Faux Wood Stain

I love the look of stained wood, but sometimes it gets pricey to buy every color stain you want.  So when I'm looking for a certain color for a small project, I use this trick to fake a wood stain. And it's also nice because I can make it as thick/covering or as thin/slightly tinted as I want.

 Start by mixing equal parts water & paint.  You want it to be runny.  For this grey stain, I used a paint darker than the color I wanted to show up on the wood.

 Using a paper towel, rub into the wood. Just a little stain at a time, working it into the wood so that it can absorb it to get that stain-like effect.

  

 Use a paintbrush if your piece has ridges on the edge, like mine, to get the stain in there. 

 Be sure to use a clean paper towel to wipe off the excess.  Use wet one if you want to take more of the stain off or a dry on to just smooth away leftover color.

 To finish off this sign, I used a piece of vinyl & my favorite gold pen to color on the number 3.

Of course, just be sure whatever you do to finish up your own sign, you let the stain dry completely!

  I've done this trick with different shades of brown and black, but like I said before, if you're doing a big project or sign, it's best to stick with real wood stain.

DIY Vintage Pennant

When I shared my son's big boy bedroom, I promised tutorials & details were coming...and here I am still trying to keep good on that promise!  I made a big pennant banner that hangs above his headboard that's customized with his name on it. I had to make some other ones for a church activity & I knew it was the perfect opportunity to show you just how I did it, so you can make one too!

You can either buy you own prre-made felt pennant flag (from Hobby Lobby) or make your own.  It's the basic elementary concept...fold your paper hot dog style, make a straight line, cut, then trace onto your felt piece.  Just make sure your flag is wide enough to fit your letters.

When you're printing out your letters, be sure to flip it, so it prints out the mirror image.  Because we're taping it onto out peel-and-stick felt.  It can be bought in big packs, or single sheets for .99 at the craft store and it is amazing. It comes in the basic rainbow colors so you don't have to use white.  Using a few pieces of tape, tape down your letters to the paper side.

I like using my small thread scissors to cut them out, especially with the font I chose this time, to get into all those 90 degree angles.

When you're peeling and sticking, I learned the hard way with this font that a little at a time is the best method.  With my son's pennant banner, you'll see the font is totally different and it was easy for my to just peel off the whole back and stick. 

Once you've got your letters on, it's time to give it an authentic pennant look.  Cut a strip from your peel & stick felt and stick it right to the edge of the banner.  Then cute 4 small pieces, the same width, and place them as pictured below.

And you're done!  Customize it any way you want with colors and fonts or even shapes and logos!

Color Block Magnets

I grabbed these mini square canvas magnets at Walmart without actually having a plan for them & then just some simple color block inspiration came to me.

 I picked a seafoam green & coral color, and used paper hold stickers to create a scallop pattern & painters tape to tape from corner to corner.

 This gold pen is definitely my favorite because it actually comes out a shining true gold, rather than a matte yellow-ish color.  And it also covers very well, so use it before of after using your paint.

 If you're feeling extra decorative, add some lettering to them!  I wrote "Don't Forget!" on one & "hey, look!!" on the other to add some visual dimension.

 Ta-da! Throw them up on that otherwise boring fridge to add some color & shine!

Striped Canvas Artwork

This striped canvas is one of the easiest pieces of art you may ever create yourself.  But it's pretty enough you could sell it at Home Goods for 5x what it actually took to make it! Make it as big or as small as you want, just pick whatever size canvas you want!

 Spray paint the canvas gold, be sure to get the edges. Create a straight line to start taping.

 Tape, tape, tape, making the spaces any size you want.  For sanity (and no math) purposes, I just make every stripe the same width.  Be sure they're nice and stuck.

 Then paint away!  I actually changed the colors of the stripes a few times, so don't be afraid to 

paint over a color that just doesn't look right. Let it dry before you take the tape off.

I settled on mustard yellow, off-white, sage, light grey, teal, light pink, bright purple, light blue, & one dark strip of navy. I repeated some of the colors. Look at that metallic shine! And when people ask where you got your gorgeous canvas from, you can yell "I MADE IT!"...I mean quietly, humbly tell them that you whipped it up yourself.