I will craft.......

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Oh my, new crafts supplies…

2012-02-07T08:20:00.000-06:00

Maybe I should say new craft supplies from Oh My Crafts!

Yesterday when I got home from my first day at a new job I was happy to see two packages, the Mark Montano book I won and a order of crafty goodness I placed last week.

I’ve seen the name Oh My Crafts! around for quite a while but only recently went to their website and did some looking which quickly lead to shopping.

I’m happy to tell you that I was very happy to find some great deals on items I’ve wanted and a few that I didn’t know I needed until I saw them. :) I found lots of great items and didn’t spend too much money. Just so you know, these are all my opinions, I’m not getting anything but joy from sharing my craft finds with you.

The first think I found that I knew I had to buy was this stamp and die cut set.

And this one. There were a couple other ones that I liked too but I thought I’d use these two the most.

The best part about the sets was that one was $12 and one was $14.99 – they are priced $25.99 in my local craft store. Even if I had a 40% off coupon I couldn’t get them for those prices.

Then I fell in love with these pleated paper pieces from Bazzill. At only 99 cents each I picked up three colors.

I know these Cuttlebug dies are a bit older but at $.19 to $.99 I couldn’t pass them up. Yep you read that right one of these dies was only $.19! They were $.19, $.29, $.39 and $.99 each.

I think I might have found a bad site for me since I love scrounging around and finding crafty deals and my ~~stash~~, supplies don’t need new additions.

I can’t wait to craft with my new supplies.

June

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Thanks Mark

2012-02-06T22:00:00.001-06:00

Last week I was lucky enough to win a giveaway on Mark Montano blog. I won his Big-Ass Book of Crafts 2 and a complete set of Krylon’s Glitter Blast. I was very excited when I found out I won and can’t believe the book arrived so fast. The paint will come later so I get another surprise later.

Here’s the book if you haven’t heard or seen it:

One of the best parts – it’s got a personal message from Mark.

After just glancing through the book I found a couple crafts that really stood out to me like this cardboard vase. I recently pinned something similar.

How fun is the wiffle ball pencil holder? I wonder if I’d get strange looks if I made it and took it to my new job?

And in case you are looking for something a bit more eclectic or kitsch, how about a baby head night light?

I can’t wait to really sit down and go through this book and see all the fun and funky crafts. Want one of your own? You can purchase the book at most book stores or follow Mark’s blog for a chance to win your own. I think he has giveaways every other week. Plus you get a peak at his craftiness with all the projects he features on his blog.

I know I’ve been a bit sporadic in my postings since I haven’t been too crafty lately and I’m afraid it might get even more sporadic now that I started working outside the home again. I’m hoping to find a good balance of work and craft.

Thanks,

June

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Last set of Love Me Do cards

2012-01-30T15:11:00.001-06:00

Since it’s been a few days I thought I’d share the last of the cards I made from the Love Me Do paper kit I’ve been showing you cards from.

I used a bunch of rub-ons to accent a few of the cards.

I think the photo corners were the last of the embellishments from the paper kit that I used.

I loved the swirly design on one of the sheets so cut it out for an accent which I highlighted with decorative stick pins.

I’ve had the pins for a while and finally used them all up on these cards.

I kept a few of the card fairly simple letting the pattern paper shine.

In a ‘use what you have’ moment I used some ribbon trim I got in a grab bag of goodies from one of my sisters for an accent on this card. I can only imagine it was meant for a little girls dress so something similar but made it’s way to my card.

I love that you can sometimes customize paper flowers with ink to match the papers you are using.

I can’t believe that I was able to make 30 full size cards and 21 mini cards from a $3 paper pack. Since I have a pretty good stock of cardstock I was able to find various colors of solid papers to go with the colors in the pattern papers.

Next time you find a good deal on a paper kit made for scrapbooking think outside the scrapbook and make cards. I’m sure you have items in your stash that you can use with them like I did.

If you want to see the other cards I made from this kit be sure to check them out day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4, day 5, day 6 or the mini cards here and here.

June

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Chalkboard Heart Wreath

2012-01-27T13:12:00.001-06:00

It was time to swap out my vintage holiday wreath for something different. I knew with all the great wreaths I’ve seen with a picture frame as the base that I wanted to do something with one of the many frames I have.

Here is what I came up with.

Do you love it as much as I do?

I knew I couldn’t spend a lot of money and wanted something heart shaped and just about did a happy dance when I saw a chalkboard heart in the dollar spot section at Target. It was $2.50 and I knew it was perfect for a valentine wreath.

The chalkboard came with a felt covered chalk stick attached and ready to use to make a personalized message.

I used two sheets of the kraft valentine paper I picked up last weekend for less than 10 cents a piece to make a large rosette. I had the frame on hand. It was part of my gallery wall.

I thought “Be Kind” was a great reminder to see everyday.

My chalkboard wreath is now hanging on my door so please feel free to stop by and leave me a message. :)

June

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$3 Thursday – Love book bundle

2012-01-26T09:28:00.001-06:00

To keep with the valentine theme I thought I’d share a book bundle I made and shared last year.

I think it looks great with the mini ornate frames I shared here.

I tore off the cover from a couple old encyclopedias, taped them together and stamped on the cover and spine with various love themed stamps.

I used a wide ribbon to help hold the books together.

I decorated a corner with some crepe paper rolled roses.

This was a fun project I made with things I had on hand, old encyclopedias, stamps, ink, ribbon and crepe paper.

Supplies:

Old books

Love themed stamps

Ink

Ribbon

Crepe paper or other material to make roses

Total cost: $0* as all items were from my supplies.

* If you want crepe paper check out dollar stores for inexpensive rolls. If you don’t have old books or don’t want to rip covers off your books you could cover books you have on hand in craft or butcher paper and stamp on that so your books are not damaged. Then after the holiday you can take the covers off and keep for next year or throw them away.

June

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A trip to the mall and a jackpot

2012-01-23T12:53:00.001-06:00

This past weekend I dropped my daughter off at the mall so I had a few hours to myself to do a little browsing. I really didn’t plan on spending much if any money as my budget is rather tight right now.

