Posts

Sound Wave Wood Art

Image
  Using What You Have I must confess that I had never seen “Sound Wave Art” until a Facebook friend saw some of my wood craft projects and suggested I try making wood art of sound waves.  The links she sent were printed paper art and sound waves cut from metal but in digging deeper and consulting Etsy I found some examples using wood.   Materials:   Bamboo Chop Sticks Square Dowels for framing Birch panel cut to size.  Examples pictured are either 11 x 16 OR 12 x 12 Minwax Puritan Pine, dark walnut, special walnut American oak and gray stains from Minwax White Folk Art paint to white wash the panels Gorilla Wood Glue Brad nailer Printed sound file—I use the voice memo app on my iPhone to record the phrase from a song on YouTube Brown Kraft paper and double sided scotch tape for frame backing Process: .   Using the voice memo app (free download), I record the sound file (usually a word or short phrase).  I then do a screen capture (on/off button and home button) of the displayed sound f
Post a Comment
Read more

Getting Crafty With Wood Scrap Leaves

Image
  Making The Most of What You Have Lumber prices have been on the upswing and rather than pay the exorbitant cost of new boards for projects, I have been making the most of what I have in my scrap bucket.  I have previous posts on how I have used left over wood pieces to make state and canine mosaics, but my new favorite is using left over wood pieces to form leaves.   Outline clip art for leaves is plentiful or you can freehand sketch a simple leaf.  Below are a few examples of my finished products.  Enjoy !
Post a Comment
Read more

Who Let the Dogs Out?

Image
Using Up Those Scraps There are times when you need to use up the wood scraps that have accumulated in the “too good to trash”  tub in your work area.  The past few weeks have been one of those times.  After sorting the wood  (by size/width/length/color) and taking a quick assessment, I sketched out a few possibilities for projects.  With an abundance of scrap square dowels and odds and ends from framing projects it was time to get started.   Materials:   Square dowels Birch panel and bead board paneling pieces Minwax Puritan Pine, dark walnut, special walnut and American oak and gray stains from Minwax White Folk Art paint to white wash the panels Gorilla Wood Glue Brad nailer Printed clip art outlines of dogs, leaves and  states ( I used Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota and Texas along with a few dog breeds) Process:  I began by attaching the wood strips together with Gorilla wood glue in a size that would cover the outline pattern.  On some of the projects I lined the wood grain up vertica
Post a Comment
Read more

Wood Dowel Wall Art

Image
Inspiration from Wood Dowels I recently took the opportunity during the COVID-19 pandemic to spend some of my “at home time” working with wood in the garage.  I have been wanting to plan and design a wood piece using wooden dowels that would have a mid century modern vibe and my daughter is always up for helping me find an idea that she could use in her decor that I can experiment with in my maker space.  We put our heads together and utilized Pinterest for inspiration.  I loved the results so well that I decided to share on this blog and my Instagram page. Here is my first wood dowel project. Materials: 1/2 inch square dowels (I purchased at Home Depot and Menards for $1.19-$1.69. I am not sure why the price varied so much from purchase to purchase.  I used about 10 dowels per square foot. Birch panel 24” x 24”  Home Depot will cut a 48” x 48”  panel board in half for no extra charge so it ends up costing around $3.00 for the backing panel. Minwax Puritan Pine Stain f
Post a Comment
Read more

Cast Iron Grates as Wall Decor

Image
Farm Relic  Wall Decor  Two floor grates are displayed with canvas photos. The last few weeks I have been moving back into crafting mode.  I have a stained glass project in the works but I don’t know if I will ever get that project done......it has been on my craft table for over a year and I just keep piecing scrap glass together hoping to make a completed window from left over materials.  Hopefully you will see it in a post soon. My latest project involved coming up with ideas for displaying some relics from the family farm where my husband grew up.  Mike’s brother salvaged some woodwork, doors, windows and other miscellaneous items from the farm and graciously allowed my husband and I to pick out a few items.  My brain (and my Pinterest board) have been in high gear thinking up ways to display the selected items in our home. Here is the first project that I have completed: Floor Grate Wall Decor  The bottom side of the cast iron floor grates were removed with a l
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
Snowflake Trees  I am always looking for new ideas for crafts and it seems like this (2018) has been the year of the tree.  I have made wooden slat trees, twig trees, fleece trees and yarn trees just to mention a few.  My friends and relatives know that I am always up for a new project and my sister-in-law recently shared an idea for a snowflake tree that she saw in a gift show in Lincoln.  She shared a photo of the tree along with a "I'll bet you could make one of these...." and the challenge was on. My first discovery, after spending over an hour with my Cricut trying to cut snowflakes, was that the weight of the paper is very important. (I have an older model Cricut Expression) I finally settled on Southworth parchment paper (24lb) that I purchased at Walmart. I tried using printer paper, the pages of a book (I'm still trying to get this to work because I think it would be a great gift for teachers & readers) and some other paper I had on hand but settle
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
Wooden Quilt Blocks AKA "Barn Quilts" I am a born and raised Nebraskan--a state where you are never more than a 15-20 minute drive from a barn or a field of corn.  I grew up in a small town half-way between Omaha and Lincoln and my sister married a farmer who works sun up until way past sun down during the spring planting season and the fall harvest.  I currently live in Omaha where I can see a field and a Target store from my window.  I first saw barn quilts about 12 years ago when a l ocal FBLA group   created 12' x 12' designs for area farms as a fundraiser.  I have always wanted to create a scaled down version that would fit in a garden or front porch.   As it turns out, I have made several in the last year and have one displayed in my garden (see at right), another for a neighbor's porch and a couple of small ones that I hang seasonally above the cabinets in my kitchen. You will find excellent web sites that share patterns, examples and tips and tr
Post a Comment
Read more