The Making of a Collage

I finally figured out what to do with one of the two large window frames I bought last year for $10.00.  I decided to make a collage of my kids and use the window as the frame.  I know, this is nothing new, but I wanted to share my "creation" with you.

I started out with this...

One side had glass and the other did not, so I took a hammer and smashed the one remaining pane out of the frame.  Once the glass and all the sharp edges were removed, I sanded the entire frame to clean it up.  I had plans to paint it, however, the green paint on the frame actually matched (almost) perfectly with the green I had painted my entryway, so I decided to leave it as is and apply a dark walnut stain to the surface to enhance the wood grain showing through the bottom.

Next, I cut two pieces of glass to fit inside each window panel.

Now the hard part...finding enough pictures of my kids to make a large collage and, I have to admit, this was the tough part.  I've never been one to take alot of pictures and I discovered that I didn't take very many as they were growing up.  (regrets!)  Anyway, I gathered what I could and started attaching them to acid-free foamcore.  I then matted each collage with a creamy white matboard.  I secured the collage behind the glass and attached picture hanging hardware to the back.

I then cut the letters "love" from 1/4" mdf board using my scrollsaw and a small heart from scrap plywood.  I covered the heart with sheet moss and stained, painted and sanded the letters.  I attached the letters with hot glue and used jute twine to attach the moss heart to the frame.  The window frame already had a hole in it so I thought I'd get some use out of it.

I'm quite happy with the way it turned out.  It measures 5 ft. x 30" so it covers a large area in my hallway.  Now I just need to figure out what to put on either side of it.

Thank you for stopping by...I hope you have a great weekend!

Lesa

Sheet Moss Heart

Here is quick and easy project to create that you can use pretty much anywhere in your home...its a sheet moss heart.

First, make yourself a heart template out of paper...any size or shape.

Then, trace it onto a piece of wood.  I used plywood, but you can use any type of wood because it will be covered.  After cutting it out, quickly sand it to remove any rough edges.  Next, drill a hole at the top of the heart.

Cut the sheet moss into strips and start gluing to the heart.  I just covered the top and the sides and left the back bare.  Once it is entirely covered, staple chicken wire to the back of the heart and trim.

Thread a piece of ribbon or burlap through the hole and tie a bow.  Now its ready to hang.

Thank you for stopping by...have a great week!

Lesa

Rustic Heart

I wanted something rustic looking to lean on the shelf in my entryway and this is what I put together out of, your guessed it...pallet wood.

It was a quick and easy project...I cut these pieces from pallet wood and bought four (4) hinges:

I stained the wood with a dark walnut stain and spray painted the hinges with oil-rubbed bronze spray paint.   (make sure to spray paint the screws as well!)  I then gave the heart a coat of creamy white paint.  When it dried, I sanded some of the paint off to reveal the wood underneath using 100-grit sandpaper.  I then drilled a 1/2" hole at the top of the heart...large enough to thread a piece of jute through the hole.

After gluing the frame together, I attached the hinges at each corner.  At this point, I wasn't sure how I was going to suspend the heart...but I decided to attach a piece of chicken wire to the back of the frame.  Now I can attach the heart to the wire with a piece of jute. 

Very easy and very simple...and, if I get tired of the heart, I can easily remove the wire and insert a picture!

Thank you for stopping by.  I hope you have a great weekend!

Lesa

Pallet Stars

After finishing the pallet storage for my kitchen countertop, I realized I still had another storage piece to use.  I didn't want it to go to waste, however, I couldn't think of where to utilize it.  However, thanks to Holly over at "Down to Earth Style", (which is a beautiful blog by the way) I remembered that she used hers as a flower box and hung it over a doorway...looks great!  I didn't hang mine over a doorway, but chose to hang it over my window seat in the kitchen.
Anyway, it still needed something on either side of it, so I decided to make a couple of stars.  I wanted them to have the same texture as the pallet box so I made the stars from the leftover wood.  Of course, the wood wasn't wide enough to cut out a star so this is what I decided to do...cut all the star points separately and then join them together with twine.

