Roll-up Checkerboard

In the life of THIS crafter not only is March National Craft Month BUT as one that collects all year long for Operation Christmas Child "quality crafts" are the item of the month! What better way to celebrate both occasions than to create something for Operation Christmas Child!

I love creating items to put into my shoebox gifts for Operation Christmas Child. I believe I put a piece of my heart into every item I make. Who better to give a piece of my heart to than a child in need?

Operation Christmas Child typically receives the least amount of boxes for children in  the 10-14 year old age range. Having four kids of my own, my guess for this occurrence would be simply "what do you get (or make) a child that age?" For year round shoebox packers and filler item collectors I wanted to come up with a project that would answer that question.

This roll-up checkerboard fits the bill. Perfect for a boy or a girl it can even be personalized by the colors you choose, or the items you use for checkers. 

Supplies Needed:

Fabric placemat at least 12” x 18”

“Checkerboard” stencil from Plaid Crafts “Farm Life Collection”

Acrylic Paint (Folk Art Acrylics Shown)

Stencil Brush

Masking Tape

Paper Plate 

Peel and stick Fabric Adhesive Fuse Therm-o-Web

24” length of Ribbon

Markers, Buttons, tokens (12 each of 2 different colors) 

Optional:

Iron

VELCRO® 5/8" sew on coins

 .     

Directions: 

Make sure placemat is clean and ironed flat if necessary

With placemat facing you lengthwise, position the checkerboard stencil on one end of the placemat and tape stencil in place using masking tape.

Using stencil brush, apply paint to the stenciled areas, remove stencil and allow to dry. 

Apply 2- 2 inch pieces of Fabric Fuse to the non painted end of the placemat. Fold non painted end of placemat up to the checkerboard to form a pocket. Apply firm pressure to taped areas to make sure the adhesive bond is secure. 

Fill the pocket with the pieces you have decided to use for checkers and roll up board. Mark area on back side you wish to place the ribbon tie. Remove checkers. Apply 1 1/2 inch piece of Fabric Fuse to middle of ribbon (you might have to trim or fold over the adhesive depending on the width of your ribbon.) Place ribbon unto area marked, and apply firm pressure to secure adhesive.


To play: unroll mat and remove checkers

For storage: place pieces inside of pocket and roll up. Tie ribbon to secure. 

Optional: 

Once rolled up most normal sized tokens being used for checker pieces should stay in place for storage. For bulkier pieces apply a VELCRO® 5/8" sew on coin along the edge of the pocket using fabric fuse.

A HUGE THANK-YOU to Plaid Crafts for providing the stencils, brushes, and paint, and  Therm-o-web for providing Fabric Fuse for this project!

Would you like to learn more about Operation Christmas Child and how you can pack your own shoebox gift for a child in need? Check out their website for more information.  How to pack a shoebox! 

Check out the #CrazyShoeboxCrew on Facebook

Happy Independence Day!

What is a holiday unless you can craft for it?!?! The good folks at Plaid Crafts couldn't agree with me more. When I received a HUGE box of stencils as part of their Plaid Ambassador program, I couldn't resist taking them out to play.

This weeks project a stenciled canvas hanging.

Supplies Used: Plaid Folk Art Stencils "Farm" collection; stars and stripe, Apple Barrel Colors Paint, Masking tape, paint brush, stencil brush, crop-a-dial/eyelets, hemp twine, branch from the yard 4-5"x7" flat panel canvases.

Directions:

1) Paint surface of all canvas, 3 white, and 1 blue allow to dry
2) Position canvases together to determine placement of the stencils. Tape stencils in place.
3) Using a stencil brush, fill in the stencils and allow to dry.
4) Determine where you want your holes to go, and using crop-a-dial punch holes in canvas, add eyelets if desired. Using small lengths of hemp twine, tie canvases together.
6) Prepare twig, cut off jagged edges, using a bit of white paint mixed with water "white wash" the twig, and then wipe off with paper towel, leaving behind just a hint of color.
7) Tie canvases to twig using twine
8) Braid 3 lengths of twine together tie onto twig as hanger.

From our family to yours, have a safe and happy 4th of July celebration, and thanks especially to those that have helped keep us free!!!

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Hallway Makeover with Stencil1

Have you ever noticed when you start redoing one room of your house you can't stop there? One room starts looking good and so it makes the rest of the house look bad??? So one room leads to two and so on...

When my dad agreed to redo the kitchen it led to working on the dining room, due to structural issues, then after I got the dining room all fixed up, it made the hallway look pretty shabby. So I did a quick coat of white paint to at least freshen it up. 

My hallway has always been my photo gallery. A hallway of memories so to speak. I never really had any rhyme or reason to it. Since I was redoing other rooms, I decided it was time for a change. I wanted to still have my hallway of memories, but wanted a more cohesive feel to it. Inspiration struck  at the Craft and Hobby Trade show when I saw a cool mum stencil from Stencil1. 

My idea was to use the 3 mum repeat stencil down the hallway and then paint my hodge-podge of frames all the same color to tie everything together.  So I tucked the idea into the back of my brain for a "when I have time" project, but then Stencil1 emailed! Their repeat pattern stencils won PRODUCT OF THE YEAR and was I interested in using one of them for a project? I shared my hallway idea and they loved it as much as I did. 

So Stencil1 set me up to do my "hallway makeover."

For my project I needed: Fresh wall space, paint, roller and tray, Stencil1 stencil (I used 3 mums repeat,) and painters tape. 

Since my halls were already bare and freshly painted I didn't need to apply a base coat. I wanted to have the mums tumbling all over the wall in more of a casual look BUT I am a little OCD when it comes to casual things. Some people can just casually pull something together, for me it takes a bit of planning to be casual!  Therefore to help with the placement I photo copied the stencil several times. I then used painters tape to place the images where I wanted them to "casually" go. This allowed me to play with the placement and positioning of the stencils and see the overall effect without having to commit quite yet with paint. 

After I was satisfied with the positioning, I was ready to get painting. Stencil 1 sent me their roller tray kit , to use with my project. The brush for the roller is a good quality sponge, that holds the paint well.

I used a few pieces of painters tape to hold the stencil into place and then I rolled my paint over the stencil. They say you only need a couple of pieces. I wasn't that brave (remember that thing I have about being a little OCD...) So I used a bit more than recommended to avoid what I call a "Betsy Mishap" of the stencil falling off mid paint. 

I found the sponge roller held ALOT of paint, and so it made sense to roll off some of it before covering the stencil. This helped prevent bleed through with the stencil. I also found you needed a lighter touch, if you were heavy handed with the amount of pressure you applied to the roller, you ended up with pools of paint that also could cause bleed through of your image. One failed attempt, and both these lessons learned I was ready to go to town.

I would take down my photo copy image and then replace it with the stencil and paint away. 

I moved from left to right top to bottom and when I got to the little storage cubby decided to paint that as well (the little roller was perfect for the small spaces around the handles and along the edges!)

I loved the effect of the mums tumbling down the hall way. 

All that was left was to paint the frames and hang them on the wall and decorate! 

I loved the finished product and can't wait to try stenciling elsewhere!