wood signs

I've been really into signs lately. After the last couple of basement finishing projects, I've got spare wood laying around, so wood signs for EVERYONE!

A couple of mis-cuts on some nice birch wood turns into this sign for my beautiful fireplace mantel.

I used some left over paint from the basement color pallet for the base coats and dug into my acrylic paint for the letters.

Pulled out my trusty Brother Scan N Cut and some vinyl. Using transfer paper, I transferred the vinyl on the wood.

I found some hearts online using the Scan N Cut Canvas.

Then I painted the sign with the alternate basement color. I love this color - it's called Stone.

Then I pulled off the vinyl and sanded it to give it a more distressed look.

Love, Love, Love!!!

Next was a present for my niece's wedding shower. This was left over cedar from a garden project. This was the first one I tried my hand at. I first printed out my design on paper to get a visual.

I tried the freezer transfer method, but it didn't work. It wouldn't have been that I used a laser printer instead of an ink jet, would it? Epic failure!

I cut out a stencil using my Brother Scan N Cut, and it worked ok - but vinyl works way better.

I went over some areas with my permanent marker and then I put Modge Podge over it to seal it.

I then added a handle. Turned out pretty cute.

Next up was a wedding present for Burke's sister. I had another piece of birch that I painted a base coat on. Using my Brother Scan N Cut, I cut my vinyl templates and used transfer paper to move it to the wood. After filling them in with acrylic paint, I pulled them off. This allows you to do multiple colors.

Turned out pretty cute.

Right?

And lastly (for this blog), a guy at work just had a baby, so I found this owl plaque and painted it.

This one was the hardest because of how small the letters were. I tried 3 different times to get it right. Once, I screwed it up - I sanded it down and tried again. This was the final time.

I got a few more in me before Christmas (evil laugh).

ana white faux electric fireplace

Now that the basement is done, my focus turned to my fireplace. During the winter, the basement gets chilly - even with all the extra insulation we put in. We have a gas fireplace on our main floor and I love it. It's so nice during the winter that my first thought was to put another gas fireplace in the basement. After doing some research, I decided an electric option would be the safest and most efficient.

I looked at purchasing one, but the cost was too much. A cheaper construction pressed wood costs around $500-$700, solid wood construction is about $2000.

Searches for fireplace mantels brought up Ana White's website with the hidden storage. You can get the plans here.

It was perfect! Hides all the stuff for our video games too.

When dad called to say he wanted to come in for a visit, I quickly got him on board to help. We had a really great day working on the caucus.

The firebox was bought from Amazon. I researched quite a few and finally decided on the Classic Flame because I could recess it inside a unit. You can find the item here.

We then added this lovely trim. Kind of expensive - but I think it was worth it.

Crown moulding for the top. Burke did a great job with the compound miter cuts.

Next was caulking and painting.

I added some decorative trim. Not perfect .... but, not terrible.

Next up was the hinges. I love these, euro style hinges, very strong.

The finishes took the longest. I first painted it with a latex paint, then distressed the finish with my sander. After cleaning the sawdust, I then went over it again with a antique white stain. Since I added the decorative trim after painting, I just put the stain on it. I like the look.

When it came to the handles, I dug out the router, and did a nice routed edge. Again, not perfect, but that's why it's cool. It's not a factory made piece of furniture - but something constructed with loved.

I had several scrap pieces of bead board from the ceiling, so I used them for the back - painting it the same color.

Instead of using the antique white on the mantel, I used the gray stain I found. I really like it .... different. Lastly, I protected the fireplace and brushed polyurethane over everything. The mantel got 2 coats - look how shiny it is.

The project took 3 weekends to complete. The cost for the wood and accessories (excluding the firebox) was around $175. Honestly, I love it - it really is my happy place. I super proud to say, "I made that."

canvas print

I don't know if I stated this before, but Aunt Dottie was an avid photographer. Some of the best pictures of our family was taken by her and her daughter, Barbara Gale.

