I love this family magnetic frame, but it needed an update.
For one thing, see the part of the star that’s bent and lost its paint?(Thanks to our dog who got under the bed to eat all the chocolate that was all ready to go in everyone’s Christmas stockings. In her chocolate frenzy she broke the star that Santa was so thoughtfully planning for my stocking. And yes, the dog lived.)
So first I spray painted the star and sanded the edges so some of the beige could show through.
Then I glued some black buttons onto my plain magnets.
Better, but still needing something.
(Isn’t that a great picture? It’s in our new back yard, just days before we broke ground to build our house.)
That’s what it needed – scrapbook paper for the background!
Mac came by and we had to go through the lineup of who everyone was.Much better! Family loves you for who you are.
I’ve had this pencil caddy for years – think I got it for about a quarter at our band garage sale. It quietly sits there on the ledge above my computer, never complaining, just doing it’s job, and getting all dusty (yes, that is indeed dust!)
But it’s not very pretty is it?
Actually, when I first got it it had all these stickers along its sides and ends. So you see that I was thinking about doing something to it, just hadn’t gotten around to it yet.
But then . . . I follow this crafting group called . . .
Their project for this month is toolbox/caddy type things. So after seeing all these other cute ideas, it gave me inspiration to give my little green pencil caddy a long overdue makeover.
The first step was to sand it down. Alas, where is a sander? When you’re living in transition you don’t always have what you need nearby. My guy kindly brought me home a Black & Decker sander which really gets the job done, but my hands felt like they were about ready to fall off!!!
I didn’t get rid of all the colour because that would have been pretty much impossible! But I sure smoothed it down and got rid of all the sticker glue residue. It looked so much better already – why didn’t I at least do this much years ago?
Then I painted it – just with a craft paint called Tan (how original!). It took two coats to completely cover the green. On the inside I only painted the very top edge, for two reasons actually: 1) the pencils don’t care what colour the inside is, and 2) I’m too lazy!
Then I sanded it again. Some of the green still showed through but I really liked the way that looked – phew!!!
Then I stained it with a Minwax wood finish stain called Provincial. I always love this step – the way the stain makes it look and feel so good (but not smell so good!)
Then I antiqued it – another favourite step of mine. Next picture shows the only tube I’ve ever used to antique and it works great. I put a small dollop on the newspaper and then rub a smidgen into my rag and then rub it on, lightly at first, where I want it to look aged. (See my rubbings on the newspaper?)
Burnt Umber – you can see the tube is hardly dented – you use such a little bit.
Then I wanted to cover up the handle because honestly, I don’t really like the handle!
The thought came to me to wrap it!!! I wanted to use a hemp type twine but all I had on hand was this string. I don’t have time to run to town for things. So I got this much done and realized that I didn’t like it so I pulled it off. Now what to do?
I decided to wrap it in fabric. The piece on the right is the one I used – sorry the colours aren’t showing up too well. That worked out much better – and now the handle matches . . .
. . . one of the little fabric flowers I made to decorate the front. They are just made from a long strip of fabric rolled up and glued once in a while. The green leaves blend with the original green paint peeking through.
And it’s finished!!! And I’m lovin’ it!!!
Jen purged our pen/pencil collection – isn’t it amazing how many pens we keep that don’t work? Or is that just me?
So little pencil caddy is now back at work and doing a marvellous job!!!
Now, I look up from the computer and see something so much cuter – yay!!! Maybe it won’t even be a pencil caddy in my new house. Wouldn’t it look cute in the bathroom with wash clothes in the slots? and greenery around it? or in it?
And always the perfectionist, I’m still looking at it wondering what else I could do to make it even better. I think I’m gonna tie some fabric on each each end of the handle – just short and knotted. It’ll hide the ends better. I think after that it will be about perfect!!!
Daisies are the best!!! I’ve always loved them, so when I saw these cute daisies at Walmart, they literally jumped into my shopping cart! I bought 3 of them at $1 each, but I think I want to go and get a few more, because they’re nice – they look real! I want a bigger cluster in my vase.
Now the job was to find the perfect thing to put them in.
I wanted a natural looking vase to house my daisies. So my mind started wandering to what I’ve seen around lately. Since the snow melted, the backyard has been loaded with little twigs from the winds of autumn, winter and spring. I’ve had my girls gather them into piles, and they play “camping” in the yard with their “campfire”.
Anyway, I have a birthday coming up and I told Kat that I had got her a present that she could give me for my birthday, but first she had to help me make it. She was all excited about this, and so was I, because it meant I could stay inside while she went out and brought me in some twigs!!!
Perfect! Thanks Kat, now go and play while I play with the sticks!!!
There’s my $2 dollar store vase that will soon be covered in twigs. I just broke the twigs to approximately the right height. If they were thick twigs, I scored them with scissors first where I wanted the break to be, and then snapped them easily.
I used my hot glue gun to glue the thicker twigs on first – and I only burned my thumb twice (both times in the same spot of course!).
