Spray Paint and Vinyl Stencil Signs

Lately I've been doing some projects with spray paint and stencils. This method seems to work a lot better for me.  I've tried doing the method that people call PVPP (paint, vinyl, paint, paint), but it just doesn't seem to work for me.  Seem to always getting bleeding under my vinyl and have to touch up. With using the spray paint and vinyl. Below the pictures is explained on how I made these signs using spray paint and a stencil I made using my Silhouette Cameo

 I have not had to touch up these spray paint and vinyl stencil projects at all.

First off I had to figure out what signs I wanted to make.  Then got my boards around. Sanded them good. Decided on the paint colors then painted my base color, which is the color of my wording.  Then went to my Silhoutte Cameo to cut the designs out. Next placing the stencil cut from the Cameo onto my painted board.

Then I used a can of Rustoleum Spray Paint, any paint would work but this is what I had on hand.  First a very light coat, then a second coat covering completely but still not too heavy.  Last a third coat just to make sure everything was completely covered.  Letting it be til almost completely dry, before moving on to working on removing the stencil.  **I tried a little too soon and I was getting my prints on the sides of the board.**

Final step I used a dental pick to remove the stencil poking into a corner of each letter and pulling it off the painted board.

If you look pretty close the half done picture you will see how I have no bleeding under the stencil. For now on spray paint is what I will use to make my signs, at least until I figure out how to do the PVPP method good.

So give it a try and let me know how it worked out for you using the spray paint and vinyl stencil method.

As always I've Gotta have Projects.
Happy Crafting

Tobacco Stick Shutter Projects and a Few other Tobacco Stick Projects

Shutter projects from tobacco sticks and a few other tobacco stick projects I've done. Very easy and simple to do.

My husband started making these unfinished shutters to sell. They are 6 in x 24 in.  

When I seen them I starting thinking about what I could do with them. So I grabbed myself 2 unfinished ones and went to work. I made myself a set of shutters with crows stenciled on for my bathroom. Our bathroom mirror was just so plain looking, which so is the whole bathroom, not really decorated the way I want yet. Anyway above my sink is just a flat large mirror on the wall. Plain Jane, (YUCK).  But after painting two of the shutters Brick Dust Red and stenciled a black crow and stars on it now not so plain.

Before hanging them

After I hung. (Don't mind the rest of what you see, as I said bathroom not done yet)

 Americana with Old Glory handwritten on and a metal star with pip berries.

Using same unfinished tobacco stick shutters he made I painted this Americana Shutter. Adding my metal star and pip berries gluing on with E6000 glue.   Got this idea from a smaller one I seen on Pinterest.

Basically same concept as my Old Glory shutter but this time stenciled on America and added a raffia bow.

This shutter is just painted black with a star in middle. For the star used a stencil I made from contact paper and dry brushed my antique white paint on for a more worn look for the star. Then stapled pip berries across the top.

Flag drilling holes with a very small drill bit to attach my sticks together with wire. Twisting each section of wire to hold in place and then a hole also drilled in the top on both ends to attach twine for hanging.

Tobacco stick basket with twine handles

Welcome sign fence with pip berry wreath with metal star.

Grapevine and battery operated lights tied on to this tobacco stick ladder with some homespun material.

Decorative window from tobacco sticks. Simple looking, just some raffia and homespun bow.  An 

Old Glory sign made from a piece of scrape wood  and a grungy battery operated candle.

Tobacco stick ladder with homespun, a rusty metal star and some pip berries.

My hubby staining this trivet he made for the pans and silverware.  He

made this so our table wouldn't be affected from the heat from the pans.

                                                  Top view showing where the silverware go

                                   Front view with the pans and silverware in place on a table.

And this is the view with  the trivet hanging on the wall when not in use.  I added the homespun 

material to it for a more decorative look while it is hung up.

Hope everyone else loves my Tobacco Stick Shutter projects as much as I do.

Faux Brown Egg-Tutorial

Faux Brown Egg Tutorial

 I know its late for this tutorial but save for next year or if you could get a hold of some of these faux eggs.  I purchased mine from Wal-mart at Easter time.  The faux eggs came in little egg cartons with no seems and are dye able.

Basically all you need is the faux eggs, brown shoe polish (I used the kind in the small round container) and brown paint mixed with a little water and an old tooth brush. **Don't have paint and water mixture too watery or it will run.  I suggest testing the platter on paper first.

Take old rag and wipe on shoe polish covering whole faux egg and wipe off. I did whole dozen at a time. 

Then mix a little water with the brown paint dip tooth brush in paint and rub your finger across bristles to make it splatter off.  Let dry and turn eggs over and repeat the process with the paint and tooth brush. 

There you have it your Faux Brown Eggs that will look great in your country, primitive kitchen.

