Interchangeable pallet style wall sign

Interchangeable wood signs are all the rage right now. And honestly who doesn’t want to have less seasonal décor to store?

Don’t get me wrong they are SO CUTE but I’ve seen them everywhere, including a similar version when I was growing up. I just wanted something different. If you haven’t see these adorable signs here’s a screenshot I took from Pinterest when I searched interchangeable seasonal signs. Super cute, just not what I was wanting in my new home.

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I thought ‘why not just put up a blank white sign?’ Not really genius but I sure felt that way lol!

Here’s what you’ll need to make a light weight blank faux pallet sign to change out through the seasons

• 1/4” plywood

• 1x2 pieces (number of pieces will depend on the size of your blank sign)

• wood glue

• miter saw (I bought this 12” slider and LOVE IT!!)

• tape measure

• nail gun (I love my Ryobi brad nailer)

• brad nails

• sander ( I love my handheld sander from Ryobi)

• sand paper

• white paint

DIY FAUX PALLET STYLE SIGN USING PLYWOOD

I had some faux planks already cut to the width I wanted. They were leftover from this budget friendly bedroom faux plank wall DIY that we did.

My planks were precut to 5” wide. Then I used my miter saw to cut them to approx 20” strips.

I wanted my sign to be fairly large because I was propping it up on a buffet in my dining room (btw I need to take some paint to it because I’m not loving the outdated brown). I have old house with pretty high ceilings so I also needed the sign to be tall enough to fill the blank space on the wall.

I ended up using 5 planks to make my sign. They aren’t perfectly even on the sides and I’m totally ok with that since I’m not a perfectionist by any stretch of the imagination.

After I got my faux strips cut the length I wanted I gave them a quick sanding with my orbit sander and 120 grit sandpaper. This was just to knock down any little splinters and make the sign somewhat smooth.

I laid them out on my table and placed the sides I liked the best faced down.

Then I took my 1x2 pieces, I cut three of these, and used them for the backing. My planks went horizontally so my brace pieces, the 1x2’s were made to go vertically (the height of the sign).

I placed one in the middle and one on each side.

I used wood glue to attach them to the back and my Ryobi brad nailer to really attach them so they wouldn’t be going anywhere.

I’m going to be totally transparent here…my first plan was to use a white wash stain. I’d never used it before and had this beautiful picture in my head of how it would turn out. Yeah, I don’t think plywood was my best choice for this stain. It just left it kinda blah looking so I wiped it all off.

Paint to the rescue! I took some leftover wall paint, that I’ve been using for everything including this framed Halloween porch sign … btw there’s a free SVG for that sign … , and painted a couple of coats on the plank sign. Painting it worked MUCH better!

That’s it. I didn’t do anything else to it. I’m so glad I used plywood planks for this project. A regular pallet pine sign like this one, would have been far too heavy to prop up. I’m a momma of 4, enough said lol!

I was so excited to decorate it for my first holiday in my new home!

Check out the flying bats post I made for this blank wood sign.

Check out more DIY power tool projects

DIY how to make 2x4 wood candy corn

DIY EASY 2x4 primitive wood candy corn

DIY primitive candy corn, aren’t they soooo cute?! The last couple of years have been a little busier than normal at our house and I haven’t been decorating for the holidays like I normally do. So this summer I decided I’m going to make time to get back into the festive decorating. And with that I need to make lots of new pieces to decorate the seasons with. Including these adorable wood candy corn. Check out this fun TRICK OR TREAT shelf sitter set I made a few weeks ago.

I’ve had these on my craft to do list for a looooong time and just hadn’t made time to make myself a set. And now I do! I LOVE them! They turned out even better than I thought they were going to! And I can keep them up for the entire fall season.

How to make your own set of primitive candy corn from a 2x4

And it was super easy to DIY. I was a bit nervous cutting the angles but I think they turned out so great!

If you don’t have the space or tools to DIY this from start to finish you can get one of my easy CANDY CORN CRAFT KIT. Everything you need to make these at home is included in your own candy corn craft kit.