Then I filled in the gaps with the smaller twigs. I kept going around the vase until all the glass was covered.
I saved a few skinny forked twigs to put between my daisy stems. Then in went the daisies! Now it just needed a ribbon tied around the twigs to finish it off – and help hold any loose twigs in place! Went to my ribbon stash and decided on this sagey green coloured one.
And there we have it – didn’t Kat do a fabulous job on my birthday gift!!!
Ahh, beautiful daisies – they always make me smile!!! As Meg Ryan said in “You’ve Got Mail”, “Daisies are the friendliest flower. Don’t you think daisies are the friendliest flower?”
(And my family knows that when I pass away, I want a casket spray full of daisies – with eight red roses among them to represent my guy and my seven daughters!!! lol)
We made Countdown Blocks a few years ago at a Super Saturday. I decided that I wanted to be able to display my blocks year-round, and not just for Christmas. So I used non-themed paper. My kids like to countdown to lots of things, like school starting and ending, birthdays, all holidays, gramma and grampa coming home from their mission, and so on.
So, what’s in 11 days?
My birthday!!! The big 42 is creeping up in May!
These blocks are just mod podged paper and die cut numbers/letters on wooden blocks. The base is a 2×4. Pretty easy! And actually, a third block would be handy just to have extra numbers for counting down from high numbers. For example, I can’t make the numbers 33-35, but I can make 36-39. Just something to think about if you wanted to make some!
I made myself an apple napkin holder quite a few years back – it’s just two pieces of wood cut the same, with another small rectangular piece nailed between – you can see the three nail holes at the base of the apple.
It’s a very handy apple to have around – just holding those napkins for whenever you need them.
But alas, the red apple just didn’t look right in my new house. I was still using it because I still needed napkins, but it was bugging me!
Until one day, I had a light bulb moment! I realized that apples can be green too! And since I originally painted the red one, I could repaint it green!And so I did!
Did a little sanding of the edges to shabby it up a little.
And then rubbed on some Burnt Umber Oil Paint to antique it a little.
And there it is – a very useful apple in colours that work with my kitchen (or at least it will someday when my kitchen is finished!).
I found this wooden crate at a thrift store quite a few months ago, and it’s been sitting in my bathtub waiting for me to do something with it. (Yes, the bathtub! You know, the jetted tub that you want to use but don’t have time for. And since I don’t have any closets or shelves anywhere yet, the bathtub seems like a pretty good storage spot!)
First step was painting it inside and out. I was lucky enough to have leftover paint from my laundry room (Grey Evening by Behr).
Now my plan for this crate was to sit in the living room and look pretty, while serving the very important duty of holding our scriptures. So when we all gather in the morning for family scripture study, our books are right there! Brilliant!!!
Since it was going to always be in plain sight, I wanted to put a special message on the side of the crate. I chose our family motto which comes from Mosiah 4:15 “Love one another and serve one another.”
I used the carbon paper method to get the letters on the crate. Print the words you want, put a piece of carbon paper between the crate and your paper and then trace the letters. Then comes the fun part of hand painting the letters. Use a fine tip brush and have a steady hand! Oh, and I lightly sanded first before tracing the letters.
I wanted my message to be visible, but not overpowering, which is why I used a light paint colour. Using a sanding sponge I sanded the rest of the crate, being sure to let wood show through on the edges. Then I went and hid out in the mechanical room and stained the whole thing (garage was too cold and I didn’t want to stink up the house with the delightful smell of stain). I used Minwax Dark Walnut because that’s what I had on hand. I would stain one side and then rub it off – didn’t want it getting too dark.
Recently I did something I’d never done before . . . bought coffee filters! Apparently they’re a pretty handy crafting material. My seven year old thought they were large muffin wrappers! So I played around making flowers today in home school while doing math with her.
And this is what I ended up with . . .
Close up of burlap bow, coffee filter flowers and babies breath.
I glued a strip of burlap all around the crate. I used a glue gun to quickly hold the burlap in place and then craft glue to secure it all over. This burlap has a wide weave so it frays easily and it has too many holes to deal with hot wax! (I know what you’re wondering, and yes, I burned my fingers!)
I made the dark shadows (or antiquing) by rubbing Burnt Umber oil paint in strategic places. It’s one of my favourite ways to distress things.
Lacie’s pretty impressed! (the dog)
This is the backside – with just a cute little strip of burlap all the way around.
This is where it goes, and there’s four of my girls in the background playing “Sorry” (no my two-year can’t actually play “Sorry”, which makes me wonder how she managed to win!).
Just think what the world would be like it everyone lived by this creed. I can’t teach the world, but I can teach my family!
There it sits, doing its job holding our scriptures and quietly sending out a marvellous message. Sure loving my crate!
Having a craft hanging around that works for all seasons is a great plan!
I made this one at Shauna’s craft class and my daughter made the blue one. I stenciled some words onto mine, inspired by something similar I’d seen in a Country Sampler magazine a few years back.
You can get these wooden frames and insert pieces from Micheals.
