Stacked Books

 Some cute little mini books given the farmhouse look, complete with my favorite quote from St. Padre Pio!

This quote is one of my favorites because it speaks to my heart!  

This is a reminder that I need constantly and consistently, and so having it "front and center" helps tremendously!

These books, I have had for FORever! I think that years and years ago I got them from Home Interiors or one of those companies.  They were in the deep jewel tones, like burgundy, deep green, and I believe a deep blue.  They were pretty, but I just felt it was time to update them!

Once again, it is time to break out my favorite Waverly Chalk Paint in white. 

I did give the books a very light sanding first, but it still took about 3 coats of the chalk paint!  

These books weren't going down without a fight! lol 

After they were completely dry, I stacked them to see how I wanted them first, and once I decided, I hot glued them together using my trusty Gorilla glue sticks.  Guys! I love these! 

They work like a charm!  And no, they don't pay me to say that!  But, when I find a product I can stand behind, I'm gonna share it ! :) 

Now, it's time to add my favorite quote!! 

Eeek...I'm actually so excited about this part!!! 

Because I didn't trust myself to go straight to ink, 

I did do it in pencil first.

Using my Promarx Ultrafine 0.5 pen from the Dollar Tree 

(don't miss out on these guys, they work really well!)

I inked it in.  I just freehanded the writing, but you could get some mini letters from Dollar Tree or use a stencil, just whatever you want!  Just make it your own and think outside that box! 

Next up, I decided to wrap the ends in jute twine, also from Dollar Tree.  I wrapped the twine about 4 times on each end, and then hot glued the end to the bottom.

At this point, with the writing and twine in place, I had to stare at it for a few minutes!  lol....I knew it needed something.......

I found these crosses at Walmart in the ornament section, and I just loved them!  I also found these wooden beads!

I just strung a few beads on the end of the plain cross, and then tucked the ornament twine under the twine I had already wrapped.

And, really, that's it!

I just love, love, love how they came out!

So, if you aren't a hoarder like me and save things for 30 years, and you don't happen to have a set of these books, don't freak out!

First off, I see these in thrift stores ALL the time.  Like, ALL the time.  Aaaaand, I have seen and done this same project with full size, regular books!  You just do all of these exact same steps!

I hope you guys will give this one a try!

It was quick, easy, and so much fun!

As always, if you have a question or comment, just leave it below, and/or come find me on my 

Facebook page --->  My Art-felt Moments .

Thank you for spending some time with me today, and for gifting me with the blessing of your presence!

If you like this project or any other, please don't forget to subscribe to my blog, and visit me on Facebook to "like" and "share"!

I am grateful, and YOU are loved!

As always, with my heart,

Dollar Tree Santa Makeover

 

Dollar Tree Santa Makeover with that 

Mackenzie Childs inspired touch!

How cute is he ?!

I'm so excited to share with you this Dollar Tree makeover!

I'm even going to show you (because I keep it "real" here!) the part which was a fail for me, and a do-over !

So, I'm sure, by now you guys have seen these adorable Santa signs at your local Dollar Tree. 

So cute, right ?!

Well, my first thought was to add that Mackenzie Childs touch and get him some "checks".  With a sharpie, I drew a horizontal line across the middle of his "fur" on the hat, and then added vertical lines to form the checks.  I also added 2 lines on the 'ball' of his cap.  Then, using Apple Barrel paint in black, I filled in every other space.

Once they were solid, I used Decoart Americana paints in Yellow Ochre and Hauser Medium Green and just "drug" each of them through the checks.  There is no rhyme or reason to this part.  Truly, just play and add as much or as little as you like !!! 

Ok, here comes the fail....hahaha......Once my checks were done, I thought I'd add some Yellow Ochre strips on his hate around the Ho Ho Ho. Ummmm....Ho Ho NO! lol 

I didn't like it and it needed to Go Go Go !

 

So, I painted over the stripes and letters with 2 coats of my Waverly Chalk paint in Crimson.  Already I'm happier!

Now, to fill in that hat!

I decided that a harlequin pattern in the Yellow Ochre might work, and I think it did!

Once that was dry, using the end of my brush, I did some dip dots in white on the corners of each diamond.

Ahhhh!  His cuteness is making me smile !!!

I decided he needed a bow, so, using my Deluxe EZ bow maker, I layered a plaid tartan ribbon I found at Dollar Tree, a striped ribbon, a solid red ribbon, and the harlequin ribbon all from Hobby Lobby.

Don't forget to dovetail those ends so that you have a clean, high-end looking finish to your bows.

To dovetail the ends, just fold the bottom edge over on itself, and cut in an upward angle towards the center.

Easy Peasy!

And, here he is completed!

I love how happy he looks, and the mixing and matching of the different colors and patterns.  It makes me so happy!

You could paint him in whatever colors you're decorating in! He'd look amazing in gold & white, or silver & gold....oh! a vintage light blue and pink !!  The possibilities are endless!

I really hope that you'll pick him up and give him a try.  

For $1, why not, right ??

You can make him whatever you want him to be!  

As always, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below, or come find me on Facebook and shoot me a private message there!

