Fall Frame Wreath

Today's guest post comes from Jennifer at Dainty Posies. Enjoy!

Hello, I'm Jennifer and you can visit me over at my very new blog Dainty Posies! I do a lot of "redo" projects that cost very little but look very cute!

I want to thank the ladies of Lemontree Creations for letting me guest post today! Their blog is one of my absolute favorites and I'm so excited to be a small part of it!

Since fall is here I decided to take a stab at my first wreath. I really like square wreaths but wasn't sure I could make one so I decided to go with the nice clean look of a picture frame wreath.

Pretty cute, I think :)

Anywho ...

These are most of the supplies I used



I started out with this beauty I found at the thrift store for $3 and painted it a nice antique white color.

Then I made my rosettes with some fall fabric and set them aside for later.

After the paint dried I turned the frame over and stapled the ribbon across the frame(measuring to make sure it's even because I can't tell what's straight to save my life :)
Then I started on my burlap flags. I just got some light burlap from walmart for really cheap. I cut out the word "fall" on my cricut and used the letters as a stencil. I positioned them over the burlap and put some mod podge and added the glitter (the finer the better) Shake em out and you're done!

Now it was time to glue everything on! I started with the rosettes and then moved on to the flags. Last I glued my little acorns that I found at my craft store for 50 cents. I used a big glob of hot glue to make sure they stay on. I think E6000 would work well too.

And now I'm ready for fall!

Thanks again to the ladies here at Lemon Tree for letting me share my project with you today! I hope you'll visit me over at Dainty Posies for more fun ideas!

And thank you Jennifer for sharing your project with us! Other LTC readers interested in guest posting? Email your submissions to ltc.guestposting@gmail.com.

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Weathered 'Guest Cottage' Sign

Please join me in welcoming MJ from 517 Creations today! Check out this great tutorial she has to share with us...

My name is MJ and you can usually find me blogging over at 517 Creations.   I have the greatest job in the world: being a stay-at-home momma of my wild and wonderful little boy. I'm married to a youth pastor, which often make for such a fun (and crazy) life!

I'm excited to be blogging at Lemon Tree Creations today!  The ladies of Lemon Tree always have such fabulous projects...I'm totally flattered to be included!

One sure way for our mailman to make my day is for him to leave a Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, or Ballard Designs catalog in our mailbox!  I love browsing through the catalogs, pouring over the pages, and circling items I’d love to buy if I had a million dollars.  But, let’s face it…I have Pottery Barn (and Ballard) taste on a Target budget!

To remedy this, I have started creating “knock offs” of some of my favorite items from the design catalogs.   My favorite "knock off" so far has been my Ruler Growth Chart.   Pottery Barn always draws me in with fabulous accessories...and they did it again a few months ago!  I was browsing on the Pottery Barn website and saw this sign and loved everything about it.   I loved that it was worn, distressed, and vintage-looking...but didn't love the price.  It's listed as "sold out" on the website now, but I think it was well over $100.  I will just enjoy looking at their inspiring pieces for free and create my own!

The nice thing about this sign looking worn and distressed is that it doesn't have to be perfect!  That is definitely another plus in my book.

I'm going to take you through the project step by step...or at least the steps that I used.  I'm sure you could do things differently, but here's what I did to make my version.

First, gather your supplies:

• a board cut to whatever size you'd like your finished sign to be.I went to Lowe's and bought a 1x8x4.  I wanted something substantial, but not heavy since I'll be hanging this over the guest bed in our home.  I was in luck because the wood that I wanted ended up being the cheapest of this type!  It was a little less than $4. 

•  a variety of paint brushes (I used a sponge brush to paint the board and small artist's brushes to paint the lettering, but use whatever you have on hand)

• paint of choice (I used several different "white" acrylic paints, as well as brown and black)

• sand paper or a sanding block

• stain or watered down brown paint

•  a copy of the phrase you'd like on your sign

 

I painted the board white, with a little tan and brown paint mixed in...just so it wasn't stark white.  I didn't worry about sanding the board before I painted, because I knew I'd be sanding it later.  If your board is splintered along the edges, you might want to hit it with a piece of sandpaper before you start to avoid splinters!

While that paint was drying, I opened up my trusty Photoshop Elements and did my best to recreate the fonts and look of the Pottery Barn sign.  I made a canvas that was the same size as my board and sized the phrase to fit.  (I ended up using Edwardian Script for "guest" and IFC Railroad for "cottage".)  I printed this out actual size, which ended up printing on 4 sheets of paper.  It required a little trimming before I taped it together, but it was an easy step!

Once base coat dried, I painted some lines down the length of the board.  I liked that look in the Pottery Barn sign, so I did my best to mimic that.  I basically painted a straight line with brown paint, but wiped off most of what I painted....just leaving a faint line in the background.

