DIY Decoupage Letter "G"

I first saw this idea on Pinterest, HERE,  

and wanted to make it for our living room wall.

It just so happens there is a man 

in our small town that makes these letters

in any size or font you want.  

Check out his Etsy shop, HERE.

So, I had him cut me a 2 foot letter "G" 

with plenty of space. 

I just asked for it to be sanded and not painted.

I then painted it myself with black acrylic paint. 

The time-consuming part was finding all the photos I wanted to use. 

I wanted to use photos from over the past several years.

I cut and pasted them into a word document.

Then I resized them to be smaller, depending on the photo.

I basically fit 2 photos on each page in the word document.

Then I printed them in black and white at the best quality setting.

I printed them on thicker, high quality printer paper, NOT photo paper.

Once they were all printed out, I cut the photos.

Then I placed them on the letter to see how they would fit.

I made sure I had the same amount of photos of each child, 

because I'm fair like that.

Then I started pasting them on the letter.

I used ModPodge and a sponge brush. 

I worked in a section, making sure they all fit. 

Then Icontinued to move around the board,

applying the ModPodge in thin strokes over top of the pictures. 

Once it was dry, I applied a thin a second coat.

I have been so anxious to get this "G" and other things hung on our living room wall.

Below is how our wall has looked for quite awhile.....

One sad, small piece of art.

But now......

I finally have a WALL! 

It is just what I wanted.

The family rules art I have had for awhile.

The "Enjoy the simple things" vinyl art 

was a gift a few birthdays ago from my friend, Mary.

The domino, a 2 and a 3 for our family (Pat and I and then 3 kids) 

is from Barn Owl Primitives. 

She has awesome art at reasonable prices. 

Be sure to check out her Etsy store, HERE!

The little "G" I found on clearance at a store that was going out of business.

Finally, the fall frame I just picked up at Hobby Lobby in their fall section.

I plan to place a new frame and photo in that spot throughout the year. 

The shelf came in a three pack of various size shelves from Target.

I even got my painting of the poppies hung up.

 I painted it at a Wine and Paint event this last spring.

It was a ton of fun and I highly recommend it if you have the chance.

I am not creative, artistic, nor do I have excellent decorating abilities.

But, I am certainly happy with how everything looks and how

my letter "G" turned out.

It really makes our living room feel like home!

Thanks to my husband, Pat for helping me get everything hung up! 

DIY Porch Board

If I can make a board like this, then you can too. 

I am not crafty what so ever. 

It certainly isn't perfect, but I did it and I think it adds to our front porch.

I first saw these boards at a farmer's market in Omaha in May.

They were heavy and we had walked there from our hotel, 

so I didn't have a way to get one back to our room.

Also, they were pricey.

I thought, I could make one of these.

Then my mom said, "Your father can get you the board."

So, my dad got me this great board all cut and sanded.  

The board is 11 inches wide x 4 feet long and is 1 1/2 inches thick.

It is a heavy, solid board and would be too heavy as a wall hanging. 

I painted the board with 3 coats of the Black Acrylic Paint on all sides.

Then I chose the Gold Metallic Paint for the letters. 

I got the paint at Michael's Craft Store.

I also got the stencils at Michael's. I chose 8 inch stencils.

Since I needed 6 letters, I had to shorten the 

"R", "K" and "W" just a half an inch to fit the letters on.

Not ideal, but the next size letters I could find were too small

for the look I wanted. 

You have to be extra careful when working with stencils. 

The paint bled through underneath the stencil, 

so I had to repaint the black over top of the gold in a few spots.

I also found some decorative stencils 

to place in the corners to add some definition. 

I finally sprayed it with Lacquer 

to finish it and waterproof the paint.

It doesn't get really wet on our front step when it rains, 

but I still wanted it protected.

Again, I'm really happy with how it turned out.

I have thought about painting the other side 

with a different color and word, 

but I want to see how this holds up this fall and winter first. 

My dad won't tell me how much the board cost him, 

but the paint was minimal. 

I think I spent under $15 and probably about 4 hours of my time, 

even though it took me all summer!

Valentine's Box Idea

Do you need a Valentine's box idea for school or home?  Check out my post from last year on what Reagan made for her school box.  We are using it again this year!

http://www.sincerelystacie.com/2012/02/valentine-box.html

Beach Ornament

Every year I give the kids an ornament that is related to something special about the year.  Like maybe a football player for the year they started playing football, or their favorite character from that year.  This year I was having a hard time finding ornaments that were meaningful for each of them until I saw these clear ornaments at Michaels.  These are a bit bigger than the regular round, clear ones.  They are also more flat with a wider opening.  Once I saw these I knew I had found my idea.

When we traveled to Pensacola Beach in March, we brought back sand and sea shells.  I haven't come up with uses for all of it, so I still had plenty left.  I poured sand into each ornament and then found shells that would fit into the opening of the ornament.  Then I just wrote at the bottom Pensacola Beach 2012.  The kids got their ornaments this morning as part of their Advent Calendar and just loved them.  They are a bit heavy, so you need to have them on a strong branch.  I think they turned out great!  What a perfect way to always remember a highlight from 2012!

Winter Front Porch Decor

Rather than putting my flower pots away for the winter, I decided to use them.  

I added some greenery (from IKEA) and some scented pine cones (from Michaels) and red and gold berries (from Michaels) and gathered them all up in the pot.  

I set two of them by our front door and guests can smell the cinnamon scented pine cones upon arrival.  

My First Try at Making a Wreath - My Patriotic Wreath

I saw an idea for making a spring wreath on PINTEREST.  But, then spring came and went and I still really wanted to make it.  So, I made a trip to Michael's thinking I could find something to make some sort of wreath with.  I wasn't able to find the exact stuff I wanted, but while there, I had the idea to make a patriotic wreath.

Supplies:

• Foam wreath form - white or green
• Red, white, and blue flowers
• Patriotic ball sprays
• Sparkly yarn
• Patriotic ribbon
• Hot glue
• Wire cutter

I wish I had gotten a white wreath instead of green, but they were out of the white.  It just took more yarn to cover it.  I purchased three skeins of yarn but only used two.  You just start wrapping the yarn around the wreath...adding hot glue as you need it.  Continue wrapping until you have reached the desired fullness.  Then you can just start adding the embellishments and flowers as you want.   Make it yours!

I am truly not a crafty person, but I was happy with my wreath.  It took me only an hour to make it. All the supplies I bought cost about $30.   I plan to keep it out for Memorial Day through July 4th.

Have you made something that you saw on Pinterest?  How did it turn out?