Quote Wall

I don’t know how common this is, but our family is all over the quote wall. Family reunions are the best time to start one, but we also have one at our house ALL THE TIME. Each year we start over and at the end of the year we read through the whole list of quotes. It’s definitely one of my favorite things we have in our house, keeps the laughter going.

If you are new to Quote Walls, it’s just a collection of random quotes that people say that are particularly funny/interesting/random/etc. (especially when taken out of context!). In the past we just had a paper on the fridge that we would add quotes to, but I’m getting sick of my fridge being cluttered. I’m slowly finding a better place for everything and it was the quote wall’s turn.

This quote by Grant pretty much shows how awesome quote walls are (along with how sassy Grant is and how cool my family is)

I have the perfect spot to put this quote wall board on my wall down the hall, but it isn’t up yet so no picture until it’s totally done and in it’s official spot. To make this I started with a 11” x 24” pine board (cut & milled by Grant of course). For the top and bottom design I used my Silhouette to cut it out on cardstock (design is from the Organic Bloom - June). The side design I free handed.

Then I cut it out with my scroll saw, had Grant router the edges (for some reason I’m still a pansy when it comes to the router), lots of sanding, and then I painted. I put a couple coats of black spray paint then a couple coats of white. I sanded the edges so the black showed through, but I kept it light enough that I didn’t get to the wood. I just wanted a touch of black to show. Then I added a couple coats of clear coat. I LOVE how the plaque design and colors turned out. It has an organic bloom look, but custom to the size & design I wanted.

To finish it off, the Silhouette cut ‘Quote Wall’ out of black vinyl and I applied it with transfer tape (as always). Then came the best part, adding all the quotes we had written down so far for 2013 (we start our quote wall over each year). I used sticky notes (cut in half, all I had on hand was the bigger sticky notes). Because of the clear coat the sticky notes stick great and are also easy to take off. It was fun re-reading them and getting a kick out of the random things we say :) Here’s a sampling.

My other favorite part about this quote wall is the back. When I had the board on the counter with the design drawn out, my little G man decided he wanted to draw all over it too, without me knowing. I kept it on the back, for a keepsake! I should have had him sign his name!! Also notice the keyhole in the back. Grant used the router to cut it and now I can hang it without any trouble.

There you have it. If you don’t have a quote wall in your house yet, start one! It’s fun to randomly say “QUOTE WALL” after someone says something and they know it is committed to the wall where everyone can read and remember it. They are one of the best things to read at the end of the year!

Project Equipment & Details:
*11” x 24” pine board
*scroll saw
*Sihouette Machine (not totally necessary) with Organic Bloom design - Jane
*router – edges & keyhole
*Rustoleum spray paint – Matte Black, Matte White & Clearcoat Matte
*USCutter Intermediate Greenstar vinyl – Black & transfer tape
*Quote Wall font – Quilted Butterfly

All Our Love – custom sign

This was a recent custom sign that I did. The customers Grandmother passed away recently and she wanted a keepsake of her grandma’s handwritten note.

I particularly love these signs. They are so personal and meaningful. I made one for my mom (and myself) that was my dad’s handwriting, his signature ‘love & kisses’ that he signed at the end of every note, letter, card, whatever.

If you want a custom, personalized note made into a sign you can order HERE.

[zebra bracelet – made by little G man in preschool!]

 

Custom House Number Display

We moved into our house in October 2009. Ever since I’ve been wanting to change the house number display because ours was hard to see, especially at night. I have been wanting to do something original and fun with our house numbers, not just numbers on the house siding by the door – boring (sorry if that’s the way you roll, I just wanted something different). I’m not a fan of “everyone else is doing it” styles and always try to be a little different than the rest. So this is what I came up with:

This is what our house number looked like, thanks to the builders and their wonderful placement. (I should have taken the picture from the road, for a real perspective.)

This was basically a project for Grant, all I did was give him my vision, pick out the rock and the numbers. He did all the rest! Thankfully my brother was willing to help with the rock. The one I picked out, as we were driving along on a gravel forest road, looked awesome from the truck and was still very awesome up close. But it was also very, very huge! Lets just say it was quite the process for these two to get it in the truck!

[first they rolled it up the bank so we could back the truck right under it]

[not as easy as it sounds, still had to move it on to the truck bed]

[and if you can’t tell, it was raining!]

It was also quite the ordeal getting it out of the truck and in the right spot! By this time it wasn’t just raining, it was also dark. They were troopers :)

We weighed the truck with the rock and without the rock, turns out it was over 600 lbs! Maneuvering a 600 lb rock to the perfect angle and location is not so easy. The next day Grant mixed some concrete and poured it around the base of the rock so it didn’t have a chance of moving (like tipping over and crushing our kiddos). It’s nice and solid now! He topped it off with some little rocks to cover the concrete.

Then came the fun part, putting on the numbers. Grant recently bought a concrete drill, which was perfect timing for this project. We placed the numbers.

He drilled the holes

Then we used E6000, of all things, and the screws that came with the numbers to attach them to the rock. Taped them in place and let it dry overnight

And now we have a darling display for our numbers. You can see the difference between the two (still need to take those numbers off the post!!)

I’m totally in love!! Thank goodness Grant is amazing! I give him my vision and he follows through, EVERY time! Love it :)

[the spotlight is a must. solar powered and now you can see the numbers at night!]

Project details:
*rock from the woods = free
*labor from husband and brother = free :)
*concrete left over from the neighbors building their fence = free
*house numbers = $1.86 each at Home Depot
*E6000 = already had it
*concrete drill = already had it
*spotlight = $5 at Target

Total for custom house number display = $10.58

**UPDATE**

I painted the inside of the plastic numbers, so you can see them a little better. I used model paint (from Michaels), which is water proof and will hopefully withstand Montana weather! I used silver, but I might put a top coat of white to make it stand out just a little more.

 

 

 

FEATURED ON:

Cub Scouts (wolf) – Elective 9 b & c

I’m an assistant cub scout leader for the wolf den (8 year olds). Last night we had a den meeting and accomplished elective 9 b & c. We only have three boys, but only two showed up last night. It was pretty easy to get these electives done in less than an hour.

We made bean bags (filled with dried corn instead of beans). I helped them use the sewing machine and they did everything else, even the hand stitching to close it.

 

And covered a can for a pencil holder (the book says to cover it with string or paper but we used fabric).

  

The boys had fun and were pretty happy with the end results. And of course I didn’t get a picture of the finished projects