Remember I showed you this sneak peek picture last week? Well, today I'm sharing one of the projects I completed with that wood.
I had been on the hunt (a.k.a. watching the side of the road) for the perfect wood for a project for our bedroom, but hadn't had any luck. Then one day a couple of months ago, Hubby and I were cleaning out the shed and I came across these pieces of wood that went with the extra bed frame we had stored in there. We put the bed in the garage sale pile and I kept the wood for myself. I figured whoever bought the bed could find their own wood. Anyways, they were perfect for the bedroom project so I rescued them. There were actually 3 of them, but for some reason I only stuck 2 in the picture.
BUT....the bedroom project has nothing to do with today's show and tell. A week or so ago I received an invitation to a wedding shower for a cute young couple in our church who are getting married next month. It was to be a household shower and gave the typical places they were registered, but it also mentioned that their style is rustic. My wheels began turning on what we could get for them that would be cheap, but not cheap. Know what I mean? Cost effective/frugal/easy on the wallet. You understand.
At first I was thinking the usual - Walmart gift card, bath towels, or crockpot, etc. But then it dawned on me...a 3rd piece of extra wood...rustic style...no money involved...but meaningful. I decided to make them a sign. I already had almost everything I needed so there wouldn't be much money involved and it would be more meaningful than say a gift card. That is, if it turned out ok. Otherwise they might have had a mini-shopping spree. Very mini.
But thankfully, I was satisfied enough with how it turned out.
1) I used my Cricut and some scrap paper to figure out the size of the letters, spacing, etc. and then marked it for Hubby to cut.
2) I used my vinegar and steel wool solution to stain it. (Handy tip - be sure to wear gloves if you ever use this solution. I didn't and my fingers still look like I dipped them in iodine and it's now 4 days later.)
3) I then cut out a stencil pattern using the Cricut and some Contact paper, and over the next couple of days I painted each section as I had the time.
4) I tasked Hubby with the job of putting in the picture hangers. His left brain is much better at getting things straight on the first try. These were the only things I had to purchase for this project.
Here it is all painted, but before I sanded it to finish off the rustic look. This is only the 2nd sign I've made and I'm still learning. There are things I wish I could have done differently, a little bit better spacing, etc. But hopefully they aren't as picky as me. Hubby's opinion is that only 1% of people in the world are as picky as me, so I was pretty much counting on that.
And here it is finished up in all it's rustic-ness.
Since I don't get to do "rustic" for other people very often, I decided to have fun with it and continue the rustic theme right on into the wrapping.
I started with brown craft paper, layered with a vintage sewing pattern, and topped with a vintage newspaper article (found inside the sewing pattern).
I wrapped that with twine, added a small wooden spool from my collection, and tucked in a few Queen Anne's Lace that were growing in the yard.
I thought the whole thing turned out pretty cute, and the bride-to-be seemed to like it so I think it was a win. : )
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