~thrifty Thursday~{heart sign}

I saw this sign recently and thought it was so cute,

 so I tried to recreate it in my own way, for way less money.

I started with some pieces of wood that I already had put together.

You could use pallet wood for this easily though.

In fact it was from this project, which I took apart.

You could say I repurposed a repurposed item!

To make the heart pattern, I taped several pieces of paper together and then folded it in half, and cut.

Using a pencil, trace around the edge of your heart pattern and discard.

Next up you will need to paint your heart.

I used a light grey chalk paint.

Let dry.

Obviously I was to impatient and took a photo of it while it was still wet.

Using 1 1/2" blue painters tape, tape off straight sections over the heart, evenly spaced.

Paint those areas with a cream colored paint, or the color of your choice.

Let dry and then remove tape.

This is the part where you can get really creative.

Using a pencil, hand draw on a quote, a poem, a saying, lyrics to a song, etc.

Don't worry about your penmanship, the more handwritten looking, the better!

Using a thin paint brush, go over the pencil with black paint.

When it is all dry, you can lightly sand over the whole heart to distress it a bit.

Because I had everything on hand, this project didn't cost me a dime.

I love FREE projects, don't you?

Have a great day!

xoxo

~classic wood prints~{a giveaway}

I want to introduce you to Classic Wood Prints.

Take your favorite photo or artwork and have them etch it into a piece of wood. Classic Wood Prints is a unique art form that blends wood working and photography to capture a beautiful way of storytelling.

And here is the cool part. For every print sold-a donation will be made to Plant-It 2020, giving back to the environment and community by planting trees, providing direct humanitarian aid and restoring forestry.

So, turn that adventurous summer or favorite travel moment into a photographic keep-sake on wood. These are great holiday gifts and decoration. The prints are designed to last more than 20 years without fading which uses a UV ink, a fully cured ink that becomes "one" with the wood that brings out the beautiful wood grains. 

It's a great way to do your part to keep an eye on the environment and giving wood a gift that crease a lasting reminder of your happy moments.

Classic Wood Prints 

is generously giving one of my readers a custom print, any size up to a 13x20!

Please follow them on instagram right here to see some very cool work.

So, what would you get printed if you won?

A photo for yourself, or one for a gift?

Can't wait to hear what you would create. 

Just leave me a comment to be entered, along with your email address.

Like always, you don't need a blog to enter, just need a way to contact you if you are the lucky winner.

I will announce back here on Friday, good luck!

xoxo

~paper flowers~{and garland}

Way back in 2011, I made a paper garland out of book pages.

You can see the whole post here.

But that was mostly leaves, so I tried my hand yesterday at making flowers….

I haven't quite mastered it yet, but it's a start.

If I do get better at it, and quicker,

 I have a project in the works that I will be sharing with you all!

~Have a great relaxing weekend friends~

xoxo

~how to make a faux wood arrow~{thrifty thursday}

While I was hard at work on the One Room Challenge, one of the things I looked into was new flooring. Although those two things called "time" and "budget" came into play, so we ended up just touching up the floor we have. 

One thing home improvement stores are offering now is free floor samples.

I think this is genius for visual people like myself.

You can bring home samples and lay them out to see what it would look like.

Here are some samples I brought home. It's a whitewashed faux wood.

Each piece measures approx. 3x6"

After sitting around for a while I decided I'd put them to use and make a faux wood arrow, and here is how you can as well!

Gather your supplies.

You will need:

Liquid nails, or another strong glue.

Blue painters tape {optional}

MDF, I had some left over from my faux snakeskin drawer liners.

A pencil and ruler. {Or tape measure}

A jigsaw.

Lay out your pieces of flooring on a piece of MDF and glue down.

Place heavy objects on top and let dry several hours to overnight.

The following day, remove your heavy objects and using a pencil and ruler sketch out your arrow shape. There are so many different arrows to choose from.

You can make a whimsical one, or a traditional one, up to you.

{If you need a pattern you can enlarge one that you print from home at a copy center, cut out, and trace around it.}

I used blue painters tape to outline where I had drawn the pencil because it was a little hard to see.

Using your jigsaw carefully cut out along your pencil/tape lines.

I left my edges raw but you could always add a contrasting color of paint for fun.

I think it turned out so cute!

This could be hung indoors or out, or just propped on a shelf.

