Religious Cross Altar Box

After spending days and days dreamily floating through Rachel Ashwell's new book,

immersed in beautiful bedrooms, enchanting entryways, fabulous flowers,

and luscious living rooms,

needless to say ~ I was in heaven.

As I slowly turned each page, my eyes landed on a beautiful vintage cross altar box.
I remembered that my friends, Tausha and Stephanie had created their own.

I decided to try my hand at making one, too. 

Although I am not Catholic, but a Protestant (brought up in the reformed church),
I loved the vintage look this small altar box had

and knew that it would add a serene, inspiring feeling to Heaven's Walk.

While perusing the aisles at Michael's,

I found a small wooden trinket box,

wood pieces to make a cross.

a thick wood piece for the bottom,
and a thin one for the back.

I glued the thick base onto the box and let it dry for a couple hours.

Next, I glued the thin piece of wood onto the back,
resting on the hinges.
I also used tiny brads to nail it in place to make it sturdier.

I measured out the cross,
cutting off any extra inches for the horizontal piece.
Using tiny brads and nailing in from the back, I secured the two pieces together.

Then, centering the cross on top of the box,
I nailed it from the back to the back piece.

A quick swish of stain, some drying time, 

a splash of white chalk paint,

a bit of distressing ~
and it was completed.

It quietly reminds me of the cross we have up in the front of my church.
During Lent, it is always draped with a swath of white silk.

A gentle reminder that I have so much to be thankful for...

Whispering eucharisteo...


~  Blessings ~

[And in gratitude to all of you, I'm planning a sweet giveaway very soon.

Stay tuned!]

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Tangled Prairie Hearts Tutorial

The wait is finally over!
Many of you emailed me requesting a tutorial on the tangled prairie hearts I made last month.

Since my supplies finally arrived, I can now share with you how I made them ~
just in time for Valentine's Day.

Gather up the following items:

suede lacing

22 gauge wire

metal puffed hearts

mini wire cutter

needle nose pliers

pretty little pink crocheted basket to hold your supplies (optional) 

:)

The metal hearts I purchased are from Hobby Lobby.

Michael's carries them, too.

They come in a three pack ~ one silver, one copper, one gold ~

all strung on a little gold chain.

Using wire cutters, snip each heart from the chain

leaving the one larger link attached to the heart.

You'll use that one to thread the leather through.

Take your wire and clip several pieces about 2" long,

and one longer piece about 5" long.

Cut a piece of suede lace

and tie it in a loop.

You can make this as large or as small as you like.

Lay this aside for the moment.

Take the spool of suede lace

and thread one end through one of the hearts. 

Fold it up and wrap it with a small piece of the wire.

Thread the heart through the loop you previously made

adjusting the length for the second heart you'll attach next.

I just eyeballed this each time, staggering the hearts as I went.

Do this for each heart, for as many hearts as you want on your tangle.

I like to use an odd number, so I chose seven of them.

I completed four of them here.

When you're finished attaching and looping your hearts,

lift up the large leather loop and adjust the hearts so that they hang in a staggered fashion.

Take the long piece of wire you previously cut

and wrap it numerous times around the gathered cords just below the leather loop.

Lift them up, 

listen to their rustic tinkling sound,

and hang them some place sweet

for Valentine's Day.

[or give them away to someone special.]

:)

Laying on a bed of lace on my prairie table...

Hanging on a crocheted curtain...

Dangling over a Shabby Chic apron on the kitchen frantel...

Draped over the corner of a vintage rose painting in my bedroom.

I spent the day creating many of them to sell in my booth this spring.

From my ♥ to yours....

Happy Valentine's Day

~  Blessings  ~

PS ~ Heaven's Walk is sharing a booth with Doster Emporium at the Allegan Flea Market in May!
Stop by and see us! There will be lots of wonderful treasures to buy!

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