build it Archives - U Create

DIY Address Planter

Kari Sweeten — Wed, 03 May 2017 17:26:28 +0000

I found this little pallet fence and saw some wooden numbers and this li’l DIY Address Planter idea came into my head. I needed something to freshen up my front porch and I’m so excited with how it turned out!

SUPPLIES:

pallet fence or thin pallet (found mine at Michaels in the wood area)
numbers (you could use wood or metal)
small box
paint (or stain would look great, too!)
brushes
wood glue (staple or nail gun if you want a more secure hold for the box)
ruler

DIRECTIONS:

Paint your fence and your letters. I did two coats to get it nice and covered.

Let dry completely.

Next, grab your ruler and align those numbers before glueing them on!

Glue on the letters and the box with wood glue.

I ended up putting a couple of screws in the back of the box to make sure it was really secure.

When the planter is completely dry you can plant!

I chose to plant succulents because I love the look of them and they are hard to kill, but the fun part is you can plant whatever you’d like!

Hang and display!

I used these metal hooks…

…and secured them with my glue gun!

I love the result!

Make sure to check out these fun floral projects…

Summer Floral Decor

Floral Jars and Succulent Plants

POST BY: Kari Sweeten

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DIY Wooden Block Frame Tutorial

Kari Sweeten — Sun, 09 Oct 2016 20:34:52 +0000

This simple craft project is the perfect gift for that somebody who “has it all” and makes a beautiful addition to any home decor! Let’s get started with these supplies:

SUPPLIES:

favorite photo
wooden block the size of your photo (4×6 size used in this tutorial)
foam brush
wooden candle stick holders and wooden decorative tops
acrylic or spray paint in your favorite color
wood glue

DIRECTIONS:

Paint all sides and the back of your wooden block and wooden embellishments. Let completely dry.
Glue on wooden embellishments with wood glue. Let completely dry.
Adhere your photo on with mod podge. Sand the edges for a rustic look!
End with tying a bow with ribbon or lace!

GIFT IDEAS:

give to a newlywed couple using the wedding photo on the front and invitation on the back.
teens can easily make these and display them in their rooms or give to a friend
Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, baby announcement keepsake, you name it!

POST BY: Kari Sweeten

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DIY Family Motto

Kari Sweeten — Mon, 01 Feb 2016 17:00:00 +0000

This month’s challenge is all about “Personalization”! If you haven’t seen Michaels new Alphabet Soup by Make Market line head there and see the many different sizes, colors, and styles of letters. Just think of all the amazing things you can create!

When I was given the challenge to personalize something I tried to think of something that is special for our family. I wanted a saying or phrase that we always use so I could display it as home decor to remind us. One of the most-used sayings in our home (and one of our family mottos) is “Work Hard Play Hard”.

We try to instill a work ethic in our children, but we always want to remember to play and have fun, too!

DIY FAMILY MOTTO

I found 3″ metal letters, sat on the floor of Michaels (yes I got crazy looks!), and spelled out our family motto. So luckily they has all the letters I needed!

SUPPLIES USED:

12×24 piece of plywood
metal letters
wooden heart embellishment
CraftSmart chalkboard paint (color aqua)
glue/glue gun
sanding paper

DIRECTIONS:

Paint plywood desired color. Let completely dry.
Lay out all of your letters and find out just how you want them to be glued.
Glue on letters (I used a glue gun, but you could use metal or wood glue, too)
Add any embellishments.

Display in your home!

An InLinkz Link-up

POST BY:

This post is sponsored by Michaels. All opinions and projects are by U Create.

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Cabinet Door into Art Desk Tutorial

Kari Sweeten — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 18:01:00 +0000

Hi friends! I can’t tell you how excited I am to be a creative guest on Ucreate today! I’ve been bubbling with excitement for weeks and have been scheming over what project would be Ucreate-worthy. I hope this one fits the bill…!

First of all, I’m Autie and my friend Jen and I blog over at iCandy handmade.

I’m a busy mom of 2 cute little kids and during nap time and bed time, I love to work on projects! I like to make things for my kids and for my home, and share them with you on our growing blog. I hope you’ll hop on over to iCandy and see all the fun things that we’ve been up to, and hopefully you’ll be inspired to do some of the projects yourself! After all, if we can do them, so can you!

