DIY 2x4 chunky wood flag

HOW TO MAKE A PRIMITIVE AMERICAN FLAG

I love a good scrap wood project. That was the inspiration behind this DIY chunky wood flag. I have shelves full of scrap pieces of wood in my workshop, aka my garage lol! I just can’t bring myself to toss out perfectly good pieces of future projects. I had been wanting to make one of these 2x4 flags for a while now and since we are all on lockdown I thought now would be the perfect time to make one and share the DIY with you all.

I didn’t just use a 2x4 to create this wooden flag. I also used a scrap piece of 2x6 that we have loads of leftover from a bunkbed project we made for our four daughters. And when I say we I really mean that my husband made because I pretty much just stood there and handed him things as he needed them.

If you don’t have all the tools to make this project happen grab your DIY CRAFT KIT HERE

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.

Be sure to check out a few of my other 4th of July patriotic themed projects: RAG WREATH, LEANING PORCH SIGN, and this HANGING WOOD FLAG

MAKE YOUR OWN RUSTIC WOOD AMERICAN FLAG

Here’s what you’ll need

• 2x4x5.5

• 2x6x5

• red, white, and blue acrylic paint

• paint brushes

• sand paper

• masking tape

• 1.4” wide star cutout

• pencil

Helpful tools

• Cricut cutting machine

• Cricut Design Space

• Cricut cutting mat

• Ryobi miter saw

• Ryobi sander

ONE- If you didn’t grab a DIY craft kit the first thing you want to do is cut your wood pieces. Use your miter saw to cut the 2x4 to 5.5” and the 2x6 to 5”. You will place the 2x6 on it’s side so that it stands 5.5” tall. Use your sander to give them a quick sanding. I use a cordless Ryobi sander and really love it! Then wipe all the sawdust off with a lint free cloth.

TWO- Paint the 2x4 completely blue. You will have to wait for the front to dry before you can start painting the back. Since this is a dark color one coat should be enough but you can paint a second coat if you aren’t happy with the coverage.

THREE- Paint the 2x6 completely white. Wait for the front to dry before you paint the back. After all sides have dried you’ll want to paint a second coat of white paint to get a good coverage. Let dry.

FOUR- Take your cardstock star cutout and trace around it with a pencil in three places on the front side. I staggered mine because I like that look but you can place yours wherever you’d like. Try to trace lightly so that it’s easier to paint over. Using a small paint brush paint inside the star outline. A thin layer works best so you don’t have streaking. Paint a second layer once that layer is dry.

FIVE- After your white block is totally dry you can start painting on your stripes. To get even stripes you want to use masking tape. Be sure your block is standing at 5.5” tall before you start applying your tape. If you are using .75” masking tape you will want to start at the top and apply a piece of tape all the way around but apply your tape so that it hangs off the top slightly. This way you aren’t left with a super thin stripe on the bottom. This first piece of tape is called your spacer piece.

Then take another piece of tape and apply it directly below your spacer piece. Remove your spacer piece and then apply it directly below that second piece of tape. You will do this the whole way down your 2x6. This is what it should look like when you’re done.

SIX- This step isn’t 100% necessary but it does help with reducing paint bleed. Take your white paint brush and paint a super thin layer of paint where the tape and the wood meet, the seam. Let dry.

SEVEN- Where the wood is exposed paint that red. Let dry then paint a second coat. While the paint is still wet peel up all the tape. Let dry.

EIGHT- After your blocks are dry you’ll want to distress them. Take a piece of sandpaper, or your orbit sander, and distress both blocks. You want to focus on the edges and then lightly go over the front, back, and sides. When you’re finished distressing you want to wipe the dust off with a lint free cloth.

Enjoy your new American flag décor! Like with all of my DIY projects if you have any questions please feel free to ask.

DIY Dollar Tree St. Patrick's Day rag wreath

How to make a rag wreath using a Dollar Tree wire wreath form

I LOVE shopping at the Dollar Tree. When they put one in our small town my girls and I were EX-CI-TED! It’s not that we lived too far away from the next Dollar Tree but it is so nice to have one that is just a couple minutes away vs having to get on the highway and drive 25+ minutes, we are loving this convenience! I don’t buy everything from the Dollar Tree though, but there are several things I do prefer to pick up from here like wire wreath forms. Here’s my list of the top 15 craft supplies I buy from the Dollar Tree.

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.

There are so many different types of wreaths you can make with the wire wreath forms but my absolute favorite are the rag wreaths. They are so beautifully imperfect and they tie in nicely with my rustic/inexpensive style lol! This is my third rag wreath I’ve posted here on my blog. My first one was this super country cottage chic spring wreath. I really wanted to put it up for Valentine’s day this year but decided against it since it has bunnies for one of the prints. My second rag wreath was this rustic but patriotic red, white, and blue one.

For my St. Patrick’s Day rag wreath, or tied fabric wreath as some call it, I wanted to add a little sign that said welcome. I admit I took the easy way out and didn’t stencil the sign, I made a vinyl decal instead. It is far easier to make these they just don’t last as long as the fully painted signs I create and ship world wide in my handmade business. Check out my handmade signs here. If you’ve been dreaming of making your own hand painted wooden signs but you keep running into problems my sign painters e-course is for you!

Check out the rag wreath video tutorial or keep scrolling for written/picture instructions.

Here’s what you’ll need to make your own St. Patrick’s Day rag wreath

• wire wreath form

• fabric (fat quarters are great for this)

• scissors

• 2 foam shamrocks (I got mine from the Dollar Tree but these are very similar on Amazon if you can’t find them at DT)

• soft wire

• piece of wood

• Oracal 651 in green (mine came from this 651 bundle)

• transfer tape ( I used contact paper for this tutorial)

• WELCOME decal (you can get my free Cricut cut file here)

• piece of 4” burlap

• hot glue gun

• gorilla glue sticks

• white paint

Helpful tools

• wire cutters

• Cricut cutting machine (I used a Cricut Explore)

• Cricut cutting mat

• Cricut Design Space

• xacto knife

DIY rag wreath for ST. Patrick’s Day

One-

Unfold your fabric. Then about ever 1” or so cut a small slit on one side of the fabric. Now rip those 1” sections so that you have a bunch of strips of fabric. Repeat this step for all of your pieces of fabric. I’ve found fat quarters that you get from Walmart work really well for these wreaths.

Two-

Cut your ripped fabric strips into 3-4 inch pieces. These don’t have to be perfect, mine are never the exact same size.

Three-

Tie your pieces in a single knot onto your wire wreath form. This took me about 45 minutes to complete.

Four-

Once you have all of your fabric pieces tied onto your wire wreath form you flip your wreath over. Then push any long fabric pieces back on to the front.

Five-

Set your wreath to the side so you can start on your welcome sign that is going to attach to the front. I used a piece of scrap wood I had in the garage from a previous project. Paint the base white, I used two coats of paint to get a good coverage. Be sure you let both coats dry completely before moving on to step 6.

Six-

Instead of stenciling this sign I applied a vinyl decal. I used my Cricut to cut out my vinyl decal. You can get my WELCOME Cricut cut file here.

Seven-

I bought a package of foam green clovers at my local Dollar Tree last year and thought these would be super cute to add to one side of my welcome sign. They were the same size so I trimmed down the shamrock I wanted to place on the top so that you could see a little bit the bottom shamrock showing through the edge. I did this same technique on this Rae Dunn inspired fall burlap leaf garland. Then I glued the two together and glued them down to the end of the sign.

Eight-

Attach your sign to your wreath. To do this I used a soft wire but I have no idea where I got it from. I would also recommend a floral wire for this step. I drilled holes in the top corners of my sign and used a small piece of wire to attach it to the wreath. Make a U shape to your wire, place one end of the wire in the hole of the sign and feed it to the back then twist the two ends together on the back side so you can’t see them once your wreath is hanging. Do this for both sides of your welcome sign to attach it to your wreath.

Nine-

I finished my wreath off with a 4” wide piece of burlap so I could hang it up. I didn’t really like the knot I made in the burlap so I wanted to hide it lol. I just took another piece of wire and secured the knot to the back of the wreath.

Now you're ready to hang your wreath for St. Patrick’s Day. I hope you enjoyed this crafty DIY. If you did and make your own St. Patty’s Day wreath I’d love to see pictures of it. As always with all of my tutorials, if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask:)!

Happy crafting!

Want instant access to my FREE RESOURCE LIBRARY? This is where I share my freebies of cut files, printables, checklists and more. Leave your info below and I will send you the password and link to get instant access into my library.

DIY mini St. Patrick's Day wood tags

DIY MINI WOOD TAGS FOR ST. PATRICK’S DAY

If you’ve been reading my blog you might know that my four daughters have been asking me to decorate more for the holidays…including St. Patrick’s Day decorations. Yes, that is a holiday they think I should decorate for too lol! So they win. I’ve truly been making an effort to have a more festive home even though daughter #4 totally rearranges everything.

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 have been eyeing these adorable mini wood tags on Pinterest for forever now. They are CUTE! They tie in with pretty much anything. You can add these wood tags to a wreath, to a welcome sign, on the mantle (I really wish we had one but I’ll just have to make a faux mantle one of these days) or my favorite- to a tiered tray. Those trays are seriously rustic home décor overload! I love them!! I need to add one to my coffee bar soon.

If you’re looking for fun green holiday themed to make with the kiddos try this easy St. Patrick’s Day suncatcher.

To make this completely from scratch at home you’ll need a few power tools. But, if you don’t have power tools to DIY this craft from start to finish you can grab a DIY CRAFT KIT here. I haven’t always been super comfortable using power tools, actually I was deathly afraid of them not too long ago. Now that I’m over my power tool phobia here’s what I recommend for DIY crafters.

DIY St. Patrick’s Day Wood Tags

Here’s what you’ll need

• mini wood tags

• stencil material

• transfer tape

• white paint

• 3 shades of green paint

• sandpaper

• antiquing wax

• chip brush

• paint brush

• stenciling sponge

• twine

• masking tape

• vinyl squeegee

• CRICUT FILE- four leaf clover

If you’d like the same file I used to create this set of 3 mini wood St. Patrick’s Day tags you can get my Cricut file here. It’s in my FREE resource library. It’s where I keep all of my FREEBIES like files, printables, patterns, and more. You’ll need the password because I like to keep it a little bit secret but no worries it’s super easy to get. Jut fill out the prompt and you'll get instant access.

