Seasonal Blocks - a word for every season!

I have been wanting to make a set of seasonal wood blocks for a very long time. Seriously, like before pinterest even came out. I found this fabulous idea from Kierste at Simply Kierste who got the idea from Little Birdie Secrets. I finally made a set (and then I gave them away...so I will have to make another set soon!)

Anyway, they are super cute and they can spell a variety of words because there is a letter on each of the four sides. So you can leave them up all year if you want to.

I went to Home Depot to get a large 4x4. And then I had them cut it into squares. TIP: A 4x4 post is actually more like 3.75x3.75, so measure first to know what size the cuts should be in order to make squares. I now have a gazillion blocks. And you only need 7 blocks for this project - so I will be coming up with more creative ways to use them soon.

I painted my blocks white with some leftover wall paint. The wood really eats the paint up, so spray paint is not your best option. I also used leftover wall paint for the letters.

Then I thought about cutting out letters with my cricut, but that seemed like an awful lot of cutting and placing to do, so I bought a pack of 3 inch stencils instead! They worked well. I watched about 8 episodes of Cake Boss on Amazon Prime while stenciling away.

Here's the letters that go on each block:

Block 1: H, Y, E, D

Block 2: A, C, R, S

Block 3: R, P, E, T

Block 4: V, N, L, O

Block 5: E, O, M, D

Block 6: S, M, K, I

Block 7: T, F, B, W

BLOCK 1- H, Y, E, D
BLOCK 2- A, C, R, S
BLOCK 3- R, P, E, T
BLOCK 4- V, N, L, O
BLOCK 5- E, O, M, D
BLOCK 6- S, M, K, I
BLOCK 7- T, F, B, W - See more at: http://simplykierste.com/2009/09/seasonal-wood-blocks.html#sthash.zjnlTgnE.dpuf

BLOCK 1- H, Y, E, D
BLOCK 2- A, C, R, S
BLOCK 3- R, P, E, T
BLOCK 4- V, N, L, O
BLOCK 5- E, O, M, D
BLOCK 6- S, M, K, I
BLOCK 7- T, F, B, W - See more at: http://simplykierste.com/2009/09/seasonal-wood-blocks.html#sthash.zjnlTgnE.dpuf

BLOCK 1- H, Y, E, D
BLOCK 2- A, C, R, S
BLOCK 3- R, P, E, T
BLOCK 4- V, N, L, O
BLOCK 5- E, O, M, D
BLOCK 6- S, M, K, I
BLOCK 7- T, F, B, W - See more at: http://simplykierste.com/2009/09/seasonal-wood-blocks.html#sthash.zjnlTgnE.dpuf

 And here's a few of my favorite words!

All of the words that you can spell are:
Harvest, Welcome, Friends, Faith, Family, Spooky, Winter, Freedom, Blessed, Snow, Home, Hope, Monster, Mother, Madre, Dream, Easter

How fun is that? Go make them and then show me how they turn out!
 

BLOCK 1- H, Y, E, D
BLOCK 2- A, C, R, S
BLOCK 3- R, P, E, T
BLOCK 4- V, N, L, O
BLOCK 5- E, O, M, D
BLOCK 6- S, M, K, I
BLOCK 7- T, F, B, W - See more at: http://simplykierste.com/2009/09/seasonal-wood-blocks.html#sthash.zjnlTgnE.dpuf

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My Chevron and Birdie Initial H

Michael's has been having AMAZING clearance and sales lately - so I got my craft on and made this beautiful chevron H :)

I picked up this letter H for $1.99 and these little birds for about $.19 or $.29 each - I don't exactly remember. I also grabbed some for a friend.

I have been loving on the chevron lately and I had the purple border pictured that I used as a stencil. (The unpainted letters were cheaper, but they were out of H's, plus now I get to skip a step!)

Step 1: Trace the chevron stencil onto the letter. I used pencil.

Step 2: Paint in the chevrons. The color I ended up using is Americana, called Mississippi Mud. I did two coats, then debated about fixing it up and doing another coat...and then decided it looked just fine from a little distance away! Just don't look closely!!

Step 3: Paint the little birdies.

Step 4: After trying about 15 different placements for the birds, give up, and just go with your first idea. I glued them one with some Elmer's.

Step 5: Display!

Well, that was a fun and easy project! I love adding new items to my shelf.

Remember how I said I picked up materials for my friend too? Here's how hers turned out. I absolutely love the gray and blues! Too bad we don't have the same initial or I might steal it! :)

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My little Oreo & Free Stuff for Puppies/Dogs

 I absolutely love having a puppy (okay, she's technically a "dog" but i think I'll always call her a puppy because she's just so darn cute) and it's also been fun finding free stuff for dogs since we've gotten her! I figure I have to share some of these deals for the rest of you who have puppies (or okay, dogs) as well!

First, quite a few things are free for pets that are adopted from shelters. At the shelter we got her from (PAWS), she was already spayed/neutered, mirco chipped, and up-to-date on all shots. Plus we got a free vet visit within the first two weeks (which worked out great because we got her antibiotics to help with the kennel cough she had). And no matter what shelter you adopt from, you can get free food for a month from Pedigree! So if you've adopted a dog recently, sign up here for free pet food.

 The treats in that picture, my husband and I got for free from liking Natural Balance's facebook page - sadly they no longer have the free coupons, but they do have other coupons so it might be worth it.

Right now, you can sign up for a free Iam's Welcome kit, which says you'll receive offers and coupons. I only just signed up, so we'll see what happens there! I follow Raining Hot Coupons to stay up to date with deals and is where I heard about the two I just mentioned.

Oreo loves her toys...and she also loves tearing them up as you can see above! Ha! So since it is garage sale season I've been picking up cheap stuffed animals and storing them so I can change them out after she has pulled all of the stuffing out of them!

I have also gotten Oreo a few treats on Doggy Loot. You get $5 for free for signing up through a referral link, plus shipping is always free too. What they carry changes frequently, but I have gotten her an elk antler (which are amazing, they're clean and they last forever - she LOVES it!) and all natural pet treats for under $5 with the credit (one under my name and the other with my husband's). Plus, if you refer someone who buys something, you get $10! (The link above is my referral link so if you use it I will get credit and so will you!)

If you follow me on Instagram (@breezybriejoy), you'll see Oreo featured occasionally :)
Picture 1: Where she waits for me every morning as I get ready.
Picture 2: Why we can't leave her in the house out of her cage when we're gone - she'll try to escape to find us! But at least we learned how to replace our window screens.
Picture 3: Kevin and I were having some drinks and Oreo really badly wanted in on it. We gave her an ice cube instead. Fair trade, right?

So, any other dog deals/coupons that you do? Please share!

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