Wood Scrap Spring Decor

After another snow fall this week I was in serious need of some Spring! Hope this project brings some sunshine to you, as it did for me!

I have seen so many decor ideas like this on pinterest, especially around christmas, which is when it sparked my interest, just hadn’t found the time. Then the other day it hit me, and I said “self go look in that box in garage”, (that has been in there for over 3 years.) The box I am talking about is full of wood scraps, it was left by the previous owner (which is my father-in-law). But I think it has just been passed through owner to owner, but it was my lucky day! I found exactly what I needed!

Nevermind the fact that there is only five and spring has six letters, I didn’t catch my mistake till I was planning my letters out.

After I used my gardening gloves to reach around in there,( I’m a weirdo when it comes to reaching into places that spiders may be inhabiting!) I gave them a good sanding, mine were dirty and really rough, who knows how long they had been in there. Then I brought them in to paint, I just used acrylic paint. I was almost out of one type but thankfully I had the same color in another brand, I used a warm white/vanilla.

Both are from Michaels

A certain little boy was having fun stacking them, that may be anthor project another day.

I let mine dry over night (it was bedtime). I wanted mine to have a rustic feel, so I sanded the edges and corners down, but this part is all up to you.
Then to really give it the feel I wanted I took a wet paper towel and dabbed it with stain. I had a few little cans in the garage so I just used what I had on hand. Mine was Minwax wood finish in Provincial. I just rubbed it all over especially focusing on the edges an corners. ( I went thru a few paper towels) I had read on a blog (I’m sorry I can’t remember which one, but they put the stain on the edges and left it for 15 min then wiped it off but I tried and it immediately soaked in, so thats when I tried the wet towel approach)

didn’t like this, thankfully I first tried it on the back of one.

Here’s what they look like all rustic like, yes still there is only five, didn’t catch it till the next step.

After I figured out how I would arrange them, I measured the height of each one so I could use my Cricut and cut vinyl to fit. You could also use scrapbook letters and paper, stencils, or freehand it. Just have fun with it! Now this is the part where I was typing my letters out and went, ” Oh you Dingle Dork! Spring has SIX letters!” So I said a little silent prayer hoping that there was another block out there, and JACKPOT! This project was meant to be!
With my cricut I used the Jubilee, Create a Critter, and Craft Room Basics cartridges for the designs.

DIY Floorcloth

I had planned on writing about this a week ago, then the hubs had some unexpected shift changes, so I took that time and spent them with him. And had every intention of doing it yesterday during nap, but naptime came and went with no nap. So J actually is spending some time at G-ma and G-pa’s today, to give this momma a much needed little break. So here it is…

I of course had seen this one pinterest and had it saved for a sometime project, and while painting the back door I got paint on our excisting rug, and it was looking kinda sad. So I thought it was time.

It used to be so bright and cheerful, now just kinda looks sad

I hadn’t even started working and someone was already whining at me… My sweet Bubba (major momma’s boy!)
I found it here through pinterest http://www.iammommahearmeroar.net/2012/06/diy-fabric-floorcloth.html But it is originally from here http://www.eastcoastcreativeblog.com/ ( I could spend hours just going from blog to blog to blog!)
I had bought a yard of this Home Decor fabric for another project but went another direction, so I thought it was perfect for this!

It’s from Joanns

I didn’t use all of the fabric, so it will just be up to you what size you want it to be. You will also need: a rubber rug,( mine is from Menards, it was over by the carpet on a roll and I had to have them cut it for me)( I had to get mine twice because I was too stubborn and didn’t listen to my mother and ended up with too small aof a piece) anyway– WATER BASED polyurathane, the other will yellow, I used polycrylic, a paint brush, Duct tape, and spray adhesive.

On one side mine had ridges, so I used the smooth side.

I figured out what my size would be. I wanted it to fit right up against the door, cause stuff gets tracked in there all the time. I used a long ruler and my hubs big exacto knife to cut it. I ironed my fabric ( I had read in comments that it helped in the adhesive part) I sprayed the adhesive on the mat, then placed it on top of the back of the fabric. (I had gotten repositionable adhesive, this was better for me cause I had to re place it a few times) Once I got it on and believed it to be straight I flipped it over, smoothed it out, then I cut my fabric down. You will want to leave it a few inches out so that you can fold the fabric over the back. Then I took it to the table- (my kitchen table is where most of my projects take place) I actually used a lint roller over it before I started brushing the polycrylic on.

