"Old School" Dallas Cowboys Truck

 I'm guessing if you have followed my blog at all you know that I'm a Dallas Cowboys fan.

I so love when football season kicks off and this year was no different.

I have looked at the "old school" trucks at The Wood Connection and I have

loved them from day one.  They have a truck for every season but

football so I decided to create my own.

Above is the finished project... my son, Josh, loves the Cowboys even more than I do

and we both loved the Thanksgiving uniforms of the blue/white jerseys with the single

blue star on each shoulder and the white helmet with the solid blue star on the side and

2 solid blue "racing stripes" on the helmet ... just like the one here with Tony Romo.

This is a mailbox I did several years ago that was like our favorite helmet...

I painted the whole truck white including the "extra side piece" ... I kept doing back to the

picture and decided I would paint the "fenders" Cowboy blue to add some color to it.

I then decided that I wanted to add some texture since it was so "flat". I had some 

Silver Glitter Blast spray paint from several years ago... so I sprayed the side pieces with

the glitter spray... at first it started to come out "blobby" so I thought for sure I would

be sanding everything down and starting over again.  After it dried, I decided that

I really like the look... it's an "old school" truck so it's bound to have some blemishes.

I had some blue with silver stars washi tape that I have been holding on to for

the "perfect" project and this one was it... just to give it some personality

I had some blue stars I used as the hub cap center and

I added two silver sparkly enamel dots for headlights...

 and... 2 red sparkly enamel dots for the taillights.

Since there was a spot for a "license plate" I added

a "#4" to Josh's and my Uncle Darrell's and

did a "#82" for mine.

 I used my Cameo to cut the star and my Quickutz for the numbers!

It was a fun project ... hopefully this little truck with bring us some good luck!

Go COWBOYS!!!

and... Happy Crafting!

Aggie Pride !!!

We have 5 very special birthdays from June 27th - July 25th ... and we wanted to

celebrate them all!  I wanted to find a fun gift for each of them...and when Todd

and I went shopping at Wood Creations in West Haven...

 this one caught our eye.  I didn't have a lot of time to get the gifts ready so I

bought the vinyl that was already cut and ready to go.

I did two of these... one for Suzette - my "sister from another mister" and our

long time good friend Dave. Dave and Suzette both graduated from USU and

Suzette has been working for USU for over 25 years... so she is a die-hard

Aggie fan! Dave moved back to Logan after several years away and loves

attending all of the Aggie games he can.  Todd and Dave especially love

the football and basketball games they can go to together!

I painted the wood blocks with 3 coats of Ceramcoat navy blue paint... 

then applied the vinyl. I had Todd drill a hole in the top for the wood topper

(I honestly don't remember what they are called) used wood glue to hold it in

place and added 3 different ribbons tied in a bow.

It was awesome listening to the "banter" after they opened their gifts... as to which

school is better... Ahhhh ~ we know the answer to that... Utah State!

Happy Crafting ~ Vicki

Dad's #1 Cowboy Fan Stick

 The front and back of stick...

 My Uncle Ace ~ My Daddy ~ My Uncle Darrell

Our first Memorial Day without my daddy...

With the kick off for the first game of the season just a few hours away... I find my heart is excited for the kickoff... but saddened that my daddy won't be here with us to cheer them on! My dad passed away in February and I miss him every day! 

 I made this stick for Memorial Day for him. The front has #1 Fan that I painted in Cowboys blue and then used some silver metallic chalk around the edges. Our family wears jerseys every game day...so that is why I had the #82 ~ #88 ~ #9 ~ #19 and #94 on the stick to represent each one of us.  I used the stick to hold a picture of my dad and Josh we had taken 2 years before... I first put it in a heavy sheet protector and then taped the back down so the water from the sprinklers wouldn't get it wet. Then weaved the stick in the holes to hold it up. I also added a ribbon that is not in the pictures...

Here's to a new season for the Cowboys... and a new season for my family I know my dad's going to be watching... and cheering right along with us... cussing out Romo for turning sideways when he throws... Witten dropping his passes or getting upset with the O-line for their penalties. Cowboys let's make this an awesome season and head to the Superbowl!

GO COWBOYS!

