This website may contain affiliate links. If you purchase something from one of these, I may receive a small commission.

Pebble Art – A Snuggling Couple

 

I got a nice collection of flat rocks when the weather was warmer. When you start becoming a beach pebble collector its hard to stop. Even now, although its freezing rain I still would love to escape to the beach…an hour drive away…to look for my favorite shapes of stones (hearts, ovals, circles). So I’ve stained a few small boards to turn them into Pebble Art.

I’ll show you what I made this time….

 

What you will need:

  • 2 long pebbles
  • 2 round pebbles
  • small piece of drift wood
  • red and yellow felt
  • a twig
  • a scrap of stained board or a plain canvas
  • hot glue gun or E6000 glue

 

 

These two long rocks fit together perfectly for the bodies. Two round stones on top for the heads. A small piece of driftwood for them to sit on. Glue everything in place. You can stop with just these natural items or keep going to add some colour.

 

Here I took an inch of red felt and folded it in half and cut the shape of half a heart. I find this is the best way to get your heart shape. If I try to cut it freehand it turns out lopsided.

 

Trace a tin can from your pantry to make a felt round sun. Put a twig on the side and now its done.

Now it’s a couple having a snuggle at the beach, watching the sunset. Although, my 8 year old would like it to be a mother and daughter. Awe she is snuggler. I better make her one for her room!

Thanks for reading another one of my easy crafts….Have a look below for links to some of my other “Pebble Art” projects.

Pebble Art – A Girl and her Dog

Heart Shaped Beach Stones – Pebble Art

Make a Tic-Tac-Toe Board Game


Make a Wooden Book – Original Journal Gift Idea!

 

Have you ever thought of making a journal with a wooden cover? I hadn’t until I stumbled across this on Pinterest….from ThriftDiving.com….

https://thriftdiving.com/how-to-make-a-wooden-journal/how-to-make-a-diy-journal-out-of-wood-thrift-diving/

….it kept coming back to my mind that this is my woodworking skill level.  I really should try this!

I’m really happy with how it turned out. Rather than wood burning like Serena did. I hand painted a daisy on mine.

You will need:

  • 1/4 inch birch plywood
  • drill and 5/16″ drill bit
  • fine sandpaper
  • stain and rag
  • craft paint – yellow, white, brown
  • clear coat varnish and brush
  • binder clips
  • computer paper
  • 3 hole punch

 

The thin birch plywood comes as a large piece that needs to be cut down. I don’t have a table saw-so I had the wood cut for me at Home Depot.

Each cover needs to be approximately 9″ x 11″. So do the math and try to get the most out of your wood board. Each book needs a front and a back cover. I was able to get 6 pieces from mine to make up 3 books and there is enough left over to make at least one more.

I stained the board and then drilled the holes. Next time I would drill the holes first and then stain the wood.

The cuts may cause some fraying of the thin birch veneer, don’t panic! Sand the rough parts smooth-the stain will also hide flaws. I used my favorite color Jacobean from MinWax. 

 

 

Using a rag, rub the stain into both sides of the boards. It’s quite a dark stain so I don’t use much and start light and work at slowly going darker. Allow the stain to dry overnight.

 

As I mentioned above, it would be sensible to drill the holes before staining. Doing it afterwards can mean you’ll do some touch ups with stain afterward.

 

Use a page with holes as a template. Mark the hole with a pencil first. 

 

Place a scrap board under the journal cover before drilling. The journal cover will be damaged if you drill without scrap wood underneath…do don’t skip this step.

For the second piece of birch you could set it right on top and drill through both book covers to make sure they are matched up perfectly.

 

Put in the binder rings and see how it fits. Everything fits perfectly. So take the top cover back off and prepare to personalize and decorate the cover.

Using inexpensive craft acrylic paint, I painted the daisy on in white. Then I added some highlights with tan and yellow paints.

 

 

I used this exact same daisy idea on long boards for ways to use up scrap wood. I’ll include the link at the bottom of this post.

 

The last step is to turn the paintbrush upside down and dip it into the paint. I added rows of dots all around the edge of the daisy’s centre and some random ones in the middle.

