DIY Anthropologie Letters

As I mentioned in my last post, we're in the midst of a kitchen re-do; while plenty of things still wait to be done (cabinetry hardware, countertop installation, doors and trim painted, junk sorted), I could not seem to rest until that one blank space on our wall, which formerly housed a DIY chalkboard (that I accidentally trashed with paint markers) was filled. Blank walls make me nervous. Know what I mean?

I hit up TJ Maxx and, after having three children there for two hours, we came up with nada for the wall. I searched Etsy for some incredible handcrafted masterpiece aaaaaaand, nothing. Nothing in my cheapskate price range anyway. FINALLY, I remembered the oversized wall-letters I pinned some time ago. I started wondering if I could pull this project off or if it would result in an oversized mess in our kitchen... My curiosity won and we headed to the craft store, with only two littles in-tow this time.

I know you all have seen these. I know some of your are probably wondering if this super-easy craft is blog-worthy. However, I must tell you, I am a reformed non-crafter. All this crafting business is still new to me. I don't even own a glue gun yet. GASP! I'm amazed at how inexpensive and simple this was and, of course, that it actually worked without me gluing my fingers together, spilling a gallon of paint on the new floor, or catching something on fire. I'm just being honest.

Here it is.

See these? $98 for one letter? We won't be needing them.

Two of the littles and I went to Jo Ann Fabrics and picked up one of these. With a coupon, I think it was about $5. It's made of paper mache and surprisingly well-constructed.

I had some paint on hand, Martha Stewart's black metallic and then I picked up another straight metallic from Martha's collection, also from Jo Ann's.

I used a foam brush that I already had on-hand, though I'm sure you could use a regular paint brush as well. Foam brushes are nearly a dime a dozen and deposit nicely in the nearest trash receptacle when you're finished with them. I'm all about minimal craft clean-up, folks.

I painted on a nice coat of black, then did some touch ups. After that coat dried completely (or most of the way, anyway), I moved on to a coat of metallic. You can add as little or as much as you want, depending on the look you desire. I wanted this letter to look more black than metallic. So, I think that's how it ended up.

I attached velcro to the back (also picked up at JoAnn's). Look for it by the 3M hooks.

Then, I sat back and took a sigh of relief for a craft well-done, with a DIY peppermint mocha. Yum, yum, yum.

I want to be crafty, I really do.

We mean it. 

I guess writing and photography are "crafty," but, you know, I want to be a DIY girl! I want to use sandpaper and spray paint to turn crap from the thrift store into something magnifique! I want to mod podge to the moon and hack Ikea furniture into a new dimension. Sadly, it's just not happening for me yet. Today is no exception.

One of my out-of-town friends is coming for a playdate tomorrow with her three precious boys. Of course, I run around the house looking for all those things that make us look like rednecks things that need a little sprucing up to be presentable. One of those things was our no soliciting sign. In an effort to keep people away from our freaking doorbell at nap time, I took a piece of the kids' construction paper, a sharpie, and some packing tape and made a big ugly NO SOLICITING sign. Nothing says, "WE DON'T WANT ANY," like some chicken scratch on dark green paper covered with packing tape, right?! Right.

Anywho. One of my new neighbors and I were having a discussion about solicitors one day and I told her that a simple sign has really deterred them for us. Well, my sweet new neighbor decided to come check out our sign before making her own (face --> palm). She said she was sure I'd have something cutesy because I seem like the crafty type. Oh, I wish, dear neighbor.

Because I don't want one more person to look at our tacky sign, I decided it was time to get something more permanent in line. I thought about buying one from Etsy, but why?! Let's do something Pinteresting instead, right!? Let's be frugal. Let's use our right brains. Let's show the girls that we can be industrious. Right... My oldest daughter and I strolled through the craft store this evening as ideas for this sign reeled through my head. My first thought was to paint it on wood...but then how would I get a hole in the wood to hang it? Did this store even have nails or screws to hang the thing? How am I going to put a nail in the door? What kind of paint do I get? Now I have to buy brushes? What kind of brushes? How long is this going to take to dry? This is going to cost a million bajillion dollars. My crafts really have to take 20 minutes or less; if not, I get frustrated, throw them out and order something online...usually what I should have done in the first place.

See what I mean, people?