Happy crafting!

xoxo

~thrifty thursday~barn wood & burlap frame

This weeks thrifty Thursday project includes more scrap wood. 

You can use new wood, painted and distressed to look old, or you can use old pallets, barn wood, etc. 

Here is what I made:

{try to ignore the shadows!}

Besides the scrap wood you will also need white paint, black paint, spray adhesive, glass, 2 screws, mdf, and burlap.

The first thing I did

{and didn't get a picture of}

was to line all my scrap wood up and then cut them all to length. 

There was no rhyme or reason to how long or wide each piece was, I just eyeballed it.

Next you want to cut 3 pieces of mdf

{medium density fiberboard}

You will want to figure how big you want your glass to be before cutting the mdf pieces.

I used a piece of 8x10 glass, so I cut one piece that same size, 8x10.

Then I cut another one slightly bigger. Again, I eyeballed it.

Then I cut a third piece slightly bigger than that.

Lay everything out like in the photo below.

You are going to paint one piece of mdf white, one black, and you are going to cover one in burlap.

I wrote with pencil on each one so I wouldn't accidentally paint one the wrong color.

Biggest one black.

Middle one burlap.

Smallest one white.

I should back up here and say that I added strips of mdf to the back and used wood glue and screws to hold my scrap wood pieces together, running them horizontally.

Sorry, didn't get a picture of that ever.

Do I win a prize for worst tutorial?

OK, now gather your spray adhesive and all your materials.

Paint your black and white pieces and set aside to dry.

While those pieces are drying you can cut a piece of burlap slightly 

bigger than your middle piece of mdf.

 Outdoors, spray the burlap and the mdf with spray adhesive and fold over and wrap like a present.

Let dry.

Now you can put all your pieces together.

I used a air nailer with short nails.

Lay out your scrap pieces then place your black painted piece and nail into place.

{if you don't have an air nailer, you could use wood glue, or another strong glue and some finish nails}

Next, lay the burlap piece on top, then the white piece, attaching each one. 

Then you can add a photo.

I cut my 8 x10 photo down a bit so the white wood showed.

This is also just a photo copy.

Place your glass on top.

Here is a tip.

Instead of getting a piece of glass cut, consider picking up a ugly frame at a thrift store for around 99 cents and using the glass out of it.

Now, I used 2 screws on either side of the glass to hold in place. However, I think it looks ugly and am currently trying to find other ways to attach it that looks a little nicer.

Suggestions welcome!

xoxo

~repurposing and recreating~

Jennifer Rizzo sent me an email a little while ago.

She had a great idea for a,

 "she sent me what?" project.

 Basically, you receive a thrift store item in the mail

{good or bad} 

from another blogger, and you have to turn it into something else. 

I, in turn buy something at a thrift store and send it on to the next blogger on the list.

Well, today is the day we are showcasing all our creations! 

Here is the full link of participants:

Jennifer Rizzo
Funky Junk Interiors
My Sweet Savannah
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Four Generations One Roof
Home Stories A to Z
Today’s Creative Blog
Jeanne Oliver Designs
French Country Cottage
Finding Home
The Inspired Room
The Handmade Home
Eclectically Vintage
Makely School for Girls
East Coast Creative
Infarrantly Creative
At Home on the Bay
Thistlewood Farms
Serendipity Refined
At the Picket Fence
Not Just a Housewife

Donna sent me this pail.

I'll be honest.

I thought it was pretty cute and wondered what the heck I could make with it.

I kinda just wanted to throw a candle in it and set it on my porch and call it good.

But, I knew it had to be more creative than that.

I thought about turning it into a fountain so that the water would come out all the little holes.

I also thought about turning it into a planter and filling it with flowers.

Lastly I thought about planting an herb garden in it for my kitchen.

 After staring at it for about a week, I finally figured out what I was going to do with it.

I was going to turn it into a bird feeder/house and the only thing I ended up having to buy was this 99 cent fluted pie pan from the thrift store!

I  rummaged through my stash of old hardware and found a tiny door handle.

It happened to fit perfectly in one of the holes for a perch.

Then I drilled a small hole so birds can go in if they choose.

Next, I used liquid nails to attach the pail to the pie pan, let it dry, and filled the pan with wild bird seed!

To see what I sent the next person on the list, please visit Kristin at

My Uncommon Slice Of Suburbia

xoxo