State Love Plaque ~ DIY Friday

Looking for a fun new way to show some State pride?  Then this is the DIY project for you!  Put this easy project together in less then an hour.  Change up your mantel decor or add a bit of whimsy to your front porch.   I entered the One Crafty Contest over at One Artsy Mama and placed into the top 20.  Materials for each round is kept secret until the winners are chosen and the material for the Top 15 was paint.  Yay!  I new instantly what I would make.  Let me show you how I did.    

I Pin'd this from Girl in Air last year because I thought it was just too darn cute.  But I do not have a Circut or Silhouette to make all the amazing stencil and vinyl projects that I would love to do...one day...  So how do I paint this?  I'll get to that trick in just a minute.

First you need a few pieces of wood.  Once again I scavenged around my hubbie's scrap pile and he helped me cut a 2 x 4 into three even pieces.  I used another thin piece of wood to space my boards a bit.

Next simply screw the boards together using yet another piece of wood.  What are we up to?  Three different pieces of scrap wood!  Is it bad that I love my hubbie's scrap pile?  =)

Ok, hard part is done.  Here is what the plaque looks like un-painted.  I liked the weathered look but painting the plaque to match your decor would be nice too.  White & turquoise, yellow & grey, whatever you like really!  

Alright, so my stencil secret was a fun yard-sale find from last summer.  I picked up this 'State Stickers' made to go on the back of an RV.  You've seen them ~ you add little state sticker to the states you've visited.  $1.  Bam.  No Silhouette needed.  

What I did was cut the entire lower-48 stickers out (sorry Alaska and Hawaii!) and used that as my stencil.  I taped the stencil down and grabbed one of my favorite spray paints.  Rust-oleum's Painters Touch in Heirloom White.

What you can't see is a few little pieces of tape that I folded and tucked in around a few states & the Great Lakes to make sure the paint didn't spray underneath the stencil.  Next I took a palm sander and did a quick sanding to distress the paint a little.

For the heart pins I had to get a bit crafty since I could not find any pre-made heart push pins.  What I did find were these cute 'crystal' hearts at Jo-Ann's and glued them to your standard, everyday push pin!  I placed a big red heart in my state of Oregon ~ go Ducks!  

I also made a few smaller, clear hearts that could be placed in other states where long-distance loved ones live.  

Quick.  Easy.  Fun.  My favorite kind of DIY projects!

Don't forget, home is where the heart is after all!  So go ahead and show your love!