The Gate...the stud...and the vellum

One of my lovely followers saw my Moss Cross post and asked me about my gate and how I did the vellum.  I am so glad she did, because it's quite easy and a great story!

Do you want the "how to" first or the story?  Hmmmm....I gotta tell ya the story first!

Maybe 10 years ago, I found these two pieces of iron at a salvage yard.  It was when "gates" of all sorts were in high demand.  I loved that these pieces weren't perfect...they both had some chunks missing...but what was left was beautiful!

So at some point before I purchased them, I figured out that they actually fit together.  When I lined them up, they FIT!  WOW....I could actually hang them together like one piece of fencing or gate.  I think I paid around $35 for both pieces.  I was thrilled!!  I had seen "gates" go for $200 and up.

Got them home, and because they are iron...they had to be hung on studs because they weigh a ton!  This all occurred while at our previous house, so we're talking sheetrock.

My sweet hubby was in charge of finding the studs.

 (I have a stud finder....and he's quite the STUD! lol... sorry, couldn't resist) 

He also had to figure out how to hang these pieces together, and might I add...

centered above the entryway table.

Just a sec....

had to go find the "studman" and give him a little kiss!!

OK...where was I?  Oh yes, so I had envisioned hanging a sign on the 

"gate" with the verse on it.

Needless to say, because of where the studs landed...the pieces had to be hung apart...so this space was created between them.  I remember being a little frustrated, and my mind was racing as I tried to sleep that night.  Then it came to me...stencil the verse on the wall in the space between.  Ahh Haaa!!   It worked!

The iron gate hung there in our entryway, with the verse stenciled in dark brown.  I loved the fact that as people came into our home, they were greeted with God's Word...

 When we built our current home,

we wanted to bring the outside in, and decided to enhance the entryway wall with the same stone that was on the outside of the house.  I just love all the colors in this stone mixture....Palomino, I think it's called.

That presented a problem...because I couldn't stencil on the stone.

For 6 years, I've been trying to figure out how to get that verse back on my wall.

Do you feel my pain???

I envisioned aged paper, real papyrus or vellum...I had tons of vellum, so I printed it on several pages, and tore out the words.  Then I tried every glue dot, adhesive strip, tape runner that the scrapbooking sections offered, but it just wouldn't stick.  The stone is a bit crumbly, so I'd find it all on the floor.

I sorta gave up for awhile and didn't really think about it.  Then, you know how you see something, and you file that idea away in your head.  Then weeks later, you remember something about it that you can apply to what you're working on.

As I finished my moss cross, and played around with that vignette...I was thinking how great it would be if I could figure out a way to get that verse on my gate.

Then I remembered seeing Nan's mod podge lampshade, where she had attached charms on the edge with embroidery thread.  You can find her cute idea here at You Can Make That!

I pictured the verse on torn vellum, attached with embroidery thread to the pieces of iron on either side.  I drew out my stitch plan...made a word document using Papyrus font...played with the size a bit to emphasize the important words...put a sheet of vellum in the printer tray and hit print.  

My printer is inkjet, so when it finished printing, I just laid it out to dry.

Then I began tearing the edges.  All you do, is use your left thumb as a guide and tear with your right hand, slowly so that it comes off in one piece if possible. 

I used 2 embroidery threads and knotted the end.  With my needle, I came up from underneath on the vellum, then wrapped around iron, then went back through first hole and brought that one down and attached 1/2 inch below first hole.

I just tied and knotted each corner thread to the iron piece. 

 (I think I even left the extra dangling...lol)

As long as you duplicate it on all 4 corners, it'll look great!  It didn't work just like I had drawn it out, so I just made it work.

I love the way it is suspended there in between the iron pieces.  

I think I was more tickled with how the vellum verse came out than I was the Moss Cross!  This was my 2nd moss cross.  The first one finally fell apart, so I was making it again, but since this house has double front doors, I decided to prop it up against the stone wall and gate.

So, once again, people get to see God's Word as they enter my house!

Thank you Mary Beth, for teaching me the 7 "I Am's" from the book of John study...so many years ago...those verses have always stuck with me and this one...John 10:9 is certainly a favorite of mine!

And Thank You Kelly, for asking about the gate and vellum verse!

Also...you can find my Moss Cross DIY featured here in the First Spring Edition of Inspired by Family Magazine.  Such an honor to be included with this group of folks who love the Lord...may God be glorified!!
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