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A Rustic Christmas Cards Display Idea

December 3, 2013 By Laura 1 Comment

 When the Christmas season arrives every year, and the cards start coming in the mail, what do you do with them?  Do you just put them in a pile and let them stack up? Or do you like to display them somehow, for all to see?  If you display them, how do you manage that? I bet you all have had some pretty creative ideas yourselves.

We’ve had a few solution ideas of our own over the years, for the Christmas cards we gratefully get in the mail. Way back, we just put them in a beautiful Christmas basket. That was kind of sad though, as we know many are really excited about their cards every year, and we’d hate for them to be hidden. Especially the ones with photos of kids and families, or the special notes.
We’ve also just tied a pretty ribbon across a beam in our main living area, and let them hang on that.
Getting more creative still, for a few years, we stood a white folding accordion door in the corner of the room, and the louvers (slats) worked beautifully for hanging cards. Of course, like with the string idea, the vertical cards hung horizontally. It was still a nice way to display everyone’s cards though. 

Last year though, I came up with a new idea, that I think we’ll stick with for some time. It’s very homemade and rustic, and I just love it.
Take a look . . . .


What do you think? 
It was actually just a long scrap of plywood we had on hand. (Repurposing at it’s best!).  
This one happens to be about 11″x 76″.   You can use any similar long board though.  You just want to be sure it is thin enough to be able to clamp clothespins on.


We also used some rough rope, in which I intertwined some thin satin rope around, just to add some pretty to the rough look.
The roping is mostly for decorative purposes, though. It will hold some horizontal cards well enough, but if it slides, it knocks other down. And that’s just frustrating.
I like the look of the clothespins, and it helps secure the cards of all sizes.


So this scrap board was painted white and then rough sanded. I didn’t put a lot of effort into that wood-finishing part at all, because really….I was hopeful that if enough people thought of us whilst filling out their Christmas cards, most of that board would be covered, anyway.  ๐Ÿ˜‰
The scrap blocks of wood (you see) on the back, at the top and bottom of the board, not only add stability to the board for it to sit well on the floor and lean against the wall.  There is a notch cut at the top and bottom of the board, for the rope to wrap around to the other side inset, and then there is hole through the block for the rope to go though and be secured to the other side. It sounds complicated, but it really is simple in design.  Sorry I forgot to get a pic of the back side for you. If you are confused and  have a question on this, go ahead and ask in the comments.


Completely optional tidbit: 
I soaked my clothespins in tea water overnight, to try and antique them some. It worked; but honestly, it’s too subtle for the effort in my opinion. Maybe I did it wrong?
I think at some point I will take these clothespins, and revert to what always works beautifully for me; a touch of my Annie Sloane Dark Wax. Love-that-stuff!

To really dress up the top, I added these large rusted-looking jingle bells, hung with twine. I love jingle bells! 

CONSIDER THIS: 
You could use this whole idea, and change the whole style of it depending on how you finish it and what you use as detail elements!
For example: paint a smooth new board with a clean white paint, omit the sanding, putty and paint your screw holes, and use a wide frilly ribbon down the board, with a big fancy bow at the top!
 But the rustic, farmhouse look suits us just fine.
–


Yes, just another crazy idea, from our house to yours! 
If you love it, bookmark it! You could try the idea yourself this year or some other coming year. Or simply share it with your friends who follow you on your social networks.  They’ll love you for it.
  And hey, while your here, say hello, and share your thoughts.

Hope your homes are feeling a little bit of your Christmas love!
These are the little things that make any house, a home, for the ones you love.
~Laura / The Richard Family

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Filed Under: Crafts & Creations, DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Project, Holiday Crafts, Home Decor, Organization, Re-Purposing, The Homestead Tagged With: Christmas-card-display, Christmas-cards-display-solution, Christmas-cards-organization, Christmas-decor-ideas, Christmas-DIY, Christmas-organization-tips, how-to-display-your-Christmas-cards

A Free Thanksgiving Display Printable For You

November 24, 2013 By Laura Leave a Comment

Dear Friends (and Family!)

Thanksgiving is just days away. Although we won’t all be gathered together in person, we like to think we all are in heart!
We ask that you remember all of those this holiday, who may be sad, lonely, ill, grieving, or otherwise struggling at this time of year, or this year in particular.  Reach out to them as you can, or remember to keep them in your prayers in a special way.