Again allow to fully dry.

 

Put a coat of clear polyurethane for extra durability. Allow to fully dry overnight.

You can use lined paper or computer paper and punch the holes in it yourself. I like blank pages if you are going to give it as a gift. It looks like a sketchbook and how great would it be to sketch with a book with a wooden cover!

 

Thanks for reading this post! I hope you will share it or save it on Pinterest. See below for more easy woodworking ideas.

 

Outdoor Daisy Art – From Lumber Scraps!

Make a Dark Stained Rustic Wood Tray – Easy DIY!

Pebble Art – A Girl and her Dog


Pebble Art – A Girl and her Dog

 

 

I have been wanting to make pebble art for months but I’ve been nervous to get started. How silly is that? It’s just rocks glued to a board for heavens sake?! Well today I finally went for my first of many (hopefully) attempts to make pebble art.

You will need:

  • a wood board
  • sand paper
  • paint or stain
  • rag
  • rubber gloves
  • pebbles
  • industrial glue or hot glue gun
  • twine
  • jute rope
  • red craft paint and red glitter paint

Start by preparing the board. Use sand paper to smooth out rough edges. It doesn’t have to be perfect just make sure the rough corners are smooth.

Apply stain, wearing gloves, use a rag to wipe stain onto the wood. In this project I used my favorite. Minwax “Jacobean”. I waited 12 hours for this to dry.

Next, lay out your stones to create your artwork. I broke a little piece of drift wood to become her legs. Rummaging through my treasured pebble collection I found a funny shaped rock for her foot.

 

This piece of jute rope was a perfect scrap so I unravelled it to make hair for her.

 

 

I used industrial strength glue “E6000”. It’s so much stronger than a hot glue gun. But it is stinky and dries slowly. Use in a well ventilated area.

 

 

Did you crack a window? 

 

 

I needed to put some other pebbles on and around the hair to hold it down while the glue dried.

 

I tied a knot in a piece of twine and made it into the dog leash. At the bottom of the wood I glued a piece of jute rope to make a path for my girl and her dog to walk on. The ends were then tucked around the sides and glued down. (Okay, I confess, for this one part of the project I used the glue gun) I also added tiny dots for the dog’s eyes with a sharpie.

 

 

Notice how I just tucked the end of the twine in between the two pebbles to have her holding the leash.

I like the natural colors on this so far, so I found it hard to decide if I should leave it natural….or add a splash of colour.

 

Here I tried out a natural big round stone for the sun or moon.

I love this red heart shaped stone that I had previously painted with red craft paint and a sparkly top coat. You could also use nail polish. Since I wanted to make this a gift for my daughter who loves her pooches I think this is a nice touch.

 

For this one I put in some yellow pebbles for the sun. Nothing is permanent until you glue it on, so you can tinker around with your design while you try out different options.

I loved making this and plan to make a lot more. It becomes a mixed medium art piece. It’s really exciting to try something new and see it turn out great! Since every stone is different it will be impossible to make a duplicate. This is a one of a kind gift idea!!

Sew It Cook It Craft It Link Party - Sew Historically - I Was Featured Button

 

Heart Shaped Beach Stones – Pebble Art

Make Glass Stone Gems into Gorgeous Magnets

…..


Make a Twig Photo Frame Gift

 

My hubby and I took this picture the day we bought a car together. We had been married a few years by then. It was before kids and a mortgage and grey hair and bags under the eyes. We were so young and dewy. Sigh….

Well that’s nostalgic for days gone by…simpler times. But now we have a home and family and dogs…with our 18th anniversary only a few weeks away we are putting this photo into a home-made twig picture frame.

I have 2 or 3 more twig plans before the winter hits. I love twig crafts because they are natural, rustic and free! I have a slew of shrubs and trees that are needing trimming or after a windy night have left twigs all over the lawn so I have an endless amount of free craft supplies within a few steps of our front or back door.

