TUTORIAL: The Stockings Were Hung...(Have some wood and knobs?) - Jen from Scissors and Spatulas

We hope you are enjoying our Sew Crafty Christmas

blogging series!

12 Giveaways and 10 Guest Posters!
Check them out!

Today's guest poster is Jen from Scissors and Spatulas blog! Jen is always up to something inspiring and creative! But, the thing that stands out is that she does it all on a budget! She loves making a trendy craft, thrifting, creating with what she has (upcycling), using vinyl to decorate and baking.
Jen is always trying something new and blogging about it over at Scissors and Spatulas. Click on over and send her some Seamingly Smitten love!!

If you want to see exactly how good a brownie dessert could be, check out this trifle recipe - CLICK HERE TO GET IT!...

 Want to see some of the CRAFTY things that inspire me? Check these out! They make me want to run straight for my craft room, tear open those bins and get out some glue!


Initial Jingle Bell Shirts- CLICK HERE



Ruffled Christmas Trees - CLICK HERE



Paper Crafting! CLICK HERE



Take it away, Jen...

Hey y'all! I'm Jen, from Scissors & Spatulas. I'm really excited to be today's guest in the Sew Crafty Christmas series! Thanks so much Jenny for having me!  Before I get started on my tutorial, let me introduce myself. . .

I'm a wife to an amazingly patient man and a mommy to two little boys (Jackson 3 & Parker 2) and three fur babies (Lily, Sophie & Lucy). As you can imagine, that there is never a dull moment in my house, but I wouldn't have it any other way! I constantly have my hands in something, whether it's cooking, decorating, DIY projects or crafting. To keep my sanity amongst all the chaos, I share my love of these things on my blog. You never know what you're going to get when you stop by Scissors & Spatulas! One thing you can expect - I try to spend as little money as possible! Everything I do, is on a budget.






What do I have to share with you today? 

A different way to hang your family's stockings.

Here is what I started with: scrap wood from the garage and four rusty old door knobs that I bought from my trip to Cline's Junkyard. I told you, I like to do things on a budget! I have a huge pile of scrap wood in my garage. Leftover trim pieces, 2x4s, plywood, you name it. And I buy little pieces of junk like this at thrift stores, garage sales and antique malls. You never know when you might need them!

This first step is fun. The wood was too perfect, so I took a hammer to it. What a great stress reliever! I just banged it up a bit to round the corners and rough up the smooth face. 

Next I used a dark stain in these crevices and around the edges. This is because I plan on distressing the paint I'm about to apply and the dark stain looks better than the light wood.

A light coat of primer spray paint and one heavy coat of white latex paint. 

While the paint dried I pulled out my brand spankin' new Silhouette Cameo to use for the very first time. Sigh, it's amazing! For this project I used red vinyl.

If you are not familiar with the Silhouette or any other digital cutting tool, you create an image on your computer and then let the machine do the rest. 

The best way to transfer vinyl is to use contact paper. Once the image is cut, place the sticky side of the contact paper on top of the vinyl. Peel the contact paper away from the sheet of vinyl and only your cut letters should stick to the contact paper. (Unfortunately the insides of the letters also stuck. I removed them with a tweezers after I adhered it to the wood.)

 When the paint was dry I used some low grit sandpaper to give it a distressed finish.

My sweet hubby drilled holes in the wood to just large enough to fit the knobs.

And then he squeezed them in. I thought we would have to use wood glue to hold them, but they stayed just fine without it.

And because I can't leave anything alone, I used my distress ink to make it look more worn. To do this you just take the ink pad and brush it across the edges and corners and in small spots along the surface.

Now for the vinyl. Place the contact paper gently on the board. Once it's in place, where you want it, press down on it and use a scraper or other flat edge to smooth over the vinyl, eliminating any wrinkles or bubbles. Then peel back the contact paper slowly. 

The contact paper removed some of the paint, but was okay with me! I love a distressed look!

I added a fat grosgrain ribbon to one side and then hung our stockings. I'm thinking about either adding an initial to the knobs or writing our names in black just above the knobs. But that will be another day. Like I said, I can't leave anything alone!

Perfect! And remember, I do everything on a budget! I had all the supplies laying around. If you want to count the purchase of the knobs, this project cost me only $2! Even if you don't have a digital cutting machine and vinyl, you can use a stencil to paint the letters. Inexpensive hooks can be purchased in place of the door knobs if rusty junk isn't your style.

Thanks again Jenny for having me today! I hope you all have a Merry Christmas! I hope you'll also stop by my blog, Scissors & Spatulas to do some looking around.

Thanks, Jen!!

  

Stop by and tell Jen hello! Tell her Seamingly Smitten sent you!

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Ladies, don't forget to enter all our GIVEAWAYS!!

 

Giveaway #1 - ENTER HERE - $50 store credit to So Sew Boutique

Giveaway #2 - ENTER HERE - Set of 9 Illustrated Fashion Notecards by Anne Underwood Illustrations

Giveaway #3 - ENTER HERE - $20 store credit to Sew Adorable Too Boutique

Giveaway #4 - ENTER HERE - 3 FREE Sewing Patterns from Seamingly Smitten