Making Jenga Blocks into a Drool Worthy Baby Gift

Before I get into the drool-inducing parts of the post, I just wanted to say thanks for all your patience!

I hate feeling like I was neglecting my fab blog friends, but the house this past week has been crazy overwhelming.

I can finally breathe at the moment because the flooring guys came in today and laid the wood floors in the hallway that was formerly gross concrete.

They are my best friends today :)

I don't feel as if the house is nearly as icky now!

Now all that's left on the agenda is new carpet in the two bedrooms that got the most water damage,

new baseboards in the ENTIRE house,

and flooring down in the craft room (so I don't destroy any more carpet with my projects)

and of course the quarter-round everywhere the floor is.

So...while I'm gazing down the hallway at our pretty new wood,

do you want to see how you can make jenga blocks into something drool-worthy?

Here goes nothing...(or everything, really.)

In a fun twist of events, during my first round of OT clinicals at the VA hospital, my clinical instructor and me hit it off :)

We ended up talking about my blog and she said she would be after me later to make something for her twins nursery.

And lucky for me, she did!

She wanted something with a cross, brown and cream and with a specific verse.

So with those paremeters in mind, I scoured my stash for ideas of what to do.

I came across this gorgeous vintage sheet with a cream and beige flourish pattern on it and knew it would be perfect as a backdrop.

I also had a pretty 16x20 chunky frame that just need a good coat of paint.

And, yes the torn duck cardboard was from that frame.

After covering the backing with the sheet,

I thought forever on how to do the cross.

Somehow, completely by chance, these jenga blocks kept coming back to me.

(I'm actually kind of lying, considering these are some 'knock down towers' blocks...but it's all Jenga to me)

Who knew Jenga blocks could be so much more?

I painted half of them heirloom white and half in an espresso brown.

They got distressed a bit,

and then I played with them until I liked the layout and pattern of color.

I glued these right onto the glass.

The verse she chose was printed on brown vinyl and stuck to the glass under the cross.

Easy peasy.

So do these jenga blocks make you want to build a tower and knock it down?

Ok, so maybe they still do.

But they are a whole heck of a lot prettier.

And what better thing to put in a nursery than wall art made from a toy?

I'm in love with the brown and white pattern just a little bit.

And the dimension that the cross gives is amazing...

but it looks a billion times better in person so I guess you'll have to trust me on that :)

The printed fabric adds that perfect 'something' to it...

without completely overpowering it.

Nice and subtle.

What do you think?

Drool- worthy enough?

I was almost sad to give it up...

but I know it's going to a good home!

And now I have all those leftover Jenga blocks to mess with...

hmmm.

Linking to:

Anything Related @ All Thingz Related

Whatever Goes Wednesday @ Someday Crafts

Under 100$ @ Beyond the Picket Fence

Hookin up with HOH @ House of Hepworths

Everything but the Kitchen Sink @ A Little Knick Knack

Simply Creations @ My Simple Home Life

Friday Favorites @ Inspriing Creations

Feature Yourself Friday @ Fingerprints on the Fridge

Feature Friday @ Spunky Junky

Tickled Pink @ 504 Main

Friday Flair @ Whipperberry

Remodoholics Anonymous @ Remodoholic

Weekend Wrapup Party @ Tatertots and Jello

Creatively You @ Creative Crate

Free for All @ Young and Crafty

Sister Sunday @ Sisters of the Wild West

You're so Very Creative @ Me Making Do

Craft Catwalk @ Embellishing Life

Get Your Craft On @ Today's Creative Blog

Show Me What You Got @ Not Just a Housewife

One Project at a Time @ A Bowl Full of Lemons

Yarn Chevron Canvas

I thought I'd whip up a post for you the day before so it could be scheduled to go out today.

That way I won't have to mess with using other computers while we're dealing with our crazy flooded house.

Before I get to the fun, lovely things to look at...

want a peek at the nastiness?

That's our hallway leading down to the bedrooms...at this point, most of the water had already been sucked up.

We worked today to get the master bedroom furniture out so that the fans could reach further under the carpet.

Ugh.

Hopefully the insurance adjuster will be out tomorrow to help get things moving.

Moving on to the funner things in life...

I'm super excited about getting started on my craft room redo...I have big big plans.

But most of it will happen after the  wood floors get installed...

don't ask when that is at this point :)

But I got enough excited and decided to make something in grey and white since that will be the main color scheme of the room.

