Oh Christmas Slat Tree!

For the Christmas craft show last month, we made some cute little pallet Christmas Trees.


Oh Christmas Slat Tree Tutorial:

First things first, find some wood and cut four boards for each tree to the desired height and length.

Finished tree measurements:

Big Tree: 12" H x 11.25" W
Each slat measures 2.5"H x (bottom slat to top slat) 11.25", 8.25", 5.25", 2.25" Wide

Small Tree: 8" H x 7.25" W
Each slat measures 1.75"H x (bottom slat to top slat) 7.25", 5.25", 3.25", 1.75" Wide

You also need to cut a backbone for each tree. It should measure the length of the tree. We also added another little board on the back of the backbone to add stability.

After you have nailed the slats to the backbone, cut the sides of the trees at an angle.

This will basically form a triangle shape.

Here is a view of the back. Notice the little piece we added to make the trees more stable.

Next, I painted the trees. At this point I hadn't decided to paint the backbone/trunk yet. In the end, I painted the trunk brown and also disstressed the paint.

To finished the trees off, I printed a cute little "Oh Christmas Tree" tag and tied it to the small tree.

So cute!

And to think, I wasn't going to decorate this year...

Merry Christmas and Happy Crafting.

Christmas Boutique

At the last second, I decided to sign up to do the Christmas Simple Treasures Craft Boutique. I sold a lot of pillows and a couple of Thanksgiving pallets, but tragically I didn't sell any of my wood crafts. But that's ok, because now I don't have to remake stuff to decorate my house for Christmas...

I have a couple of tutorials coming, so stay tuned for that. You can purchase the pillows in my etsy shop.

Skull Bookends

While browsing though blogs I love, I came across THIS POST about skull bookends. I fell in love with them, so I made my own.

Supplies:
-cedar fence slat
-two skulls (I got mine from Dollar Tree)
-hot glue gun

Cut your boards to the length you want. Nail the two boards together to make a "L". Then paint the boards. I went with black, but then I brushed a coat of silver paint over the top.

Next, glue the skulls to the boards with your hot glue.

Ta-Dah!

I used the skull bookends to hold up my spellbooks I made last year.

Happy Halloween

Headboard Bench

For the craft show, I needed a bench to display my pillows, so I went out into the thrift store world on the hunt for the perfect headboard and footboard, so we could make a bench out of them.

I finally found the perfect combo. I liked them because I thought they looked like an old church pew.

First thing we did was cut the footboard in half. These will be the sides of the bench.

Next, Matt clamped the headboard to the footboard sides.

And then he attached them together wtih screws.

While He was doing that, I sanded the seat board and stained it. Matt then attached the seat to the bench with screws.

The seat only turned out to be 11 inches deep. I didn't like the look of it, so Matt added a 2x4 to make it deeper.

Matt also added some boards on top to cover the original seat and the added 2x4. He also added a front trim piece.

I then filled the holes with putty, sanded and painted the bench.

I think it turned out great!

It looks great in my entryway.

Boo Glitter Letters

Boo Glitter Letters Supply List:
-2"x2"s
-nail gun
-black paint
-glitter

Take your 2"x2"s and cut them to the sizes you need.

Layout each letter to make sure you got all the pieces.

Next, nail the pieces together.

Here is the "BOO" all put together. I don't have pictures for the next couple of steps... Paint your letters black. Next, use THIS tutorial from my #31 post and stamp each letter in glitter. Let the letters sit for ten minutes, then spray with some glossy clearcoat spray. This will protect the glitter.

Here are some different color combos:

Email me, if you have any questions! Happy Halloween Crafting!!!

Batty #31

Batty #31 Supplies:

-2x4 cut to 2" wide
-MDF bat
-black glitter
-wire
-nail gun with nails
-paint
-stain

First, cut your 2x4 down to 2" wide.

Next, cut pieces that look like these.

To cut the notch out of the spine of the "3", we first traced where we wanted the notch...

Then, using a band saw we cut the notch out.

Next, assemble the "3" and "1" by nailing the pieces together.

Before you paint, be sure to sand the numbers. Now the "31" is ready to paint.

After the paint is dry, distress the numbers, then rub stain all over the numbers and wipe it off with some paper towel.


How to glitter the bat:

My bat it cut out of thin MDF. First thing you need to do is paint the bat black. While the bat is drying, grab a piece of paper and dump some glitter in a pile in the middle of the paper. Once the bat is dry, paint the front again.

After you paint the front of the bat, immediately stamp it in the glitter.

Before I do the next step, I sprayed the bat with glossy clear coat spray and let it dry. Once it has sat for about ten minutes, I drilled two little holes in the middle of the bat.

Next, cut some wire and thread it through the two holes.

Grab a pencil and wrap the wire around it to make a spiral.

Next, drill a small hole on the top side of the "3".

Stick the end of the wire spiral into the hole.


Here are all the colors I made and sold at my boutique booth:

Happy Halloween!