Pinewood Derby Award and a tutorial

I volunteer in our church Cub Scout Program.  For our Pinewood Derby I volunteered to make the prizes for the boys.  Our committee chair has seen this on Pinterest and we thought it would be great to make for our boys.  I looked for a tutorial after I made it and found one similar but I thought since I document things anyway that I would try and make a mini tutorial for how to make it.

 

Here is one side.

 

 

 

All twelve together with the  1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners in the front.

 

What you will need:

 

• 2x4
• Cars (I bought mine 3 for $1 at Dollar Tree.)
• Spray paint - Blue and Gold
• E6000 or a super strong glue
• Vinyl - I used white and gold

HOW TO:

Cut 2x4 at an angle.  My first idea was to just cut a piece about 3 1/2 inches and then cut it in 1/2 on the diagonal, of course when you let the engineer/woodworker do it, he has his own idea and thinks that that would be to small.  So he cut the diagonal the same, but added about 2 inches to the bottom.  So if you look at it on the side.  It is 5 1/2 inches to the top of the piece of wood and where the slope comes down it is 2 inches.  Does that make any sense?  Just wing it, it will look okay how ever you do it.

 

Next you need to paint the pieces.  We had a nice warm day and so I got to spraying the blocks.

 



 

I used this paint (leftover from my Race car Birthday Party.) It was shiny and perfect for the job.

 

 

Then I painted the cars with Gold Metallic spray paint.

 

It took a couple extra sprays to get all of the nooks and crannies of the cars, so the color wouldn't shine through.

 Here is the paint I used for this part.

Then the gluing began.  You could use any super strong glue.  I used something like E6000.  We had to adapt the cars a little bit by adding a very thin piece of wood underneath and between the wheels so the car would stick.  I didn't get a picture of that part.  We just painted the wood so you wouldn't be able to see it.

 

Next I got out my Silhouette and cut the vinyl for the sides.  I used the font Tan Patty, it looked a lot like the font used on the Official Site from the Boy Scouts of America for Pinewood Derby.

One side had the pack number on it.

 

The other side had Pinewood Derby and the year on it.

We decided to have a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winner and so I tried for the first time to layer fonts.  It isn't all that hard when you have something small like this.  But I am sure it would take a little bit more work to do something larger.  Here is a link to the video I used to help me figure out how to LAYER.

Turned out pretty good for my first try.  I am also adding a link to my Pinterest board for my Silhouette helps.  I find sometimes if I have only done something once I can't remember how to do it the next time and so I use Pinterest as my brain.  Hope you enjoy.

More Vinyl and wood

I know it seems like this is the only thing I am doing lately.  But I have another project that I have finished that I want to show you.  Just need to see if I can get a better picture of it.  Liberty wanted to make one of these "keep calm" signs and I like them but don't really love them.  One day I saw someone do one with Trust God and I was hooked.  So I made this one.  It isn't the best picture of it.  The background is a nice gray and the words are a light yellow color.  I really like it a whole lot.  It fits on my wall with my other signs that remind me of what is really important.

A little vinyl, some paint and wood

I noticed I hadn't posted some things that were made a little while ago, but then I realized we hadn't had much sun lately and I hate taking pictures when I know they aren't getting natural light.  (I am not an expert photographer but I know some times I can make my pictures look better by using natural light.)

So I have been playing around with my vinyl and my new cricut machine.  Liberty and I got together a couple of weeks ago and made these cute signs.  There are reversible  - since that makes it easier for storage.  We made these two.

 And then these two:

( I love the flower and the bling on this spring one.)

Then after a sucessful craft group and making snowmen, I was left with a bunch of smaller sized blocks.  So I decided to use up some of my vinyl and the blocks and to make a couple of words to put up around the house.  I thought I would make it a family affair and the kids and I spent an afternoon making these.

Mine

Kirsten's

Peter's 

(I showed him conversation hearts online and this is what words he wanted.  I also let him decide what colors to make it.)

I think they turned out pretty cute.  Now I have a million ideas running through my head.  Hopefully I will be able to do a couple of them.  I have wood waiting in the garage that I need Dave to teach me how to use his table saw, so I can cut it and other things in the future.  I might even have him teach me how to use the router.  (I'm not afraid of power tools and I like to use them. Except the bandsaw - it isn't my favorite.)

Wood Snowmen family

Here is our next project for the Woodridge Craft and Sewing group:

(I know that I am missing arms, I didn't realize it until began to post these.  I will try and take pictures tomorrow with the "twig" arms.)

These are a great winter transition from Christmas to Valentine's holidays.  I never know what to decorate with in January - seems too soon for Valentine's and I want the Christmas decor gone around New Years.  We found this idea from Today's Fabulous Finds .  She made them a little different but the 3 blocks on top of each other is the same.

Our next Craft Group will be on Wednesday, January 18th at 9 am at the Woodridge Church Building. 

We plan on bringing:

• Wood blocks
• Small piece of wood for hat
• Paint (both Black, Orange and White)
• Bamboo Skewers (to hold them upright)
• Hot Glue
• Sandpaper
• Sanders
• Paintbrushes
• Mod Podge
• Blush/chalk for cheeks

What you will need to bring:

• Anything you want to decorate them with -
• Buttons, Ribbons, Flowers, yarn, jute, fabric, scrapbook paper (click this LINK for other ideas)

Cost:

• $3 for a 3 block tall snowman.  If you would like a small one  (2 blocks) like the hot pink one above then those will only be $2
• We are setting a limit on the number you can make (otherwise Amy will be cutting and sanding for days.)  No more then 5 complete snowman please.

