Show & Tell: Rustic Nativity Scene

Good Morning!


I first have to apologize. The posts are going to be Christmas heavy for a while because I went on a project blitz over Thanksgiving break. I think one of the worst parts about moving is trying to figure out what goes where and that's doubly true for Christmas decorating. Last year I finished in one day because I already had a place for everything and nails to match. Now, I'm still moving things around. I also didn't have much in the way of outside decorations. What I did have looked so small on our acreage.

I found a inspiration picture from Pinterest (Click here for the pin). It was a rustic nativity scene on pallet wood. I checked out Jodi Marie Pallet Designs. Etsy shop (Click here for her adorable shop) the pin is from since she is very reasonably priced (and her stuff is super cute!), but didn't find the nativity scene. Other neat stuff, but no nativity scene.

I decided to make my own. I didn't use rustic pallet wood since it's harder to find. I picked up some pre-cut cheap pine from Lowe's. The pre-cut section is my favorite part of Lowes, because I can put it in my car to haul home much easier. I happen to have navy blue paint out from a different project, so I used that as my backdrop. I first penciled the design on the wood free hand and then painted it in like it was a paint by numbers with some acrylic paint. I put a clear coat on top, but didn't make it too thick. I want the design to weather through the seasons.

I'm pretty happy with my little project. The entire thing took an evening and about $6.00, and now I have a fun addition to my front porch.

Pinterest Report: Chalkboard Lettering and Tracing Tutorial

Hello!


Hope you're all staying warm! Here it went from being 60 degrees every day to 15 degrees in just 3 days or so. Where was the in between?!? This cold makes it hard to get anything big done. I am currently painting a desk in my kitchen for the Salvage Art sale for the Brookings Area Habitat for Humanity. I am hoping to share that project tomorrow (and hopefully it auctions off well!).

Since we're past Halloween, I decided it was time to update our chalkboard. A very talented lady back in Boone made some of these chalkboards for her friends, and I picked mine up second hand from one of those ladies. (I was SUPER excited to get it) I haven't really had a permanent chalkboard before I got this one, so I've been learning how to do hand lettering. I blogged before about the fake calligraphy tutorial I found on Pinterest. (Check out that post here).

I decided to try a different tutorial this month. Here is the pin I found. The gist of it is you print out the lettering, cover the back of the paper in chalk, put it on the chalkboard and trace and ta da, you have an outline for your artwork.


I've done similar things with graphite paper and hand painting lettering. (That was the pre-Silhouette days...now I'll just cut a stencil or vinyl). So, the idea seemed like it would work pretty good.


If you're artsy fartsy, you probably could make some really cool typography on your own. I am not in that regard. So I found one I liked and printed it across several sheets using Microsoft Publisher. If you don't have Publisher, you can also use a program called PosteRazor to print across several sheets of paper. I used it here to make large cut outs for my daughter's party.


Here's what my image looked like printed out and ready to be transferred.



The picture isn't blurry...blowing up a picture to a 18 x 20 sheet will make it grainy. Also, since I didn't want to use a ton of black ink and the image was white lettering on a black "chalkboard," I loaded the image into Microsoft Paint to inverse the colors and crop around the heart.

I did follow the tutorial I found on Pinterest, but I found that my large ape like arms made it difficult to trace the outline without removing the outline below it. I was quite the picture of grace with the chalkboard balancing on my lap, elbows and chest out trying to reach the top of the picture without wiping away the lower part. Now, in hindsight, I could have simply rotated the picture but I'm not sure about my skills writing upside down even with the outline. I ended up just free handing the bottom portion of the outline.

The best part of this entire project? I spent all that time tracing. I finished and went to hang it on the wall, and low and behold, I did the entire drawing upside down. Rather than start over, I just added picture wire to the other side. So now I can hang the chalkboard from either side and will never have to worry about having the right side up.

I'm pretty happy with the result. I may just have to try a more difficult picture for Christmas time.

DIY Sunday: Handmade Christmas and The Pinterest Report Smash Up

Hello from bar studying is no fun land!

As I mentioned more than once, I'm in the process of studying for the bar, so I apologize for the absence! March 1, I'll back on a roll with all this blogging stuff.

