Monogram Letter Tutorial

I recently participated in a craft swap. I wanted something that was cute and personal to be part of the gift. I resorted to something that I make a lot. It's a monogrammed letter!

You will need:

A scroll saw

A piece of thin wood

Paint

Ribbon

A drill

Sandpaper

First you'll need to print out some sort of a letter. I looked on google images and couldn't find anything that I liked. I just went into Microsoft Word and typed in a B and made it as big as possible and then printed it out.

              
Next cut it out using an exacto knife or scissors. It doesn't have to be perfect.

                   Find some sort of thin wood that the scroll saw can handle that is big enough for the letter. I used some old shelf pieces that I was going to throw out.

Pick which side you want the top to be. I picked the more porus side which I thought wouldn't require as many coats of paint. Trace your letter onto it.

Using the scroll saw cut out the outline of it. If you're doing a letter that has inside parts to it, wait. If it's a simple letter like H, T, or I then you can just do it all now.

For letters that have inside parts: Using a drill or drill press, make a hole in each inside area.

Thread the drill bit through the hole and then work your way to the outside edge and cut out the area.

My saw kept jumping so I ended up with some jagged edges that I was too lazy to fix. Sand all the edges.

Drill holes to hang it up if you'd like. Don't wait until after you paint it like I did!

I decided to paint my letter white since I'm giving it as a gift. This way the recipient can paint it whatever color they choose.

The dark back required around 3 coats of paint.

Thread some ribbon through the holes...

And hang it up!

Give a Girl a Hammer and...

Just kidding. Someone didn't give me a hammer...

I got it myself! Last night one of our eating chickens got ate himself. An animal beat us to it. But they also left a HUGE hole which had to be patched up before the remaining 4 were killed.

Since my dad is away on a fishing trip, it was up to my sister and I to fix the hole.
Well the wire was completely torn and I wasn't in the mood to find some more wire and a nail gun, I had to find a better solution. I enlisted a helper to get the job done.

 Well actually she enlisted her self. The hammering would have gone SO much quicker if she hadn't helped.... and she is reading this over my shoulder.

 Anyway, we put a bunch of nails facing out in a board I found in the garage. Hopefully we don't need it anymore.

Then I climbed into the cage with the beasts and had my sister hold the board while I put a few nails into it.

 We put the nail side out. This way if the animal tries to come back... well he may get a bit of a poke. Or hopefully a lot of a poke.

I also managed to hit my thumb with the hammer. And that's why I prefer screw drivers.

This fix was messy but did the job. Hopefully it keeps the chickens safe until Monday when we tote them off to the butcher. Um what? The baby turkeys will be in here next as soon as they're fully grown!

5 Minute Ribbon Holder

The other day I was cleaning my craft room and realized just how much ribbon I had. I finally had enough to make some sort of a ribbon holder. Gasp. Every crafter's dream. Not really but it's been on my "to do" list for a while. So I finally set to it. 

I found a dowel at the hardware store for around 60 cents. I had my dad cut it into 2 pieces on his big fancy saw. 

Then I drilled two holes using a drill press on a block of wood and sanded the dowels and the block.

 I added a little bit of wood glue to the holes, and stuck the dowels in. A few coats of paint and about 10 minutes for drying time I was done. The longest part was painting it which I didn't necessarily have to do so that's why the title is only "5 minute" instead of 10.

My OCD kicks in when I notice that the two ends aren't even. I think that happened when the dowel was cut in half. Oh well. They do say measure twice, cut once for a reason!

 Here it is in it's new home!