I did however have $10 left from a gift card to Tuesday Morning so I decided to make that one of the stores I stopped at. They had new paper in stock and I narrowed it down to 4 packs at $1.99 each. Really how can you resist 25 sheets of 12 X 12 papers for 2 bucks?

It really is more paper than I need as I have bookshelves of paper but what’s a little more? Three of the papers have yellow in them and I found a pack of matching ribbon for only $1.99.

Even if I use only a few sheets I think the packs are worth it as usually paper at my local craft stores is $.59 to $.99 for the plain cardstock or thin pattern paper and the detailed or glittered paper is $1.49 to $2.49 a sheet. Two of the packs I bought have glitter on them and one had embossed images. Score!

The papers all have a solid background so they are perfect papers for my card making. I can use the solid and pattern as coordinating layers.

I think the papers and ribbon was a great use of the rest of my holiday money.

The last store I decided to stop at was Michael’s and – JACKPOT – 90% off the remaining fall and Christmas items. The last time I was there it was 70% off and I was happy with the frames that I used for the Mini Love Frames at $.45 each.

There were no frames left since I pretty bought them all before but I did find some other great items. Most will be used as card accents but I did find some great coasters as well that I’ll recover in some recycled leather and add them to my Etsy store.

Please forgive the bad pictures but here is the loot…

Can you believe I picked up 42 items for $8.44!! Whoo Hoo. That keeps in the spirit of not spending much and getting a lot of new things to play with.

I loved these rhinestone accents – I even used one on a card already for a order of thank you cards that I mailed out today. I only wish there were more of them, I dug through and picked out all of the thanks and left the fall and autumn words that were there since I wasn’t sure how I’d use them.

I restrained myself and only bought two or each of the rub on packs. I love the antique feel to them and think they will make great accents on cards.

I always love rhinestone accents but only one of the packs was from the 90% off, the others were just over half off. The snowflake buttons will make great accents after I snip off the button shank.

I have a few packs of coasters but these Christmas print ones are a lot thicker than most so I think they will make great bases for my recycled leather coasters.

These envelope seals are fun and I think a little rub and buff will transform them into metallic beauties.

I love finding silk flower accents. They are easy to take apart and use the blooms on my cards and usually save me quite a of money and are a bit more unique than the ones in the scrapbook section.

I guess I have my daughter to thank for all the great deals I found this weekend. For under $20 I got a ton of craft supplies. Don’t overlook the holiday clearance section if you don’t need more holiday decorations, you never know what you will find and how easy it will be to transform into something beautiful.

I didn’t plan on going shopping and wouldn’t have unless she wanted to go to the mall for a bit to hang out with her friends, but I’m glad I did.

June

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Love Me Do cards – day 6

2012-01-22T16:33:00.001-06:00

Once I used most of the die cut accents that came with the paper kit I decided to make a few rosettes and use them as accents.

I also used a new Cuttlebug Fanciful Labels embossing folder.

I usually use a brad or other accent for the center of the rosettes rather than the paper punch that comes with the die I use.

A button and floss make a great center.

When I don’t want as much bulk as the rosette usually has, I smash it a bit to reduce the bulk and make them easier to mail.

June

Love Me Do cards – day 5

2012-01-20T10:03:00.001-06:00

Here are six more cards I created with the Love Me Do paper kit.

I just love how versatile this kid is.

Can you believe that I’ve already made 14 unique cards with one card kit and I still have more to share.

I was even able to make a card with no red or bright colors on it. This card just screams spring to me.

I layered two of the die cuts and brought even more attention to it with ribbon attaching it to the card.

Another layered die cut but with a floss accent attaching them together.

I hope you are not too tired of love themed cards as I still have a few more to show you. I ended up using all but a few scraps of the paper kit. I wanted to see how many cards I could make from it.

June

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$3 Thursday – Love frames

2012-01-19T01:14:00.001-06:00

I know at least one of my readers will be happy to see that I’m finally sharing a non-card craft. She’s been asking me for about two months what I’ve been crafting besides cards.

I found some great ornate mini frames at an after Christmas clearance sale and knew I had to pick them up as they would be perfect for a valentine display.

I really am surprised that there were any of these frames left but maybe most people were only looking at them as picture frames and didn’t have a use for such small frames.

Lucky for me I guess.

This really isn’t much of a craft as the great damask background was already in the frames. I picked out four frames, (Well those of you who really know me know that I picked up more than four of the frames, more crafts to follow I think.) and love stickers from my supply.

You may be lucky enough to find these or similar frames at Michael’s, where I bought mine at. I think they have similar ones in the bridal section two for $3.

Edit: I was at Michael's last week and they had these same style frames in their dollar bins for $1.50 each in bright, spring colors and also in some more muted colors that look antique glazed frames.

I originally planned on die cutting some letters out but then I remembered that I had these letters in my stash. I even remember buying these stickers last year for only a dollar. I bought them at Target which usually had a good selection of seasonal embellishments for only a dollar.

Since my stickers were layered and I wanted them to stand out I just stuck them to the front of the frame.

Seriously I did tell you this was hardly a craft at all. I think the hardest part of the ‘crafting’ was getting the frames out of the plastic bags.

If you attempt this hard craft project you might want to take the plastic, not glass, insert to cut down on the reflection but it does make moving the stickers around easier since you don’t have to worry about ripping the paper.

I’m hoping to be able to take the stickers off and change the letters to make new words to display seasonally.

I have more of all but the white frame so I can create longer words. I’m thinking I might display either bliss, create or inspire for in my crafting area.

In the end I’m in love with my Ornate Mini Love Frames as they are now but can’t wait to update them.

Supplies:

Mini frames $.45 each

Love stickers $1.00

Total cost: $2.90

I found my frames on clearance but you should be able to find similar frames for around a dollar each. Look beyond the frame color if you don’t like the color as these could easily be spray painted another color. I thought about using identical frames but liked the different colors and shapes of these frames, they screamed valentine to me.

I’d love to hear from you if you make a similar craft inspired by this one.

June

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More mini love cards

2012-01-18T12:34:00.001-06:00

I had so much fun making the first batch of mini cards I showed yesterday that after making a few more standard size cards I went back and made more mini cards to use more of the mini card bases I have.

Most of the cards I made have the lovebirds on them but a few are a bit more generic and would make great tags for gifts. I expect to go to an anniversary party later this month and think one of these tags will be a great gift tag.