This is after two coats, getting shiny!

In all I did 3 coats, it gets alot of traffic at that door. ( I used newspaper underneath but I recommend using plastic, I had to peel paper off at parts where it stuck) When it was all dry,(I waited overnight) Flip it over and you can start taping the fabric to the mat, trust me no one will see the bottom. I worried about the way it looked too, but I’m over it now! They have the perfect way to fold corners on thier site, I had no idea to do it this way.http://www.eastcoastcreativeblog.com/2012/06/diy-fabric-floor-cloth-floor-mat.html One reason I wanted to replace the old rug was it was always sliding around and constantly getting stuck under the door. DRIVING ME NUTS!! So I really wanted to make sure this one was not going anywhere! So I taped one of those skid mats to it too. And after all the taping…. YOU ARE DONE! Put your rug down and enjoy! I love the fact that I can wipe any dirt that the dogs track in. I will be great for the summer.

I did notice that when I was applying the polycrylic, the adhesive wasn’t fully holding down the fabric in some places, but I’m not sure if its because I was using repositionable, or if it would have done that anyway. I wasn’t totally sold, I realized I had cut it slightly slanted but, I got over it nad now I really do love it!! I plan on eventually making more.

Cookie Sheet, This Week memo board

So I am a Pinterestaholic! I admit it openly! It’s like my crack, I can’t stop, nor do I want to!! but I had pinned long ago this nifty Goal list and I wanted it. I need motivation! http://cornflowerbluestudio.blogspot.com/2012/02/diy-rotating-goal-list.html, it is so cute, but I thought it was a pdf, when I realized it wasn’t I was kinda bummed. But then I remembered seeing this http://www.favecrafts.com/Storage-and-Organization/Dollar-Store-Cookie-Sheet-Magnet-Board/ct/1 Super cute! Then I got super excited! Because I am like my mother (mean that in a good sense!) and I cannot get rid of some things. (This is always in my head- what if I find a use then I threw or gave it away, what then?!?) So I tend to hang on to things till I get absolutely tired of moving it. But anyway, This past weekend when Kyle (the hubs) and his wonderful stepdad Terry were installing my new dishwaher (YAY!!) They had to empty some of the cabinets, one of which being my cookie sheet, cooling rack one. Well when all said and done I realized how many cookie sheets (and cooling racks- thats for another time 🙂 couldn’t throw them away!) I have two pampered chef stones that I ALWAYS use, but found this small, cheap, and kinda rusty one in there, so since I couldn’t get rid of it I stuck it in my cupboard in the garage, and lo and behold I found a use!! SEE I’m not just a packrat, but a resourceful one at that!!

 

 

So I new I had some paper that I’ve been dying to use just couldn’t figure out what for< Then I spray painted my cookie sheet, right now I’m in love with the Rustoleum bronze metal spray paint, (been busy using it on our existing door knobs, but have used it on everything!) pulled out the trusty Mod Podge! Then I cut my paper to the size I wanted each, I knew I wanted them to slightly overlap each other. But I had to round the edges, so I just laid the cookie sheet and over my paper an traced it, then used that piece as a template for the bottom paper. So started in with the Mod Podge,. I used a thin coat and put each piece in, then put a thin coat on top, I had a few air bubbles just tried to work them out, I have also found if you take a needle or pin and carefully poke a small hole it helps, I ended up doing two coats on top, to make sure my pretty paper was protected. I knew I wanted to do some form of words on it, but didn’t want to cover it all up with post its, so I got on my Cricut Craft Room and played around a little Came up with this, I know so hard!, but decisions, decisions! LOVE cutting vinyl, have used it more for that than actual scrapbooking! And instead of transfer tape I’ve been using contact paper, much cheaper and get so much more! So it’s done and I LOVE it, used a mix of each. Now to hang it, I have been using these to hang everything these days, their great and easy! I knew exactly where I wanted it! I put it on the end of my cabinet right by my pantry door, Momma’s memo sheet. Put my notes to myself, put recipes for the week, still use for goal or whatever you want! So Cute! I love it!

Since I showed you this paper, had to show the wool applique I did when I first got the cupcake paper, a few years ago. It hangs in my kitchen, want to find a frame for it but kinda an awkward size. Just goes to show you can find inspiration anywhere!