DIY Baby Monthly Chalkboard + Free Cut File

This post is sponsored by Expressions Vinyl and contains affiliate links. Hey, y'all!  I am so excited to be bringing y'all a brand new project today!  If you follow me on social media, you probably know that in October, my husband and I adopted a sweet little baby boy, and I have quickly learned that photos of my little man are pretty much my favorite thing in the world.  My love of taking pictures of my sweet boy inspired today's project, which is the perfect baby shower gift!  I'm showing you how to make a DIY Baby Monthly Chalkboard Photo Prop.  You can make this project VERY quickly by using chalkboard vinyl from Expressions Vinyl so that you don't have to wait for chalkboard paint to dry and cure.  Of course, I'm showing you the whole quick and easy process, and I'm sharing the FREE hand-lettered cut file with you so that you can make your own.

I love that you can personalize this project by using different size frames and different color vinyl, and you can even embellish the frame with flowers or a tiny pennant banner.  Let me show you how easy it is to make.

Make This Easy DIY Nursery Art from a Cabinet Door

This post is sponsored by Expressions Vinyl and contains affiliate links.  Thanks for supporting Pitter & Glink! Hey, y'all!  I have such a fun post to share with y'all today!  If you follow me on Instagram, you probably already know that my husband and I are in the process of adopting a child.  After years of struggling with infertility, we are SO excited to finally be growing our family in the very near future.  We don't know if our future child will be a boy or a girl, so I've been keeping myself from doing too much nursery decorating.  This month I have teamed up with Expressions Vinyl to share a post with y'all with the theme "On the Wall," and I thought this was the perfect excuse to create some art for my bare nursery walls.  I created a fun cut file featuring part of a Bible verse, and I used it to create some neutral nursery art.  As usual, I'm sharing the free cut file with you at the end of the post so that you can make your own!

 Part of what makes this art so easy to create is that it's made from an unfinished cabinet door.  Yep, my local Habitat Restore had some inexpensive unfinished oak cabinet doors for sale a while back, and they were the perfect size for art, so I purchased a few.  I just had to stain the door, paint the inside panel and add some vinyl to complete my nursery art.  I'm sure you'd like the full tutorial though, so here we go!

Make Easy Hand Lettered Fall Wall Art with Free Cut File

This post is sponsored by Expressions Vinyl and contains affiliate links.  Thanks for supporting Pitter & Glink! Hey, y'all!  I am so excited about today's post!  I am an ambassador for Expressions Vinyl, and they recently contacted me about being a part of a fun vinyl competition with a bunch of talented bloggers, so of course I jumped at the chance!  I knew about the contest way in advance, but in my usual style, I waited to the almost-last minute to create my project.  My main problem was that I struggled creating a hand-lettered design, only to realize after I finished it that I hated it.  After that waste of time, I realized that I had a hand-lettered design from last year that I made a printable with that would be PERFECT for some fall art.  So today I'm sharing my brand new Hand-Lettered Fall Wall Art, and because I always want y'all to be able to easily recreate my projects even if you have no hand-lettering skills, I'm giving you the free Silhouette cut file so that you can make your own!  And at the end of the post, I'm sharing the link where you can go to vote for your favorite vinyl project (hopefully mine) and enter a giveaway from Expressions Vinyl!

Now I don't know if y'all have ever created art with vinyl before, but it is SO EASY.  All you need is a painted board, some vinyl, and a cutting machine, and you can have brand new art in no time!

DIY "Be Kind" Floral Drop Cloth Banner

This Sizzix Design Team post contains affiliate links.  Thanks for supporting Pitter & Glink! Hey, y'all!  For me, the summer is officially over. (Insert sad face)  In my school district, teachers went back to work Tuesday, so I'm busy prepping for the brand new school year.  I met some of my students at open house, and they seemed like a great bunch of tenth graders, so I hope that we're going to have a great, productive year of learning together.  One thing I always like to do at the beginning of the new school year is make some new decorations for my classroom, so last week I whipped up an easy-to-make banner.  Today I'm sharing the tutorial with you in case you'd like to make one yourself.

I wanted my banner to be a reminder to my students to always be kind to one another because, y'all, sometimes tenth graders can be MEAN.  But with that being said, the really fun thing about the banner is that you can put any phrase on it you want and embellish it anyway you want to have a piece of decor that is uniquely you.  

Be Kind Embroidery Hoop Art

This post contains affiliate links.  Thanks for supporting Pitter & Glink! Hey, y'all!  I have a fun project to share with you today that can be made quickly and VERY easily!  I don't know about you, but I try to live a life of kindness.  Yes, I fail at this often, but it doesn't take that much extra effort to be kind to someone, and your being kind to someone can have a huge impact on the course of that person's day.  I decided to create a fun piece of embroidery hoop art to remind me (and anyone who sees the art) to be kind!