 

Dallas Cowboy & Texas Longhorn Hard Hats...

 The Freshly scrubbed white hard hat...

 Josh and Joey modeling their new hats... minus the insides that hold the hard hat up...

 I put their names inside the brim of each hard hat...

 Joey ~ Josh and Big Al with their new hard hats...

Fireworks West has been in over-drive for several weeks now... for most states the 4th of July celebration is over... but in Utah, we celebrate the entire month of July since we celebrate Pioneer Day... for those of you not familiar with Pioneer Day it is an official holiday celebrated on July 24th. It commemorates the entry of Brigham Young and the first group of Mormon pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847, where the Latter-day Saints settled after being forced from Nauvoo, Illinois and other locations in the eastern United States. Parades, firework, rodeos, and other festivities help commemorate the event.

So in getting ready for firework season... Josh sent me a picture of a Dallas Cowboy hard hat he wanted to see if I could replicate... I told him that if I did one for him... I would need to do one for Joey too... since he's my "adopted" son... and they set up and shoot all of the fireworks shows together. Josh agreed and he and Joey found the "best looking" hard hats that had the least amount of scuffing on them. Joey decided that he wanted a Texas Longhorn hard hat... and asked if I could make one for his dad, Al... aka The Boss. So in typical Vicki fashion I waited until the night before they needed them done to get started. I downloaded the official Dallas Cowboy and Texas Longhorn logos into my Silhouette Studio and worked my magic... yeah... since I use it so often it takes me forever to remember what in the heck I did the last time I used it... I really love my machine... but Pintrest has taken over my life and I don't use it near often enough!

Luckily I had the darker blue vinyl color that Josh wanted and I thought the burnt orange vinyl color was pretty close too!  Then I cut out the shapes... and put them on both sides of the hats.  Inside the brim of each one I put their names... Josh ~ Joey and Big Al.

They stopped by the office to pick them up before the show... and the boys loved them! The last picture is the night of the show... Josh had his sideways so that we could see the star... I love July and I love this men!!!

Valentine Stackers...

I'm still playing "catch up" on my blog posts... this is a cute Valentine stacker set that my mom, Kendra and I all made back in January... we painted the wood blocks in red ~ pink and black and used white and black vinyl for the lettering.

 

Stead Wedding Sign...

The Steads ~ Joshua & Kendra

Let me introduce you to my handsome son, Josh and my new beautiful daughter-in-law! They were married on August 3, 2012 they also get to share that special day with my parents who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary! Kendra wanted the sign to be in neutral colors ~ so I painted the board black used my new Cameo to cut the letters... cream for the last name and white for their first names.

Wildman Wedding Sign...

 

Payden has been Josh's best friend and my "bonus" son forever... I don't remember a time that Payd hasn't been in our lives! They played sports (they played everything) together... worked at Fireworks West packing and setting up firework shows... served missions together... yes their farewell and welcome home as well as the day they entered the Mission Training Center (I refer to it as the MTC ~ Moms Torture Chamber... but that's a story for another day!) and the day they came home were just hours apart (how many friends can say that?) ~ they double dated ~ watched The Office ~ spent countless hours talking ~ texting and playing video games.  It was a hard day when Payd and Kat were married... not because I wasn't happy for them... but that's when it sunk in that Payden wouldn't just come to the house any random time and visit or raid the cookie jar. He has been accepted to the University at Buffalo in the dental program.  I'm so proud of him and wish he and Kat all the happiness ~ they both deserve it!

I thought it would be fun to make them a wedding sign to hang up in their new home in Buffalo... Kat loves turquoise and purple.  I painted the board purple and then used my new Cameo to cut the purple vinyl.  I decided that instead of their names in turquoise I would do the lettering in white to make it "pop".  I added a claw to the back for hanging... and voila!

They were so cute and even sent me a picture of it hanging up in their apartment!  I love you guys!

Patriotic Welcome Post...

 

I love my welcome post ~ mainly because my mom and dad built it  see instructions here... I dusted off my Silhouette and picked out a font that was bold enough to see the sign from the street. I used red, white and blue vinyl and painted the background black (so it matches my post) and painted the wood star red. I'm not a real glitter fan... but I decided I wanted the star to sparkle (you can't see it in the picture ~ but it's beautiful when the sun hits it!). I attached the star with E6000 glue added the I hooks and it was ready to go!

