Sunday School - Make yourself a floral frog

I know, I know, many of you are thinking "What do flowers and frogs have to do with crafting?" Well, I promise, there's a correlation, just keep reading! (And if you already know, kudos to you!). 

Every once in a while on a blog, or in a magazine, you will see cards being displayed on a very cute little stand that looks like a metal brush head.  Here’s an example from Martha Stewart (she uses them as placecard stands). 

Well, I thought they were a fun way to display papercrafts, and upon googling, figured out that they are floral frogs – used to hold flowers in place before foam took over.  They come in all shapes, sizes and designs, and the vintage ones I found on the internet are design pieces in their own right.  If you live near a flea market, or a great thrift shop, you might be able to find one for yourself.  Maybe even a search on Craigslist or Ebay could net you one.  I thought it didn’t seem to be too difficult of a task to try to make one myself (since I don’t live near a flea market and never have good luck on Ebay).  So I did, and here is how.

What you will need:

Wooden block

Size and shape is up to you, but you do need it to be at least ½” thick. You can get small precut pieces at craft stores or hardware stores.  (I would recommend buying real wood, not MDF – you’ll see why)

Scratch paper

Ruler

2” circle punch (optional)

Spray Paint

Nails (about an inch or so longer than your piece of wood)

Drill

Hammer

Sandpaper

First step is to make a grid for your drilling guide.  I punched out a 2” inch circle (because it would fit nicely on my piece of wood).

On the circle, I made a dot for the center, then made marks at each half mark across the circle’s diameter.  Turning my ruler 90 degrees, I did the same ½” marks again.  Then I drew lines across the marks, making a grid that looks like this:

Notice, that I made “X” marks on the places where the lines met on only TWO of the horizontal lines. For the middle row, I made “X” marks in the middle of the places where the lines meet (so at the ¼” mark, then 1/2" inch apart - clear as mud?).

Now it’s ready for drilling!  Tape the grid onto the place you’d like to drill.

Using a drill bit that is just a little smaller than the thickness of your nails, drill holes where the “X” marks are on your grid.  A tip: if you don’t have a workplace good for drilling, turn a cardboard box upside down and use it for a table (so you won’t drill holes in anything else).  A thick piece of foam would also work. 

(Note: This step is where I learned that buying a piece of MDF wasn’t the brightest thing to do.  It takes forever to drill a hole in MDF! If you noticed, I switched over to a nice piece of wood and my holes were drilled in less than a minute.)

Now, insert your nails from the back.  Hammer them into place securely (again on top of your cardboard box if you need it).  A couple of my nails are a bit crooked, but it won't matter in the finished product.

Ready for some spray painting!  Turn your cardboard box on its side and use it for a shield if you’d like.  Cover the nails and wood with paint according to the directions.  I had to coat mine twice for an even color. 

Now you have your very own stands for your cards, or layouts.  You could even make an extra long one to house your embellishments in a creative way.  Here's my new one in action...(the cute fish paper is from the Bella Blvd "Boys" Steal - take a look at this great bundle, there are a few left on the past steals page.)

Have a great day, and Happy Crafting!