Don’t have all the tools needed to complete this craft? Snag one of my easy DIY craft kit from my Etsy shop. Click CANDY CORN CRAFT KIT to get yours. Want to send it as a gift? During checkout mark that you would like to send it as a gift, leave their address and a sweet note to them and we’ll take care of the rest.

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

If you want to make them from scratch here’s what you’ll need

• 2x4 cut into 4”, 5.5”, 7” pieces

• orange, white, yellow acrylic paint

• paint brush

• lint free cloth

• 120 grit sand paper

• chip brush

• antiquing wax

• Ryobi miter saw

First cut your pieces into 4”, 5.5”, & 7” lengths. The angles I cut: 4”= 15°, 5.5”= 10°, 7”=10°. After you cut them give them a quick sanding. You don’t want to sand them super smooth as this will take away so much of the wood’s natural character. Be sure to wipe away the sawdust with a lint free cloth after you sand your candy corn.

Now paint all three with a thin coat of orange paint.

After the orange paint dries paint the bottoms yellow. You will likely need 2 coats for this. Let the first coat dry completely before applying the second coat.

Now, paint the tops white. Again, you'll need to paint two coats making sure your let the first coat dry completely before applying the second coat of white paint.

Once all of your candy corn are completely dry you can start distressing them with your 120 grit sand paper. Focus on the edges, corners, and lightly sand the fronts and sides. Then wipe the dust away with your lint free cloth.

Now you can apply your antiquing wax. A little bit of wax goes a VERY long way. Just like when sanding, you want to focus more on the edges and corners and give a light swipe with your chip brush on the fronts and sides. TIP: if you trim your chip brush down a little you will get a more stiff brush that you can better control your wax with.

If you don’t like the look of the antiquing wax you can opt for a clear wax. I LOVE antiquing wax and use it on TONS of my projects it highlights so much of the wood’s character. You can see the difference it makes. Check out my DIY American Flag tutorial where I use this same dark wax.

Now you’re ready to display them! I am soooo happy with the way these little 2x4 candy corns turned out {I think that’s the plural from lol}! I have a few more DIY fall projects yet to tackle before the season arrives so be sure to check back for more tutorials to make your own decorations for the upcoming season.

Catch the video tutorial below. If you LOVE it I would very much love if you would subscribe to my YouTube channel where I share all of my crafty video tutorials.

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DIY clearance shoes, how to paint them for fall

I LOVE the frugal life. So when my friends tagged me in a post about our local Walmart putting select kids clothes and shoes on the $1 clearance rack I couldn’t get there fast enough! Thank you sweet friends btw! Boy did we find some good deals! Including these adorable little black shoes for my 3 year old daughter.

I had never painted on shoes before but I was up for the challenge. Such a perfect blank canvas and even if I mess them up they were only a DOLLAR so it’s totally ok and I wouldn’t feel one bit bad lol.

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

I’m sure I didn’t use the right kind of paint {I used straight acrylic paint, not watered down} but that’s ok. My daughter won’t be wearing them very long, she’s three after all lol so she’ll outgrow them in no time.

Here’s what I used

• acrylic paint

• clearance canvas shoes from Walmart

• paint brush

• round sponge brush

• assorted orange and black ribbon

• E6000 glue

• paint pens

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How to paint on canvas shoes for fall

1. REMOVE THE LACES before you start painting so you don’t get paint all over them.

2. THEME unless you are just going to let the creative juices flow as you go along it is best if you have a plan prior to painting on your canvas shoes. I had an idea right before I started painting and I ended up changing it up as I went because I wasn’t totally loving the way it looked. I painted more on the back and sides and moved the bows and added the front dots after I filmed this tutorial. I LOVE the way they turned out and more importantly my toddler does too!

3. PAINTING TIPS

• if you are painting on black shoes it is best to paint a base layer of white then once that’s dry paint the actual color you want. So on mine I wanted the backs orange, I painted them white first then after they dried I painted them orange. This will help your colors to not be dark and diluted.

