Song Lyrics Artwork

Have a favorite song? Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros is a favorite of Jason and I. (Video's at the bottom of the blog. Watch out it's catchy and gets stuck in your head!) We love the lyrics and usually catch ourselves singing a line or two... or whistling it. So I thought I'd make some artwork.

You don't need many materials for this project: A piece of wood,
some lyrics, paint, exacto knife and contact paper.

I had this piece leftover from my Scrabble Board project

I typed the lyrics out and designed them to fit within the right size.

I taped off my border

I laid down the contact paper and then the lyrics

I started by covering the back of the lyrics page with
graphite and then traced over the letters.

You can see it transferring over here. But I soon learned
just cutting out the letters of the paper with an exacto
knife will transfer the graphite too. For an easier way
to transfer your lyrics view Living with Lindsay's blog

I'm pretty sure I just about broke my fingers cutting
these letters out.

And if the last step didn't break it then going back
over the contact paper to ensure the cuts were all
made correctly definitely broke my fingers

The fun part... peeling the contact paper off to leave the letters

I ran my brayer over the letters to make sure they
were nice and snuggle against the wood before
I started painting

I brushed paint on but I think I would use spray paint
next time, for one, it would be a faster way to paint. But
also I noticed the paint I used was a little too liquidy
and ran under my letters

I wanted the black paint to pop so before I pulled up in letters
I sprayed the board with a glossy clear coat

Here you can see where some of the paint seeped
under the contact paper.

Definitely like it though. Now I just need
to figure out how I want to frame it.

Your own custom side table

This table has been in the works for a number of years but I finally finished it... and love it. Customize it to fit your style. Fill it with decorative rocks, seashells, corks. The possibilities are endless!

 Materials:
A large pot (go with something plastic so it's not too heavy)
Glass top
Filler (I went with rocks but again it's up to you)
Wood panel

Extras:
This is the part that took so long to finish. My pot wasn't as tall as I wanted to I grabbed a circular panel and 4 little chair legs... table legs... sorry, I'm not exactly sure what they are.

My pot

My rocks - I found a huge bag at Garden Ridge for $6

As usual I was hasty and wanted to start on my table. I didn't
have a panel wide enough for the pot but I did have 2 piece
that fit together nicely. You'll want to cut your panel so it sits
just inside the pot leaving a couple of inches from the top
for your filler.

My glass top. It took a while to find a piece the
right size. I finally found it at Hobby Lobby. Used
a 40% coupon and scored it for about $15.

Here are the extra pieces I bought to give the table some height.

Sorry it's blurry. I marked off where I wanted to screw in
the little table legs

I predrilled some holes

Screwed in the legs

I spray painted the base.

Filped the pot over and aligned the base

Screwed the base into the bottom of the pot. I also
ran a line of epoxy along the bottom of the pot
for extra strength.

Flipped the pot (and base) upright. I placed my panel inside
the pot and dumped in my filler.

I also purchased some little plastic sticky cushions so the glass
doesn't rub on the top of the pot.

I'm thinking I might have to switch it out
for wine corks in the near future.

 This wasn't necessarily the cheapest project for a new side table but it's definitely something you won't see anywhere else.

Fancy decor for a couple of bucks!

Want some fancy decor? Hit up Goodwill!

Materials:
Hurricane (found at Goodwill! You can buy a new one but they're usually at least a couple more bucks)
Candlestick (again, found it at Goodwill for a buck!)
Rubber bands
Spray paint
Epoxy

So I got a little exited and started working on this before I took pictures. And I probably completed my steps in the wrong order. I epoxied the hurricane onto the candlestick first. I would wait to the end. :/ Sorry!

So the hurricane I used was similar to this one. You
can use any candlestick you find too.

Add the rubber bands randomly or create a pattern.

Spray paint the hurricane in a color of your choosing.

Let the paint dry and careful peel off your
rubber bands. If you have a light coating the
paint will scratch off so be careful!

I squeezed some epoxy around the top of the
candle stick and let dry.

Grab a candle and enjoy your cheap decor!

Trying to sleep... custom pillow cases

Since Jason's been gone I've found myself falling asleep holding a framed picture of him that usually sits on my nightstand. I thought creating these pillow cases would be a good alternative to save me the bumps and bruises from smacking my head on the frame after I've fallen asleep.

I found a couple of my favorite pictures and quotes

Materials you'll need:

Pillow cases

Iron on Transfers

Pictures

Quotes

Fabric marker

I started by following the directions for the iron-on transfers.
Sorry there are no pictures. I then printed out my quotes (in
reversed) and traced over the backside of the paper in pencil
(your quote will look correct)

Flip your page over after you've traced the quote and center it
on your pillow case. Now trace over the correct side of the paper.
I used an extra fine tip pen. It's a little hard to see but the pencil
will transfer onto the pillow case.

Use your fabric marker to fill in the letters.

Here are my iron-on photos

Still working on a quote for the back of this one

And before I can even try them out my little Nate snuggled up
next to them. He sure misses his best friend. Hurry home Jason!