 

Heart Glass Block...

It's been FOREVER since I've posted ~ I have all kinds of excuses... Summer ~ Craft burn out ~ Josh and Kendra's wedding ~ My engagement but I have to admit the biggest one is Pintrest! I am so addicted and any free time I have I spend... pinning! It's time to catch up and get some of these fun projects I've managed to complete ~ posted!  This one is a cute glass block with vinyl hearts... I'm a heart girl so this was perfect for me. I tied a white bow with tulle...added some white twinkle lights... perfect!

Dallas Cowboys Whoo Hooo Towel

I had bought some white flocked heat transfer material over a year ago and finally decided it would be fun to make me, Josh and My dad a whoo hooo towel for the Cowboys games.  I already had saved the star and the logo on my Silhouette... I just measured the places I wanted the flocking to go and cut it that size. I have never worked with flocking before and it would have been a snap had I used normal material... but all of the "loops" on the towel as well as the "lint" is not the easiest or best medium to adhere it to. I did really like how they turned out though... hopefully it will bring us better luck than we had yesterday!

Welcome Post...

 Halloween Welcome...

 Thanksgiving Welcome...

 The post with sign...

Some people have asked about the post that my mom and dad built.  The main post is a 4x4 cedar post... a fence cap on top and a plate that the 4x4 sits in at the bottom... a 1.4 inch maple square base that should hold up to the cold Utah weather (made by Bob Morrow - the wood man as we like to call him). The wrought iron arm post was from Home Depot and it included the little black sign holders. My dad drilled a hole in the bottom of the base and the 4x4 ... countersink the lag screw to keep it from wobbling. A coat of outdoor paint and voila... a Porch sign holder.

The signs are 2 pieces of cedar glued together... sanded and painted.  Bob (The wood man who made them for us) also drilled a small hole in the top of each one so that we could screw an I hook into the top for the sign to hang from. I then used vinyl for the sayings and some older wood cut outs from The Wood Connection.  The Halloween side has glitter on the pumpkin ~ ghost and star along with cute faces made from vinyl using my Silhouette.  The Thanksgiving side is also an older cut out along with some wire and ribbon for the embellishments.

This year the pumpkins don't have the cute vinyl faces like last year See them here... September and part of October have been filled with lots of fun on the inside my house before painting... and finally seeing the beautiful completed project...  Yeah!  Finally on the 11th of October the house was Halloween/Fall ready (only a month later than normal... but there's always next year... right?)

 

Halloween Wood Letters..

My mom is doing great at getting her Halloween and fall projects completed (I'm struggling... still!).  She was kind enough to send me her pics (sorry... the picture is a little dark).  My mom is not a fan of the bright colors for Halloween... so she changed to the the more "pastel" colors (can you use pastel and Halloween in the same sentence?) The pumpkin does have a cute face cut out of vinyl (I love my Silhouette) as well as the inking around the edges and the cute ribbons for the final touch.  The stackers are the same as the one I posted previously... but I hated how I put the vinyl on the "apples" log... it slanted some.  I like how this one turned out much better... I like having 3 different fonts!

Custom Dallas Cowboy Mailbox...

 Front and right side...

 Back...

 Front and left side... it sits so close to the neighbors mailbox

that I didn't put the street number on this side...

 Front...

 Side view...

 A "thank you" on the inside lid so every time

I get my mail... my mail carrier gets a thanks!

 My inspiration! Okay lets be honest... Tony is a cutie...
but my true inspiration came from his "throw-back" helmet!

I figured it was time for a new look from last years Cowboy mailbox makeover - see it here.  I used my Silhouette to cut out all of the vinyl and Josh put it on the post today so we are ready to go... I don't know about you... but I'm ready for some football!  Woohooo!

Rooster Plate...

I thought the plates were a little plaint and needed a little something... since the majority of my "rooster stuff" is on top of my cabinets... I thought I would just add this little pop to the plate to keep the rooster theme continuing down below too...