Other helpful tools I used

• Ryobi miter saw

• Ryobi sander

• Cricut cutting machine

• Cricut Access

• Cricut cutting mat

Watch the video or keep scrolling for step by step written/photo instructions for these wood St. Patrick’s Day tags.

Cutting your wood pieces

1. First you want to cut out your wood tags. I used my Ryobi miter saw to do this. Cut a 1x4 in to 3 5” long pieces. On the top of each 5” piece measure in 1” and make a mark. Set your miter saw to 45 degrees, line it up with your 1” mark and cut. Flip your tag over and do the same to the other side.

2. Now drill a hole in the middle of the top of each piece. This is for your twine holder to go through.

3. After you have that done give each piece a quick sanding. You don’t have to get crazy with this, it’s not a fine piece of furniture. I use 120 grit sandpaper for this and that’s it. Just enough to take off that shine it has when you get it from the lumberyard.

   WATCH THE VIDEO OF HOW I MADE THESE USING MY MITER SAW

Stencils

You can use any cutting machine to create your stencils. I use my Cricut Explore to make all of mine. If you use a Cricut you can get my cutting file here. I use Oramask stenciling film to make my stencils. While it is a little more expensive than other materials I have found it works the absolute best for stenciling.

Painting (the fun part!)

1. First a thin layer of white paint on each wood tag. Be sure it is a thin layer, you will still be able to see the wood grain through the paint. After the first thin layer is dry you can paint a second thin layer. You don’t want more than two layer of base paint on your wooden tags, or any painted wood sign. Too much paint will cause issues when stenciling with base paint peel up, which can be impossible to fix sometimes and honestly it just plain sucks to have to go back and fix.

2. After your base paint is completely dry you can apply your stencils to all three wood blanks. Apply your transfer tape to your stencils (if you bought my DIY CRAFT KIT this step has already been done for you). Peel the paper backing from your stencil/transfer tape. Go slow. Place your stencils sticky side down on the front of your painted wood tag. The front is just whichever side you prefer best ;). Using your vinyl squeegee, if you don’t have one you can use a plastic store rewards card, and rub the stencil to that it adheres to the wood. Slowly peel the transfer tape away from the wood leaving your stencil attached to the wood. I find that it works best when I roll the transfer tape away, check out this DIY PAINTED WOOD SIGN TUTORIAL for a closer look at how to do this.

3. Use masking tape to tape off the edges of your stencil so you don’t get paint on areas of the wood tags that you don’t want paint on.

4. Cut your stenciling sponge in half so you can use it in all three paint colors without mixing the colors.

5. Using one end of one of the sponges dip it in the lightest color of green. You need very little paint, the more paint you use the more paint bleed you will likely have. Dab your sponge onto one of your wood blocks where the clover is exposed on the wood. The coverage should be VERY faint. Let that dry and repeat up to three times. You don’t want to apply more than three coats as this could cause issues with paint peel up where you just stenciled.

6. Peel up your stencil and tape. Using an xacto knife helps to remove the middle piece of the clover.

7. Repeat steps 5 & 6 for your other two wood tag bases.

8. Let them dry.

Distressing

After your paint completely dries from stenciling you can start distressing your wood St. Patrick’s Day tags. I LOVE using antiquing wax for this process. Antiquing wax comes in a several different colors but my favorite its definitely the regular antiquing wax. Learn more about how to transform your DIY farmhouse style crafts with antiquing wax.

1. Using sand paper or your sander give a quick sanding to the edges, corners, and lightly on the front of each wooden tag. Wipe off and dust.

2. Take your chip brush and lightly dip it into your antiquing wax. Dab off the excess, a little wax goes a very long way. Much like you did with the sandpaper, focus on brushing the wax on the edges, corners, and lightly on the front of your wooden tags.

Adding twine

Probably the easiest step is adding the twine. Decide how long you would like your twine hangers to be. I think I measured mine at 12” or so. You’ll need 3 pieces, one for each wood tag. Feed one piece of twine through the hole in one of the wood tags then tie it in a knot.

You’re ready to display your St. Patrick’s Day wood tags in your home. I know it may seem like a lot of steps written out but really these are super easy and quick to DIY once you get going on them.

Like with all of my DIY tutorials if you have any questions please reach out. Leave a comment below or send me a message on one of my social media pages. You can find my links at the top.

Happy Crafting!

Do you love freebies? Don’t forget to check out my FREE RESOURCE LIBRARY. It’s where I keep all of my FREE printables, files, and more. Go here to get instant access to my library

DIY faux leather hair bows using your Cricut

How to make FAUX LEATHER BOWS for Valentine’s Day

For Valentine’s Day this year I thought it would be so cute if daughter #4 and her BFF had matching hairbows. And I thought it would be even more adorable if there was a little bow themed Valentine’s Day card to go with them! I looked a little on Pinterest for a cute little printable to download and didn’t have much luck. So, I went ahead and made my own and I’m sharing the download with you! Click here to get the instant access to my Valentine’s Day Printable.

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.

You can get the FREE VALENTINE’S DAY PRINTABLE HERE. It is in my FREE RESOURCE LIBRARY along with all of my other freebies. Just enter your info and you’ll get the password immediately for instant access!

I’ve left the bottom blank so your sweet kiddo can write their own name in the space to the right of the little pink heart.

After you make these cute little faux leather hairbows check out this fun VALENTINE’S DAY CRAFT to make with your little one. DIY VALENTINE CATERPILLAR

USE YOUR CRICUT TO MAKE FAUX LEATHER VALENTINE’S HAIR BOWS

Here’s what you’ll need

• CRICUT CUTTING MACHINE (I use an older explore)

• PURPLE CRICUT MAT

• FAUX LEATHER

• HOT GLUE

• HOT GLUE GUN

• E-6000

• HAIR CLIP

• CRICUT BOW FILE

• WHITE CARDSTOCK

• FREE VALENTINE PRINTABLE

  *****CRICUT EXPLORE USERS if you are using the older machine (not the maker) you will need to get the DEEP CUT BLADE & THE DEEP CUT BLADE HOUSING*****

You will also need

• CRICUT DESIGN SPACE

• CRICUT ACCESS ( this isn’t a must but if you have a Cricut Access membership the template I’m using is included. Otherwise you can purchase a file to use or create your own)

CRICUT USER TIP- if you have Cricut Access you get 10% off in their SHOP NOW section AND you also get FREE US SHIPPING! I’ve found that it is actually much cheaper to purchase directly from Cricut than to buy off of Amazon or in the craft stores (which is usually the most expensive option).

Before giving these as Valentine’s Day gifts you will need to let the glue cure on them for 24 hours. E6000 takes a VERY long time to dry and it need to dry undisturbed. I’ve made the mistake of being impatient and not letting the bow fully dry and my hairbow completely fell apart :(!! Don’t be like me lol!

1. CUT OUT YOUR TEMPLATE

Grab the link to the template here

Open Cricut design space and go to Cricut’s ready to make projects.In the search bar type in PEBBLED and a project called PEBBLED LEATHER BOW should pull up. Click that project then click CUSTOMIZE. You will want to resize this so that it will be larger.

Once your project is open you want to GROUP the 3 pieces together. This will take the guess work out of resizing each piece. The piece that looks like an actual bow you want to resize that to 3.5”. You will have to do this manually so be sure your gridlines are on to make this easier.

If you want to cut the pieces out on to different colors of faux leather be sure to make them different colors in design space so they will automatically be positioned onto different mats.

Now click make it. Check that the MIRROR is turned ON. Then click CONTINUE. If you are using an older machine like the EXPLORE be sure you are using a DEEP CUT BLADE and the DEEP CUT BLADE HOUSING. You will want your machine to be set to CUSTOMIZED and I’ve had good luck with the FAUX LEATHER setting.

Because this is heavier material you will want to use Cricut’s PURPLE MAT. This is their strong hold mat. Place your faux leather PRINT SIDE DOWN. Load your mat into your machine and hit GO. If you need to you can adjust the cutting pressure of your machine if you need a little more/little less pressure.

2. ASSEMBLE YOUR BOW PIECES

Now you can assemble your cute little hair bow! First, plug in your glue gun. This glue WON’T hold your bow together but we are using this to temporarily hold the pieces together because E6000 is kind of messy and a pain in the butt to work with sometimes and it can be super slippery so your bow pieces will want to slide everywhere. So by using the hot glue gun we can tack the pieces in place then go back and add the E600 to permanently hold the bow together.

Once your hot glue gun has heated up you want to glue the piece together that looks like a pair of glasses. Just a dab of hot glue will be fine, just enough to hold it in place.

Then place the bow on top of bottom piece using hot glue between the pieces to hold it in place.

Next glue the clip onto the back side of the bottom piece. Now you will take the last piece to the bow and wrap it around the bow and clip. First, open the clip and be sure to keep it open while doing this step. Add a small amount of hot glue to the center of the clip, place one end of the rectangle piece where the glue is and wrap it around the bow and glue it in place with E6000 when you come to the end. It is much easier to show you how to do this step than to explain it lol!

The hot glue is a temporary hold. It will not last, no matter what type of hot glue you use (trust me I’ve tried lol!!). To get a permanent hold go back and add E6000 to the areas you used hot glue. Obviously you won’ be able to get to every little area but you’ll be able to get close enough for a permanent hold. I will warn you E6000 is SUPER MESSY and has a weird smell. If it helps to keep the mess down use a toothpick to get the glue where you need it to go.

3. LET IT DRY

I know it’s really hard to walk away from a project and let it dry but these will take a long time to dry because of the E6000. They need about 24 hours of drying time.

4. ADD THE BOWS TO YOUR PRINTABLE VALENTINES

Download the FREE VALENTINE PRINTABLE. Print it out on cardstock. I chose white cardstock but you can print it on any color of cardstock paper you’d like. Cut the printable on the gray lines that are going down the middle of both sides of the printable.

