Reversible Wood Block Craft. Hoppy Easter and Welcome spring

have you seen these reversible blocks on Pinterest? They are so much fun. I would say this project is easy but it does take some time. I am always amazed at how we can give the same set of supplies to a few girls and we get very different results. These Blocks are the perfect example of that because there are so many different things you can do with them. We had 3 girls who made this project and as you will see below they were all different styles. I tend to go with a more clean simple look. One of our girls likes more variety and mixes up more patterns, And My daughter doesn't plan much she just starts crafting and it is fun to see what she comes up with in the end.

I and going to show a step by step guide here. You do start with 2 by 4 wood cut to size. If you would like to do this project but do not have a wood shop you can go to my ebay store and purchase the pre-cut blocks you can choose just the blocks or a full kit with the letters pre-cut and the patterned papers. find the kits here:https://www.ebay.com/itm/123712736860

so you would start with your wood blocks which are 2 by 4 wood peices cut to size. you will need 2- 7 inch pieces 2- 5 inch 2- 4 inch and then a 7 inch block cut to about 2 inches the long way.

You can either paint or stain your blocks. for this project I chose to go with light colors so I panted my block a nice pale yellow.

Most of the block is actually being covered by scrapbooking paper or card stock so it would be ok if you choose not to pain the whole block you could do just the sides and about an inch wide frame on the block but I find it easiest to just pain the whole thing. 

While you wait for the paint to dry choose your papers. I used a paper cutter to cut strips of paper about 3 1/4 inch ( 2 by 4 wood is actually not 4 inches wide it is closer to 3 1/2 inches) which leaves just a little yellow showing on the edge. to cut the right length I use the block to measure I just line up the strip of paper up to the top of the block and draw a line at the bottom of the block. I then cut just a little inside my drawn line and it usually ends up perfect. another idea is to trace your whole block on the back of the paper if you don't have a paper cutter or if your blocks are a little off on measurements. 

next using Modge Podge or other clear drying sealer  ( make your own with Elmer's glue recipe 2 parts glue to 1 part water. eg. 4 ounce glue 2 ounces of water). When you glue the paper sometimes likes to bubble or wrinkle. to minimize this I found you should do 2few things. First glue the back of the paper and not the wood block. Make sure the glue is no so thick that the glue does not pool in any spot so a light coat of your sealer is best. I also found if you spread your Modge Podge thin and wait just about 30 seconds so it is starting to get tackier then wet you will get a smoother finish. Line up your paper and place it on your block and lightly rub around the edges of your paper to be sure they don't curl up. Set another block on top of the one you just glued for a minute or two. If you still get any bubbles it is ok most of the time they are not easily noticeable and you can always add a little embellishment over it to hid it if you need to ( a cute flower or bow works great)

Next, add your letters using the same Modge Podge process, and any embellishments.Tip: if adding any 3d embellishments wait until both sides of the blocks are done first or it will not lay flat while you are working on the opposite side.  you can then seal it with another light coat of Modge Podge right over the top of everything, but that is not necessary unless your project will be displayed outside or in the bathroom. 

repeat the same process on the other side.

I took Pictures of my work along the way to post here. My Friend Sue made this one

And The Summer/ Fourth Of July was made by my 11-year-old Daughter Brooke

Hanging With My Peeps wood craft, Pallet wood craft wood sign

Hanging with my peeps craft project was a lot of fun.  I was able to get a few free wood pallets or skids. I disassembled them and used the wood to make this fun little sign. I found some ideas on Pinterest of signs people made with the "hanging with my peeps" but I was surprised that I did not find any with the peeps hanging. I cut my wood down to an 18-inch board for the topper and then cut two 5 inch and two 6 inch pieces. I used the Cricut machine to make a simple peep stencil and used inexpensive letter stickers from Ac Moore to add the names of the family members under each peep.  A simple rope was attached to the back of the sign with a staple gun. I used eyelet screws and a couple of chain links to hang the peeps from the sign and then a cute little pastel bow to dress it up a little. this was a quick fun little craft night project. 

Reversible fall pumpkin and winter snowman wood craft

This was one of our first craft night projects. we were able to find wood slabs at the Ac Moore. they were a little pricey so I stopped at a local house that always has fun natural wood craft items for sale on their front lawn and I asked If I could buy a fee wood slices from them.
This was so much fun to make and It was able to be displayed in October on the pumpkin side then after thanksgiving I just turned it around and left the snowman on the from porch, for valentines day i added a rose in his arm and gave him a red scarf. I had to put it away in march when the Easter decorations started to come out but this one project was displayed for a few months
we drilled small holes in the wood so we could place a dowel into them to hold them together and drilled holes to stick the sticks into for snowman arms. I hot glued a pine cone to the top which was cute for the pumpkin side of the project and then became the hat holder for the snowman.

Clay Pot Bubble Gum Candy Dishes

There are so many great ideas on Pinterest. I have been hosting a lady’s wine and craft night about once a month. We have a small group on Facebook that we use to share ideas and project requests and plan our next craft night. We started with just 2 friends crafting in the basement and turned it into lady’s night!! Who doesn't need more time with the girls right?  So last month we made these adorable bubble gum candy dishes. I love how the same set of supplies can turn into so many different things. 

 For this project I was able to shop at Joann fabrics they have a sale 40% off the clay pots and I also had a coupon on my Joann app for 20% off my total purchase so I got a great deal on supplies. 

for this project we needed:

5-inch clay pots

clay pot saucers 

glass fish bowls

wooden round knobs 

acrylic paint.

setting up for craft night I pre-painted the clay pots and saucers with a white primer ( the kind you use for painting walls). I primed them ahead of time because it would take too many coats of acrylic paint without it,  and on craft night I did not want to take too much time priming and waiting for paint to dry. 

I had some pre-made bows in the craft room that made very cute embellishments to out projects. 

This was a great girls night craft project the cost was not high the supplies were not complicated and I was able to shop sales. no one needed to have amazing artistic skills for their project to turn out awesome and we had a great time. Who is ready To host their own Craft night.?

I started this new super fun thing...Craft night with the girls. We get together about once a month and we work on a fun project and we drink a little wine. I collect all the supplies for everyone using craft store coupons and shop sales and dollar tree stores and everyone splits the cost of the project supplies. if keeps cost down for everyone when we can buy one spool of rope or one 12 count package of embellishments and split them. This idea started when me and one friend decided to get together a couple times a month to make things. WE posted pictures on Facebook and had lots of positive feedback of our crafts and found others wanted to join. I have a nice craft area in my basement, so I figured we could allow others to join. this week we had 6 girls and my craft room is getting to small just a few short months after we started. out Facebook group is up to 12 girls already, so I am looking forward to possible having a big craft night in the summer when we can craft in the back yard and fit more than 6 girls. I will be posting some of our project’s ideas here over the next few weeks. Craft night has been a big hit already and it is such a good excuse to get the girls together for a no stress fun evening. My daughter is 11 and she likes to craft with me but on craft night she loves hanging out with the kids that come with their moms, so she will usually do her project before craft night. This has been a big help for me. While we work on her craft I get an Idea of what parts might be more challenging and if I forgot anything we will need. 

I would like to inspire other groups of ladies to get crafty and have some fun girl Time.