I used a bit of glitter to accent a few of the hearts.

I ended up making 19 mini cards. I’m not sure if the package only had 19 cards or if it had 20 and I used one of them in the past. Or more likely, I might have taken one out searching for inspiration, never found it so added the card to my scrap box.

I actually have two more sets of these mini cards in my stash and now am sure that I’ll find a use for them soon.

June

Mini love card set

2012-01-17T16:51:00.001-06:00

While I was crafting with the paper kit I recently bought I decided to make a few mini cards. I had some red and blue card 3” cards that matched the papers. I usually don’t make mini cards but since I had them from a grab bag I thought they would be fun to make with some of the papers and accents from the paper kit.

I like the simplicity of the mini cards.

Rhinestone accents and be fairly expensive so when I check for larger pieces that can be cut into smaller accents. The one about was 1/3 of a larger accent.

I think these mini cards would be great as gift tags, lunchbox notes or as a small thinking of you note to a loved one.

Most of the rub-ons were a inexpensive find. They were from the dollar section of Target. If you watch you can really get some fun accents for only a dollar.

What projects are you working on right now?

June

Love Me Do cards – day 4

2012-01-16T12:01:00.001-06:00

I hope you are not getting too sick of cards from this paper kit but here are two more.

This is another card that doesn’t scream valentine to me, it could be used for many occasions.

I tried some stitching but as you can see the machine I used doesn’t like zig zag very much! It likes to skip stitches but I think it just adds to the unique, handmade character of this card. You can just concentrate on the cute ribbon and pin accenting the flower.

I’m not exactly sure what Love Me Do is suppose to mean but it didn’t mean I wasn’t going to use the accent on a card. :)

Again I cut out my own accent and even layered it a bit to add some dimension to the card.

June

Love Me Do cards – day 3

2012-01-15T12:39:00.000-06:00

Here are a few more valentine/love themed cards.

I cut out another balloon and a heart to create a few more accents for this card.

I added a bit of glitter bling to the accents to help them ‘pop’ off the card.

I love the look of banners on cards and other projects so I decided to stamp a few on this card.

The stamps were purchased at the same time as the paper kit for a whole twelve and a half cents for three stamp! They were marked $.25 but everything was half off that day. Another deal I couldn’t pass up and add to my supplies.

Thanks for stopping by.

June

Love Me Do cards – day 2

2012-01-14T12:30:00.000-06:00

Here are a few more cards I created with the Love Me Do paper kit.

I loved the die cut elements from this pack, they are the perfect accents.

I did add a bit of glitter to the wing along with some sheer ribbon behind it to bring a bit more movement and texture to this card.

I made my own die cut for this card – I cut out one of the balloons to create a focal image for this card to compliment the flower accent and ribbon.

I love the bling on this flower, it looks like it was picked just after a rain.

June

I’m back….

2012-01-13T12:14:00.001-06:00

I can’t believe it has been two months since I’ve posted anything. It was an unplanned departure from blogging over the holiday season. I was just not doing much of anything crafty and didn’t have the inspiration to blog about anything. I think there were even weeks when I didn’t even search other blogs to see all the crafty inspiration out there.

I hope you all had a great holiday season and your new year is starting out well.

After the holidays I found some great deals on some papers and finally sat down last night and made a few cards. For the next couple days I’ll show you some cards I made from this paper kit.

It is called Love Me Do from My Mind’s Eye. I got it for only $2 so how could I pass it up? Well, as you see, I didn’t pass it up. So far I made 8 cards and only used a few of the papers and die cuts from the pack. I did use a some ribbon, flowers, pin, glitter, ink and stamps from my supplies.

This die cut was just about all this card needed but I added a bit of bling to make it stand out a bit more.

The pearl sprig was from the bridal section of a local discount store. I but them down a bit so the strings were not all the same length.

I had this flower in my supplies, I added a bit a blue ink to help it match the papers just a bit more.

I slit the anchor to put it around the center of the flower for a simple card.

I love this paper pack and knew immediately that it would make great valentine cards. I love the non-traditional blue and yellow colors with the red. I think they make great valentine, just because or even anniversary cards.

What do you think, would you send these cards for something other than valentines day?

June

$3 Thursday – Chalkboard fabric

2011-11-17T14:04:00.001-06:00

One of the great things about blogging is all the wonderful ideas I find when I’m looking at other blogs. One recent thing I became aware of is chalkboard or blackboard fabric. Yes, chalkboard fabric, no priming, drying, painting, drying, painting, drying and painting again.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love my chalkboard paint, especially spray paint but fabric you could cut and shape how you want, I had to try it. Oh, add the fact that it is relatively ~~cheap~~ inexpensive – sold. I found mine at Jo-Ann's for $5 a yard. Use a coupon and you can have ready to use chalkboard for $2.50 a yard.

It is a thick, vinyl material that sort of reminds me of old vinyl tablecloths. Since it is vinyl it have a bit of a smell but I noticed that after sitting for a while it dissipates. I bought my fabric over a month ago and don’t notice any smell now.

The chalkboard fabric made this chalkboard a rather quick and easy transformation.

I repurposed this frame with a little bit of paint and the chalkboard fabric.

I took the picture out and sprayed the image with glue and smoothed on the fabric when the glue was tacky.

Quick and simple.

I painted the frame with a colonial red paint with a little bit of black and shimmer paint and then I lightly distressed the frame.

I love the pop of color the red frame gives, to a quick fall decor.

The frame matches my couch and brings some darker color to my living room which it needed.

Just like chalkboard paint you need to ‘season’ this with chalk before you write on it so you don’t ‘burn’ your image into it.

I’m loving my new chalkboard and have other projects in mind for the rest of the chalkboard fabric I have.

Supplies needed:

Frame - on hand

Chalkboard Fabric – about $2

Spray paint – on hand

Spray glue – on hand

Total cost: $2 for chalkboard fabric, everything else I had in my stash.

Want to make your own? Run, don’t walk, ok, well drive to your local fabric store and ask for chalkboard, or blackboard fabric and find a picture frame you can use for your new chalkboard.

