My Sewing Machine: Episewed 1

My husband bought me a sewing machine for Christmas and I am sew super excited! I'd never used a machine before and could barely sew a button on a shirt, but this machine is the best!

My first project with the machine was to make it a cover to protect it from dust, dog, etc...I have no idea why I thought this was a good first project, it was pretty difficult, but I made things up as I went along. I learned a lot of lessons as I went, most importantly "measure twice cut once, blah blah blah".

I chose a few different scrap patterns that matched at a local fabric store and cut out the pieces to make a nice design. Unfortunately since I was learning as I went, I didn't adapt this craft into a tutorial. I promise to post tutorials that are quick and easy as I learn. But right now, this post is just for bragging rights =).

The Second Noel

This is another Pottery Barn knockoff and is SUPER easy. Here's what I based the inspiration on:
http://www.potterybarn.com/products/noel-wall-art/

It was of course one million dollars and also is now no longer available. No sweat!

See tutorial below.

Step 1:
Purchase wood block letters to spell N-O-E-L from your local craft store (don't worry, if they are missing letter's to spell Noel, grab letters to spell Leon--they will work for this project as well). The wood letters were less than $1 at the craft store!

Step 2:
Lay out the letters to prep for spray painting. You can spray paint any color, but I chose "Hammered" Black spray paint to give the letters a textured look and to try to match the Pottery Barn piece for the purpose of this knock off.

Step 3:
Spray paint thoroughly and let dry.

Step 4:
Once the paint is dry flip the letters over and arrange as desired. The trickiest part of this step is making sure the "O" has a solid place to connect to the "N" so the piece is not wobbly once you are finished.

Step 5:
Using small pieces of thin scrap wood Gorilla glue the letters together at solid connecting points. Let the glue dry overnight and...HARK!