I’ve left the bottom area of each valentine blank so your little one can add their own name. Now would be a great time to let them sign the cards. My sweet girl had the best time writing her name. We’ve been working on that lately so this was a perfect opportunity for her to show off her newly learned skills! Look how adorable she is!!

After your faux leather hairbows have dried you can attach them to your valentines. I recommend cutting a small slit just below the letter S in sweet. I cut mine halfway between the word sweet and the heart (you can use a small box cutter like I did or an xacto knife would work great too). Then slip the bottom part of the clip through to the back of the valentine, leaving the bow part on top.

Your valentines are ready to hand out. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and as always if you have any questions please feel free to reach out and ask

DIY wood block snowmen ornaments, DAY 6

DIY wooden snowmen Christmas ornaments

Day 6 of 30 days of DIY Christmas ornaments

Day 6 of my 30 days of DIY Christmas ornaments I made these cute wood block snowmen! They were SO SIMPLE and they were SO QUICK to make too! I haven’t made these with my four daughters yet but they are definitely on the list of Christmas ornaments to make with them.

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. This is just a way I can help add to our family finances to raise our four daughters. Please know I would never recommend a product or service I do not totally stand behind

To make this DIY craft even easier for you I put together a DIY CHRISTMAS SNOWMEN ORNAMENT CRAFT KIT. I know not everyone can use or has access to power tools like the ones I use in my crafty tutorials. So with some of my more popular projects you can purchase a DIY craft kit so you can make your own at home. Leave all the cutting and presanding to me, you take care of all the creativity to really make it come to life.

Watch the video tutorial or keep scrolling to read how to make your own wooden snowman ornament

Here’s what you’ll need to make your own wood snowmen Christmas ornaments

• DIY CRAFT KIT

OR if not snagging your own craft kit here’s a list of all the supplies you'll need

• 2”x2” piece of wood, I use pine

• miter saw {I use this RYOBI miter 12” slider to cut all of my projects and LOVE it!}

• sander {I use this cordless orbit sander from ROYBI and LOVE it too!}

• white acrylic paint

• black acrylic paint

• orange acrylic paint

• paint brushes

• screw eyes

• twine

The first thing you need to do is to cut your piece of wood in to cubes. The wood I used is called a 2”x2”, it actually measures approx. 1.5”x1.5” lumber measures weird like that lol! So, I cut 4 pieces into 1.5” cubes. The miter saw I use has a ruler on the side of it to make measuring super easy. If you are looking into getting power tools I wrote this post for crafters about what kinds of power tools you need. I used to use my husband’s power tools and I am SO glad I finally purchased my very own set. I am a huge fan of RYOBI power tools and recommend them to any fellow crafter.

Next, you want to give your wooden blocks a quick sanding. I use 120 grit sandpaper for this. You can use a regular piece of sandpaper for this step but using a power tool sander is much faster.

After you give your blocks a quick sanding be sure to wipe the sawdust off of them. Then paint them with a thin layer of white acrylic paint. Once that layer is completely dry you can paint a second thin layer of white acrylic paint to give it a little better coverage. Think of this like when you paint your nails, you apply a thin base coat first then once that dries you apply a second coat to get a good even coverage.

Let the white paint dry. After it dries you can paint on the face. I used orange and black acrylic paint for this step BUT you could totally use paint markers or even an orange and black sharpies for this step and they would turn out just as cute!

If you want to add little accent dots to the snowman’s eyes just use the end of your paint brush. Lightly dip it into your white acrylic paint and dab on where you would like the accent dot to go.

Add a 3/4” screw eye to the top middle of your wood snowman ornament. I just eyeballed mine but if you want to get an exact measurement then you could find the middle by making an X going from cross corner to cross corner. Where the lines meet that’s where the middle is.

Loop a piece of twine through the screw eye then tie it in a knot. You’re ready to hang this adorable little wooden snowman set on your Christmas tree. This is such an easy ornament to make with the kids too! Not a whole lot of skill is required making it perfect for little ones.

As always, if you have any questions please reach out and ask:)! You can leave a comment below or send me a message on any of my social media platforms {links are above}

DIY wood spool ornament, DAY 5

DIY WOOD SPOOL CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT

Day 5 of 30 days of DIY Christmas ornaments

Hey guys! Day 5 of 30 days of DIY Christmas ornaments is a really special one for me. I have several of these old wood spools that were given to me by my grandma, the mother of all things crafty! This women could paint a masterpiece with mud and sew like no ones business! She was the most talented and creative soul I have ever met in my lifetime and I’m thankful to have been given a small fraction of her wonderful God given talents.

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. This is just a way I can help add to our family finances to raise our four daughters. Please know I would never recommend a product or service I do not totally stand behind.

In her old sewing basket she had held on to some super old wooden thread spools. Did I mention my grandma also kept everything??? I think this is a crafter gene lol! Must not throw anything away because you just never know when you’ll need it! So these little wooden beauties were among the wonderful treasures she kept in her old wicker sewing basket. I, of course, could not ever get rid of such gems! So they’ve been sitting in that basket till now. I didn’t want to alter them too much so painting them was out of the question. But glue a piece of fabric would cause too much damage so I thought ‘why not make a fun little Christmas ornament out of a couple of them?’ And so I did!

Day 5 of DIY Christmas ornaments is probably the easiest ornament I’ve made so far on my 30 days of ornament making. If you can use a glue gun and thread a bead you are a shoe in!

You can watch the WOOD SPOOL DIY CHRISTMAS ORNMENT video

Here’s what you’ll need to make your own wood spool DIY Christmas ornament

• 2 old wood spools

• 3 wood beads

• scrap fabric

• thin ribbon

• scissors

• hot glue gun

• mini hot glue sticks

First you need to cover your wood spools in fabric. I used a scrap piece of fabric I had left over from when I made this DIY 4TH OF JULY TIE RAG WREATH. I don’t think I included this particular fabric in my tie wreath but I bought it the the intent to use it for that lol. It never hurts to have extra pretty fabrics on hand!

Cut your fabric piece so it’s the size of the middle party of your wooden spool. I really like the frayed edges so I cut a tiny slit in the fabric then I ripped it the rest of the way to give it that frayed look.

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If you are more of a visual learner {this is totally me!} be sure to check out my YouTube channel. This is THE hub I use to hold all of my DIY CRAFTY VIDEO TUTORIALS

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Then glue your fabric pieces to your wood thread spools. I used as little glue as possible for this so I didn’t ruin the wooden spool.

*crafty tip- if you are making this with little ones be sure you are using a LOW temp glue gun. I have found that using the mini glue guns they don’t get as hot as the larger full sized glue guns.

I added a small ribbon bow around the larger of the two wood spools. I didn’t want them to look identical and thought this little bow broke it up just enough.

Now your DIY wood spool Christmas ornament is ready to put together. The wooden beads I used I had already painted from a previous project I did, unfortunately I don’t have a tutorial for this :/ but it’s super easy to paint them. I used white acrylic paint and painted two thin coats on each bead. To make it even easier I set the beads on the tip of an xacto knife to hold on to it while I painted. I just placed the sharp pointy end of the xacto knife in the hole of the bead and it was perfect!

You’ll need to cut a piece of ribbon that is 3x the length of what your ornament will be. Thread on one of your painted beads on the bottom, leaving an inch or so. Then tie the bottom piece of the ribbon in a couple of knots. Next place the knot so that it is just under the opening of the hole on the bead, apply a decent sized drop of hot glue and let it dry completely. This will keep your ornament from falling apart.

I tried to just tie a ton of knots that I thought were bigger than the hole of the wood bead but the giant knot kept slipping through, so I gave up and the hot glue worked SO much better!

After the hot glue is dry you can string on the rest of the pieces of your ornament. Here’s the order mine were in from top to bottom

• bead

• wood spool

• bead

• wood spool

• bead

Then tie what’s left of the ribbon on the top part of the ornament into a loop. Be sure you don’t pull the ribbon clean through the wood spools and beads. I held the ribbon at the base of then pulled it tight.

And that’s it. Your DIY wood spool Christmas ornament is finished:)!! I hope you enjoyed this easy craft tutorial and I would LOVE to hear how yours turns out if you make your own.

If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to me. Leave a comment below or send me an email.

Check out more posts below

DIY mason jar lid snowman Christmas ornament, DAY 4

How to make a super cute snowman Christmas ornament from a mason jar lid

Day 4 of DIY Christmas Ornaments

Day of 4 of DIY Christmas ornaments is this super easy and adorable mason jar lid snowman. He is complete with a mini set of mittens and a cute little pair of earmuffs! This little guy was really simple to make and is a great use for all those extra lids from your mason jar crafts. And if you follow me on here at all I’m not shy about my love for mason jars! I’ve always loved them, even before they were all mainstream 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. This is just a way I can help add to our family finances to raise our four daughters. Please know I would never recommend a product or service I do not totally stand behind.

If you missed the first few days of my 30 DAYS OF DIY CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS be sure to click here to see the full list of make your own ornaments

If you love mason jars as much as I do be sure to check out my DIY MASON JAR CRAFTS for more inspiration.

Check out the snowman mason jar lid video tutorial below or keep scrolling to read the step by step instructions.

Here’s what you’ll need to make your own mason jar lid snowman for your Christmas tree.

• regular mouth mason jar lid

• white chalk paint

• fabric scissors

• craft scissors

• paint brush

• mini pompoms

• paint pens

• orange acrylic paint

• felt

• pipe cleaner

• decorative ribbon

• glue gun

First you want to paint the bottom side of your mason jar lid {the non silver side}. I used chalk paint to paint mine but any kind of white paint should work fine, even spray paint.

First you want to paint the bottom side of your mason jar lid {the non silver side}. I used chalk paint to paint mine but any kind of white paint should work fine, even spray paint.

While your mason jar lid is drying cut out the tiny mittens from felt. I free handed this step and they were actually pretty easy to make. So that they would match I used the first one I cut out as my template to cut out the second one.