• use a variety of brush sizes to fit your painting needs

• don’t use too much paint. Paint in thin layers and if doing more than one layer only paint over dry paint.

• paint pens are your friends <3 ! I used paint pens to add the lines on the candy corn and pumpkin after painting them their main colors.

• use both end of your paint brush. I used the non brush end of my brush to make the small dots on the front of the shoes. This was the perfect size for these cute little dots.

4. ADDING ACCENTS if you add any accents E6000 works great to have a long lasting hold. I’ll warn ya though, it doesn’t dry fast at all.

5. LACES I opted for a more untraditional lace for these shoes but you can keep the original laces in. I thought they would be too white for this pair so I traded them out for 2 thin pieces of ribbon in orange and black on each shoe. They actually hold up pretty well too! And this type of ribbon is really inexpensive so it wouldn’t cost much to replace if I need to.

Didn’t these clearance shoes turn out sooooo adorable?!!! I wasn’t sure how I’d like that they don’t match on the fronts but I actually do love it. It screams “I don’t have perfection issues” lol!!!

I hope you find this tutorial helpful for your shoe painting adventure! I’d love to see how yours turn out! Share a pic in the comments.

Check out the video tutorial below

Easy pine cone door hanger DIY

How to make an easy pine cone door hanger

There are so many pine cone crafts I want to try but I thought I would try these adorable pine cone flowers first. I was really surprised at how easy they were to make myself and I plan to make SO many more!

If you’re looking for a more kid friendly project be sure to check out mess free pine cone art using a box. This was a favorite with our girls, and me too because it was literally mess free!

Here in the Midwest we have an abundant supply of pine cones so I didn’t have to search too far to find these little guys. I had great luck at my local park but here are some other places you can find pine cones *remember to always ask permission prior to collecting any pine cones

• family

• friends

• local nature park {although ours doesn’t allow this yours might}

• neighbors

• shopping malls that have pine trees in the landscaping

After you’ve collected your pine cones you’ll want to make sure they aren’t covered in gross stuff, honestly I just wouldn’t pick up the ones that need super cleaned anyway lol! Leave those for the critters. I personally didn’t clean any of the pine cones we collected because they were in pretty good shape but if your pine cones have visible dirt or anything it’s a good idea to clean them prior to use.

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

Here’s what you’ll need

• pinecones

• acrylic paint

• paint brushes

• piece of old wood {I cut mine from an old discarded fence post}

• wire {I picked mine up at the local farm store}

• wire cutters

• sticks

Helpful tools

• glue gun

• RYOBI miter saw

• RYOBI drill

• RYOBI drill bit

How to make flowers from pine cones

First you need to break apart your pine cones. This is a little harder than it looks and takes a lot of patients. Using your wire cutting slowing wedge them into the pinecone where you want it to break apart then use those muscles to cut. You might have to do this a few times before it comes completely apart.

Now paint them. I just used a small paint brush and carefully painted all around the pine cone EXCEPT the middle. Leaving the middles unpainted they will look like adorable little flowers! I chose to paint mine in fall colors, red, yellow, and orange, but you can use whatever colors you’d like. I even painted the bottom as you’ll be able to see that once it’s glued down because it’s curved. I just did one coat on mine but if you don’t like the coverage of one coat on your pine cones you can give yours two coats.

I used an old piece of wood for my base but you can use any wood base you’d like. Because I wanted to hang mine I went ahead and drilled the holes using my Ryobi drill, for the wire to go through before I started gluing the pine cones and sticks down.

While my glue gun was warming up I laid out the painted pine cone flowers where I wanted them to go. See how gorgeous this old piece of wood is! It even still has the nails in it, see them on the right. Granted it’s a little warped but it’s perfect for a scrappy craft like this.

Then I used my wire cutters to cut the sticks down to size for the stems. I just eyeballed this, it doesn’t have to be exact. The sticks I used were pretty thin. You could also use some of the discarded pine cone pieces and make green leaves to glue by the stems. That would have made this project even better!