You will need:

  • straight sticks/twigs
  • gardening snips
  • hot glue gun
  • inexpensive photo frame
  • brown paint
  • paint brush
  • ribbon/lace/burlap ribbon
  • moss

 

Start by painting the frame with dark brown craft paint. The frame and paint is from my local dollar store, add on the cost of 8 glue sticks and this might cost around $4 dollars….more if you add moss and a burlap bow. This would be a great snow day craft for your older kids (my girls are 8 and 11 and can use a hot glue gun without hurting themselves).

 

Choose branches that are relatively straight. Snip off the little twiggy parts sticking out. Trim your sticks down to the size just past your frame edge. They don’t have to be exactly the same length-the variation is what makes it rustic. I also didn’t use branches from the same shrubs so the color and texture of the twigs are different.

 

Using your hot glue gun, begin securing twigs to the frame. Start with the long ones on the top and bottom of the frame.

Add smaller twigs to the vertical part of the frame that is bare. Save the skinny twigs until the end to fill in gaps.

 

 

I liked the frame as it was with just twigs…so you might want to stop the project there. But when I added moss to my birdhouse project a few months ago. I really loved it.

Want a Rustic Garden? Make a Beautiful Bird House with Twigs and Moss. Inexpensive, easy natural craft project. mybrightideasblog.com

The moss I used on the birdhouse is my favorite but I seem to have run out of it. The one I used on this project is a bit duller. But it looks very natural.

 

 

I added some hot glue and pushed the moss into the grooves. It was a bit tricky and my hot glue gun also ended up with rustic coat of moss stuck to it. After the project was done and the glue gun cooled I was able to peel off the mess.

 

Next I made a few bows out of burlap. This one I just folded a small square of burlap into thirds and used a long thin scrap of the burlap to make a tie in the middle. I had some scraps of ribbons and lace and inserted them under the tie.

 

 

You could try out some different bows and where you would place them on the frame.

 

This big bow reminded me of some hair clips I wore as a kid. Maybe if the photo we chose to put in the frame was of children or the dogs….but not over top of hubby’s head. I decided to stick with the previous bow but I didn’t hot glue it on in case I want to replace it later. Using a straight pin, I poked it into the twigs but you could get creative with a straightened paper clip or twist tie or pipe cleaner. Maybe in the spring I will pull off the bow and attach a butterfly or flowers. I’m leaving my options open.

I almost forgot to say that to hang it I cut a piece of jute rope 12 inches long and hot glued the ends to the frame. 

Happy Anniversary to my Hubby!

xoxo

Have a look at the other twig projects below. See you again soon!


 

Rustic BirdHouse – Twigs and Moss

Make a Twig Vase – Super Easy DIY!

 

How to make an Autumn Wreath from Branches!

 

Make a Fleece Tied Blanket – Easy No Sewing

The No Sew Fleece Blanket

A few weeks ago we went to watch the sun set on Lake Huron. It was October so it was chilly. We took 3 friends, a thermos of soup and a few blankets and it was amazing!
We went with some dear friends from England who have never seen how vast the great lakes are. They were amazed by it of course but one friend also marvelled at our knotted fleece blanket.
She had never seen a knotted blanket like this before. This is not a new idea – we were given our first when we had our 2nd daughter 8 years. But I’m always up for a project and as a family that loves to camp and sit around the campfire-we can always use more!
So, I thought I would make another one and create the basic instructions.

 

My daughter loves dogs so when I saw this fleece  at Joann Fabrics-I grabbed it. It’s so cute wish I had gotten more to make a dog pillow or bed.

I prefer my fleece blankets to have a pattern on one side of the blanket and a co-ordinating color on the back. I chose a bright red to be the second color to match this awesome dog fabric.

To make this project you will need:

  • fleece fabric in 2 co-ordinating colors. I had mine cut to 55 inches long
  • scissors or rotary cutter and mat
  • ruler or tape measure

 

Fleece fabric often has one side with writing and the other side will be curled. Start by trimming off these rough edges.

 

 

Lay the fabric on the floor-you need a huge workspace. Stack the two layers of fabric on top of each other and make sure it is a perfect match. If one piece is slightly longer, trim it.