June

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Zebra’s, Apple’s and Flowers, oh my

2011-11-16T17:08:00.001-06:00

Since one of my sisters mentioned that I’ve been showing too many cards and I haven’t seemed to finish any other crafts lately I thought I’d share some cookies I made and decorated yesterday.

I zebra patterned flower? Isn’t there a saying about flowers coming in all shapes and sizes, so why not zebra print?

The hardest part of this flower was cutting the edible paper to the size of the cookie. I thought the cookie cutter would work but this stuff is just too tough to cut cleanly through it. There are lots of patterns of edible papers that can be used as decorations on cookies or cakes, just look in the cake decoration isle of your local craft store and you too can make your own zebra print flowers.

I don’t have any leaf shapes so I thought apples would be the closest fall themed shape that I had to decorate.

I decided to make a couple flowers that were in a more traditional color.

Since I only made white, red and green icing I thought I’d made a plaid of sort decorated cookie.

I like to decorate a few cookies without a full frosting base since sometimes I find the sugar cookie and glaze frosting can be a bit too sweet.

For this last cookie I just started drawing a few leaves and kept going until I had this abstract, poinsettia type flower.

Do you decorate cookies just for Christmas or for other holiday as well?

June

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Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Baby it’s cold outside….

2011-11-10T09:36:00.001-06:00

So cold that I decided that it was finally time to bring in a couple of my succulent planters for the year.

Both of these planters really filled out this year.

I love how full they are and the great colors that the cooler weather brought.

I had only hen and chicks when I started these planters but thanks to one of my sisters who answered my request earlier in the year she brought me some of her plants to add in to the planters.

What a great mix of colors and textures.

I few of the trailing ones have been trimmed back and added back into the planter to fill it out a bit more.

My favorite is this hen and chick that was almost a hot pink for while. I found it tucked underneath the edge of the container and pulled it out. It was a very bright green but once it was out in the sun it quickly turned a great pinkish-red color.

This yellow one has a slightly peach hue to it – very eye catching.

My smaller planter has a few plants that are a deep reddish-purple color.

As a reminder here was the planters earlier this summer when they were mostly green.

And now the after – full of color.

Hopefully I can over-winter these planters inside my apartment without too much difficulty. Last year a few of my hen and chicks didn’t survive inside. Hopefully this year will be a better year for them as I’d love to see these planters keep growing and transforming.

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

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Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Rhinestone Dove Card

2011-11-04T15:19:00.001-05:00

My non-paper crafts have been very limited lately so here is the second bright but neutral card I made for Christmas.

The rhinestone dove had a holly branch and came with other holiday images but really I think this card could be for just about any occasion.

I distressed some of the papers and inked all of the edges to tone down the bright cardstock.

I love the neutral flower with some shimmer in the center.

June

Deck the halls

2011-11-02T14:36:00.001-05:00

At first glance I don’t think this cards looks all that Christmassy. Hmm Christmassy made it through spell check!

When I was making this card I was a bit unsure where it was going. You see I was working on Christmas cards and ran out of the cardstock I was using with the patterned paper I had. I had a little bit left so went searching for another matching cardstock and came up with this turquoise-aqua paper. It matched but was not a color that said Christmas to me.

The cardstock in person is a bit more aqua than I could get the picture to show. I find aqua is a hard color for me to get a true to lift color when I’m taking pictures. I tried may different locations and just can’t seem to find the perfect spot.

Who would have thought that a card could be both bright and muted?

I think the brown distressing toned down the bright cardstock and helped make this card of of my favorites. I’m like that sometimes, the stranger the color combination, the more I like it.

Last year I made a few pink Christmas cards. What is your most unusual color you’ve used for your holiday cards?

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

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A few more Holiday cards

2011-10-30T19:53:00.001-05:00

Here are a few more of the cards I made with the embellishment package that I picked up at Tuesday morning last and some crystals I won.

Have you started on your holiday cards yet?

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

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Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Vintage feel holiday cards

2011-10-28T00:31:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite places to get discounted craft supplies is my local Tuesday Morning store. For the size that the store is they have a fair amount of paper and other craft supplies. I’ve bought many paper packs for there for pennies on the dollar compared to my local craft store.

Some of the items are at a great price and some are not so great. I’ve been lusting over this pack of embellishments the last few times I’ve been in the store. I just couldn’t bring myself to pay $19.99 for this pack until yesterday. I figured if I kept looking at it and putting it down at the last minute that I should just get it. It was hard paying that much for it since there wasn’t matching paper but I was pretty sure that the papers I recently won would match pretty well.

The pack came with two boxes of chipboard letters and numbers, a pack of buttons, a pack of embellished snowflakes, paper flowers,

fun vintage vibe trims,

tons of stickers, and a stamp set.

It really was a lot of items for the price.

Luckily it did match with the papers I won a couple weeks ago so I have new stamps and embellishment for some Christmas cards.

With one sheet of the patterned paper, two sheets of yellow cardstock and three sheets of burgundy paper I sat down and made 10 cards with this same basic layout.

Some have flowers, some snowflakes, some have ribbon and some I stamped a sentiment instead of the chipboard letters.

I love the cards and listed them in my Etsy store to see if they sell. If not they have a good home with me and might get mailed out to family and friends. I might have to hand deliver rather than mail as most of them will require extra postage since the embellishments are so thick.

I loved these snowflakes and flowers so much that they inspired me to make some flower rosettes with my Tim Holtz die. I loved the result and have to say it is getting rather addicting. I think I made fourteen of them last night from one sheet of 12 x 12 paper.

Stay tuned for more holiday cards with my handmade rosettes inspired by the ones I bought.

Are you getting ready for the holiday season?

I can’t believe Christmas is less than two months away!

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge

Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage

$3 Thursday – Dress Shirt Apron

2011-10-27T11:58:00.001-05:00

I know I haven’t shared much lately but I’m back with another $3 craft item for this Thursday. Thanks to my Wisconsin sisters I have my one and only apron to share. Well to be fair, I do have a couple vintage aprons I bought to go in my Etsy store. So far I haven’t taken pictures of them to list so I’m saying this is my one and only apron.

At first glance it may look like an embellished button up shirt…

but it actually is two shirts made into an apron.