I laid my printed phrase out on top of the board, lining it up exactly where I wanted to, and just traced over the phrase with a ball point pen using a good amount of pressure.  Because the board I used is soft pine, the pressure of the pen makes a faint outline of your letters.

Now it's time to paint your letters!  I found it best to use very small brushes and really taking my time during this step.  I don't have the most steady hand, so I took it slow.  It only took me about 25-30 minutes to trace and paint all of my letters.  Remember, we're looking for a vintage look so don't worry about it being perfect!

Some of you might be wondering why I started painting from right to left...I'm left-handed and always end up smearing my work if I paint from left to right.  :)

Now it's time to give it more of that worn look!  I let my sign dry overnight and then sanded down the edges with my sanding block.  I also sanded the words down a bit in some places.

I used some stain that I had leftover from my Ruler Growth Chart project to add a little more dimension to the sign.   I wiped it on and then wiped it off very quickly. You could easily use some watered down brown paint if you don't have any stain at home!

The only step left is to add some sawtooth hangers to the back of your sign and find a great spot for it!

 

If you have any questions, ask away!  I'd love to help! :)

Thanks again to the ladies of Lemon Tree Creations for letting me guest post today!  I'd love it if you popped on over to my blog to see what I'm up to!

Wow! What a gorgeous sign. Thanks MJ for coming by to guest post with LTC today. 

We are still accepting submissions for fall and holiday projects. Have a fun fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any other great project you'd like to share with the Lemon Tree Creations readers? Email submissions to ltc.guestposting@gmail.com. We can't wait to see what you've been working on!

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Whimsical Clock Revamp

Lemon Tree Creations is excited to welcome another guest blogger today, Pam from Be Colorful. In addition to making her house just plain beautiful, Pam spends a lot of time taking ordinary objects and making them beautiful with colorful and whimsical custom paintings. I hope you enjoy what Pam has to share with us today!

BeColorful's Take On A Stick's Inspired Clock

   

Me? A guest blogger?

Who would have thought?

:)

It has been on  my bucket list for awhile now but to be able to do this  for such a respected blog is truly humbling.

Thank you so much for the opportunity.

I describe myself as color evangelist and I relish the idea of mixing pattern and color in painted pieces and re-purposed items. So, that seemed like the obvious type of post to write today.

Recently I had a friend ask me to paint a clock she had purchased as a wedding gift.

She was very specific in that she wanted something in the Stick's vibe.

If you are unfamiliar with Sticks it is a company that does amazing one-of-a-kind painted furniture and accessories in a very distinctive style.

It was fun to try my hand at this.

This is the clock as it was handed over to me last month.

 It was a great piece even with the missing knob.

The flat surfaces made for a relatively easy design layout.

I also liked that it was painted black. I did not prime this piece because I like the look of the black peeking through just a bit when I pull the brush through the paint.

I will have to give it several layers of top coat, though, to protect it.

I haven't done that yet. I'm letting everything cure first.

I started by painting the top

 

 Then I worked out the sides.

 My friend had a number of elements that she wanted incorporated into the face view of the clock, including the names of the bride and groom, the wedding date, and words that were significant to the bridal couple.

This is what I came up with.

 This piece was perfect to pull in that surprise element I so love.

The clock opens up and is also a jewelry box.

How great is that?

So I stayed with the love theme and this is what will greet the bride when she pulls on that discover knob

 and then again when she opens the drawer down below.

 I hope she likes it.

I thought it was fun and definitely unique.

Thank you again for the opportunity to guest blog.

To see the site that inspired this piece click here.

Their work is absolutely amazing.

xoxo,

P

Thanks Pam! I love how unique this bridal gift is, I think we are all a little more inspired to get out our paint brushes now!

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Bloom Sign

You're in for another special treat today! Please join us in welcoming Alisa from Sweet Peas and Bumblebees...

Hi Lemon Tree Creations readers!

I am thrilled to be unveiling my latest project here at Lemon Tree Creations!  Their blog has the most amazing projects and I’m so excited to be sharing mine on their super creative blog!

First, a little bit about me…

I’m Alisa from the blog Sweet Peas & Bumblebees.  My twin sister and I LOVE to blog about all things crafty and thoroughly enjoy spending our time creating new projects and trying new recipes!  We even have a linky party on Wednesdays where you can show off your best recipes and latest craftiness!  We totally love seeing everything you all come up with and would love if you would join us!

Now for my tutorial…

Bloom Sign

We have an AMAZING craft store where I live….which is where I bought my pre-cut wood to create my Bloom Sign, but you could easily cut it yourself!