Anyway, to make an all-season frame, I decided to attach my snowflake with velcro.
Then I chose a few other shapes to use for the rest of the year. The flower covers spring and summer. Simply attach a piece of velcro to each backside. I suggest doing the snowflake first as it’s the most awkward shape to fit.
I especially love it when it’s time to take out the snowflake and insert the flower! Oh happy day, the long winter is over!
Isn’t that just so “happy”?
After painting these inserts, I sanded them and etched them with a blade before staining them.
And Autumn is pretty cute too – this one always seems to be on display for the shortest amount of time.
The biggest problem with this craft is remembering where I stored the out-of-season pieces. If I was smart, I’d velcro them to the back of the frame!
I made these LOVE blocks a few years ago, but I only unpacked them last week – just in time for Valentine’s Day! They’d been boxed up for almost two years as we lived in transition while building our new home. I was serving in Relief Society at the time and we actually ended up making these at our RS Super Saturday.
They’re very easy – the hardest part was choosing the paper (it always is!). My blocks are 3 1/2″ squares, but you can make them any size you want. Once you have your blocks, paint or stain them if you desire. Then it’s simply mod podging the paper on, and then the letters and words, and adding any embellishments. I don’t have any fancy machines to cut out letters for me, so I simply printed letters from the computer and cut them out – yup, by hand, with an exacto knife!
“Where love is, there God is also.”
Because they’re blocks, they stack nicely lots of different ways, depending on what works best in your space.
On the other side of my LOVE blocks are . . .. . . my HOME blocks.
It’s so nice to be able to easily reverse something when it’s time for a new look!
“Where they love you most.”
Okay – I look at these now and cringe! I’ve gotten so much better at mod podging now – I never get bumps and bulges like that any more. Just might need to redo these (although they look worse here than in real life – must be the flash!). I used way too much mod podge for thin paper, and probably didn’t wait for it to dry completely between layers. And now I love the finished look you get when you press a piece of fabric over your top layer of wet mod podge and immediately pull if off again. Makes it look rather like canvas!
I also made a set of JOY blocks.“Find Joy in the journey.”
I have Joy decorations for Christmas, but I wanted something that could be out year round to remind me about JOY. I painted these blocks black before adding the paper – matches the letters nicely.
The paper was fancy enough that I didn’t think it needed any other embellishments.
And I know you’re wondering about that fabulous background – it’s the black paper and wire mesh that will someday be hidden inside our beautiful stone fireplace!
Every year, at least a month before Christmas, we start our Wish List. It’s one piece of paper divided into sections – one section for each person. There they write what they wish for (one piece of paper makes it easy for me to grab and take shopping).
Back in 2006, I wrote “World Peace” in my section of my wish list. I must have just watched Miss Congeniality or something! And truthfully, I really wasn’t expecting to get “World Peace” for Christmas! So, imagine my surprise when I actually got “World Peace” from my imaginative oldest daughter for Christmas!!!
This is what she wrote on the back . . .And now . . . are you ready to see what “World Peace” looks like?
My Uncle Harvey has recently created his own casket. When I first saw these photo’s, I was enthralled! I’ve never seen anything like this before – and it’s gorgeous!!!
Yes, that’s Uncle Harvey – hopefully he’s not going to need his lovely ‘box’ for many years yet!!!
This is what he had to say about how this came about:
Thank you for your kind remarks about my lovely’ box’. An ex-pupil made it for me (he now owns a joinery factory) out of particle board to my style and specification. It was then painted “British Racing Green” – always been a favourite colour of mine. The painter did a great job and we have always used him whenever one of our cars needed attention.
Finally the graphics – a demanding job sorting out the appropriate photos and locating them in the best positions. An expert friend did this for me, but I did the pin stripe and fitted the handles and cover screws. Inside is finished to the same standard as the outside, and roomy enough for my dog if he’s still around.
The finished price of my box is the same price as the cheapest box available, so I am well pleased with the result. If you feel inclined, place it on your Blog – I might get some orders!
The center top panel is empty – that’s where the casket spray goes. The left panel is a great picture of my handsome Uncle, and the right panel has words. There are pictures around the entire box, with a larger one on each end.
I love how the whole box has such meaning to Uncle Harvey and those who know and love him.
Very impressive Uncle Harvey – and I’m sure your dog loves it too!
Edited to add: Unfortunately Uncle Harvey passed away last year (2017) and was laid to rest in his lovely box. Love you Uncle H!
For one thing, see the part of the star that’s bent and lost its paint?(Thanks to our dog who got under the bed to eat all the chocolate that was all ready to go in everyone’s Christmas stockings. In her chocolate frenzy she broke the star that Santa was so thoughtfully planning for my stocking. And yes, the dog lived.)
So first I spray painted the star and sanded the edges so some of the beige could show through.
Then I glued some black buttons onto my plain magnets.
Better, but still needing something.
That’s what it needed – scrapbook paper for the background!
Mac came by and we had to go through the lineup of who everyone was.
Much better! Family loves you for who you are.
