. You basically drill large holes in the 1x2's and put the 1/2 inch PVC pipes through the holes.  The PVC is held in place with screws. Hauntproject.com also has several links to creative ideas for fake fencing.

For the outside PVC stand, I used the directions from the sprinkler PVC contraption Nicole and I made for the kids a couple of summers ago to ride their bike through.  It worked perfectly to hold the gate.

The nice man from Lowes helped me figure out how to hinge the gate to the outside PVC with metal hardware that you bolt into the 1x2 and then wrap around the PVC. I like that you can tighten the bolt to the size of PVC.  I know he thought I was a little nuts when I showed him my gate drawing and requested help in the PVC department.

I glued inexpensive plastic garden edging (just like the directions at Haunters Hangout) to the top and bottom of the fake fence.  I think the plastic edging really brings the gate to life along with gold spray paint.

I hope this comes in handy if you ever need to make gate props for church, plays, or you just want to make Halloween cemeteries in your yard! Maybe I will be brave enough to make one next Halloween!

Nicole and I are working on another headboard for our friend.  We are excited to show you!  Stay tuned!

A Boutique Peek

The final boutique of the season that I do ended Saturday night
and I thought it would be fun to show you guys a little glimpse of a few of my favorite things
I did this year.

Above are my very favorite Believe letters I do.  I searched for hours for the perfect font to go along with
a tree inspired paper I saw a couple of years ago.  Although I ran out of that original paper, I did find some really cute new stuff with a black and cream hounds tooth I love!

These cute Adore letters are actually a set I tried to make after seeing some done for a Super Saturday Craft day by the very talented Wendy over at Craft Goodies.  She is one of our Wood You Like To Craft buddies!  She has the cutest ideas~I had to make some for me!  Thanks Wendy!

I found some really fun bright and playful Christmas paper I knew would be perfect for some Fa La La letters.  I've wanted to do some of these for a while now~I swear I see them on hand towels everywhere and knew I just needed to find a playful font to match!

I finally unloaded my car today and had a few things left over that I listed in my shop~but a huge thanks to everyone who came out to support us local crafters!  There is something magical about going to a boutique~unfortunately for me most of the magic I find is at the goodie table where my purchases will keep me warm all season long.....But hey, how can you resist butter toffee sprinkled with almonds, milk chocolate, white chocolate and peanut butter chips?

Candace has an amazing and delicious recipe to share tomorrow so make sure to come visit!

Wood Turkey with Crayons & Lollipops

I apologize for the lack of posts, right after Halloween my kids picked a croup virus that hit them slowly one by one, ending with me! I haven't felt much like crafting.  Nicole is busy on a fun project that involves knocking down brick walls in her home, hopefully she will be back soon to share.  

That leaves me on the scroll saw attempting several wood turkeys!  My son made a wood lollipop holding turkey in cub scouts that I thought was adorable, so I decided to make a few for either lollipops or crayons.  The turkey with crayons was a bit tricky because of the large drilled holes, I would suggest using a 2 inch pine board.  I used a 1 inch board only because I had it on hand in my garage.

The 1 inch pine board worked great for the lollipops, which my sons are much happier with anyway.  Nothing like making my boys more hyper than they already are with a little sugar while I cook!

I wish I knew how to attach printable patterns, for now this picture will have to do.  One day we will figure it out!  (If you want the pattern, you can blow it up on your computer screen.)

My turkey pattern is very simple, here's how I made it:  1 large cup and a cereal bowl from my kitchen.  The circle from the cereal bowl I folded in half and scalloped for the feathers.  For the turkey body I used one large cup and an Oreo I happened to be eating at the time.  An Oreo makes the perfect sized head for a turkey!   Yeah...it's really complex how we make our patterns around here! ;)

I used a small store bought wooden heart for the turkey's nose, my fingers are more valuable than cutting small wood parts for a turkey!

I added a straight edge to the bottom of the pattern to help the turkey stand up straight. I traced the pattern onto pine and cut with my scroll saw and sanded until smooth.  Next I drilled holes before I painted the wood edges brown.  If you are going to drill holes for crayons, start with a small bit, working your way up to avoid splitting your wood.  Last, I Mod Podged the wood with paper scraps and added ribbon.

Pretty simple and a fun addition to the Thanksgiving table.  

We'll be back soon, Nicole and I have been working on a few Christmas crafts to share with you! 

Wood Witch Silhouettes

Feeling Witchy?

