Friday, February 25, 2011

Calendar Blocks

I found the perfect blend of my love for paper crafting and wood-working! It was so fun to create this cute set of calendar blocks. The perfect addition to the new desk I made for Katelyn's birthday. 
Here's how I did it.  
Supplies:

  • 1 piece of 3 x 3 pine, for about $5.00 
  • craft paint
  • paint brushes
  • scrapbook paper
  • letter & number sticker or vinyl 
  • Or print numbers & months-so many cute FREE fonts from Kevin and Amanda)
  • Velcro squares
I started by cutting my wood into 3" pieces, so you have three, 3 x 3 blocks.
And one 3 x 9 block. Like this:
 And this:
 Sand all the edges so they are nice and smooth.
 Paint the blocks on all sides. Only the edges are going to be showing, so it doesn't have to be perfect.
Next you want to cut paper for the number blocks and the month block. As I stated earlier, you can use sticker, vinyl or print out your numbers and months on the computer (that's what I did!)

For block #1 you will need a 0,1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 
For block #2 you will need 0,1, 2, 6 (make sure it can double as a 9 too), 7 and 8
For block #3 I add some little doodles just for fun!
I distressed the edges of the numbered paper, months and doodles by using a cosmetic sponge pad and some stamping ink (you could also use some watered down paint).
 Light run the sponge daubed with ink/paint around the edges of each piece.
 After that dries you are ready to adhere the paper to the block with Mod Podge.
 With a foam brush paint the block and the back of your paper with the Mod Podge. When that is mostly dry put a couple coats of the Mod Podge onto of the paper. Let it dry in between coats.
This will seal the whole block.
I Mod Podge'd both sides (a couple times) of the months 
and then added a little block of Velcro to the back of each month and the to the block. 
Like this:
 I intend to make a little envelope to adhere to the back of the block, a place where the months can be stored. Katelyn loves changing the numbers and the little doodle block too!
My inspiration came from Kierstie at Brown Paper Packages. Go here to see how she made hers.

2 comments:

  1. This is a great project and I'm going to do it for my office at work. I'm trying to bring a little personality into the ubiquitous cubicle! :) Thanks for the fun tutorial.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I JUST looked for something like this! Can't wait to try it out! Great tut!

    New follower! ;)

    Bri @ no boys allowed.
    noboysallowed1.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

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