Now measure about half way around your mason jar lid for the ear muffs using your pipe cleaner. Then cut it to size with your craft scissors.

I know it’s hard to tell in the picture but I used a black paint marker, or paint pen, to draw on the eyes and the mouth. I LOVE these paint pens and I actually use them more than I thought I would for crafts like on this DIY PERSONALIZED MASON JAR LID. They come in hand for all kinds of projects. If you want to add little accent dots on the eyes with white paint be sure to do so when the black paint is all the way dry. I made the mistake and rushed that step and you can totally see the ugly error.

I painted on my snowman’s nose but if I had an orange paint pen I would have use that instead to create the nose. If you use paint it takes VERY LITTLE .You can vaguely see the little orange dot on the paper towel, that’s what I used to dip my paint brush in to paint the nose. And I didn’t even use very much of it.

Then glue down the earmuffs. You want to glue the pipe cleaner to the mason jar lid first then glue the mini pompoms down on each end of the pipe cleaner. {btw my 10 year old daughter totally had to tell me I’ve been spelling pompoms wrong lol! I was spelling them as 2 words which is clearly wrong. Hey, I’m a really great crafter lol spelling isn’t really my strong suit}.

Next, glue on your snowman’s gloves. I faced the gloves so that the thumbs were facing in which if you do that to yourself is wrong but trust me they actually look better facing the wrong direction

Last, loop a piece of ribbon and glue it to the back of your snowman mason jar lid. For extra support I recommend gluing a piece of felt over it. I cut mine in the shape of a heart so it looked pretty instead of just a circle or a misshaped cut piece of felt. You can also write on the back of the ornament who made it and what year with your paint pen.

Now your adorable snowman is ready to hang on your Christmas tree! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and you make wonderful memories with your kiddos making these for your own tree. If you have any questions about this crafty tutorial or any others I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment below or send me an email.

Check out more Christmas posts below.

DIY personalized mason jar lid ornament using buffalo plaid - DAY 3

DIY rusty canning jar lid ornament, personalized on buffalo plaid

Day 3 of DIY Christmas Ornaments

Day 3 of my 30 days of DIY Christmas ornaments…PERSONALIZED RUSTY MASON JAR LID ORNAMENT. I don’t know about you but I have a HUGE abundance of old mason jar lids. I save them from the hand painted mason jars I create and ship out in my Etsy shop. Here’s a tutorial I made for this adorable snowman painted mason jar set that is super popular in my shop.

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. This is just a way I can help add to our family finances to raise our four daughters. Please know I would never recommend a product or service I do not totally stand behind.

—-> Check out other DIY mason jar crafts <—-

Here is day 1 of the 30 days of DIY Christmas ornaments - DIY SCRAP FABRIC CHRISTMAS TREE

I really enjoyed making this personalized ornament for my family Christmas tree. So much so that I am going to make these as gifts for loved ones and teachers/school staff gifts! There were so easy and actually super quick to make.

If you’re a seasoned crafter you probably have everything you need to make this DIY mason jar lid ornament. But if not I will leave links to everything you’ll need to create your own canning lid Christmas ornament.

Here’s what you’ll need

• Cricut cutting machine

• Cricut Design Space

• HAND TYPE FONT

• Cricut cutting mat

• regular mouth canning rings/lids

• buffalo plaid fabric

• fabric scissors

• Oramask stencil film

• contact paper

• paint marker

• vinyl squeegee

• hot glue gun

• twine

• xacto knife

Check out the video tutorial from my YouTube channel or keep scrolling to read the written tutorial

First you want to create your stencil on your Cricut Design Space. I used the font HAND TYPEWRITER because I really like how this one looks. I use it often for different DIY craft projects I make. I made a circle that is the same size as the mason jar lid I used, 2.5”. Then I typed out my text, on two separate lines and I made my BOLD TYPE. Welded them together. I made it 2” wide. Then positioned it on the circle I offset it slightly so that there was more room on the top potion, then aligned the circle and text so they would align HORIZONTALLY. Then used the SLICE button to slice the font out of the circle. And sent it to my mat to cut.

I cut it out on STENCIL FILM. I know I totally could have used HTV but I wanted to try something a little different. Something a little easier, something that hasn’t been done a ton. That’s why I chose to use a paint pen/marker vs regular paint or HTV.

Then cut a square out of your fabric. I am using red buffalo plaid that I picked up from Walmart. It was in their fat quarters seasonal section. You want to cut your square larger than your lid. I cut mine a couple inches larger.

Then transfer your stencil onto your fabric. I used contact paper to transfer mine but you can use whatever material works best for you. After you place your stencil where you are happiest with it remove the transfer tape then pat the stencil down with your hand to make sure there are not any air bubbles.

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Now use your paint marker to “trace” the areas that are exposed inside the stencil. Be sure not to press too firmly as the more pressure you apply the more likely you’ll have paint bleed. If you make a mistake no worries, you can fix it later :)!!

TIP: place a paper towel under your fabric to catch any paint that might bleed through

After you have your stencil all painted in you can remove it. It should release easily from the fabric. I used an xacto knife to take out the middle pieces. It does a great job at lifting them up with the sharp point.

Take your marker and fill in any areas that didn’t get good coverage. This does not have to look perfect. I actually LOVE that mine came out super imperfect. It gives it so much character and a more handmade Christmas ornament look and feel to it.

Place your fabric over the metal mason jar lid then place both inside the mason jar ring. You can gently pull the fabric to center it where you want it on the mason jar ornament.

Once you have the fabric where you want it glue it in place on the backside using your hot glue gun. You’ll want to glue fairly close to where the lid, fabric, and ring meet. This will give it a more secure hold. Glue all the way around the ring.

After the glue is dry trim away any fabric that hangs over the ring. Be sure not to trim it too closely to the lid part of your mason jar lid ornament. If you trim it too closely then the fabric won’t have enough of a “seam allowance” and your fabric will likely slip thru to the front of the ornament.

Add a twine hanger. I glued a piece of twine to the middle spot on the front of the ring then looped it to the back and hot glued it there as well. If I wanted a super strong hold I would have used my drill and drilled a small hole on the top and fed my twine thru there. But for not the hot glued hanger will work.

Then add a cute little twine bow. I glued mine on top of the twine I glued to the front to hide that and it worked great. Adding a simple twine bow really adds a little more rustic touch to the ornament too!

Once your hot glue is dry you’re ready to hang your mason jar ornament on your tree! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and that it inspires you to create your own DIY ornaments and so much more <3 !

Check out more Christmas posts below

DIY gnome ornament from a paint brush, DAY 2

EASY DIY GNOME CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT

Day 2 of 30 days of DIY Christmas ornaments

On the second day of DIY Christmas ornaments I turned this boring chip brush into a fun little GNOME! I really wasn’t sure how the finished product was going to look but I couldn’t get over how much the bristles on the paint brush look like a beard! More specifically an old man gnome beard lol! I had to at least try to turn it into a gnome and it actually turned out sooooo super adorable!

These brushes is what I always recommend for applying antique wax to distressed rustic looking projects. They are the same brushes I send out in my DIY CRAFT KITS so I always have a big box of them on hand.

Did you miss day 1? Not to worry! Here is DAY 1 OF DIY CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS

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. This is just a way I can help add to our family finances to raise our four daughters. Please know I would never recommend a product or service I do not totally stand behind.

Seriously these ornaments are fun to make for adults and kiddos! I could have sat there all day and created one after another <3!!

Here’s what you need to make your own little gnome Christmas ornament

• 1” chip brush

• felt

• small pom pom

• thin ribbon

• decorative ribbon

• hot glue gun

• fabric scissors

First start by tying a ribbon hanger in the hole of the paint brush so you can hang it on your tree. Then cut a piece of felt just a little wider than your chip brush. Felt can be a tricky thing to cut so I highly recommend using a good pair of fabric scissors like these —-> click here to see fabric scissors. You can use any color or pattern felt you’d like, I chose green because it’s what I had on hand that looked the most festive.

Then glue the piece of felt to your chip brush. You don’t want to pull it tight around the shape of the brush because it will look like the shape of the brush and not a gnome hat. Leave it loose around the bottom part of the brush so that it’s full there. Glue it around the metal part and the back side of the handle of the chip paint brush. You may need to trim away the excess so that it lays flat and not bunched up. {see the video above for a more detailed visual on how to do this}.

Next, trim away the extra that hangs over the tip of the chip brush, you want to leave about an inch or so overhang.

Using your thin ribbon tie a bow just above the tip of the chip paint brush to finish off the top of the hat.

Add a little 1/2” decorative ribbon around the base of the hat. This will break up the felt and give it a little more Christmas-ey look.

Then hot glue on a little nose just below the metal on the chip paint brush. Let it dry and your DIY gnome ornament is ready to hang on your Christmas tree.

These gnomes are SOOOOO easy to make and SOOOOOOOOOOO cheap too!

Let me know what you think and I’d especially LOVE if you shared pictures of your finished gnome ornament here on the blog.

DIY scrap fabric & ribbon Christmas ornament, DAY 1

DIY EASY CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT

I am SO excited about my 30 days of DIY Christmas ornaments. And first up on the list is this super cute scrap fabric Christmas Tree! There are SO many really great DIY ornament tutorials out there and I can’t wait to share with you some of my favorites my family and I have made over the years…and some new ones too!

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. This is just a way I can help add to our family finances to raise our four daughters. Please know I would never recommend a product or service I do not totally stand behind.

For this fun tree ornament I used a piece of scrap fabric, and not just any fabric I used left over fabric from a DIY Halloween costume I made for daughter # 3. I almost threw it away but I had that little crafty hoarder on my shoulder that said ‘no Megan! Keep that because you might need it later’ lol! And clearly I was glad I listened because I got to turn those scraps into a super cute Christmas ornament.