The project that I thought I’d share with you today started out with these. My Father-in-law owns a restoration company in Phoenix and often times has cupboard door styles or carpet squares that have been discontinued, and he no longer uses. My original plans for these sort of vanished, but since I had them in my garage, I was determined to find something unique to do with them.

The drawer does not open, but the cupboard door does…and it leaves about an inch of space to keep something in it…like art masterpieces of a few sheets of homework paper…hmmmm

I bounced some ideas off of Jen, and this is what I came up with…I give you the

Cupboard Door into Art Desk Tutorial

I made one for each of my littles, and so far, they’re totally diggin’ it!

If you want to know what I did, here’s a quick run-down on what I did:

First things first, I had to sand the suckers down to give the paint something to stick to.

I wanted to use the drawer as a supply holder. I bounced back and forth between routing out a groove in it to hold several pencils, or drilling a few large holes to hold cups of different supplies like crayons and markers. The fact that I don’t have a router was the only reason I was leaning in the other directions, but the promise of homemade donuts convinced my neighbor to help me with this part.

We used a plain router to dig out the middle and then an edger to work on the sides. My neighbor is awesome!

Next I spray-painted each piece…

{I used Rustoleum’s 2x Spray paint, Aqua in Satin for the turquoise one, and Eden in Satin for the green one.}

…including the legs which I got at Home Depot for a little less than $3 each

they came with a little screw in the end, which I thought was perfect…as I’d just drill a little hole in each corner, and glue them in with liquid nails.

So, I used a 3/8″ drill bit and drilled a hole 1 1/2 inches in from each side about the depth of the screw (umm…is that a bolt, sorry for my lack of tool knowledge! screw it is!)

I filled up the hole with liquid nails plus a little dairy queen dollop on top, stuck the screw in the hole and twisted it all the way down to the liquid nails squeezed out the side. I just smoothed out the excess glue with my finger and turned it upside down with a weight on top to let it set over-night. The Liquid Nails is completely paintable, so after it set, I re-sprayed the cupboard and the legs, and then covered it with a couple layers of clear top-coat.

I screwed the cupboard door back into place after the glue had completely set:

Here we are so far:

I cut a piece of scrapbook paper to fit the inner panel of the door and mod-podged it in place.

While that was drying, I used my Gypsy and Cricut to cut some black vinyl to spell out the word (imagine)

I used ‘doodletype’ font…which seems to be my fav lately.

After applying the vinyl, I re-coated just the top of the cupboard door with a light layer of top coat to protect the vinyl and the paper from little picky fingers.

…and this is what we’ve got:

My kids have been begging to use their ‘desks’ through the whole process, and I think it’ll be so fun to have a little art center for them to use with our little projects. I can just imagine my little girl feeling so grown-up at her own little desk! I love that the cupboard door can close and hold about an inch-worth of stuff…extra papers, or old projects or papers. Or a place to store homework until it’s done. I might still attach a little clip on the inside top of the cupboard door to stick a finished project for it to dry, or whatever, but we’ll see.

I hope this little project has inspired you to something similar! Whether you have cupboard door and drawer face like I did or not, you could use any old sheet of wood and put those little legs on for super cheap to make it your own.

Come see us at iCandy!

-Autie

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DIY Party Backdrop

Kari Sweeten — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 13:01:00 +0000

In recent years the dessert/serving table has become the focal point of parties. It can be so much more visually stunning when placed in front of an eye-catching backdrop. Some of the backdrops used in the professionally designed tables look a bit intimidating to those of us throwing our own parties with a small budget. You might think that the only way to achieve that kind of look is to spend big money, but you would be wrong. Today, I’m sharing my simple secrets about how we created cool backdrops for parties like my son’s Robot Design Academy Party and the Brooklyn Baby shower for very little money! I have to thank my husband (I call him BSB), for figuring out the construction side of it! We put together a basic backdrop frame that we have used for several parties. At the end of each party we take it apart, so it takes very little space to store.

If you’d like to make your own backdrop frame, you’ll need some basic tools and four 1″x2″s–available at most any home improvement store. You can use the least expensive wood they sell. It won’t be seen anyway. These are pine and cost about $1.50/each.

You may need to saw them to the desired length. We have a standard folding table we often use for parties that is 6 feet wide, so we cut two of the pieces of wood to 6 ft length (these are the cross pieces). The others (the uprights) are a bit taller, so that the backdrop could be plenty tall.

