Building Blocks!

Good morning!  I hope you had a great day yesterday and that your adventures were plenty.  Mine?  Oh I washed rugs, cleaned the mudroom, and got a few boxes of Christmas decorations out of the closet.   Of course, I can’t walk in the studio right now because of the “few” boxes, but . . .  I don’t care, they’ll be put back in a day or two.  I was looking for some garland I KNEW I had and it took me emptying the closet to find it.  Since it was such a pretty day, I decided to add some greenery to the outside lights by the garage.  I think we might have only one more day of this weather until the bad stuff sets in, so I needed to take advantage of it.  We are having unseasonably warm weather right now (20 degrees above normal) but I just heard on the weather that the high this coming Friday is 39.  Here comes the winter stuff!  Oh but wait, then I think I saw 60ish a few days after that!  Go figure!

My uncle gets the most interesting magazines and catalogs, and the other day while at mom’s I had to borrow one, Country Sampler.   I love this magazine . . . so many neat ideas!  One thing in particular caught my fancy  . . . . this fabulous little set of blocks.

Now I have for years saved toys and stuff from when my girls were small.  I knew one day that some of it would come in handy craft wise.  Other stuff I’m holding onto in hopes of passing it on to grandchildren, but that’s another post for another day at another time (when I actually get some).  In my craft closet I’ve been keeping an old clay flower pot filled with the left over building blocks that didn’t have a better home . . . until now.

I picked out all the blocks of the same size, painted them black and then added some of the Christmas paper from the Tim Holtz Seasonal Paper Stash.  There is a page or two in this paper pack that is sized perfectly for smaller items.  I picked the page with all the vintage boxes and advertising.

I then picked out the word Christmas from Tim’s Seasonal GrungeBoard that I still have on hand, and inked it in Peeled Paint Distress Ink following with a heavy coat of Peeled Paint Distress Stickles.  Once I placed the letter on the block with the paper, it actually looked it was getting lost so I decided to add another piece behind the letter.  I cut some strips of GrungeBoard and inked them in Fired Brick and attached it to the front of the block.  Then I was able to add my letters.

For the word Happy, I decided on Maya Road Jonathan Mini Alphabet, which was inked in Fired Brick Distress Ink and then covered in matching Distress Stickles.  I also painted some toothpicks with the Fired Brick Distress Reinkers . . .  they are the supports for the alphabet and attached to the back with Ranger Matte Accents.

Tiny holes were drilled in the top of the blocks, a few drops of Matte Accents was added to the hole and the toothpicks were glued in.  Of course, the stars are from Maya Road and the trees are some I picked up at Hobby Lobby the other day in the Holiday craft section.

Because I wanted the blocks to be all together and not separate little pieces that needed to be moved, I cut a strip from some scrap lumber in the garage and painted it black.  Now needless to say, I can’t just paint something without some sanding . . . SO, the edges were sanded down and then highlighted with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

I have to say that I’m really happy with how this little piece turned out and it’s gonna look great paired with some vintage Santas.

Isn’t it great what you can do with little things you keep, knowing that one day they’ll have a purpose?

Thanks for stopping by and remember . . . life is short, make the most of the adventures that come your way!

Tim Holtz idea-ology GrungeBoard	Ranger Distress Inks	Ranger Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabbers
Ranger Distress Reinkers	Ranger Matte Accents	Ranger Ink Blending Tool with Foam
Ranger Non-Stick Craft Sheet	BasicGrey Precision File Set	Tim Holtz Distress Stickles
Maya Road Mini Chipboard	Maya Road Crystal Star Trinket Pin	Tim Holtz Seasonal Paper Stash