Lots of exciting things going on here. My husband is in negotiations for a job, so hopefully here soon we'll know where we're going to end up in June! Fantastic! Of course that means I've been house hunting every place he interviews. It's sure fun to window shop for a house....the grown up part about it isn't so much fun (i.e. loan applications, inspections, closing costs, etc.) But right now I'm living in la la land of looking at houses and picturing all the DIY projects I could do. And, I'm using my study breaks to watch Rehab Addict on HGTV, so naturally now I want to rip everything out of all the houses I find, and I'm particularly drawn to beat up old houses that need some TLC. Perhaps it will become a blog series someday? Probably followed by a series about how my husband is ready to murder me for pulling up all the carpet and yelling "I JUST WANT BRICK" as I smash away at the dry wall.

Anyways, bit of a catch-all post here. I did some DIY Christmas gifts that are mostly Pinterest inspired, and I wanted to share the results with you! Would have been nice if I could have shared before Christmas so you could steal the ideas, but that would have ruined the surprised for my recipients! Oh well. Use some of these projects for your MLK gifts you'll be giving on Monday. (Wait, you don't give a present on that day?!? For shame! :p

First up is the very popular sharpie marker mug project. If you've joined the land of Pinterest, (don't forget to follow me here!), you've inevitably seen this. I did some due diligence prior to starting my project and used some different hints I found across several blogs. This is what I did:

• Found cheap mugs since they tend to have less glaze
• Did a through cleaning job prior to inking
• Let my mugs dry overnight prior to putting in the oven
• Did a higher temperature and longer duration to allow the ink to stick more. 
• Recommended hand washing the mugs

I used some scrapbook letter stickers I had sitting around and did the dot method for one set of the mugs.

No news if they were completely destroyed by the first wash or not.

I also did two soup bowls. This one says "A Mug O' Love"

This one says "Fan-tach-tic" with a mustache. :)

 

 

Mugs in the oven getting nice and warm.

Mugs after cooling down.

x

After "firing" in the oven. Sometimes the color can change in the oven, but all my color remained pretty much the same. It did look a bit thinner in different places.

 

Second project was a simple Silhouette project. I cut out some vinyl and created a custom frame for my uncle's project car. I did some research about what logo would have been used during the time the car was built, and then used the trace function in the Silhouette software. 

 

Third project was a Pinterest project, grand kid hand embroidery. I got the hand prints of all the grand kids together and used some embroidery thread on flour sacks (hindsight 20/20, I would have made sure the hand prints didn't sit right on top of each other and would have picked kitchen towels rather than flour sacks.)

 

Fourth project was also a Pinterest inspired idea, painted wooden spoons. I got wooden spoons from Wal-Mart, and added a pop of color with some acrylic paint. I then sealed just the painted portion with some clear spray.

Last project was a personal one to the husband. This last spring/summer, he had to finally send his beloved 1995 Taurus to the junk yard. He had over 250,000 miles on the car, and it survived our courtship, engagement, marriage and kids. It was one uuuggggllllyyyy car, but he was very sad to see it go. I went to the junk yard the day after he dropped it off and had them pull out the seat belt. I then used the seat belt as a matte for a picture of us the day we got engaged (which was right by the car).

 

DIY Sunday: Race Bib Sign

Hello Everyone!!

I have a Pinterest Project to share with you today. There are many different Race Bib projects on Pinterest, so I decided to try my hand at one. (Here's the original pin) You could get really creative and add hooks at the bottom for metals, but I'm not that advanced with my running yet. :) Just race bibs for me!

Supplies:

Wooden Board from Hobby Lobby ($2.99, but caught it on sale for 40% off)

Cool Barn Wood Scrapbook Paper ($0.29)

Mod Podge ($2.00 or so worth)

Silhouette Machine cutting "Races" (you could also use an exacto knife if you don't have a Silhouette or scrapbook letter stickers)

Cup Hooks ($0.50 or so)

White Acrylic Paint ($0.30 or so worth)

Alligator picture hanger for the pack ($0.25 or so)

Total: Approximately  $4.80

Directions: 

1. Cut the barn wood paper. I laid my piece of paper on the top of the wooden board and creased the paper along the edges of the top. I used the creases as a guideline to cut the paper.

2. Paint wood with white paint.

3. Get to Mod Podging! First, do a light layer of Mod Podge on the board and place the barn wood paper on the top of the board. Make sure you work quickly, and make sure the paper is placed on the board evenly. I didn't work quite fast enough and ended up with some wrinkles. Learn from my mistake! Then do a nice light layer on the top of the barn wood paper and place your "Races" paper on the top. Finally, do a coat on top to seal everything in. Several light coats are the best way to put the Mod Podge on. If you notice your last layer isn't drying quickly, do a quick coat of a clear spray on top.

