Monday, July 16, 2012

Antique Button Monograms

Hey you guys!! I am so excited to show you my latest crafty goodness!!! :0)

My mom and I were out shopping at our local Peddlers Mall and I saw these two old frames tucked away in the back of a booth.   They had $8.00 each on them…um no, I didn’t want to pay that. My mom was buying another item from the same booth and she called and talked them down on both items…hers and mine!  Thanks mom!  I paid $5.00 each for these lovelies! 

antique frames

I had no idea what I was going to do with them when I bought them, but I knew I loved the old patina and chippy paint, so I got them anyway.  On the way home I said to my mom…”OH…a monogram!”  I decided they would look great with a monogram in them!

round antique frames

There was no glass, backing…nothing, so I cut up a cardboard box to make a backing for each frame. Easy peasy!

how to fix an old frame

….and they fit right in!

fixing old frames

I used my cardboard circles as a pattern for some scraps of drop cloth I had in my fabric stash.  I cut the circles out and then ironed them…….drop cloth wrinkles …a LOT!

background for frames

I used this spray mount from 3M to get the fabric circles to stick onto the cardboard circles.  I just sprayed it right onto the cardboard, then laid the fabric on top…making sure to smooth the wrinkles out before I stuck it down.

spray mount

Then I got on my trusty NEW computer and found a lovely script font.  I printed out an M and T in a VERY large font size to use as a template.   I actually printed out two of each one….I’ll show you why in  a second.

First I want to show you what I used to make the monograms…. I dumped out my big blue ball jar full of these…..

what to do with old buttons

Antique buttons! Aren’t they beautiful?! I love all the different creams, whites and metals!

Ok…the reason you need two of each of your script font print outs is this….you need one as a pattern to lay out your buttons on….(sorry they’re fuzzy, but I wanted you to see what I did anyway and they’re the only ones I took)….

button monograms

how to make a button monogram

The second print I used as a stencil……I cut it out and centered it in my frame on the fabric like this…

home made stencilshow to make a stencil

After I centered them in the frames, I used a piece of chalk to fill in the stencil so I could see the monogram…

what to do with old buttons

See…..

using a stencilhow to make a button monogram

Then I got out my handy dandy glue gun and started transferring the buttons from the paper, to the fabric.  I did layer some of the buttons, so you’ll want to make sure you put the bottoms buttons on first. :0)

antique buttons

See how I layered the buttons on top of each other to give it a little depth and interest…..

making a button monogram

Notice how I used smaller buttons at the starting points and larger ones at the beefiest parts of the letters…then I layered some more on top once I got the bottom buttons in place.

old buttons

Here are some pics of the finished products……

button monogramwhat do you do with old buttonsmonogram ideasbutton decor how to decorate with old framesold buttons

Now I just have to figure out where I want to put them!  I’m thinking I might put them in my dining room when all is said and done.  My dining room is going from fancy formal to farmhouse fresh a little at a time! :0)  Yay!

Hope you enjoyed this little tutorial!

Love you guys bunches!

Missy

Monday, July 9, 2012

How to Make a Hallway Sign

 

Howdy!  Just thought I’d show you how I took the following items…… 3 plant brackets,  3 plaques from Walmart, and 3 cup hooks…………………

How to Make a hanging sign

and turned them into this….

How to make an office sign


I saw this pic from Destiny, @a place for us.. and was inspired to make my own for my hallway….

Source

Okay…here we go!

I already had the plant brackets, so they were free, but you could pick some up in any garden section of your dept store.

plant brackets

These little wooden, oval plaques are literally just .97 each at Walmart…I bought three.  I put the cup hooks on the top center of each one.

wooden plaques

Here’s a up close shot…see, I just put it right in the middle of the top edge…..

cup hooks

Just make sure whatever plant bracket you get, that the plaque will hang in the space under it without touching the bracket. You don’t want it to hang crooked…

how to make a sign

I gave my naked plaques an antiqued finish by first applying a coat of creamy colored paint, then I put dark brown just around the edges.  Then I gave it one more light spray of cream just in the center.  After they dried really well,  I sanded them down a little and this is what I got……

How to antique

I used my Cricut to cut out some vinyl words, but you could use rub on letters from your scrap booking section of a store. You can also find places all over the web that will cut words for you. Shelley, from House of Smiths, has a great selection of word wall stuff, and I’m sure she would do special order words.
Here are the words I cut
Bath..

How to make a sign

Office…

How to make a sign

and Laundry……

how to make a hanging sign

I put the vinyl lettering on both sides so you can see it either way you’re going down the hallway.  I made sure to buy a plaque that was double sided too….meaning it had the finished grooved edge on both sides.

how to paint a sign

how to make a sign

how to build a sign

how to decorate your hallway

 

Here’s the finished product….

BEFORE signs….(and if you’d like to learn to build these doorway headers, go HERE.

door headers

AFTER signs….

how to decorate a hallway

So what do you think?  (the office also doubles as my hubbies drum room…hence the drum décor on the door) :0)

I thought the signs gave it some extra punch, and now when we have company, I don’t have to feel like I’m playing “Let’s Make a Deal” while I’m telling them the bathroom is behind door number 4~! Ha!

Hope you all are having a wonderful week! We’ve all been sick all week long, so we’re finally feeling like we’re back in the land of the living!

OH..by the way, this project cost me just $3.00 cause I had the brackets, paint and cuphooks……..so all I was out was the three little plaques.  I thought that was a lot of bang for my three bucks!

Blessings

Missy

EDIT: I’ve had several people ask me what cartridge I used on my Cricut, but I actually used Sure Cuts a Lot software that was compatible with my Cricut, so I didn’t use a cartridge at all.  You can Google the software, but it does take a little computer knowledge to get it up and going.   One of my readers said she has researched it and the newer software from them isn’t compatible with Cricut anymore, so you might want to look for the older stuff if you’re interested in it at all.
OH..and one more thing, I put a little dab of hot glue on the plant bracket where the cup hook sits, when I hung up the sign….so it wouldn’t swing around and would be stable.  :0)

I’m linking to My Repurposed Life

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Happy 4th of July!!

Happy 4th of July everyone!!
Hope you get to spend the day with the ones you love!



Blessings
Missy
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