When it’s as close to perfect as you can get it, trim off 4 inch squares off of each corner.

 

 

Without moving the fabric, cut the edge of the fleece into strips 1/2 wide, 3 inches long. Cut each strip through both layers of fabric. 

 

 

Take the fabric strip from the top layer and the bottom layer and tie them together to make knots. Do this on every single strip. Make sure you match the top to the bottom to catch every single ribbon. 

This is a slow process so turn on a movie if you get bored. 

 

 

Cutting and knotting is a long and slow process but that is literally all there is to it. It’s so crazy easy to make, the kids could do it. 

Easy DIY to make a knotted fleece blanket. Stay cozy this winter with this easy craft project that has no sewing needed. Anyone can make one! mybrightideasblog.com

This girl loves her furry siblings so much! Look at these pooches, the feelings are definitely mutual!

 

 

Gemma is always up for a photo shoot for momma’s blog posts. 

Now you have a cozy blanket to take in the car, campfire, couch, bed, deck chair or beach….you should have a few of these as the weather gets chilly.

Thanks for visiting my website! I’d love it if you would Pin this on Pinterest or share it with your Facebook friends or other social media.

See you again soon!

More cozy fleece projects below!

Easy to Make Fleece Hat with Flowers – Simple Sewing Project

Sew a fleece snood-neck warmer in just minutes!

Make a Fleece Hat to wear With your Pony Tail

How to Sew an Easy Fleece HairBand

Sew a Super Easy Fleece Poncho-Simple Starter Sewing Project

 

Heart Shaped Beach Stones – Pebble Art

 

 

Make heart shaped pebble art with a collection of beach stones and natural rope on wood.

We have gone to the beach twice in October. The cool thing about going to the beach in the Fall is that no one else is there. The beach-that is typically packed with families with picnics and sunscreen….well….is empty. Have you ever had an entire beach to yourself? It’s amazing!

Our home is about an hour’s drive away from Lake Huron. If you aren’t familiar with the Great Lakes allow me to explain….

The Great Lakes

The Great Lakes aren’t your typical lakes. There are 5 and they are huge! Each looks like a sea, with rolling waves, winds, strong currents, great depths and distant horizons. According to Wikipedia if you put all 5 of the Great Lakes together the surface would be the size of the United Kingdom. Lake Huron is where we would head to see a gorgeous sunset.

Collecting Rocks for Craft.

If we drive an hour in the opposite direction from home, we will be at Lake Erie. If you are a morning person you can watch a beautiful sunrise on that side. Yawn…..

The Great Lakes are the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth. 4 out of 5 are on US Canadian Borders (Superior, Ontario, Huron and Erie). Leaving Lake Michigan the only one that is located completely in the US. According to Wikipedia “they form a single, naturally interconnected body of fresh water”.

Well that is enough of our fun facts for today! Moving back to our craft project and a trip to the beach.

 

With my eyes on the ground looking for awesome rock treasures I always marvel at how beautiful the stones are wet, sparkling in the sunshine. As we walked along looking for interesting shapes-especially hearts! What did we find but this heart made out of drift wood. Awe isn’t it Lovely!

If you look at the beach for odd shaped stones, you suddenly see how very many there are in the shape of a heart.

 

We came home with a nice collection of smooth stones that I sorted into a few containers for different crafts I have planned.

Circles, Oval, Hearts, Big Flat ones and some that were just wonky shapes.

If you are just buying a bag of stones from the dollar or craft store you probably won’t find heart shaped ones, but you can make a heart shape with any natural pebbles and it still looks great.

 

 

A month ago, I was spray painting things and I threw in some stones and painted them. If you have already my previous projects from the summer you will soon see that I love to spray paint things! My daughter noticed that I had painted a random stone orange but it was a really cool heart shape. This started my fixation on heart shaped stones.

 

On our next trip to the beach we specifically made a search for hearts, circles and long oval pebbles of any size. Bring on the rock projects!

