Crafty project #2, 3, 4 &5

#2-Welcome post/decoration hanger/thingy you put outside your house

I got this sweet puppy at DI for $5.


I'll be honest, when I first saw it all dusty and cobwebbed up, tossed aside on the floor, my faith in my ability to make anything out of it waivered a teensy weensy bit. But my sister saw it's potential and made me carry that baby home. And I'm so glad she did because I LOVE how it turned out!

I first washed the whole thing down with warm water and soap. Then I lightly sanded the whole thing to smooth out the wood chipping in several places and to take off some of the paint from the 1990 stencil job on the front.

Next I spray painted the whole thing white


and the base the same red as my pots.


I got this little fence topper thing at Home Depot for $4. 50


And her transformation was complete! I would like to get a vinyl lettering that says 'Welcome' to go down the front, but for now I like this just fine.


I love that I can use this year round and decorate it with all the different holidays! This is obviously for the 4th of July (and if you live in UT you get to leave it up all month because we celebrate pioneer day on the 24th!)


#3-"America" decoration (the sign hanging from the post above)

So the sign you see above started out like this (bought for $1 at DI):


I first stripped everything off and then got a little spray paint happy :).


After doing my pot and post projects I wanted to spray paint anything I could get my hands on, I was hooked! I actually think the stars were ok the way they were, but I wanted to create a little bit of a fresher look. You can't really tell from the pic but the paint was pretty scratched up in places, and the white was more of a yellowish color now.

Then I took a white paint pen and made some dotted lines to outline the stars and banner above.


Then I picked up some big, metallic blue letters at Micheals (with a 40% off coupon) to spell AMERICA (I actually was going to keep the I heart America that was already on the banner, but after I had painted everything else, the yellowy color just wasn't doing it for me)


And hung everything together with the wires that were used to hold them in place on the wreath. Ta Da!


#4-July 4th Wreath

Since I had an extra wreath lying around I decided to throw together a quick, cheap 4th of July wreath. I saw this idea here first, so when I went into Michaels (to get the blue, metallic letters) I was delighted to see their 4th of July stuff on sale for 30% off.

What you need for this is about 9 feet of garland (give or take- depending on how big your wreath is), a wreath and a glue gun.

Then I just started by gluing the beginning of the string of garland onto the back of my wreath and then tightly wrapped it around the whole thing until it came back to where we started. Then glued the end of the string (I used all 9 feet) to the wreath and that was all!

*Garland-$3.50, wreath free from above project, glue/gun already had.

Ta-Da!


I finished this before the sign was done so I hung it up on the post for a few days.


Then moved it over to the door. For $3.50 I love, love, love my spunky wreath!


#5-The Flower Box
I don't know that I would call this a "project" per se, because it didn't take any work but it adds the perfect balance to the front of the house. My Grandparents brought up these awesome wood crates that my great-grandparents had before they passed away. I wasn't sure what exactly I was going to use them for, but Bobby thought that they would make perfect flower planters. I loved the idea and so we brought one out and filled it with beautiful flowers that I had left over from my pot project. We just left the flowers inside the plastic pots they come in so as to save time, dirt, money and make this as simple as possible and to not ruin the wood, but you can't tell what they're sitting in so it works perfect!


The printed stamp on the side gives it such character I think.


----Projects #1-5 combined----

So here's how everything looks all put together outside. Cause I know you're all just *dying* to see.

Up-close:


From the sidewalk:


Total Cost breakdown:
*For the wreath, post and sign:
-post...$5
-topper...$4.50
-white paint...$3.50
-wreath...$1
-garland...$3.50
-sign...$1.50 (the cost of the blue letters)
-red paint...free (from pot project)
Total: $19.00

*For the flower box:
-flowers...left over from pot project and gift from friend
-box...was a gift
Total: FREE!

*For the tiered planter
Large Pot...4.50 (sold as same price as med. pot b/c it had a crack)
medium pot...$4.50
small pot...$2
saucer...$3
spray paint (2 red, 1 yellow, clear gloss)...$14
flowers...honestly I don't remember but I want to say about $15-definitely the most expensive part!
Total: $43

Not the cheapest project but that's not why I did this one. I fell in LOVE with the tiered pot idea and really wanted to see if I could pull it off. Thanks to the encouragement of my mom and sisters I went for it! I also LOVE flowers-I occasionally buy them just for myself because they make me happy :)

I also love that my family is now apart of my house. My mom and sisters helped me pick out and decide which projects, colors, etc. to do, my BF Mindy gave me a pot of flowers to help me get started, my husband helped me plant the flowers and my kids help me water them. My grandparents, and even great-grandparents, have their representation here as well through the flower box, and when I look at my house that's what I see. That's what I remember. How much I love my family. All my family. Whenever I pull up to my house now I can't help but smile. Yay for family, flowers and pretty girly things!

Total cost breakdown: PRICELESS