If you love DIY CHIRSTIMAS/WINTER CRAFTS here are even more DIY projects to check out click here

Here’s what you’ll need

• fabric scraps

• ribbon

• twine

• assorted buttons

• stick

• cutters (this is what I used, although it’s not the ideal tool to use)

• glue gun

• fabric scissors

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—> Want to learn how to make all those amazing hand painted signs you see everywhere? Click my SIGN PAINTERS COURSE for more details <—

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Check out the video tutorial or keep scrolling to see picture instructions. Don’t forget to stop by my YouTube channel and subscribe to keep up with all my up to date DIY crafty videos

First trim down your stick. I made mine so that it was a little wider than the width of my hand. I used wire cutters to trim mine, which truthfully wasn’t the best thing to use but it was what I had on hand and it worked.

Now cut your scrap fabric into strips. Like I said earlier, I used pieces from a costume to make mine. I cut my strips approx. 1” wide.

Cut the strips for your ribbon. I gaged about how wide I wanted my base then added about an inch. I used that piece to measure out the rest of the strips and cut them to the same size. I ended up cutting 3 strips of each ribbon but only used 2 of each.

Before I started tying the strips of fabric and ribbon onto the stick I went ahead and hot glued the buttons together. This way they were completely dry and ready when I needed them. I used 1 small white star, 1 small red button, and 1 even smaller green button. I hot glued the red button on top of the star, let that dry, then hot glued the green button on top of the red button.

Next start tying on your strips of fabric and ribbon. Be sure to leave room at the bottom for the base of the tree. Don’t pull the fabric pieces too tight. Depending on the type of fabric you are using pulling too tight can cause it to become stretched out. I’m using t-shirts scraps {from a costume I made for daughter # 3) and if pulled too tight then it would be way too stretched out and loose it’s shape.

After you have all your pieces tied to the stick you want to straight out each piece before you cut it. That way you have a nice straight tree line to cut.

Now cut your tree into the shape of a triangle. I highly recommend using fabric scissors for this step. I tried using my regular craft scissors and it totally failed {you can see it in the video at the top of the post} So I had to pull out my beloved fabric scissors and they worked SO MUCH BETTER! After you have both sides cut into the triangle shape you can trim them to make them even.

Then hot glue your buttons to the top. I glued mine to the side that didn’t show the knots. Let the glue dry. Then add your twine to hang. I glued my twine hanger around the buttons because it seemed to secure it more.

And now it’s ready to hang on your tree! I can’t wait to make more of these with my girls. When I record my DIY tutorials I don’t usually have my kiddos help, well because anxiety goes up lol. And if I let one help they ALL want to help and having 4 young kids in a small space trying to record a craft video that makes sense enough to post for the world to see is REALLY hard hahaha! In all seriousness I hope you enjoyed this crafty tutorial and be sure to check back for more 30 DAYS OF ORNAMENTS.

DIY easy dinosaur claw gloves, simple sewing project

Halloween can be a tricky thing to plan for here in the Midwest. Some years we are blessed with AMAZING weather and we don’t have to fret with lots of layers. I have to say that is not what is typical here, although that would be pretty great! Most years we are bundled up with boots, wool socks, and coats. That’s why these DIY DINOSAUR GLOVES were the perfect addition to daughter #4’s handmade costume.

—>Click here to see even more Halloween & Fall DIY projects <—

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. This is just a way I can help add to our family finances to raise our four daughters. Please know I would never recommend a product or service I do not totally stand behind.

These gloves were such a HUGE hit too! She got so many comments at how adorable her little dinosaur claws were reaching into the bowls of candy after she said “trick or treat”. And she is going to LOVE wearing them all winter long.

How to sew claws onto winter gloves

These gloves are SOOOOO super easy to make and you just need a few supplies. You can pick these up at a local store or click the links to see what I recommend to purchase online.

Here’s what you’ll need

• winter gloves

• fabric scissors

• felt

• matching thread

• sewing needle

Check out the video tutorial from my YouTube channel. Be sure to like and subscribe, this helps me so much to continue to share crafty tutorials and reach even more fellow moms and help them with their own craft projects.

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1. CUT OUT CLAWS

First, cut out one tear drop shape from your felt.

Then use that claw as your template to cut out 9 more felt dinosaur claws

2. SEW THEM ON

After you have all 10 dinosaur claws {or monster claws they can be for LOTS of different costumes} you are ready to start sewing them on. Thread your needle using your coordinating thread. Instead of placing the knot inside the glove I suggest hiding it under the dino nail.

This way the knot won’t irritate your kiddo. I know lots of kids have sensory issues, while my daughters don’t have this too bad I was one of those kids. I HATED jeans because the inseam “hurt” and I HAD to wear my socks inside out because I couldn’t handle the way that seam felt on my toes. Back then they didn’t call it sensory issues they called it being picky. So If your kiddo has any kind of sensory issue be sure to place the know on the outside, not the inside of the glove.

Now place one felt dinosaur nail on the glove so that half of it is on the glove and half is hanging off. Then stitch it on using a simple stitch. You don’t have to get fancy with the stitch, just a simple straight will be perfect for this. BE SURE YOU ARE NOT STITCHING THROUGH BOTH SIDES OF THE GLOVE. You just want to go thru the very first layer of the glove. Repeat this for all 5 dinosaur nails on the first glove.

When you get to the second glove don’t just start sewing dino claws on it. Trust me I totally made the mistake of starting on the second glove and I didn’t realize till my daughter tried them on that I had sewn claws on them and made 2 RIGHT HANDED GLOVES. So before you start the second glove lay them both out in front of you so that you have one right glove and one left glove. It totally sucked to take the claws off of the second glove right after I just thought I had finished lol!

When you have the second glove facing the correct way you can start sewing the dinosaur claws onto that glove the same way you sewed them onto the first glove.

After you finish sewing the second glove you are done! If you have any questions about this Halloween themed sewing project please reach out to me. Leave your questions below or feel free to message me.

DIY stenciled rustic fall signs

DIY painted fall signs. How to make your own farmhouse style signs for your fall themed decor. These painted tiny signs are so perfect for coffee bars, tiered trays and mantles. This trio of hello fall, give thanks, and a pumpkin are hand painted in orange, black and white, the classic fall colors. This tutorial will take you step by step on how to make your own stenciled wooden signs at home.

Don’t you just love painted mini signs?! HELLO FALL, GIVE THANKS, and a picture of a PUMPKIN just scream I LOVE FALL! I placed mine on a rustic old window frame that has candy corn burlap draped across it and OMG it looks adorable! These mini signs are also perfect for tiered trays and coffee bars. How cute would these be paired with some wood bead garland painted in fall colors?

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 plan to hang these mini fall wood signs be sure to check out my post on how to quickly and easily attach a sawtooth hanger to wooden signs.

How to make painted wood signs for fall

Here’s what you’ll need

• 3 prestained 5.5”x5.5” wood blanks

• hello fall, give thanks, pumpkin image SVG files

• oramask stencil film

• transfer tape

• paint brushes

• stenciling sponge

• orange, white, and black acrylic paint

• vinyl squeegee

• sandpaper

• xacto knife

Helpful tools

• Cricut cutting machine

• Cricut green mat

• Cricut Design Space

• Ryobi miter saw

• Ryobi sander

If you don’t have all the tools to completely make this fall craft from scratch you can order a DIY craft kit here. It comes with everything you need to make these wood signs at home.

ONE- the first thing you need to do is cut your wood into squares. I used a 1”x6” piece of pine, the actual size is 5.5” so I cut them into 5.5'“x5.5” squares. After you’ve cut and sanded your 5.5”x5.5” wood pieces stain them and let them dry for 24 hours. After they’ve dried sand around the edges, corners, and a light sanding on the front, be sure to wipe them down so you get all of the sawdust off of them. I LOVE my RYOBI CORDLESS SANDER , it is what I use for all of my wooden projects. But, if you don’t have a sander you can get the job done with 120 grit sand paper.

TWO- Cut your stencils out. If you want to use an SVG similar the ones in this tutorial you can go here to grab your SVG files. I’ve found that using true stencil film works best for stenciling wood signs. I highly recommend cutting the designs out on Oramask stencil film. I used a Cricut Explore to cut the files for this fall craft. I weeded them with an xacto knife once they were done cutting.

THREE- Now you can start painting! You want to paint each sign a different color. Start by painting a thin layer of paint on the front of each sign. You want to leave a small border around the edge. This should look kinda rough and uneven, it will give it lots of character when finished this way. Wait for the first layer to dry completely then paint a second THIN layer on top of that. I don’t recommend painting more than two layers of base paint. the more layers you have the more problems you will run into when peeling up your stencil.

Repeat this step for all 3 signs. Once they are all TOTALLY DRY you are ready for stenciling. They must be completely dry otherwise your stencil will not stick to the wood and it will be an ugly mess.

I don’t have pictures of how to do the next steps on the fall mini signs BUT I am sharing pictures of a similar craft that I made for winter themed signs. You can read the full winter themed tutorial here. Both sign trios have the same steps, the only differences are the stencils and paint colors, everything else is the same :)!

FOUR- Start by removing the paper backing from your stencil. This works best if you use a vinyl applicator {here’s what I use} or you can use a stiff store rewards card, I don’t recommend using your bank card as it could break during the process.

If you’re using your own stencils you’ll need transfer tape to transfer your stencil onto the wood in one piece.

Start by rubbing the front of the stencil with your vinyl applicator. Be sure you move in one direction.

Then flip it over and do the same to the back.

Now slowly peel the paper backing away from the stencil. This works best if you start at one corner and peel away at a sharp 90 degree angle. Go SLOW.

Before you start applying your stencils decided which stencil you will put on each board.

First, you’ll want to place your stencil where you want it on your board. I wanted mine to all be centered so that’s what I did but you can place them anywhere on the board you’d like. I just recommend keeping the image within the painted part of the wood.

Using your vinyl tool rub the stencil, using the same technique as before. Now SLOWLY peel the transfer tape {the clear sticky stuff} away from your stencil. I do this at a sharp angle and I will slowly roll it off of the stencil.

After you get the transfer tape off rub your finger along all the exposed stencil edges {anywhere there is wood showing thru}. this helps to get s good seal on your stencil.

