~thrifty Thursday~button initial art

I have a ton of buttons, so I thought this week I would make something with them.

Start out with an assortment of buttons.

Cut a square piece of wood. I used a 1x8 piece of pine.

Sand any rough edges off.

Cut squares of scrapbook paper the same size as your wood.

Decoupage your paper on top.

If you have any edges that hang over, you can sand those off.

Make sure all air bubbles are smoothed out.

Lightly go over the top with decoupage and let dry.

For the edges, I wiped on dark wax. 

You could also paint the edges.

While all that is drying, print out your letter of choice.

Printing on card stock works best, but it's not necessary.

Cut out the letter. It doesn't have to be perfect.

Center it on the wood and trace it on.

I'd suggest using a pencil.

I used a ballpoint pen and you can see a little bit of it in the finished product.

Starting little by little, brush on some Elmer's glue.

And start glueing on your buttons. You might want to pick out the colors, sizes ahead of time.

Let the whole thing dry and place it on a shelf or wherever you would like!

xoxo

~thrifty thursday~{wallpaper picture frame}

Remember this picture of the wallpaper sample that I will be using in our kitchen niche?

Well, it was just that, a sample.

What is one to do with a sample of wallpaper?

Well, you could turn it into a decorative picture frame right?

Pick up one of these.

It doesn't have to be this exact one, it's just the one that I used.

You will want to stain or paint the sides and the back of the unfinished frame.

You can also use Annie Sloan dark wax instead for a quick drying project if you are in a hurry.

Then, flip it over and trace with a pencil onto the wallpaper.

Make sure you trace around the inside opening too.

You could also use paper or fabric for this.

Cut out the paper on the lines but it doesn't have to be perfect.

Apply a thin layer of mod podge over the front of the frame and lay the paper on top.

Quickly and carefully smooth out any air bubbles.

 I like to also use a sanding block to smooth out any bubbles.

If your edges don't line up perfectly, just sand the paper right off.

After I was done I added a little dark wax around the edges to give it a more finished look.

 That's it! 

Print out a photo or use one you already have.

xoxo