We couldn't pass up making some fun Wood Witch Silhouettes

after seeing the My Mind's Eye Halloween paper this year.

We had so much fun earlier this year making silhouettes for our kids- that
this project was a definite "to-do" on our Halloween craft list!
My Minds Eye's Haunted Paper Pad had all sorts of wicked silhouettes
and the witches were just calling out~cut me...cut me.....

(We found this MME 6x6 paper pack at Michael's Craft store.)  We had trouble finding it online.

After blowing the images up on the computer, they were traced and cut out of 3/4" MDF.

MDF is so great to cut detailed work out like this because it cuts like butter

and doesn't chip or splinter like pine wood does.  (Be sure to wear a good mask when cutting MDF!)

I found myself cackling out loud as each wart, each rotten tooth and crazy curves on the hats were cut.

These Witchy gals are creepy and fun!

The witches were then coated in a semi-gloss black spray paint,

making sure to sand lightly between coats for a smooth finish.

Then they were finished off with a quick alligator hook on the back for easy hanging.

I made a few of these up for the boutique secretly hoping they wouldn't sell so I could keep them all to myself...but it looks like I'll be out cutting some of these ladies again!

Aren't they so fun paired with these witch potion making ingredients? We found the bottles at Hobby Lobby, and the potion labels are from The Graphics Fairy.  She always has great Halloween graphics you can easily find and print!  

*If any of you don't want to give these witchy silhouettes a try on the scroll saw, I cut out extra.  

Just contact me here!

Our Goose Creek Candle giveaway is still going on!  Hurry and enter to win a yummy scented candle, perfect for the fall season! 

WYLTC? Growth Charts

Hello!

We are happy to be able to pick this month's Wood You Like To Craft? theme, Growth Charts!  We have wanted to make growth charts for our kids for a long time.  They grow up so fast!

We were inspired by growth charts made by Petite Lemon and Ferm Living.

Our kids are animal lovers and these are perfect.

First we had Home Depot slice up a piece of 1/2 inch mdf, 12 inches wide and 42 inches long.

To create the pennant, we cut with a jigsaw a notch about 2 1/2 inches up from the bottom.

We also glued in grommets into drilled holes to create the official pennant look.

Nicole and her daughter picked what they thought would be my boys' favorite animals and cut the shapes out on 1/8 inch mdf.  They are so cute and the boys love them! We had fun naming all the creatures as we mod podged the papers on.

The majority of the paper we used is from the "Sweet Day" line by Echo Park.

We added a "grow" paper pennant to the top.  This would also be cute with your child's name, but since I have multiple boys, this will do.  We drew the numbers and lines on with a paint pen.

Nicole's daughter is a serious animal lover and especially fond of owls.  (They have owl boxes in their back yard and regularly spot visiting owls. )

Nicole cut and papered an adorable owl along with her daughter's name to go on her growth chart.

She used a cricut to cut the numbers and lines for the ruler along the side.   A vinyl ruler would also be a great option.

We are so happy with how they turned out and we especially love the smaller size.

Come on over this week to Wood You Like To Craft? to see what the other girls build!

WYLTC? Wall Shelf Organization

We are over at Wood You Like To Craft? today!

The theme for July is organization.

I finally got up the courage to finish some Ana White wall shelves I built two years ago!

Come on over and see how the shelves are the perfect space for craft organization!

Papered Flag

Some of my best inspirations working with wood

come from looking at handmade cards.

I knew as soon as I saw this card/gift box

made by Tracy Harp of Inky Doodles

that it would be perfect made out of wood!

Isn't it so cute and clever!?!

I cut the basic shape and star out of 

1/4" MDF at approximately 11x14".

I painted it Americana Deep Midnight Blue.

I always water down my paint for a smoother finish.

It's better to do 2 light coats

than one thick globby coat.~is that even a word?

I then Mod Podged on some of the cutest paper 

from Authentique.

Have you guys seen their paper?

It's gorgeous and thick which makes it perfect for paper crafting!

When I was done I glued gunned on some cute ribbons to hang it with.

So easy, so fun and cute!

Did any of you watch Craft Wars last night?

Oh my goodness was it fun, exciting and totally intimidating!

What did you guys think?

Wood You Like To Craft? Garden Bird Stakes

Hello!

Wood You Like To Craft? is going on this week.  

The theme is SUMMER bling!

Nicole and I recreated in WOOD some very fun and whimsical garden bird stakes

 that we found at at Foreside Home & Garden. 

Come on over and see the full tutorial...it includes using PUFFY paint! :)