Layout the wood in the pattern you see in this picture. Attach the cross-pieces on top the uprights, so that they will be away from the wall when you put up your backdrop. We put the bottom cross-piece slightly higher than the height of the table.

You can use your hardware of choice to attach the corners–finishing nails, small screws, etc.

The frame will be a bit wobbly, so you’ll likely need two people to move it around or put it in place around. It doesn’t need to be any sturdier if you are going to put it against a wall. The table can act as a brace–holding the frame flat against the wall. So what do we use for the fun part of the backdrop? I’ve had great luck with bed sheets. You could also use tablecloths or big rolls of butcher paper. Maybe even wrapping paper if you were careful to line it up well. I inherited the orange sheet seen here from my sister, so it didn’t cost any money to use. It was the perfect punch of color for the robot party. If you want them to look nice, you might want to iron the sheet first. Or you can be like me, and skip that step.

I attach the sheet to the frame with thumbtacks. Pine is fairly soft wood, so this isn’t too difficult. You can use a small hammer to get the tacks all the way in, if needed. You might also use a staple gun. I tucked the extra fabric back behind the frame, and used as many tacks as needed to make the sheet taut against the frame.

For my high-tech robot party backdrop, I used double-sided adhesive to attach old cds to ribbon, and then tacked the ribbon to the top of the frame, as well, at the appropriate height.

For the Brooklyn backdrop, I bought the least expensive white sheet I could find from IKEA (it may have been too cheap, because it started to get some tears). I think it cost less than $2.

I taped the sheet to the wall (I had it backed with something so the sharpie wouldn’t leak on the wall). We had borrowed a computer projector, so I just projected a photo of the Brooklyn bridge onto the sheet, and used a brown Sharpie marker to trace the outline of the bridge and buildings. Deciding to go for an artsy line-drawing feel, freed me up to not have to make it too perfect. If you look up-close it is far from perfect, but it worked really well as a back drop for our New-York-themed shower.

(photo courtesy of Becky)

We even modified this same basic frame to make this free-standing ice cream stand. But I haven’t blogged about it yet, so you’ll have just have to check back on my blog if you want the details about this sweet party, and how we made the stand stand, with out being against the wall.

A big “thank you” to U Create, for letting me share a little of My Insanity with you today! I’d love for you to come and visit me and let me know about any crazy party backdrops you’ve created!

POST BY:

Kendra from My Insanity

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Round-up: 16 Pallet Clock Tutorials

Kari Sweeten — Sun, 28 Sep 2014 05:53:00 +0000

I have a bit of an obsession with pallet/old wood projects. Making this large pallet name board for my son was so much fun and super easy. I loved working with the wood and watching a beautiful creation come of old ugly wood.
While looking at all the things I could make with pallets, I was surprised at how many adorable clocks I found. Check out all these amazing pallet wood clocks…there is a tutorial for each one.
Square color-block clock tutorial at PALLET FURNITURE DIY.

DIY round wood and metal clock at DESIGNED DECOR.

Rustic round pallet clock from THISTLEWOOD FARMS.

PB inspired wall clock tutorial at ME AND MY DIY.

Pallet wood painted clock tutorial from DUSTY MCRAE.
DIY Clock decor from reclaimed wood from LIZ MARIE BLOG.
Simple round pallet clock tutorial at PRODIGAL PIECES.
Paris Clock from reclaimed wood at 4 THE LOVE OF WOOD.

Old pallet board clock instructions at SELF TAUGHT ARTIST.

Large stencil pallet clock from FLAMINGO TOES.

Clock Knock-Off with pallet at CAMELOT ART CREATIONS.

$12 Pallet Clock tutorial from LITTLE BIT OF PAINT.

Chevron Pallet Clock video tutorial at KANSAS CITY LIVE.
Awesome Turquoise Wall Clock from FORT LEDBETTER.
Rustic wooden clock at CHERISHED BLISS.
Pallet clock makeover from SUGAR BEE CRAFTS.

Do you have a favorite pallet/old-wood tutorial? I would love to see it. Share it in the comments, please.

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Growth Chart Tutorial

Kari Sweeten — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 20:49:00 +0000

Yesterday was Becky’s birthday and I knew I wanted to get her something handmade this year.

So…I went to her Pinterest boards (by the way here’s a TIP: going to somebody’s Pinterest boards is a great way to see exactly what they want), and knew I wanted to make her a growth chart.

