A place to hang

While at my local goodwill with my friend Miss J, I found 3 wrought iron star hooks. For a 1.50 a piece. I have seen the same ones at a local decor store for a lot more so I knew they were a good deal. I wanted to make a place to hang coats and backpacks or something like that for my Mr R.

In my garage I found a piece of MDF molding we used in our house that I thought would be perfect.

In comes some red spray paint--


Now I had two different red cans of spray paint, so I just used them both to get a different kind of red. It worked out really well and I love the color.

Of course it have to get some stain on the edges to get that finished look I like, and it looks SO good. Funny what a little bit of stain can do to a project. :)



Next I drilled some holes so I can hang this up with some heavy duty screws, because I know this thing will be HEAVY by the time I glue on the hooks--

Mix some Gorilla Epoxy-
Slap some on the back of the hooks--
And TADA!

Now I just need to get some good strong screws to hang it.

Holiday Blocks

Last fall I went to Bunco, and there was the cutest prize that you could win. 4 little blocks of wood that said FALL on them. Sad to report that I did not win those cute little blocks. But I knew that I could make my own and make them even better. :)

Here is what I came up with-

So they say SPOOKY instead of FALL, but I like that word better. It sounds fun. And of course if I am going to go to all the effort of doing a project that is going to hang around my house, then it has to be multi functional. So, I did this on the back of the block--

I did these with a few friends and since then I have had a lot of people wanting to do them as well, so I have been lucky to have alot of vinyl orders. My neighbor did some of these for her kid's teachers as gifts for Christmas. (They turned out SO cute!)
So now we come to the current holiday season and I knew I wanted some for Valentines/St.Patrick's Day. Here is my first attempt.
Wasn't so sure if I loved them or not. So I decided to make another set. My friend wanted to make some too, so a few Sundays ago we got together and made some. Its so easy. The hardest part for me was picking out the paper!! Here's how to do it--

First ,I got a 1x6 from Home Depot. (for around $2.50) and cut the board into 8 inch pieces. I painted mine black, but you can paint them whatever color you like. With my Spooky/Autumn blocks I painted one side black and the other tan.

I like to layer things to add depth, so I cut some card stock a bit smaller than my block so you can see the black. I used Mod Podge on the block and smoothed my card stock on it and hoped for no bubbles.
Then I cut my paper a bit smaller than the card stock and glued in on with Mod Podge too. Smooth out those air bubbles-
Here's what it should look like when you done-

And the back for St.Patrick's Day- (must be multi functional!!)

With the vinyl lettering that I cut about 6 inches tall and about 4 1/2 inches wide-
I did add some tacks to the edges of my LUCKY blocks to give it more of a rustic feel.
I added a lot more embellishments to my other blocks, but I just haven't found any that I like to put on these. I need to find me some glitter heart stickers. Glitter makes me happy!

I have to point out that I did make some of my SPOOKY/AUTUMN blocks for my mom out of a 2x4 and they turned out just as cute. (I wish I had a picture to show you but she lives 500 miles away from me.) So you can make these in any size and they would be adorable! If you don't have access to a vinyl cutter you can use a cricut or such to cut out the letters you need. Or you can stencil them on.

I am linking to
http://www.shanty2chic.blogspot.com/

1-2-3-4 My Laundry Room

My almost 4 year old, is forever putting his dark laundry in my white laundry basket, even if I tell him-"Put it in the first one!!" But alas, he still gets it wrong. So I had an idea. Since Mr. R is enjoying learning his letters and numbers in preparation for preschool this fall, I decided to number each basket.


I started out with a package of coasters that I bought from Michaels for $1.00.


They came six to a package. But I only needed four. Of course I will save the rest for another project down the road. I'm not a huge fan of the design that was on these coasters, so I had to spray paint over them. Love me a good can of spray paint!!


I cut out some circles and the numbers 1-4 with my vinyl cutter, and slapped them on.


Here is my laundry baskets that I bought at Ikea a while back when they first opened here in Utah. I am SO happy that Ikea is finally close to me! I have been in love with Ikea ever since we went to one in Canada four years ago. I've even had them send me the catalog every year since then just so I could look at it and drool.
BEFORE/AFTER




I used some twine that I bought at the dollar store to tie them on. I think they look awesome. It makes me feel organized. Ans we all know that laundry needs to be organized. And I have to tell you that Mr. R did put his dirty clothes in the right laundry basket. :)

My surprise project --Part 2

Here is an update on what I am working on. Still not quite finished I am sorry to say. But here are some photos to show you what I have been doing. If you missed my first mysterious post you can check it out here-- http://imagineitforless.blogspot.com/2010/01/im-trying-to-imagine-it-for-less-but.html

First--
(Please ignore my wood scraps in the garbage can)

I spray painted the circle I cut out, black. After I realized that it was FLAT black and not GLOSS black! ARG!! So on went clear coat to gloss things up a little.

Next--
I stained the inside circle that I cut out of the above board. A couple different times, with a couple different colors of stain. Finally I got the color I was looking for. With some help from Mr.R.
Nice color huh? I like it. And it was what I was looking for. Yea me!

You remember this little silver tray, don't ya?

All it needed was a bunch of stain of a few different colors to get what I needed. Sorry I couldn't get a good picture of what it looks like after all the layers of stain. Oh! Did I mention that I picked up this tray at the dollar store? Yeah baby-The wedding section my friends. And I have a great idea for another tray I picked up there, that I will post ASAP!! You will love it. Promise. Its so easy too. Moving on--
Am I giving too much away? Do you have an idea what I am trying to create?

I added some silver leafing to the edges. And of course some more stain on top of that. And here is what it looks like now--

So this is as far as I have gotten. Hopefully in the next week I will be able to finish it and then I will show you my inspiration photo and you can tell me how close I got to that.
I also have some fun projects that I am working one, so stay tuned for those!!

MMMMMMM Holiday Candy....

I love holiday candy. Cinnamon and candy hearts in February, Cadbury Robin's Egg and black jelly beans at Easter time, candy corn and pumpkins in October and of course, candy canes at Christmas. After Christmas, I found 5 bags of red and green M&Ms on clearance for under a dollar-each! Get in my cart M&Ms!! I knew this would be a cheap way to have candy for the next few holidays. Besides, I love to throw some on my popcorn. Mmm :) So tonight I broke open the bags and divided the two colors. Red for Valentines day and green for St. Patrick's day. It took forever and I have decided that the M&M company hates to share the red ones. There were barely any red in those bags.
This is 3 bags of M&Ms. Why do you put in so little red, M&M company? They need love too. As you can see, I put some of the red candies in my cute little glass jar I found at my thrift store for a buck. Nice huh? And then I put it next to my other glass jars full of my holiday candy and Voila! Cute candy sitting on my counter. Now if I can just keep my family from eating it. This is art here, not munchies.