I was asked to bring a plaid shirt to our weekend getaway last week and I didn’t have any but knew there would be extra shirts for me to pick from so I wasn’t too worried. I think if I knew what we were making I might have went searching for a shirt but I’m pretty happy with the shirts I was able to use.

Thanks go to one of my BIL’s for cleaning out his closet.

I was probably the tallest person making aprons and somehow I picked out what was probably the shortest shirt and it was just too short for an apron so I added a ruffle section to the bottom to make it a better length.

I decided to add pockets and some flowers to the pockets to make it a bit more ‘girly’ since it is after all two men's shirts.

After I added the yellow flowers to the pockets I added some yellow on the shirt pocket and tacked down the collar with some large yellow buttons.

To think, all of this was relatively free to me. Two old shirts, some scrap fabric and some buttons.

It took me a while and I worked on my apron most of the day but in the end, I love it and am so glad that I kept adding to my apron.

Thanks to my sisters for letting me use their supplies to make my first ever shirt to apron transformation.

Supplies:

Button up shirts - I used two

Fabric scraps – optional*

Buttons – optional*

Sewing machine and thread

Total cost: Free!

If you had to purchase a shirt at the thrift store you should be able to find one for $3 or less.

* I used for flowers but would be great for pockets if you are using one shirt

What I learned:

I would look for long or men's tall shirts. Everyone else made their apron with one shirt and they looked great, a bit more tailored looking than mine with the ruffle bottom.

A crisp white shirt would look great.

I sewed my flowers directly on to the apron but if you made them into pins you could change them out with the seasons or to match your outfit.

It’s ok to take a bit longer than my sisters, almost everyone added a pocket after seeing me work to add them to my apron.

It might be best to ask before you take a shirt out of the closet or you might have someone saying ‘Hey, is that my shirt?’ or something to that effect after the shirt is already cut up. :)

Thanks to a few of my sisters for a great weekend and a great apron.

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge

Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Halloween decor

2011-10-26T20:02:00.001-05:00

I can’t believe I haven’t shared any pictures of my Halloween decor. It is probably because I didn’t make anything new this year but I did decorate a bit different from last year.

For some reason I love my painted softball that I tucked into a broken lamp.

Last year I made a bone and attempted a skull with some paper pulp and glue.

I filled an old enamelware pan with some Spanish moss and skulls. It looks like skulls crawling out of a graveyard.

I wasn’t sure on the location of the Trick or Treat vinyl so I just stuck the whole sheet up on the wall. I bought it last year on clearance after Halloween. Maybe next year I’ll have the perfect spot for it but for now I’m happy with it as it is.

I still love this Halloween art I made from rub-ons and some ribbon.

The mini enamelware dish was a 10 cent garage sale find and it is the perfect size for some of my scrabble tiles.

The pumpkin and coffins were freebies I bought out again.

I love the cover of this book. I can’t say I remember reading it when I was younger but I do remember pouring through the Scholastic order forms from elementary school and hoping I could order a book or two.

This friendly witch sits on a scale by my front door. Now that I think of it the front door has been sticking lately so maybe she is not so friendly.

Thanks for taking a look at some of my fall and Halloween decor items.

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge

Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Happy Holidays

2011-10-25T15:46:00.000-05:00

I think this card needs something else but I couldn’t decide on what. I wanted to add ribbon but imagine with all my ribbon that I didn’t find one that I liked. Well for now it is complete… until I find just the right addition. :)

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge

Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Merry Christmas

2011-10-24T15:23:00.000-05:00

Another quick and simple card.

I love it when I find journaling cards or tags that I can use as accents on cards.

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge

Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Quick and simple holiday card

2011-10-23T14:41:00.000-05:00

The hardest part of this card was waiting for the glitter glue to dry on the punch out flowers.

I love how that a few simple pieces of tape and a punch can be a great addition to a card.

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge

Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Snowman Season’s Greetings

2011-10-22T14:37:00.000-05:00

I’m loving these quick and easy cards with my winnings.

Paper and tag each from 3 Bugs in a Rug, Deck the Halls line.

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge

Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Deckin’ the Halls

2011-10-21T14:33:00.000-05:00

Paper from 3 Bugs in a Rug, Deck the Halls.

Journaling card from Cosmo Cricket, Oh Joy.

Martha Stewart flower punch.

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge

Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Jingle all the way

2011-10-20T14:30:00.000-05:00

A quick and simple holiday card.

The paper is the Deck the Halls from 3 Bugs in a Rug.

I cut out the Jingle tag from some Oh Joy Journaling Cards by Cosmo Cricket.

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge

Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Happy Holidays

2011-10-19T14:25:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the long absence. I just haven’t been able to come up with new posts until today. I sort of forced myself to take some pictures and post a card I made this week.

I was lucky enough to win some paper crafting supplies from a blog hop a few weeks ago. It was just what I needed to kick start some holiday cards. I'm starting a week, or maybe longer, of all quick and simple holiday cards.

The paper and die cut is from the Deck the Halls line from 3 Bugs in a Rug.

The paper tape I picked up from the clearance section of my local craft store. I thought it would be sort of like washi tape but it really more like paper. It isn’t as tacky as washi tape but so far it has been sticking on the card just fine.

Thanks for not giving up on me…

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge

Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Season’s Greetings

2011-09-21T21:07:00.001-05:00

I feel like I’ve been lazy since I haven’t posted anything for the past couple days. I decided to share one of the Christmas cards I recently made.

I just bought the text background paper from A-muse Studio. It is text of the ‘twas the night before Christmas tale and perfect for a subtle background for holiday cards. The background stamps are TAC and I think the main image is from the Stampin Place, a stamp company not too far away.

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge

Just because I love it at Tools are for women too

Shutterfly Free 8 X 8 book offer

2011-09-18T11:41:00.001-05:00

If you’ve never tried Shutterfly for your photos or photo books want to try them and get free photo book? I’ve used Shutterfly for a while and have always been happy with the fast shipping and the quality of the photos and books I’ve ordered. I just received photos this week that I ordered last week.

I have a couple coupons that will get you a free 8 X 8 photo book for free, you pay only shipping which is usually $7.99 on 8 x 8 book. I received the coupons but they are good for new customers only so I can’t use them. If you aren’t a Shutterfly customer and want to try them out and get a free photo book leave me a comment and I’ll send the first three responders one of the coupon codes I have.

