Category Archives: DIY

Creating Wooden Acorns

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I did a mini tutorial on this earlier, but since I’m making 36 wooden acorns for my cousin’s Thanksgiving table, I thought I’d take more photos as I worked and explain in more detail.

I first gathered all my supplies. The wooden eggs came from Amazon. My cousin had these sent, but I think they are the same brand as ones I purchased earlier. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01CJ7KWW2?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title#

I also bought jute from Amazon. I may get another as I’m not sure this will be enough. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07K857VGB?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title#

The drop cloth I already had and the sticks to make stems came from my yard.

I cut the drop cloth into 36 5” squares. It seems to go faster when you precut the drop cloth.

I had a section of an egg carton I used. I laid the drop cloth piece at an angle and placed the egg in the center. That seemed to work well as I applied glue and pressed and smoothed the cloth on all 4 edges.

I then trimmed away the excess fabric.

Next, I tucked in and glued the sides.

I then trimmed and glued down the drop cloth.

Next, I started gluing and wrapping the jute all around.

When I got to the top, I used the stem I cut with my hand miter cutter. I also purchased it from Amazon. I glued the stem to the top, letting it set up. Then I finished wrapping and gluing until I finished where I started out. I cut the rope and glued it down.

My acorn was complete.

I now have 12/36 acorns completed.

A friend, when I posted these, said she loved the natural canvas acorns but was surprised I hadn’t painted them with our paint. Well, since I was working on acorns anyway, here is one of the natural wood eggs I have paint stained with our Missouri Limestone Paint Company “Sour Green Apples” and sealed with spray lacquer. Very cute. So ok…..I will be making some more of these in other Fall colors. Thanks for the suggestion, Debbie Carter!

My cousin loved the painted ones, too, so I made 18 drop cloth and 18 painted ones. 🙂

A Print from a Shower Curtain Becomes a Christmas Decoration

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Today’s project: I just had to do this. I found this awesome Christmas shower curtain at my sister-in-law’s yard sale yesterday.

I knew I wanted to use the images for decoupage. It is 100% polyester, so I wasn’t sure what would be the best way to do it. I posed the question to a decoupage fb group I belong to. A couple people suggested making printed copies of the images! Brilliant! I hadn’t even thought about doing that… and now I can use the shower curtain, too! Just look at all the different images on it!

I copied the image I wanted on my ink jet printer by laying the shower curtain on the tray in the area that showed that image. Then, the question of how to cut it out.

That brought to mind an old German cutting technique called Scherenschnitte, which means “scissor cuts” in German, and is the art of paper cutting design. I had done some of this many years ago. At one time I even had special scissors. I do have a pair of very sharp, small pointed scissors, so I cut around the edges my design with a kind of modified Scherenscnitte technique. It worked fine. These are the scissors I used.

I remembered to spray both sides of my printed image with Mod Podge spray to keep it from bleeding. When it was dry, I used Elmer’s Bonding spray on the back and bonded it to a piece of painters drop cloth the size of the back of the 8×10 frame I found in my stash to use. I made sure I pressed down carefully on all the cut edges to make sure they bonded well.

I then used a spray adhesive called Pixie spray on the back of the drop cloth and pressed it to the backing of the frame so it would lay flat.

I opted not to use the glass as I really wanted the texture of the drop cloth to show….and the texture of the paper. You really can’t even tell the image is a piece of printer paper.

I tried to take a couple of pics to show the texture. I am thrilled with how this project turned out and it took less than two hours to complete.

The frame is just perfect for this vintage looking image, don’t you think? It looks like it has been around hundreds of years.

Then a friend challenged me to make something from one of the trucks. So, I used this one and added a couple more embellishments.

Here are a few more ways I’ve used the printouts:

Skeleton Trio – See no Evil, Hear no Evil, Speak no Evil

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These little guys were so much fun to make!

Pinterest inspired. They used bigger skeletons, but I had a package of these little 6” ones and a wooden block for a bench …. so ……

I just needed scissors, a block of wood for them to sit on and a lot of hot glue. I dry brushed and wiped off a bit of black paint on them afterwards to make them look even dirtier and to disguise any hot glue that showed.

