Patriotic Star Frame

I grew up in a home where my mom decorated the house for each holiday. I always loved to help her get out the decorations and find places for them each year. Now that I have my own home to decorate, I try to decorate for every holiday just like my mom did when i was growing up.

My collection is still very small and every year I try to add something to each of my holiday collections! It can get expensive if you just buy things that are already made, so that is why I try really hard to make things that are cute but really inexpensive! And this brings me to my next craft project!

This project is so easy! It only took me about an hour! It would have taken less if I didn't have to watch paint dry! :) (i hate watching paint dry!)

This seriously is the perfect patriotic project! It was so easy and it is small enough it could go just about anywhere and make your house look so cute and festive! This would also be a great project for your kids to help you with!

Supplies Needed:

1 Wood frame (4 x 6)

Paint

Rub n' buff

Coordinating scrapbook paper

hot glue

mod podge

Here is the tutorial!

Step 1: Paint your frame. I used a dark blue paint and then I went over it with some Rub n' Buff and then sanded it to make it look older.

Step 2: Cut out your main piece of paper to fit to the size of your frame and then mod podge the paper onto the cardboard.

Step 3: Cut out 2 stars that can be layered on one another.

Step 4: Use a piece of ribbon or decorative tape and glue to the middle of your main piece of paper.

Step 5: Mod Podge your stars onto the paper

Step 6: Cut out your letters that say USA or anything else you like! Then mod podge them on your frame.

Step 7: hot glue a couple of buttons on your frame and embellish with anything else you like!

And you're done!

See how easy that was!! This project only cost me a dollar! I bought the frame at Michael's a long time ago and it cost me a buck! I had all of the other supplies on hand! I love how it turned out and it looks really festive! You could definitely make this project your own by adding different embellishments! I hope you like it! :)

USA Blocks with Tutorial!

Yesterday my mom and I were talking about how we need something patriotic to decorate our homes with. I immediately thought to do some blocks! My parents have a ton of scrap wood at their house and so my dad and my husband cut some blocks out of the wood for us to make our USA blocks!

When brainstorming what I was going to do I decided to do more like an Americana color scheme. I like the deep reds, blues, and the antique whites. I found my paper first and then went from there! I really like how they turned out and now I have something to decorate my house with for the 4th of July! :)

Instructions:

Step 1: Cut out your blocks!

I thought it would be cute to incorporate some smaller blocks with the letter blocks to give it more detail and so for this project you will need three 6" x 6" blocks for the letters and for the little blocks you will need to cut them -- 1 1/2" x 1 1/2"

Step 2:

**make sure you sand your blocks very well, if you don't any paper you mod podge on the blocks with bubble because air can get under it!

Step 3:

Paint your blocks, I used an antique white color and a darker red color for my blocks. You could also incorporate some blue somewhere as well!

Step 4:

Distress your blocks! For this I used my new favorite product Rub n' Buff and also some sandpaper!

Step 5:

Cut out your letters and stars. For the letters I used my Cricut Cartridge Alphalicious and they were cut 4 1/2" tall. The stars are a variety of different sizes from 1" all the way to 3".

Step 6:

Mod podge your letters on your blocks! Make sure you rub the letters flat on the block so you don't get any bubbling later on. Mod podge the small stars on the three blocks as well.

Step 7:

Embellishment Time!

Use your stars, ribbons, and buttons to embellish the stars however you like!

This project is so easy! The hardest part for me was finding the perfect paper!!! :) It was also very inexpensive. The wood didn't cost me a dime so the only thing I really had to buy was some paper and ribbon! I bought enough supplies to make 5 sets for my mom and sisters and it ended up costing about $5.00 for each set! Not too shabby!!

Let me know what you think!!

Repurposed Wooden Crate and my New Favorite Product!!!

Months ago I bought a small wooden crate at my local thrift store. I had no idea what to do with it, until I saw someone hang one on their wall! I couldn't wait to makeover my crate into a wall decoration!

I love how it turned out! There were some minor problems, but in the end it turned out great!

Here is how I made it:

I first painted it a cream color to get started. It took a couple of coats to cover it. I didn't paint it perfectly because I was just going to try to make it look old again.

In order to make it look old I used a product called "Rub 'n Buff." This product is a thick wax-like substance that is AMAZING!! This stuff does wonders! All you have to do is rub it on with your finger or soft cloth and then wipe it off. I also used some sandpaper to make it look a little older. The color I used was called Spanish Copper and I loved it. It has a great brown color with copper undertones. It looks great on my crate and it gave it the old look I really wanted!

I have used a variety of different colors and have been very impressed. I have used it on both metal and wood and it has worked great on both! It is so easy to use and it really adds character to any project! I love making things look old and this product really does the trick! :) The other thing I noticed is the tube seems really small, but a little goes a long way. I have done several projects and have yet to use more than half of a tube. I hope you try it out and love it as much as I do! :) It is an Amaco product and you can find it here for more info!

After I applied my Rub 'n Buff, I used a little sandpaper on some edges to finish it off.

Now let me tell you this crate was a royal pain in my butt! It broke about 3 times and by that time I said the heck with it! I will just keep it broken. It will give it more character! :)

The worst part of this project was hanging it. I tried to hang it twice and after breaking it and fixing it a number of times I made the husband hang it.

To decorate the inside I got some glass bottles and filled them with different colors of buttons. It was simple and easy and I can always change the colors of buttons. I also used a couple of wood blocks. I didn't want to use anything too heavy because apparently this crate was not well made and I didn't want to break it for the fifteenth time!

I love how it turned out and I can't wait to find another crate and make another one! It adds so much more character than just a regular shelf!

I am still here!

Wow....I can't believe it's been two months since I've done anything with this blog! I hope I still have some readers! :)

I have had several people ask me where i've been and if i'm still crafting! And the answer is yes, I am going to be crafting again really soon! Life has been very hectic these last couple of months and I had to take a much needed break, but the real reason for my absence from the crafting world is because...

I am Pregnant!

Being pregnant basically took the life out of me!!! This will be our second child and let me just say this pregnancy was nothing like my first! I have had no motivation to do anything and that also meant my crafting had to go on hold too.

I am about half way through my pregnancy and my energy and motivation has finally come back.

I can't wait to get back into the swing of things! I have done some major reorganization of my craft room last week to get ready for the new baby. I can't wait to start making things for the nursery!

I just wanted to thank all of my readers for not giving up on me! I hope you all check back often for new crafts and ideas! :)