Crafty Sisters - Simple Chalkboard

Hello from Crafty Sisters!  We are so excited about working with chalkboards again!

There are so many great ideas of how to use them.  We are happy to have another excuse to play around with them for WYLTC!

We were inspired by Ballard Designs again!

They have some fun and sophisticated chalkboard frames.

Ballard Designs - Chalkboard

They are so simple and classy~and with all the end of school craziness going on~simple sounded perfect!

We first picked up a simple black picture frame from Hobby Lobby.

The guys down at Home Depot were so great to cut our board for us!  Did you know they carry Chalk Board all ready to cut to size?!!  No worries about painting it, it's just good to go!

Plus I love seeing that big saw in action~I don't think we're the only girls with saw envy....:)

Simply tack the chalk board in place with some silicon adhesive or nails.

             

It's that easy, looks that great and it's a wonderful blank canvas for all the great chalkboard prints

that are so popular right now!

Thanks for the great theme this month Wendy!
Can't wait to see what we'll do next month.....

Herb Garden with Chalkboard Labels- Sassy Sanctuary

Hello everyone!

Its so great to be back with another round of WYLTC!  But I have to admit, this month's theme kinda threw me.  You see, I have a large chalkboard on my broom cabinet in my kitchen, and I just recently finished a white board project. So another chalkboard wasn't really on my list.  So I figured the next best thing would be to do some kind of chalkboard label.  I have been wanting to do a window herb garden FOREVER, so that was it! But then I started browsing Pinterest and fell in love with all the great "faux chalkboard" graphics and printables that are so popular right now.  And ended up with faux chalkboard labels.  Hope that still counts!

Anyway, here is how it turned out.

I totally LOVE it!  Its my new favorite craft of all time.  And if it hadn't been for the chalkboard inspiration I doubt it would have ended up half as cute!

And it was also SUPER easy!

I found the unfinished crate at Joann's,  Its technically a CD rack, but turned on its back.

I painted it blue and then found some 3" wood tiles also at Joann's.  I modge podged the chalkboard print to those. (If you print using a laser printer your prints won't bleed, I let Office Max do my laser printing.)

Then hot glued the labels to the crate, added some potted herbs.  And done.

And I'm even going to share my chalkboard label if anyone wants to use them!

PERSONAL USE ONLY

(Just click on the image to view it large, save it, and print it as an 8x10 and you'll have 3" labels.)

And it really does look cute in my window!

Now if I can just keep them alive.....

Thanks for reading!  Come back tomorrow for more chalkboard goodness!

Pantry Chalkboard from Craft Goodies!

It's Wood You Like to Craft? time again and this month I got to choose the theme. Oh! What's a girl to do? So many projects on the to-do list...   I have been dying to get a bit more organized in my kitchen, particularly in  my pantry so {selfishly} I opted for CHALKBOARD PAINT PROJECTS for May's theme.   I love chalkboard paint, my girls LOVE chalkboard paint, and as I searched for the perfect idea I found that lots of people like chalkboard paint too! My project list only grew as I kept searching.  But, in the end I found my inspiration and here's what I came up with...

  

I LOVE it! I adore clocks of all shapes and sizes and adding one to this fun little chalkboard just makes my heart smile.

I started with the intention of building a simple frame and then opened up the closet and found one there, the perfect size, just waiting to be used. So I swapped out the glass for a thin piece of MDF cut to fit the frame.

I used my chalkboard paint on the MDF--probably 4 layers, maybe 5. {Not sure, I was catching up on Dance Moms while I worked...}   Once that was done and drying I turned to the frame. Some white paint there and a bit of sandpaper gave it the look I wanted, and then I re-assembled my frame/chalkboard.

  On to the clock...I found this little gem at Goodwill, only $2! It was bright red and said "Happy Holidays!". The cashier thought I was crazy for buying it, you should have seen the look she gave me. But it was the perfect size and had all the hardware.

I pulled the hardware off, painted it black and then white, and then sanded it to match the frame. I covered up the holiday greeting with some scrapbook paper, added a few numbers, and then put it all back together again.