4. Next put an alligator picture hanger on the back in the center. Very easy to hammer in on the soft wood.

5. Put your cup hooks into the wood (also very easy with the soft wood). I took the widest race bib I had and used it as a guide for where I wanted the hooks.

6. Ta Da! Hang up on the wall in a location that you will see when you need that extra bit of motivation to get out and run!

 

DIY Sunday: Trick or Treat Reversible Pillows

Hello There!

I think you've probably caught on by now that when I say "DIY Sunday" I mean "DIY: Whenever I get around to posting." Ah, so is the life with a full time job and two kids. And I'm going to take the bar in February, so I fear that once I start my bar review (hopefully next week) it's going to get worse. Sorry about that. Or in an effort to procrastinate, my projects will explode (hoping to avoid that scenario!). My house is always clean when I should be doing something else.

Anyways, here's a fun project I saw on Pinterest. I like to think that I was once creative. Now I'm just a Pinterest copy cat. So, I have three pillows on my porch swing. (Check out my post about them here). They are in a fun summer outdoor fabric.

I decided I need to "Fall" them up with some burlap covers. I followed the same method I did with my living room pillows when it came to making the covers (Check out this blog post for instructions). Two half yard pieces make just about a perfect cover for a standard size pillow. The less measuring the better!

Once I made the covers (with a sewing machine it's a 10-20 minute project), I used some acrylic paint to make the two sayings. (Yes, two...stick with me here). I used outdoor paints on my original pillow and it's lasted a year, but I figured that since these won't be outside that long (two months max) I could just use plain ol' craft paint. I'm going to try to find something fun and different for Christmas.

I decided that I was going to make my pillows reversible. So one set says, "Trick or Treat" and the backs say "Give Thanks"...I also made a fun orange chevron pillow cover for the fall. I'm trying to figure out how to incorporate the fabric into my Halloween decorations.

So, here's two months of decorations with just one night and about $5.00 in supplies!

 

 

The Pinterest Report: Recipes

Hello There!

I have been cooking and trying to use my fruits and vegetables from my Bountiful Baskets. There has been quite a bit of Pinteresting lately to find recipes.

For the most part they have been successes, but some aren't that great. Here's the lowdown in this week's Pinterest Report.

1. Crash Potatoes.

Photo from Pioneer Woman

This recipe is from the Pioneer Woman. Which of course means it's probably super delish. (Remember the french toast casserole?) I wasn't disappointed.

 I got a little crazy with the salt, so I will watch that next time, but it had all the parts I love about baked potatoes. They were nice and crunchy and had great flavor. Definitely trying that again!

2. Ham and Cheese Sliders

Photo from Annie Eats

These were really great. We did get some Hawaiian rolls, but I think I would stick with plain rolls next time. They were pretty sweet. I also did a honey ham, so next time I might try plain rolls with smoked ham. Otherwise, this was a very easy quick recipe and would be great for appetizers. 

3. One Pot Pasta

Photo from Martha Stewart

We fell in love with this recipe. It was a fantastic way to use the veggies from my bountiful basket! Hardly any dishes to clean and it was so simple. We added in spinach as well and used some basil I had in the fridge.

4. Stuffing and Pork

Photo from food.com

This was a great one dish meal. It was simple and easy. (Are you seeing a theme here? I like no dishes, easy simple and no crazy ingredients.) The pork chop gets very tender. Since it's pretty heavy and not that great for you, I like to make sure we have some sort of veggie that takes over more of the plate than the pork and stuffing.

5. Strawberry Pie Sour Cream Crumble

Photo from Crunchy Creamy Sweet

Okay. This one wasn't very good. The pie filling was just too sweet and the crest has a bit of a odd texture. The texture gets better if they sit in the fridge over night. We won't be trying this one again.

But, they sure look pretty even when I make them.

6. Potato and Crumb Chowder

Photo from My Blessed Life

I was so excited about this that I made it during the summer. It was pretty heavy and stew like. It was delish, so we will definately do it again, but probably wait until the temp drops a bit.

7. Squash and Onions in Brown Sugar.

Photo from  The Kitchn

This recipe was a very fast easy way to get some veggies on the table. It was pretty sweet if you follow the recipe, so if you want it to be a bit lighter, I would keep the butter and brown sugar at bay. The onions get sweet on their own.