Anyway. As my budding artist daughter and I walked through the store, I finally found something do-able. I found a porcelain sign (the right size) and SCORE, it already had holes and some ropey looking stuff through the holes. All I'd have to do is write on it! Back to the paint aisle...

Ah, color choices. I can't take it. After zoning-out in the midst of about 857 Martha Stewart paint colors, I saw a happy compromise - paint markers. Wahoo! I know how to write, there are multiple colors, $5.99 - let's go! I still didn't know how I was going to hang the dang thing, but at least 90% of the problem was solved (or so I thought).

We get to the checkout and I see 3M command hooks. Wahoo! Problem solved. Even I can stick a plastic hook to the door.

So, the story continues at home...after all this ridiculousness - spacing, lettering, erasing, more spacing, more lettering, more erasing, I finally get the sign finished. I stick the 3M hook on the door and, of course, it's too low. I go to take the hook off and it flys across the room, in two pieces, and I am thankful that there are more of those adhesive strips so I can try again. I'm holding the baby all the while and hanging this thing up one-handed, btw. Finally, the sign is hung and I post a photo online.

See my error? Grrr!

Thirty seconds later.

My pal Allison comments; there's a spelling error. Dag nabit. I looked at the thing a million times, knew it didn't look right, but couldn't figure it out. This is what happens when you have kids, I tell you!! The basics start to get trippy. I have an English degree for crying out loud. I should certainly be able to find a spelling error!

Post deleted.

I flip the thing over, scratch off the price tag, write it all out again, stick on the flowers AND DONE. Next time ordering something from Etsy may be the best use of my time and I'll be teaching the girls about opportunity cost. Maybe I'll stick to blogging and making messes in the kitchen, my safe places.


And, at least I got some blog fodder out of it. Otherwise, you'd have to hear about the other things I did today, like getting Rotel tomatoes and chiles in my eye or wearing cabbage on my head for kicks.

Trendy, no?

Once Upon a Time, I Went to Craft Night...

So, one would think that having a super crafty mother would make me, well, just as crafty. Or at least 1/2 crafty, right? Not so much. My mom can sew anything, paint anything, draw anything, and garden anything. In fact, we call her Handy Nana on occasion. I would put myself in the creative club, but just not the craft department. So sad, I know. However, one night not long ago two of my friends began planning a fun girls' night in that involved food and...and...wait...there always has to be something. A movie? Games? Manicures? Those two more-crafty-than-me girls decided to sneak a craft night in on me. I tried to tell them that I'd bring crayons and paper and try to stay in the lines while they crafted, but nooooo. There was actual, real-life, craft business going on and I was in if I liked it or not. Now, before you think I'm anti-craft, let's get something straight...I'm not against crafting, I'm just sorta bad with scissors, glue, string, and patience. I knew we were about to have a learning experience.

I have to say, I was moderately relieved when I saw that the craft had to do with beading. I *have* beaded before and I know it doesn't involve much cutting and definitely no gluing this time. It does involve patience, however, which flashed me back to the last time I beaded (with a group) and had to re-string my necklace about half a dozen times because I just couldn't keep those buggers on the string. Side note - guess how much fun it is to crawl around on the floor and pick up a bunch of beads when you're 7 months pregnant. You got it...not very. And, I digress. The project my friends picked was actually really cute, and functional! My Pinteresting pals picked up this adorable bird nest necklace tutorial and, that's what was on the agenda for the night. See the original pin here. All it takes is wire, small beads and a necklace chain (I also made use of my index finger to start the round shape. If you have all that, you can surely do this. In fact, I remember taking a sigh of relief when my one friend said, "you really can't screw it up."

My little four-egg (one for each of my kids) bird nest was put together in about 20 minutes and no beads were dropped during the process. I just needed to take it home and string it on a chain. Hallelujah. I think this necklace is so cute that I am considering crafting some more for gifts.  All in all, I give craft night and this pin an A+. Who knows, maybe I'll even attempt to glue something next time. :) Want to make one yourself? Go see Sincerely, Kinsey. She has a great tutorial with beautiful photos included.


This post is linked up to Mommin' it Up's Pin for the Wednesday blog carnival. Head on over to check out the other awesome pins posted by Mommin' it Up followers.