Wood Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Yearning to Create

Message Blocks

I unpacked these little blue blocks the other day. But today I added the Be My Valentine words, because we all know that day of love is coming up in less than a month!!!

Originally I made the blocks for a Relief Society Party.

The purpose of Relief Society being: 1) Increase Faith 2) Strengthen Family and 3) Provide Relief.

Now that I don’t need the R.S. words anymore,

I thought it would be fun to make a bunch more words for the family to be creative with.

So I printed these on cardstock and distressed the edges. I keep thinking of more I should add, so I have a list for people to add more words as they think of them.

Here are a few other loving variations . . .

But right now there is only one possible message that could be on the blocks . . .

. . . as she wrote her English Diploma exam today, with Math and Chemistry to follow next week. With them counting for 50% of her final grade, that’s a lot of pressure.

Love ya Min!!!

I think we’ll have fun with our message blocks!

I like long wooden signs!!! I find them an easy way to have inspirational message in my home because they fit so nicely in often unused places – like over a door or window, or above and below pictures.

If they’re going to specific people, I often ask for a phrase preference and colour preference. Then I paint and plan it out on paper to make sure the spacing works.

These were some my sister’s requested . . .

Isn’t “Did You Think to Pray?” a great one to have over your bedroom door (it’s okay, one of my sisters actually has a red and gold bedroom!)

“Live Without Regret” is one of my favourite quotes from Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley.

The wonky buttons actually match my sister’s area rug!!!

Another sis has six sons and a daughter and thinks of her home as a “Missionary Training Center”.

And I attached a Future Missionary tag with burlap.

The ladies I Visit Teach got these “Joy to the World” signs this Christmas.

Notice the green one (how could you not?) That’s my one – I made it many years ago and it’s reversible – looks the same as the others on the other side. It was perfect for a ledge in my house that was visible from both sides.

Just a close up of the etchings on the wood. The letters are just done with an alphabet stencil from Michaels.

And a few more . . .

“There is Beauty all Around” was the most sung Family Home Evening song in my guys home. So now this little sign hangs above his parents dining room window.

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart” is just a great scripture for us all to remember all the time.

I mod podged a picture of the Lord onto a heart.

And finally, “Family is Everything” because, it really is!!!

I had fun making signs this past Christmas (kinda helped to have that precut pile of wood piled up in the workshop!!!).

What message would you put on a sign?

Board Games

I made my guy a Sequence game for Christmas this year. We had good memories of playing it with friends in our pre-children days, so I thought it would be fun to have our own game in the house. And I knew I could make it for way cheaper than I could buy it! It was funny when he opened the gift because I had wrapped it in two parts. The first part he opened was a bag of playing cards and poker chips. His only comment was “Odd!” I think he thought I wanted him to take up gambling or something!!!

Sequence is the game where you try to be first to get two rows of five chips (see the blue chips above have one row). Fun and easy to learn, and you can play with 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10 or 12 players – either as singles or teams. All you need to buy are two decks of cards and a bunch of poker chips in three different colours.

I Googled Sequence and it showed me exactly how the cards are to be placed on the board and what all the rules of the game were. Notice there are no Jacks on the board. The Jacks all go into the playing deck and they are the wild cards: one-eyed Jacks remove a chip and two-eyed Jacks place a chip. My board is a 19″ x 19″ square with the cards mod podged on it. You could even do it on cardboard. The size doesn’t really matter as long as the squares on the board are big enough to hold your poker chip – you just need to be able to see the number and suit. You chop your cards in half and use each half of the card on the board. The Joker cards in the corners are free spaces.

This game sits out on the coffee table all the time, but usually the Sequence side is down and the . . .

. . . checkerboard side is up because it’s much prettier!!! I painted on the light squares and then stained the board to make the dark parts. I love these playing pieces!!! Of course the poker chips would work just fine for checkers, but my oldest daughter who has since left home made these for me when she was about twelve. She chopped a wooden dowel on the chop saw – I love all the different widths of the pieces!!! And then she painted each side red or blue so they’re great to play – what’s that game called? Othello? – where you flip your pieces over to get the board in your colour. Love that game!

And if you get bored playing board games, you could always . . .

. . . stick poker chips in your eyes!!!

In My Sister’s House

Went on a trip a few weeks ago and stayed at my sister’s house. While there, I was noticing that there were quite a few crafts in her house that I had made. So I got out my camera and here’s what I found:

So true eh? Laundry is as much a part of life as living. laughing and loving! My sis had asked me to make her something to add a little life to her laundry room, because it’s her guest bathroom too. So this is what I came up with for her. It fits perfectly above the washer and dryer and below the cupboards. Gotta make one for myself one day (my new house will have it’s very own laundry room – clap, clap clap!!!). The sign is actually navy blue with sage green hearts and beige lettering. Sorry about the photo, but I have been working lately on learning to use my camera better – actually figuring out what different settings will do!!! The other saying that I think is cute in a laundry room is: Laundry – loads of fun!

She also requested that I make this saying into a craft for her. I just typed it up and printed it off and mod podged it onto a scrap piece of 2 x 6. And that’s just one of those clamp paper-clip thingy’s glued upside down on top to hold the picture/recipe card/or whatever else you want it to hold.

And on the back side . . .

. . . I added one of my favourite sayings in a more wintery version so she can display it year round.

My sis is a cat lover so I made this for her once, many years ago. I saw it in a Country Sampler magazine decades ago and made up my own version of it. I always thought it was cute – that clever little kitty trying to lure the unsuspecting bird by hanging the bird house from its tail.

I didn’t actually make this one – but I did design it and provide all the materials. We (all the moms in the family) made them at our family reunion in colours to complement our homes. So everyone was able to leave the reunion with a nice message on a craft that looks great hanging over the family pictures that we also took at the reunion. And everyone at the reunion signed the back.

I made a bunch of these for Christmas one year – lots of fun and ya gotta love Heat N Bond. I made them for the ladies I Visit Teach too – fortunately for me, six letters was the longest last name!!! The message in the square on the right is Love At Home in case you couldn’t see the little “at” there!

And another request from sis: please make me a Family Home Evening board. I’d had this board kicking around for years – I’d gotten it at a garage sale for $2. So it worked great for the job. Sis was satisfied once again!!!

Now that looks like a wedding bouquet!!! Yup, I made it for sis for her wedding ten years ago. It was so pretty for her December wedding. My favourite part is the pine cones that came from our old homestead. We gently painted the tips with silver glitter glue and they looked so great in her bouquet.

Makes me excited at the thought of making bouquets for my own seven girls some day!!! (If they want me to, of course!)

And finally, sis has a menu board too!!! In fact, all my sisters do, and many others!!! Obviously we were having trouble spelling the word “Lasagna”!

It gives me a thrill to go places and see things that I have created. I used to have a little craft booth in a mall and it was so exciting to see things sell – people were actually buying things I had made – like, paying real money for them!!! Wow!!! So thanks sis, for keeping my creations up in your home!

Category: Wood

Message Blocks

Long Wooden Signs

Board Games

In My Sister’s House