Typewriter art

This idea is really cute. I don't know that I would do this exact thing, but the technique would work for other ideas as well.

From http://nikkicleary.blogspot.com/

a close up shot of the chiseled groovemom, using a paintbrush to really get in the grooves with the antiquing effect
antiquing the squares with the rag and paint
lori, dragging the chisel to create the grooves
our finished product


I have been receiving requests from women who googled "typewriter key wall art" (and from there they found my blog) and they have wanted to know how I made my Pottery Barn replica.
Well, here is how we did it step by step...

• found the typewriter font FREE here http://www.typadelic.com/typekeys.html, downloaded it and then created a document in photoshop, typed the letters/numbers in and blew them up to the size we wanted (if you dont have photoshop and are planning on making your board 25x25", e-mail me and I will send you the jpg files). We printed them out on cream cardstock and then cut all the circles out.
  
• cut a piece of plywood board 25x25" square
• marked a grid 5 lines evenly spaced horiz and 5 lines vertical. Then we used a metal straight edge ruler and dragged the corner of a chisel down the lines to create the grooves
• take a rag, wet a corner with odorless mineral spirits, dab where its wet onto the top of a tube of dark brown oil paint and use that to antique each square...making sure it really gets in the groove to make them stand out. (Hint: if you make it too dark, just wet a clean corner of your rag with the mineral spirits and wipe off till you get the desired effect.
• adhere your letters and numbers in the center of each square using either spray adhesive or a quick dry tacky glue. Brayer over them to make sure they are stuck down good.
  
• hammer tiny black nails (we found a box of 100 at Lowe's for about 3 or 4 bucks) into the four corners of your squares
• cut frame to size and nail together
• hang and enjoy!!

Such a cute idea for a game room, and you can display and store them too!

From infarrantlycreative.blogspot.com

Hello friends. Today I promised you some color in my game room. I am so totally excited about this project I can barely contain myself. If you have been around Infarrantly Creative for any length of time you know about my disdain for children’s game boxes hereand here. Well…here’s a little storage and a little art in one!

LOVES!

Do you want to see the best part?

Storage!!!…LOVES! Are you FUH-REAKING out yet? Board games makes the perfect art, in my humble opinion. They are beautifully designed and large enough to be substantial art pieces. Want to see how I did it? Basically it is a reversed shadow box.

Supplies:

1” x 4” wood boards (I used poplar but you could use anything)

game board of your choice

spray paint

table saw

miter saw

Sticky back hooks

Finishing nails

Hammer or a nail gun

1. Pick out your game board of choice. Measure the length and width of your boards and add an inch. Example… If your board measures 21” x 15” you will cut two boards 22” x 1 1/2” and two boards measuring 16” x 1 1/2”. I used Cranium, Monopoly, Chutes & Ladders, and Candyland.

2. Purchase 1” x 4” boards from Home Depot or another home center. Set your table saw to rip them to 1 1/2” in width (you measure from the fence to the inside of the blade). You will get two equal pieces and a little scrap left over. I recommend doing it that way rather than trying to cut them in half exactly. It doesn’t work too well.

A woman with power tools and big tails? Hilarious!

3. Next we are going to create a dado. That is fancy schmancy carpenter terminology for cutting into the board so that your game board will fit inside. What you do is set your fence at 3/8” inch from the edge of the blade. Lower the blade 1/4” above the table. The blade is thick enough that when you create the dado it will fit your board perfectly inside.

4. Using a miter saw cut your pieces to the correct size mitering the corners at a 45 degree angle. You could also use a hand saw and miter box if you don’t have a powered miter saw.

Here’s all the cut boards waiting to be painted.5. Spray paint your boards. I used Canyon Black by Rustoleum.

6. Slides the boards in place and with some finishing nails tack it in place. You can patch the nail holes if you want and touch up paint them.

7. Now take some sticky back hooks and tack them on the back of the game board. Using a hole punch and some ziploc bags hang them on the back of your board.

Now hang them on the wall and SMILE REALLY BIG. I want my whole house decorated in game boards now simply for storage sake. I am in love with this idea. What do you think?

Earring Stand

I LOVE this cute earring display! So cute!

From alittleofthis---alittleofthat.blogspot.com

Problem: A collection of earrings lays scattered in my bathroom drawer. I am constantly losing them, because I don't have a place to hang them.

Solution: Go to Michael's and find stuff to make an earring stand!

Supplies needed:
Unfinished wood frame (with a large enough opening)
Wood candlestick (unfinished)
Wood finial (unfinished)
Wood trim (optional)
Wire mesh (can be found in sculpting section)


Staple gun (a hot glue gun would work too)
Spray paint
Sandpaper
Gorilla Glue (the best glue EVER!)
Here we go....

1. I couldn't find a frame with a large enough opening, so I chose a wood plaque thingy (descriptive, I know....) with a nice border-
2. I then used my saw to cut out the middle. (If you are lucky enough to find an unfinished frame with a large opening, congrats!)
3. Cut mesh wire to width of your frame (it's super thin wire; very easy to cut)
4. Use gorilla glue to glue your frame to your candlestick. You need to clamp the pieces together, like this:
5. After the gorilla glue is dry (1-2 hours), attach your finial with gorilla glue. I couldn't figure out how to clamp this piece on, so I very carefully attached it and let it dry.
6. Spray paint your earring stand (I chose black; of course!!)
7. Spray paint your mesh wire too-both sides
8. If you are using wood trim, paint it up!
9. After all the paint is dry, cut and attach your trim to the frame (if you are using it). I think this trim adds a nice detail.
10. Simply measure each side, cut the trim, and glue in place (hot glue is easy...)
    
11. Attach your mesh wire to your earring stand with a staple gun (hot glue would probably work too)
12. Use sandpaper to rough up the edges a bit, and give it a more distressed look.
13. Add ribbon, twine, etc to dress it up.
14. Hang up your earrings and enjoy a little organization!

Haunted Houses

So cute! I love this idea, and those bird houses are only a couple bucks!

{from sistersstuff.blogspot.com}

This was a fun Halloween craft I did with my kids. We took bird houses and spray painted them black. After they dried, we added white paint, scrapbook paper, stickers and ribbons.