Front Door Welcome Sign

I've always loved the idea of having something on the front door of a house, whether it's a seasonal wreath, a welcome sign, or just some cute decor item. And since we finally have our own home, I thought it was time to kick my crafting in high gear. While on Pinterest, I was specifically in search (just so you know probably 90% of the things I find on Pinterest are just by chance) of something I could create for our front door to provide our guests with a warm welcome.

I stumbled across this in my searching and thought it was cute, simple and elegant.

So I pinned it and clicked on it to follow the link to the original post. But, it was a dead end. All the page contained was this picture. Lucky for me, it was pretty easy to figure out what to do.

This would make a great Memorial Day Project. Start to finish, including drying time, it probably only took me about 7 hours (not straight through, I did other things as the paint was drying and would come back to it)

Materials Needed:

Letter ( I purchased mine for $7.79 at Hobby Lobby with my 40% coupon. It was regular $12.99, I have never seen the letters on sale, but that's not to say it doesn't happen)

Paint (I used a teal to match the decor of our house, and silver for the welcome)

Burlap or if you have scrap fabric that you like

Hot Glue Gun & Glue

Sharpie (Silver or Black)

Paint Brush

Drill

Wire

Here is the "E" I am using. Its about 18 inches tall

Step 1: Drill holes to be able to hang on your front door when its finished. I just had my husband drill in where they had already done the pre-drilled wall hanging spots. 

Step 2: Paint: I always like to start on the back as it gives me an idea of how the paint will cover, so that way I know how many coats I will need. However, you don't have to do this, it is totally my preference. But you will want to paint the edges as people will be able to see those. 

 Here you can see the edges are painted and I am moving onto the front. 

 First Coat of Paint on the front - as you can see it is rather "liney" so I did a second coat to get a move even coverage.

 Step 3: Edging

In the picture I found on Pinterest they had done a dotted line trim around the edges. I debated about doing a scroll sort of look, but thought that it may be too busy. So I settled on doing a dotted trim like the image I had found. If you don't want to do one, that's totally your choice!

I used a silver sharpie left over from favors from my sister-in-laws baby shower. Make sure that whatever you use stands out from your paint color. I decided to do the silver so it would stand out and match the Welcome I planned to paint on. You could also paint it on, but since the lines were so small and I had the marker, I figured it would be easier and more efficient to draw them on. 

 Step 4: 

Use a pencil to write on "Welcome" I wrote it in cursive because I wanted it to flow and be smooth. 

You could also do your last name, actually, you can do whatever, after all, DIY is about making it your own!

Step 5: Carefully paint on your letters. Use a thin brush and go slowly. You can always go back and make it thicker, but you can't go back and make it thinner. 

Step 6; Make your roses ( or if you have another adornment, do that) I found a great tutorial on how to make roses out of just about any fabric, this is what I used to make mine. You can watch it here! 

At first I thought I would do five of them, but as I finished the roses, I felt like three was a good number. You can make them however large or small you want to. 

Step 7: Attach your roses. Be sure to use plenty of hot glue, you don't want them to fall off!

Step 8: Prepare to hang it. I used silver floral wire that I found on sale at Crafts 2000 as I was preparing to make this sign. I wrapped it around several times to be sure it was secure. If you don't want to see the "rough" part of the wire, secure it to the back with a staple. 

Step 9: Hang it on your door to welcome your guests!

I purchased at silver toned wreath hanger at Crafts 2000 for $1.17. Wreath hangers are a little bit harder to find than some craft items, and I had never seen them in silver, so I of course picked one up knowing I would be doing my lettering in silver as well. As you can see, the "E" is painted to match the curtains, which match many other things in our home!

Happy DIY-ing!

:)

And Happy Memorial Day! Thank you to all of those who have served our country and paid the ultimate price. Without your sacrifice we would not be able to enjoy all the freedoms we have today.
God Bless!

Button Tree

Crafts by Amanda had an adorable Button Tree. Visit http://craftsbyamanda.com/vibrant-button-tree-on-canvas-a-giveaway/ to see the original post.

I fell in love with the idea of a button tree! So I set out to make one myself! :)

Supplies :

Canvas (I used an 11x14 - I got a 2 pack from Hobby Lobby for $3.59 by using at 40% off coupon)

Buttons (I purchases two tubs from Pat Catan's for $2.99 each)

Acrylic Paint (2 bottles - one for the background color, and one for the tree trunk - I got them for $.54 a piece when they were on sale at Hobby Lobby)

Aleene's Tacky Glue (I had it on hand from previous projects, but its available at most craft stores)

Foam Brush

Thin Paint Brush

Brown 3-D Paint (I found some fabric paint on clearance, but I assume puffy paint would work as well)

Begin by painting your canvas, I always start on the back so I can be sure I like the color, and know how many coats I will need to get an even coverage

I ended up doing two coats, after they have dried I flipped it over and painted the front (two coats)

Once the paint had completely dried, I began by drawing a tree trunk onto the canvas with a pencil. 

After I was satisfied with the outline of the trunk, I began painting it with the brown acrylic paint. I used a very thin paintbrush to outline and paint the tree.

I went back over light areas to be sure that I had even coverage, but then as I looked at it, I thought about the fact that trees are not necessarily the same color, so differing tones were okay. 

I then went back and added thin branches to the tree. 

I continued to add branches until I felt like I had the fullness I wanted. 

Let the tree entirely dry. Mine dried over several days.

On a scrap piece of paper, test out your fabric/puffy paint to see how fast/thick it comes out before you try it on the canvas and ruin all your hard work.

Begin by adding thin lines creating the bark of the tree. I added it all over the tree, on both the trunk and the branches. 

Time to add buttons!

I found it was easiest to paint the glue onto the back of the buttons so that I did not have too much glue oozing out onto the canvas.

 Place buttons around the branches to give the tree its leaves. 

Continue to add buttons, make sure you are using a variety of colors/sizes to evenly disperse them throughout. 

Continue to add buttons until you are happy with the look of your tree!

Now you have an adorable button tree on your hands! Find the perfect place to hang it up and enjoy!

Happy DIY-ing!