Altered Wooden Key Holder

Well, for me, it's hard to believe it's Thanksgiving week... honestly, didn't Halloween like, *just* happen? Surely not nearly a whole month ago! I'm feeling so behind! Maybe it's because I haven't scrapbooked the Halloween pics yet... I don't know. That's one thing about living in Phoenix - the typical changes of seasons is virtually non-existent, so these holidays have a way of sneaking up on ya! The weather is "stinkin' B-E-A-U-tiful...." or it's "stinkin' HOT"! :)

Back in the 80's, DH and I lived in Massachusetts for almost 3 years, and the change of seasons after summertime was unmistakeable. Our very first Autumn and Winter experience there is one I will never forget! Of course, we enjoyed the fabulous and fiery fall colors in October ~ complete with blowing, swirling leaves creating the perfect "spookiness" necessary for Halloween night! Then the bare trees and gray days with bitter and icy cold weather for Thanksgiving, and finally, the peaceful, calm and quiet snowfall Christmas Eve and untouched, fresh and sparkling snow on Christmas morning. I didn't have any trouble with "holiday spirit" then... *sigh* I think I need to pick up the house a bit, put out the cornecopia on our dining room table and start listening to the holiday songs- see, I'm so behind!!! :)

OK, enough whining!!! Let's get on with the pictures that I'm posting today... I altered this wooden key holder with Stampin' Up!s beautiful Ski Slope designer paper and the hostess paper pack. The bare wood item which included the hooks was found in the craft section of my local Walmart for a steal! I painted the sides and back of the frame with light blue acrylic craft paint. After tracing/cutting out the paper, I sponged Baja Breeze ink lightly around the oval shape. I glued the background paper on the wood frame with Mod Podge. The die-cut letters were glued down with Mod Podge, and I applied a light coat over the letters and sides/back of the frame itself. I left areas untouched where the flowers/butterfly were going to be, and the frame was set aside to dry. I die-cut and sponged the edges of the flower petals with Riding Hood Red ink, and formed my 3-D flowers w/leaves. The butterfly was stamped on white cardstock, colored in with markers, then trimmed out. Getting a small sheet of wax paper to protect my work surface, I sealed in the shaped flowers and curled wings of the butterfly with Mod Podge and a small paintbrush. I was careful not to get the sealer too far down on the back side of each item where I wanted to place a piece of sticky strip. When all pieces were dry, I adhered the 3-D items to the frame with small squares of sticky strip, pressing together as well as possible without ruining my shapes. I used a very small paintbrush or a 1 inch sponge paintbrush to Mod Podge a final time around all areas/3-D items for its final coat and to help stiffen up the flowers/butterfly even more...

So what do you think? This project was really fun to do... of course, altering *anything* is super fun, in my book ~ :)

I've been working on some scrapbook layouts, and I think I will post them either tonight or tomorrow morning. For now, I'm going to turn on some holiday music, get the vacuum out and dig out my Cornecopia items and hop to it!!! Have a great day and I'll check in again very, very soon! :)
Stamps - butterfly is a SU! hostess incentive stamp
Paper - Ski Slope and Hostess paper pack DSP
Inks - Black, Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red and SU markers to color butterfly
Accessories - Big Shot, Birds and Blooms AND Serif Essentials Alphabet dies, black brads, sponge daubers, sticky strip, mod podge, paintbrushes