You would be surprised how quickly you can whip up a piece of embroidery hoop art like this, and you only need a few supplies.

Supplies:

• Sizzix BIGkick
• Sizzix Bigz Fresh Blossoms Alphabet Set
• Pair of Standard Size Cutting Pads
• Felt
• Embroidery Hoop
• Fabric (I used drop cloth from the hardware store.)
• Pom Pom Trim
• Fabric Glue and/or Hot Glue Gun & Glue Sticks
• Scissors

The first step to creating the art is to cut the felt letters.  That's so easy to do with the Sizzix BIGkick and Bigz dies.  Place a piece of felt cut to size on top of your Bigz die.  Sandwich that between a pair of Standard Size Cutting Pads and roll it through your Sizzix BIGkick.  

Repeat this as many times as necessary until you get all the letters needed for your phrase.

After you place your fabric inside your embroidery hoop and trim off the excess, glue the felt letters and pom pom trim to the fabric using fabric glue and/or hot glue to complete your art.

Add the completed hoop to a small grouping of art for a mini-gallery wall or hang it alone for a pop of color.  Make the art any size you'd like by using different size embroidery hoops or sew a banner to attach the felt letters to for a whole different look.  Whatever type of art you decide to create, you can do it quickly and easily, which is the beauty of this tutorial! As a member of the Sizzix Design Team, I receive some products free of charge in order to share tutorials and project inspiration with my followers.  My designs and opinions are all my own.

Easy-to-Make Watercolor Flower Photo Frame

Hey, y'all!  I'm popping in on this lovely Friday to let y'all know that I have a brand new post up on the Sizzix Blog, and it's probably my favorite project that I've created in a while!  It's a photo frame embellished with some beautiful water color flowers that couldn't have been easier to create.

You most definitely do not have to be an artist to create this piece.  Head over to the Sizzix Blog to see how to make your own. Enjoy your Friday!!!

Five Home Decor Trends from the Country Living Fair

Hey, y'all!  I'm back today with a fun inspiration post after a very busy week last week where I had zero time for blogging.  (It was the end of the nine weeks at school. #teacherprobs)  I was able to rest this weekend and have lots of fun when I visited my bloggy bestie Kirsten (Sweet Tea & Saving Grace), and we travelled to the Country Living Fair at Stone Mountain Park in Atlanta, GA.  We ate some really great food and looked at lots of pretties at the fair.  Today I want to share with y'all some home decor trends that I spotted at the Fair.

Wallpaper Week with Graham and Brown

As a brand ambassador for Graham & Brown, I received product in exchange for this post, but as always, all opinions are 100% mine. Hey, y'all!  Happy Wallpaper Week!  Did you know that's a thing?  I didn't until recently, but I'm celebrating with Graham and Brown this week and sharing some wallpaper that inspires me.

I have to say that when I first moved into my house, I quickly decided that I hated wallpaper.  Why?  Because there was hideous wallpaper in several rooms.  No, we're not talking beautiful designer wallpaper.  We're talking pots and pan wallpaper in the kitchen, blue ivy (not Beyonce's daughter) wallpaper in one of the bathrooms, and some type of weird grass wallpaper in the living room that had been painted green.  And not even a pretty green; it was a green like a sailor's face on his first day at sea. When I finally got rid of all that wallpaper, I swore that I'd never wallpaper a room in my house.  But that was before I discovered beautiful wallpaper.  Take this for example...

How Nature Inspires My Home Decor

As a brand ambassador for Graham & Brown, I received product in exchange for this post, but as usual, all opinions are 100% mine. Hey, y'all!  If you've followed the blog for a while, you know that I love to "dabble" in interior design.  I'm not an expert by any means, but I love making my home beautiful.  I like to create rooms where I can just sit, look around, and feel like the room is put together and looks nice.  That makes me happy!  One thing that I've noticed about my decor is that it is often inspired by nature.  I didn't set out to do this, but when I read the description of Graham & Brown's Horizon decor trend, I realized that much of my decor fit this description.

I have found that when decorating any room, I'm drawn to blues.  It's apparent in many of the rooms in my house, and blue is definitely a main color in Graham & Brown's Horizon Trend.

