Birthday Board

Hey, Look what I made! 

How cute! But, what is that weird blob at the top of the board? OK, sorry folks. I trust you, I do. I just don't trust that other guy. So, I had to blur out any reference to my fam. I'm sure you understand.

I wanted to come up with a nice Christmas present for the moms (Mine and my Hub's) and they are both very different, lovely ladies. However, both completely love their family. So ... family .... what can I do with family ... Hmm...
And then, I was on Pinterest (if you ask my family, this is more true of my time than when I am not on Pinterest, but I digress). Anyhoo, I was on Pinterest and saw the cutest birthday boards. And I thought, hey, I can do that!

Now, I did actually take a few pics. I think of you, really, I do. But, you must know something. It has been said that I am cheap (not by any of my friends, but specifically said by me. Often.)  Thus, you must know that I don't own a fancy-shmancy camera, nor do I have the inclination or talent to take moving pictures of projects that make the viewer weep with creative joy.
Nope.
Just a few pics to give you a few ideas of how to make this project possible for you. Sorry. Oh, and I shake like jello whenever I try to take a pic, so some of them may be out of focus. Again ... sorry.

So ... moving on...

Here's the Saga (and yes, true to Saga fashion, this post is split into a trilogy. Otherwise it's just way too long).


Birthday Board: Part One - or What I Need and How to Print

I bought a 6"x8' board of pine at Home Depot (because it's close to me ... I'm sure you can find the same board at Lowes). I only needed around 26" per birthday board, but I have a table saw at home, so why leave the leftovers behind? Isn't that why I drive an SUV, to put planks of wood in the back? Exactly.
 Oh, and I bought a few small, silver Eye Screws (I needed 12 per board, but they come in packs, so pick one that has the closest amount)

Photo Courtesy of Amazon

I also went to a local craft store (my current store of happiness is AC Moore - but back in Utah, I usually went to Michaels) and picked up a few things too:

1) Lara's Wood Disk/Circle 1.5" - Check in your store for the large packages (Amazon only has 6per for a really high price. I think I only paid $3 per package of 22 instore).  You need the # discs as there are people in your family (including you, unless you are forever 29 and need no one to remember your birthdate again). But, get a few extra, if you're giving this as a gift, in case more people are added to the family (you know, people have babies).

2) Sweet Beads Fundamental Finding Eyepin 50 x 0.6 mm Silver 72pc - You want 2 times the number of discs you need. Get them with long tails, because you need the tail to make a pretty swirl.

Photo Courtesy of Amazon

3) Jump Rings - I chose small ones and calculated needing .5 per disc (you know, one for every two, to link them together)

Photo Courtesy of Amazon

Just a heads up, the eye pins and jump rings are found near the beading and necklace-making aisles.

I was going to make the wording for the sign with my vinyl and cricut, but then, as I was wandering around the craft store (looking for the wooden discs - they are with the wood cut-outs, believe it or not), I saw it. Something that brought me back to the Fourth Grade (and yes, I had a happy fourth grade)!

Photo Courtesy of Amazon

A Wood Burner! And if you didn't get to make a cool state book with wooden binding, then you were robbed of a childhood of awesomeness. No, really, how many of you got to sit outside with 25 of your classmates at 10 years old with a tool that could literally burn your fingerprints off - no, I don't know anyone who tried that, ew.

It was on sale for the same cost of a roll of vinyl - $10. And suddenly, I knew what I was going to do today. (Hey, where's Perry?)

I took my findings home with me and immediately cut the board to 26 inches long. I pulled out my router table and smiled at the beautiful rounded edges it created. Well, I smiled inwardly, because seriously, sawdust tastes nasty. It smells marvelous, like Christmas, but it tastes nothing like Christmas. I promise.

Then, I put my boards in the house and set them on the counter, where they stared at me, wondering how they were going to get beautiful lettering on them by me. My handwriting is terrible. You could decipher more from chicken scratch (no, seriously ... when I date my husband, and we talk book ideas, I scribble them on napkins. When I get home, I usually have to bring the napkin to him, point to the random pen markings and beg him to translate what we were talking about ... terrible handwriting). The boards were a little nervous. I could sense it.

So, I went to my friend, Pinterest (we're tight), and she didn't help much (gasp!).  So, I left it alone for a bit - I still had two months before Christmas. I was good.

And, then suddenly it was one month before Christmas and I remembered that I don't live an hour away from these ladies anymore. I have to actually ship them their presents! Ack!

I knew I had to get pretty print on the board so I could trace it with my wood burner. But how ... Then, I remembered a neat trick I had learned at a church craft activity. Wax Paper! (yes, that's all over pinterest now, but it wasn't then).

Here's the trick (sorry, no pics):
1) Find your pretty font, type what you want it to say and enlarge it to the size you need it for the sign you're making. I wanted it to say my last name, then Birthdays (really big) and then abbreviated month names. Make sure you have the right length and height for your wording to fit on the board.

2) Inevitably, your board is bigger than your printer will print. Once you have the right sizing and lettering, crop bits of the image and print the cropped bits, one at a time. Much easier to negotiate with later, I promise.

3) Print the words BACKWARDS!!! No, I don't mean stand with your back facing your computer and hit print. I mean, tell the printer to print it backwards. Sometimes your software will call it "transfer/iron on" etc. Or it won't. But, this is necessary. Look for it and use it.

4) But HOW do you print and on what?  OK, here's the trick (sorry, I guess I lied back there). Take wax paper (yes, you can use freezer wax, I'm told, but really ... why?). Cut it to fit the size of some heavy-duty cardstock, with just a little bit hanging out over the length. Lay the wax paper over the cardstock, fold the hangover under the edges (you know, the 8 1/2" edges, not the 11 1/2" edges) and tape it from the back. Basically, you've put wax paper over cardstock. Feed that through your printer and VOILA! You have smudge-able, thus transferable text.

And, because it's transferable, don't let it fold in on itself or get your clothes or anything, because it will transfer itself to anything. It's friendly like that. Carry it gingerly away from the printer. Probably best to do this at night, after the littleuns are in bed, because a toddler running toward you is not the happiest sight when you're carrying this floppy creation.

So, once you're printed a bit out, carefully untape the wax from the cardstock (so you can see where it will fit nicely on your board). Flip it over (inky side down) and carefully position it ABOVE the board. Then, lay it flat on the board and rub the back (non-inky side) with a spoon until your arm falls off. No, I just panic that it won't work, so I really rub a long time. It doesn't actually take long at all. Lift up the wax paper carefully (remember it smudgs) and VOILA! you now have text on your board! Don't touch it though, it may not (probably not) be dry and will smudge still.

Now, you might be able to leave it like that, but I don't know how to set the ink. You'd have to talk to your friend Pinterest about that. I had decided to burn the wood. But, wood it work? Dunh Dunh Dunh

Check back for Part Two of the Birthday Board Saga ... the Burning of the Board or the grand finale of Part Three ... Making a Name for It.