I'm still somewhat obsessed with the look and texture of yarn after those yarn letters a while back, so I think I was just looking for an excuse to use my yarn again :)

I gathered a square canvas, grey yarn, glue sticks and a chevron stencil I printed off the internet.

Then I used the chevron stencil to lightly sketch out the lines onto the canvas.

These will be the guidelines for laying down the yarn.

This is the tedious part...

I just would make a thin line of hot glue all the way down the canvas following the chevron shape...

and you have to get the yarn down fast so the glue doesn't harden before it's down.

The hardest part is keeping the angles of the points, the yarn wants to round out...so I found it easiest to take a pencil and push it into points after laying the yarn.

I didn't want the yarn to go around the sides of the canvas so I just took some sewing scissors and cut them as close to the edge of the canvas as I could.

I kept going until all the spaces were filled :)

I adore the texture...

You could put fray check on the ends but I kind of like some of the fraying so I let it stay.

It's hard to make the chevron stripes with no gaps but you can go back and fill them in with small pieces of string if you want...I think the small amounts of white that peek through add to the texture :)

And of course, we had to do our outdoor photoshoot.

It's just better that way :)

I think it turned out amazing for such a spur-of-the-moment project idea...

I think I have a problem because I hate watching tv without something in my hands...so this was the perfect project to do while watching CSI NY.

I tried it out on my spring mantle...but it'll make it's debut in the craft room as soon as my house decides to cooperate :)

(Can you see why I like my outdoor pictures better?? Gah)

What do you think?

Do you love the texture of yarn as much as I do?

Or is it just the chevron that is so fun?

Hope you guys have a great monday-

keep your fingers crossed that I don't bomb my big presentation in class today!!

Featured on:

Linking to:

Just Something I Whipped Up @ The Girl Creative

A Marvelous Mess @ Marvelously Messy

Craftomaniac Monday @ Craftomaniac

Your So Very Creative @ Me Making Do

Craft Catwalk @ Embellishing Life

Anything Related @ ALl Thingz Related

Show me What Ya Got @ Not Just a Housewife

Tuesday to Do @ THe Blackberry Vine

One Project At a Time @ A Bowl Full of Lemons

Whatever Goes Wednesday @ Someday Crafts

Under 100$ Linky Party @ Beyond the Picket Fence

Hookin up with HOH @ House of Hepworths

Catch a Glimpse @ A Glimpse Inside

Everything but the Kitchen Sink @ A Little Knick Knack

Simply Creations @ My Simple Home Life

Feature Yourself Friday @ FIngerprints on the Fridge

Feature Friday @ Spunky Junky

Remodoholics Anonymous @ Remodoholic

Weekend Wrap Up Party @ Tatertots and Jello

Sunday Showcase @ Under the Table and Dreaming

Faux Tiled Tray

Umm.
Yes. It's a tray.

With Wooden Circles.

Aren't you super excited?

I've been wanting a cute tray forever but did you know it's hard to find a good wooden tray that doesn't cost a million dollars?

Well, okay, not a million dollars.

But close, guys.

I ended up grabbing an unfinished tray at Hobby Lobby and some wooden alphabet circles caught my eye.

The idea I had in my head was to make it look tiled somehow.

So I grabbed the tray and several bags of the letters and came home to play around.

I came up with this:

If I ever do another tray, I think I might go with a colored tray and the alphabet tiles.

Kinda cute maybe.

But not now :)

I first slapped some stain on the tray (literally)

and then I sprayed the tray down in a yummy summer yellow.

I distresed it some to bring out the dark stain and then put a coat of laquer on it to make it nice and smooth :)

The circles got a thick coat of espresso brown.

And then came the tedious part...

gluing them down into rows.

Me and the hot glue gun got serious bonding time.

And then there were rows...

I had to cut some of the circles with my emergency shears to help them fit.

And here she is looking all summery!

I love love the texture the circles give the tray...just like the tiled effect I had in my head.

Although my camera didn't like trying to capture the deliciousness of the choclately brown against the yellow...so just pretend this is ten times prettier than what it looks here :)

Have I told you how much I love distressed wood?

I'm kinda obsessed with yellow at the moment

(and for good reason...you'll see soon enough!)

And now to see it for it's intended purpose...

to hold all those fabulous DIY magazines that I drool over :)

What do you think?

Do the circles do it for ya?