Then start hot gluing down all the pieces. I put a fairly good amount on the pine cones because they were heavier than the sticks and I didn’t want them falling off as soon as I hung the door hanger up. You’ll want this to totally dry before hanging just incase the glue underneath isn’t all the way dry you don’t want it to start slipping and your pine cone fall off.

Add your wire and you’re done. One of the easiest craft projects and you probably didn’t have to spend a penny!

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How to make an American Flag leaning porch sign

I just can’t seem to get enough of the patriotic décor these days! It started a few months ago when I made these fun fireworks from a wood 4x4 . Then I added this old classic to the blog, a hanging wood flag made from 1x4’s {you can find this handmade piece in my Etsy shop that sells like crazy this time of year}. And I had to make a tutorial of a red, white, and blue rag wreath. I tell ya, I’ve been obsessed lately with making these tutorials! And I have another one ;)!!!

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

I had everything I needed on hand to make this but I’ve included the links where you can get some of these supplies. Yes, those are affiliate links but not to worry, you will not be charged anything extra if you make a purchase through them. They are just a way for this stay at home momma to help with the daily bills of raising our four little girls :)!

I promise this sign is SUPERRRRR easy!

Here’s what you’ll need

• 1x8x48 {4 feet}

• 1” paint brushes

• Acrylic paint, red, blue, white

• burlap

• masking tape

• chip brush

• antiquing wax

• 120 grit sandpaper

• vinyl star cut out

• wire {I picked mine up at our local farm store in the fencing area}

Handy tools

• RYOBI Sander

• RYOBI miter saw

• needle nose pliers

• wire cutters

• cricut cutting machine

First you need to cut your board and give it a quick sanding with 120 grit sandpaper. I personally LOVE working with Ryobi Power Tools. For years I used my husband much more industrial strength tools {he works commercial construction so his tools need to be crazy powerful} till I found these little gems and I have no plans of ever letting these guys go!

Then you need to paint your ENTIRE board white. Do one very thin coat, once dry add a second coat.

If you’re using a stencil cut it out while your board dries. I use my Cricut but you can use any vinyl cutting machine. The star I cut out was approx. 6” wide. If you don’t have access to one you can free hand your star. If going this route I recommend using a pencil when you do the outline.

Apply your star stencil to your board. Then decide where you want your blue line to stop below it. Measure that distance and make a mark on each side. I made mine approx. 9” from the top.

Now run a piece of tape from side to side where you made those marks. This will help to keep your line crisp.

Paint the entire top area blue. I used a royal blue but any blue shade that you like will be perfect. I painted two coats of blue, allowing it to dry completely between coats.

Remove the star and the tape.

I at first planned to paint two stripes of white and two stripes of red going down my board…big mistake. It was not as cute so I had to repaint it. I had to paint the bottom part red, because it is far easier to cover white with red than to cover red with white.

Using the same measuring technique as above but going vertically instead of horizontally, tape off the bottom so you have three equal stripes. If I wouldn’t have messed my stripes up from the beginning I would have taped them off the opposite from pictured below and painted inside the tape lines red. Instead I had to make more work for myself. I hope that makes sense. Just like with the blue, paint two coats and let dry between coats.

Then peel off the tape. Go in with a small paint brush and fix any mistakes if necessary.

Using your sander, sand around the edges, corners, and give the front a super quick once over. Then you’re ready to apply your wax. Check out my DIY mini wood pumpkin tutorial for a more in-depth how to on applying antiquing wax.

Add a piece of burlap. I tied mine off with a piece of floral wire but you can tie yours in a bow or a knot.

I added a couple pieces of baling wire just to give it a little extra cuteness!

If you love this piece but don’t have the time to make it and NEED it in your life ;) you can purchase one personally made by me here ————> AMERICAN FLAG LEANING PORCH SIGN

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DIY hanging wood flag

I love patriotic décor. Not only because I truly love being an American but because it never goes out of season! You can leave it up year round and it looks perfectly beautiful and not at all out of place, unlike the wooden Santa I had hanging out in the living room five months after Christmas. Yes, that’s a true story! My grandma painted this amazing 5 ft tall Santa ages ago and I somehow overlooked him for months in our living room.

