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Showing posts with label woodcrafts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label woodcrafts. Show all posts

4.14.2022

the old rugged cross

wall art,art,What Matters,spring,Easter,woodcrafts,DIY,diy decorating,decorating,re-purposing,up-cycling,trash to treasure,salvaged,dollar store crafts,easter cross decor,spring home decor,spring easter decor,salvaged wood crosses,dollar tree crosses,painted easter eggs.
in my last post, i shared my new faux Kintsugi painted eggs,
and in the background of a few shots you saw a small collection of wood crosses.
today, i'm focusing on those and how they are made from 'everyday' materials.

Easter arrives in just a few days, and it is one of the most important days of the year to me.
my faith is built on the miraculous events celebrated on this day centuries ago,
and my hope resides in the promises God made about what it all means for the future.

Easter is also the day that my sweet Dad went home to Heaven seven years ago,
just as the sun was rising and beaming through the windows onto his peaceful face...
a precious reminder about what is really important in this life.

having a cross (or collection of crosses) in my decor is important to me,
and i love being able to make them unique and personal.
i hope these ideas inspire you!

continue reading for details...

2.08.2021

bee mine scrap wood sign

art,wall art,decorating,DIY,diy decorating,painting,woodcrafts,Valentine's Day,crafting,color palettes,colorful home,Pantone color of the year,re-purposing,trash to treasure,up-cycling,winter,create a BUZZ,BEE my Valentine,Valentine's Day decor,bee decor,diy Valentine decor,winter home decor,winter mantel decor,yellow and gray,Pantone 2021,Illuminating Yellow,Ultimate Gray.
my unusual yellow palette for Valentine's Day combines with a honey of a theme
in this third of three related projects...

a small piece of scrap wood found in my garage became this cute sign,
which could hang on a wall or sit on a tiered tray or mantel.
the addition of dimensional elements makes it special - and still so easy to create!

paired with my last two projects, it forms a sweet vignette on my mantel.

you can do this! continue reading for the easy how-to...

1.29.2021

'house of love' salvaged sign

art,wall art,woodcrafts,re-purposing,up-cycling,salvaged,white,Pantone color of the year,colorful home,Valentine's Day,DIY,diy decorating,crafting,trash to treasure,winter,Illuminating Yellow,Ultimate Gray,gray and yellow decor,home decor,winter home decor, Valentines home decor,scrap wood crafts,painted,diy Valentine decor.
every time i look at this project, i hear the song 'House of Love' in my head...

[if you're not old like me, you may not remember that song from the 90's,
recorded by friends (who later married) Amy Grant and Vince Gill.
it's an earworm, so if you want to hear it, there's a link after the post!]

this project is a re-use of something i first created last January - 
i've just changed it a bit and added to it. i love re-making old projects!


continue reading to see the before/after...

11.06.2020

fabulous faux mantel & logs

Christmas,Christmas Decor,boho style,farmhouse style,rustic style,paper,paper crafts,crafting,dollar store crafts,re-purposing,up-cycling,trash to treasure,woodcrafts,furniture,holiday,winter,DIY,diy decorating,diy home decor,diy projects,salvaged wood projects,Christmas frieplace mantel, faux woodgrain, faux wood,faux fireplace,fake fireplace decor,home decor,make it yourself, use what you have,Christmas decorating,holiday decor,holiday decorating,make a fake fireplace with fake wood logs
before i ever began concepting or creating this years' holiday decor,
i decided that it was finally time to create a prop that i've longed for:
a fireplace mantel.

we don't have one - ours is just a Craftsman--style cabinet with a faux electric fireplace in it.
it's very nice, but it has no mantel. and hanging above it is a television.
not exactly picturesque.

wanting a setting that would work as a backdrop to my holiday decor content,
i looked at what i had already, and came up with a plan...
my faux fireplace mantel would live in my studio/office,
providing easy access for setups and the best light to be had around here.

scraps of wood from the garage made easy work of it,
and they will come apart easily when i decide it has served its purpose.
that's my kind of decorating!


continue reading to see details - AND how to make those fab faux logs!

10.25.2020

diy wood slat shade / privacy screen

fall, fall decor, fall home decor, outdoor decor, outdoor furnishings, fall patio decor, porch swing, wood slat privacy screen, wood slat shade screen, neutral fall decor, pumpkins, pumpkin decor, diy, diy projects, diy home decor, repurposed, woodcrafts, boho style, boho decor, farmhouse style, farmhouse decor, rustic decor, rustic style,
living here in the semi-desert of Southern California means we get a lot of sun.
for four years, i've been struggling with - and have tried - many ways to block that sun
so that we can enjoy our patio and backyard in the late afternoon.
but along with the sun is wind. Santa Ana winds and strong daily afternoon winds.
those winds have torn down every umbrella and shade cloth and curtain i've hung.

finally a bright idea dawned on me - make it wood!
the simple solution was to repeat another element of our landscaping
and create a wood screen to withstand wind and block the afternoon sun.

the best part of this project? it makes use of a pre-made element available at Lowes.
paired with an item i already had, it became the perfect shade screen for us - 
and would work as a privacy screen, as well!

continue reading to see how simple this outdoor diy project is...

