And then Jill sent me an invite. And I checked it out. And then I LOST MY FREAKING MIND. I have spent the last two nights laying awake in bed, unable to sleep because I have been thinking about all of the home decor stuff and crafts that I've been pinning.
I wish I were kidding. It was so bad on Friday night that I went ahead and finally got back up at 3:30 a.m. and stained some wood. Seriously.
But if I can get my crazy brain to calm down about all of this, I think it will work to my advantage. Because I am officially inspired. And I officially have allowed myself to be, because, as I've mentioned before, crafting is my reward to myself for BikeMS. For at least a month.
So yesterday, I made this wall-hanging:
Total cost: $5. Oh yes.
I have been dying to make something for over our bed for a long time. It was just this boring empty space that was begging for a wall hanging. I figured I would make three canvases with a tree or something like Amanda did, but on Friday, I found this image on Pinterest:
That wall-hanging caught my eye. I loved that it was rustic-looking and made from planks put together. I didn't love that you couldn't really see what was written because it was black on dark brown, but the concept had me.
So I asked my parents if they had any scrap wood, and they gave me some fence pickets they had stored.
I was sneaking into our garage when Jack got home, noticed the mischevious look on my face, and looked at me, concerned.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Um, moving my car." I replied.
"Why are you moving your car?" he followed-up.
"Um... because I want to use the table saw."
Jack got the same look on his face that he always does when his wife is doing something crazy (which is lots of the time), and insisted the he would be cutting the wood for me, since there was a very high probability I would lose an appendage trying it.
After Jack cut the wood, I stained it (at midnight and 3:30 a.m. - see above about The Crazy), and after that was dry, I attached strips of particle board to the back with screws to attach them all together. As you see in step 3 above, I painted the side that would be facing the outside with our bedroom wall's color just in case you would be able to see the particle board strips through the slats (I don't think you actually can so this step may be optional).
After the wood was prepared, I started on my design. I picked a favorite quote to put on it and designed what I wanted it to look like in Photoshop. (It's from "Rhythm of Love" by the Plain White T's, which my brother insists is dirty when placed over a bed, but I just thought it was nice.) I used my Silhouette
to cut out the letters and my ATG Gun
to attach it to the wood. Originally, I had planned to seal the paper onto the wood with a clear coat on top, but after I saw how nicely they were attached and yet how easy they were to remove, I decided to leave it the way it was so that I had the option to change the quote or design later without having to make a whole new wood plank.Optional next step: catch a snake in your bedroom immediately after hanging.
So, there you have it! My new wall hanging, for a total of $5 (that was for the wood stain). The wood may cost you a few more dollars if you don't have scrap wood around or aren't comfortable constantly stealing things from your parents. And of course, if you don't have a Silhouette or digital die cut machine, you can easily paint on a design, use die cuts, or stencil something on.
Finally, something to look at over the bed! I love it!
I'll see you around Pinterest - if you need a pretentious invite, let me know and I'll send you one. But you've been fairly warned - it is crack.
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