Linking to:

Show me What ya Got @ Not Just a Housewife

Tuesday to do @ The Blackberry Vine

Under 100$ @ Beyond the Picket Fence

Catch a Glimpse @ A Glimpse Inside

FFA Friday @ Sassy Sites

Friday Favorites @ Inspiring Creations

Feature Yourself Friday @ Fingerprints on the Fridge

Everything but the Kitchen Sink @ A Little Knick Knack

Remodoholics Anonymous @ Remodoholic

Thrifting Motherload

So I might not have hit the furniture motherload this past weekend...

but a spur-of-the-moment trip to Habitat paid off today big time!!

I ran by there after classes today just because I wanted to browse...

and I stumbled upon this cutie...

I looked all over this sucker looking for a green 'sold' sign but nada.

And when I saw his price tag was set at twenty bucks...I was sold.

So I snatched him up and trudged to the front desk to pay for him.

When I got home and showed it to hubby...he found out there were two more pieces in the set and wanted to go back and check them out.

I about died when he said that...I love when hubby gets excited about furniture too :)

So these two lovelies ended up coming home with us...

They were only 75 a piece (which was kind of a big deal to me)

but I know they were definitely worth the price.

These pieces are SOLID as all get out and in amazing condition. It's obvious they were painted before but ohmigosh...they are PERFECT to update a little more and resell.

And those cup handles? Ohemgee!

Im about giddy with excitement.

Hubby is trying to teach me to look beyond the initial price (if it's worth it for that piece) and think about what kind of profit can be made.

Good ole man sense I guess.

I guess we were feeling a bit lucky because we stopped by Goodwill too and found this little table in their clearance section for 12 dollars.

Sturdy with pretty wood details and great iron legs and sides :)

Add that to the one little table I got this weekend for two bucks and I've got a ton of projects to do...

Oh...and I got some cabinet doors as well today.

Well that's pretty much a staple when I go to Habitat.

I loved the shape of these.

And a peek at the treasures I found this weekend.

I didn't make out with furniture at the rummage sale (ugh, Mary!)

but I did have a good haul of other fun things to play with...

Including two mirrors, a ton of great wood frames, a fun metal frame, several worn books, three canvases, a way cool brass candlestick and a fun piece of glassware that I plan on messing with...

Umm and should I be embarrased that my garage is starting to look like a hoarders show?

Is it bad that I'm too excited about my finds to care?

Well I do plan on cleaning the garage this weekend...just so you know :)

Any fab finds you've found lately?

Two-tone Desk Makeover

You want to know who my arch nemesis is?

Not sure of anything else about her, but her name is Mary and she totally took over at the church rummage sale this morning.

I've been super excited all week to go to our church's annual rummage sale because they usually have fabulous furniture.
(like the fabulous quatrefoil table)

Me and a friend got up at five-thirty to get there early...
only to find out that Mary got there a few minutes before us and snatched up ALL the furniture.
There was tons, guys.
Beautiful, fun pieces.
And as we walked around, they all had 'sold-mary' on them.

HOW FRUSTRATING.
We ended up snagging one cute little table that she hadn't found potential in.
But still..thus my arch nemesis.
I might be bitter about it for a while.

We ended up going garage sale shopping and running to Goodwill after our dissapointing run and got a few other things but I still see all those pieces with sold stickers on them.
*sigh*
Oh well.

I worked on finishing this little guy the other day:

A friend of mine asked me to redo several pieces of furniture and this is one of them.

It belonged to her grandparents but was in pretty rough shape.

It was fun to work on a piece that had a lot of history behind it :)

It had several deep gauges in the top that got filled in and sanded down so they felt like new.

Then the base got painted a creamy white.

I started with 'almond' by Valspar but mixed it with some vintage white to tone down the beige color.

The result was a beautiful creamy white.

The next step was glazing it with Valspar's antiquing glaze.

It made a huge difference and gave it a pretty vintage look.

This is where I was a bad blogger and stopped taking pictures.

I ended up staining it with dark walnut on the top- it took several coats but ended with a beautiful, glossy finish.

I finished it off with Miniwax finishing wax.

This picture is from its owner because apparantly I lost my brain and forgot to take my own pictures.

So sorry about the rough quality- I think it's a phone picture.

You can still see the huge difference some paint and stain made.

(and just a little bit of determination)

I'm excited that it's in it's home again.

And of course since I found my arch nemesis today,

we had to finish the evening by watching Megamind.

(I'm not going to lie- I might have pretended that Titan was a certain rummage-sale furniture taker)

If you haven't seen that movie...it is hilarious.

Go. Rent it now. You won't regret it :)

I hope you have a fabulous weekend- I'm gearing up for my may intersession class to start up on Monday.

(and I can't wait to show you the rest of this set...oh yes, there is more)