I stained the wood with a dark walnut stain and then thread the twine through the holes I drilled into the points.  I attached a small self-leveling hanger to the back and hung them on either side of the flower box. 

Thanks for stopping by...

Lesa

Pallets and Letters

So, this idea isn't anything new...in fact, the different uses of pallets is all over blogland and the internet.  However, one idea that I love is using the pallets as storage.  I wanted to incorporate this idea somewhere in my kitchen, but I don't have alot of wall space so I decided it would work best on my counter.  It was a little "blah" so I decided to cut some letters out of 1/4" mdf board to spell "Bakery".  I painted them a creamy white color and used wood glue to secure them to the front of the pallet storage.  Now its a great place to keep my favorite and frequently used cookbooks.

Thank you for stopping by...

Lesa

A Little Hallway Love

As I mentioned in my last post, I've decided to try and make my hallway a little less boring and to spruce it up a bit.   I didn't have much for wood, but happened to find some 2x4's, 1x6, and 1x2's in the shop, so I threw together this bench.

I stained it with dark walnut and then painted it with a creamy white paint.  I wanted to give it a weathered appearance so I removed some of the paint to reveal the stained wood.

Added a canvas pillow and basket for accessories and decided it would look great along the wall with my kids pictures.

I added their initials to their picture groupings to add a bit more interest.  I simply printed off the letters in the font I wanted, traced them onto mdf board and cut them out on the scroll saw.  A quick sanding, some stain and paint and they were ready to hang on the wall. 

I think it looks much better, but I'll let you be the judge!

Thank you for stopping by...

Lesa

Burlap & 2x4's

I have a very boring hallway and I finally decided it was time to do something about it.  I figured I had enough "junk" laying around that I could put something together that would make it a bit more appealing, so this is what I came up with...

I needed a table of some kind that would fit in the tiny space, but everything I had was either too wide length-wise or width-wise, so I went out into the shop to see what type of wood I could use to make a tabletop.   I new I wanted something "heavy" looking so I used 2 x 4's.  I cut three pieces 32" long, glued and screwed them together by attaching 1 x 2 underneath.   I gave it good sanding with 100-girt and then 220-grit sandpaper.  I applied a dark walnut stain, but it wasn't quite dark enough, so I sprayed some oil rubbed bronze (by Krylon) paint onto a damp cloth and rubbed it into the surface.  (this was a bit of an experiment, but it worked!)

Once dry, I need to attach the tabletop to the wall. I found two metal shelf brackets out in the shop and even though they were ugly, I knew you weren't going to see them once I was finished.

After attaching everything to the wall, I took some measurements and made a burlap skirt.  So far, so good.  (except for the pictures I've taken!)

I wanted to hang a mirror, but I didn't have anything large enough for the wall space so I decided to refinish this window.

The "pink" just wasn't going to work with my color scheme so I gave the frame a quick sanding to loosen any chipping paint and then stained the bare wood areas with a dark walnut stain.  I painted the "pink" areas with a dark brown paint and I wasn't going for "perfection".

Once it completely dried, I rubbed random areas with vaseline and then applied a topcoat in a creamy white.  Again, let it dry completely.  Next, I rubbed off the areas covered in vaseline to reveal the basecoat.

I then applied a tinted wax to give the window frame more of an "aged" feel.  I make my own tinted wax with Johnson's Floor Paste Wax and Winsor & Newton Oil paint in burnt umber (this comes in a 37ml tube available at art or stationary stores).  My recipe varies depending on how dark I want the wax so you might want to experiment with this on your own, however, I usually use about 1/2 cup wax to 1-2 tsp. oil paint.  Mix it in a container and apply with a rag.  Let dry and then buff off.

I added a few accessories and now the end of the hallway isn't so boring.

Now I need to get to work on the rest of the hallway!  Thank you for stopping by...hope you'll come back for another visit!

Lesa