Again, thank you for visiting and spending a small part of your day with me!  You have blessed me with your presence!

Remember that you are precious, you are loved and last but not least, KEEP creating !!

With my heart,

Checkered Christmas Bells

 Look at the cuteness !!!!

Oh, my goodness, I'm excited about these!  

A few projects ago, I posted a striped Christmas Bell, and I just had to keep going with it since I found these checkered bells at 

Dollar Tree !! 

With the checker pattern already there and half done, this was a serious no brainer!

So, I started by cutting off the DT tag and bow that it came with.

I did no prep work on these, I just grabbed my Waverly Chalk paint and painted every other box white.  I chose to paint all of the "smooth" boxes and leave the ones which were more sparkly!

I did give it 2 coats of white.

Then, I began to make some bows.

Using my Deluxe EZ bow maker, I began with a 4" bow in a tartan plaid ribbon that I found at Dollar Tree, and then gradually got smaller (about 1\2 - 1in at a time) with each new ribbon I added.  3" for the striped ribbon, 2" solid red ribbon and about 2" for the black/white checkered ribbon which came from Hobby Lobby.

To make: leave a tail (as long you'd like), then form first loop to the left.  The bowmaker is marked with the measurements so that you can make them even.  As you go across to make your right loop, put the ribbon in between the dowels and twist your ribbon to make sure that your printed side is facing up.  Then, just leave a tail on the opposite side to balance it out. It should look like it does in the pictures, and I'm hoping that this is making sense!  If not, or if you have a question, come grab me on my Facebook page (click the little icon at the bottom of this or any post) and we'll sort it out!

After getting all layers on there, lift off of the EZ bow maker while pinching the layers in the center.  You'll want to wrap the center with a pipe cleaner to hold in place.  You could also wrap with some twine or whatever makes you happy, the important thing is that the center is cinched tightly so that the bow stays together!  You can fluff the bow out and be sure to dovetail the ends to give it that finished look!

Now, the embellishments!

This is always my favorite part!

Using some sprigs I had leftover from a garland I cut up (it came from Dollar Tree), I wrapped the greenery through the bell handle.  I did use a touch of hot glue (Gorilla brand glue sticks are amaaazing!  Just saying....lol), and once I glued the greenery, I just glued the finished bow to the top.

These glitter ornaments I got from the Dollar Tree also, and I just mixed my metals and did a singular silver and a singular gold, just to jazz it up !

And, that's it, guys!

This really went quick, I think it took me about an hour (not counting dry time), and they were ready to hang!  I did finish out with a piece of twine to hang them from, and I've gotta tell ya....hanging with the striped bell, they just make my heart smile!

Give this one a try, and change it up with whatever colors work for you!  I think I also saw these bells in silver, but don't hold me to that, just in case!  I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure!

And, if you do make these, please be sure you come back and share them with me!  I'd love to see what you do!

Thank you again for blessing me with your presence, and for sharing some time with me today!

Know that you are loved!!

With my heart,

Family Nativity

This is one of my favorites!

I think I might end up changing the writing on this to white so that it will stand out a bit better, but, let me tell you why it's still my favorite!!!!

  The Holy Family is, of course, front and center, BUT, see the figure to the right of St. Joseph?  That is my husband !!  And, the 2 figures to the left of Mother Mary are me and my daughter!  I love, love, love placing ourselves in this scene!  

Right where we should always be!  With them, adoring HIM! 

It was super easy, super fun and makes an impact!

I'll walk you through the steps so that you can create the same with you and your family!

So, I thrifted this frame about a year ago for $1.  Then, I used foam board from the Dollar Tree to cut to size and then covered it in scrapbook paper !  Easy Peasy!

Next, I cut some jute twine and hot glued it to the back, to create a hangar!

Then, I Googled "Nativity Clipart", which I downloaded, and because I didn't want to burn out ALL of my black ink, I use my editing software (Gimp 2) to make it grey. 

I then cut it out and laid it on white cardstock and then cut it out again from the white cardstock. 

Next, with my phone, I took pictures of my husband and my daughter kneeling.  And, had them take one of me.  I printed those out, and, laying the photos on the white cardstock, I cut each of them out so that there was a silhouette of each of us. I did "flip" my husband's cutout so that he'd be facing the right direction!

Then, I hand wrote "Come, Let Us Adore Him" in gold paint pen with a russet-colored line, but, like I said, I'll probably go back with a chalk marker and make the letters white, simply because if you aren't looking at just the right angle, it's hard to see them at all!

Lastly, it just became about embellishing the frame!

I hot glued some greenery, some Dollar Tree ornaments, made a bow with some Dollar Tree ribbon, and called it done!

As I said, there's nothing overly fancy about this, but the fact that my family and I are included in it to create this Nativity Scene makes it one of my favorites that we will use for years to come!

I hope and pray that you will give this a try!  If you have any questions about any portion of any craft I do, please feel free to either comment below or, come find me on my Facebook page, by clicking the FB icon at the bottom of this post!

As always, you have blessed me with your presence, and from my family to yours, may your Christmas season be filled with love, laughter, peace, joy, health, happiness and all the gifts that God longs to shower on you!

Until next time, and with my heart,