 

I added a few small wooden blocks to the frame to help support the clock and then glued it onto the top of the frame. **Be sure to set the clock high enough that you can still get to the battery compartment**

  And last, I tied a piece of ribbon around the frame and added a few small clothespins to hold pictures, notes, recipes, etc.

Isn't it just SO cute! Right now, it's still in the "LOOK! Mom put a chalkboard on the pantry for us to color on" stage so grocery/to-do lists might have to wait a few more days. But, once the novelty wears off I will be one step closer to my organized goal.   I am thrilled with my project and cannot wait to see what the other WYLTC gals have come up with. Check back all week for some great ideas on how to use your stash of chalkboard paint {cause I know you have some...}   Have a great week and as always, happy crafting!

Momma and Baby Elephant by Under My Umbrella

 Hey all!  It's Melinda from over at Under My Umbrella here to share what I've crafted up for April's theme. How we celebrate Mother's Day is different for all of us.  I have friends who get to go off for the day and go to a spa to relax and others who don't change their daily routine.  For me personally, mother's day is about spending time with my children, the ones who make me a mother!   This time of year in my household we are deep in school projects and I'll like to share one I did with my daughter Emma.  Her assignment was to make a circuit.  Sure we could have just grabbed a piece of wood and slapped the circuit on it but that just isn't our style.   We jumped on pinterest and found one we liked but wanted to tweak in our mother/daughter duo way :)  Here is what we came up with....

It's a cute momma and baby elephant.  When you put their trunks together you complete the circuit and the baby heart lights up.  Gosh!  This just melts my heart.

The wood part of this project was easy (the circuit part was a *little* tricky).  I saw the picture on pinterest and grabbed a piece of paper and made a pattern.  We traced it on 1/4 inch MDF.  I cut it out on my scroll saw.  Emma then sanded and painted the pieces gray.  We found some great animal print felt over at Joann's and knew it would be perfect.

Easy, fun project and I got to have some great bonding time with my daughter.  She got some one on one attention (which can be a challenge around here) in which we laughed a whole lot!  I love what this project symbolizes to me.  The love of a mother can do amazing things for our children.  Recently I've been working in the schools in my areas.  The difference in behavior and learning for children who have parents who care, love and encourage them versus those who don't is staggering.  Love your babies!  They might not appreciate it now or even notice but it makes them better little people.

Thanks to the ladies here at WYLTC for sharing their wonderful projects and keeping me inspired.  All the moms out there have a wonderful mothers day and make sure you celebrate YOU!

Angel Mother- Sassy Sanctuary

Hello everyone!  Krystal from Sassy Sanctuary here today to share my Mother's Day craft with you.  Like everyone else it feels great to be ahead of the game for Mother's Day!

Now, there is a bit of a back story with my project.  A few weeks ago we had a church activity where we invited our Moms to a dinner and had a nice little program honoring our Mothers and Motherhood.  Many quotes were shared that night but one that really stuck with me reads,

"All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother."

                                                                         -Abraham Lincoln

That particular quote stuck with me because it feels particularly true about my Mom.  My Mom has always been my greatest supporter and champion.  I owe so much of my accomplishments to her support and to my upbringing.  And my Mom has always had a thing for angels and decorates with them throughout her house, so I have always thought of my Mom as a living angel.  

So, I knew I had to make an angel for my mom! Here is how it turned out!

I think it came out pretty cute and I hope my Mom will love it!

Here is how it looks from the back.

It was really easy to make too.  Here is my method in case you want to make one of your own.

First I drew up the shape I wanted.  Here is the template I ended up with. 

Then I cut it out of a 2x6 we had laying around the garage using a jig saw.  You could totally use a thinner board and a scroll saw, I was just being too lazy to drag three kids to the store so I made due with what I had.  Cutting a 2x6 into a shape wasn't easy and my jig saw blade must have been bent because I ended up with a very crooked looking angel.  I didn't take a picture because I thought I was going to have to toss it and go to the store, but before I threw in the towel I got out the dremel tool with a grinding bit to see if I could salvage it. 

After softening all the edges and adding some shape to the hair, this is what I ended up with.  I liked it!  Yay!

Then you paint and add your quote.  I made a stencil for the quote out of vinyl.  It worked great.

And the last thing you have to do is make the wings.  I used some wire and basically made an 8 shape over and over, and then wrapped it in the middle.  Like this...

And that is just hot glued to the back.  It was really easy to make actually and a fun project.

Thanks for the inspiration ladies!

Melinda will be here tomorrow to finish off our Mother's Day projects.  And after all the great ideas this week you will have no excuse not to create something fabulous for your Mom!

Thanks for reading!

Craft Goodies Remembering "Mom"...

Hello fellow crafters and happy April!

 I'm happy to be posting today and even happier to be one step ahead in the race to get a Mother's Day gift finished. (Being ahead of anything doesn't happen much for me...)

 

My mind was swimming with ideas once Candace and Nicole shared their theme and originally I thought I'd be a bit selfish and do something for me. I am after all a mom too, right?

These are my monkeys...

 But in the end, my sentimental side won out-- I wanted to do something simple, that could be easily replicated, and that reminded me of my mom.
 

 

I cut out 2 letter M's from MDF and added in a small oval picture frame to spell out M-O-M.

 

 (If you don't cut your own wood you can find letters at most craft stores these days. Add a fun frame and you've got the same thing. Add a picture of your kiddos or family, or do like I am and add a picture of your mom. You could even spell out "Nana" or "Gran" with frames for the A's to give one to grandma too!)

My mom has been gone from us now for just shy of 20 years and yet it seems like just yesterday that she was here. I miss her everyday. I love getting the chance to share things I learned from and  remember about her with my girls-she was an amazing person.

I plan to make a set for each of my sisters and my brother, they need a Mother's day hug too!

 

 I added mine to the pictures I have of my girls in my craft room, so now I have all my favorite ladies in one place! It can't get any better than that...

 

Thank you Candace and Nicole for a great excuse to remember more about my mom, to create something fun, and to get share it with others. And to all of you moms out there--

Happy Mother's Day! Make it the best one yet.

 

Happy Crafting!

 

 

 

 

 

Crafty Sisters Mother's Day Bouquet

Hello from Crafty Sisters!  We are hosting Wood You Like To Craft this month and thought that
"Mother's Day" was a good theme to inspire us!  We are so excited to share with you just in time for Mother's Day this fun personalized Wooden Flower Bouquet!

Our Mom has each of her children's 8 year old pictures framed and even uses them as contact pictures on her phone.  Our folks have been busy recording all our old home videos off onto DVD so they are especially sentimental right now.  We knew this project would be perfect for her!

 

This project is pretty easy and inexpensive to make, all you'll need is:
Flower shapes cut from 1/2" Mdf (ours are 4- 4 1/2" in size)
12" long 1/4" dowels
2x2" blocks to anchor the dowels into
Paint
Paper/embellishments/ribbon
Glue/glue gun
2" pictures
A vase to put them in with some candy filler (this is for Dad to snack on and so he doesn't feel left out!)

All you need to do is paint, paper and embellish the flowers.  Make sure your dowels are glued in and dry before you start to assemble them!

A great tip we use when we are drilling into flowers or smaller shapes is to tape off the depth with a piece of masking tape on the drill bit tip.  It's a great guide and it comes off easy when you are done!

Floral foam isn't strong enough to hold up the weight of these flowers so using some scrap 2x2" wood

we hot glued them together to fit into the vase and then drilled the holes at desired angles to hold the flowers in. You'll also use the glue gun to glue them to the bottom of your vase for stability.  Make sure to leave enough room around the sides for your treats to fill in.

We did a few extra dowels with leaves cut from the Cricut to add in as fluff around the flowers and then printed out a cute saying we tied on with a ribbon for the front.

We just know our Mom is going to love it~this is her sneak peek!:)  We're even more excited we got it done a month in advance!  Stay tuned to see what the Krystal, Wendy & Melinda have to share!