As a gift of our thanksgiving for you, I designed this 8″x10″ display printable for you!
You can frame it, and display it anywhere you please, as a heartwarming message for all.

*NOTE: In this post, you see below the web version…which would not print to size. (It would probably be very tiny, and poor quality.) So don’t try printing it from here! It’s sized for the web only.
Please use the provided link to download your full-sized copy, at the end of this post.
 This is designed as an 8″x10″.  You are welcome to print this on either regular printer paper, or a nice sheet of card stock, and frame it.  Either way, those sheets are generally 8.5 x 11″.
Therefore, for your convenience, you will notice a light gray line to cut along, to make your 8×10″ to size just right, and fit in your frames.

free Thanksgiving printable  —DO NOT PRINT THIS WEB SIZED VERSION—CLICK LINK BELOW FOR FULL SIZE PRINTABLE—
*Be sure to have your printer set for it’s best printing quality in full-color.

CLICK HERE for your FULL-SIZED free THANKSGIVING PRINTABLE

*Click the DOWNLOAD button in the upper right corner, and then print from wherever you saved it.

We hope you enjoy it. May God bless the abundant food on your tables, and all of you for whom it will sustain!  Give great thanks, for all good things come from the hand of God!
We are always thankful for you, and although you are all in our daily prayers, you will be especially so on Thanksgiving, in a special way.

~The Richard Family



Filed Under: Crafts & Creations, FALL Crafts and Creations, Free Printable/Downloadable, Holidays, Seasonal Crafts and Creations Tagged With: 8x10-Thanksgiving-display-printable, free-printables, free-Thanksgiving-printables

Reversible Fall to Thanksgiving Home Decor Blocks Craft Tutorial

November 18, 2013 By Laura 8 Comments

 I’ve got one last Fall-themed project to share with you this season, before I move on.
You may remember I shared these happy Fall blocks in this post, in which I was giving you a little close-up tour of my Fall mantels. I mentioned that I had made these blocks, that they were more versatile than they appeared, and that I would share why when I got to that project post.

Well this is that post!

Here are the blocks already shown to you.   They were created to look well worn, long loved, and a bit old.
Just how I like everything.  ๐Ÿ™‚

And shown here, are the blocks backsides . . . .
I made the block to transition from every day Fall, to a Thanksgiving-themed message for those weeks in November.
What do you think?  Nice surprise? Good idea?  I was thinking so!

They are really simple to make.  I just found making these blocks fun and relaxing.
I tend to get a little Zen, working in my studio anyway.
So if you think you’d like to make some, sometime, I’m going to show you just how I did it, right now.
–

I started out with 10 blocks, just like these.
Well, actually, I started out with 8 blocks just like these. Then 9. And finally 10. But that is a frustrating story I’ll tell you about later on.   But the project took 10 blocks, anyway.
These simple wooden blocks come in various sizes; these are the 2″ blocks.   I got them at A.C. Moore’s. They are not available at my local Michael’s, anyway.
They are smooth and finished-feeling on 4 sides, except for what I considered the tops and bottoms.
–

I chose my favorite Fall hues of acrylic paint, and painted them all. They did take two coats.
–


Next I had Michael cut two inch letters out of vinyl, and weeded out the letters.
–

After covering that sheet with transfer tape, I cut each letter block to size.
–

Peeling off the back, I then applied them well to a face of each block, one at a time with a squeegee, and pulled off the transfer .
It was important to make sure the rough surfaces were not used. The vinyl would work as a mask.
–

I had a pile of scraps that looked like I had been working really hard, so I photographed it, and left it for awhile. ๐Ÿ™‚
–


White acrylic paint and flat brush, ready to go.
–

All painted in.  I think it required two coats.
–

Before the second coat dried all of the way, I carefully peeled off the mask.
–
Now while painting them was rather enjoyable for me, these next steps are the part I really love to do….
But I didn’t really photograph those steps. :/  Sorry!   It’s easy enough to tell you about though.
I’m talking about sanding and aging the blocks.

To sand, I used 100 grit sand paper on a sanding block. I use the sanding block because it keeps my sanding surface flat and hard, for my uniform sanding.  Also, it’s a lot easier on my fingers, which get torn up very easily.  Where do I sand?  I like to hit the surface, to wear that a little. But I really go at the edges and corners, where they would normally wear the most.
But after sanding, we are left with clean, bare new wood. Not good, for antique blocks. Right?

So next I rub around some dark wax, with an old t-shirt rag.  I-love-this-stuff! It really does age the look of the paint, and just dirty things up just right.
You rub it on and essentially, rub it back off to. While working not as hard to get it off, where you want to leave more.
Make sense?  The stuff is messy, as you might guess from that rag up there. And it stinks to high Heaven. But, somehow I don’t mind it much, working with it. It’s like the smell of creativity, at work!

Here’s a closer look at the effects of my sanding and waxing . . . .

And now, my blocks all on display . . . .

Ta-DAAA!!!  I was so happy not to have to put my blocks away, to make room for some Thanksgiving decor.
I’m already pondering making more block sets for other holidays and seasons. In fact, actually, I already have a set for spring (in a very different finishing style and size) I made last year and never shared. I plan to come spring though.
But, back to the here and now.

–

Because it’s the details I worked so hard for (in a fun/playing sort of way), that make these blocks look like maybe one of our grandmothers passed them down to us, I couldn’t stop photographing them . . . .

Ok enough of that. Now, you can skip this little story-paragraph if you want, right down to after the next photo.

But I’d like to explain the story of the 10th block: 
For weeks, I only had 8, and then 9, blocks. Because that’s all there was at the store!  In fact the first trip, I bought none, because there wasn’t enough to spell what I wanted!  I needed 10 to do this project. I inquired though, and the lady assured me that if they were low, more was coming in the next day. So I returned the next day, and there were still only 8!!  So I figured…I need to buy those, so they be sure to get more! (Because supposedly, it’s all electronic.)

Next trip, the bin there was still empty. I was desperate!! So I plopped down on the floor and pulled out all of the other sized blocks onto the floor, hoping to find some 2″ers  in the wrong bin.
And I found ONE!!  ARRGGG!!  So I worked with the 9 I had. I got those all done, and had enough to make my HAPPY FALL.  But I’d need that last one to complete GIVE THANKS.
Finally, a new shipment of them came in, and I got my last block, which I did start to finish, all by itself, just in time. It was the “A” in THANKS.

What to do with the other side? . . . .

I made an exclamation point!  To use from then on, with my HAPPY FALL(!).  Because if you all know me, you know it’s worthy of an exclamation point.  I do love Fall, that much!

If you love what I’ve done here, believe me when I say, (if you have a vinyl cutter of any kind), you can do this!  And if not, other crafters will love you for sharing the idea!

So go ahead and PIN the image below on Pinterest, share on Facebook – whatever!!


That’s a wrap for projects for this season this year. ( I think. ๐Ÿ˜‰  )   Time to start thinking about Christmas!
Thanks for making my day, and coming by! 
Hope you take a moment to share your thoughts, and say hello!
~Laura

 

 

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Filed Under: Crafts & Creations, DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Project, FALL Crafts and Creations, FALL Home Decor, Holiday Crafts, Home Decor, Mantel Decorating (Ideas), Seasonal Crafts and Creations, Seasonal Home decor, The Homestead, Tutorial Tagged With: aging-painted-wood, antiquing-painted-wood, craft-tutorial, crafts, fall-crafts. fall-home-decor, fall-decor, finishing-wooden-blocks, making-wood-pieces-look-old-worn, sanding-painted-wood, thanksgiving-decor, using-dark-wax-on-wood, wooden-block-crafts, wooden-blocks-diy, woooden-decor-blocks

A Custom Fall Decor Sign

November 3, 2013 By Laura 6 Comments

The details of the season of Fall inspires me so much!
This time, it was to make a custom fall decor sign for our home.


–

I was going through some scrapbooking supplies recently, when I came across a handy little quote book.  Naturally I took the opportunity to take a break from the big task at hand, to read through it, because I was sitting in the middle of an overwhelming mess.  One of the quotes I came upon expressed some of the many little things I so love about the season of Fall, and I was immediately inspired to use that quote as a custom sign for my home decor. The quote read:

Scarecrows, corn rows, pumpkins on the vine.
Leaves curl, wind swirls, Fall is right on time.

There was no credit to the quote, so I did an internet search.  I found the quote has been widely utilized, which tells me I’m not the only one this beautiful little phrase speaks to. I had just never heard of it before.  Still, I found no credit, or else I would feel compelled to give credit where credit is due! (It’s only right to, Folks.)  Whoever you are though, thanks for such a lovely expression of the picturesque moments of Fall, and for the inspiration!

