Sassy Sanctuary Guest Post

Hello all you Wood Connection readers!  My name is Krystal and I blog over at Sassy Sanctuary where I love to share all my home decor ideas and my crafty creations.  I have a great LOVE for wood crafts and just recently discovered the joys of The Wood Connection, so I am super excited and honored to be here today!

When I was asked to guest post it didn't take me long to figure out what I wanted to do.  You see, I am about 22 weeks preggo and I'm on a bit of an organization kick.  I'm trying to taking advantage of the desire while it lasts!  So I looked around my home and my eyes found the pile of bills that always sits on the counter and I knew that was it.  My mail needed a home!

So I headed over to The Wood Connection and explained what I had in mind.  These people are amazing!  Within 15 minutes I was headed home with exactly what I had envisioned.  I also had to take a trip to Joann's to pick out some fabric but that part is always super fun!
A few hours later I had this.....  it turned out just as I had envisioned and is just what I needed!

The top pocket is the perfect size to stash bills and letters as you walk in the door, and the bottom pocket is sized to fit a couple magazines or catalogs.

It was such a fun and easy project, my favorite kind!

So if you want to make your own here is what you need to do...

Go to The Wood Connection and pick up the wooden plaque (or MDF... as it was in my case) and the vinyl.  Then go find some adorable fabric.  I bought a 1/2 yard and had a lot left over.  A fat quarter would work perfect.

First you paint the plaque whatever color suits your fancy and looks good with your fabric.

I always like to distress my paint finishes, so I sanded the edges with a sanding block just a little bit, and used a small amount of wood stain over the exposed wood.

While that dries you can prep your fabric.

I cut one strip of fabric at about 8" x 14" and the other at about 10" x 14."  Then I got out the iron and folded and ironed about a 1/2" hem on one side of each piece.   I wanted to keep this project "no sew" so I just hot glued the hem down.  By running my iron over the hem after it was glued I was able to get the hem nice and flat.
Then take the smaller piece and fold the other side up so that it is 6" tall.   Press but do not glue this seam.

(In the photo above the top seam in glued and the bottom one is just pressed.  The whole thing is 6" tall. )

(This photo shows both pieces.  The second one only needs the top, glued seam.)

You can then flip them over and add any embellishments.  I added a little rickrack trim.  Just hot glued once again.

Now we are ready to assemble!

Take your plaque and figure out where you want your top pocket to sit.  Then fold the pocket down to expose your pressed fold and staple all along the fold.

Then fold the pocket back up. Before you staple your pocket to the back you want to put something in it so that its not too tight to hold your mail.  I tucked a dish towel in, flipped it over then pulled it tight and stapled on the back.

Then repeat the process for the bottom pocket.  Its done the exact same way except the bottom is tuck under the bottom of the plaque and stapled to the back as well.

Then just add your vinyl and you are done!

You can hang it however you like, and it would look super cute in a home office, but for my purpose I put in on the back of the garage door going into my kitchen.  My door happens to be a metal door so I put a bunch of magnets on the back and just stuck it in place.
It's now the perfect spot to drop the mail as we walk in the door!

I hope you love it as much as I do!

I'd love for you to come on over to Sassy Sanctuary and say hello!  I'll be giving away a $25 gift certificate to The Wood Connection so be sure to stop on by!

Thanks for reading!