So unlike Mr. Claus, patriotic décor would not stick out like a sore thumb long after Independence Day has passed.

If you don’t have time to make your own be sure to stop by my Etsy shop and purchase your own handmade wood American Flag made by yours truly ;)

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

Ok, on to the tutorial.

Here’s what you’ll need

SUPPLIES

• 3- 1x4x12 {white and red pieces}

• 1- 1x4x13 {blue piece, top}

• 1” paint brushes

• Acrylic paint, red, blue, white

• baler wire {you can find this at a local farm store}

• 3 wood stars

• chip brush

• antiquing wax

• 120 grit sandpaper

TOOLS

• RYOBI Drill

• RYOBI Drill bits

• RYOBI Sander

• needle nose pliers

• wire cutters

After you cut down your 1x4 into the correct sizes you need to give them a quick sanding. I use my Ryobi handheld cordless sander for this but you can use just sandpaper or a sanding block, although it will take a lot more work and more time. I purchased my sander fairy cheap at my local hardware store, one of the best $50 I’ve ever spent! After you have all the 1x4 pieces sanded give them a quick wipe down to get all the saw dust off.

Next you need to paint all the wood pieces and the stars. I only did two coats on each piece. To get the look that I did on mine you will need to paint all three stars WHITE, 2 of the 1x4x12’s WHITE , 1 of the 1x4x12 RED, and the 1x4x13 BLUE. Let them dry COMPLETELY between coats.

After everything is totally dry you need to mark your pieces where you will drill your holes. I am not a perfectionist so I just eyeball it. It’s rustic so it doesn’t have to be perfect anyway ;) I do this with a pen but if you’re worried about messing up you can use a pencil.

Not counting the stars, your pieces should have a total of 11 markings, 3 on the top of the blue piece where you will attach the stars, 3 on the bottom of the blue piece where you will attach the hanging white and red pieces, 1 on the top right of the blue piece and 1 on the top left of the blue piece where you will attach the baler wire to hang for displaying, 1 in the top middle of each white piece, 1 in the top middle of the red piece. I don’t typically mark the stars because it’s not necessary, the hole goes in the top of the star.

Now it’s time to drill. Your drill bit will vary depending on how thick your baler wire is. I always use a drill bit that is just a size above the wire size, that way the wire has room to move so that it’s not super tight. Be sure when you are drilling the holes in the stars you don’t get too close to the top. If you get too close you will crack the tip of the star and you won’t be able to use it. PRO TIP: place a flat discarded piece of wood under what you’re drilling into so you don’t drill into the table underneath.

Now it’s time to distress. Using your Ryobi sander sand around the edges. Here’s a good example on how I do this in my Dr. Seuss keepsake craft. There are some good close ups on sanding just the edges and rounding the corners of the wood to give it a perfect rustic look.

I only sand the 1x4 pieces. The stars are so small and fragile that yo don’t need to sand those, using the wax on them in the next step will work just fine.

Apply wax around all the edges, corners, and give them a light coat down the center of each piece. Check out my DIY rustic wooden pumpkins post on a more detailed way to do this using your chip brush. I love pretty much any brand of antiquing wax, they all work great! PRO TIP: cut the bristles down on your chip brush. You get a better outcome when the bristles are shorter and stiffer.

You’re almost done! The next steps are just assembling your pieces together. You’ll need your baler wire and wire cutters for this.

You’ll need 3 wire pieces cut to approx. 6”-7”. Cut your pieces short if you want less space from the blue piece to the hanging pieces, and longer if you want more space from the blue piece to the hanging pieces. Now make a loop with your plies on ONE end of each piece like pictured below.

These loops will go on the BACK of each piece.

Then connect it to the blue piece and loop the end just like you did before. This is what the BACK of your flag should look like before you attach your stars.

The star wire is slightly different. You’ll need a 3” piece for each star. One end you need to wrap a few times around your needle nose pliers. This doesn’t have to be perfect, mine never are. Leave the other end open.

