Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2011.  I feel a bit behind, since a lot of other bloggers have multiple posts under their belts this year already, and here I am getting my first one off the ground.  So let's catch up on what I was up to during the holidays....

Sleeping! 10 hours a night on average :)  And I did a bit of crafting (which I will be posting this week!)  Of course I had big plans to craft with my sis Jill; this didn't happen because she recently started a new job!!! So congrats Jill-but I did miss not crafting together.

And now, without further ado, I give you my first craft of 2011

.......drum roll please......

FAMILY NAME WALL DECOR

As you may, or may not know, I am engaged!  In a year and a half I will have a new name.  Now, I have never LOVED my birth/family name, but in these past 20-some years I've gotten used to it....and now I have to change it?!?!  I'm sure it will take getting used to-just hopefully not another 20 years?!?!?!

I was inspired by Jess over at Frugal with a Flourish and her 'Noel' PB Knock off!  But as Ty reminded me, Christmas was over (party pooper)-so I thought I could get acclimatized to my new last name through this cute craft! I started with 2 types of wooden letters from Michael's.  Our family name is in script, and the word HOME is in big 'varsity' letters.  The script letters are about 4" tall.  The varsity letters are about 5.5-6" tall.

I (grudgingly) sanded them to eliminate any rough edges.  I didn't prime them-just went whole hog with acrylic paint.  For the script letters I painted them with Folkart by PLAID in 939 Butter Pecan.  For the word HOME I painted the wood letters with Folkart by PLAID in 403 Navy Blue.

Once these were dry, I knew I wanted something extra.  Just painting wasn't gonna cut it!  So I gave the script letters a wash of metallic paint.  I mixed Folkart by PLAID 660 Metallic Pure Gold with a bit of water and brushed it over the taupe color.

(this pic is over exposed-the letters are quite gold....you'll see)

*Side Note* does anyone else paint the back of their projects?  I am one of those neurotic people who paint the back of things, just in case, y'know? 

Especially the back edges!  Anywho....

Once the HOME letters were dry and I painted every last inch, I took sandpaper and distressed the edges of the letters.  These letters had almost 3 levels/bevelling so I could distress the natural edges that stuck up!  I really liked how it turned out!

Here you see the difference between one that is sanded and one that isn't!

Then I started gluing the letters together with my new Gorilla Glue.  I had seen other peeps use it, and get really excited about it, so when I bought these letters, I bought the glue too!  I have yet to decide if I love it.....but one can never have enough glue!

So first I glued the "HO" together

Then the "ME"

Then I glued all four letters together!

Next I strategically glued the script letters together, using the contours of the letters to create a pattern of letters that was still read-able and that would fit over the HOME letters!  If you have a LONG last name, I might suggest gluing the HOME letters all together in one line to symmetry sake. OR, you could use the word HOUSE, instead of HOME for those long last names!

Lastly, I glued the word 'kuny' (pronounced cooney) onto the top of 'HOME'

If you like, this is the last stage.  Simply place this lovely creation on a mantle or shelf and admire!  I have chosen to hang mine.  Do to this I took two flat thumb tacks and attached a pretty ribbon to the back of the letters with the tacks.  This makes it easy if I ever want to change the ribbon in the future.  I have also done this with small 4x6 picture frames , and hang 3 in a vertical row with ribbons!  So chic and simple!

TA DA!

I hope you like it!  I know there are a lot of different ways to make this project your own and I'd LOVE to see what you'd do with it!  Feel free to give this easy project a try and let me know!  Definitely looking forward to what you come up with!

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