Channeling Rosie

                I may not currently be wearing the iconic red bandana, but I sure do feel like a badass with MY drill in one hand and a hammer in the other.  I will now be known as Lauren the Riveter.  Too bad Rosie the Riveter has a much nicer ring to it. And as always, I ask myself, what’s my point?

                I’ve been accomplishing things out of the norm!  It must be the warm spring-like air we have been experiencing the past few days.  I mean 57 degrees?? We are pretty much turning into a desert over here!  Anyways, I FINALLY started a Pinterest project I've wanted to make for at least half a year.  Actually longer than that and I’ll tell you why…  I forgot my mom’s birthday!  Not this year, but a couple of years ago I completely missed it, not even recognizing my complete space-case moment.  I probably realized a couple of months later and have felt bad about it ever since! So, in an attempt to never forget another birthday again (which I am sooooo bad at…I even forget my own birthday, which is in 9 days), I re-pinned a craft for a birthday wall hanging, and rather than explaining what it is, I’ll just show you the pictures!

These are all photos taken from Pinterest as inspiration for the project.

So, I have been saving money (by way of plasma donations) to purchase all the supplies for this particular project and really feeling out the design I wanted (since there are so many versions on Pinterest).  When I finally decided to go to Michaels, I couldn't find anything I was looking for and started making “design choices” (what we called them back in Costuming when something didn't work out how you originally wanted it to).  Luckily they had a bunch of different sized plaques, so that step was easy.  Next, they didn't have circular tags, but heart shapes instead.  I then thought to myself that my mother always puts a heart around the date on a calendar if it is someone’s birthday (and writes their name of course).  So since my mom was already the reason I wanted to make this project, I figured she was influencing my decisions right there in the store. After that, I wandered quite a bit and even after asking for help couldn't find everything I was looking for. I did happen upon the wood letters for the title and that was an exciting find. I figured it would give the piece more depth than just stenciling all the lettering on.  

After Michael’s, I headed over to Home Depot.  There I got “eye screws” (not sure if that’s the technical term, but let’s roll with it) which look like a screw with a loop at the end.  

It is the technical term and I googled a picture!

These were necessary in order to have the birthdays of each individual hang from the month. And of course Home Depot didn’t have small enough “s” hooks (I know that’s a technical term!), so I had to make yet another stop at Ace Hardware.  They ended up having smaller sizes, but they were still too thick for the thin hearts and I didn’t want to break all my charms with a large drill bit.  I settled on a roll of thin gauge wire and decided I would make my own “s” hooks.  Oh, fun fact, my mom and I made jewelry for a hobby a while back and I do know my way around pliers.  Unfortunately, those are all still with my mother, so I made do with the Leatherman Kyle got me for Christmas to bend the wire in an “s” shape.  Such a great multipurpose tool!

So, what did I do?  I used some chalk paint and acrylic craft paint I already had.  I painted two coats on the plaque and painted two coats of a brown-tan custom color for the letters.  Before painting the hearts, I drilled a top and bottom hole in the estimated number that I need (with extras for new friends or family members) using a 1/16 drill bit. I then made a light blue and a cream using white, teal, and tan to paint the hearts.  I decided that family members would be big hearts and friends on the little hearts.  I would have done them all on big hearts, because they have more room to write, but the package was assorted sizes and didn’t come with enough to do friends too.  Anyways, while all of that was drying, I got out the trusty needle nose pliers and started working with the wire to make the size and shape “s” hooks I desired.  After those were finished, I measured out where I wanted the eye screws to go knowing that I needed 12 for the months of the year. I used the same drill bit to start a little hole to make it easier to screw them in.  That was my Wednesday for yah!

Prior to stenciling.

Painted hearts and handmade "s" hooks.

Then today more of my creative juices were flowing as I decided to stencil just the letters for the months as the whole word or even abbreviation wouldn’t fit.  I realized at this point that I didn't have a brush to do stenciling, but then found a smaller (very old) paint brush at the bottom of my craft bin that would do the trick (or at least I decided it would because I am impatient).  When all the stenciling was dry, I glued the wood letters in their places along with the hearts on the plaque that formed heart balloons. Then I ran in to yet another dilemma.  What would I write the names and dates with?  I thought sharpie, but I didn’t want the stark appearance of black ink and I don’t have a brown sharpie.  I rustled through our desk and found a long lost colored pencil kit from costume design.  Again, impatience got me and I busted out the brown pencil in order to get the last step of the project done.  I filled out as many hearts as I could, but am still waiting on the hubby’s side of the family as I am not as familiar with all of their birthdays. Other than that, this project is finished and ready to hang! I might also mention that the plaque didn’t come with “hangers” or anything on the back, so I used some I already had.  They have teeth on them so you have some room for error when hanging and you can find them anywhere that sells frames. You could also use two shorter nails and the extra wire to create a “hook/hanger” on the back.  A few of the inspiration projects used ribbon, but that would be an entirely different ball game requiring a trip to Joann’s and yet another choice!

So here’s my product and I hope you get inspired!

 

Does anyone else notice the "Jason" in the month letters? I had to triple check my month order when I noticed that!

These will all hang down when it's on the wall, but it was easier to attach them this way! We have a ton of March and May birthday's in the family.

And on top of getting a long overdue project done, I also cleaned my shower which hasn't been deep cleaned since we moved in to the rental about five months ago.  Yikes, and yes I know that’s disgusting, mom! As always, get out there and do something…

P.S. The Montana Doubles Handball Tournament is this weekend in Missoula and I’ll be playing! I’ll let you know how my partner and I do…