Then feed the straight end of the wire through the front of your star then through the front of the boar where you drilled a star hole.

After you put your star wires through their holes on the blue wood you want to do the same thing and loop them on the back like you did with the other wires. Pictured below is BEFORE they are looped.

Add a piece of wire to hang at the top corner holes and you’re done! I know it seems like a lot of steps but it’s SUPER easy! I’d love to see pictures of your handmade patriotic decor, especially if you make this piece:)!!

DIY 4X4 Wood Firecrackers

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

I am a sucker for a quick and easy simple crafts! These kind of projects give you an instant satisfactions because you don’t need to wait days for them to cure and you can even get the kiddos involved in the creative process because honestly there’s not a whole lot they can mess up with these little guys.

This project does require the use of some power tools but if you don’t have them handy you can purchase an easy craft kit from our studio. We do all the cutting, pre-sanding, drilling, and include all the materials PLUS printed of instructions on how to make them at home so you don’t have to come back to this page while your hands are covered in paint.

Here’s what you’ll need if you’re making yours totally from scratch…

• 4x4 wood blocks cut approx. to lengths of 4, 5.5, & 7 {you can pick this up at your local hardware store}

• twine

• 3 paint brushes

• acrylic paint in RED, BLUE, WHITE

• antiquing wax

• RYOBI cordless sander or sandpaper

• RYOBI miter saw

• RYOBI drill

• RYOBI drill bit

• baler wire {you can pick this up at your local farm store}

• wire cutters

• glue gun

If you prefer to order online I’ve attached Amazon links to most of the supplies above. You can purchase most of the supplies at your local Walmart and home improvement stores.

First you need to cut your 4x4 down to 4, 5.5, and 7 inch lengths. Some home improvement stores will do this for you but usually their blades are very dull and will splinter your wood badly. For this project the splinters would add a ton of character but I wouldn’t depend on this being an option for most of your other DIY projects.

My husband got me my own saw last year and I am LOVING it! Granted it was more money than I wanted to spend but it has been one of the best investments we’ve made in our business. Ryobi makes a really great line of tools, especially if you’re just using them to make projects for your home or running your own creative craft business like I do. This particular saw is great because it is a slider. It can cut anything from 1/2” pieces all the way up to 12” wide {and probably a little wider but I only cut up to 12”}.

After your pieces are cut you need to give them a quick sanding. Again, I use my trusty Ryobi tools for the job. I typically use 120 grit sandpaper for most of my projects. This is a good in the middle grit. If you want to get crazy you can sand with all the way thru the different grits but I don’t usually do this…I’m a busy momma of four 120 works perfect, lol!

After you have your pieces sanded be sure to wipe off all the saw dust. You don’t want this on the wood when you start painting.

Depending on the size wire you get will depend on the size drill bit you’ll need. Drill a hole in just the top of each piece of wood. I drilled mine about 1/2” deep.

Paint each of your blocks a different color. You’ll need one red, one white, one blue. I did two coats on mine. This is a good time to get the kiddos involved. They really can’t mess these little guys up. Be sure to let the paint dry COMPLETELY between coats. If you don’t your paint will likely pull away from the wood as you apply it on top of wet paint.

After both coats are dried you want to give your blocks a light sanding. Focus on the edges and the corners.

Using your chipbrush apply a light layer of the antiquing wax to the areas you sanded. You can do this as heavy or as light as you like. Remember a little bit goes a long way and you can always add more if you want to.

Now add a little hot glue to the end of the wire and quickly stick it down in the hole you drilled. Once they are dry and in place you can twist them if you’d like.

Wrap the middle of each wood block in twine and you’re done! Super easy!

I hope you found this craft as fun as I did! Enjoy your Fourth of July!

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Make your own Valentine's Day pallet sign, easy step by step tutorial

Oh Valentine’s Day…I LOVE all the colors of this beautiful holiday! And if you’re like me you’ll love this adorable craft to make too! Bringing in all the pinks, whites, and grays for this one. And who doesn’t love twine? I mean, if you don’t love twine then are you a true crafter?? This stuff is so sturdy, goes with pretty much anything, and let’s be honest for being string it’s pretty darn cute!

