Just Jen's Attempt at Subway Art...sorta

Busy times those holidays are! I've attempted (with success) several new projects and want to share them within the next few weeks. First up is my stab at Subway Art. I must say, they look so simple and so easy to do. However it turned into a MULTI-DAY project. Mostly because I was too chicken to start. I had envisioned this 'art' with all my family's names on it to give to my parents for Christmas. My project was nothing what I originally planned. That is why my blog heading says "Inspired by others". I took my original idea to my friend/cousin Karen. Before I left her house I had totally redesigned it with her much needed and appreciated input.  Let me tell you about her most awesome tool, the Gypsy!  If you don't know about a Gypsy, let me tell you, it ROCKS!!  If you have multiple (more than my measly 5) Cricut cartridges, this tool is a must have.  She has tons of cartridges loaded on hers and it made our work a lot easier. (Thank you Karen!!!) Enough with the talk....lets get to the pictures!

Original plan - 2x8 cut to an 18 inch length painted brown. Off-white letters with everyone's name just listed going down the wood. Boring, right? Yes, you can agree with me. ;)

Ended up with a 14x18 artist canvas spray painted black, off-white names arranged all over the canvas with my parents names 'dyed' a little darker shade.

Here is my spray painted black canvas.

Here is my final layout.

Here it is with some Mod Podge drying on it. I just worked in sections.

Ta da! Here it is finished! The only thing I didn't do was put our family name on it! Duh! That is how we are all connected! Oh well. We all know what the family name is.

So listed are:
Parents - Bill and Kathie (married in 1968)
Me and siblings - Andrea, Jenny, Tricia, and Bill
In-laws - Keith, Michael, Chris, and Shana
Grandkids - Kabrina, Storri, Richard, Ashley, Kiley, Levi, and Weston

And the best part....here are my parents checking it out after opening it!

Again, thanks to Karen for her use of the Gypsy with all the different fonts and styles.  I only duplicated a few fonts and that was only because I loved those!

Linking up:

Jumping on the Foam Christmas Tree Bandwagon

As my previous post read, I participated in a blog gift exchange. Here is what my giftee recieved...

Here is close up of the topper. Just a wooden finial that I painted Heirloom White and then rubbed it with brown acrylic paint. I have NEVER tried doing the whole glazing or glazing look before, but now I'm in love with it!

I wrapped the tree with almost 3 yards of this red trim, hot gluing it in spots as I went along. I orinigally tried hot gluing the top and the base, but switched over to Gorilla Glue when it didn't work. I even spray painted the jingle bells a taupe color and tied them on some jute.

I'll post the adorable gifts as soon as I can get my daughter looking halfway decent while wearing the crocheted scarf and head band. When she saw me open them, she said, "I call those!"

Another fun gift exchange (see previous post)!!!! Love those exchanges!!

Merry Christmas!!!

~ Just Jen

Joining the party at

Teacher Appreciation Gift

This week at Kiley's school (and Rich, too...but God forbid a Middle Schooler be caught dead carrying his teacher an appreciation gift...) is Teacher Appreciation Week. Kiley is an absolute MESS, so this 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Hamilton is deserving of tons more than any parent could ever give her. She has so much patience with Kiley, it is unbelievable! So after searching the blog world this week for a unique, homemade gift, I combined several ideas and came up with a little something. Mrs. Hamilton and her family of 2 adorable, cute, funny girls (this all according to Kiley) and husband enjoy vacationing at Disney World. (Duh! Who doesn't, right???) With that in mind, here is what Kiley delivered to her sweet teacher this morning:


I purchased a plain, black, 8x10 frame at Wal-Mart with a 5x7 mat. I printed the 'H' from my computer (can't remember the font, but it was a simple one on there and came with the polka dots already!) at size 450. Used 2 inch black with white polka dots grosgrain ribbon and hot glued to the mat. Used 1/4 inch red with white polka dots to frame the corners. Easy enough!

Now for the bow........now, I'm no bow maker. Never made a cute bow a day in my life! UNTIL LAST NIGHT!!!! I am a (self proclaimed) Google Queen! My family makes fun of me when we don't know something, they'll say, "Mom will Google it!". So I "Googled" and found a website www.girlythingsbows.com!!! What a great site! With their simple directions and great pictures (I'm a visual kinda gal!) I made a bow I'm still in awe of. They even show you how to layer them and create different types!! I'm a little impressed, can ya tell?

OK...I'm not looking for compliments, but comments on how I can do better next time! Also, any suggestions on what type of glue I should use to glue the bow to the frame?

~Just Jen

I'm linking up to my first party ever!!! I LOVE Shanty2Chic !!!



And also linked up to a new favorite blog...Under The Table And Dreaming..