Harvest Wall Hanging

I was looking for a project that I could hang by my front door, and I had the idea to make a seasonal wall hanging. I headed down to the Wood Connection and found the pieces I needed for this wall plaque.


It was super easy to make! All you need is:

Decorative metal piece (mine is Harvest, but there are plenty of other cute designs)
Wood to mount the metal on
Metal scroll
Ribbon
Paint
Sandpaper
Stain
Wire
Matte finishing spray

1. If your wood was not pre-drilled, drill the holes so that you will be able attach your metal design and scroll.
2. Sand the wood.
3. Paint wood your desired color. Allow the wood to dry.
4. If desired, sand the painted wood. Apply a light coat of stain to the wood and allow to dry.
5. Spray the wood within a matte finishing spray.
6. Screw the metal design to the wood.
7. Attach the metal scroll to the plaque using wire. Cover the wire by tying ribbon around it.

That's it! This is such an easy project, and I can't wait to make more seasonal plaques.

Easy Decorative Letters

Have you ever painted decorative letters for your house, but had a hard time getting the paint into all the small nooks and crannies? Use this easy tip to get everything covered, plus save time and paint!

You will need:
Your project
Wood stain
Rubbermade containers (2)
Paint stirring sticks
Foam brush

First, choose a wood stain that will work with your project. Generally, a medium brown stain works best. The stain that I used was a little dark, but it still worked fine.

Pour some of the stain into one of the rubbermade containers. Place the letter into the stain and agitate it so that it is coated with the stain. Turn it over and repeat so that both sides are evenly covered.

Place the stirring sticks across the second rubbermade container. Place the stained letter across the sticks and allow it to dry. Use the foam brush to wipe off any extra stain.

Once the stain is dry, paint the front of the letter. Repeat with the remaining letters/pieces of your project.

My thoughts on Paint

I saw in a Lowe's ad this week that Valspar paint was $5 off. I have used Home Depot's Behr paint and Lowe's Valspar paint, and I will say the Behr "Paint and Primer in one" is an awesome product if you need to cover up old paint, but Valspar is pretty good if you are just painting over a white wall.

The Behr Paint at Home Depot is pricier then just plain Valspar, but it saves you time because you don't have to prime your wall.

Now that Valspar is on sale it's probably like $10-15 dollars cheaper then Behr. What better way to spend a weekend then painting?

The Wood Connection and Valentine's Day Crafts

Have you heard about The Wood Connection? The Wood Connection has TONS of different wooden crafts to choose from. They have crafts for every season, holiday, and life event. There is a ton of cute home decor. Best of all, the crafts are all reasonably priced and pretty easy to complete! They encourage you to take pictures in their shop so that you can remember what to do when you get home, and they also have pictures and instructions on their website.

A few weeks ago, I got together with some friends for a craft night. I was able to make both of these projects that evening:

Small "Love" letters

Hearts on pedestals

We had such a fun time, and it was nice to be able to complete everything in one sitting. I can't wait to go back and get more stuff for Spring!

Also - in addition to crafts, they also sell wooden furniture. You should definitely check them out!