Mailboxes for Mantle

This was the *easiest* project I've done in a long time. Here is the link through Pinterest that I used for my inspiration. :)

I went to Target and in the dollar bins they had these adorable little mailboxes for just a dollar!! I think they are absolutely adorable! They only had the 4 colors, and so each one of us in this house have our own color. :)

After going to Target, I went to my one of my favorite places to grab craft gear, Dollar Tree. :) The candlesticks were only $1 as well, so this project costs $2 per mailbox/stand. :)

I didn't take pictures of how to do this, because it is simply gluing the centered mailbox with hot glue to the candlestick. Easy peasy.



I placed them on my mantle, just waiting for them to get filled with little Valentine notes to the kiddos and hubs. :) In our house, we don't like the over commercialization of Valentine's Day, we feel that if you love someone you need to show them *all* of the time, not just on holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, etc. so, we are writing little notes whenever we want to, and then placing them in the mailbox for the recipient to "get mail." :)

Oregon Art

I grew up in Oregon, graduated from college in Oregon (GO Beavs!!), found and married my husband up in Oregon, and most of my family and friends still live in Oregon. It is no surprise that in my heart, Oregon holds a very special place.

Awwww...

So, a few days/weeks ago, not actually sure when I saw the inspiration for this, but with Pinterest it is hard to remember "when" because I can lose hours on there without even really trying to. It is crazy. A whole new time warp that is so much fun, but can be very dangerous if you're trying to get stuff done, because your time will evaporate. Okay, maybe not for any of you, but it does for me. ;)

This project is very, very, VERY easy to do. I gathered up my supplies for less than $10- and I have several of the supplies leftover for other projects that I will be posting also. It does however take a bit of patience and time. I ended up re-stringing this project three times before I was happy with the result and it looked the way I had envisioned it. :)




Supplies:
1 spool of string- any color you want I used Navy blue (The kind you use for a sewing machine.) *not pictured

1 package of nails (Mine were from Wal-Mart for 97 cents- hardware section.)

1 package of picture hangers (You need only 1, mine were at Hobby Lobby for $1.99 and there were 6 in the pack. At Home Depot, they sell you only 2 and they are almost $3.)

1 small can of stain (I used Minwax Wood Finish in Weathered Oak- it gave the board an antiqued/weathered look and I love it.) *not pictured

1 piece of wood in desired size (I bought mine at Hobby Lobby for $2, they are normally $3 but they are on sale right now- so if you have a Hobby Lobby head on over and pick one out. They have lots of different shapes and it could be really fun! Of course you can also buy one at Home Depot, I didn't price them out though.)

1 paper printout of your desired state. (Pulled mine off a Google search- just google your state and use the words "--- state outline" and find one you like.) *not pictured

Crayon or Carbon Paper *not pictured

Scissors *not pictured

Pen *not pictured

Sandpaper 120 grit *not pictured

Hammer *not pictured

Needle-nose Pliers *not pictured

Step 1: Sand your piece of wood, to get any roughness off before you place your state outline. Set sandpaper aside for later.

Step 2: Cut your state shape out leaving an extra bit of white around it. Keep the scrap for later.

Step 3: Color the back of your paper with the crayon. If you are using Carbon paper, you don't have to do the coloring the paper, just use the carbon paper. :)

Step 4: Position your state on the board the way you would like it. If using the carbon paper, have the carbon paper between the state paper and the board.

Step 5: Trace over your state with a pen. Press firmly, so the shape transfers fully. If need be repeat in areas that didn't take so well or have details you need.

Step 6: Take scrap paper from Step 2, and cut out a heart shape. Tip: fold the paper in half and cut your heart half that way, so your heart is symmetrical. :)

Step 7: Trace your heart in desired area, you can always use a map for this, and I have my heart centered around Corvallis.



Step 8: If you like what you see, fantastic! Keep going. If not, sand all of the marks off and repeat Steps 4-7.

Step 9: Take your hammer and one nail, and lightly indent your state and heart outline's borders. You are setting a guide for where you will hammer the nails in a bit. This will help you out a lot. :)

Step 10: Sand the entire board so you can not see the markings of your outline, just the holes that you just completed in Step 9. Use a nail to empty the holes from sawdust, because you need it to be clear of dust before proceeding.

Step 11: Stain your board. Follow the directions on your can of stain for this part. Each is different, but the basic gist is the same. Apply stain, wait, rub off, repeat until desired shade is achieved. Do in a well ventilated area, not the dining room where your kids can complain about the smell- not that I would know anything about that.

Step 12: Now for the fun part. Placing your nails into all of the holes. I started with the heart and then worked my way around the state. Really depends on where the heart is if you do that or not, if your heart is near a border, I would recommend it, but whatever works for you. Try to keep the nails at the same depth too, for uniformity. :) Sorry I forgot to take a picture of this step. :/

Step 13: If your nails are a little wonky, use your pliers to straighten them out. I also did this to see if I needed to add any nails for a bare spot, I ended up adding a couple of them, and still had to do one on the heart right before I finished up.

Step 14: Take an end of your spool of thread and make a sliding knot. Place that knot around a nail in your heart. Tie a square knot to secure it in place, trim the end so you are tethered to your piece with the spool of thread.

Step 15: Wrap your thread around a border nail and return to the *same* heart nail you started with.

Step 16: Proceed to the next border nail then return to the same heart nail. Complete this process until each border nail has been tethered to a heart nail. This part is entirely up to you on how you proceed with it. It is a piece of art- each piece will be completely different- that is why art is so cool!

Step 17: Fill in any areas that you think are needed to complete the look. I seriously did Steps 14-17 while watching an hour long show that was DVR'd and had time left over, so this really didn't take too long to do. You can see progress quickly, and you get into a rhythm after a bit.




Step 18: Attach to the back of your piece the wall hanger. I did this, but then I ended up putting it in a plate holder on my mantle. :)

That's it!

Now I'm off to finish 2 other projects, but I will be posting the other one I finished yesterday- tomorrow, and the other 2 the day after tomorrow. :)

Super Cool Earrings!

These are seriously super incredibly easy to make!

Here's the link from a lady I found through a Pinterest browsing adventure. :) Have I mentioned how much I love that site?? ;)

Here's my spin on them. I decided to make a pair of festive trees. :) Evie's blog has a great tutorial for a more mod looking earring. So hop on over there and make yourself a pair too! :) I whipped these up in about an hour. I used 2 paperclips, some embroidery yarn, beads and a pair of earring wires- all stuff I had on hand. :)

Have a wonderful Christmas! :)

Dollar Tree Fashion

So, I recently found Pinterest through one of my friends on Facebook. If you haven't heard of Pinterest, or you haven't had the fun of going through all of the ideas on there, you need to. It is so full of fun ideas that honestly, I'm embarrassed to say I stayed up way too late last night going through 'pins' for inspiration. ;)

Anyhoo... today's project is inspired by a 'pin' that I found fairly early on. It is for a sun catcher ornament thing-a-majig that I had to put my own spin on. These are so simple to make, and you can make a bunch of them for hardly anything. Less than $5 and some time will get you 20 of these little gems to give out as gifts.

If you are making these with children, please use caution. I am going to be making this project with my Girl Scout troop to give to their mothers as Christmas gifts this year and will have them assembled into kits as pictured below.

What you need:

Bag of flat marbles from Dollar Tree

Crimp Cord ends (bag of 20 from Hobby Lobby- on sale for 75 cents; normally $1.47)

2 little coils of Hemp cord (Hobby Lobby- on sale for 75 cents; normally $1.47)

1 pack of Wooden beads 10mm (40 in pack at Hobby Lobby- on sale for 75 cents; normally $1.47)

E-6000 glue or other epoxy (hot glue will not work)

Oven- Preheated to 335 degrees F

Cookie Sheet

Oven mitt/pot holder

Sink or bowl of ice & water (I used my kitchen sink, but a bowl would work too.)

Pliers


Step 1: Place all of your marbles on cookie sheet. Put cookie sheet into oven and bake your marbles for 45 minutes. ** If you are doing this project with a child, please use caution with the hot oven to avoid burns. **

Step 2: When marbles are done "baking," remove from oven and immediately put into ice bath. I literally dumped mine in to my sink from the cookie sheet. Let cool for 10 minutes in water. ** If you are doing this project with a child, please use caution with the hot oven to avoid burns. **

Step 3: Remove marbles from water and dry thoroughly. They should look similar to the photo below. Each marble will crack differently; which adds to the charm. :)

Step 4: Cut your hemp cord into desired lengths. I cut mine into 45" and got about 10 from each coil.

Step 5: Flatten all of your crimp cords. This becomes your bale for your pendant. If you want to purchase bales and skip this step you can. Using the crimp cords is just a more affordable way to make a bunch of bales; since bales are fairly expensive.

Step 6: Place a small amount of epoxy to the flat side of your marble. Place bale on top of epoxy and let cure. Note: If you can't wait for it to dry the 24 hours, wait for at least 1 hour before proceeding, or your bale will not stay in place. :) Your marble pendant should look similar to photo below when complete.

Step 7: Fold hemp cord length in half- first photo below. Thread through bale on marble pendant- second photo below.

Step 8: Thread one of your wooden beads on to the hemp cord- first photo below. Slide bead to the top of your marble pendant- second photo below.

Step 9: Separate hemp cord, thread one more wooden bead on loose end as shown in photo below. You can adjust the length of your necklace at this point; however, make sure to add 1 inch to the length to make sure you have enough cord for the next two steps. :)

Step 10: Tie a knot on loose end. Place a drop of epoxy on knot and slide wooden bead over knot to secure in place.

Step 11: Tie knot on looped end of cord. Make sure it is large enough to slip over wooden bead.

That's it! You're finished!

Repeat process for as many necklaces as you want to make. :)