FIVE- Now you’re ready to start painting your stencil! Use one end of your cosmetic sponge LIGHTLY dip it in the paint color you’d like your design. BE SURE TO USE VERY LITTLE PAINT, this is key to getting little to no paint bleed under your stencil. Dab the sponge on a paper towel a couple times then onto your stencil, do this till you have a very THIN even coat {you should be able to see thru the first coat}. LET DRY, repeat till you are happy with the coverage.

SIX- After you’re finished sponging the stencil you can peel it up immediately. I know all tutorials can vary with peeling the stencil up while the paint is still wet or waiting for it to dry. I have had the best luck peeling the stencil while the paint is still wet. Use an xacto knife or sewing pin to aid in this step.

As with all of my DIY tutorials if you have any questions please ask in the comments below:)

How to paint plastic flower containers for fall

One thing I really wanted for my fall porch decor were fresh mums. They are just so gorgeous and scream HELLO FALL! But the only problem was that I only had $20 to spend on things fall for our home. You can read all about how I made that happen in my budget friendly fall porch decorations.

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. This is just a way I can help add to our family finances to raise our four daughters. Please know I would never recommend a product or service I do not totally stand behind.

I headed to Walmart, because I knew I could make the most of my budget there, and found some super gorgeous deep red mums for under $5 each! The only problem was that their bases were HIDEOUS. That super undesirable dark green/brown color, yeah you know that standard plastic flower base color that all the cheap plants come in 😆!

So I thought, hey just grab a can of spray paint and paint those suckers up! And I did!

I didn’t just grab any spray paint thought. I’ve had my fair share of run ins with bad spray paint so instead of grabbing a cheap $.97 can I splurged and picked up a can of Rustoleum. Since I didn’t want the bases to be shiny, I really wanted them to be dull to tie in with the rest of the fall porch decorations I opted for the orange MATTE finish and it turned out so pretty!

Here’s what I used RUSTOLEUM ORANGE MATTE FINISH SPARY PAINT

First you need to take your plants out of the ugly containers. You’ll want to set the plants somewhere that they won’t get sprayed with the spray paint.

Then take a wet wipe or damp cloth and wipe down just the outside of the container. You won’t be painting the inside so it’s not necessary to clean the inside of it.

Next shake your paint can really really well. This is pretty important because you want the paint to get all mixed together before spraying onto the container. If not you will have streaks of off color. Trust me this has happened to me before with CLEAR satin finish spray paint. I didn’t shake it enough and I got a streak of white across my project. So shake, shake, shake!

Then in short strokes spray the containers. If you spray too long in in one spot you’ll get a runny mess. I only sprayed my bases with one coat. This spray paint is AMAZING and literally covers like heaven so one coat is all you need.

Let it dry. Ideally you want it to dry for several hours before you plant back inside. I didn’t wait that long because I was pressed for time, I was filming this tutorial for my YouTube channel. If you can wait a few hours then place your plants back inside their painted containers.

That’s it! You now have gorgeous plant containers and they didn’t cost you hardly anything to makeover! Bonus if you already have the paint on hand!

I hope this helps if you are like me and on a tight budget for the non necessities. We can stay on budget and have cute things ;)!

Happy crafting!

Decorating your porch for FALL on a BUDGET

I’ve never been one to spend a lot of money on decorations. And this year is even more a reason to keep the fall decorations budget to a minimum. My husband and I are on track to be totally debt free by the end of 2019! This is something we’ve been working on for awhile {with a few setbacks though} and we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel! So this year for the fall decorating budget we put aside $20…yes TWENTY dollars to create a beautiful fall scenery on our uncovered front porch.

And truthfully I wasn’t worried at all because I knew I could make that happen! A few things I knew I wanted were fresh mums and pumpkins. A bale of straw and some dried corn stalks would have been icing on the cake but sadly there was no room to splurge for these…maybe next year.

How to decorate your uncovered front porch on a BUDGET for fall

If you’re like me and don’t have a lot of money {or maybe nothing at all} to put toward your fall porch decorations here are some tips to help you to create a beautiful porch on a budget.

FIRST use what you have. This is a rule I use for decorating year round. If you incorporate things you already have you are literally spending nothing.

SECOND this one is a favorite of mine…if you have relatives that are tossing things out ask if you can have them. My father in law had this AMAZING pile of, well junk, on his property and every time we would go over there I would search through his junk pile lol! He gave me full permission to take whatever my little heart wanted and boy did I always find good stuff to take home. My husband didn’t always agree ha! A couple things I picked from his pile that I used in my fall porch décor

• the rusty old chair

• old broken window

Both of these things I keep on the porch year round and thank goodness I rescued them because they are absolutely perfect!

THIRD check your Facebook swap n shop pages/groups. People love getting rid of things, even for free. This is so my personality type too! When I’m tired of looking at the clutter I go in full on purge mode lol! Just this last weekend the overwhelm from daughter # 4’s bedroom was really getting to me. So, naturally like a lot of moms do, I took in the roll of trash bags and just started tossing anything and everything that I hadn’t seen her play with since the start of summer. It’s a little embarrassing but I filled 7 kitchen sized trash bags full of gently used toys and some clothes that he had outgrown.

FOURTH shop around for the best prices. Even though supporting small business is always on my mind because I own a small business, I do shop at Walmart. And I don’t feel guilty about it. One day when we are rich we will be able to shop small all day everyday but for now, while raising four daughters, I have to pick and choose when we can afford to support small business.

FIFTH make your own décor. If you’re crafty jump on some DIY PINTEREST boards to get some ideas of what to make. I suggest skimming your crafty stash to see what you have too. The OG barn wood looking sign is one I made, DIY PALLET SIGN for our front porch for fall. It’s actually a school spirit sign. We live in a pretty small town and school spirit is alive and well here. Since our school colors are orange and black I try to incorporate school spirit into our décor. It makes it a little more fun for our girls too because we are visually saying ‘go school’ and I know that’s encouraging for them. Just be sure whatever pieces you put out there that they are protected from the elements if needed. To make this sign I just used leftover pieces from other projects, check out these SCRAP WOOD PUMPKINS

Now that you have some tips on how to make the most of your budget here’s how I spent my $20 for my DIY fall porch decorating

• $3.98 large pumpkin at Walmart

• $2.98 bag of mini gourds

• $4.84 mum x2

• 3.96 orange spray paint, I only used 1/3 of it

Technically I went over the $20 by .60 BUT I do have 2/3 of a can of spray paint left over for another project, so in my mind I only spent 1/3 of the price for this project lol!!

I really wanted fresh mums but I couldn’t afford the GORGEOUS ones from the local farms. Just one mum would have taken up my entire budget. I opted for the cheapest large mums I could find at Walmart but they had UGLY bases. The green/brown color that just screams cheap flowers. I loved the more decorative bases but those too were not in the budget. Instead I grabbed a can of spray paint, and not the $1 can because I knew the coverage on that would be awful, and sprayed the bases orange in matte finish. This was the PERFECT solution!

See my video below on how to easily spray paint your ugly fall flower bases.

I’d love to hear how you are planning to decorate your front porch for fall. Leave a comment below ;)!

DIY cute ghost yard stake

How to make a super cute ghost for your outdoor Halloween decorations

Between my online business and being a mom to four little girls I seriously don’t know where I find the time to make things for myself but I do lol! Like this cute outdoor ghost stake I HAD to make for our front yard. I had been slacking the last couple years with holiday decorating. Usually I go all out but lately I just hadn’t been up to it. So for this fall I decided I was getting back in my holiday décor groove! And this adorable little ghost is just one small part of my DIY fall/Halloween decorations. Check out this DIY PALLET SIGN I made, it’s actually a school spirit sign but with our school colors it ties in perfectly with our fall décor!

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. This is just a way I can help add to our family finances to raise our four daughters. Please know I would never recommend a product or service I do not totally stand behind.

And this fun witch’s brew coffee mug I made using my Cricut and some vinyl. And just one more… this rusty pumpkin I made from mason jar lids. So cute!

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Real quick…if you have ever wanted to learn how to paint wood signs, the way the PROs do, you don’t want to miss my COMPLETE GUIDE TO SIGN PAINTING. It is a whole course that you complete on your time. I am teaching you EVERYTHING I know without you having to go through the headache and expense of trial and error. If you’ve struggled with paint bleed, designs not lining up, paint peel up, sticky residue left behind you are in for a treat! Click on the image below or go here for more info.

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DIY CUTE WOOD GHOST CUTOUT

If you don’t want to read the tutorial you can scroll to the bottom to watch the video tutorial or go here to watch it on my crafty YouTube channel.

Here’s what you’ll need

• WOOD {I used leftover OSB}

• RYOBI SCROLL SAW

• RYOBI BRAD NAILER

• RYOBI SANDER

• 120 GRIT SANDPAPER

• ORANGE, BLACK, WHITE, PINK ACRYLIC PAINTS

• WHITE & BLACK PAINT PENS

• SPRAY SEALANT

• PAINT BRUSHES

• ROUND FOAM BRUSHES

• GORILLA WOOD GLUE

• GLUE GUN

• ASSORTED RIBBON

• THICK STRING IN A COORDINATING COLOR

Fist you want to draw the outline of your ghost onto the wood you’re using. We had some leftover OSB so that’s what I used. I also used this same OSB wood to make this pallet sign on the letter cutouts. We had made triple loft beds for the older three girls and WAY overbought for the project lol! So now we have a full sheet and a half still left over.

Then cut out your design on your scroll saw. Honestly this probably would have been much easier if I used a jig saw BUT this is what I had to use and it still worked pretty good to get the job done.

Once you have it all cut out give it a quick sanding to knock down the rough edges. I used a 120 grit sandpaper on my Ryobi sander.

Then paint your ghost cutout all white. I didn’t paint the back of mine and I really wish I would have. I used a leftover paint we had in our garage but you can use acrylic for yours if that’s what you have.