Other Tutorials Here

New Tradition-Kid's Hand print for Mother's Day

This grandmother is starting a new tradition with the grand kids for their mommy's on Mother's Day.
 I got the inspiration from Anna at mylifeandkids who was a special guest to post at Mod Podge Rocks.
Anna's post was
Mothers day craft for kids: handprint canvases 
She gives you all the direction for this project.  I used most of her methods but personalized my way and used a wood frame instead of canvas.
I made circles scrapbook paper using my fiskars circle punch for the name and star punch. Traced this lil man's hand on scrapbook paper. Painted my board. You really could you anything that the kids hand would fit on.  I prearranged where I wanted everything placed.  Once I figured it out I coated my board with Mod Podge then place everything in place.  Making sure all edges were on good and pressing on everything to get any air bubbles out. Let dry then coated 2 more times with the podge. Then hung a wall hanger on back to hang it up.
Here is my version of our new tradition of kid's hand prints for every Mother's Day from here on out.  Well at least until the kiddos have stopped growing. So that will be at least 16-18 more years.

grandson helping make his mommy's gift

My Mod Podge Projects

Mod Podge is now one of my loves in crafting. There is so much, many crafts that you can do with this wonderful adhesive stuff. Sure glad I came across the brown paper bag floor craft. It opened a whole new world of crafting to me.
One of the best sites I came across is Mod Podge Rocks.I'm sure there are many more decoupaging sites out there that I will stumble upon in my crafting adventures.

So far here is what I've made with mod podge.

My best project so far!

Mod Podge comes in a variety of formulas:

Fabric, gloss, hard coat, matte, outdoor, satin, sparkle and dimensional magic. Pick your project, pick your formula. Get crafting!

Be Mine Valentine

Reading many blogs as I do everyday, I came across one last night with a Be Mine Valentine Wall Hanging. You can visit it here with a tutorial. I wanted to share with you the one I made.

 It is so cute and was super easy to do. Can be made to any size you would like. Probably even easy enough for a kid craft.  The be mine valentine only requires a few supplies.  And it doesn't take long to put together either.  I didn't however follow Crafts by Amanda directions or supplies exactly.  But for the most part I did.  She has many other tutorials on her site.
Supplies I used were:
Kraft paper
craft paint
craft wire
glue gun and glue
buttons
burlap and scrap material
the filling I used some flat fiber fill stuff not quite sure what its called but believe it is kinda some sort of batting.
black sharpie and a spray sealant


Hope you find this Be Mine Valentine wall hanging as easy to make as I did.

DYI Country/Rustic Wooden Spoons

Country/rustic is my decorating style. I can't really afford to pay the price of the things I would like to have decorating my home. Or my kids home which they all love that style as well.  So I'm always looking on the net or Pinterest looking for ideas to decorate our homes.  Recently I seen a site for wooden spoons and had to try the technique they said about.  I went to my uncles used store and he had some wooden spoons there for $.25 each and I picked up a few to do country/rustic style.

Got the wooden spoons home and anxious to start a new project and I pulled my paints out in four different colors trying to stick to the country/rustic colors. Reddish, indigo blue, black and not sure of the color name but in the greens. Then I started painting away.  After both sides were completely dry I took a rough piece of sandpaper and scuffed the edges a bit.  Trying to think of how they would naturally get worn.  Now my problem is I don't know what I want to put around them.  Or what to do with them. Tried tying a bit a fabric around them, also tried twine.  Seen somewhere that they were also just place in a mason jar or hung on wall.  Guess I'll figure it out.

One of the simply and least expensive crafts I've done. Another way to make my life a little Easier

DIY Burlap S'mores Banner with Tutorial

Today I whipped up this cute Burlap S'mores Banner and provided a Tutorial for a craft pal of mine. She has s'mores parties and thought this sign would be great as a decoration.  She hasn't seen it yet but hope she loves it.

Crafting Supplies Needed for this Burlap S'mores Banner that was pretty easy to do.
Burlap
Lace
Stencils
Paint
Twine
Stitch Witchery

Sorry no pictures as I went along, I wasn't sure how it was gonna turn out. I showed my aunt and she suggested that I put it on here with a tutorial. 
So here is what I did.
Grabbed some burlap and laid my stencils spelling s'mores out on it to determine how big i needed to make the burlap pieces. Mine measured 5x7, I wanted extra on it to allow for folding over the twine.  I cut my burlap.  Then laid my stencil in place and dabbed the paint on the burlap. Let dry surprisingly it dried pretty quick so I was able to move on to the next steps fairly quick.
Take the lace and twine.  Measure the lace according to the width of the burlap.
Then take the stitch witchery and lay it on the edge of the burlap then place half of the lace on top of the that allowing the other half of the lace to hang over the top edge. 
Place damp rag on the lace and iron according to stitch witchery instructions.  You want to make sure you leave this extra overhang to add the twine. 
Next take the twine, (I did not cut my twine yet because I wasn't sure how much I was gonna need. But you could figure it out a head of time, I just didn't.), and lay it on your lace and right at the edge of the burlap. Place your stitch witchery same as you did to the other side.
Fold down the lace make sure that the twine is at the edge and not where the witchery will adhere to it. Do this process to all your burlap pieces. 
I left about a foot of twine at each end and left a loop for hanging.
Make your pieces any size or length you wish.  Determine by the size of your stencil and the look you are going for.
You could even cut into triangular pieces.
Hope you could follow along with my instructions for this pretty easy Burlap S'mores Banner.  If you have any questions feel free to ask.
 