There is limited to new customers, limit one per household and expires 9/26/11.

The link to use from the coupon is www.targetphoto.shutterfly.com/targetreceipt if you want to check it out.

I’m not receiving any compensation for this – just offering to pass on savings to you!

June

Junk hunting….

2011-09-16T06:59:00.000-05:00

I’m taking the day to go look at junk, well funky, cool, oh my good I’ve gotta make that, who would have thought of that type of junk.

Junk Bonanza here I come.

Last year I got lots of great idea and I can’t wait to see everything this year.

I’m hoping to take a few pictures to share some of the not so junky junk with you.

June

$3 Thursday – silver pumpkin – repost

2011-09-15T18:17:00.001-05:00

Since I’ve been struggling to be creative this week I thought I’d share a project from last fall. The weather has been a bit cooler and I’ve been thinking of decorating for fall soon. This is one of the things I’ll be putting out soon.

Doesn't this silver pumpkin look like it was more than a dollar?

It reminds me of some glass pumpkins I have seen.

I got the glass look with a thrift budget.

A few weeks ago I picked up this pumpkin for 50 cents.

What a steal. It still had the original price tag with $5.99 on it!

I knew I wanted to paint it so I gathered some painting supplies that I had on hand.

Silver paint, a shimmer gold paint and a gloss sealer.

I have painted a few projects with these cans already so the cost of paint per project was pretty minimal.

Since it was a bit windy today I set up a painting box.

I painted the pumpkin with a couple light coats of the silver paint.

Once the paint was dry I put some water on it.

Yeah seems strange but I thought it would help me get the look I wanted.

While the water was still on the pumpkin I sprayed silver and then the gloss coating on it.

I was hoping for some spots to help it look more like glass.

Since it was cool here today I did use a heat gun to dry the water drops.

The paint and gloss did dry into small drops, sort of like bubbles you might see in glass.

I wasn't able to get any good pictures to show the subtle texture it gave the pumpkin.

You will have to take my word for it.

It is there, just like I wanted.

It will be a great addition to my sweatshirt pumpkins from last week.

I like the contract of the sleek silver pumpkins with the more rustic looking pumpkins.

I'm not ready to pull out all my fall items quite yet but I did make a small display for now.

My cost for this silver pumpkin - $.50

I did use some paint and gloss that I had on hand.

Enjoy,

June

Linking to these parties:

Weekend wrap up party at Tatertots and Jello

Funky Junk Interiors Saturday Nite Special

Metamorphis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Tutorial Tuesday at Hope Studios

Quick and simple – Sew Lovely

2011-09-11T03:34:00.000-05:00

I decided to use the dress mannequin stamp without paper piecing.

But it didn’t mean that I couldn’t add a little glitter to the dress and card.

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge

Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Coffee time

2011-09-10T03:21:00.000-05:00

A rather simple card I CASed that would make a great note card to a friend.

I embossed the coffee cup image and went over it the steam for a bit more shine to it.

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge

Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Many thanks

2011-09-09T03:15:00.000-05:00

I few weeks ago I saw a card I really liked so I decided to CAS the design and this is what I came up with.

I used papers from one of my favorite paper packs from the now defunct TAC line of papers.

TAC I will miss your stamps, paper and demos that I met over the years but many thanks for the wonderful supplies and memories I will always have.

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge

Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage

$3 Thursday – Old World Style Globe

2011-09-08T14:50:00.001-05:00

I decided to try another globe makeover project and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised that I liked the way it turned out.

I didn’t take pictures while I was making it over but I started out with a traditional looking globe like this one.

And with a few supplies I had on hand turned it into this old world looking beauty.

I decoupaged some tissue paper all over the globe to give it a bit more texture. I wasn’t worried about the wrinkles, in fact I tried to create wrinkles all over the globe.

Once the globe was covered and the tissue paper was dry I wet it down slightly with some watered down Mod Podge and sprayed walnut ink over it. I used a brush to blend in the walnut ink.

The ink really brings out the texture of the tissue paper while still allowing some of the globe details to show through.

I wish more of the globe details showed but because I covered most of the globe with a couple layers of tissue paper it obscured a bit of the fine writing. If I did another one I’d try to use a single layer of tissue paper.

I first sprayed the base with Oil Rubbed Bronze but it was a bit too black looking for the globe so I added a generous coat of metallic rub-on that I had.

It looks a lot better with the walnut inked globe.

Ah, an antique looking globe at a thrift store price.

It makes a perfect addition next to the leather look bust I made a couple weeks ago.

Hmm, a globe covered to look like leather? That might be next on my list but how would you see the details of the globe? Any ideas? Maybe a quick outline of the continents?

After I finished my globe I did find this globe from Ultimate Globes that is actually made from leather.

It is regularly $199.99 on sale for $169.99. Sure it is a nice globe but for $169.99 I think I’ll take my thrift store makeover for about $6.99.

Supplies:

Globe

Tissue Paper

Mod Podge

Walnut Ink

Foam brush or sponge

Oil Rubbed Bronze or similar colored spray paint

Rub-on – if you need to adjust the spray paint color.

Total cost: $0*

*I had the globe and all the supplies on hand so this project really didn’t cost me anything. Most crafty people will have most of the supplies I used and might even have a globe stuck in the basement or in the garage sale pile. I’ve had my globe for a while, it was a thrift store find. I’m not sure what I paid for it but they usually they run $5-$7 in my area.

So anyone want to pay me $169.99 for my old world looking globe? I’ll throw in free shipping! :)

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge

Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Sew what’s new? - take 2 -

2011-09-07T16:05:00.001-05:00

I really like paying with this stamp set so I thought I’d share another card I made with the dress and mannequin.

I usually try to keep away from paper piecing but this stamp just begs for it in my opinion.

I love this pearl strip and thought it was a perfect accent on this card.

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge

Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Thrifty finds

2011-09-06T15:09:00.001-05:00

I know I haven’t posted in a while but I really just haven’t have anything new or creative to share. I have found a few items over the past couple weeks that I thought I’d share with you.

The picnic basket, sconce and coasters are finds from this weekend, the rest have been in hanging out in my car trunk for a few weeks.

I love this little vintage purse that I found. I knew right away that I had to bring it home.