After your white base coat is dry on your wood ghost you can start doing the artsy stuff :)! I like to sketch out my design before I start painting. This way if I make a mistake it’s much easier to fix it vs painting it, messing up big time, then wanting to throw it across the floor lol! I sketched out eyes, eyebrows, eyelashes, mouth, and then I used an off brand K-cup to draw my circles for the large polk-a-dots. {actually I painted the cheeks before I traced the circles but if I was thinking I would have traced those first}

To paint the cheeks you need pink and white paint and I also used a stencil brush but you can use a round brush for this step. Dip your brush into the pink paint then dip one side into the white, but just a little bit of white. Then swirl it around in a circle at the corner of each side of the mouth. Add more white if you need just a little more highlight in there.

Then paint the other facial details, except for the mouth. Somehow I forgot to paint the eyelashes so I did mine later but you can go ahead and paint those now too. I used a round brush for the eye painting and a fine flat brush for the finer details.

Now paint all the polk-a-dots. I used orange and black for my dots. I painted the large ones in with a paint brush. I used a medium sized round sponge brush {black dots}, a small sponge brush {orange dots}, and the wood end of the small brush for even smaller dots . I didn’t plan any of these out too much, just kind of scattered them wherever they looked best.

When the cheeks are dry you can paint the mouth of your wood ghost using black paint and a fine paint brush.

Add the white features to the eyes. I used a white paint pen and made a curved line on one side of each eye {be sure you are making them on the same side of each eye} and I added a dot towards the outside of the other side of the eye then a little accent dot right above that dot.

Using a paint pen I made a long dash line all the way around my ghost and I also added dashes on each circle. For the outline and all of the orange circles I used a black paint pen. For all the black circles I used a white paint pen. Btw….isn’t my little helper just the cutest?!! This is daughter #4 <3

Since this will be outside I sprayed mine with this indoor/outdoor clear satin Krylon sealant.

Attach your stake part to the back of your ghost using Gorilla wood glue and a brad nailer. I really like this Ryobi one I use. My husband has one that I would use before I got my own and omg what a world of difference. You can read more about why I chose to go with Ryobi power tools here for my crafty business.

I made a super simple pinwheel bow to make my wood ghost a little more girly. These are also super adorable bows to make for your little girls to wear in their hair. We have tons of these that I’ve made over the years for my own four little girls. Then attach the bow with hot glue.

Once the hot glue is totally dry you can stick your wood ghost in the yard. I absolutely LOVE the way this little cutie turned out! Even when our girls got off the bus they got so excited because she is just sooooooo darn adorable!

I have a few more of these wood yard decorations to make so be on the look out for a DIY CANDY CORN and a DIY FRANKENSTEIN wood stakes.

Let me know below what you think of this DIY HALLOWEEN CRAFT.

Watch the full crafty tutorial below

DIY CRAFT KIT how to paint your free standing BOO wood cutouts

How to paint your DIY CRAFT KIT, BOO WOOD CUTOUTS

I just love these little wood cutouts. They are so adorable and tie in perfectly with our simple Halloween décor. I primarily decorate for fall but I do like to add touches of Halloween to our decorations because I have little kiddos and they LOVE the Halloween stuff far more than the traditional fall décor. So we compromise and get the best of both worlds.

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 love this DIY CRAFT KIT check out another popular fall craft kit, DIY FREE STANDING PUMPKINS

Don’t feel like reading the tutorial? No worries I have a short video tutorial on my YouTube channel. Scroll to the bottom to catch it or click here to view the HOW TO PAINT YOUR CRAFT KIT, DIY BOO WOOD CUTOUTS

If you need a CRAFT KIT you can order yours here —-> DIY CRAFT KIT BOO WOOD CUTOUTS FOR HALLOWEEN

If you want to make yours from scratch check out this post on how to make your own BOO WOOD CUTOUTS using a Cricut cutting machine and a Ryobi scroll saw. I show you exactly how I make my BOO cutout sets and if you have the tools you can make your own too! There’s even a video tutorial at the end ;)!

How to paint your BOO wood cutouts

If you didn’t but the DIY CRAFT KIT here’s what you’ll need

• WOOD CUTOUTS

• MIDDLE CUTOUT PIECES

• PAINT BRUSHES OR FOAM BRUSHES

• BLACK ACRYLIC PAINT

• WHITE ACRYLIC PAINT

• PENCIL

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Real quick…if you have ever wanted to learn how to paint wood signs, the way the PROs do, you don’t want to miss my complete guide to sign painting. It is a whole course that you complete on your time. I am teaching you EVERYTHING I know without you having to go through the headache and expense of trial and error. If you’ve struggled with paint bleed, designs not lining up, paint peel up, sticky residue left behind you are in for a treat! Click on the image below or go here for more info.

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First you want to decide if you want to paint white or black letters. Heck, you could even mix it up and do both! I chose to do white ghosts but I wanted black distressing on my cutouts. There are lots of different ways to achieve this look but my favorite is to paint the distressing color first then paint my project whatever color I want it to actually be.

So on these BOO cutouts I first painted them with a SUPER thin layer of black paint {remember this is going to be the underneath/distressed color}.

After the underneath color is dry you can paint your wood cutouts the actual color you want them to be.

Some important things to know:

• use a VERY LIGHT hand when painting the top color. You do not want to press hard as this will put too much paint on your wood cutouts and it is far easier to add more paint than it is to take too much paint off.

• do NOT get your brush wet. For almost all of my paint projects I always use a DRY brush.

• use very little paint, dab off excess paint before applying

• work from the middle out

• paint lightly around the edges as this is where the “natural” wear would be

• if you need a little more coverage wait till your paint is dry then add more paint

Paint all sides of each cutout this way.

Trace around your cardstock cutouts. You will have a total of 5 - 2 cutouts for the letter B and 3 cutouts for the ghosts {you will reuse the ghost cutouts for both ghosts}. Place them where they need to go on your cutouts then trace around them with a pencil. This does not have to be perfect ;)!

Using a fine paintbrush paint inside the traced lines with the same colored paint you used for your distressing color. I used black for my distressing color so I also used black for areas I traced around.

And then you’re done! If you have sandpaper on hand you can lightly give it a little more distressing but that is totally up to you.

Click here to shop even more DIY CRAFT KITS

Check out the full video tutorial

If you have any questions about your DIY CRAFT KIT please leave a comment below or feel free to send me a message. If you purchased through my Etsy shop please message via their platform to stay in compliance with Etsy’s policy.

DIY free standing BOO cutouts using your Cricut & scroll saw

DIY- use your CRICUT to make BOO wood cutouts for Halloween

I don’t have the latest fancy Cricut Maker, but that doesn’t mean I still can’t create AMAZING projects with my older model, CRICUT EXPLORE. Especially when use it with my Ryobi scroll saw…pure magic happens! Ok, obviously not real magic but the projects you can create with this combo is everything to write home about!

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 wanted to add another DIY craft kit to my crafty line up for my online business and thought these BOO cutouts would fit in perfectly with the craft kits I already offer.

If you don’t have the tools to make your own BOO cutouts grab your own

—-> BOO DIY CRAFT KIT <——

After you read this tutorial check out how I finished my own BOO WOOD CUTOUTS

Here’s what you’ll need to cut out your own Halloween BOO wood letters

• CRICUT EXPLORE AIR

• CRICUT CUTTING MAT

• CRICUT ACCESS in CRICUT DESIGN SPACE

• RYOBI SCROLL SAW

• RYOBI SANDER

• RYOBI MITER SAW

• 120 GRIT SANDPAPER

• PINE WOOD {I used a scrap piece}

• PENCIL

• CARDSTOCK

Don’t feel like reading the tutorial? Catch the video below or click here for the DIY BOO cutouts tutorial using your Cricut & scroll saw

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First, design your BOO in Cricut Design Space. I used the font beefcake for the letter “B”. I used a ghost image in DS {design space} that is included in my Cricut Access monthly subscription plan. It had arms but I took those away using the slice function. I resized them too fit the piece of wood I was using so mine are 6”x3.25”.

Next, cut them out on cardstock. I used some scrap cardstock that I had leftover from a previous DIY project. After I started cutting them I realized that I really didn’t need to cut out two ghosts. So really you just need 1 letter B and 1 ghost. Don’t toss the middles of the ghost or B, you’ll need those for later when you paint them.

Now trace around your cutouts using a pencil onto your wood. I have TONS of scrap wood so I used a scrap piece that I had on hand. I used a 1” pine board that you can find at most home improvement stores. Check out the DIY SCRAP WOOD PUMPKINS I made using this same method. They turned out SO CUTE!!

You don’t need to trace around the middle cutouts because we won’t be cutting those pieces out. Remember to trace around your ghost twice ;)

After you have your Cricut cutouts traced it’s time to cut them out using your Ryobi scroll saw. If you don’t have a scroll saw you can use a band saw and maybe even a jigsaw but I’ve had great luck with cutting things out on my scroll saw so for now that’s what I’m sticking with.

Once you have them all cut out you’ll want them to be able to stand on their own. I used my miter saw to do this. My miter has a laser on it making it SUPER easy to line things up and to show me exactly how much I’m taking off. By cutting a sliver off the bottom with your miter saw you get a nice straight base so your projects are able to stand freely on their own.

SIDE NOTE: if you’re thinking about investing in a set of your own power tools you’ll want to read this WHAT ARE THE BEST POWER TOOLS FOR CRAFTERS. It wasn’t that long ago when I had some serious anxiety about using power tools so I wrote a little about that and why I’ve chosen the tools I have for my crafty projects and business.

Then just give them a quick sanding and you’re ready to paint them. I always use a 120 grit sandpaper and most of the time I don’t sand my projects to a super smooth finish. A little bit of bumps and divots just add to the rustic look ;)!!

There are so many projects you can do when you start pairing your tools together. Like this DIY MERMAID CUPCAKE STAND I made for my daughter’s birthday party this year. And a bonus is that she has a pretty awesome new room decoration she was able to decoration then hang in her bedroom after the party was over.

Check out the DIY BOO cutouts using your Cricut & scroll saw video tutorial below

COMING SOON…a complete guide to paint wood signs without the stress and headache of trial and error. Click here for more info

EASY witch's brew coffee mug decal using your CRICUT

DIY - how to apply a Halloween vinyl decal to a white coffee mug using your CRICUT

I just love how a simple decal and totally change the look of something. Truthfully I NEVER use this coffee mug. Why? Because it’s all white and not at all fun to drink out of. Sounds ridiculous, I know, but it’s honest. So when I go for my morning cup of room temp coffee {because I am not a big fan of warm/hot coffee} I always pass by this guy and reach for a cheery option.

