DIY mirror and scrabble home letters

My entry room has a blank wall next to a busy wall (unfinished, of course!) I struggled what to do with it because I didn't want the room to feel uncomfortably busy. That's a big issue for me. I had a mirror hanging out in my basement that I had plans to use but never did anything with.  So, I decided to finally do something with it and felt that blank wall was the perfect spot.  I also found a piece of wood hanging out in my house that I decided to make something with... 

Here is my frame... And the wood I found hanging around.

Basically all I did for the frame was go to Home Depot and get a baseboard that I liked and cut it at 90 degree angles and then glued the 4 pieces together. Which made the fame. Normally I'd staple the corners together to make them stronger but I didn't have access to a staple gun at the time so I just used elmers wood glue and clamped it together until it dried. Next I picked out one of the many sample colors I have, mixed in my chalk powder and painted the frame. Why did I use chalk paint?? Well, because chalk paint dries faster so it makes doing a quick project well, quick! After it dried I took a 300 grit piece of sand paper and sanded my edges and middles or wherever else I thought would look good with wood showing through. Next, I wiped down the frame to get it clean and dust free. Finally, I took my bbfrosh dark wax and waxed the frame, making the creases a little darker. And that's it!! Easy!! Here is a close up of the wax coating.  See how it looks messy?? That's on purpose. I just wanted you to see that perfection is not what we are going for and anyone can do it and it would look awesome. 

I am sorry I don't have pictures of the steps. I can't find them anywhere. We updated our computer and all my pictures are hidden deep in the computer memory somewhere... VERY frustrating. 

Next I project for this space was my scrabble home blocks. It was the easiest project ever!! All I did was take those two boards I showed you in the first picture and cut them to the size I wanted. They were already 5 1/4" wide but I wanted them longer so I cut them at 7" so I cut 4 boards at 7". Then, I white washed them. For those of you who may not know what that is... I just dip my paint brush in the paint and then into water and paint my board. If I don't like how thick the paint it is just go over it with more water. Sometimes you need to wipe off the access water. I didn't this time. After a few minutes it was dry enough to continue into the next step. As you can see I antiqued my boards. There is several ways you can do this but because I have bbfrosh dark wax I saved myself a TON of time and just used the dark wax to antique the board. The best part about the wax is drying time. It's seconds. You put it on and rub it in and voilà it's dried! As a result I moved right into the next step... Again, you can do this so many ways but, this time, I cut the letters and numbers out of vinyl on my silhouette and just put the letters on. My intention was to paint the letters so I can sand them down but I ran out of time so I left the vinyl on... For now. I will update when I actually get to painting instead.  So next step was to just put them up!! 

Here it is together! Putting up the frame was fun. I just got metal mirror hooks from Home Depot and nailed up the mirror to the wall. And instead of permanently gluing the frame to the mirror I got command stripes and stuck them up. Command stripes are my favorite! Now if I ever decide to switch out my frame I can. Easy!! I used command stripes to hang up my Home blocks as well. Ahh yes, you're wondering about my "be mine" sign??  Well stay tuned. I will post a link to teach you how to do that as well. And where I got the FREE printable of be mine. (Unfortunately it wasn't my design) 😀😀Oh... Yes my LOVE letters are unfinished, of course, but I got them at wood connection. And I will show you how I do those as well... When I finish them. 😂😂😂  if you have questions feel free to ask!! 

Fabric Square Wreath

I made this wreath a few years ago. I just love how it turned out and thought I would share it with you. It was so simple to make but it was a little time consuming but in my opinion it was worth it. I made mine for Valentines day but you could choose any size foam wreath or any fabric colors you want. 

 I used a foam heart wreath that I got from Hobby Lobby. I believe it was the medium sized one. I chose light pink and medium pink solid color fabric. I can't remember exactly how much I bought but I'm going to say it was probably 3/4 of a yard of each. This of course will depend on how big your wreath is. I wrapped my wreath in some cream or white colored fabric that I had just laying around for the base but you don't have to do that. 

Cut your fabric into 3 x 3 inch squares. This picture also shows the size of pin I used to insert the fabric into the wreath. It just needs to be long enough to hold the fabric in the wreath but you want the head of the pin to be small so you don't see it.  (I took this off of my wreath so it already has a crease in it and hole marks from the pin) 

Fold the square to form a triangle.

Then fold it again from point to point so you have another triangle. Insert your pin at the pointed end of the fabric then insert into your wreath. 

I wanted mine to have no pattern to it so I just scattered the colors but it will depend on what look you are wanting. My thumbs did start to hurt after awhile so you might want to use a thimble or wrap your thumb with some tape. 

Here is what it looks like close up. It should be full so pin the fabric close together and in opposite directions. When you are done fluff up the fabric a little. I added a white ribbon loop on the back so I could hang it and I used the same ribbon to add a bow but that is optional. 

And that's it. Like I said very easy but just a little time consuming. Pop in a movie and you will be done before you know it. I hope you get creative with the colors on this. I think it would be so cute to do a red and white one for Christmas on a round wreath and make it look like a candy cane. This is by far my favorite wreath I have made. 

Here is a variation I did as just a simple home decor wreath. I used yellow fabric and blue that had a pattern on it. I used 1/2 yard of each and a round foam wreath that had straight edges. I cut the fabric into 3 1/2 inch squares and laid them two by two to make more of a stripped effect. 

I then took left over yellow fabric and scalloped it around the perimeter to make it look more full but that's optional of course. It looked great with out the extra fabric but I just wanted it to look a little fuller. 

Hope you have fun. 

Christmas Ornaments

Homemade Christmas Ornaments 

While at the mall participating in a youth church activity we decide to take pictures with Santa.  Our son wasn't thrilled or amazed by this odd man in a red suit but he wasn't upset by him either so we managed to get a decent picture even though he wasn't his normal smiling goofy self.  There was also no line to wait in so it was great.  Four wallet sized pictures came in the package we ordered.  I really wanted to make homemade ornaments with them to give to my mom and mother in-law. I saw something similar to this online but just wasn't exactly sure how to accomplish it so I consulted in my dear friend Margie. She gave me some pointers then I was on my own to experiment. I wanted to use the real picture but she knew mod podge would smear the photo so she suggested I get it photo copied. Let's be honest here,  that's way to much of an effort for me,  I wanted a quick and easy project.  So I took her suggestion of trying to just mod podge the back of it.

I started out with pre-cut wood from Hobby Lobby. They came in a pack of four which was perfect.  I decided to paint it gold and found some cute holiday embellishments to add to it. I sanded the wood first to make sure it was nice and smooth then wiped it off before I started painting. I did two coats of paint which was easy to do since it dried pretty quickly. Next I put a very thin layer of mod podge directly on to the wood where I wanted to place the picture.  I placed the picture on top and used a credit card to smooth it out. Margie's tip was to put a piece of parchment paper on top of the picture so I didn't scratch it while smoothing it out with the card. I let it completely dry then decided it needed a little pizzazz. I had a stash of glitter that I use when I shellac my nails and knew that was just what it needed.  I put mod podge on the area I wanted glittered then sprinkled away, tapping off the excess. If I were to do this project again I would do the glitter before the picture was put on and would spray it with some sort of finishing spray to ensure that the glitter stays intact for ever and ever.  Lastly I added my fun embellishment then had my hubby drill a hole near the top so I could add some gold rope thread so it can hang on the tree.
This project was cheap and easy and both mothers loved it.  I used red and green glitter, both turned out very cute.  The possibilities on this are endless.  You could do so many creative things with it.  Let your inner Martha Stewart take over your body.  Happy holidays!