Barn Wood Hook Board

The other day I showed you the leaded glass window shelf we made for my friend Karlye. Well, she also wanted some hooks to hang below a piece of decor she had already purchased for her home. She requested barn wood for the hook board. And she was in luck! I just happened to have a few pieces in my garage waiting to be plucked and turned into something fabulous!

She chose this piece with the chippy red paint. Love her choice!

Eric cut the board to the correct size, just a little wider than the piece of decor she wanted to put this under. I made sure to mark where I wanted him to make the cuts so we could keep intact the cool uneven part you see on the left hand side of this pic...

Not to mention, how cool is this old knot on the other side? 

I added some dark stain to the edges where Eric had made the cut. The board was old enough that it was looking slightly worn all the way through, but I thought the stain would make anyone forget that we had made the cut at all. It did the trick! 

Karlye had also given me these double hooks for the board. But she had purchased them new at the store and they looked, well, brand-spanking new! I used some Ce Ce Caldwell's Virginia Chestnut on those to grunge them up a bit and then I waxed them and attached 5 hooks to the board, offsetting them so they weren't all in a straight line. 

I love how this turned out! Just as much as I love the window shelf we made for her. I think that the next time Karlye asks me to make something, I'm just going to have to make 2 of them and keep one for myself! :)

Everyone loves a good party!
Check my project out along with other great inspiration, at these great blogs...

Masterpiece Monday at Boogieboard Cottage, Mop It Up Monday at I Should Be Mopping the Floor, Make the Scene Monday at Alderberry Hill, Pink Hippo Party at Pinkapotamus, Monday No Rules Blog Hop at A Sorta Fairytale,Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative, Metamorphasis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Making the World Cuter Monday, Before and After at Thrifty Decor Chick (first Monday of the month), What's in the Gunny Sack at the Gunny Sack, Make It Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House, Mod Mix Monday at Mod Vintage Life, Budget Decorating Party at Creative Cain Cabin, That DIY Party at DIY Showoff

One Project at a Time at A Bowl Full of Lemons, Transformation Tuesday at The Ironstone Nest, Monday Funday at Creatively Living, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm, The Scoop at Cedar Hill Ranch, Project Inspired{d}at Cupcakes and Crinoline, You're Gonna Love It at Kathe with an E, Transformed Tuesdays at PJH Designs, Tweak It Tuesday at Cozy Little House, Take a Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts, Primp Your Stuff Wednesday at Primp Junktion, Be Inspired at Elizabeth and Co, Pretty Things Link Party at twelveOeight, Time to Shine at A Diamond in the Stuff, Too Cute Tuesday at Funky Polkadot Giraffe, The Power of Paint Party at Domestically Speaking, Creatively Tuesday at The Rustic Pig, Show Me What You Got at Not Just a Housewife, Share It Link Party at The Winthrop Chronicles, Tasteful Tuesday at Naptime Creations, Tutorial Tuesday at Hope Studios, Trash 2 Treasure at Kammy's Korner, Fluster's Creative Muster Party at Fluster Buster, Upcycled Link Party at Love 2 Upcycle

Wildly Original Link Party at I Gotta Create, Wow Us Wednesday at Family Home and Life, Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts, Whimsy Wednesday at Smart School House, What's It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants, Wednesday Whatsits at White Lights on Wednesday, What We Accomplished Wednesday at Green Willow Pond, Under $100 Linky Party at Beyond the Picket Fence, Show and Share at Southern Lovely, Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style, Wow Me Wednesday at Gingersnap Crafts, From Dream to Reality at The DIY Dreamer, Its' a Party! at A Creative Princess, Show Off Your Stuff Party at Fireflies and Jellybeans, Look What I Made Wednesday at Creations by Kara

Party Time at The 36th Avenue, Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home, Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage, Share Your Cup Party at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson, Hookin' Up with HOH at House of Hepworths, Talkin' about Thursday at Designed Decor, Live Laugh Linky at Live Laugh Rowe, Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life, The Inspiration Gallery at Craftberry Bush, Made U Look Linky at Made in a Day, Creative Things Thursday at The Vintage Farmhouse, Catch as Catch Can at My Repurposed Life, Time Travel Thursday at The Brambleberry Cottage, Catch a Glimpse Party at A Glimpse Inside, 52 Mantels, Creative Inspirations Linky Party at Embracing Change

Simply Creations Link Party at My Simple Homelife, Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed, Inspire Me Please Link Party at Liz Marie Blog, Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest, Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, What Have You Redone at Redoux Interiors, Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home, Thrifty Things Friday at The Thrifty Groove, Simple and Sweet Fridays at Rooted inThyme, Be Inspired at Common Ground, Faunt It Friday at Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous, Fabulously Creative Friday at Jennifer Rizzo, Show and Tell Friday at Romantic Home, Junkin' Joe Vintage and Thrifty Finds at The Cottage Market, Weekend Wrap-Up Party at Tatertots and Jello, Shabbilicious Friday Link Party at Shabby Art Boutique, Tickled Pink at 504 Main