Creating a Fun & Eclectic TV Gallery Wall

As a brand ambassador for Graham & Brown, I received product to use in this post, but as usual, all opinions are mine. Hey, y'all!  Today's post was a long time coming.  At least two years ago, I decided to tackle making over my living room.  I was tired of spending so much time in a blah room just waiting on my next house where everything would, in my mind, be perfect.  So makeover the living room I did, but I've never shared the room here on the blog.  Blame it on my perfectionism or blame in on my tendency not to finish projects that frustrate me--whatever the reason, the room isn't 100% finished.  Don't get me wrong, it looks sooooo much better than it did before, but it's just not, well, perfect.  Luckily, I was asked to be a brand ambassador for Graham & Brown to highlight design trends for 2015, and that was just the push I needed to finish my TV gallery wall.  

Combining the work I had already done with a fun decor piece from Graham & Brown, I was able to put together an eclectic media gallery wall, and even though it's not perfect because I struggle with styling flat surfaces, it's finished.  And sometimes finished is better than the perfect that is never going to happen.  Am I right?

Of course, I just have to show you how the wall looked before so that you can truly appreciate how it looks now.  A couple of years ago, my media wall looked totally boring and somewhat weird.  The furniture was off scale and the wall decor was lacking to say the least.  But now...

How to Make a Plain Photo Mat Pop

Hey, y'all!  Raise your hand if you love pictures! *raises hand* I love to take pictures of family, friends, my fur-babies, and, well, pretty much everything.  I'm horrible about printing them out though.  And on the rare occasion when I do print pictures out, I want to make sure I have a very pretty way to display them.  No plain plastic-y frame with a plain white mat for me.  I want sparkles or color or texture or pattern.  Something that says, "Bethany."  When on a recent trip to Target, I found an adorable square frame in a beautiful minty color, but it had a plain white mat, and I knew I could do better than that.  So today, I'm showing you how to inexpensively create a patterned mat.  It's one of the easiest tutorials I've ever shared here, and if you can trace and use scissors, you can do this!

You only need a few supplies to make a plain mat pretty!

DIY Pastel Shadowbox Shelf

Thanks, Minted, for sponsoring today's post!
Hey, y'all!  I don't know about you, but I am thrilled that spring is a week away.  We have had some very nice spring-like weather in SC the past few days, and that has me even more excited about the change of seasons and, of course, spring break!!!  Today I have such a pretty project to share with you that just screams SPRING!  With the weather warming up, I was able to work with my dad and power tools to create a beautiful shadowbox shelf featuring a lovely gift wrap Minted sent me.

Are you familiar with Minted?  Minted is a leader it cute kids art and stationery, and they have many more beautiful products, including fabric and party decor.  I was recently contacted by the company about doing a post using their products.  I spent a few hours browsing the site.  (It's easy to do, y'all!)  I found the PRETTIEST wrapping paper, and it inspired my shadowbox shelf.  To use the paper though, I first had to create my shadowbox.  (Well, I could have bought a shadowbox, but what's the fun in that?!)

To create the shadowbox, my dad and I cut a 1x6 in half using our table saw.  We then cut two pieces at 11" and two at 14".  We arranged the pieces into a simple box shape and nailed them together.  I bought some door molding from my local hardware store to create the frame.  We used our miter saw to cut the molding at 45 degree angles and used nails to attach it to the wooden box.  We then cut a piece of thin plywood the size of the back of the box.

Above is what it looked like when we finished the building process.  (Note: the thin plywood backing is not attached yet.)  I used caulking to fill in the nail holes and any gaps at the corner of the molding and around the box.

Once the construction of the box was complete, it was time to work on making it pretty.  I got out my pretty gift wrap from Minted.  This paper is called the Simple Snapshot Wrapping Paper.  It comes in a set of five sheets, and it's perfect for adding a pop of pattern to something like my shadowbox.  And, yes, you can wrap gifts with it too!  ;)

I traced the thin plywood onto the back of the paper and cut it out.

I then got out my trusty Mod Podge and a sponge brush to adhere the paper to the plywood.

I brushed a coat of Mod Podge onto the plywood.

And carefully smoothed the paper onto the plywood.

Once it dried, I covered the paper with a coat of Mod Podge to protect it.  Then I started working on the shadowbox frame.

I got out a big paint brush and a pretty mint-colored chalky paint.

I brushed a couple of coats all over the shadowbox and frame--inside and out.

Once it dried, I used 220 grit sandpaper to rough up the edges a bit to help the detail in the molding pop.

I finished the shadowbox by covering it with a coat of wax.  (I followed the package directions for applying the wax.)

All that was left once the wax dried was attaching the plywood to the back of the shadowbox using a hammer and some small nails.  I must admit that since I'm a perfectionist I did end up painting the back of the plywood.  No, no one will ever see it, but it would have bothered me if I wouldn't have.  (I can't be the only one who is bothered by weird stuff like that!)

Y'all, the combination of the Simple Snapshot Wrapping Paper with the mint frame is just perfection!

I can put anything in the shadowbox shelf.  This gold ampersand looks great in it!