I love the fun pop of color inside.

I loved these little cases for only a few dollars each.

I thought this was a hat box and hoped to find a great hat in it but I didn’t expect this….

A wig! It’s a wig box I guess although there is lots of room for a hat in there too!

It was sort of creepy to open it to find a wig inside.

In fact, I didn’t even open it all the way at the sale to see this lovely patterned inside.

I couldn’t find out too much about this case.

I think it was some sort of travel case, maybe for a shaving kit or cosmetic case.

It was made my Congress Luggage Corp from Roselle, New Jersey and is very heavy for it’s size. I’m think it is a mid century piece.

There is only one small tear in the back of the case.

For some reason I’m drawn to vintage picnic baskets. I loved the uniqueness of this one.

It had a few bumps and bruises.

But considering it’s age I think it looks great.

I even bought a few pieces of enamelware that might have once been used in a picnic basket.

The coasters were new from Goodwill and will be taken apart and covered with leather and suede from my stash. I haven’t tried coasters from suede yet but know I want to try them soon since I have some great colors of suede to pick from.

What have you found lately?

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge

Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Halloween cards

2011-08-31T09:17:00.001-05:00

I can’t believe it is only two months to Halloween. I’ve always liked making Halloween cards and this year is no exception. I already made quite a few and listed some in my Etsy store and I thought I’d share a few with you today.

Paper, ribbons and twine, oh my…….

What’s Halloween without a few black glittered bats?

I used this stamp last fall at a rubber stamping show and quickly fell in love with it. I was glad to find it after Halloween last year in the clearance section and quickly grabbed it.

I even found some of the matching papers from this line.

I also found a sheet of paper that I could cut up into little label like embellishments.

Luckily many of Halloween products I have can easily be used together. On this one I used paper, a chipboard accent and epoxy stickers from three different lines.

Have you started thinking about Halloween?

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge

Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Canvas to notebook page

2011-08-27T20:33:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago I saw a great canvas notebook idea over on Artsy Va Va. I knew immediately that I would want to make one.

It just so happened that my favorite godchild that is in college had a birthday this week and I thought it would be a fun gift for her. Maybe my favorite godchild that is in middle school will get one of these for her birthday….Shh, don’t tell her. :)

I started with a ~~cheap~~ inexpensive canvas I found at Big Lots.

I think it was 16 X 22 or somewhere around that size. Perfect for my project.

I gathered a couple pens and a ruler and started making……

This. Probably the largest notebook page I’ve ever seen.

I grabbed some grey paint and added faux holes to my page.

I started my letter but wasn’t sure what to write.

I didn’t really want to write happy birthday as I think this might be something that she will keep up long past her birthday.

In the end I thought a reminder to work hard, study often and have fun was just the right thing. I even got my teen daughter to write a note and let me tell you that really is a big deal. She rarely will take a second look at any craft I make much less participate in making it, well in this case writing a note on it. In the end she wrote a note about an inside joke that will probably have Liberty’s friends and roommates wondering just what they don’t know about her.

I think this is a craft that my daughter might even like for herself one day, she and her friends like to leave notes on their walls. For now however she said she really have any room on her walls for this. I’m hoping one day I can make a craft that she might just hang on her wall and enjoy.

A mother can dream, right?

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge

Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage

$3 Thursday – mirror makeover

2011-08-25T21:25:00.001-05:00

I wasn’t sure what $3 craft project to share until I decided to paint a mirror that I recently found. For once my before isn’t 70’s gold, it is 70’s driftwood for lack of a better term.

This is a larger mirror, about 2 feet. It was this sort of nondescript grey color.

Really it had a lot more fruit than I’d usually pick but it was a price I couldn’t resist.

No, not this $9.99 price, I resisted it at that.

I resisted when it went to half off, $4.99 was still too much money.

But when it went to $1.49 I had to ~~rescue~~ bring it home from Goodwill.

My very own fruit salad mirror.

I knew it was heavy but was surprised to find a 1/4” mirror once I took the backing off.

I wonder the reason for marking the date on mirrors? I’ve seen it a few times on some of the mirrors I’ve found.

Where were you May 19th of 1976?

Me, I was finishing up kindergarten.

When I started washing the mirror I thought this brown was the finish, turns out it was 35 years of grime. Eww.

I decided to use some more of the champagne colored metallic paint I had.

I tried to get a pretty good coverage but didn’t get it into all the cracks and curves. I did what you might call a heavy dry brushing. Not a solid coat but a fair amount of paint.

Outside and at certain angles it looks almost silver then in other lights it is more of a gold color.

I’m not sold on this color for this mirror but I do like the gilded look of the fruit.

I found myself wishing for some white paint but the only white paint I had was spray paint and I really think I want to brush on the paint.

This is how it looks inside against my slightly off white walls.

I am loving the champagne paint but I just not sure it was the right choice for this mirror.

What do you think? Leave it as it is or paint it another color?

Do you see beauty in a gilded fruit mirror or did I over pay for it?

Supplies:

Thrift store mirror $1.49

Metallic Champagne paint $5 -but used less than 1/4 of my sample pot.

Total cost: about $2.75

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge

Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Cookies for school….

2011-08-24T19:02:00.001-05:00

It’s almost school time here in Minnesota. In two weeks my daughter will start her first year of high school. She actually has a 9th grade orientation day two weeks from yesterday. Let’s just say I’m a bit more excited about school starting than she is. :)

In honor of school and college starting I decided to make and decorate some school themed cookies.

Everyone needs a few notebooks for school.

A few pencils to write with.

And it might not hurt to take an apple to the teacher.

Or maybe a fresh bouquet of flowers would be a better gift.

Since this was my first attempt at all but the flowers I’m pretty happy with my decorating. I’m sure I’ll try something a bit different with the pencils if I make them again but it was a great first attempt.

A few of these cookies are on their way as part of a birthday present for my niece and godchild. Shh, don’t tell her, they probably won’t arrive until tomorrow.

Once she gets her packages I’ll show another more personalized gift that I made for her. It was such a great project that I mailed it…twice!

Are you looking forward to school starting or has it started already in your area?

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge

Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Missy and Fifi

2011-08-23T13:12:00.001-05:00

As I mentioned yesterday I wanted to introduce you to Missy and her dog Fifi.

