Umbrellas or Parasols....

Hello from Crafty Sisters!

Today we are getting a bit sentimental

with this month's theme.

When Wendy showed us her super cute Umbrella idea

the only thing that came to mind was the beautiful quilt block

from our childhood.

So while Candace has been so busy finishing up her Master Bedroom reveal

I of course couldn't pass up a fun opportunity to work with wood.
Our Grandmother made everyone a quilt when they were married 

and the one she gave our parents we called

"The Pink Lady Blankey".

I snuck some pictures this weekend of the quilt while our parents

have been out of town.

We loved this blanket~I mean what little girl wouldn't?

All the pretty fabric's used on the dresses, bows and parasols!

Against my mother's wishes I snuck it away with me to college

where I'm sure it got most of it's damage.

I've always wanted to recreate it and I have great plans to this summer,

but until then I thought this would be a fun way to do it.

This can of course be done with any favorite quilting block pattern.

I traced a pattern as best I could and sketched the rest out on paper.

Then I made a copy so I still had the original to go off of.

Using a glue stick you can glue it right to your wood.
It makes it really easy to cut out instead of tracing each individual piece.
Plus the paper just peels off when you are done or can
be easily sanded away.

I used 1/8" MDF to cut it out of.

I cut a plaque out of 3/4" MDF that was approximately 18" in size.

After you cut them out, lightly sand.

It's like putting together a puzzle~my daughter loved it!

I gave everything a quick coat of white paint

and then Modge Podged some cute papers on.

Then you just glue the wood pieces onto the plaque and it's ready to hang!

Pretty simple and pretty fun!

Thanks for great inspiration Wendy!

Umrella Planter Tutorial from Craft Goodies!!!

Welcome to WYLTC and APRIL SHOWERS!!!

I love Spring! So when my month to host WYLTC ended up being April I was nothing but smiles.

I love the sight of all the color coming back, the grass and tree, the birds that sing endlessly, and the flowers!!! Those first little sprouts of soon-to-be tulips and daffodils are pure joy to me and I wanted a way to show them off. My project for this month was the perfect way to do that... 

Here's what I used to make my umbrella planter:

1/2 inch and 1/4 inch MDF

Wood Glue and Staples

PAINT in bright spring colors!

1/2 inch eye screw

Sandpaper

Glitter, Ribbons, Puffy Paint

Tulip bunch and greenery

I started by drawing out the umbrella parts and figuring out the planter. The planter sits on a slight angle so that it wouldn't stick out to far off of my door and is on the smaller side because I only wanted a few flowers tucked inside there.

Then I traced the patterns onto the wood and cut them out with my jigsaw. The handle and planter pieces are each cut on the 1/2 inch MDF. The umbrella and panel pieces are cut from 1/4 inch MDF.

I painted everything next, just base coats--no detail yet, distressed the edges and then glued the planter box pieces together and the umbrella pieces together.

 {I aded a few staples to the plant box just to be safe, but really, they weren't needed.}

Once the planter box was good and dry, I glued it to the umbrella pieces and then ran and did a load of dishes while it dried.

At that point the "hard" stuff was over and it was time to decorate!

I added the line details with white puff paint, drew on the little circles with the puff paint and loaded them up with iridescent glitter. Once everything was dry it got a good coat of sealer.

I added the eye screw into the back of the handle, ran a ribbon through it to hang it up. And then added my bow to the front of the planter.

And last...

Added the greenery and flowers and hung my little umbrella on the door.

It's so fun to see this when I pull into my driveway--totally makes me smile. I hope your spring is full of fun and flowers and even a shower or two. I can't wait to see what the other ladies have made to go long with this month's theme of April Showers. I can't wait to see what all of you come up with either, be sure to check back all week. You're sure to find something to inspire you...{just a quick note, you can find the kit for this planter in my shop. Be sure to check it out!} Happy Crafting!

April Showers are coming!

Hey all you fellow crafters out there!

Just a quick little post to let you know we've all been a little busy/crazy lately, it's that time of year after all...

SPRING BREAK!

It's put us a bit behind so this month's projects will all post next week.

If you'd like a jump start to our theme this month start getting your

"April Shower" projects ready.

I'm kicking things off on Monday with this little beauty:

I'll share all the how-to's to create your own or you can find the kit in my shop.

Then you'll be treated to great projects from the other WYLTC gals the rest of the week. So get crafting--we can't wait to see what you come up with!