Bithday Centerpiece for a Girl or Boy

Have you seen the pure bliss that IS HowDoesShe?.
Their blog is fabulous...here is the link in case you have lived in a bubble and have never checked it out...
www.howdoesshe.com

I know everyone else drools over this site like I do. They are A-MAZING! I.Love.Them.
I also happen to LOVE me a 2X4...and so do they! So, I adore when they come up with new, fun things to do with one. Like this....

With Little's birthday coming, and Middle's only a few short months away, I thought...Let's give it a go!
And I think it turned out FABULOUS!

They have a wonderful tutorial...and wonderful ideas to do with it...like putting in special favors to do for the birthday child for a week before the big day!
I LOVED the idea of it!
I could just see the kids and mom and dad, putting a special favor or treat in each of the clips. Then when one days favor is pulled out, replacing it with a picture...
I.LOVE.THAT!

Anyway....so I started by finding a scrap piece of 2X4 that the hubby had in the garage...
it was smaller then the one they used at HowDoesShe?, so I improvised...

I Mod Podged (if you search, they even have a tutorial on how to use Mod Podge in case you have never seen its glory!!!) girly scrapbook paper to one of the long sides...

And boyish scrapbook paper to the other long side...

This of course makes it a two-fer....and who doesn't love a two-fer???

I had to double up my scrapbook paper, as the paper is 12X12...but the board was 18 inches...so there was a seam. No worries, the letters cover this up later!

I sanded and distressed all of the edges with watered down, walnut colored, stain.

I actually ended up using scrapbooking letter stickers, instead of vinyl. I have a cricut and could have done vinyl, but these were the perfect size and I like the way they look...A LOT!


When I was done, I semi-mixed cream and eggplant paint to make a swirly kind of brown, and painted the top...where I will later drill holes. I did this because it was kind of an old, beat up, sad looking 2X4!

Do another layer of Mod Podge in order to seal it, and give it a nice gloss (mine happens to be glossy Mod Podge)

I made my own picture holders because my husband has a TON of these skinny flimsy wires (don't know what they were ever for...) so I took two, and twisted them together. Then I used needlenose pliers and created the swirl at the top.
Use a drill bit that matches the width of your wires, and drill about halfway into the 2X4.
Put the wires in. Mine fit 6 across...




Finally I attached an alligator clip where HowDoesShe? put her scrapbooking clip, because, hard as I tried, I couldn't find any! I love that this part lends itself to being a never ending centerpiece...as you can change the age!

I really do LOVE the way it came out!

Thank you to HowDoesShe? for always having such beautiful ideas!
You inspire me daily!

Raelyn