You’ll need:

*Acrylic Paint {Black, 2 shades of Green, Cream, Yellow}

*Fine Glitter {Green & Yellow}

*Scrapbook Paper {3 different pages}

*Vinyl Lettering {Where You Are Planted}

*Wood Glue

*Mod Podge

*Foam Brush

*Sealant Spray

If you are cutting your own:

*2x10 Pine Board {to cut your “B”, “L”, “M” & Flowers}

*1/4'” thick pine board to cut flower embellishments

*2x4 to cut base flowers sit on

*Scroll Saw

Now, to get started…..

*Lay your letter “B” on your chosen scrapbook paper.

*Trace your letter {making sure the front of the letter is facing down}

*Cut out the letter “B”, just inside your lines.

*Paint your wooden letter “B” black {this may take a couple of coats"}

*With your foam brush, brush a coat of Mod Podge on the front of your wooden letter.  Apply your scrapbook paper “B” and smooth out, so that there are not any bubbles.

*Set aside to dry.

*Once Dry, sand all of the front edges with sand paper.  This will sand off all of the extra paper hanging off the front of the letter.

*Lay your letter “L” on your chosen scrapbook paper.

*Trace your letter {making sure the front of the letter is facing down}

*Cut out the letter “L” just inside your lines.

*Paint your wooden letter “L” black {this may take a couple of coats"}

*With your foam brush, brush a coat of Mod Podge on the front of your wooden letter.  Apply your scrapbook paper “L” and smooth out, so that there are not any bubbles.

*Set aside to dry.

*Once Dry, sand all of the front edges with sand paper.  This will sand off all of the extra paper hanging off the front of the letter.

*Paint your flowers {tops cream & bottoms green}

*Paint base flowers sit on black

*Paint the flower embellishments {yellow and light green}.  When the paint is still wet on the front of the embellishment, dip in your glitter.
*Let Dry
*Apply the vinyl lettering to the base the flowers sit on.
*With the wood glue, glue the embellishments onto the flowers.
*With the wood glue, glue the flowers onto the base.

*Lay your letter “M” on your chosen scrapbook paper.

*Trace your letter {making sure the front of the letter is facing down}

*Cut out the letter “M” just inside your lines.

*Paint your wooden letter “M” black {this may take a couple of coats"}

*With your foam brush, brush a coat of Mod Podge on the front of your wooden letter.  Apply your scrapbook paper “M” and smooth out, so that there are not any bubbles.

*Set aside to dry.

*Once Dry, sand all of the front edges with sand paper.  This will sand off all of the extra paper hanging off the front of the letter.

****Spray everything with your Sealant****

That’s it…..you are done!!  Now, you just have to find the perfect spot for your creation!!

Thanks for letting me share my tutorial here today!

Come visit us at Sweet Peas & Bumblebees to see some of our favorite posts:

Family Magnet Board

Family Name Stacker Blocks

Monster Play Date

 

Thanks Alisa for hopping over to Lemon Tree Creations and guest posting with us!

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Baby Band Bibs

I'm so excited to introduce you to today's guest blogger, Bliss, of Sew Bliss Sew!

Bliss is a graphic designer for an Ad Agency and is one of my most creative and artistic friends. Unlike myself, an amateur just dabbling in the artistic world, she has been at it for years, sewing and receiving her BFA in Graphic Design from Applalacian State. I was not surprised (but so excited) to see her featured on Design Sponge last winter for her Colorful Log Caddy, which you can see here.

The woman can work wonders with her sewing machine and has a knack recycling older clothing into new fun and unique pieces.

You can find her on Etsy at Sew Bliss Sew.

Thanks for sharing this project Bliss!!

I'm super happy to add this guest post to lemon tree creations while the lovely Erin Keith tends to her newest family member.

In honor baby Hannah, I wanted to share a project that's baby themed, these Baby Band Bibs!

Materials:

-terry cloth -pinking sheers -pins -sew-on snaps -previously adored, currently abandoned t-shirt (with a cool graphic.)*

*if you don't have drawers full of old band t-shirts, any fabric will do.

If you have a bib to trace, use that as your pattern but if not, you can just cut it out of paper like I did. They're a pretty forgivable shape so you can probably wing it.

Once you've cut out the bib shape from your t-shirt pin it graphic side down onto the terry cloth

and cut.

Mark a 1 to 1.5" space to NOT sew along the edge. this will be how you turn it inside out. *be sure to lock your stitches on either side of the gap because pulling that bib inside out will stress the thread.

Cut the corners straight across and snip slits in around the neck so when you pull inside out it won't be super bulky with excess material.

Pull inside out.

Hand sew up the gap. You can use your machine to sew this little bit if you like, but the closer you sew to the edge the less noticeable.

Hand sew the sew-on snaps.

Voila!

Now your old band t-shirts can be appreciated by a new generation. Every band's dream.

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