Knock Off Toybox

Okay, so I LOVE crafting, but not so much the taking pics and blog posts... I really am trying to get better about this, but it's really hard, you know, with life getting in the way and all... So, needless to say, I will be binge blogging for a while because I have made the resolution to not begin any crafts until I have posted the ones I have worked on thus far... So, it's getting to be time to craft for the end of year, so momma is going to bust out some blog posts! :)

Anywho, so I was driving down my street three months ago the other day (ahem) and saw this wooden, storage box and knew I could make something cute with it.  I don't have any before pictures because apparently that is how I roll...  :)  Plus, as you can see the pics are in the garage and I just had to get busy with it! 

Now, it had great bones, but saw the love of three boys and was 35 years old!  It had LOTS of dings and missing parts (especially on the lid.)  My neighbors just didn't have the room or use for it anymore.  Well, momma snapped it up!  I knew that I didn't have any room for it either, so I decided to give it some love and personalization for a friend's daughter who was turning one.

After sanding, wood filler, sanding, painting and a little more sanding, I wanted to find the perfect monogram font for a girl.  I don't get to do anything too girlie around here, so it had to be perfect and I found it!  I found it on Graphics Fairy here, and used this same technique with paint pen and a couple of coats of sealer later...  Tada!!

Finished!

See the paint pen and pencil!  Decided to do the K bigger because it looks puny...

This was virtually free because I had all of the materials: paint, paint pen, wood filler, spare wood for easy drying.  Virtually because we had to purchase more discs for our sander, but I don't really consider that part of the gift, you know, it's the cost of doing business.  Still for a solid wood, antique, vintage-y vibe, this toy box was utterly enjoyed by the gifted family.  I really enjoyed making this renewed for my friend's daughter, who has since filled it with her toys and stuffed animals.


It looks similar to the Land of Nod one here, but luckily mine was smaller, fits perfectly in the little girl's room and was virtually free!  What do you like to remake for gifts?

Take care!
Morgan

Easy Decorated Clip Boards

I love teacher gifts...  You know this, I know this, so there it is.  I have done them here, here, here, here, here and here.  This actually didn't start out as a teacher gift, but inevitably turned into our end of year gift's for my eldest son's teachers.

Here goes: OK, I had the clipboards because we went on a family trip earlier this year and I thought my boys would like writing/drawing in the car...  I have to constantly remind myself that I have boys, because they TOTALLY did not like these.  Nope, they never used them.  So as I was watching these clipboards gather dust, I knew I had to do something with them...

Then as if by craft providence, I saw the cutie pie apple scrap paper (only needed one 12 by 12 sheet) and the apple sequin sticker (on clearance several months ago) and knew together I could put together a cute teacher gift.

The sticker and name are on the back.

Apple paper on the front.

So, decorating clipboards has been done all over the blogosphere, so I am not adding to that.  Besides, if you want to know how to mod podge the paper and clean up the edges, you can review this post.  I do it there on the signs.  I will; however, talk you through how I got the teacher's name around the apple.

Ok, so I have a fancy cutter machine but because I have too many hoppers in the fire, I have not been good about reading the manual (though I did several months ago) and it doesn't seem to want to work well for me.  :(   So, I used the software to make a circle a tad over 3 inches round and picked a font for the teacher's name to go around it.  I used this method to put the name onto the clipboard, then colored the name in with paint pen and let dry.

Found these tiny clipboards at Michaels and had to use them!!
They were in the dollar section, but they weren't a dollar.
I used my paint pen for the sayings.

Used a glue stick and extra decorative paper to
cover the top of the notebook paper.

 These took no time at all to do and were pretty inexpensive!  What cute teacher gifts do you like to make?

Take Care,
Morgan