Christmas Advent Calendar

I love advent calendars. But purchasing them? Usually it is just some piece of waxy chocolate behind a cardboard door that is disposed of when you get done. I wanted to create something that I could have for years to come.

Chores For Hire- Pockets and Cards

So, you just read the Chores for Hire Magnet Board post that proceeds this one?... Well, lets just get to it then! Here is how I made the pockets and the cards that go with it. But I think first I need to cover the inspiration behind the pockets and cards:

Chores For Hire- Magnet Board

I'm a mean mom...I do not believe in paying my kids to do chores that contribute to our every day living. BUT, I do believe in giving them an opportunity to learn the power of working hard and earning money when they want to contribute in an extra way. For instance, my 14 year old son will probably not have many chances to babysit to earn money, but my daughter will.

Menu Planning Board Part 2

This is just a little sneek peek of what I am working on. It is just a screen shot of some designing I am doing to create the whole board.

I am diving in head first into this project. I am really excited to be done with the planning, drawing, and laying out of this project and moving on with the "coming to pass" (which is not in this post-so sorry!). If you didn't see the inspiration of this menu project, you can read here about it. This post is the busy part of this menu board. It might even be considered the boring part. This is where the effort comes in... the gathering of information.

Menu Planning Board, Part 1

I swear, this title alone might have people scrambling to scan over the post to see what is here. My ears have been a buzzing with talk of Menu Planning boards. In my Craft Group on Facebook, I have been asked about it, and when I posed the question it was very clear people were not just interested, but needed help. Maybe not so much help, but direction.

So what should be included in a Menu Planning Board? Menus? Dates? Do you plan one week, two weeks, or a month at a time? Does it need to be color coded? Holy crow... the list could be going on FOR-EV-ER!!

My bestie, regularly emails me links to websites, pins, and pictures of Menu Planning boards. They have ranged from simple to complex. Here are a few, I have stumbled upon:

Hip 2 Save

I love this idea. READ HER WHOLE POST! This idea definitely will be going to be part of what I am planning on putting together.

Silhouette America Blog

This system is very versatile for sure, being able to swap the week headers. Not to mention very pleasing to look at. But, I personally think for a board this BIG there is a lot of wasted/negative space.

Controlling My Chaos

This might work for some peeps, not me. I don't have any space on the side of my refrigerator. Not to mention I could see my youngest 2 walking away with the spare magnets, not in planning use. But obviously you would always have it at your fingertips. I like the squareness of it all though.

RobbyGurl's Creation

If you are on Pinterest, and if you HAVE NOT seen this pin, you are either living under a rock or just not interested at all in menu planning (or maybe you have a system that already works?). This is.... INTENSE at the very least. In this picture (if I understand her blog post) there is 1000 recipes here. Yes, you read that right.... ONE THOUSAND. What is that? Three years of never having the same thing twice? This might be a dream come true for some, but for me, this is a little too much. But this one did get me closer towards what I knew I wanted.

The Homes I Have Made

This is cute. Her post is detailed as to how it came about. And I love how she used her own system, and integrated a new spin to make it work better for her. I love the Magnet Sheets she talks about, I am really tempted to get some just to try 'em out!

Hmmm.... what are all of these missing? Something big, in my opinion.

You will have to stay tuned to find out. :) You know this was coming, it says PART 1 in the Post Title!

Post Pumpkins

If you have ever done a Google search for pumpkins made of wood, you find many o' types, and if you are like me, none that really appeal to your taste!

There are many made of the 2 x 4 type, I even have a set (I made them at a church activity for free, and I am working to dress them up currently).These range from the single 2 x 4 cut in varying heights to create a "set". I have even seen the ones with three 2 x 4's glued together to make a block of a pumpkin.

 If you type in "post pumpkins", these are the ones that are made from the round fence post that has the flat edges. Those always seem really out of proportion to me... What are they?...about 4 inches in diameter and about 3 feet tall. Mmmm, sorry, no thanks. 

I wanted something classy and timeless, so again, off to the drawing board to figure out how to make what I am seeing in my head.

Did you know there is such an animal as an 8 inch x 8 inch post? Because I don't have the equipment capable of cutting it, I had to settle for the 6 inch x 6 inch size. Even then, I have to run it through the table saw twice by flipping it over just to cut it once. 

My wonderful neighbors happened to have a bunch of these 6 x 6 posts to the side of their house that had been weathered already. Perfection!

I forgot to take a picture of the next step, but if you zoom in you can see on the middle pumpkin I used a jig saw to skim off the edges.

Obviously with worn wood you have to sand down your pumpkins.

Then, I drilled a hole in the top with a  1" butterfly bit. This is a stock photo of what one looks like.

I was by myself for this next step, so I didn't take a picture. I will do my best and explain. I got a roll of medium size hemp twine from WalMart, and some picture wire from Lowes (not the weaved mesh stuff, just regular silver wire). I clipped the wire to the lengths I wanted. I vut the hemp twine 3 times the length of the wire. The wire is thin enough to insert one end of the wire into the tip of the glue gun about a half inch. This just gives a tacky surface to the wires and then I started to wind the hemp around the wire. When you get to the end, use the same technique of inserting the wire into the glue gun and the keep wrapping the twine to stick it to the wire.I used a thin marker to wrap the vines and get the even twirly look. Keep one end kind of straight to insert into the burlap stem.

Once, I drilled them, I painted them. To keep with that rustic look, I wanted to find some sticks, but couldn't. So I settled for burlap. I cut strips about 1" in width. Using hot glue, I started off the rolling, and ended by including the "vines" in the last wrap around.

Then you just decorate!

I used a chiffon type green wire ribbon,  I cut it into about 4 inch lengths. I put a stripe of hot glue at the end, gathered the center parts, pinched it towards the center by bringing the wire ends together. This created an oval looking "leaf".

Before adding the bow, I sprayed them all with a clear gloss spray paint. It didn't make them shiny, it actually richens the color, and makes keeping the dust away much easier.

Monogram "Wreath"?...

Do wreaths technically have to be round, with foliage, or flowers, vines and ribbon? I don't know either... but this is close enough. Do any of you have the same problem as me, in which you you need a wreath for the other 8 months of the year when it isn't Fall, Halloween or Christmas? I decided to solve my problem with a Monogram "Wreath".

I started with this frame and wooden letter. I purchased both from the Wood Connection. figured I didn't need to snap a picture of the raw wood, so I painted it first. These strips of ribbon are the ones I choose to coordinate with the project. After painting it a light color of gray, I changed my mind and painted it a darker one.

After it was painted I sprayed it with a coat of clear gloss spray paint. Then I tied the ribbon around the frame. Keep it a tad bit loose so the board can still fit against the frame. To keep the ribbon ends from fraying you can do this quick little trick

If you can, get self drilling screw so you don't have to pre-drill. I had some of these on hand so I could anchor the triangle hanger on the top of the frame.

This is what it looks like when they are attached.

After I found a pattern of paper that I wanted, I glued the paper to the thin wood backing that comes with the frame. DO NOT ATTACH IT TO THE FRAME YET.

If you look closely at this picture you can see I ever so lightly traced the letter on the paper so I knew where I needed to place the screws for the next step.

Drilled 3 screws through the front side of the frame so that I would know where the holes would be behind the frame. And then removed them.

Because the backing on the frame is such a thin wood, you really want to make sure you don't counter sink the screws. Keep them above the backing like so, so you don't crack the board.

This is the side profile once the letter has been attached to the backing.

So the backing combined with the weight of the wood letter is too heavy  for the little tin staples to keep the board held in- so I put large dots of glue in the corner of the frames to hold the backing in place.

Before hanging you masterpiece on your front door, I suggest that you put these little felt pads at the bottom so that it doesn't destroy your front door, or your new wreath.

And here is the finished product. :)