New Wood Creations for Decor

I have always enjoyed painting and I love the rustic simple look of wood pieces in the home. However, it isnt a huge seller for the business so I tend to focus more on the jewelry end of things.

But, as some may know, I have sort of made it a tradition when friends and family get married that their gift from me is some sort of variation on a lasso wreath/welcome sign. I've made four so far but only attained three photos. Newest being at the end.

(pre-laptop photo...poor quality)

and my newest, with a few little tweaks Im really diggin!

Aside from the new wedding gift welcome sign, this season I was commissioned for a welcome sign that wasnt a wreath. Here is what I came up with, and the recipient completely loved it!

Featuring a real 18" elk antler shed, and a hand-cut elk from a piece of rustic metal. Love it!

The Lasso Welcome Sign

Keeping in theme with lasso ropes from yesterday's post, a wedding gift I made for a friend this last June:

The Lasso Welcome Sign! I wanted to give the newlyweds something special and completely unique. It also had to be something personal and with a little flair of "wedding" to it. They are country bumpkins like myself, so I knew this piece would work in their decor and style. This was a fairly simple project as well, with supplies I already had on hand.

Supplies Needed/Used:

A used lasso rope - spent $5 on rope off craigslist.
Old beat up and weathered wood
Black paint
Rustic wire and embellishments
Hot glue gun
Twine

Create!

The first step was to create the wording for the welcome part of the sign. Because I dont have my own stenciling machine, or even stencils for that matter, I had to create my own letters to use. I actually found an A to Z letters page from this font that I liked online, enlarged to size on my computer screen, then traced it onto a piece of paper. That's right, traced it off of the computer screen.

With my letters on paper, the second step was to transfer them from the paper to the wood by writing over the lines firmly while on the wood. This left an imprint of the lettering in the wood. It was faint, but I could see it and follow the lines.

Now it was time to actually paint the letters. This third step was the most labor intensive of it all, but still only took about an hour or so. I hand painted the letters in a next-to-black acrylic brown paint, then simply, let it dry.

The board looked a little plain to me, so that's when I added the twisted rusty wire (just the faithful ole method of twisting wire around a pencil for the look) and rustic heart embellishments to the wood. I simply hot glued the wire to the back of the board to secure in place. In hindsight, there probably was a much more effective way of attaching it, but all I had on hand was got glue and it seemed to do the trick.

Next was the fifth step; the one that really baffled me. How was I going to attach the wooden board to the lasso rope? With the rope already secured to shape with unseen twine, I just had to find a way to attach the two items together. This is where my handy Boyfriend came into play. He screwed two small holes on the upper part of the wood, at an angle in the back to allow the twine to run through. Clever Boyfriend! Can't even see it from the front!

So this final step was to run the twine through the holes, and secure it to the lasso rope. I then cut another piece of twine and ran it through the lasso ropes in the back and tied it across to create a hanger to hand the welcome sign by. I signed and dated the back of the board, and wrapped it up in festive wedding attire for the big day.

They opened the gift and were floored by it. So I knew just what to make for the next country couple getting married only a few months later....although I did not get a photo of the second design.

Linked up to The Craft-O-Maniac.

The Lasso Rope Clock

I have some catching up to do, to get this bog up to speed with some of my creations. I guess I will begin with the incredibly simple and adorably country, Lasso Rope Clock.

I found my inspiration for this from a seller of a western clock online. I actually found a few variations of it, but knew what kind of end product I had in mind. I wish I had taken more step by step photos of the process, but here's how to get the look:

Step One: Gather Materials
I had a few sets of lassos already that I purchased for $5 each off of a craigslist add. I selected the one from my stash that felt most suiting for a wall clock (how I came to the decision is beyond me, this one just had the right "feel").

I also had an old clock lying around that was left here by the previous home owners. It had a green border but I liked the numbers in the clock face and wanted to revamp it. I ended up using old house paint and covered it with a layer. Excited about it, I showed the concept to the Boyfriend when he arrived home. He did not want the old clock used for the project and insisted I get a different one. I must admit, the house paint was peeling and odd looking after dried. So I scrapped that clock and found the beautiful one pictured at WalMart for only a few bucks.

Step Two: Create!
With the two items in hand, all I had to do now was set the rope to the size of the clock. Easy enough.

I then discovered I needed something to secure the lasso in it's new shape. So I tied twine around the back loops to hold it in shape without seeing it from the front. I ended up using the twine to also fashion a way to hang it.

Next, I simply shoved the clock into the loops of the lasso. It sits in place in the coils perfectly and when rested against the wall, doesnt budge.

Simple as that!

As I walk by it on the wall everyday now, the yellow wrapping on the end is starting to bother me. I must find a way to remove the eye-sore.


Linked up to The Craft-O-Maniac.