SUPPLIES:

6 1/2 Ft Tall Wooden Board
Stain or Paint
Vinyl

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Stain or paint your board. I stained Becky’s using Minwax Wood Finish in color Jacobean.
2. Let dry completely.

3. Grab your ruler to measure where you want the lines to go on your growth chart.

4. Add vinyl numbers and lines….and you have a great gift!

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Tufted Headboard Tutorial

Kari Sweeten — Fri, 20 Sep 2013 22:19:00 +0000

Many of you emailed me and asked where the tufted headboard tutorial was and I’m sorry for the delay but here it is!! You might remember that I participated in an HGTV HOME fabric challenge and remodeled my bedroom last month, well my new headboard was my very favorite project in this challenge.

I can’t take full credit for this project because my husband is amazing with his shop tools and did the building part. I asked him to take pics of the process and tell us about it. Here we go…

We started with a large piece of plywood and cut it to 48” x 68” to fit our queen bed. I wanted a very tall headboard so that’s why it will seem so long.

Next we took wood pieces that are 4”x1” and cut the following:

Two 69” pieces
Two 6 Ft pieces

Then we cut a peace of foam – we actually used a eggshell foam pad from Walmart and flipped it over.

Cut to size 62” x 42”…

Draw your grid onto the foam. We did ours 10” apart but depending on the texture and poofy-ness you want you can do them closer or farther apart.

Then you are going to lay your fabric out (we used size 70” x50” so we would have plenty of room for tufting)…

Next you’ll follow these 4 steps. Now, you don’t have to do your tufting using this technique, I know some people will use a staple gun and glue to covered buttons on, but my husband is a perfectionist (which I love!) and wanted something that would last for years! Here’s how Michael did this…

1. Cut a piece of wire about 6 inches and threaded the covered button.

2. Poke the wire through the fabric.

3. Poke the wire through the wood (he pre-drilled holes)

4. Tighten and twist and you have your first tuft. Repeat steps 1-4 until you have desired look.

It will start to look like this…

Next we tightened the fabric to the edges and stapled with our staple gun. Cut off excess fabric about 1-4” away from staples.

Next we painted the long wooden pieces and used our nail gun to frame it in! We also painted it with Annie Sloan chalk paint in color Old White and finished it off with the soft wax in the same brand.

We are so happy with the finished headboard!! It makes our room look larger with the 6 foot high headboard and we no longer have a bare wall!

To see the rest of our room remodel with HGTV Home fabrics you’ll want to check out the following posts…

Master Bedroom Reveal

Reversible Throw Pillow Tutorial

European Pillow Sham Tutorial

Pintucked Throw Pillow Tutorial

How to Use Chalk Paint

How to Create a Duvet Cover

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DIY Pallet Framed Mirror

Kari Sweeten — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 18:11:00 +0000

So you see the DIY Pallet Shelf I created using an old pallet?

Well, next up my bathroom remodel?…a pallet-framed mirror!

Now I can’t show you my whole bathroom reveal quite yet – that is coming later, but check out the difference between the before and after pictures of the mirror…

I used this tutorial by Sweet Pickins!

I can’t even believe this is the same bathroom!

Post by…

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DIY Pallet Shelf

Kari Sweeten — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 20:10:00 +0000

I’ve needed a new bathroom shelf for a while and this fun idea popped into my head!

Let me show you how I turned this…

into this…

Oh, and I’m also giving you a free printable that I used, too!

Supplies Needed…

Pallet or long wood pieces

Saw

Tape Measure

Nails {used a nail gun}

paint or stain

Step One:

Cut wood for the shelf.

I used 5 pieces side by side that measure 36”x3.5”.

Step Two:

Lay the three pieces on top {one on top, bottom, and middle} and nail securely.

Step Three:

Cut wood pieces for the shelves.

I used two pieces that measure 17.5”x3.5” and 4 triangles measuring 3.5”x3.5”x4.5”.

Step Four:

Nail triangles on to support the shelf, place the shelf on top and nail down securely.

Step Five:

Paint or stain your new shelf however your heart desires!

I used the Krylon spray paint primer in white, and painted with Krylon Flat White spray paint.

Decorate and you are done! We are always using cotton balls and q-tips, so I grabbed a couple of tin buckets and filled them up. Way easy!

For those interested, here is the free download to the bathroom one I used above!

CLICK HERE FOR FREE BATHROOM PRINTABLE

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