An Inspiring Place to Be......

This is one of the many places in blogland that I go to for inspiration. And she is having an amazing give-away. I need to pick out the room that I would love to have a $200 giftcard to Homegoods to decorate with. Hmmmm.........lots of choices! So click on over and enter too! And then let me know!

http://theinspiredroom.net/

Fall Blocks

My friend Sarah and I had a crafting/scrapbooking day on Saturday that was just soo much fun! I decided to make up a batch of these decorating blocks for myself! Last year I made six sets of these for Christmas presents and never got around to making mine. I was a little burnt out after six sets. I think my set turned out the cutest though!

I started with 9, pieces of a 2x4 all cut in various lengths from 4" - 6".

I stagger them to look pleasing to the eye. And I right on them with a sharpie. That way in all of my creative process they don't get all jumbled up. The next part can be as simple or complex as you make it.

I cut scrapbook paper (cardstock) to cover the front of the block, I like to leave a little border. Cut out your letters to spell the word(s) that you want for the front of the block. There are many different ways to do this, I used a die-cutting machine, you could also use stencils to cut the letters, or use stencils to just paint the letters on.

After the letters are on there I embellish the letters with stickers, die cuts, stitching, staples, ribbon, etc. This is the part where you can go simple or really jazz them up. I have seen these blocks done both ways and they are all CUTE! This is as far as I got on Saturday. The kids were home and the hubby was not, so crafting was a ssssllllllooooooowwwww process!

Sunday morning dawned and all the big boys were gone so I decided to keep playing with my blocks. I headed outside and after bruising my arm getting the belt sander down, I got busy! I should mention that this is my first time using the belt sander and while it is easy as pie there is a learning curve. The first block I sanded did not come out right at all. It...did...not....even....look...like....a...block....anymore. yikes

Okay, got the hang of it, got the other 8 blocks sanded but wait....Mikey DOES NOT LIKE the sander running and he is letting me know about it. So I put him in the house to finish up. And Mikey DOES NOT LIKE being in the house without Mommy. Soooo.....he took the bath salts that I got for my birthday and gave the carpet a spa experience, and the wall, and the cabinets, and the sliding glass door, and himself..............

After that little lovely experience......I smoothed the sharp edges of the blocks with a sanding block. Yes! That is a manicure block. I love how these babies sand wood when I am crafting or tolepainting. I buy them at the beauty supply house really cheap too. And then I wiped them down with a tack cloth. You can use wet paper towels instead of a tack cloth too. If you don't have one. I want to mention to that you can sand these with 100 grit sandpaper instead of a belt sander.

Now it is time for my favorite part: Spray Paint! These are the blocks after they are painted. I purposely left some parts lighter than others and then distressed the edges with my little sanding block.

I lined them up to match up which block with went which letter. Then I hotglued them onto the blocks. As a note - last Christmas I tried all kinds of adhesive to glue these onto the blocks and nothing really worked all that great. The hotglue works fantastic.

All finished and looking pretty!