To make this you will need:

  • heart shaped stones (if you can’t find them smooth pebbles are fine)
  • wooden board (I had already stained this 9 x 16 board with Miniwax Jacobean)
  • jute natural rope
  • hot glue gun 
  • 6 glue stick refills
  • 2 eye hooks

 

 

To get started, I organized my love heart shaped rocks to see how big it would be on my wooden board. I didn’t glue it to on yet. Instead, I took a photo of it on my phone in case I needed to refer to it. Then I got my jute natural rope.

 

 

To decide on your letter size use your fingers to make the shape of the L. I usually “eyeball” my projects instead of measuring. Holding the rope down I wrote out the letters of the word Love on the wood.

 

 

I cut the rope ahead of time because it was quite big to work with. You might choose to leave it on the spool until the end. That’s cool too!

 

 

Using a hot glue gun put a few dabs at the top of the loop of your letter L and guide it into the shape of the letter using dabs of glue as you go along. Move on to the letter O and then join into a V and finally an E.

 

 

After the E is glued down trim the rope. Make sure the end of the E is secured so that the rope doesn’t fray and lift up.

 

 

Perfect! Next lay out the rocks in the heart shape again.

 

 

When you have the stones just where you want them. Remove each one and put a dab of hot glue on each pebble and then put in back in its place.

 

 

This craft would look good without the rope if just the stones on the wood appeals to you.

 

 

I picked up this package of screw eyes at a craft store but you can find them at the hardware store and dollar stores too. I chose the humble eye hooks so that I could have the rope on the top of the project match the “Love” at the bottom.

 

 

Simply screw these into the top of the board and tie jute rope in a knot. Now it can hang on the wall.

 

This is a super easy gift idea. You could really personalize it by writing your last name instead of love, or something else…maybe “faith”, “hope”, “smile”, “dream”….something that will inspire or make you smile. You could also make this any size or paint the wood board instead of staining it. Get creative!

 

 

Thanks for reading this post and checking out another one of my crafts. I have posted several rustic/wood home décor projects recently, so I’m linking them to this message for you to pop over and see too.

Please pin or share with your social network of friends.

Collect Beach Stones in Heart Shape to creat this pebble and jute rope hanging wall decoration. Great gift idea! mybrightideasblog.com
Collect Beach Stones in Heart Shape to creat this pebble and jute rope hanging wall decoration. Great gift idea! mybrightideasblog.com


 

 

Make a Dark Stained Rustic Wood Tray – Easy DIY!

How to Make a Rustic Wooden Star

 

Make a Twig Vase – Super Easy DIY!

 

Outdoor Daisy Art – From Lumber Scraps!

 

How to Make a Decorative Sphere – From Embroidery Hoops

Rustic BirdHouse – Twigs and Moss

 

I’m loving sticks and twigs and rocks this year! So you’ll see a lot of these projects from this past summer and heading into the fall and winter. This is birdhouse project, I really enjoyed making and can’t wait to tell you about!

 

 

Two years ago my daughter and I painted a bunch of birdhouses and drilled them to the garage. It’s an old wooden garage with peeling paint so if we can distract your eyes from its sad, old, tired look we would! It should get knocked down and rebuilt but we would like it to last a few more years…so instead I’m decorating it.

 

Give a tired old grey patio a complete makeover by spray painting a concrete mold to tiled effect. A brilliant way to add color to your backyard. mybrightideasblog.com

See what I mean…

 

 

I apologize we got a bit sidetracked there. Back to the twig birdhouse. After two winters the birdhouse collection had gotten worn out and weathered. They were just cheap wooden ones from the dollar store and we didn’t think ahead to put extra clear coats over the craft paint to make them water resistant. That would have been sensible.

If you would like to try this you will need:

  • a birdhouse
  • outdoor paint or varnish to water proof it
  • branches
  • garden snips
  • E6000 or other industrial glue
  • natural moss

You can get inexpensive birdhouses at the dollar store but if you would like it last for years and years get the sturdy ones from the hardware store or make your own. Paint it or put a protective clear varnish so it will last a long, long time. I opted to use the old weather worn ones to try and upcycle it instead of throwing it out.