Please respond by comment on this post or by email.  Please indicate the number of snowmen you want.  (I will assume 3 block snowman unless you let me know.)

Last day to order is Saturday, January 14th.

Now I just wanted to show you how cute my kids are.  While I was making these snowmen, I let them create their own snowman.  They both thought it was pretty cool.  We only got a little paint on our clothes (even with aprons.)  But here are their masterpieces.

Peter's

Kirsten's

Family Wood blocks

So I have had these blocks for a long time.  If I had realized I didn't have a before picture then I would have taken one of them.  But think "toll" painting.  Mainly each letter a different color in a blue, brown, burgundy pattern (ABC for those with primary grade kids) and splattered with black and white paint.  Really cute but they didn't match my decor and I was "tired" of the look.  Then while I was in Utah over the summer I saw that my sister-in-law had painted hers all black.  It looked awesome and matched her frames so great.  I decided that I was going to do that when I got home. 

Well almost 5 months after we got home and I finally got around to it.  I decided after making my Be Thankful sign last month that I LOVED the pattern and coloring of the paper.  I ran back to Micheals and bought more so I could mod podge the paper on my family blocks.  I sanded the old paint off and painted the sides black.  Mod podged the paper on and then did a little smudge on the sides of the letters to make it look a little messy.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE how they turned out.  It only took me a little bit of time and it looks awesome.  It is even better that I didn't have to touch the heart.  It matched perfectly and give it a nice look.  It also matches my frames - they are black and burgundy.

Sorry about the glare on the pictures, I tried not to but the reflection just happened in all my pictures.  Plus it was finally a nice day with sunshine since this room doesn't get much "good" light for taking pictures.

Reversible Fall Wood signs

Here are some samples of from our latest craft group.  After everyone was done, Liberty and I finished up ours.  I think they are pretty cute.  I have a window in my kitchen that opens to the family room below and so instead of making mine reversible with Halloween on one side and thanksgiving on the other, I just did one for each holiday.  They are so cool.  My favorite I think is the be thankful and I have decided that I might use the paper on the Family Letters I have on my mantel.

We had a great time with everyone and they all turned out so cute. I love working on projects together so we can all get ideas from each other. Thanks ladies for making it so much fun.

Easter dresses

I don't know if people are still even looking at this blog, but we are still around.  We just have been overly busy or just too crazy in our life to actually publish things on the web.  I had been working on Easter dresses for the girls.  I used a pattern for the top and the sleeves and then adapted as I went.  It took me longer because I was making it up as I went along.  Esther has a different dress that I was copying the ruffle of the skirt with.  I found the lace that I had bought at a garage sale and found that I could use it on the dresses.  It was an adventure to say the least.  Here are the pictures I took of the two of them. 

 

Hope you had a Happy Easter.  Here is a project that I finished a couple of days before Easter.  Liberty found these letters after last Easter on clearance for $2 or 3.  I bought the paper at JoAnn's.  The sparkly kind is hard to put on the wood because it is very stiff.   I decorated it with odds and ends around the house.

 

Are you Lucky?

I don't really decorate for St. Patricks....we usually go straight from Valentines to Spring and Easter....but Easter is still a long ways away so I thought I would make some LUCKY blocks for St. Patricks Day.

and then I found this cute Subway Art at eighteen25 and put it in my frame....all done.

Now i can say I "changed" my decorations!

Valentine's Day fun

Happy Valentine's day! I saw this idea on the Becky Higgins Blog awhile back and decided I wanted to do it.  Especially since I have a baby with cute feet.    I had to use my Picasa program to put it together instead of Photoshop since my computer is on the fritz.  The paper in the background is from Persnickity Prints called vintage love.  It turned out sooo cute.  Here is another way I put it together.

 Pretty fun to play with.  I like it.

Here are a couple of Valentine's ideas that I have wanted to do with Liberty, but between the two of us we have been sick for over a month (different things and times that overlap.)  So we  (my kids and I) worked on these today.  I think they turned out pretty cute.

This wood block idea was on Under my Umbrella, it was pretty easy and we wanted to try it out.  Easy and Fun.  Kirsten was pretty impressed.

This idea started with this post from Brown Paper Packages but I took it to a different level.  I really love conversation hearts.  And so this was the perfect blend of the project I saw and the idea in my head.  I wanted mine to look like true conversation hearts.  Now I wish I had made these earlier this month, but oh well.  Life is just like that some days.  I found the paper at JoAnn's it is a solid color with glitter on it.

Baby, Binkies and Blocks

Okay now isn't she cute?  She is modelling a valentine's day binkie clip that I can now cross off my TO DO list.  I didn't just make one.  You know they get dirty and also you can never have enough binkie's around.  So I made 4.


Two have the same pattern on one side but a different matching pattern on the other.  I found the tutorial at Sew, Mama, Sew!  My only change was I used a snap instead of the Velcro.  I think it will stay together better, especially since Esther loves to pull it out occasionally.



I also test ran a pattern for baby blocks.  I had some left over material that seemed perfect for baby blocks.  Full of texture and different colors.  Don't know if she likes them yet - the jury is still out.  (Although Kirsten and Peter can be found playing with them.)  There is a pretty good tutorial on Flickr by London mommy.  I didn't really change anything on this except I made one with 4 inch squares and one with 5 inch.  I'm not sure if it is my stuffing job or just the stuffing that makes them so round looking.  I know that the black fabric is a bit stretchy.  Oh, well my kids will play with them and probably never notice.