create.

"As you take the normal opportunities of your daily life and create something of beauty and helpfulness,
you improve not only the world around you but also the world within you"

Dieter F. Uchtdorf






Friday, February 19, 2010

Blog Swappin' with {brown paper packages!}

Hello CrEaTiVe CraTe fans! I'm Kierste from brown paper packages and I'm SO excited to be doing this blog swap with Stacie today. She has an amazing blog, and so many fun ideas--I love The CrEaTiVe CraTe!


I can't wait to show you this project! Last week I made some adorable burlap curtains for my girls' playhouse under the stairs in the basement, and since I had some leftover burlap, I wanted to do something else fun with it.
This burlap tic-tac-toe game is perfect for their little table, or for on the floor. I used their initials instead of the traditional x's and o's, and they love having their own letters to play with. How FUN would this be for a personalized gift? Next up? Checkers!

BURLAP TIC-TAC-TOE





ITEMS YOU NEED:
  • burlap, cut in a square--mine is around 2 1/2 feet
  • craft paint and foam brush
  • painters tape
  • foil
  • ribbon--I used 7/8 inch
  • heat 'n bond
  • felt
  • scissors
DIRECTIONS:
  • Tape off your burlap like this:


    Make sure you place aluminum foil or wax paper underneath your burlap, because the paint will soak through. Make the tape long enough so it goes past your burlap and sticks the to the table--this will keep the burlap secure and in place to paint.


  • With the foam brush, paint down the middle of the pieces of tape, using a blotting motion.


  • After the paint has dried, remove the tape. Then tape again, for the lines going the opposite way:

  • Paint as you did before:

  • After the paint has dried, remove the tape.
  • Following package directions, apply heat 'n bond to the ribbon--paper side up. Do one side at a time--planning ahead which ribbon you want to be on top of the other (overlapping on the corners).
  • For one side, I just cut the ribbon a little longer than the burlap, and ironed it on. That side was going to be the one with the ribbon on the bottom. On the side that was going to be on the top, I folded the ribbon over, and ironed it flat. I then applied the heat 'n bond on top of the fold, and ironed it down. Don't worry about having excess burlap --you will trim it off later. It's most important to get the ribbon straight.

  • It will look something like this when all the sides are done:

  • Trim off the excess burlap, cutting right next to the ribbon.

  • Print a template for the initial you need. I used the Century Gothic font, sized to 400. Trace your template on to the felt. Since the felt is the same on each side, it doesn't matter if you trace your letters on backwards or forwards. However, I prefer to trace mine backwards, so there is no evidence of my pencil on the front side when I cut it out. It's much harder to get rid of pencil lines on felt than other fabrics. Cut your letters out.

Ta-da! You've got a super fun, personalized game.


Thanks so much, Stacie, for letting me be a part of your blog today! Have a great day everyone!

Photobucket

8 comments:

  1. Hey Kierste, fancy meeting you here :) This is good, we always play the big checkers game at Cracker Barrel, I think I will make this one for my boys loooong car rides.

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  2. I LOVE this!! I am going to make this for an inside recess game for my 1st grade class! :)

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  3. What a great idea... Thanks for sharing! you could even use pictures of the kiddos for the pieces!

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  4. I love it. I even think this would be great for church! Hmmm... better get busy.

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  5. This is so cute! Wouldn't expect anything less from you though, Kierste! I love it!

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  6. That is so cute! I love the burlap. Thanks so much for sharing this, I'll be linking.

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  7. Where do you get your ribbon? I am having trouble finding cute and reasonably priced ribbon, so thought I would ask a talented craft person like yourself.

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  8. Hi Gina~

    I usually buy mine @ Walmart. :)

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