 

We needed to trim some out of control shrubs and some branches so this project was perfect timing. There was no measuring of the length just line up the twig to the area you want to put it and snip! When I had the area planned out I went back to glue it.

Using E6000 Industrial glue is stinky so I try to use it only outdoors. It is slow to dry but very secure. I have used a hot glue gun to secure sticks and pebbles to things like this before and within a few days it had pieces falling off. If your project is going to be indoors you could get away with quick drying hot glue.

I attached the sticks all over one side of the birdhouse and left it to dry.

 

 

Each side needed several hours to dry. Then I came back to work on the next side. This really slowed down the process. It felt very relaxing making this natural project so I didn’t mind that it took me a few days.

 

How to make a fall bandana tablecloth. Autumn picnics call for hankerchiefs for a quick sewing project. mybrightideasblog.com

I was actually quite happy with it with just the sticks on the birdhouse. I took this picture a few weeks ago with my bandana table cloth post. It’s cute right!

But then….I had a vision of it with moss and the project took on its final stage….

 

 

The moss is from the craft or dollar store and comes by the bag. It is quite loose and flakey so it will make a bit of a mess on your work space.

 

 

Anywhere I could see the old purple paint I put in some moss. This photo shows me sliding the moss in between each stick using a butter knife as a tool. I also used some dabs of glue plus jamming it in gaps between the twigs.

Heavy rains and wind may be hard on the moss. We will see how it lasts and maybe place it in a bit of a protected area of the garden. A covered porch would likely be ideal.

 

Want a Rustic Garden? Make a Beautiful Bird House with Twigs and Moss. Inexpensive, easy natural craft project. mybrightideasblog.com

 

Isn’t that beautiful! I don’t know that any birds will actually want to use it but for a decorative addition to the garden I’m very pleased with it!

 

Thank you for reading to the end. I hope you enjoy your day. Before you go feel free to visit some of my other posts. Pin this to Pinterest or share it on your favorite social media.

Make a Fall Table Cloth – From Bandanas

 

Make a Twig Vase – Super Easy DIY!

Add Color to the Garden and Provide Yarn for Bird’s Nests

 



 

Make a Twig Vase – Super Easy DIY!

 

Here is a super easy, super rustic, super pretty twig vase! I am loving using twigs and sticks in crafts. It’s free! It’s also time to do some trimming in the backyard gardens so I get the job done and a craft project to do when the work is done!

You will need:

  • an inexpensive straight vase
  • twigs
  • snips
  • hot glue gun
  • 6 or more hot glue sticks
  • burlap or raffia

 

First, choose your vase. If you don’t have a tall straight vase already in the back of your cupboards then pop over to the dollar store, or a thrift store you will definitely find them there. I had this vase on hand. The Dollarama sticker was still on the bottom. $1.25. That is the total expenses on this craft if you already have the glue gun and glue supplies.

I love me a cheap craft!

 

 

Using sharp shears, cut twigs in different lengths taller than your vase. Choose sticks that are as straight as possible. Trim off any side twigs as short as possible.

 

 

Plug in your glue gun. Set the twig in place and see where it will make contact with the glass of the vase. Add the glue in those contact places. I do this instead of running a line all the way down the stick. That is a lot of waste. Hold the twig in place 10 or 20 seconds while the glue cools. Mind your fingers!

 

 

Work around the vase with each twig fitting tightly next to the previous twig. If there are spaces you can put a thin twig in later to fill in the gaps.

 

 

You will notice that the light does pass through the gaps. If that bothers you, cut a brown or black paper down to the vase size and slide it inside.

 

 

OR…you could embrace these gaps and use it as a candle holder. If you go this route please do not put paper in your vase. You will surely start a fire. Eek!

I didn’t mind the gaps in the vase so I skipped the paper and can use it with a tea light or with dried or artificial flowers.

 

 

So to the garden we go for some flowers. I cut these hydrangeas. These are going to dry nicely in the vase and look the same for months and months. 

 

Isn’t that lovely? I hope you enjoyed this rustic twig/stick project. I really love making things with twigs.