I am making the claim that no skeletons were harmed in the creation of this project because well, you know why… but seeing as skeleton bones are rather brittle lol, I did have to remove their upper arms and not use them and cut off their legs and reset them so I could get them into position. 😂😂

The other items on the tray and the tray I had already made.

I had one more little skeleton left. I think I figured out how to turn him into “The Thinker”.

A Painted Vintage Frame and Beautiful Christmas Poem

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Today’s early morning project: A painted vintage photo frame with verse

A friend found this vintage 8×10” F.T.D. 1972 resin type frame for me. I knew this type of material would paint beautifully as I’ve painted mirrors out of this plastic like material from the 70s.

Many years ago my cousins sent out Christmas cards with this verse on it. It had such an impact on me, I framed mine and to this day, keep it out all year as a reminder.

I did a wax resist technique on the vintage frame. I rubbed candle wax all over, then painted it with just one coat of our Missouri Limestone Paint Company chalk-style in “January”. Then, when dry, I rubbed all over it with a paper towel. Anywhere there was wax, the paint rubbed off with the wax, leaving some of the beautiful antique gold finish exposed.

I did a search for the verse and found it with several different backgrounds. I thought the image I chose would go very well with the painted frame. I liked it so well, I made a smaller 4×6” version and stain painted a little 4×6” frame. I’m now working on designing a muted Christmas colored background to make another one. Finished it. I found an image that would work with most any style and added text to it. Put it in a 6”x6” square frame.

I also tried to find the author, but all I’ve been able to come up with is Anonymous. I’m pretty sure, though, it was on a Hallmark card at some point.

I think this year, more than ever, we all need to take to heart the message in this poem.

Pub Table Created from an Old Beer Keg

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Danny made a pub table out of an old beer keg. He’s worked on this project off and on for awhile and today it is complete. The round wood top is new. It has been stained and has 5 coats of sealer on it. The keg, leg base and chairs are used and have character marks to show their age, just like in a real pub. 🙂.

The pub table and 2 chair set is $225.00. Two additional chairs are available for $25 each. Local pickup only.

The table is 35” high and the top is a 24” round. The 4 spokes of the leg base make it 36” round.

The bar chair seats are 24” high.

It’s not every pub table that has a giant shot glass for a centerpiece. This one does. We will include the shot glass centerpiece for free. 🙂 Wine and beer glasses are not included.

Thanksgiving Card Stock Napkin Rings

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Today’s early morning project: More napkin rings, this time with white napkins. These are available and I do have more napkins.

I had fun making napkin rings for some green napkins, so when I saw this Pinterest idea for some made with card stock and ribbon, https://www.onsuttonplace.com/thanksgiving-napkin-rings-free-printable/I knew I had to make these. Yes, I had everything I needed in my “extensive private craft supply collection.”

Slip the napkin in and slip it out. You can save these to use again next year.

Harry Potter-Style Potion Bottles

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For some reason I’m on a roll with crafting….oh wait…. I know why. I should be cleaning.

It’s my neighbor’s fault. They are moving and not wanting to take some things with them, so they have been gifting and selling things to us. My hallway is full of their treasures.

Today, I am clearing a small amount out by making these cool potion bottles. Believe me I have probably another dozen bottle. I was inspired by some I saw on Pinterest. They even had printable labels to download. I saved that post and pretty much followed the tutorial there. https://overthebigmoon.com/halloween-decor-harry-potter-potion-bottles-free-printable/

And then….my neighbors came bearing a gift of about a dozen or so hot sauce bottles they saved. They really like this hot sauce. I knew right away those would make awesome potion bottles. So, of course, I had to make one. Just one…to see how it would look.

I loved how it turned out so much, I knew I had to make a few more. So, I did. I also used one of the other bottles they had given me. I think it might have been an olive Oil jar.

Here’s my first set of Harry Potter-Style Potions. I used various colors of our Missouri Limestone Paint Company chalk-style paint to get the look of dirty glass. I filled them with colored water, weak tea, Cream of Wheat, and Baking Soda. 🙂 One stopper was already green. The others I stained darker.

This set is available for porch pickup now or will be in one of my booths closer to Halloween.

