Traci Niese | how-to instructions

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, Habitat for Humanity, how-to instructions, Old White, Paris Grey, repurpose, reuse, sign making, Simply Said vinyl designs, step-by-step, tutorial, Welcome sign

A simple Welcome Sign

Looking for an easy-to-make “Welcome” sign? I made one today and thought I’d share the simple steps.

First, find an old kitchen cabinet door. You can get them a few places. Try searching Craig’s List – a lot of people give them away for free when they are redecorating. Or search your local Habitat for Humanity restore. (find a list of stores here)

Then paint it to your heart’s desire. I used Annie Sloan’s chalk paint. Here’s a video of Annie on The Hallmark Channel doing a tutorial.

The next thing I did was apply a Simply Said vinyl “welcome” design. And here’s a video showing you how easy they are to apply. This is so much easier than the way I used to apply designs or enhancements to my painted furniture, which comprised of time-consuming transfers or stencils.
Here’s my Simply Said website, where you can order a welcome design. I think this would be a great idea for personalizing with your family last name and the date you moved into your home, i.e. “Peterson Est. 2010.” Or even a sign for a wedding, with a design that says something like, “Matt and Nikki, April 21, 2014.” You get the idea – the possibilities are wide open!

My last step was to drill two holes through the wood with a standard drill bit, and run a ribbon through for hanging. Voila! A simple, fast way to spruce up a front door, entrance, or anyplace in and around your home.

June 3, 2014/0 Comments/by Traci

autumn, craft, DIY, do-it-yourself, how-to instructions, sweater pumpkin, tutorial

Making a Sweater Pumpkin

I’ve seen sweater pumpkins all over the internet and Pinterest. They are adorable, especially when made in several colors and textures. And they look so easy. Guess what – they are!

Last night I was in my closet preparing to go to bed. I spied a sweater I’ve been hanging onto since last year, even though it wasn’t even close to fitting. My mind immediately went to the images of the cute, plump pumpkins from the net. Before I knew it, I was cutting it up.

First, I cut one side of the sweater out. As you can see, I cut around the arm openings.

Then I scoured my house searching for something to stuff it with. Ideally, you would want to use fiber fill or craft stuffing. I didn’t have either. But, I had an old body pillow from my preggo days 6 years ago. It’s just been sitting in a closet, so I thought, “let’s tear that baby open!” CRAP! The stuffing inside was a mixture of shredded up paper, styrofoam and craft fill. What a mess I made pulling handfuls of it out!

After I plopped down a few handfuls of stuffing, I gathered up the edges and wrapped my hands around what would become the pumpkin stem. (Wow, I need to work on my photography skills – suddenly the sweater is grey!)

Then I tied a long piece of twine tightly around the stem.

Next, I took the long pieces from the stem and wrapped them down along the sides of the pumpkin and tied them at the bottom.

And like wrapping a Christmas gift, I then wrapped them back up the opposite sides, and made the final knot on the stem. This gives the pumpkin its ridges.

Next, I cut another piece of twine. And wrapped it up, up, up the stem. I knotted it off and that was it!
I also trimmed the tops of the sweater from the stem, so there wouldn’t be so much hanging off.

I had the other side of the sweater, so I made a second pumpkin. I love the rustic, hand-crafted look of these pumpkins – they just feel like Autumn!

October 11, 2012/0 Comments/by Traci