Here is a look at the finished sign, and then I thought I would share the makings of it with you today.


My mental vision of the sign was instant, really. There was no brainstorming session, although I did sketch out on paper the structure of the sign I was asking Michael, my husband, to build. Could I do these things myself? Yes, but why would a girl, when a girl doesn’t have to?  It would take me so much longer, and it probably wouldn’t come out as perfectly. Michael is happy to whip up these things for me in astonishing time, when I ask, and I say that with much appreciation.


The 14 x 25″ sign consists of 10 2.5 x 14″ slats of wood, secured together on the back as seen above, with 2 little strips of pine.
–


Finish build, and ready to stain.

I chose a dark stain.
(Minwax brand; Provincial)

The lettering was laid out in design to have a line of text on each slat of the sign, with a spare slat at the top and bottom, for any artwork.
The lettering was cut out and applied in vinyl.

My vision also involved some hand-painted artwork on the sign.  Oh, these grand ideas are always pulled off so very simply in our minds; aren’t they?  ๐Ÿ˜‰
I foresaw pumpkin vines climbing all the way up the side of the sign, and many leaves, swirling everywhere.
But my physical execution of painting these things, proved to be a bit more challenging than I managed so beautifully, mentally.

While, after much effort, I don’t think my pumpkins came out too bad in the end, my vines didn’t climb quite as high and wild, and I acquired far fewer leaves swirling about, than I had hoped as well.  Still, I am happy with the simplicity of the final outcome.

I’m also encouraged, because I realized when I was all finished with the painting project, that I really worked with a difficult medium.  They were acrylic paint tubes I had around and found in a baggie, but really poor and cheap quality.  They were very soft and clumpy, which really made it challenging to paint smoothly, and the paint application itself did not have any longevity for longer strokes.  Having painted with my more high quality acrylic paints on another project some days later, I really saw and experienced the difference, and I won’t make that mistake again.  I look forward to trying my hand at some more hand-painted work soon, with more cooperative paint, and I suspect I’ll have a more enjoyable time in the midst of it, with more pleasing results.

Nonetheless, I do love my sign, and believe I will include it as part of our Fall decor for many years to come.

If you saw the tour of our Fall decor mantels post, you may have noticed the sign then. It was one of four handmade items included on the mantels.
Did you guess any of the others?
I hope this inspires you to try making some simple signs yourself, or purchasing some to include in your own home decor.
~Laura

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Filed Under: Crafts & Creations, DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Project, FALL Crafts and Creations, FALL Home Decor, Home Decor, Mantel Decorating (Ideas), Seasonal Crafts and Creations, Seasonal Home decor, Signs, The Homestead Tagged With: fall-crafts, fall-decor, Fall-decor-sign, fall-home-decor, Fall-signs, farmhouse-style-decor, handmade-signs, rustic-fall-decor, sign-home-decor, sign-making, signs

Fall Themed Candles Embedding Real Leaves

October 10, 2013 By Laura 21 Comments

Today, I’m going to show you one way to preserve those beautiful Fall leaves you found, and make something beautiful to add to your warm Autumn home decor. Candles! Embedding real leaves.


We’re simply taking store-bought medium-pillar candles, and embedding the real leaves as a beautiful decorative element.
To do this, I’ll be using a separate wax medium.  The reason I am choosing to not just glue the leaves on, or seal them in with Modge Podge or something, is because those mediums are flammable.  I likely will be burning these candles. While I won’t burn them very low, I didn’t want to take the chance of having anything chemically-flammable as part of the candle, when it is easy enough to avoid that. Also, embedding the leaves within the sides of the candles will give the look I am trying to achieve.

All you’ll need for this project is some pillar candles of some sort, some plain melting wax (for candle making), your pressed leaves that you collected, and some pans. (A few other optional supplies will be mentioned along the way.)

The first step in working with real leaves, is to ‘press’ them.  This not only flattens them, but somewhat preserves their moisture for a bit, yet keeps their pliability to be able to work with them well.   I press them by placing my leaves between the pages of a newsprint pad of paper, and putting a small pile of magazines, or whatever for weight, on top.  A few days will do.

–

You’ll want to melt your wax over some kind of consistent heat. Making do with what I had, I cut some chunks off of my premium wax block, and put it in a roasting pan, over 2 burners on my electric stove on a very low heat. Possibly even the simmer setting. Start at the lowest and increase the heat as needed. Every stove is different, but generally speaking, you want the wax just liquid-y, but never to the point of bubbling. How much wax you melt depends on how many leaves you’ll be adhering, how many candles you are decorating, etc.  But regardless, you certainly want the wax deep enough to completely submerge a leaf.

