Personalized MINI Spoon Ornaments with Names

I ran across some cute little mini wooden spoons at Walmart recently.

I can't remember the exact price but I think they were just over $2.00 package.

I went ahead and grabbed them not knowing what I'd do with them.

But I've recently made these 

Personalized MINI Spoon Ornaments with Names

 What I did was use a wood burner and engrave each handle with a name.

If you don't have an engraver, you can easily paint each name on by hand!

Or even make cute stamping designs.

Next, I took some bakers twine and tied the bottom of the handle.

Then I took a tiny drill bit and drilled a small hole at the top.

And then attached matching bakers twine to use for hanging.

And here it is hanging up.

I had to hang them up on a primitive tree beside my mini wooden rolling pins

to get a good look at them.

And here is how I packaged them after putting them in a cute, clear cellophane bag with my shop info.

A plain brown bag does the trick.

And do you notice the mini clothespin at the top?

I also engraved that with To: Jayla to use as a keepsake name tag clip.

I think that added a cute touch.

What do you think?

DIY BROWN SUGAR KEEPER

DIY: How to make your very own

BROWN SUGAR KEEPERS

I love these cute little simple crafts like this.  I first saw these items in the country store called THE MASON JAR in West Virginia last year.  Every since then I've been dying to give them a try on my own.

And here's how mine turned out.

I started off by ordering me a pound of natural air drying red clay on ebay.  I got the Activia brand, in a one pound package for around $10.00.

This type is self hardening so there's no need to fire or bake them,
super strength and has a low shrinkage rate. So I figured this was all good.
I'm sure this one pound package will make a lot of brown sugar keepers, just no idea how many yet.

The first thing I did was to lay out some wax paper on my counter and get out the rolling pin and some of my stamps. These are regular stamps you use in crafts for ink and paper. They work great here.

I'm not sure why I did not roll it out on the wax paper, DUH, but i did lay them on it to dry!

 I stamped them, then I cut them out with the makeshift tea bag strainer for a cutter.

Just peel away the rest and reuse it again.

 Take a spatula, scoop up the keepers easily and

 lay them out on  a sheet of wax paper to air dry.

Here they are up close. They measure approximately 2 inches.

I used stamps to decorate them, although this is not necessary, I thought it added a cute touch. 
I looked and looked for my mason jar cookie cutter, but sadly I can't find it. I think that would've been super cute!

 (Note, the thicker your keeper, the longer it will retain moisture!)
But I'm going with about a half inch thick to start off with and see how it goes.

AND THEN:
After letting them set and air dry for what seemed like eternity, almost two days really, I was ready to package them up.
(That is a good sign though, air drying for so long, I know now that in an air tight container, these will hold moisture good!)

I used AVERY label maker to make some bag toppers and inserts for instructions with those cute graphics you see.

And for a baggie to put them in, I used the large bakery cookie treat bags found in the bakery section at Walmart.

And now they are ready to go.  I think these will be a great grab and go cheap craft for anyone to get or give as a gift. I am going to price them at $2.49 each.

I so cannot wait to find my Mason jar cookie cutter and make them in that shape. I'm sure they will fly off the shelf!

Happy Crafting ya'll,
see ya next time.
~Lisa
www.booth555.com

DIY EASY GENERAL STORE SIGN

Here is a very easy General Store sign you could make for any country kitchen out of about any kind of wood.  I free handed the words Eggs, Butter, Lard and Opinions on it with just chalk! And nope, I didn't even use the fancy chalk paint to get to do this!

I started off with these extra pieces of wood.  The larger one, would've been a little bit too big or I would've loved it.


The board to the left is just a piece of pine board left over from our counter top redo.
So really, any type of board will do.

All you really need is to buy some black paint from Walmart like this:

 It is outdoor, flat black.

Paint it on the board,


One coat was all I needed because I like to let some wood show.

Then I put a saw tooth hanger on the back. You can get them in a pack at
the Dollar Tree for $1.00.

And while you're there, pick up some chalk. That is what I free handed
the words with was chalk!

And best of all is that  since the black paint is outdoor paint, the chalk
wipes right off with a damp rag.  If you ever want to change it up again.

I just thought up words that might be on a sign in an old general store.
But you could easily make this board into a memo board or a menu board for your
country kitchen!


Hope ya'll will give this cute sign a try!
Happy Crafting!
~Lisa

PS:
I did finally get to do something with the HUGE piece of old cute wood up there on the right.
I just painted it black with the same paint, in case I ever want to write on it too. 
But for now,
here's how I have it used in my home:

Just sitting on a counter top, holding a wreath hanger at the top.
With a few dish towels draped over it and a piece of my favorite fabric!

MASON JAR LID MAGNETS

MASON JAR LID MAGNETS

These are some cute ideas that I had from having lots of extra Mason Jar lids.

(The rings I am going to also use on an upcoming post, so stay tuned!)

If you don't have any lids laying around, don't worry. You can find a box of 24 (both lids-12 and rings-12) at Walmart for around $2.50.

I had some left over from trying my first ever Bread N' Butter Pickels

First I simply just laid them out on and gave them a base coat of red in Rustoleum spray paint. 

Let it dry and sometimes if it didn't cover totally, I went back and did a second coat. (I'm not a great spray painter.)

And then I took a can of white spray paint and did the speckle effect.  

I do this by just barely putting any pressure at all on the spray nozzle and just holding it there. 

It will finally start to spit and spray and soon little specks of white paint will fly out like snow.  Just hold the can over what you want to spray and let it spit.  It looks cool!

Some of them, I just sprayed them white and then re-speckled the white again. Leaving out all red.

Just to make some different.

Then I took out my large Mason Jar stamp I got from eBay.

Dabbed it in black ink and while holding the lid in my hand, stamped it on.

I had to keep it in my hand so that I could apply the pressure evenly from the back of the lid.

Laying them on hard surfaces didn't work too good for me.

Notice not all of the center was stamping great on them. So that's where I started pressing harder from the back.

And after letting them sit and dry for about a good hour, because of the ink.

I went and attached a round magnet, size 3/4" (19mm diameter) that I got from Walmart. A package of 52 costed like $3 or so.  They have a really good strong hold. I do not recommend those peel and stick strips for things like this.

The glue I used is called E-6000 and it forms a very strong hold!

I use if for most everything.

 Here are some more pics of them done.

 These were the large mouth lids, if I forgot to mention that. That's why I used such a large stamp.

I also have a smaller stamp that I am going to make the regular mouth lid magnets with also.

I just have to go find it now. lol.

(I am a stamp collector also!)

(Here is the link to make the bottle labels, if you are interested.)

If you like these but don't want to try making them, 

I listed a few "buy it now's" on eBay here  for $9.99 with free shipping.

Hope ya'll give this cool Mason Jar Lid Magnet craft a try.  I figured they will look cute in about any kitchen!

I'm trying something new and linking up with Made by You Mondays to share in a linky linkup.

See Ya'll next time!

~Lisa

UPDATE:
Maggie from EyeballsbyDayCraftsbyNight asked me below, if these smear.
With regular handling mine don't. 
But after she asked, I went back and took my thumb and kept rubbing into it and yes, they started to smooth out on the sharp lines.
So, if you want to take this a step farther, you can finish them off with some type of sealer or spray clear coat even. 
I think I will give mine a coat to be safe.
Thanks Maggie, for thinking of this! 

Primitive RUSTY STAR MAGNETS Tutorial

Easy Primitive Rusty Star Refrigerator Magnets!

 I love primitives in every room.  And here is an easy craft that you can make to spruce up your kitchen a tad bit.
Here they are out of the pack with a bit of bakers twine

 Super strong round magnet on back.

Super easy too!

First, get you some metal, rusty stars like this:

These measure approximately 2 1/4" each.

If you can't find them at a craft store, I have a few auctions on ebay with these plain, metal, rusty stars available here for a lot of 5 for only $5.99 with free shipping.
 (I hate to plug in my auctions, but

if you would like a set of 5 already finished with magnets, you can find them here.)

My set of 5 all packaged up and ready to go.

Okay, now on to making these cuties!

Next you will need some good strong magnets because we all know we tend to pile the papers and photos on our refrigerators! I choose these magnetic buttons from Walmart.

They are about 3/4" in diameter and come in packs of 52 for around $4 or $5.  And best of all, they are very strong! 

Next you will need some super strong glue that will hold these magnets to the metal and can withstand much use.

As always I turn to the good ole E6000 glue, also from Walmart for about $3 or $4 for a large tube.

It is great on just about any surface you could imagine needing to glue.

And next all you need to do is add about a dime size amount of glue to the backs of each star.  

My stars are the 3D type, so the glue needs to be enough that it will reach the entire surface of the magnet for a strong hold.

And after that, just let them sit and dry for about 24 hours to get a good strong hold.  

And they are then ready for use. 

These stars I chose have a tiny hole at the top and I may go back and add a little strip of homespun to a few in a fabric that will match my kitchen. A rusty red.

Very simple and super cute~!

And then I just put them in a slide, seal top plastic baggie.  And add a cute topper to it.

I hope you liked this easy, how to for Primitive Rusty Star Magnets!!!

-Lisa