What Our Crew Would Do- Whitney

Hey Wood Co. fans! This is Whitney from the Murray store. You may remember my previous post for the Veteran's Day Star Door Hang. Today I'm excited to show you a craft I put together for Valentines Day. I decided to use the letters L, V and E in our ‘Suzy Q’ font and a small heart from our heart on base and dowel trio. I knew exactly where I wanted to display my craft and knew I needed to add some height for a specific shelf I was using. I had the bottom of my letters drilled with a 3/8 hole (we can drill holes in the store for .15 each) and did the same to 4 circle plaques. We use the plaques as bases for many of our crafts in the store. The heart from our trio is already drilled to size, I just used a different base than what we have on display to match my letters.

Here's a tip: I use a blow dryer to remove sticker price tags from my wood pieces. Just warm it up enough and it'll peel right off in one piece.

Then I traced my letters and my heart onto scrapbook paper. I also flipped my circle plaques upside down onto the corresponding scrapbook paper and traced the shape. We have the cutest Valentines scrapbook paper out right now, which is essentially what pulled everything together and made my craft cuter than I expected! I find it easiest to use a mechanical pencil to trace, especially in those hard to reach places. At this point you want to sand down the edges of your wood...

Then I painted everything black. I don't usually paint over the wood that is going to be covered up by scrapbook paper, just to save a little paint. It doesn't matter either way, and it will not ruin your craft if you do.

After the paint is dry, you place the scrapbook paper on with a specific craft wood glue we sell in our store. I always use a foam paint brush to spread the wood glue evenly. For the circle pieces I cut out for my plaques, I tried to use a hole puncher but it didn't reach the center where I needed a hole for my dowel to go through. So I used a mechanical pencil, stabbed the pencil through then shoved in a dowel for the size hole I needed. I cut off access paper where I pierced through before I glued it down.

After all the scrapbook paper is attached and the wood glue is dry comes the fun part... Distressing! I love the look of distressed decor and it matches everything else in my house. We also have a tutorial on our blog you can follow along with for a distressing technique.

Before any embellishments, I always spray a coat of Krylon finishing spray in a matte finish we sell at our store. It also comes in a gloss finish. Again, this is just an option to help preserve your craft. Then you add some cute ribbon and anything else you want to compliment your new decor. The Wood Co. has some adorable skeleton keys which you can see in several displays right now at the store, and I thought one would go perfect with my new distressed decor. I love how my craft turned out, especially the little detail I added on my bases. Thanks for reading!