I wanted to do a tutorial on how to apply vinyl to coffee mugs and knew this coffee mug would be the perfect sacrifice for the job! And I am totally going to start drinking out of this one now that it got a little Halloween decal makeover!

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 chose a super simple font and saying, because I wanted to keep it easy for my first tutorial on applying a vinyl decal to a coffee mug. If you have Cricut Design Space you can use the font for free on there, but if not you can find a million different fonts on a number of font downloading websites. The font on Design Space is FOUR SEASONS HOME DECOR

PSSST if you need to make your own striped wood pumpkin that’s peeking on the side of this pic go here ——> DIY WOOD PUMPKIN

How to apply a Halloween vinyl decal to a coffee mug

Here’s what you’ll need

• CRICUT CUTTING MACHINE

• BLACK ORACAL 631 VINYL matte finish

• SISER TRANSFER TAPE

• VINYL SQUEEGEE

• SCISSORS

• WHITE COFFEE MUG {or stop at your local dollar store and pick one up}

• XACTO KNIFE

• CRICUT CUTTING MAT

• CRICUT DESIGN SPACE
  

First make your design. I used FOUR SEASONS HOME DECOR font in CRICUT DESIGN SPACE. I made my decal 3”x3” so it would take up a good portion of the area I was applying it to. Before you send it to the mat be sure your design is SAVED and either WELDED or ATTACHED. This way your design cuts out like you see it on the screen instead of the letters jumbled around.

TIP: I usually always save my font name into the title so I can remember what I used

I used a Oracal 631 vinyl in BLACK and in a MATTE FINISH. This grade of vinyl is for temporary or indoor use. I can not go in the dishwasher and I would not recommend using this grade of vinyl if you’re wanting it to last longer than one season. I plan to remove this after Halloween and apply a Christmas or wintery decal. If you do want a more resistant vinyl use ORACAL 651, that is outdoor grade and is what is recommended for a long lasting decal.

Weed your design. I use an Xacto knife for this but you can use whatever weeding tool you are most comfortable with, even a sewing pin will get the job done.

Before you can apply your decal you need to be sure that your mug is free and clean of any oil or residue. Use a lint free cloth and rubbing alcohol to clean the area you are applying the vinyl decal to. Do not use a cotton ball for this as it will totally leave behind fibers that will get stuck under your design and they will stick out and you will be able to see them ;)!

Apply your transfer tape to the front of your decal. Rub the front and back with your vinyl squeegee {if you don’t have one you can use a rewards card from the store} then slowly peel the paper backing away from your decal, leaving your decal attached to your transfer tape. The purpose of transfer tape is to easily transfer your design from the paper back it comes on to the base you are applying it to.

Hover your decal over your mug to decide where exactly you want it. If you need to apply tape to use as a guide that is ok. Do not press your decal down until you are positive that is where you want it. Then press down the middle and work your way out. Applying decals to curved surfaces isn’t always easy so go slow and give yourself grace if it is a crooked disaster the first time. It’s ok if you transfer tape doesn’t lay flat on your mug, you’ll see mine do this in the video, but the important thing is that the design does.

Starting in one corner slowly peel/roll the transfer tape away from the mug leaving the vinyl decal attached to the mug. If your letters want to come up with the transfer tape just push them back down with your finger and keep rolling the tape away. After you completely remove the transfer tape take your finger and rub along each letter to make sure that they are adhered and there aren’t any air bubbles.

I know I will be loving this mug now. And the saying is pretty fitting for my grouchy days lol!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and it helps you create your own DIY vinyl decal. If you have any questions please ask away:)! I am honored to help you on your crafty journey.

Check out the full video tutorial below. I would LOVE if you subscribed to my YouTube channel. It’s how I am able to reach even more people who want to learn more about the crafty world.

For more fall themed projects click the button below

DIY school spirit pallet style porch sign

DIY porch sign to show off your school spirit

It was an absolute PERFECT day in our small town today that I took a couple hours to make something for my own front porch. I could just feel the fall weather coming in and that reminded me that I needed to decorate for the upcoming season. Which totally meant that I NEEDED to make a new sign lol! Every year I try to incorporate a school spirit pieces on our porch, really it only makes sense because our school colors are ORANGE & BLACK but truly I do it because my husband and I absolutely adore the schools where we live.

The teachers are amazing, the staff in general is amazing, they take such great care of our girls while they are there for 8 hours a day. We can’t say enough nice things about our small town schools! So we show off our school spirit every fall blended into our fall décor.

I wanted a bigger sign than what I usually put out. The old one is a small 40”x5.5” leaning sign that honestly I’m tired of looking at lol! So today was the day for a new one! I had a pretty general idea of what I was going to do but I didn’t know it was going to turn out even more perfect than I planned!

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. This is just a way I can help add to our family finances to raise our four daughters. Please know I would never recommend a product or service I do not totally stand behind.

Here’s what you need to make your own school spirit rustic porch sign

• repurposed wood

• 7/16” OSB {oriented strand board}

• 1”x2” pine wood

• Cricut

• cardstock

• Ryobi miter saw

• Ryobi scroll saw

• Ryobi sander

• hook & loop sandpaper

• Ryobi brad nailer

• brad nails

• paint brushes

• black acrylic paint

• orange acrylic paint

• white acrylic paint

First

You need to decide how large you want your sign, mine is approx. 24”x 22”. Then decide how large you want your lettering to be. I wanted my letters to take up a big portion of the base so I made my lettering roughly 11.5” wide and 14” tall each.

Measure out your wood base pieces and cut them to size using your miter saw. Then cut two pieces of your 1x2 a little shorter than the height of your sign. These are the pieces you’ll use to attach your pallet sign together. Place the pieces that you’ll be using for your sign face down on a flat surface. Then place your 1x2’s on it so it looks like the picture below.

Second

Use wood glue {I use gorilla wood glue} to glue the 1x2’s in place, then use your brad nailer to nail them down.

Third

Cut your letters out on cardstock using your Cricut.. The cardstock I had on hand wasn’t long enough so I butted two pieces together and taped the seam and it worked perfectly!

Fourth

Trace the letters onto your OSB. You can use pine for this but I chose OSB because we had this leftover from building TRIPLE LOFT BEDS for our older three girls…and yes, they came out AMAZING! I still have yet to write the tutorial for their U-shaped lofts but I promise, I will have it written before the end of the month ;)!

After you have them traced, cut them out using your scroll saw. Then give them a good sanding just on the front and around the edges. You won’t see the back so don’t worry about sanding that.

Fifth

Paint your letters. I chose to paint mine all black but you can get as creative with this as you’d like.

I wanted to add a pop of color to my sign so I painted just one of the boards orange, just lightly brushed over it so it was medium coverage.

Now add your letters to your sign. I didn’t align mine because I like the offset look. I didn’t bother gluing these down I just popped a few brad nails in each letter using my brad nailer.

Now for the fun part! I love making these adorable free hand painted garland. I wanted the color to pop so I painted the triangles white, then once those dried I painted over them with the colors I wanted them to be. At first I wasn’t going to paint any of the triangles black but once I started painting over the white with orange I decided to break it up a little with every third triangle painted black. Then I used the end of my paint brush to add polk-a-dots to them. So CUTE!

I just LOVE this rustic porch sign and it will tie in PERFECTLY with the rest of my fall décor.

I hope this inspires you to show off your own school or town spirit where you live. Let me know what you think below.

Click on the pic below to PIN for later

DIY embroidery hoop winter wall hanging

How to make an EMBROIDERY HOOP wall hanging for winter

Embroidery hoops are such a versatile craft tool. You can use them for the obvious of embroidery OR you can use them for so many other projects. Like a nursery mobile, a hoop to hold your screen for faux screen printing, or this fun winter wall hanging that you’re reading.

If you love the little pinecone accents check out this EASY PINECONE DOOR HANGER. And if you have little ones you HAVE to try this EASY & MESS FREE PINECONE ART! My older girls had SO much fun making their own pinecone paintings.

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Don’t have access to the right tools or just don’t have time to gather the supplies? No problem:)! I’ve put together this super easy craft kit just for times like this! Click I NEED A CRAFT KIT below to order yours from my Etsy shop.

Don’t need a craft kit? Here’s what you’ll need

• 9.25”x9.25” wood base

• sticks

• 6” embroidery hoop

• rustic bells

• assorted accents

• paint brush

• white acrylic paint

• twine

• floral wire

• Rustoleum KONA stain

• Ryobi sander {or 120 grit sandpaper}

Skip to the bottom to catch the full video tutorial

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First you need to stain your wood base and your hoop. I recommend using a quick dry stain. Let dry

Next, after your wood base is dry you want to distress it. I used my Ryobi sander for this step but you can use a piece of 120 grit sandpaper. Focus on the edges and corners and lightly sand the sides and front

Now paint your sticks completely white and the outer edges of your pine cones white. Use a dabbing motion when painting the pinecones.

Measure out how long you would like your bells to hang down then add a couple of inches. I made my bells to hang at staggering lengths.

Feed one end of the twin into the hanging part of the bell and tie it off. Repeat this step for all three.

After your stick are dry gather them together and wrap the green floral wire around the center. This will help to keep them together while you are placing the accents on. Then place your accent pieces on top of the sticks and wrap the middle section of the sticks and accents with twine.

Now glue down your embroidery hoop to your wood base. Apply glue to back side of the hoop {whichever side you prefer} then place it on your wood base and press down firmly.

Tie your bells around the metal part on the top section of the embroidery hoop. Pull this very tight. Add a dab of hot glue to the knot and pull it tight again.

Use your glue gun to glue down your accents. To get a secure hold, hold the accents in place till the hot glue is completely dry.

Trim down the pieces of twine from where you tied them onto the embroidery hoop and the you are done!

Check out the full video tutorial below