So Why Not?

So, all of my Easter is packed away for another year and my spring decor is out and ready to go. Once that was done, I had a list a mile long of things I needed to tackle out in the yard. After being away for a week and then having a week of something every day, the yard is looking pretty neglected. And, of course, not having a drop of rain for so long hasn't helped. And so, that was my plan for today...until it wasn't!

As I was packing away the last of the Easter, I happened upon an old cutting board that I have had and used for quite some time. But, lately it has mostly been in the carpenter's box for show. And so, when I saw it I knew it was more the size that I needed to make the 4th of July board I posted yesterday. The other board I had was a bit too small. And so, once I had that in hand, I was off to craft thinking it would be a quick project and that I could get outside soon. Either I'm really moving slowly in my old age or it was more time consuming than I imagined. But, with that being said, I have really enjoyed my day and there's always tomorrow!

I gathered my stuff-or what I thought would be my stuff but, by the time I was finished I think I was into every box, cupboard and bin in this house! That statement may just say something about how much "stuff" I have and how many places in my house are used for storage for all of the "stuff"!

As I said, that cutting board was used often so it has lots of knife marks in it...which I liked until I didn't. It did make precise painting a bit difficult but, except for the really hard time with the stars, I was able to finesse the rest. I started by taping off the top section and painting it blue.

Using the painter's tape I was able to lay out 7 stripes. I pulled off every other one and painted the red sections.

Then I moved the tape back to cover the red stripes and painted the white ones. I will say that when I removed the tape, it did pull a bit of the red paint off but I knew I was going to be distressing this any way so I figured all was good. I did touch up a few spots.

While all of that was drying, I started to think about the "messy" bow that was on the inspiration photo. I was hoping that I had some of the same red and blue homespun that was used so I pulled down my HUGE box of fabric only to find that I had other colors but not what I needed. But, I did find a piece of 4th of July fabric I used for my grand daughter's holiday doll that I made about 25 years ago and some plain red and blue. I also had a lot of muslin. I actually toyed with the thought of somehow painting the muslin but gained my sanity back when I realized I could rip the 4th fabric into strips of stars and strips of stripes and get close to what I wanted. I knew I was going to antique the board so, of course, everything just read as too "white" So then it was on to a coffee bath for everything.

I then strung those strips all over the sunroom to dry while I went on to painting the stars. Oy! That proved to be a challenge because of those gouges in the wood. I sure wish I still had the small star stamp that I used to have when I taught and handed out stars on the kids' papers. But, after pulling out all of my old stamping stuff, I couldn't find it anywhere so it was on to plan B. I thought I could control a white paint pen better than a brush so I practiced on paper and I was good to go...until I got to the wood. I could not get a straight edge and the stars just got bigger and bigger trying to. Some of them look like starfish to me but they are what they are.

 Then I was on to the antiquing. I used my favorite Waverly wax and then hit the edges of the board with a black ink pad and put just a bit of gold for texture.

Of course, at this point my entire house looked like a tornado had struck and I kind of forgot to take any more pictures until I was done.

I made a messy bow with the fabric strips when they were dry and added a few strands of raffia. I didn't like the middle of the bow where I had tied it together so I glued on a few buttons. And then I ripped a piece of cardboard, painted it, antiqued it, hit the edges with ink and made a tag. I also cut a small piece of burlap ribbon, stamped on USA and used spray glue to attach it to the board. Then just a simple wrap with jute tied into a bow and I was done. Whew! I truly did not begin to think of how many supplies were going to be needed before this cutie was done. I will say that I am happy with it and even happier that I found a way to get it done without buying anything new. I even used some of my old scrapbooking supplies that I still have in abundance because if one is good than two are even better...and so on! Lol

So, that was my day...literally! It is now getting close to thinking about what I will have for dinner and I still have much to put away so I am off to do so! Maybe tomorrow I'll get to the yard-or, maybe not! Lol Stay safe and stay tuned.