make and take – A Diamond in the Stuff

Wood Photo Holder

Courtney Carmean — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 07:00:38 +0000

A few weeks ago I hosted my March Make and Take at my home. It’s been a few months since I hosted one and it was good to get all the ladies together and craft again! For this class I choose to make these sweet Wood Photo Holders.

Look at all these beautiful ladies and their beautiful creations. I think everyone’s projects turned out absolutely incredible. If you weren’t able to attend but you would like to create your own Wood Photo Holder, here’s a little tutorial for you…..

I started with three pieces of 2×4 cut into 11in pieces. I also had a smooth piece of plywood cut to 9in x 9.5in.

I used some Gorilla Wood Glue and clamps to glue the three 2×4’s together side by side.

Once the 2×4’s were glued together, I painted all of the wood pieces with some white craft wood. I have the 2×4’s a bit of sanding to distress the edges.

Once the wood was painted it was time to decoupage the scrapbook paper onto the piece of plywood. About a month ago I posted 12 Decoupaging Tips using my Wood Photo Holder as an example. You can hop over there to learn more about the next steps or if you are just looking for some decoupaging tips.

I attached the paper covered plywood to the 2×4 boards with some more Gorilla Wood Glue.

I grabbed some metal clips from Walmart and painted one white. I attached the clip to the board with a bit of super glue.

Pop in a photo and your done! There you have my Wood Photo Holder. A big thank you to Shanty 2 Chic for the inspiration!!!

Linking up to these great link parites!!!

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The Time to Shine link party is live!!! I would love for you to come link up and party with us!!!

November Make and Take {JOY & NOEL Blocks}

Courtney Carmean — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 08:00:00 +0000

This month I decided to skip ahead and do a Christmas craft. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to host a make and take in December and I didn’t want to miss out on Christmas crafting with the ladies!!! I decided we would make JOY & NOEL Blocks for this months make and take.

Here are just some of the ladies with their finished projects. Some ladies did JOY, some ladies did NOEL, and some did a mixture of both!

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Are you just dying to make a set (or two) for yourself? Well here’s a little step by step for you:

I started out with some 2×4’s cut to 6in tall. For the “JOY” set we used 3 blocks and for the “NOEL” set we used 4.

Now for the hardest part, pick out some scrapbook papers and coordinating craft paint. I went with some bright green and red colors with fun graphics. I painted the blocks first and then used Mod Podge to add the paper to the fronts of the blocks.

I cut out some cardstock letters with my Cricut and Mod Podged those on as well. Once everything was dry, I added a red ribbon tied off in a bow around the whole set.

I also made a NOEL set for an example for everyone. I went with darker shades of red and green for this more traditional looking set.

You can have lots of fun with these block sets. They can be personalized to your decor theme, you can even have them spell out just about anything you like! Wouldn’t they be cute spelling out your last name? Or they could be made for just about any holiday with a quick change of the words!

I think these would make super cute gifts as well!!!

Linking to these great link parties!!!

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The Time to Shine Party is open and ready for you to join! There is so much creativity going on this time of year! Come share what you’ve been up to and maybe visit some others that inspire you!

October Make and Take {BOO Blocks}

Courtney Carmean — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Last week I hosted my October Make and Take. Since it is October after all, the project of course had to be Halloween related! I decided we would tackle some BOO Blocks this month!

So I choose the project, invited all of the ladies, and we had a great night of crafting!!! I had a big showing of ladies this month, which makes it all so much more fun!!! If you look closely you may notice a couple things…..they decided that spelling out certain words and covering some of their faces would be fun….just as long as they know it’s STILL going on the blog!!!

So, do you wanna make some BOO Blocks for yourself???

Here’s what you need:-2×6 blocks (Cut to 6in, 7in, and 8in)

-Scrapbook Paper

-Craft Paint

-Ribbon

-Mod Podge

-Letters

The first step it to cut the blocks down into 6, 7, and 8 inch pieces. Then it’s time to use the craft paint to cover the blocks. I choose to stick with alternating orange and black.

