Chalkboard Blue: June 2014

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Creative Spaces Vol. 3 Blog Hop!

I'm excited to announce I am apart of the Creative Spaces Vol. 3 that is hitting newsstands as we speak! It is a beautiful issue, packed with pictures and ideas of Amazing Spaces to Create in!

Two items I have designed and built are being featured in this Issue, my Fold-n-Go Wooden tote and my Cubbies...

I also want to give a huge Thank You to everyone At Creative Spaces who put their time and talents into this issue. They are an amazing team and produce fantastic issues. A special thank you to the editor Jennifer Schaerer. She is an amazing editor and has been so great to get to know.

Would you like to see a sneak peek of the issue?
You can see that HERE

*Directions on how to enter to win an issue from my blog at the end of this post.

As a part of the Blog Hop, I wanted to share with you a tutorial on how to build this Vintage Crate below!

Fun as a Craft Supply Organizer

Or Entertaining…

Materials
2- 8 foot 3.5 in. wide Pine Boards
1/4 in. Smooth Finish Plywood Cut 12 1/4 in. x 18 in.
2 handles
Small strips of sheet metal
Nails to tack Sheet metal
Wood Glue

Miter Saw
Brad Nailer
1 1/4 in. Brad Nails

*Note. I painted my boards first before I did any cutting.

Cut List Out of 3.5 in. Pine
4 - 16 1/4 in. long (Rows)
2- 12 1/4 in. long (Ends)
9- 3 in. long (dividers)

Out of Plywood
12 1/4 in. x 18 in. (bottom)

Here is a labeled crate

To Assemble Rows

1. Take board cut at 16 1/4 in. long. Measure over from the end of the board 3.5 in.
2. Take one of the block dividers cut 3 in. Mark on both sides of the board..
3.& 4. Measure over again from your last board another 3.5 in. mark.

Row Assembly
5. Turn row board on its side. Place amount of glue between lines where divider is marked. Place divider board back on Row board and Nail with Brad Nailer. Repeat for the next 3 divider boards.

Build 2 more rows doing the same process.

6. Take row 1 and place row 2 on top of it. Nail at an angle attaching row 1 to row 2. Once those are assembled attach row 3 doing the same.

7. Once all three rows are attached take the last 16 1/4 in. board and nail it to Top to Top off the three rows.

8. Take boards cut 12 1/4 in and nail them to each end of rows.

Take your plywood cut at 12 1/4 in. x 18 Glue and attach to the bottom.

9. If you want to attach sheet metal. Using tin snips Cut 4 strips 3/4 in. wide by roughly 7.5 - 8 in. long.
10. Wrap metal around ends.
11. Attach metal with nails.
12. Attach handles on ends.

Stencil. I made a stencil that I created on my Silhouette. I made up the name Island Farms due to my love of Bainbridge Island. I cut it on contact paper and stenciled it to the front of the crate.

Project Complete! Time to fill it with fun things to Create or Entertain with!

To Continue with the Blog Hop, Here is a list of the Bloggers Involved. Just click on the name to continue to their blog post...

Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking magazine:

Cathe at Just Something I Made:

Kristi and Kelli at Lolly Jane:

Beckie at Infarrantly Creative:

Haeley at Design Improvised:

Tracie at Cleverly Inspired:

Carola at Boxwood Cottage:

Lina at Fancy Frugal Life:

Lia Griffith:

Jen at Tatertots & Jello:

Jennifer McGuire:

Jill Yegerlehner/Jillibean Soup:

Amanda Coleman:

Jen Gallacher:

Becky Olsen:

Stephenie Hamen:

Jodi Sanford:

Elle Price/Elle’s Studio:

Mary-Ann Maldonado:

Michelle Hill:

Sherry Mendoza:

We R Memory Keepers:

Graphic 45:

Cosmo Cricket:

Fancy Pants Designs:

Simple Stories:

You are HERE! Chalkboard Blue:

Stacy Cohen:

DCWV Inc.:

Hazel & Ruby:

HERE is a link to the Blog Hop post

*If you would like to Win a copy of this Magazine from my blog, Follow me on Instagram, Like me on Facebook and Leave a comment at the end of my post.

You have until July 1st, 2014 at midnight to enter…
Winner Will be announced July 2, 2014.

This contest is now closed. Congratulations to Marty from Marty's Musings for winning the issue!

With Much Love & Gratitude,

Friday, June 20, 2014

Metal Framed - Arrow Sign!

My USA sign was feeling lonely…

So I made it a Metal Framed Arrow Sign!

This will be so fun to set out next to my USA Sign around the 4th!

This is how I made mine…

I used some 3/4 in thick plywood.

1. & 2. I free-hand drew my arrow and then cut it out with a jigsaw. It is approximately 20 3/4 in. tall and 6 in. wide in the channel where the word Parade is. 12 in. wide from the bend to the tip of the arrow.

3. I next painted the cut out arrow with red paint of my choosing.

4. I used some tin snips and sheet metal. I cut various strips of metal about 1 1/4 in. wide and various lengths. I bent over just an 1/8 th of an inch and crimped it with needle nose pliers. This crimped edge will be the top edge once the metal is attached to the side of the plywood so when the sign is handled, there is no slicing of the fingers.

5. - 8. I next took longer strips of metal and bent them around the outside of the arrow. The metal strips overlap in some places just a bit. Its not perfect, it gives it a more vintage feel that way. In fact in some places there are small strips to fill in little cracks.

I used some smaller roofing nails and a hammer to attach the metal once it was bent around the outside of the arrow.

Here is a finished edge. Notice the top edge is crimped...

I cut some Vinyl Letters spelling out PARADE and applied them. You could also buy some smaller wooden letters and spell it out too instead of vinyl…

Project complete!

Now our USA sign has a friend!

Note. I am going to display my arrow sign so it can lean on a wall and not fall. If you want to hand this sign, drill a hole in the back or place a hanging bracket to display it however you choose!

If you would like to see how to make the larger USA sign, you can see that HERE or by clicking on the photo below…

With Much Love & Gratitude,

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Land of The Free - Revisited

I wanted to share again with you the tutorial on my Land of The Free Sign!

Just a Simple Board with several strips glued to it with a Silhouette of the USA painted on it...

I love how it turned out and how it looks on our Mantel!!!

I used some scrap wood to complete this project:

The Back Board Piece is a: 1 x 12 Pine board cut 14 1/2 in. Long
2 Rulers
5 Strips of 1/4 in thick plywood strips cut at:
12 in. long x 1 1/8 in. wide
(Some of my strips are a little longer than 12 in. long some are
around 12 1/4 in. long)
Wood Glue or Liquid Nails
Stain
White paint
Mint/Blue paint
Red paint
Stencils cut on Silhouette Cameo
Contact Paper

I Started by laying out the unfinished wood:

I stained by strips of wood and rulers with the color stain I wanted:

Painted my back board White:

Decided how I wanted my strips of wood to be arranged and glued them on with Liquid Nails. You could also use wood glue and if you notice, they are not laid out all that evenly at the ends:

I Downloaded a digital download of the USA from the Silhouette store:

Cut my Stencils on contact paper on the Silhouette Cameo:

The USA is cut: 10 in. long x 5 3/4 in. high

The Land of is : 3 3/4 in long x 3/4 in. high & in Font: Courier
The Free is: 5 1/8 in. Long x 1 1/4 in. high & in the Font: English
Added a Star for accent.

I laid out the USA stencil: