Blog Swap-Craft Goodies

Today I'm doing a really fun swap over at Craft Goodies. 

 Her blog is one of my favorite blogs. She was one of the first link parties I joined in on. I'm very honered to be her guest . Truly, she is just amazing and super creative talented!  The things this lady can do with a block of wood! She has a very, very cool summery tutorial for us. 
Thank you Wendy! 
Be Sure to chick over the her blog and check me out today too! 

Hello to all you Glitter lovers out there!
I'm Wendy from Craft Goodies!  

My blog is my escape from my real life of running 5 little girls around town and trying to keep up with my husbands crazy busy work/school schedule. On it you'll find everything I love-good food, fun projects,  some of my own, a few borrowed from others, snippets of my family life, and any and all other craziness I can write about. I started my blog as a way to keep in touch with my crafty friends after a big move from Washington state to Southern Texas. It has grown into a place I love to be, that and my kids think it's pretty cool that their mom has a "job". So if you ever stop by and check me out, you'll find that I am by far a girl that loves her power tools and a good wood project. That's what I want to share with you today!   Summer means picnic season and every good picnic needs a great basket to pack your goodies in, so, let's make one.

You can grab (almost) everything you'll need at your local craft store, I found mine at Hobby Lobby.

You'll need:

2 rectangle shaped wood plaques

 3/8 inch dowel

and 9 5-gallon paint stir sticks

 (you can buy these at Walmart for .28 cents each or ask at your local hardware store)

You'll need to cut your dowel and paint sticks down to size. I cut mine at 10.5 inches long.

You'll also need to drill a hole into the top of each wood plaque for the handle. Use a 3/8 inch bit and drill all the way through the plaque about an inch down from the top center edge.

Next you'll assemble the basket...

Either nail or glue 3 paint sticks onto each of the bottom and two sides of the rectangle plaque.

 

Almost done! Add a bit of wood glue to the inside of each of the holes that you drilled and then slide the dowel into place. 

Guess what? Basket's done! Now on to the fun part...decorating!

You can either paint the watermelon slices onto the plaques or decoupage paper onto the ends like I did. Just trace out the plaque onto your paper, round off the bottom edges, distress if you like, and adhere into place.

Add a few black buttons for seeds, some ribbon if you like and your super cute picnic basket is ready to go! Just pack her full of your favorite picnic goodies and you'll be the envy of the park.

Thanks so much for letting me visit today! I'd love to have you at my place anytime. Enjoy your summer and happy crafting!