Number Tags

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Today’s early morning project: Number Tags

I don’t know why I’m seeing these so much. I see them on everything from numbering wedding tables to using on home decor “just because”.

So here are 4 “just because” number tags I made this morning. They do look pretty neat on these wooden crates. 🙂 Dollar Tree Jenga blocks – hole drilled for string, antique wax, painted, sanded, and number stickers applied. Sealed with clear wax.

Does anyone know why the number tags are so popular and have you made any? Please share pics if you have.

Fall/Thanksgiving Napkin Rings

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Today’s project: 4 napkin rings and napkins.

*wired jute for rings – Dollar Tree
*jenga blocks paint stained with holes drilled – Dollar Tree
*beads cut off and saved from a beaded basketball net – thrifting 🤷🏼‍♀️ 🙂
*raffia – Dollar Tree
*vinyl words cut on Silhouette.
*small clusters of berries – Dollar Tree
*folded napkins – searched google for a tutorial on folding napkins a like a leaf

http://www.origamitree.com/2016/12/napkin-folding-leaf-tutorial/

I threaded twelve beads onto a length of wired jute and left enough on the ends to tie a knot and have about 3 inches left over. Then I stripped the jute off one end of the wire and threaded it through the jenga block and twisted both ends tightly to hold it in place.

I cut the thankful words on my Silhouette and added to the jenga blocks.

I made small raffia bows and tied them on with some of the wire that was still left on from the jenga block.

Then I ran a piece of raffia through the block and around the bow to hide the wire. I added a little cluster of berries with hot glue.

You could use these through the fall season and through Thanksgiving.

More Daily Projects

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I’ve been doing some more creating…..

First up: This morning’s project was just combining some things I had to create a beautiful Fall display. This will be for sale right now as a porch pickup. $45.00

I had a vintage picnic basket. The trim on the lid was unraveling so I removed the lid. The rest of the basket is very sturdy, in excellent condition, and is perfect for storage and a Fall display.

I saw an idea for knitting or crocheting just a small blanket section for decorating a basket. What a great idea! I love the bulky blankets but a full size one would be way too bulky. I just happened to have a blanket I started crocheting but tired of working on it. It’s not functional but looks so pretty in a basket display.

I also had this beautiful pillow cover and a pillow that fits in it.

The display needed one more little thing, so I added a section of neutral garland.

I wish I had a bigger living room. It looks so pretty in front of my fireplace.

Next: Yesterday, I took a tin bucket from a thrift shop and wrapped jute twine around it, securing here and there with a bit of hot glue.

I cut apart some images from a package of Dollar Tree rub on transfer and applied them randomly to the front. I sealed them with wax. I love the rub ons from Dollar Tree.

I then added a hydraenga my sister had dried for me along with some greenery and this project was complete.

A Hot Glue Gun Stand:

I was tired of fighting hot glue guns and never having a glue stick handy so I started looking around for stands for them. You can buy fancy ones but DIY is so much cheaper. All you need is a plank (I think this was a blank sign from Walmart), a little box from Dollar Tree and a small tray from Dollar Tree.

Then you have Danny knock one end of the tray off without breaking it. I tried and couldn’t do it. I wonder what kind of glue Dollar Tree uses? It was on there tight.

Then you reattach the end about 2/3 of the way in with some hot glue. Glue the box and tray to the plank with (I used tacky glue as it was handy and hot glue) and now I have a stand for my glue gun.

If you look closely, I laid down some pieces of vinyl shelf liner to catch glue drips. I can just throw it away when it gets yucky and lay down another. A friend also suggested using pieces of aluminum foil. That would work great, too.

Last, but not Least: A Dollar Tree Hanging Sign Makeover

“I’ve been framed,” said the hanging pumpkin with the beautiful blue/green scrapbook paper.

I just attached the pumpkin by it’s jute hanger to the recessed area on the back of the empty frame, so it hangs free.

I don’t think it needs any embellishment.

I’m keeping this one and displaying it all year in my bedroom. Those are the colors in my bedroom. It makes me happy.

That’s it for now….follow my blog to get notified when I make new posts!

The original sign: