How I {Ombre'} & our Late Summer Mantle

Ombre' was all the hot talk for a while there {maybe it still is?!}... but the only way I ever really got into the style was through my painted signs.  I've experimented with blending colors to create a Ombre' look with many colors now, and always LOVE how it turns out.
Here's what I do:

I start with 4 equal sized wood boards, sanded smooth with finished edges.  You could experiment with different sizes, as well!

I pour a good sized amount of paint in a paper plate.  [side note: I LOVE the paint mistake section at hardware stores!!!  Have not heard of it?!  Well, you need to find it!  Most of the time there is a shelf behind the back side of the paint mixing counter where you will find all different sizes of "paint mistakes".  They are priced amazingly and you will often find fun colors that freaked someone out and they decided not to buy.  My lovely husband is such a good sport letting me buy 1 or 2 almost every time we go to the hardware store... consequently I have a pretty fun selection of paint colors in the garage!  You need to check it out if you have not already.]  I always start with the color as it comes out of the can for the first board.

It is important to get a really good coat on the first time, because you WILL NOT BE ABLE TO DUPLICATE THESE COLORS to paint a second coat.  Make sure you don't miss any spots!

Then, I add a small amount of either a light or dark base depending on if I want a darker color or lighter.  I went with a cream for this project.

Stir it around well (I use disposable foam brushes) and then paint the next board.  You want it to be a subtle change in color, but enough to notice.

Now you just repeat that process 2 more times (or however many Ombre' shades you are going for).

And you end up with this...

I usually start and end with my two mixing colors so there are two MIXED colors in the middle- but there are no RIGHT ways to do Ombre'... just have fun!

Here's what my sign looked like all put together-

And here's a shot of the back so you can see how I hold them all together.  I do have a KREG Jig- that I could use to pocket hole screw them together- but this was a just a quick project- (I usually make a sign for every mantle change- so it has to be quick).

I wanted to use this sign to pull together some beautiful finds from the Sequim Lavender Weekend we brought home for a Late Summer Mantle.  I roughed up the edges a bit and added some vinyl.  Then a tied a quick burlap bow and glued together a mini paper bunting!

Here's how it all came together- Fresh Lavender, Bunnies, unique Urns, Wine Corks and Wicker Balls- all somehow say "Celebrating Late Summer" to me!

I'd love to hear about or see How YOU Ombre'- please share with comments!

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[Cars and Trucks] Drawer Pulls- FREE SILHOUETTE CUT FILES

One of Madisyn's best friends, Hunter is a few weeks older than her.  He celebrated his 2nd birthday last weekend!  Time has flown since our babies were born, where did our little babies go?!
I try really hard to gift personal, thoughtful gifts for close friends.  I wanted to make something for Hunter and his Mom told me that she had yet to order drawer pulls for his new big boy "Car and Truck" bedroom.  I asked her if I could make them for him, and she said YES!

We bought 6, high quality metal drawer pulls from Home Depot that had a large, flat surface to apply some car and truck vinyl.

I created 6 different Silhouette files for cars and trucks to cut my 1.5 inch wide shapes out of primary colored permanent vinyl.  Some of them proved to be more difficult than others due to very small cut lines and removing the pieces necessary to create negative space.  {My trick for this is to use a very sharp dental pick... shhhh... don't tell anyone.}

Kyle quickly drilled some holes in a scrap piece of stained wood we had, that presented the pulls very nicely as a gift.  

The pulls came out exactly how I envisioned them and Hunter and Mommy Candace LOVED them!  Success!

I wasn't able to host the Silhouette Files on my webpage to download for some strange reason.  So, please leave a comment with your email address and I will send them to you!  I'd LOVE to see what you make with them!

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Backyard Garden Fence Quote Project--- I need your help...

Hello Friends!  I have come up with a really fun idea to make use of some large vintage windows that were given to me.  The large ones are always hard to make use of- and I have a surplus, so I've been trying to think of a way to use them in our back yard to add some personality.
We are renting, so we have not created any "outdoor" spaces like I would in a home I own, but a project like this could be taken with us when we go, so it is perfect.

I want to take these:

Add some bright and beautiful vinyl quotes or designs and hang them along this fence:

So, I can't decide on a theme; should it be garden or growth themed using the same or a similar quote to the one I put on my Barnwood and Vintage Window Planter Box?  I do love that quote, and I could spread it out over the 5 windows.

Or I could just do inspirational words?

Or images- like a vine, or simple single color flowers such as these- Just one Large per window-

What do you think would be cool?

I'd love to hear your opinions/ideas.  Please comment and have a great Friday!  The WEEKEND is upon us!

My tips and tricks- WORKING WITH BURLAP and a bonus project idea

Kyle and I have some really special friends named Andrew and Ashley.  Oddly, Kyle actually met Andrew online in one of those really manly "diesel truck forums".  They've turned out to be true blue friends- that time and time again always are there for each other when they need something.  Kyle and I have really valued their friendship.
Recently, Andrew and Ashley joined one of two of the best clubs on earth- MARRIAGE (the other is parenthood).  I was honored to get to help Ashley with some of the planning of her wedding decor.  And I had so much fun keeping my eyes peeled for "lavender and rustic" themed details.
When Ashley came across the concept of a burlap and wood ring bearer pillow, I jumped at the opportunity to make one for her ceremony.
It turned out so cute, I wanted to share it with  you and a few tips to working with burlap.

Tip #1

Burlap stinks, is messy and itchy.  I've learned a trick to helping with these three issues. The first is ALWAYS WASH AND DRY IT BEFORE DOING ANYTHING!!!  I stand by this piece of advise for almost all fabric, but in the case of burlap it is especially important.  By washing and drying it-most of the stink, stiffness and excess fibers and dust are removed.  It will leave less of a mess on your work surface and be much more pleasant to work with- after being washed.  You can even wash and dry it a couple of times if you'd like it to be even more pleasant!

Tip #2

SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE.  After I wash and dry my burlap, I always take it outside and shake it as hard as I can to remove any of the residual dust.  I have TERRIBLE allergies, and as strange as it sounds, burlap makes me sneeze, my nose drip and my eyes itch.  So the more I can do to make it pleasurable to work with, the better!

Tip #3

Cutting burlap can be a challenge- it can be super frustrating to measure out the piece you need, use a hard edge to cut and then end up with 18 frayed edges that seem to pull all apart when you start to work with it.  I'll illustrate my solution to this problem using photos I took while creating my gift for Andrew and Ashley.

I started with a strip of scrap burlap, about six inches wide.  So then, to make a square for the pillow, I needed two pieces that were 6 inch square.

To create the straight line at 6 inches, find 1 strand of jute that looks to be right about 6 inches and give it a little tug.

Because this was a thin piece of fabric I was working with, I was able to pull the whole string through at ease.  If you are working with a wider piece of fabric, you may need to use a tool to pull the string up in the middle of the fabric, cut it and then pull on the two strings you've created out through the middle.  

You can see at the left of the fabric, that the void that is being created by the 1 piece of jute being pulled out, is enough to follow with scissors to cut a straight line.  That is EXACTLY what we are going for!

Now, you can use this void to cut along and have a perfectly straight edge!

Now, in this case, I wanted to have slightly frayed edges.  But at least I had a straight edge to begin with to pull some jute strings out to create the fray!  

That concludes my tips to working with burlap- I hope you learned something, try it out and find it useful!  

Below are photos of my finished project- a gift to our dear friends on their wedding day.  

Love it, have to have it and don't want to make it?!  No problem- I'd LOVE to make one for you!  Find the listing in my Etsy Shop here.

Do you have any other tricks or tips to working with burlap?  I'd love to hear about them, please comment below!

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Part 2- God Bless America Sign- 3 Quick Patriotic Handcrafts

My mantel decor is almost never complete with out a sign of some kind...and this time I didn't have one already made that would suffice.

The hubby and I were in the garage working on my Shutterfly and Looksi Creative Brand Collaboration Challenge and I spotted a VERY OLD piece of scrap wood that would make a beautiful sign.  I picked the piece off of a garage built in the early 1900's in downtown Renton- it was a piece of molding around a window.  The gracious owners also let me purchase the doors off the garage- they were original barn style garage doors- beautiful- and still in my garage awaiting the perfect home (against the will of my LOVING husband).

I cut the beautiful board into 3 equal lengths and used a scrap 1x2 to secure them together.  We hadn't yet replaced our finish-nailer that was stolen during our break-in so I had to use screws, a bit overkill- but oh well!

Because this wood is SOOOO old, I took extra precautions when sanding its rough edges after I cut the boards.  I was worried about the paint- so I wore a mask while sanding.  I sanded more than I typically would, because I used another one of these boards for one of my You Light Up My Life Lamps and I struggled to get the vinyl to stick on that project.  I was hoping some extra sanding would take care of this issue.

With it all sanded up, and secure together I took it inside and applied some vinyl!

I left the bottom pannel empty because I wanted to do some embellishing.  I splurged, with a gift certificate my lovely sister gave me for my birthday last year, on some burlap ribbon.  This is the look I wanted since I knew I would be using burlap in my wreath (part 3 of my patriotic tutorials) and its always nice to tie things together.  

So, I tied a simple knot with some burlap- decided it needed some color and added in some bright blue rick rack.  

Finished it off by hot gluing some small white stars left over from my Starry Banner and a simple  button heart.  

And THAT'S ALL!  Simple, quick and easy!

Our final and part 3 to our series will be a Patriotic Wreath- I hope to get it posted tomorrow- but we have a new baby to welcome to our family! I am determined to go see Madisyn's new baby cousin, Arabella, at the hospital tomorrow night- so you might see our Patriotic Wreath post on Thursday!  Can't wait to share.

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My Mother's Day Creation- Barnwood and Vintage Window Planter and a FREE PRINTABLE!!!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

This is my second Mother's Day, officially- and I feel honored to be a part of this club.  As I was reading through quotes to find the one I wanted to put on my project for my Mother, many of them brought tears to my eyes upon taking time to reflect on what they really meant.  I wanted to pick a quote that would inspire my mom in the place she is currently in life.
My mom thought she had her "dream come true" life, when she purchased Cedarbrook Lavender & Herb farm almost 10 years ago.  At first it was amazing, then it got really tough when she realized she had to focus WAY more on "business stuff" than what she really enjoyed doing on her flower farm.  As soon as she got comfortable splitting her time between business and the pleasure the farm brought her, the economy took a down turn.  With that big change, came a whole new set of challenges which has lead to a drastic change in her daily life activities.  

I am proud to say, that she is FINALLY, ALMOST at a point where she will, again, be able to enjoy flowers because her dream is back in sight and possible- although VERY different from what is was initially.  I hope this gift I made for her, sitting in front of her new little home, will remind her on a daily basis to DREAM!

Dreams

It is SOOO important to Dream.  If you don't dream and make goals how will you get ANYWHERE!?  I have this discussion with my husband often, as he and I think very differently.  I am a Dreamer down to my heart of hearts, hence why I am an Entrepreneur.  I have been working very hard lately on a project that will change my little family's life DRASTICALLY, and I am SOOO excited about where it will take us. Only because I Dream for a future where we can live life comfortably in a way and place we are happy.  Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers this next week as hopefully all my hard work will begin to pay off!  And DREAM BIG for your life, you never know what might become reality if you dream it!

Enough philosophical babble- and on to my fun project!

Step by Step - Barnwood & Vintage Window Planter

I always start a project by perusing through my stashes of materials in the garage, on the side of the house and on our back patio- I knew I wanted to make a planter box for my mom for Mother's Day, but I didn't know what style.  After some inspiration gathering on Pinterest, as always, I had some ideas in my head, but went to take a look at what I had to work with.  I decided it was time to use one of my vintage windows that have been sitting around for a while.  I also picked up some scrap wood for the structure and base from the side of the house- and I picked out a piece of barnwood to use for the outside walls.

Step 1

I set up my window on my work bench and figured out how deep I wanted my planter box to be.  Then I measured the long piece of scrap wood to figure out if it was long enough to cut into 3 sections to create the base for the planter.  

After I cut the 3 equal pieces and laid them out under my window, I realized the gap between them would be large enough for a significant amount of soil to leak through.  So, I found a scrap 1x2 to add into the mix, making the gaps between the board basically nonexistent.

Step 2

Seeing as I only had my two hands working on this project, it is very difficult sometimes to hold pieces into place when you are screwing them together in a manner that they won't move.  To help combat this issue, I always start my screws by getting the screw into the wood before I attempt screwing into the other piece   Just like this-

Then, I was able to hold everything together where I wanted it and begin to push the screws into the other piece of wood.

Step 3

With my base all secured to the bottom of the window, I laid out some scrap 1 x 2's to create a frame for the top of the planter box.  Attaching this frame to the window was challenging because I had to make sure I wasn't screwing into the glass set inside the frame.  I also had to pay close attention to screwing into an odd angle on the back side of the frame.

This frame was to be secured into the middle of the window frame where I wanted the top of the planter box to be.  Again, only having two hands, I had to get creative in how to support the frame in a way that I could get it secured in place.  I ended up stacking misc items under the top of the window frame to put it at the same height as the bottom where I screwed on the base.  Then I was able to slide the 1x2 frame under it and screw in through the backside of the window frame into the 1x2's.

You can see that the base boards are all wonky-  this is because they are not straight (one of the challenges that arise from using scrap wood for building projects).  Luckily, you can always force the boards to be somewhat straight when you attach the other side to something- as you will see in the next step.

Step 4

With the base and top support screwed into the window frame, I was able to attach the barnwood to the outside to create the walls for the planter.  I set the barnwood on its side on each side of the planter and marked where I needed to cut.  I made sure to have the two sides go from the very back of the window frame to the front edge of the frame and base.  The front piece then covers the raw edge of the sides giving a more seamless look.

I used wood glue and finish nails to attach the sides- needed to be strong enough to hold it all together with the dirt and plants inside, but I didn't want to see any screws.

And, then it was ready for planting!

It was beautiful after I planted the flowers and they will grow in to be stunning in a few weeks.  I used lobelia around the front and side edges, when it lobelia grows along an edge, it drapes down- and will be so pretty.

I love how it turned out, but it needed something else... and that's where the quote comes in.  I wasn't happy with any of the stock quotes available in the Silhouette online store, so I used my software and created my own, and I am happy to share it with you.  Click on the image below to be directed to the PDF that you can download- feel free to use it however you'd like (but please be sure to share photos!)

Did you make something crafty for your Mom this Mother's Day?  We'd love to see or hear about it- tell us or link us in a comment!

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