While Daddy's Away, Mommy Will Play

So my husband is gone for the next two weeks, which means two weeks of crafting and projects without feeling guilty!  It was finally a nice warm day today, so the girls and I headed to Ace for materials for today's project.  We made it through the store quickly and with no drama!  And we came home with this.

 2x2, 1x6, 1x4, 4x4

I had seen a really neat tutorial here to make your own candle sticks and I had seen a tutorial here to make candle stick hangers at Drab to Fab.  I loved the candle sticks but didn't trust my kiddos not to touch in the house (4x4's are heavy) so I decided to combine the 2 and make something for my front step.

I cut my 4x4 24" long.  I cut my 1x6 down to make 2 5 1/2"x5 1/2" squares and 2 4 1/2"x 4 1/2" square.

I stacked the 4 1/2" square on top of the 5 1/2 square and screwed the 2 together from the bottom.  I then attached it to the 4x4, flipped it over and repeated.  After this step you want to make sure everything is square.  The girls helped to make sure it was nice and sturdy.

I gave it a quick coat of spray primer and then a light coat of heirloom white along the edges.  When it was dry 2 minutes later (ha ha, I 'm surprised anything I do turns out because I don't have the patience to wait the recommended time) I gave it multiple coats of flat black spray paint.

Once the black was dry 15 minutes later I used my sanding sponge to distress the edges.

I bought the cheapest hook I could find and sprayed it ORB.  While I waited for this to dry, yes I actually gave it 15 minutes I went in the house to make my sign.  I used the 1x4 I bought and cut it to 11", sprayed it heirloom white, sanded the edges and then inked it with an ink pad.

I used my cricut to cut the vinyl, slapped it on, drilled 2 holes at the top and used beading wire for the hanger.

I have already decided to make some different signs to hang for the different seasons, but for now Welcome will do.

Here is another picture of the front step.  Wondering what all the dirt is doing laying there?  Did I mention I had 2 helpers today and we had a casualty?

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Linking to Under The Table and Dreaming
Life in the Pitts 
Fireflies and Jellybeans
Simply Designing 
Tatertots and Jello

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