The gold color brings out the color in the leaves.

Flowers look really pretty in it too!  Do you see the gold bow around the flower arrangement I made? Minted sells ribbon too, and that's their Gold Glitter Ribbon.

And you know what else looks great with the shadowbox?  My brand new address book.  Yes, you guessed it: it's from Minted too!  This one is the Woodland Botanicals Address Book.  (You can get a planner or notebook in the same design.)  I just love the pretty flowers and the subtle wood grain on the cover.

Since my dad and I mainly used scraps (besides the molding) to create the shadowbox, it was really inexpensive to make.  And I love that I was able to take a plain wooden shadowbox and make it pretty with the help of Minted.  I have another style of gift wrap, and I can't wait to come up with a project for it! This post was sponsored by Minted.  While I received product to use in my post, all opinions are 100% mine.  To find out more about my disclosure policy, see the "Fine Print" tab at the top of the blog.
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DIY Watercolor Heart-Embellished Pillow

Hey, y'all!  It's no secret that I love to craft, and although I do all different types of crafts, sometimes I feel like I don't always stretch my creativity as much as I should.  Yes, there's a crafting comfort zone, and sometimes I get stuck inside my little zone.  Recently I had the chance to do a mystery box challenge--just the thing I needed to stretch my creativity a bit.  The idea behind the challenge is that a box of mysterious craft supplies was shipped to me, and when I received the box, I had to create something from the supplies.  From all the mystery and creativity stretching, my DIY Watercolor Heart-Embellished Pillow was born.

Now I know you're probably curious what was in my mystery box when it arrived, so here you go...

I received lots of goodies from iLoveToCreate.com: three stencils, a pillow cover, pink paracord, stencil spray adhesive, a roller, Fabric Fusion, and three types of Tulip soft matte fabric paint.  Luckily the rules of the challenge didn't require me to use every single item in the box in this one project.  If it would have, I would probably still be in the corner rocking back and forth freaking out because I couldn't figure out how to put everything together without having a hot mess of a project.  I mean, can you imagine a peace sign, "love," wing paracord painted pillow cover.  I shudder to think.  Anyway, I decided to focus on a few of the supplies and create a pillow cover with a watercolor effect that featured a big pink heart.

I started the project by utilizing the pillow cover.  I selected a bunch of Sharpies from my collection and some alcohol in a spray bottle to create a watercolor look on the pillow cover.  (I tried this technique previously with my Faux Watercolor Makeup Pouch.)

I scribbled over the white pillow cover with several Sharpies.  Notice that I scribbled horizontally.  That helps create a more realistic watercolor effect.  Once I had the pillow cover scribbled completely, I used my spray bottle to saturate the pillow cover with alcohol.  (I laid my pillow cover on waxed paper when completing this step to keep from staining anything.)  I then dried the pillow cover with my hair dryer and repeated the entire process because the colors weren't dark enough for my liking.  This time, though, I dripped alcohol over the cover, and I like the effect that created on the fabric.

Once I dried my pillow cover the last time, I printed a heart sized to fit the corner of my pillow cover.

I cut out the middle of the heart and taped it down onto the pillow cover.  I used the heart as a guide to glue the pink paracord down onto the cover using the Fabric Fusion.  I did two rows of the paracord.

Once the heart was adhered, I decided it needed to pop a little more.  I used Raspberry Tulip Soft Matte fabric paint and a paint brush to fill in the inside of the heart.  I then let the heart dry flat as instructed on the paint bottle directions.  Once the paint was dry, my brand new pillow cover was complete.  I stuffed it with a pillow insert and couldn't wait to snap some pictures of it.

I love how the pillow turned out!  It's a fun piece of Valentine's decor, but since it's not over-the-top Valentine's Day, it can technically be used year-round.

I love that you could create a pillow cover to match your personal style simply by using different color Sharpies and another embellishment in the corner.  Wouldn't a huge letter or number be cute in the corner instead of the heart? I have to say that I was a little intimidated when my mystery box arrived because I was worried that all my creativity would suddenly disappear and I would have no idea what to create.  As soon as I got over that initial intimidation, I had a lot of fun creating this project.  I guess stretching my creativity turned out pretty well.

Want to see what some of my friends made from their mystery boxes? 

 Check out Happy Hour Projects' Stenciled Gift Pouch, SevenAlive's Ombre Stenciled Bleeding Heart Pillow, It Happens In a Blink's Stenciled Love Pillow.

If you would like to win some supplies to create your own fun project, enter this giveaway for a chance to win your own Craft Stash, Udderly Smooth, and a $50 Starbucks gift card!

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Good luck! Related Post:

Stenciled Watercolor Makeup Pouch