8.27.2020

ping pong paddle painted cacti

art, boho style, DIY, diy decorating, garden, garden art, junk makeover, outdoors, re-purposing, summer, thrifted, trash to treasure, up-cycling, painting, painted, wood crafts, cactus, cacti, faux painting
i sometimes see something online that inspires me, 
and i take the idea a bit further...
add or subtract or just let it jump-start my imagination,
and end up creating my own new version of something.

i thought i'd share this view of a past project with you today...
it was inspired by someone else's project, i took it further with my own idea,
and i shared the BACK side of it last fall.
(to be honest, i like this side the best!)

continue reading to see all of the prickly details of my faux cacti!

7.16.2020

scrap wood tikis

art class, beach style, DIY, diy decorating, junk makeover, just for fun, neutrals, on the porch, outdoors, painting, re-purposing, salvaged, summer, tiki style, trash to treasure, wall art, tropical style, woodcrafts
last winter, i created a lot of tropical & tiki decor
as part of our fun 'Happy HULA-days' Christmas theme.

you've seen posts sharing most of it appearing in our current summertime decor,
bringing a tropical vibe to our home and yard for us to enjoy
during this 'staycation' that is lasting a whole lot longer than anyone anticipated.

one of my projects during quarantine has been the front entry of our home...
which isn't a porch but a 'vestibule' - and is really hard to decorate.
i came up with a simple solution using last December's holiday entry decor:

continue reading to see how i re-used my own tikis made from scrap wood!

6.06.2020

repurposed tiki signs

art, beach style, color, Christmas Decor Themes, Christmas Decor, crafting, DIY, diy decorating, faux finish, garden art, junk makeover, makeover, outdoors, re-purposing, summer, tiki style, woodcrafts, painted signs, handpainted signs, tropical decor, tiki bar, tiki totem, giant scrabble tiles, colorful home decor, summer home decor, diy summer decor
these signs appeared in my past two posts... one for each recent project.
do they look familiar to you? they should - you've seen them before!
  i shared them LAST YEAR as part of our Happy HULAdays theme - but they didn't look like this.

when i wanted signs to accompany recent tiki projects in our backyard,
i knew these pieces would work perfectly... and with a little paint, they did!
it's just one more way i can decorate using what i already have here at home.
if i can use summer tiki decor at Christmastime,
then i can re-purpose my Christmas decor as summer decor!

continue reading to see the before & after shots (and find out a secret about them)...

4.12.2020

happy Easter

art, decorating, DIY, diy decorating, Easter, farmhouse style, garden art, junking, junk makeover, paper, paper crafts, re-purposing, rustic style, salvaged, rustic, spring, wall art, vintage paper, woodcrafts, wood cross decor, old wood, old books
wishing a happy Easter and a blessed Resurrection Day to all of you, my friends... 
and if you don't mind, i'm going to 'wax poetic' for a moment 
to share something important with you...

i've realized that one of the reasons i am so drawn to using 
old, scarred, damaged, discarded elements 
to create beautiful decor for my homes and to share with you here on the blog 
is that i myself have felt much the same at times... old, scarred, damaged, discarded. 
i long to not let the experiences and misfortunes that have made me feel 'less than' 
stop me from seeing beauty in life... and beauty and usefulness in the detritus.

when i salvage a bit of wood or an old rusted dented piece of metal, 
or pick up an errant bit of fabric or paper, and turn them into lovely home decor, 
i am finding a way to redeem those forgotten and discarded items. 

it soothes my soul to not let them stay there on the ground in a broken, dirty state, 
but to lift them up and clean them off 
and give them the chance to reveal the beauty that remains - deep within. 
it's not perfection, but it is beauty nonetheless.

do you see where i'm going with this, my friends?

this is what i know that God has done with me, and with many others i know: 
He has not left us to rot away in our broken, damaged state. 
He has not discarded us, but has lifted us up, 
given us the opportunity to be cleaned up and made useful and shiny once again. 
to reveal the beauty that He created within us to be seen once more. 

i have certainly seen that principle at work in my own life... 
that beauty can come from ashes, growth from destruction, and life from death. 
most especially, i see the way that my faith has given me a new start many times over, 
and a glorious hope for the future.

because of that faith in Him and hope for my eternal future, 
this day means a great deal to me
and i hope to live every day with the promise of Easter, of resurrection, 
in my heart and on my mind, guiding me through life.


i hope that you, too, will find your hope in Him. 

by the way, there's a really great story behind this wood cross planter that i made into wall art... 
check it out here

1.28.2020

L.O.V.E. letter... tiles

giant letter tiles, tutorial, Scrabble tiles, Scrabble tile wall art, wall art, wood crafts, lettered signs, signs, Scrabble, DIY
way back in 2009, i had a wild idea to make a supersized version of wood Scrabble tiles.
i made them - a LOT of them, actually - and sold them (a LOT of them!) for several years.
at that point, no one else was making them or sharing them online.
a few years later, in 2013, i shared them here on the homewardFOUND blog.

since this is the season for putting our hearts on our sleeves, (or, erm, walls?!)
i thought i'd share my super easy tutorial again!

continue reading for a very easy DIY project that you're sure to L.O.V.E.!