Double-Sided Holiday Blocks

Remember my "Give Thanks" blocks here and my "Spooky" blocks here?

Well... although I described the fact that they were double sided, I never posted adequate pictures... so since the season is upon us and I had them back out of storage anyway, I decided to snap a few photos to better explain how totally rad they really are.

So here goes...

Here are the blocks and then how they look from behind

The "Give" block is the only one that doesn't have something on the back. I suppose you could put an exclamation point on it to read "Spooky!" if you wanted to utilize it. 

Wait, I know! You could also make two different words out of it like "Boo!" and "Eek" or maybe since Halloween is over you could turn the back of the Thanksgiving blocks into Christmas sayings like "Noel" and "Joy".

The possibilities are endless. What will your new reversible blocks say?

Tutorial: How To Make Birch Log Candle Holders

Birch bark is so easy to work with! And it's so pretty. And woodburners are only around $10.

Here's what my burner from Hobby Lobby looks like:

And it comes with a bunch of different tips (these exact ones are from Harbor Freight):

Look at all these ADORABLE projects you can do with a woodburner!

The idea for my candle came from a beautiful vase in Morgann Hill's Etsy shop here. 

I found a bunch of birch logs on a classified ad and bought them all so that I could make Christmas gifts with them. Because they all varied in size, I did different things with them... the bigger ones got three holes drilled in the top and the ones that only had room for one were grouped in threes and tied with jute:

All I did (with a ton of help form my husband, in fact he drilled all the holes) was chop them to the desired height with a drop saw, drill holes in the top with a huge drill bit (the size of a tealight candle, mine were 1.5" in diameter) and then draw a design in them with a pencil then trace with a woodburner.

I recommend tealight candles from the dollar store if you don't need a ton or Ikea if you do need a ton (100 to be exact) or if you just want the best deal in town since that only costs you $3.99! Ikea also has scented ones in various colors for a little bit more.

You may need to buy the drill bit but don't worry it's about $6 at Home Depot. 

I love a personalized gift!

What else should I engrave with my woodburner? 

Hmmm....

Framed Mirror

I know it's been done a million times before but oh well! I'm proud of my new bathroom mirror and you have to hear about it! Or at least see it anyway. As you can see I also spray painted the light fixture to match the faucet and towel ring. This frame only cost me about 8 bucks. Only problem is that I bought enough to do both my bathrooms and then lost my motivation to do the other one.

Here's the how-to:

1) Measure mirror

2) Buy molding at Home Depot

3) Cut corners with miter box and sand rough edges

4) If you have hooks holding the mirror up, cut out a piece from the molding so it fits over it

5) Paint front and back since the back will show in the mirror

6) Carefully glue to the mirror on the outermost edge (use mirror adhesive)

7) Wood putty corners and paint over them once dry

I did not paint the back at all, did not paint the front until after the molding was up, did not cut out where my metal hooks would be AND I used a crappy glue, therefore had to use multiple shower rods to hold my frame in place until it dried. Moral of the story: Do as I say in my instructions, not as I did :)

"MOM" Photo Blocks

How sweet are these photos of me and my mom from way back? I just got a bunch of old photos scanned to a disk at ScanMyPhotos. Normally it's pretty expensive... I'm talking $100 for a thousand photos... but I got a really sweet deal through Groupon - a thousand photos for $29!!!. Love Groupon.

SO I printed these ones on my black and white printer on regular printer paper, mod podged them to some 3.5"x3.5" wood blocks that I painted black, and added the letters cut from paper using my Cricut.

Happy Mother's Day!!

Vinyl Projects

I know you've all seen these family name plaques a hundred times and don't need a tutorial on how to do them BUT I just had to share my first vinyl projects with you because I'm so happy that I finally got the guts to try cutting my precious vinyl with my Cricut! I've mentioned that I love Make The Cut but I'm going to say it again... I would definitely not be using my Cricut much if I didn't have it. The possibilities are endless with this software and it's cheaper than getting any more than 2 cartridges anyway! But moving on... do you see the little squiggly designs on either side of "Est. 2001"? I found that character in the "Curlz" font, turned it sideways and enlarged it. I cut two normally and then flipped the image and cut two more. I was going for a wrought-iron-ish design above and below these three 8X10s that I put on my wall using those corner picture holders for scrapbooks.

I'll be honest, I'm not loving it but I think if I can find a big frame to go around all of it that might be cute, right? It just really needs some dimention since it's all completely flat. If you have any other ideas for me about what to add or alter, I could really use some input!

Tutorial: How To Make Curtain Rod

I'm not sure if this is really worthy of a post or even if this can be called a tutorial but here's an easy project for someone looking for a wood curtain rod like I was.

All the furniture in my kids' room is natural wood and so I wanted their curtain rod to match but the only one I found locally was really expensive so I made my own. I found the rod at Home Depot for $8 after cutting it to the size I needed (price will vary depending on how much you cut) and the two balls were a buck each at Michaels with my coupon. I gave in and bought the set of brackets from Home Depot for $9 (and they do match although in the picture you wouldn't know it) so all in all it cost a total of $19 which isn't amazingly cheap but still decent.

All you have to do is drill holes in the ends of the rod and in each ball then wood glue a little dowel to attach them. Done :)

Fabric Memo Board/Bow Holder

I made a sweet Fabric Memo Board (which also works great as a bow holder) using Boutique NutMeg Design's great tutorial.

I had all of the supplies already besides a frame which I found on clearance for 5 bucks!

Oh and the only thing I did differently is I decided to sew buttons to it where the ribbon criss-crossed. I couldn't find any I liked so I bought unfinished wood circles at Joann's, drilled 2 holes in each of them & then painted, distressed and mod-podged those and the unfinished wood frame to match.

See how I matched the fabric to my crib bedding?

So cute and easy! Comment with any questions and I'd love to see yours if you do one!

~Star