Summer Craftin'

School has been out for one month now...  The first week that I was out of school I did this craft to celebrate the start of summer.  It is bright and fun and I love the way it turned out!

I stained the wood on the sides and back. 

The week after that project, I started sewing a bag for all of my swimming and travels.  I used my sewing machine for the first time since I got it in 2002... I love how big it is and the pockets inside.  I've already used it tons. 

The next week I made coasters to match my living room decor.  Angie (my sister in law) told me about some coaster's like this that my cousin's wife made, so I copied the idea!  I just got brown tiles from Home Depot and mod podged some scrapbook paper that I had onto the tiles.  Then I sprayed them with clear acrylic spray and used a spray adhesive to put felt underneath them.  I LOVE them, especially because they ended up being less than 50 cents each!

Six months ago I went to DI and found this beauty.  It was $3 and featured a beautiful yarn flower that some lady had made in 1975 (she actually wrote it on the back of the frame)!  I recognized it's potential but it took me a while to decide what exactly I wanted to do with it.  I thought about making it a mirror, but in the end I decided to make it a magnet board. I finally started this project today.  Here is a before pic:

This is how it looked after I took a power sander to it...
Then I painted it black, sprayed it with clear acrylic spray, and got sheet metal cut to fit it (my roommate works for an AC company and brought home a large scrap piece for me).
Then I made magnets to match it and hung it up.  Ta Da!  

Now I just need to figure out what my next project will be!