So let’s get started.

I know that sometimes you don’t have all the necessary tools to do all those amazing crafts on pinterest or maybe you just want to try it before you make that kind of financial commitment or maybe you just want a super easy craft night with the girls where there’s no prep work for you. Whatever it is I’ve put together easy peasy craft kits just for you. You can find this particular CRAFT KIT HERE.

If you want to make yours from scratch here’s what you’ll need

• 1x4x12 {times 3}

• 1x2x6 {times 2}

• wood glue

• nails or brad nailer {I used my Ryobi brad nailer with}

• stencils {I cut mine from my Cricut}

• 1” cardstock hearts {I cut mine from my Cricut in dark pink, pink, white}

• twine

• tacky glue

• cosmetic sponges

• paint brushes or sponge brushes

• sandpaper or sander {I used my Ryobi cordless sander 120 grit}

• white, pink, dark pink, gray acrylic paint

• staple gun

The first thing I do on projects like these is cut everything I need from my Cricut.

Next you need to assemble your sign base together. Lay your boards down on a flat surface so that they are parallel to one another. Then you will take your 1x2x6 pieces and glue and nail them in place.

This is what you want the front of your board to look like once it’s put together.

Next you want to paint each piece a different color. I painted the front and the sides, just not the back of this particular piece. I painted the top board white, the middle board light pink, and the bottom board dark pink.

After your paint is totally dry you can apply your stencils. I recommend taping off the edges after you get your stencils down. I wanted mine lined on the left side but you can place yours anywhere on the base.

Now it’s time to paint the lettering using your cosmetic sponge. First lightly dab the flat end of your sponge into the gray paint, you want VERY LITTLE paint on your sponge. If you get too much paint it will bleed under your stencil. Now dab your gray paint very lightly onto the letters.

To achieve the darkness of the gray on mine I did two coats of gray paint. You want to be able to see through the first layer. Once the first layer is dry you can dab on a second layer of paint, still keep it very ligh

This is what you want your first coat to look like. And below is what your stencils should look like after you get your second coat on.

After you paint your second coat peel your stencil up and discard it.

Distress your edges using sand paper or your palm sander. I used my Ryobi cordless sander for this step but I wanted to show how to use just a piece of sandpaper for this tutorial.

Measure out a piece of twine and staple it to the back of your sign so it drapes over the opposite corner of your lettering, mine is on the right side. You’ll want to pull this so that there isn’t any slack.

Now just glue your cardstock hearts to your twine and you’re done!

DIY Valentine's Caterpillar, easy simple step by step tutorial

Quick and simple crafts…I love them! Especially when they are quick crafts for the kiddos. Let’s face it their attention span isn’t always the longest and usually half way through the craft they’ve already found something shiny to play with on the other side of the room.

This project won’t take up a ton of their time and will most definitely be a sweet keepsake for you for years to come.

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Here’s what you’ll need

• piece of paper, we used cardstock

• black marker

• googly eyes

• glue stick

• valentine themed stickers

• heart cut outs,. I used my Cricut to make ours but you can make your own by hand

Start by cutting out your hearts. I used my Cricut Explore to do this task. I absolutely LOVE my Cricut machines, and have been using one for MANY years.

Next, using your marker, draw a line horizontally on your paper. I did this to keep the hearts straight on the paper.

Starting on the left glue several hearts one after the other on to the paper till you’ve reached the end of your line.

Using a slightly larger heart for the head of the caterpillar, glue that under the first heart on the left and slightly tilted like above.

Draw two lines going out of the top for the antennas.

Glue on the eyes then draw on the smile with the marker.

Add a couple tiny hearts {I cut these from larger ones} to the antennas, draw on some feet, and add any other little accents to your page and your done.

See I told you that would be sooooo super easy!! Your kiddos can even do this one all by themselves.