New Art for my Wall

About a month ago, I asked my awesome friend Caitlin (Lady Hue) if she would create a family photo for me.  She is a talented artist and I really love her style.  I sent her a bunch of random photos of my family so that she could get the basic idea of what we look like and size etc, and then she created this family photo that I adore. 

I knew that I wanted a place to display it that I could see it every day because I seriously can't stop looking at it.  I thought a frame would have worked, but I wanted it to be a little more substantial than that.  (Just so you have an idea of the sizes of everything, the pic is an 8X10.)

One day, while I was at the thrift store, I stumbled on this amazing table top.  It was $2.00 and I knew it needed to be mine.  There were just so many possibilities with it. 

Here's what I did.  First, I spray painted the frame the picture is in.  I went with a dark brown and I like the way that it outlines the photo and really makes it stand out. 

Next, I painted the table top edges the same brown.  Then, I went to Hobby Lobby and bought some scrapbook paper to mod podge to the front of the table.  I really like the paper I chose.  It coordinates very nicely with the decor I have going on in my front room. 

Last, I added some vinyl and hung the photo on top of the table. 

I love the way it turned out!  It is a perfect addition to my front room.  There is more to the arrangement on the wall, and you can kind of get a sneak peak here.  I need to write another tutorial before I can show you the whole thing though. :)

Family Home Evening Charts

About a month ago, I was asked to create some Family Home Evening charts for a Relief Society activity that took place this last week.  I decided to make a few to show people the different ways that you can easily and inexpensively create them. 

I started with the classic magnet board example.  Using my silhouette, I cut out the vinyl and attached it to the metal board that I got from Roberts (before they closed the store.)  You can also pick them up at Hobby Lobby.  I used some strip magnets and attached some coordinating scrapbook paper to them.  I will put our names on them to designate who will be doing which part of our family night.

For my second example, I wanted it to be something that anyone could use and be super functional.  I found this example originally, but didn't want to do another magnet board.  So I decided to make it really easy by just creating a printable, printing it off, and putting it into a picture frame.  It now works perfectly as a dry erase board.  If you would like the printable for this, you can find the link below.  I left the top square empty so that you can insert your own initial into it.  If you happen to have a last name that starts with an S, the link for that is also below.

***Printables are for use by followers of Just Between Friends only.  If you aren't following JBF, it's easy to start.  Just click follow on the side bar.  Thank you!

Dry Erase Board Printable (no monogram)
Dry Erase Board Printable (with S monogram)

My last board is another one that I created a printable for and then added a little bit to it.  If you would like to make your own, all it takes is the printable I created (which you can find the link below) and some clothespins, frame, and chipboard.  It is really easy.  Here's a little mini tutorial on how it was created:

Paint clothespins desired color.  I really like to use soy bean paint.  It is very vibrant and really does a great job!  I picked mine up at Hobby Lobby, and if you go this week all of the acrylic paint is on sale.

After my clothespins were painted, I used a gluestick to attach the lables.  Then using some chipboard, I cut out some rectangles to use as tags to mark who is doing what job.  I thought it was cute to simply use a monogram instead of writing the whole name, but you can really do either way.  I strung it with some bakers twine (purely for the cuteness factor) and then put it into the frame. 

***Printables are for use by followers of Just Between Friends only. If you aren't following JBF, it's easy to start. Just click follow on the side bar. Thank you!
Clothespin Board Printable

And there you have it.  Three boards that are all totally easy to create and are both functional and stinkin cute. 

Also, just because I like you, here are some links to two other fun ideas that I was going to create but ran out of time.

Chalkboard FHE Sign
FHE Dice (love this one)