Once the paint was dry it was time to decoupage. I used some Mod Podge to attach the scrapbook paper to the fronts of the blocks. I alternated paper to match my painted blocks.

Then it’s time to add some letters!!! The letters are made from black cardstock that I cut with my Cricut. I waited for the Mod Podge to dry and then added the letters with a little more podge. When I make things like this I cover the whole thing in podge to protect both the paint and paper.

All that’s left to do it the embellishments. I decided to keep things simple and just add some ribbon. I alternated the colors of ribbons to contrast with the blocks paint and paper. The ribbon loops all the way around each block at ends in a pretty bow on the top of the block.

I think they turned out so cute! I think everyone’s turned out so cute! Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun with these! If you decide to make some, I’d love for you to send me the link so I can see how yours turned out!

Linking up to these great link parties!!!

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If you haven’t already, come check out this weeks Time to Shine party!!! Oh and while your there, I’d love for you to link up!!!

August Make & Take {Stocking Holders}

Courtney Carmean — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 07:00:00 +0000

So it’s probably about time that I share my August Make & take. I know. AUGUST! So I’m running a little behind! I had decided to do a “Christmas” craft a bit early because let’s face it, once December rolls around life gets a little crazy!!! So here’s my re-cap from my Stocking Holders Make & Take….

Check out all this cut wood for the class! All I have to say is that my husband is awesome and he has mad wood cutting skills!!!

Look at all the beautiful ladies crafting away!!!

Look at all the different looks and ideas that everyone had!!! Look at all those happy crafters!!!

You weren’t able to attend but you want to make some for yourself??? Here are the steps we did….

1) Cut some 2×4’s into two 5 1/2in pieces.

2) Paint the blocks any color that matches your holiday decor.

3) Decoupage scrapbook paper onto your blocks.

4) Attach the blocks to each other, either by gluing or you can screw them together.

5) Add a white hook to the front of the holder (I pre-drilled a small hole in the block to make it easier to add).

6) Add a letter to the front. I choose to do the first initial of each of our family members. You can use vinyl, cardstock, wood or chipboard.

I am loving my new stocking holders and I can’t wait to put them up on my Christmas mantel!!!

I think all the ladies had a great time and everyone’s stocking holders turned out so cute!

Linking up to these great link parties!!!

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Looking for a little bit of color inspiration? Come check out the new feature over at My Colortopia called Show My Colors. It’s a great place to check out reader’s before and after paint projects and maybe share some of your own!!!

Happy Friday!!!

June Make and Take {2×4 Flag Blocks}

Courtney Carmean — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 07:00:00 +0000

As I mentioned, last week I hosted a craft make and take at my house. My goal was to host a craft night once a month, that doesn’t always work out but I try. I was determined to host one in June though, I’ve been dying to make a 2×4 Flag for sometime.

This make and take was by far my largest class! I had nearly 30 ladies invade my house to get crafty! It’s really amazing how as the attendance goes up so does the fun!

Look at all that red, white, and blue goodness!!! Not to mention all those ladies working away and having a great time doing it!!!

So if you weren’t able to attend the class but you would like to know how we made them….stay tuned for a tutorial…..

Supplies:

2×4 Wood (2 – 7in pieces 4 – 3.5in pieces)

Red, white, and blue craft paint

Star (I used white vinyl)

Satin Ribbon

First things first, it’s time to paint the 2×4’s. It may take a couple coats of the craft paint to fully cover the blocks, especially the white.

Once all of the blocks are dry it’s time to distress. This step is optional, I happen to dig the distressed look so I stuck with it. I just used a sanding block to hit all the edges.

I attached the vinyl star to one of the blue blocks. Then I added some white satin ribbon around the blocks, tied in a bow.

I am so thrilled that I was finally able to make these super cute 2×4 Flags and I think everyone else was too.

Check out all of those beautiful ladies and their beautiful finished projects!!! Some stuck to just paint and some played with some scrapbook paper and decoupage. Love the creativity!!! I’m glad I snapped this picture when I did, some ladies had already left but I was able to get most of them in the photo.

Linking up to these great link parties!!!