During my mom's visit in June she asked if we could go to the Salvation Army thrift store, so we went in look for treasures. I found 2 16x20 blank canvases for $5.00 and put them in my stash of crafting treasures.

I actually intended to paint something on them and when I started thinking about what to paint, I brought up my online photo album to look for inspiration.

I realized that I had some pretty cool photos. At first, I thought about reproducing a photo using paint on the canvas. Then my attention turned to just using the prints themselves. I mean .... why keep them all to myself? So I sent them to Walmart to have prints made - 16x20. It cost me $26.00 total for both prints.

These photos were taken at Gallup Park in Ann Arbor, when I signed up myself, Mom, and Julia for a Shutterbug Meetup. It was a really great time that we spent together and with other Shutterbugs in the area. We met some very cool and interesting people that day.

Julia helped with this project. We both grabbed a canvas and some black acrylic paint and painted the edges and framed out the front.

I cut the photos down just a tad to fit neatly inside the canvas with a 1/4 inch border so the black on the canvas came through. In the process, I ended up cutting my finger and didn't even realize it until I saw what I thought was red paint. Ewwwww

We brought out the Modge Podge and throughly coated the canvas. I mean throughly, doubly making sure all areas of the canvas was coated. Don't be fooled by this picture which shows only the topcoat on the print, but there is a nice coat under the print too.

I used the Modge Podge matte finish on this. We put the prints on the canvas and pressed all the air bubbles out. Then we put a nice coat of Modge Podge over the print. I let it dry for 24 hours.

You could clearly see the brush marks from brushing on the Modge Podge, which was cool - gave it a painted look. I thought ... what if I used that to give it more of an artist look?

So I put some in a cup and let it stand to thicken up a bit. Not too much that it became clumpy. I let it stand for about an hour.

Then I painted the Modge Podge on, just going over the flowers and leaving the background like it was. I blotted the Modge Podge in the center and did long strokes on the flower petals.

Then I let dry for another 24 hours.

So that all the water in the Modge Podge cured and was ready to hang.

After some internal debate on where to hang these, I finally decided to hang these in my office. I still need some new art for my living room, so I'm thinking still about painting.  

Frankly I love the look of oil paints, but hate the smell and use of turpentine. I found (and ordered) some Oil of Spike Lavender which is suppose to be a non-toxic solvent and medium. I'm gonna give that a whirl.

I really like the way these turned out. It was a great way to create some art using my own photographs in an inexpensive way. I'm thinking this would be great on some family photos.

sleeping bear dunes

Growing up with Aunt Dottie, she loved nature and often took us camping to enjoy our country's wonderment. There wasn't a hiking trail she didn't like as she was in awe of the beauty of nature.

Our trip would not be complete without visiting the beautiful area of Sleeping Bear Dunes in Empire, Michigan. We drove the scenic route that Pierce Stocking built in the 1960's. Amazing views.

The first stop on the scenic drive - the covered bridge.

Next, on to the amazing lake and dune views.

Coupled with these smiling faces.

Doesn't get much better than this.

So this was pretty cool. The sand dune took a very steep down turn here. I should have taken a picture of the sign that basically says "don't go down there, cause we ain't coming to get ya. Good luck getting back up."

So ... of course, people went down there.

Then struggled to get back up. For every step you take, you go back 3 feet.

You would think these guys would be taking in the view. Some of them were - but mostly they were watching the guy trying to slide down the dune head first on a cardboard slide. I should have taken a picture of him - but instead I shook my head and walked away.

Instead, I took a picture of Julia. She was up and down the sand dunes having a great time.

Beyond where she was sitting.

I'm pretty sure they were sick of me taking their pictures by the end of the day.

But when you pose ... I just can't help it.

This place was amazing.

This is a good one of Julia with Lake Michigan in the background.

The 10th stop on our scenic drive - then off to the climb.

There's Burke ... back at the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes Climb, he and Julia met the challenge.

While Holly and I went about looking for native wildflowers, hearing Aunt Dottie in my head uttering over and over, "neat".