Tip for Another Mason Jar Use

I had another brilliant idea today for Another Mason Jar Use.

Above:See all the junk on the rim and lid.

I had a half quart of paint and was having problems with getting the lid on cause of all the junk on the lid rim.

So I poured it in a mason jar.  Now I can see how much and also much easier to clean the rim off to seal back up.  I also labeled the lid so everyone would know what is in the mason jar.

Chalkboard Spray Paint

Chalkboard Spray Paint by Krylon my new way to recycle some of the things I have around here that I was not really using anymore.  And of course finding new things to use the chalkboard paint on to give it an extra use.
I got one of the ideas from Simplicity in the south. She made a chalkboard gift for a teacher using a clipboard.  I like the saying she put on the chalkboard and the technique she used for adding the words.  She used Krylon flat paint with primer for her project whereas I used the Krylon Chalkboard Spray Paint.  She has many other DIY Projects on her site that I'm sure you will love.
I grab myself an old cookie sheet type pan.  Sprayed it with 3 coats of the chalkboard paint let each coat dry completely.  Then I printed out my Things to Remember saying to the size I wanted, taking a piece of chalk on its side and rubbing the back of my paper so I could use it to transfer my letters to the dried chalkboard that was just created.  Next took a pencil or pen and went over the letters transferring them to my chalkboard.  Now grab a paint pen in white and fill in those words.  Me being left handed I started from the right working backwards to paint my letters so my hand would rub in the wet letters. Let dry

Hand Painted Coffee Mug

Thought I'd share my new Hand Painted Coffee Mug that I whipped up in less than 5min.
Okay so I go to the Dollar General Store last week and pick up myself a coffee mug for $0.37 on clearance. Yes that's right $0.37. What a bargain!
I've seen on pinterest and other sites all these cute things done on coffee mugs. And I wanted one. So I started looking around for a saying I wanted on my coffee mug. I found it on pinterest.

All I did was take an Elmers Paint pen and a mug and started writing away.

Every morning I long to 

hold you... I need you, I

want you, I have to 

have you... your warmth,

your smell, your taste...

Ohhh Coffee,

I Love You

Lighted Canning Jar Pumpkin

Being a little crafty this weekend with my granddaughter. I made a lighted canning jar pumpkin.  This project really took no time at all. Gathering  a canning jar and lid and a candle holder base,  and some paint I was of crafting.

I grabbed some pumpkin orange paint  added little water to it in a little bowl.  Dumped it into the canning jar, swirled it around covering all of the inside. Dumping remaining out and tipping my jar upside down to finish draining on some wax paper and let it dry. After drying added this cute lil face with permanent black marker. Painted lid and candle holder. Hot glued them together. added a battery operated tea light. Screw lid to jar and walla my lighted Canning Jar Pumpkin

Craft paper Console Table

This is a console table that I have been wanting to redo for awhile. Loved the table but was not crazy about the flower or grape design on top. Doing my daily searching around the net for different craft ideas I came across The Ultimate Bag Flooring Guide
Which you can also use craft paper for the flooring I found in my searches. I loved the look of it but was too big of a project for me to try at first. I had seen some pictures of the brown bag idea being done on a stole and other table tops so I thought this is perfect for this table. And of course for my first try at it.

So I took this table and with a little time and patience I turned it into something I absolutely love.

 

 

• Black paint or your choice of color
• sand paper to get off rough edges and loose paint
• sand paper for fine sanding scuffing
• mod podge
• brown paper bag or craft paper torn into pieces 
• polyurethane (gloss)
• sponge brush or your fingers like I used for gluing the paper
• trim brush or your choice of brush for painting
• sponge brushes for applying poly
• your choice of main paint for base
• some wood stain (I used red mahogany)
• time and patience

 First I lightly sanded any loose paint. Then I applied one coat of black paint. Oh actually I first laid out how much paper I would need by laying the sheets across my table. Then I tore up and crumbled my craft paper. Then painted the top. I only did one layer because of it being covered with the crumbled craft paper.

I then spread mod podge on the table working in small sections. Laying the craft paper on the glue and smoothing out any air bubbles and then applying a layer of mod podge on top of the paper with your sponge or like I did using my finger. It was easier for me to use my fingers but mind you it gets very messy using your fingers. Just worked better for me that way. Do what works for you. Then you just keep adding the paper overlapping some or putting close to the edge of each torn crumbled paper piece or leave a small gap to allow some of the bottom color to show through like I did in some spots. I also applied some wood stain after paper and glue were dry to make some of the wrinkles show more. Apply stain as directed on container.

When it was all dry I took some fine sandpaper and scuffed the top of the console and smoothed off any rough pieces of paper.
Lastly I took a sponge and applied a thin even layer of polyurethane to the top and sides of the top. Let dry overnight. Lightly scuffed and added another layer of poly. Let dry again. Added last layer just for extra durability.
My final step was to paint the rest of the table I chose a light blue color giving it two layers of paint. Hope you enjoy the looks of this Craft paper console table as much as I do.

I ended up re doing this table painting the base black and sanding the edges of it. The light blue color was just not really me. 

A little more rustic is my style.