"I Am" Sign

A while ago I saw this sign and when I was going back through my  "One Day I will Get Around To Making This" list over the weekend, it caught my eye again and the urge to be crafty.  Over the past week between ruffles and signs, I have rightly earned the name "Miss Busybody" in my family.

I started with a piece of pine wood that was about 28"x36". Of course you can make this any size you want. Make sure to use a soft wood though so that when you transfer your letters, you will see them. I painted the wood cream... of course.

Next, choose the words and fonts you want on your sign. This is the time to have fun and be creative!

The font sizes I used ranged from 250 all the way up to 700 (I am). Once you have them printed out (I just used my home printer), lay them out on your piece of wood and tape them in place. As you can see, most of my words didn't come out on one piece of paper. I then cut the letters and arranged them where they needed to go. I even overlapped a few of the words. Just make sure that you are getting them perfectly horizontal and level (this is when my husband advised me to use a carpenter square) or you will end up with words slanting all over the place. I speak from experience on this one because I forgot to go back and fix where I had the "I am" and didn't see until after it was painted and up on the wall that it was crooked! Isn't every project supposed to have at least one little mistake or imperfection though?

So, now that the words are all in place, take a pen and just start tracing really hard around the letters. This will then leave an indentation on the wood. I didn't believe this at first, but it really works!

I then painted the words using two different colors of acrylic paint - black and tan. Another piece of advice... use a thin brush and don't drink a lot of coffee prior to doing this. You are going to need a steady hand! 

The next thing I did was take a piece of sandpaper and lightly go over all the words, edges, and any other place I wanted a distressed look. I also applied a little bit of Ralph Lauren's glaze over the areas I distressed. The next time I make one of these, I will use a glaze on all of it and distress it before transferring the words so that the entire piece of wood looks more aged instead of just certain areas. 

Ready for the final project...

I am so pleased with how this project turned out... even with my little imperfection.  I love that it is in a place where everyone can see and be reminded of the names of God.

Have a wonderful day!!!

What I Did Today

Made more ruffles...

I did try and take pictures this time but let's just say the lighting was anything but cooperative.
So, here is the tutorial again.

Window & Picture Project...

The pictures in this project are my absolute favorite pictures of my children. I wanted to do something special with them. We have this big empty wall in our great room so I thought it would be the perfect place to hang these pictures. Because the wall is so big, I knew that just hanging the pictures by themselves wouldn't look right. When my parents got new windows in their previous home, they were way ahead of their time and saved the window panes. I was fortunate enough to inherit a couple of them. I've used them all over the house in different ways. I love them. I also love my pictures. So, what do you get when you put a window pane and a picture together?

I had my husband staple the ribbon to the back of the frame. I then used an upholstery tack to hang the ribbon...

There you go! How easy was that?!

There is no longer a big empty wall...

Just the smiles of my children! (You can click on the picture to see it better.)

Coasters...

I am a big ole' copy cat coaster maker. I first saw this creative project from Susie at Bienvenue and then Empty Nest Full Life had step by step instructions last week for this project. Can I just say I LOVE this project!

If you want to give this project a try, here is what you will need:

~ ceramic tiles - (the small ones) I bought mine at Lowe's for 32 cents a piece.

~ rubber stamps

~ Staz On stamp pad

~ Sealer- I used matte clear acrylic sealer

~ Felt pads for the bottom of the tiles

Look how easy this is. Just stamp....

Place your felt pads on each of the corners to prevent scratching tables...

And there you have a pretty and decorative coaster...

Make sure you spray them with the sealer so the stamp stays on.

Don't you like the Westie dog? I had to use this one since we have 3 of these dogs...

Then tie them up with a pretty ribbon and you have a gift for someone special...

I know that I will making plenty of these coasters. What a great gift to give to teachers, friends, or to take as a hostess gift for all those Christmas parties that will soon be coming up.

Not only do these make nice Christmas gifts, but really special birthday gifts too! Look what I got in the mail this week from my friend, Kim....

Little did we know that each of us had been working on the same project. We even used the exact same Fleur De Lis stamp. How funny is that? Thanks for the coasters Kim. LOVE them!!!

Ragamuffin Garland...

I thought I would attempt to copy one of the Nesters original crafts... the Ragamuffin Garland. I love crafts that are easy and are not time consuming. I like immediate results and satisfaction. This is a no-brainer. So, do what I did... make some coffee, watch some T.V. with your husband, and start tying!

Step 1~

Pick out your fabric. For the first one I choose 5 different patterns. I used burlap and I really like having a different texture in the garland. You can also add ribbon, fringe, or rick-rack. I've also seen some garlands that have decorative items hanging from them or photographs. Very cute!

I bought 1 1/4 yards of fabric and it was enough to make 2-30 inch garlands and 1-54 inch garland. The fabric cost me a total of $18.

Step 2~ Cut fabric into strips. I measured mine out to be 2 inches wide and 10 inches long. I've seen some other garlands with longer strips of fabric and it looks really pretty that way too.

Step 3~ Use twine or jute to tie the fabric strips on. Cut it the length you want your garland to be and then just loop it at each end so you can hang it. I double stranded the twine.

Then just start tying. It's that easy! Make sure you push the fabric strips tightly together so that you will have a full garland.

Step 4~ Fluff and straighten out your garland and hang...

I'm sure you are wondering how long this project took aren't you? Cutting the fabric took about an hour. The longer garland took a little over an hour, but the smaller ones only took half an hour.

These garlands can be hung on cabinets, mirrors, mantles, or in my case... the pantry door. Yes, I know it really won't work in keeping my children out of the food. Can you give me credit for trying?

If you end up making one of these Ragamuffin garlands, please let me know. I would love to see it!

Monogram Chick is having this giveaway through October 29th. Go check it out along with all the other really cute monogrammed products. Leave a comment to enter and PLEASE mention my name as I have a chance to win along with you!

5 Minute Project...

This project is inspired by Joy from JOYS OF HOME. Let me just say that the decorating ideas and crafts she comes up with are amazing!

For this project you will need: a piece of unfinished wood, a wooden letter, spray paint, decorative paper, and spray adhesive.

Step 1~ Spray your piece of wood and letter with the spray paint. I used black paint. Make sure you spray the back if it's going to be in a place where it might be seen!

Step 2~ When the paint is dry you are ready to apply the paper. Cut your paper to fit the front of the wood. Spray the paper with the adhesive and place on wood. Then use adhesive on back of letter to place the letter on top of the paper. You can also sand the edges of the paper a little to give it more of an antiqued look.

And then you will have this...

This was SO easy and a very quick project. I spent $4.99 for the adhesive, 50 cents for the paper, 59 cents for the wood, and 99 cents for the letter.

Please share with me your finished projects and then also share it with Joy over at Joys of Home because all this week she is having show and tell!

Also, here are a few highlights from our anniversary yesterday...

We went to the Hammel House in historic Waynesville, Ohio for lunch. Steve had a rueben sandwich and I had a turkey florentine sandwich. It was delicious!

After lunch, we did some shopping. I've really been wanting one of these...

I've seen these in other antique stores and they have been at least $40. This one cost $9.95. Maybe next year I'll go for the jewelry:)

That evening we went to an Italian restaurant and finished the night off with a movie. I can't even remember the last time Steve and I saw a movie! It's a good thing we passed on the dessert because when we got home this is what was waiting for us from Jessica, Sam and Ben...