Wait! Oh my days!!!! I forgot to put on the bow!

Cancel the photo shoot and back to the craft counter….

 

I know I have raffia somewhere but I can’t remember which craft bin I put it in. So instead I used this 3 inch wide burlap roll from the dollar store and wrapped it around the vase.

 

How to turn a plain vase into a rustic twig vase or candle holder. Easy diy craft. mybrightideasblog.com

 

After tying it in a knot I tucked the ends under the centre. It looks like a bow but less bulky.

 

There now that is better! Its a lovely rustic vase perfect for this time of year!

I really appreciate you reading to the end and hope you will remember to pin this or share it on your favorite social media site.

If you would like to see how I made the orbs or wood tray in the photo above, click the links below.

Till next time!

Make a Dark Stained Rustic Wood Tray – Easy DIY!

How to Make a Decorative Sphere – From Embroidery Hoops



How to turn a plain vase into a rustic twig vase or candle holder. Easy diy craft. mybrightideasblog.com
How to turn a plain vase into a rustic twig vase or candle holder. Easy diy craft. mybrightideasblog.com

Outdoor Daisy Art – From Lumber Scraps!

 

Easy Diy and Craft! Use scrap wood and turn it into a hand painted piece of garden or entry art. Daisy wood plaque welcome sign. mybrightideasblog.com

 

We have done a lot of wood projects this summer and the scrap pile is getting bigger. I am going to show you how to turn your left over wood scraps into painted daisy art that you can use indoor or outdoors. Grab your paint and brushes – lets get started!

 

You will need:

  • lumber or fence boards
  • sandpaper
  • small and medium art paintbrushes
  • craft paint-yellow, white, beige, black
  • polyurethane (clear varnish)
  • large brush (that you might throw out)
  • hammer
  • needle nose pliers (optional)
  • picture hanging kit

The wood in the photo above is scraps of pressure treated fence or deck boards. The size doesn’t matter-just work with what you have. Mine were approx. 5 1/2 inches x 14 inches (14cms x 36cms). They don’t need to all be the exact same. 

Have a quick look at the ends of the boards to see if you have any jagged edges. If yes a quick swipe with your sand paper should remove the frayed bits. No splinters! 

If you don’t have treated fence boards you can use bare lumber but put a bit of stain on to make it darker.

 

 

This board was not a fence board but rather a this piece of wood I was going to make another tray out of. It’s 9 1/4 inches wide and 35 inches long (or 24 cms x 89 cms). I had already put my favorite Jacobeen Miniwax on it. So it was ready to be used for something else but instead I put daisy on it for a much bigger version of the fence boards.

 

 

Start with white and paint the shape of the daisy. On this one I painted the centre white also.

 

 

For this board I didn’t paint the centre till later. I double loaded my paint brush with white on the left and dipped a bit of the beige paint on the right side. I went along the edge of the petal to add some depth.

The centre part of the daisy was painted yellow. It doesn’t have to be perfect no one will look at it this close up. The brush strokes look great from a few feet away. If you turn it into a Welcome sign at your entry way or a backyard garden sign, it’s going to look great!

 

 

Using the end of the paint brush add dots around the edge of the circle. Some of the boards I didn’t put any highlight dots. The next photo shows I used brown and black dots to make it really stand out. Every board turned out differently.

 

 

After the craft glue has time to be thoroughly dry, I painted on a clear coat of satin polyurethane. If this is going to be used outside it should have this protection on the front and back and edges. The fence board scraps will be weather resistant but the craft paint might crack in the rain. So this protection over the front and sides is worth the effort.

Oh and I hate cleaning polyurethane out of paint brushes so I just use the cheap brushes so I can toss them out. I have been known to wrap it in a baggy or cling wrap with an elastic band if I am going to need it again in the same day. I also store it that way in the freezer if I will need it again in a few days. If the paintbrush dries it’s hard not usable again.

If you get it on your hands. Make your way to the kitchen-without touching anything. Find a bottle of cooking oil (vegetable or olive have both worked for me). Put it on your hands and massage the oil in and watch the varnish come off your skin. Add hand soap and rinse off. Hands are clean and silky soft! Cool trick!

