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Monday, June 27, 2016

DIY Maple Leaf Wood Art (Happy Canada Day!)


I love decorating for the 4th of July! This year I wanted to add a little something to recognize Canada Day and my husband's Canadian roots. Inspired by some star wooden cut outs, I decided to make a maple leaf cut out instead.

I used 4 1x4s and cut them to 14" to make a square.


I used my silhouette machine to cut out a maple leaf. Since my machine would only cut out 9" wide, I could only cut out half of my design.

I traced the first half, then I flipped it over and finished tracing.


Since the design was kind of intricate, I cut each board separately with my jigsaw instead of attaching the boards together first and cutting continuously.

After sanding all the pieces, I flipped it over

and nailed some thin scraps to hold it together.

Then I used 1x2 on their sides to create a frame.

I nailed them in with my nail gun and then filled the holes with stainable wood filler.

To stain it, I put a plastic bag on my hand and then used an old sock to rub the stain on.

I followed up with a clear polyacrylic.

I attached it to the house using vinyl siding hooks (affiliate link) similar to how I hung up my DIY shutters.

Now I have a little bit of Canada mixed in with my American decor.


Linking to: Remodelaholic Friday Favorites Party, Merry Monday Link Party, Show and Share 319, Inspire Me Monday 118, The Scoop 229, Inspire Me Tuesday 322,You're Gonna Love It Link Party, Tips and Tutorials 265, Peace Love Link up 13, DIY Dreamer Share 224, Wake Up Wednesday 127, Wow Us Wednesday 280,

Friday, June 24, 2016

DIY Shutters on Vinyl Siding


There's one little window on our house without shutters on it. It always seemed a little bare to me.


There isn't a lot of room on either side of the window. I used some scrap/repurposed 1x4s for the long pieces and 1x3s for the short pieces to go on the top and bottom. I used paint sticks to separate the two pieces on each side.


After I gave each piece a good sanding, I decided to prime and paint everything before screwing it together, so the painting process would go a lot faster and I could better control drips in between the two boards.


Once I screwed the top and bottom pieces on, I did some paint touch up over the top of the screws.


I decided to attach them temporarily with hooks, so I could make sure I liked how they looked before doing any drilling into the vinyl. I got these hooks vinyl siding hooks (affiliate link) on Amazon.

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They are actually really strong and don't come off without some finagling. The bottom of the hook juts forward a bit, so I smashed it with my hand to make it more flat with the wall.
 

I measured how far down the hook was and added some wire wrapped around some little screws on the back.


Then I just slid the wire on the hook. I'm not sure how long they'll hold up in the wind without some more permanent attachment, but for now, they feel really secure. 


It's a small difference, but I love the result. Next, I think this window needs a window planter to go with the new shutters.


Linking to: Link Party Palooza, Merry Monday Link Party 110, Show and Share 319, Inspire Me Monday 118, The Scoop 229, Inspire Me Tuesday 322,You're Gonna Love It Link Party,Tips and Tutorials 265, Peace Love Link up 13, DIY Dreamer Share 224, Wake Up Wednesday 127, Wow Us Wednesday 280,