Recycling At It's Best

I used to throw away the negative part of the vinyl.  Not anymore!  I've learned it makes a great stencil.  In my earlier "Peace, Love, and Happiness" post, I showed you how I cut vinyl to put on the poles.  Well, I saved the stencil part of the vinyl, added some symbols and voila... I made more signs using scrap 1x4 wood.  All these materials are left over from other projects.  With just a little time, I was able to create a great gift.

Creating a Shelf out of Something Unexpected

My husband had to buy fireplace "guts" for a customer. It was cheaper to buy the whole fireplace than just the guts, so.... he was left with this.

I saw it in his storage building and got all googly eyed.  I asked him what his plans were for this wooden contraption.  He replied, "The burn pile" or "The trash" or something like that.  Usually I'm the one who wants to get rid of things and he wants to keep them.  Not this time.  "I want it!" I screamed!!!!

I took it.  I sanded it.  I primed it. I painted it three times. Then, I handed over to my sweet hubby and he added shelves and a back.

Here's the finished mantle, in my girls' playroom.  I am thrilled with it. Now, I need to get my girls to fill it up with their favorite things!

Birthday Balloon Wreath

I've had a balloon wreath on my to do list for over a year now.  I spotted it on How Does She way back when and haven't wanted to make one for all our family's birthdays.  My oldest turned five last week, so I felt it was the perfect time to accomplish something on my list!

I followed the tutorial on How Does She, but I used a ton more balloons.  I probably doubled the amount and could probably use more to make it fuller.    I am not in love with all the different colors, I think I like the colors from the tutorial better.  I got balloons from the Dollar Tree.  Next time I would probably get multiple bags of balloons from Walmart, but they cost significantly more.  Oh well, when you craft, you sometimes have big successes and other times craft fails!  The important thing is to keep trying and experimenting!

Happy Crafting!

It's All About "Peace, Love, and Happiness"

Peace, Love, and Happiness is what I strive to have in my country. This was an easy, patriotic project.

I took scrap 4x4 posts and cut them to 5, 7, and 9 inches. I painted them red, white, and blue. I got three deck post toppers and painted them gold.  My "inspiration" for the gold toppers is a flag pole. So many of them have gold toppers.

I found the center of each post top.

I drilled holes in the top.

I screwed the deck post toppers on top.

I then cut vinyl, on my Silhouette, for each post and applied it with transfer tape.   "Peace" is Tiranti Solid LET font. I used all capital letters and centered them. The dimensions were 2.6x5". 

 "Love" is in the Annoying Kettle font with the dimensions of 2.6x7". 

"Happiness" is in Too Much Paper font with the dimensions of 2.6x9"

Using scrap wood, paint leftover from other projects, and vinyl I already had, made this project about $10.  The only thing I had to buy were the deck post tops. I'm really happy with the results and like that this project will help me decorate for Memorial Day and The Fourth of July.

A Memorial Sign

My sweet Uncle Jim died on April 6th.  He suffered with cancer the last eight months of his life. 

During his 63 years on Earth, Uncle Jim was many things.  I wanted to create something, that represented his life.  With my Aunt Esther's help, I came up with a list of words that were important to Jim's life. This was my memorial to him.

First, I chose to do the names of the most important people in his life: Jim, Esther, and William. Then, the relationships he had: husband, father, friend, brother, uncle, cousin, and son. Next, I wanted to represent the roles he had in his life:  a veteran, missionary, writer, believer, friend, and counselor. Finally, I wanted to choose the adjectives I felt described him best: gentle, caring, and kind.

Using a variety of fonts, I cut these out of vinyl, on my Silhouette. I used the negative part of the vinyl to create a stencil.  I carefully arranged the words to the board I'd prepainted navy blue.

After attaching all the vinyl to the board and rubbing it down well, I painted the words cream.  I let the paint dry completely and then removed most of the vinyl.  I decided to add a pop of color, and emphasize the red, white, and blue Memorial theme by painting some of the words red.  So, over the cream paint, I painted red.  I wanted some cream to peek out, and it did.

Here's what I had when I removed all the vinyl.

I distressed the sign with an orbital sander. This was a mistake.  The sand paper was fresh and the sander fast.  There are a couple of places that show the circular marks. I was so disappointed since this was a time consuming project and I didn't have time to redo it.  I decided it just added character (or I hoped). I then drilled holes in the top and added wire to make it easy to hang.

Here's the sign I presented to my aunt and cousin.  I think remembering all the special people we've lost in life is a special way to spend Memorial Day. I will miss my Uncle Jim. He will not be forgotten.

The Winners of the Tupperware Giveaway Are....

These three people are the lucky winners of 3-$20 gift certificates for Tupperware merchandise.  Contact us and we'll get you in touch with Frannie, who has sponsored this giveaway.  Remember, Frannie has a special offer for our followers.  If you order $100 of Tupperware, she will offer you free shipping and handling!  Just let her know we sent you.  Click on the button on our sidebar to go directly to Frannie's shop.

Min: Max: Result: 19

19. Ginny said...

I already follow your blog with the Google reader, which is where the RSS feed thingy goes. If not, well shoot. Thank you!

May 23, 2011 3:03 PM 

Max: Result: 25
25. danakim said...

I am an email subscriber

May 23, 2011 6:03 PM

 Min: Max: Result: 42

42. Tiffany said...

I am a follower.
tiffanyivers@gmail.com

May 26, 2011 9:40 PM

Congratulations!

A Patriotic Sign from A 6"x6"x14" Post

With Memorial Day coming, I wanted to decorate with a Patriotic spirit.

1. I took a 6"x6" wood pole that I found in my husband's scrap pile (14" long) and painted it navy blue.

2. Using my Silhouette, I cut "USA" using USStarsNStripes font.  I made it 5.5"x11". I cut it out of red and white vinyl.

3. I used transfer tape to place the red letters on the board.  I then covered parts of it with the white vinyl.

Here's a close up of the white vinyl over the red vinyl.

4. My husband drilled holes on top of the pole and I placed little American flags in each hole. 

Not only is this perfect for Memorial Day but we'll also have a decoration ready for the Fourth of July!

And the NEW winner is....

We've never had this happen before.  We had a great giveaway, and the winner of the prize didn't claim it. What??? Anyway, we're trying again. The new winner of the cookies from Grace, Sugar Momma's is:

7. DebWestbury said...

I am partial to butterflies...so I love the Butterfly cookies

May 16, 2011 11:03 AM

 

Congratulations, Deb!  You have 48 hours to contact us.  We can't wait to hear from you!