 

 

I made enough to give some away as gifts or put on the office craft table for sale. Since these were scraps and I had all of the supplies in my craft and diy corner…this would be a great item to make some money to sell….gotta support my craft addiction ssomehow!

To hang it or lean it…..mmmm.

Easy Diy and Craft! Use scrap wood and turn it into a hand painted piece of garden or entry art. Daisy wood plaque welcome sign. mybrightideasblog.com

 

I used these inexpensive picture hangers and just hammered them into the back. The nails are the tiniest nails I’ve ever seen so I hit my fingers with the hammer about 5 times trying to get this nail tapped into the wood. I suggest getting some needle nose plyers to hold the nail while you get it started. Save your poor fingers!

 

Around the patio we have a very old privacy fence. It has some ugly seams and badly matched up corners. Putting this as a plaque on the fence is a rather awesome solution!

 

This was super easy to make and looks great! Painting is so therapeutic. I highly recommend it!

Thanks for reading to the end folks! I hope you have a chance to pin this to Pinterest or share it with your favorite social media.

 

Make a Dark Stained Rustic Wood Tray – Easy DIY!

Make a Tic-Tac-Toe Board Game


How to Make a Rustic Wooden Star

 

Have you seen these lovely rustic wooden stars and wondered, how hard can that be to make? Well let me tell you it’s ridiculous how easy it is to make this wood star.

Did I mention the wood cost is around $2.50? Say what….?!?!

How to make a sphere or orb from embroidery hoops. Great home decor hack! mybrightideasblog.com

 

You will need:

  • 1×2 Board $2.50
  • twine
  • scissors
  • stain or paint
  • rag
  • varnish
  • paint brush

 

Cut the 1×2 lumber into 5 pieces 18 inches long. No wasted wood. Awesome!

 

 

I used my FAVORITE wood stain Miniwax Jacobean – it has a dark walnut look to it that I just love! You could use paint instead. Dip a rag into the stain and rub it into the wood. Follow the instructions on the tin to leave it for the right amount of time to dry.

 

 

After allowing the stain to dry, I put on a coat of polyurethane. This adds a clear coat of protection if you plan to use it outdoors. If you intend to use it indoors like on a mantel you could skip it.

 

 

Gather your finished pieces, scissors and twine….

 

 

Place one piece on an angle to the left. Lean the second piece on top,angled to the right.

 

 

Add the third piece to the bottom right corner angled up.

 

 

Next add the forth piece across….

 

 

And lastly add the fifth piece of wood. If it doesn’t look exactly the way you meant it to, shift the corners a bit.

 

 

Tie twine around each end. You could also use industrial strength glue like E6000 with the twine, or skip the twine and use nails. I like the rustic look of twine.

 

 

For extra reinforcement I tied more twine on the middle parts of the star. This extra twine made it very sturdy. Next use the scissors to snip the scraggly bits of twine close to the star.

 

 

I adore hydrangeas so I popped a few out of another arrangement and put it in on the star to test it out. Lovely, these are my favourite flowers.

 

 

One nice thing about the twine is you can tuck your flowers into it and pull them out if you want to change flowers for the next season.

 

 

I picked up a bunch of purple flowers at Michael’s and took 3 flowers from the bunch and a few little wispy bits off to use for this one. This turned out to be the one I stuck on my living room wall.

 

 

This is a dollarstore ($4) autumn decoration I just tied on for fall.

 

This is so easy! The only thing that takes any time is waiting for your paint or stain to dry. The lumber cost is $2.50. The only thing cheaper than that is the wreath I made for my neigbour out of twigs!

Thanks for reading to the end! I hope you’ll pin this on Pinterest or where every you network with friends.

 

How to make an Autumn Wreath from Branches!

 

How to Make a Decorative Sphere – From Embroidery Hoops



How to make a rustic star. Super easy classic Diy project. mybrightideasblog.com
Copyright@2018 My Bright Ideas Blog