Don’t forget that our play at home giveaway is still going on! If you would like to win one of the awesome wood slat signs that our contestants used this week, you can still enter! Head over and do it now. The winners will be announced on Tuesday.
The competition is really getting tough! How do you choose between so many amazing projects? I thought it was hard the last two weeks, but now it is just brutal to choose! Let me show you what I mean, but first, remember that you can choose your top three favorite projects. The voting will go from today until Sunday and the results will be posted on Monday. Here’s the exciting part (and probably the part that makes our competitors want to barf just thinking about it with excitement) our final three will be announced on Monday!!! Your votes will determine who will be in the running for our AMAZING prizes. The top three will all be winners with all of the goodies that our sponsors have provided and I know our contestants all want a shot at it, so make sure to vote and get your friends to vote as well! Every vote counts! Now on to the projects and the round three voting!!!
Works of Heart Art Display
My kids are passionate about creating art. Seriously – I put a crayon or a paint brush in their hands and they are set for hours. I was running into the issue though of having some amazing pieces that they’d put together and nowhere to display them with honor. Our refrigerator, the old stand-by for generations past, is a stainless steel variety that isn’t magnetic on the front so that option was out.
I’ve had an idea for this Art Gallery project floating around in my head for quite a while, but the stars just never aligned to make it happen. When we received the wood slat board from Wood Connection, I knew it was finally time to put my plan into action! Using a large sheet of pine, wood stain, acrylic paints, and my handy die-cut machine, I was able to create the perfect place to show off my kids’ treasured art work. It’s hanging in their play room and is the perfect addition to their bright play space!
Dream Big
Ever since I’ve started blogging new doors have opened up for me. I once hoped that someday I’d be able to find something I really was passionate about that opened up new exciting things for me and here I am…doing it. Blog Wars is exact proof of that—doing something I wouldn’t be doing if it weren’t for blogging. So when I got this Wood Connection sign I wanted my message to be “Dream Big” and from there the rest fell into place.
I’m kind of obsessed with hot air balloons currently, so I wanted to use those on my sign. So first I stained my board and then I went with a minty green, light pink, and gold lettering that were cut out on my cutting machine. Then I created some hot air balloons in different patterns of scrapbook paper and layered them to give the balloons some dimension. Finally, I whitewashed the board a bit to give it a more weathered look. And…I…LOVE…this…sign—that’s just me. I hope you like the sparkle as much as I do.
Chalk Board Sign
I tried to think outside the box a little with this week’s project and not do something too obvious. So I made a Chalk Board Sign! It’s made with the wood slat sign painted bright yellow (but of course you could do any color) and then I used 2 glass picture frames painted with glass chalkboard paint and glued on. You can use this sign for anything! Seriously. My mind just kept coming up with ideas.
It’s perfect in bright yellow for a Lemonade Stand sign. Just write what you’re selling and the price and add a cute picture of a lemon. But there’s a million ideas of things you could do with it. I took pictures of my kids holding it for their last day of school with writing saying “Last Day of 4th Grade” and the other grades they finished. I also used it for an ice cream party we hosted with friends just as a cute decoration announcing the Hot Fudge Sundaes we served. Or you could use it on kids birthdays with their new age on it. Take a picture of them holding it and then use it as decoration at their party! Other ideas I had included writing “Welcome to Summer” or “Home Sweet Home” or even just “Welcome” on it and displaying it near your front door. Or a favorite quote. Or the kids could play with it to play school. Seriously-the possibilities are endless! So much fun!
Table With Wood Slat Sign Insert
Oh, the things you can do with a piece of wood–and a song–aaand a table you’ve wanted to do something with for about a year. I wanted to put something on the slat sign that would look fabulous if it was hung on my front door–or–as part of a table. I also wanted something that would put a smile on my face every single time I saw it–which will be a lot–and then I heard someone singing Bobby Day’s Rockin’ Robin. It was tWeeDiLy, DeediLy, DeE–tWeeT from there.
Because the wood slat sign was placed in the center of the table (and needed support underneath from another piece of wood) there wasn’t room for a drawer–so it left the building. Well–it’s in the garage–but it’s not on the table anymore. The beadboard perfectly covered the hole–and added some delightful texture. Stencils ruled the painting planet for this project. It was fun mixing and matching texture, color, and the just right amount of stain. By the way–the table was “stained” with shoe polish. Kiwi’s brown shoe polish. I know. Wow, huh? I didn’t need to wait the 8-10 hours for traditional stains to dry before I waxed and buffed. That is all kinds of awesome. I love the merry and bright of the table. Oh, the places it will go.
Succulent Planter Box
I am a plant murderer. Although, in my defense, I do it by an accident so shall we call it… involuntary plantslaughter? Granted there was that one time when my five foot palm turned out to be infested with tiny red spiders. That was premeditated. Anyway, I basically buy these things and forget they exist which leads to their downfall. Lucky for me, word on the street is that succulents are basically indestructible and only need to be watered on like, Christmas and your birthday or something. Boom. I’ll take five.
The wood slat sign became the perfect backdrop for my little garden, and of course I had to add a chalkboard for notes or countdowns or whatever. Craft secret revealed!!! I didn’t have chalkboard paint so I used black cardstock. Stop shaking your head at me, it’ll be fine. John Grisham gave up some of his best work for a banner (if only he knew how often that happened) and I used crown moulding to create the box and finish off the top. Live on little plants!
Rustic Yarn Sign
I enjoyed this round so much! The sign we got from The Wood Connection was a tricky one for me, however, I knew I could do something AWESOME with it. I had some yarn laying around that I was planing on using for a project for my bedroom and decided sense I’ve had it so long and haven’t done that project yet I would use it. I wanted it to be romantic, rustic, and fit in with the color scheme of our master bedroom.
I painted the sign first with a coat of white and once it was dry I added some rustic distressing with a brown and black wash. I drew out a design in Illustrator and saved it as an SVG file and cut it out with my Cameo to use as a template. Because my sign was still tacky I was able to just stick the card stock to the sign with out taping. I made marks around the sign every so often. I decided on using gold screws to give the letters some extra punch! Then made the frame from molding bought at the hardware store and stained it to look rustic and almost barn wood like. I could just stare at it all day! I might even have to hang it in the entry way of our house so I could show it off to everyone that comes over! 🙂 It’s easy to make and you can change the colors to fit any room in your house.
See what I mean about amazing projects!?! I am so impressed with all of them. Good luck to all of our contestants. Remember to vote for your top three favorites below!
Wow! That was hard to pick. They’re all great!
So hard to pick! Great job everyone.
Nice work everyone – I had fun voting!
These are all so creative — I don’t know how to pick!
This one was hard-good luck to all of you
so cute! love this contest 🙂
Oh I had such a hard time picking – everything is fabulous!
The little table was SuPeR cute!
Thanks for sharing your creativity! It is inspiring!
Super!