  Once your wax is melted, you’ll want to have your pillar candles and leaves readily available to work with. Also, have a sheet of wax paper on a flat surface nearby, to be able to put your candle down as needed.

*This is a very important tip!
You need to keep your pillar candle itself somewhat warm to apply the dipped, hit-wax leaves successfully. The reason being is that lying your hot waxed leaf on the cold surface of the candle immediately sets the wax, and it does not apply well at all. 

But I have two great tips to choose from, for keeping your pillar candle warm:

1)  Have a heating pad on high on your nearby counter-top, with a sheet of waxed paper on it. You can roll the whole thing up with your pillar candle in it (in the waxed paper), or, you can simply lie the candle on it’s side, keeping warm on the side you’ll be applying to.

Or you can go with second option, which is what I ended up doing:
2) Simply lie the candle on the warm stove, beside the working burners to keep it warm. Obviously you don’t want your pillar candle to melt. But your burners should not be high enough to do that. This method worked well for me, as long as I did apply the just-dipped leaves to the warm area of the candle.

So here we go!

Dip your leaf in the hot melted wax, holding it completely submerging in the wax for a few moments. Keeping it submerged for a few moments (as opposed to dipping and retrieving) will really help the leaf get limp, which will be helpful in applying to the candle.

(View images left to right.)
Then quickly but carefully lie and really ‘cling’ your whole leaf to the candle, and begin to rub down all over as you can.  I say as you can, because it is hot!  And yet you want to press it down as much as you can, before it starts to set. So gently press it down all over, without rubbing hard in any way, and then really just lay your hand down over it as soon as you can while it sets.

Continue adding leaves for your overall design. It is alright to overlap some pf the leaves as well.
Remember to warm the candle in between, as you’re dipping your next leaf.

Now if you find the wax has set in an area that the leaf is not stuck down well, here is a little trick to re-work it:
Dip a fork into your hot melted wax, and drip it onto the area of your unsealed leaf that needs fixing.
Then press down again with your fingers.
The stems are optional to keep as is, cut shorter, or cut off at the base. I rather like them, and am leaving them for as long as they don’t break off on their own.

Once all of the leaves are applied, you might consider your candles done. But I really wanted to further seal the leaves onto the my pillar candles, so that they may better hold up for a longer period of time, without the leaves coming off.   The layer of wax over your leaves on your candle at this point is very thin, and that leaves (no pun intended) your decorative surface very fragile and at risk of being damaged.  It’s also somewhat bumpy from all of the pressing on. So another sealing coat is a good idea, and it’s easy to do!
Just heat up more wax in a sauce pan at a reasonable depth, and dunk the whole candle!  Use a size appropriate pan for the size of your handles, and no wider than you need, or you’ll need to use way too much wax to bring the level up.
Now….you also want to keep in mind that the submerging of your candle is going to drastically rise the level of your very hot melted wax. So, be mindful of the amount you melt.  My goal was to melt enough to dunk the candle to just over the leaf tips, without overflowing the wax all over my stove top range. I barely made it…missing just the tips of the leaves.

*Dunk it only once, (holding it submerged for a moment or two like the leaves), as double-dipping may create such a layer of wax, that it’ll become too difficult to see the beautiful shapes and colors of your leaves.
Once lifting them up out of the pan, just carefully set them down on that sheet of waxed paper, until the whole candle cools and sets.

Now they are finished, and ready to add some Fall beauty to your home wherever you choose to display them.  You can enjoy them long after the leaves outdoors have dried up and crumbled away.
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial too, and will consider having fun making some Fall candles with real leaves yourself.

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Filed Under: Crafts & Creations, DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Project, FALL Crafts and Creations, FALL Home Decor, Home Decor, Seasonal Crafts and Creations, Seasonal Home decor, The Homestead, Tutorial Tagged With: add-fall-leaves-to-candles, autumn-crafts, candle-crafts, candle-detailing, candles, crafts, decor, dipping-leaves, diy, elementing-candles, fall-crafts, fall-decor, fall-leaves, home, home-decor-projects, how-to-wax-real-fall-leaves, leaf-crafts, leaves, pillar-candles, waxed-leaves

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