Fourth of July DIY

I should be packing right now - we are moving exactly 1 week from today. But why pack when you can blog?! I was so excited about my mom's birthday present this year. Her birthday falls a few days before the Fourth, but I wanted to give her her present a little early so she could put it out as a decoration. There is the CUTEST store here in Utah called the Wood Connection. I am in love. They have lot of wood projects, from wooden letters to the flag set that I made for my mom. The idea is to go and pick out a wooden set that you like, then decorate it with scrapbook paper or paint (which they also have available at the store). I think they are pretty reasonably priced as well. I have made a few several projects from this store to decorate our apartment. I love it. I am so sad to not be able to go there any more once we move. I think Scott is elated for the sake of our bank account, haha. Luckily they also have an online store!! You all should go and check it out. So fun!! Here are the materials I bought for my mom's birthday project:

Paper and string I bought.

The wood set sold at the Wood Connection. Stackable pieces for an American flag.

This is how it looks when the blocks are stacked. The pictures definitely make it look tiny, but I would guess it's about 4"x5" when stacked.

My favorite part of this project is that it was so simple!! First I painted each of the blocks. I used modge podge that I already had to glue the wooden blocks onto the paper, then cut around the edges, and sanded off the remaining paper. I only put paper on one side of each block, so the backs and sides of each were still visible, which is why I painted first.

After I had cut around the edges but before excess paper had been sanded off.

All paper glued, sanded, and blocks stacked again.

 All that was left to do was add the star. I painted it white, then sanded the edges of the star so it had some of the wood showing through. I wrapped the twine around a couple of times, then hot glued it to the blue square (actually mom did this when she got the present - I didn't have a glue gun). That's it! I LOVE how it turned out. Might have to do one for myself next year :) Simple, easy, and SO cute!!

I'm always looking for fun projects to do for around my home. What are some of your favorites?