DIY Decorative Blocks

Hello Blog world!

So before we get into today's post let me start by saying....This is not cheating!!!!! That was for my mom :D. See I did this project a few weeks ago and for some reason my mom thinks I should have posted these before my cabinet...But I was so excited that I finally got the cabinet done that the blocks could wait!

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When my sister was giving me stuff for my projects these weird looking blocks were with them. Now I thought my idea was going to be a 'Casey Original' but it turns out I got this idea from Pinterest...well sort of.  The original pin was just taking some wooden blocks and put scrap book paper on them and tadaaa. But I took it a step further. I made them look all antique looking. 

Remember that crackle paint I told you about a few blogs back? Well I found a cheap alternative. 

First I had these boring looking blocks. My first thought was, well just throw some paper on them and call it good. But that would require a lot more cutting and measuring than I care to do. I decided that I would just put the picture on the front and paint on the sides...Now this is the fun part of my planing when my brain goes crazy and gets all creative on me. Its nice when my brain checks in once in awhile and lets me know its still working. 

I decided that instead of just painting I would do a crackle paint since the pictures I wanted to use were vintage looking any ways. 

So on Youtube (You thought I was going to say Pinterest didn't ya.) I found some different way to make a crackle effect because of course I didn't have any crackle paint and a trip to Hobby Lobby wasn't in the cards. 

Yes Bruce is helping again. 

So how did I do it you ask? Well simple...I used glue! Just plain old 

Elmers glue that you used in school. I could have used Mod Podge as well but I wanted to find an alternative for some of the people who still don't have Mod Podge...or even scarier who don't know what it is. 

  Now try to keep up because this can get confusing. 

For the paint you start with the paint that you want to see through the cracks. 

So for the first one I did a maroon box with yellow crackle. The first paint I used was the yellow. (it was a pale yellow by the way)

Doesn't look like I painted it but trust me I did. Using a painters palette I poured some Elmers glue in it. Using a paint brush I applied it to the box. You don't want to cover the space completely just enough to get the effect. I couldn't really show you on this box but on the other...

This is the idea I am going for. It doesn't have to be perfect and it doesn't have to be in any sort of pattern. 

If you want a thicker crackle look do more glue. If you want a subtle look do less. Its that simple. IMPORTANT! Do not let the glue dry. As soon as I put on the glue I let it dry for only a second. I instantly painted over the glue with the primary color I was going to use. In the first boxes case it was the maroon.  

This is what the first box looked like after it dried. 

Once it dried I Mod Podge the pictures on the box. 

Simple yet pretty cool looking!

So here are what the boxes look like individually.

Now you have antique looking boxes.  I don't know if this type of decoration exists anywhere to buy. But for an estimated price I would guess based on size of the boxes this 'decoration' could have cost between 40-60 dollars. Again that is a complete estimation. I am using some of the decorative trunks I have seen and dropping the price a tad. But my cost was very little. Since now that I am getting a collection of supplies I am not having to run to the store each time I do a project. 

Supplies:

Wooden Boxes- For me free...

Not sure where you would even find these though... :)

Scrap Book pages- Book 5.00 (walmart)

Paints- .50

Paint Brush- Honestly can't remember already have them.

Glue...How much does glue even cost? Ha-ha

Anyways you get my point. This was cheap to do! 

Now my mom has a cool decoration that matches her 'Flea Market' wall. And I found a crackle paint alternative!

Win, Win.

This project was:

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I want to thank all of the people that are getting me this far! I do appreciate it! Its nice to know I have fans. :)

See you next time!