Weekend Crafting Retreat

Weekend Crafting Retreat

This weekend, I left my kiddos and my husband (for the first time ever) and went out to a lodge on a beautiful lake and spent the weekend crafting and visiting with old and new friends.

Our 'crafting' and 'quilting' space. Click to view larger.

I worked on three different things over the weekend. I offered a craft for scrabble tiles, worked on t-shirts and the majority of my time was spent on decorations for my kiddo's birthdays.

Scrabble Tiles

These our my customized scrabble tiles:

Link to more information if you'd like to order wood, kits or a completed set...

I sell them completed for $2 a tile but I also offer them in kits for $1 a tile. Most people did the "Home" version, with states like Washington, Utah, Michigan and Missouri. The one below was a lady who wanted "Ocean" to match a theme in her home.

Birthdays

The majority of my time was spent on crafts for my kid's birthdays. My son wanted a theme related to his favorite Netflix show. My daughter wanted Fairies. While crafting, I did a lot of little things, like home made wands and cupcake toppers, along with birthday invitations but I did some bigger crafts that my daughter can use as bedroom decor as well. These are pictured below.

I used a gold gift bag from the dollar store to make the circles. The other half of the bag I used to make golden fairy silhouettes for cupcake toppers.

It was fun coming home and seeing their faces as I pulled things out one-by-one for their parties. I don't know if I can do it every year but it certainly was fun for this year!

I purchased the fairies from the Silhouette Store.

T-Shirts

Lara Allsopps shared these first two files with me. Aren't they amazing? I did the upside down shirt for my husband. The weeding was tedious but it was worth it to see how pleased he was to have it. If we decide to dress down for Halloween this next year, I think these would be fun matching couple shirts to wear.

I also made another one of my tribal shirts to thank and surprise (haha hopefully she's not reading this before she gets it) my sister-in-law who lives in the tri-cities.

You know that thought, "If I could just craft for hours", well it was a dream come true. It was a lot of fun, I got a lot done. I strengthened friendships and made many new ones. It was so good being home with my family but I would be excited and up for another one next year!

Christmas Party Decorations

My friend was part of a board over decorations for a Christmas party. She enlisted our help to make wooden trees and arrange the floral for the centerpieces. It was quite an undertaking. Here are some pictures from our projects:

A Lemonade Stand

 

Scrabble Family Names

I saw these scrabble tiles on a google search last fall and fell in love. My husband ordered and cut the wood last October but time got a head of me and I didn't get a chance to finish it till this last week. I am in love. I am so happy that we did it. Below are some of the steps it took to complete it.

The first step was to decide what we wanted it to look like including what words to use. I choose the names of our immediate family members. I used this generator to try different combinations to find the one I found most aesthetically pleasing:

Scrabble Puzzle Generator

I then sketched it out to determine how many of which letters were needed.

My husband cut the wood. We use reclaimed rail road wood that's approximately 3"x3" and Derek, my husband, has cut them approximately .33" thick.

Next, I sanded the wood and designed and cut the 'Scrabble' style letters and corresponding numbers on my silhouette. Then I cut and weeded the vinyl. The hardest part was setting it down in between 'crafting sessions' and not continuing on all night.

The second to final step was applying the vinyl to the wood. I use Oracal Vinyl. So far it has been my favorite brand and seems to hold and transfer the best.

 The final step was mounting it to the wall. I found these removable mounting circles with a level and a measuring tape to be the best way to do it. I used the measuring tape to mark the center of where I wanted my display to be and worked my way out from there. So far, these mounting circles have been quite successful. As you can see on the picture below, I originally mounted the "E" a little high and had to move the entire row down, they all peeled off and remounted and have successfully held since.

I am very happy with these and it was well worth the wait and anticipation. 

Chalkboard Frame

I've been wanting to make a framed chalked board for a while. I've been keeping my eyes out for a french style vintage frame and finally found one, on the same trip that I found this simple one. I realized this one would actually fit our living room much better and so after waffling back and forth, this one came home with me. Painting it was easy. The lettering will be a project for another day since I had my little ones with me and wanted to get this one up. I've really liked the quote so I thought I would start with it.

I placed it next to this sign I made at a super Saturday craft day last fall. It's one of my favorite craft decorations yet. I wanted to include the picture it as well.