Saturday Show and Tell at Cheerios and Lattes, Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors, A Bouquet of Talent Party at Life on Lakeshore Drive, Strut Your Stuff Party at Six Sisters' Stuff, Show and Tell Saturday at Sassy little Lady, Get Schooled Satuday at Too Much Time on My Hands, Power of Pinterest Party at Fox Hollow Cottage, Your Great Idea Party at Or So She Says, Overflowing with Creativity party at It's Overflowing, Craft Country Cottage Party at Old Red Barn

The Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming, Sunny Simple Sundays Party at Sunny Simple Life, Sundae Scoop at I Heart Naptime, Think Pink Sundays at Flamingo Toes, Nifty Thrifty Sunday at Nifty Thrifty Things, It's Party Time at Three Mango Seeds, Restyled Sundays at Stylish Once Again

Valentine Picture Frame DIY

I picked up this folding picture frame at the local thrift store. It had a very light stain on it. It didn't look very interesting, that's for sure. But I have one like it at home, in a dark stain, and I use it. So I figured, why not...

I was just going to paint the frame and call it good. Give it a fresh color and move on. But I was monkeying around with a few layouts one day and I decided to see what something would look like. And thought I'd give it a try.

I first removed all the glass and painted the frame and waxed it. I then cut some leftover canvas material that I had laying around to fit the picture areas and painted them in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint™ (Primer Red). I really like the way the chalk paint looks on this particular canvas, which is actually banner material. When painted, the back has a great texture!

The trickiest part of the project was getting the layout to work with the Coco heart on 4 separate pieces. Measuring between each panel so I would be sure to get the heart to line up, I laid the design out and cut my stencil. I applied those and painted the hearts and lettering. I used Coco and Old White Chalk Paint™  and also some pink acrylic that I had on hand. 

The only thing left to do was assemble the pieces back into the frame. I kept the glass out of the 4 left sections but put them back in the last section. (I cut out some cute magazine pics and inserted those for the photos. Figured that was easier than cutting up pics of my own kids!)

And the project was done. Cute, if I do say so myself. I'm beginning to wonder why I didn't just use pics of my own kids in there. That could be my excuse for keeping this little treasure! :)

Love Was Made for You and Me

A Simple DIY Project from 2x4 Scraps

I just love using 2x4 pieces to make cute, easy decor. Maybe it's because we always seem to have scraps laying around. I mean, if you're going to reuse and repurpose as the basis for your business, why waste perfectly good wood scraps? :)

Before Christmas, we made the cutest little Pinterest-inspired snowmen out of 2x4 scraps. So, when I started working on some Valentine projects, I thought why not do something similar. 

This is what I came up with...

The hardest part of this project is getting the wood cut to the size you need. (I don't have a saw, so that's why this step is so difficult for me. lol) Thankfully, Eric can do this for me; unfortunately, he can't always do it as quickly as I'd like. Or, better put, I can't always get the cut pieces from him as soon as I'd like. Being in 2 different towns can often be a bit of a challenge. And I'm not really great with the patience thing sometimes. I mean, when I have a good idea in my head, especially one that I know is not going to take me long to put together, I just want to get it done so I can see the finished product! I'm not so good at waiting. :)

But, once the cut pieces were in my hot little hands, all I needed to do was first paint the base coat. I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint™ for the white blocks but didn't have enough Primer Red for the bottom. So for that I just used plain old acrylic paint in red. I let it dry, which doesn't take long on a bare piece of wood. I purposefully didn't put a thick coat on because I wanted these to be a little rustic.  

Next I applied my stencil. There are many options for getting the lettering on, but I prefer this method because I can cut any stencil I need out of vinyl. I applied a coat of paint in the reverse colors of the blocks and let it dry. I then put a thin coat of dark stain over the red because I thought it would richen up the color I had used. Really glad I did that last step because I love how that turned out. :)

The only thing left was to glue to the letter pieces onto the bottom block. I used Elmer's Wood Glue and clamps and let it sit over night.

And there you have it! Another quick Valentine project that you can customize however you'd like. :)

I'm sharing this fun craft at... 

Thrift Store Cheese Grater as Recipe Holder

You just never know what you might use to create something cute and, in this case, completely useful! This old and slightly beat-up thrift store find just needed a coat of paint and a clothespin to make it a functional piece again! This is a super-easy project!

I sat on this for awhile after I bought it. But, when it finally occurred to me what I was going to do with it, I just new I needed to paint it red. I just so happen to love red in the kitchen. :)

I added the clothespin and a little bit of twine for good measure and gave it a try. It works just great for most recipe sizes. And not only is this functional... it's also very decorative sitting on your counter when not in use (especially if you have a red kitchen! lol). But if your kitchen's not red, like mine, I suppose you could always paint it a different color! ;)

Partying Here... An Oldie but a Goodie Party at Do Small Things with Love