{old rusty rusty frames}

{rusty corrugated tin frames}

I saw some corrugated tin picture frames, similar to this one, several years back. I was in love... But of course I was bound and determined to figure out how to make some my self.. I lived in the city then and rusty corrugated tin was hard to come by. Almost 2 years ago my family and I moved out of the city and into a small town in the country. There's rusty tin everywhere, but you can't go around stealing tin off of people's barns right ;)

In the fall of 2009, on my deer hunt ,my husband and I came across the mother load of rusty corrugated tin.  In the middle of no where in a huge wash.. Jack Pot...  All the pieces were part of an old barn or shed at one time, but had fallen down and was mostly covered by sand.. After hunting season was over, we hooked up to our flat bed trailer and headed back out there.. 

I have had this stack of rusty tin for over a year now and have been procrastinating on my project.  Why???  Well 1. one day I tried cutting through the tin with tin shears and holy crap that stuff is hard to cut through..  2. I have been afraid to use my husbands metal grinder which would cut the tin, and 3. I just wanted my husband to do it for me. 

The other day I finally got brave and busted out the hubs grinder and started playing around with it.  Surprisingly it was really fun! I got the hang of it and now I'm grinding on all kinds of metal.

Here's a little step by step tutorial on one of the frames I made.

First I cut out the tin for the frame.  This one I cut approximately 6"x6".  Then I traced a 3"x3" square for opening of the frame. I based this off of a frame I had already.  I then went over my pencil marks with the grinder so I could see where I needed to cut. 

My air compressor is not that big, so trying to cut this square out was taking way to long.  I got the grinder through the metal and made the hole big enough for tin snips to fit in and finish the job. 

After I got the square cut out, I went over the edges with the grinder to smooth out any rough or sharp edges. 

This is one I've completed.  It's big and chunky and I love it.   I didn't want nails or screws showing on front so I used clear Liquid Nails to glue the glass on the back and all the wood that holds the picture in place.  It took a long while for the glue to dry (like 24 hours) but that stuff (liquid nails) works wonders and my backing is on there for good. 

I love the curvyness they have, the rusty patina, and knowing that these pieces where part of a structure way back in time..  Love Love.....

Soon I'll have some of these up for grabs on My Etsy.

{tin tile necklace hangers}

{tin tile necklace hangers}

My first intentions for these pieces, where to be coat racks.  Well the knobs I put on weren't really "coat worthy". Plus if their purpose was to hang coats, you wouldn't ever see the adorable knobs.  I had to figure out what else they could be used for.  Then it dawned on me....  Necklaces!!!  How perfect are they to hang your favorite necklaces on.

{I love all the rust chipping through}

I'm sure there are a ton of other things you could use these little racks for though.. 

These may or may not show up on my Etsy.. I'm just sayin..

{chore blocks}

Do you ever feel like your life/house is unorganized and just a mess.  I have four kids aging from 1-7.  I know, craziness :)  So literally I was constantly cleaning all day loooong every day. If you have four kids you know what laundry is alone..  Geez never ending... I am a very laid back person and the load of doing everything {being a stay at home mom trying to work and keep up with all the other everyday life stuff} was really wearing on me.. I would try to get my kids to help me out but all they did was wine at me.. ugh.....  You mind if I vent for a second ;)  Something had to change... I had had it, I was done.  I was sick of cleaning up everyone else's messes all dang day.  My kids were old enough to have responsibilities and I needed to lay things down, be a better mom, and get our home and family organized. 

I needed a fun way to get my kids interested in helping out.  I googled chore charts and came across this..  This would be the perfect thing for us to start off with.  Looked super easy and I could totally do it..  I got all my supplies and on Saturday got to work on it..

The whole point is each kid has their own block and all the chores are wrote down on the Popsicle sticks. Everyday you put the chore/sticks you want each kid to do in their block.

I used:

1-2x4 piece of wood

the drill bits i have pics of below

drill

scrapbook paper

modge podge

sand paper

glaze

Popsicle sticks

chalk board paint

First I cut 5- 3 1/2 in pieces.  Four are to stand up and one is to lay down.

Then 1- 9 1/2 inch long piece for the bottom.

The tall blocks are to hold each kids chore sticks that they have to do each day and the short one holds all the chore sticks that aren't being used.

I used this bit to drill the big hole for the shortest block.  This was a pain.  The wood kept on spinning and I twisted my arm like 10 times and probably said some .... words :)  But I found a spot to hold the wood in place and it wasn't so bad after I figured that out.

Then I used this one for the small holes on the tall blocks.  This was fun and super easy. It took me like one minute to drill all four holes.

After I got all the holes drilled I sanded each piece to get all the edges smooth.

I then traced each side of wood I was going to cover onto the scrapbook paper, then cut it out.  I then modge podged the paper onto the wood.

After it dried I sanded all the edges so there was no paper hanging off.

I went over the sanded edges with brown glaze to give it an older distressed look.  After the glaze dried I modge podged over each block to seal and protect it.

While it was all drying, I got my Popsicle sticks and painted them with chalk board paint.  I thought it would be fun to have chalk board sticks..

As soon as they dried it was complete. 

It was so easy and my kids love it.. It has totally worked too.  My kids dig it and are liking doing chores.  And I think it is pretty cute as well.. 

So hears to the start to organization.   

{more magnets}

I added more magnet sets to My Etsy today.  The others didn't last long so I've been working on more.

I'm getting better at the whole shipping thing.  Each piece I ship I get more creative with how I package it.  I find it kinda fun :) 

 I don't know why, but I guess I was a little afraid of selling online and that whole bit.  Afraid of the unknown I guess.  I know I'm a dork.  But I finally just jumped in and did it.  The out come is great so far..  Something I've wanted to do for a while now and I finally did and it feels awesome....  K I just had to get that out :) 

These are the teeniest little cute bags ever.  Perfect for my magnets...  Can't wait to send off more :)

Now i'm off to making some chore chart block things that I can't wait to share with you..

{Etsy Items}

I added new items to "My Etsy" today..  All week I'll be adding new miscellaneous items so make sure you stop by.  I also sold my first item on Etsy too.. Woohoo!!! Got to start somewhere right??!! :)