Isn’t she adorable? She is in a cute little frame that was made in Italy. I wonder who she really is. I think Missy suits her just fine so that is what I’m calling her.

Missy and Fifi (don’t those names just fit them?) are pictured on what I think is a satin fabric. The whole frame was just so cute with two little cherubs looking over them.

Since this is a smaller frame, less than 8” tall, I decided I needed to bring attention to it by framing it in a larger metal frame I had.

Missy and Fifi are so special that they needed a second frame outlining them as well.

Did you notice that the largest frame has cherubs on it too?

The largest frame is from a Goodwill mirror in all of it’s 70’s gold glory. Usually it is a bit too much for my taste but I love the attention that it brings to Missy and her dog Fifi. The darker metal frame seems to tone down the gold from the small and large frames.

This is some of my latest additions to my gallery wall that has transformed into this.

I even framed one of my owls from my owl love post.

There is lots of color on the wall.

A few pieces are waiting to be transformed but I sort of like the mixture of painted and not painted items. As I makeover items and sell them it has become a sort of revolving gallery wall of thriftiness. It still makes me smile when I look at it.

Thanks for coming over to meet Missy.

Is it just me or have you named a person or animal in a picture that you have?

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge

Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Owl love….

2011-08-22T20:13:00.001-05:00

I few weeks ago I found this pair of beauties.

Can you say 70’s?

I knew they had potential as I found some very similar ones a few months back and they were quick to sell in my Etsy store.

Doesn’t a coating of heirloom white make them look great?

I thought about distressing and glazing them to give them a slightly shabby look but I like the clean, almost porcelain look.

I’m not sure what they are made of, some sort of lightweight but dense foam material.

It is nice that they are lightweight and have hangers on the back.

They are listed in my Etsy store but for now they are a great addition to my gallery wall which had gone through a few changes as I get new items and ship items out.

Maybe tomorrow if I remember when the lighting is good I can get some updated pictures of my gallery wall. I have a new friend on there that I’d like to introduce to my readers.

Her name is Missy and she is so special that I framed her…… twice!

What have you been painting lately?

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge

Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Damask backgrounder

2011-08-21T20:16:00.001-05:00

I tried a resist card and I really like it but I can’t decide should the card go like this….

Or this?

It is the same card even if the colors look different. The top is more realistic.

For some reason I just can’t decide what way I think this card should be. Not that it really that big of a deal but just the same I wanted to ask my readers what way would you pick for the orientation of this card?

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge

Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Champagne Mirror

2011-08-19T09:03:00.001-05:00

I found a lovely mirror quite a while ago and finally decided to update it from 70’s gold to a shabby white.

I forgot to take a before picture but the frame was similar to this color.

I first pulled out trusty heirloom white but then I tried a new paint color as a glaze.

I’ve been drooling over Rust-oleum Metallic accents paint for a while now but a few weeks ago I took the plunge and bought two sampler colors, I think $5 for 2 ounces!

I bought two colors, champagne and harbor sky, a blue that really is what caught my eye. I’m not sure why I’m drawn to this blue, it really doesn’t match anything in my apartment at all but still I almost felt like I was stalking this color. I’d stop and look longingly at it each time I went to the paint section.

But back to champagne…..

I watered down the paint a bit and applied a coat as a glaze then lightly wiped of some of the ~~champagne~~, paint.

Outside it looked perfect, it brought a metallic shimmer to the whole piece.

As you can see I really didn’t take off too much of the glaze.

With the mirror inside – I’m loving the fresh look of this mirror now.

No more 70’s vibe.

Inside against my off white walls of my bedroom it looks a lot darker than it did outside in natural light.

It has an almost pink hue to it but I still love the look.

Inside the champagne glaze really shimmers and accents all the curves and details of the frame.

I don’t know why I didn’t think to put a mirror on my bedroom wall before, I guess I was waiting for just the right mirror.

I think I found it.

Thrifted mirror, $6

spray paint, $3

drool worthy champagne glaze, $5

perfect mirror for my wall – priceless – to me at least ;)

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge

Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage

$3 Thursday – faux leather bust makeover

2011-08-17T21:01:00.001-05:00

You might remember this bust I found for only $3 at a garage sale.

I knew I was going to cover it up to give it a vintage look but at first I wasn’t sure what to cover it in. I thought about newsprint, book pages, sheet music or paper bags.

I was pretty set on using some vintage sheet music but when I went to cover it I misplaced my vintage sheet music (Ok, time to clean and organize again) so I had to change ideas.

I finally decided on a faux leather look so I grabbed some paper grocery bags and glue and started ripping and crumpling the paper.

I watered down some good old Elmer’s school glue down and used that as my decoupage mixture. I was a bit worried that so much of the grocery bag printing was showing while the glue was still wet but I decided to add some more pieces and let it dry to see how it looked.

Here’s my newly covered bust.

Once it was all dry I liked the results, only a bit of the print was showing through but I wanted it to be a bit darker so I grabbed my walnut ink.

At first I watered down the walnut ink and covered the whole bust. I watered it down a bit too much so I started spraying ink directly on my bust.

I sprayed lots of ink to help get the dark color I was picturing.

I didn’t want the blotches so I dabbed the ink and rubbed it into other parts of my bust.

Ah, this is what I was going for.

Now to let it dry.

It dried to the perfect color and texture, just perfect for a jewelry display.

It took the place of a chalkboard globe that was on my dresser top.

I love this display although I need to redo the potato sack memo board on the wall that I threw together a few weeks ago.

The color and texture was just what I was looking for.

I’m sure I’ll have fun changing out the necklace I put on display.

Looking at this makes me want to recover my so called mannequin that I stated a few weeks ago.

Hmm, lots to think about.

Bust makeover supplies:

Bust Garage sale find, $3

2 Paper bags free

Glue $.20

Total cost: $3.20

I’m excited for my new bust. I mean, $.20 cents for a new bust???

No surgery required.

Who wouldn’t love a newly madeover bust for only $.20?

I guess having a messy crafting area where a 2 inch pile of sheet music is misplaced was a good think. I can’t imagine my bust covered in music sheet now that it is done.

June

I usually link to these fabulous parties:

Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge