More Spring Barrettes

These are the latest Easter/Spring barrettes I have made. I am starting to LOVE making these. I took the last ones I made to my nieces yesterday, and they just loved them and looked adorable in them. Like I explained in my previous barrette post, I found templates on Google Images. I simply typed in what I was looking for and they popped up. I then saved them to my computer and used photo software to re size them to what I wanted. I then cut out the felt to match, and used fabric glue to glue the felt to other felt pieces, and used Goop glue (my favorite!) to glue the felt to the barrette pieces. I hope you give it a try at making some of these. Please post back pictures of your finished work. I would love to see what you come up with!

Wooden Name Clips

I finished the wooden name paper holders. My mother has a huge cork board in her house that she loves to hang pictures of her grand kids on, and she also likes to hang up art work that they do. These name clips will be perfect for her board! They are bright and colorful too, so I am sure the kids will love them also.

Wooden Names

This is my next project, but I am not going to give it all away yet. I think it is a really cute one! Here are some photos. I should have it finished tomorrow to show everyone, so check back in!

A Mushy Post

Hi all! I have a DIY for you today that is close to my heart. I am REALLY sharing today. I actually did this project a couple of years ago but thought it would be great to share. I like to keep things that are sentimental to me. I am a very lucky girl in that my husband is great, and we have a really good relationship. Over the years we have left each other many notes and cards. I was trying to think of something to do with them and came up with this. All you need are the following:
Pictures of you and your spouse/boyfriend
Notes and or cards left to each other
A picture frame
Scissors
Scrapbook tape

First I cut out the parts of the cards that I liked. Then I opened up the frame and laid the pictures, notes, and cards on the inside of the frame, and arranged them the way I liked. I then cut some of the pictures to fit. All that is left is to attach them with the scrapbook tape, or I like to use the little squares. Then you close up the frame, hang it up, and look at it and smile as you think of all those wonderful memories!

Finished End Table Redo

I have finished the end table. This was my first experience using Annie Sloan chalk paint. I drove almost an hour to get it. I almost put it back several times because of the cost, but I am really glad I didn't.
I really wanted Antique White, but they were out. I ended up getting the color Old Ochre. In my opinion it is between a cream and light tan. I am so thrilled now that I got that color. It goes so well with my decor and I think it looks great distressed. Once again I learned so much from this project. I found I applied it too thick to some areas. This caused those areas to not dry as smooth. It still looks great, but not as good as if I had used thinner layers, and PATIENTLY waited to add more coats. The paint is thick and goes a long way. I only used about a fourth a quart for this table, which really helps justify the cost.
All I did for this table was clean it very well, paint it, distress some areas with sand paper, and then spray a matte clear protective coat. I was going to use Annie Sloan wax, but I had read on some other blogs that it is not as protective. I knew we would be sitting drinks on the table, so I opted for the polyurethane instead.
I used the wax on my wine rack I recently posted about instead. I liked the look it gave the rack, but even after several days I can still feel it. I am not sure how I feel about it yet. I will have to apply it to some other items to see how it works.
In the picture you can see that I added a dark brown basket to the bottom shelf. Also, I want to add that this paint went right over the stain with great coverage. I didn't have to sand the table whatsoever. A definite plus to me, so thumbs up to Annie Sloan paint!

DIY Barrettes

I have two adorable nieces. Every time I see them they have the cutest hair barrettes and bows in their hair. The drawback is that my sister has to buy them. I decided it would be nice if I could make some for her and the girls. I went online to get some ideas, and came across the felt ones. I think they are pretty common to make, but I figured it was a good start. Here is what I did to make them.

 I went on Google images and printed off some flower templates in various sizes. I them used them to cut out my felt flowers. I used fabric glue to glue the top felt piece to the bottom. Then I picked out a button from my collection and glued it in the center of the top flower with Goop glue. Along with the felt, I purchased some different varieties of plain barrettes. I then simply glued the felt flowers to the top of the barrettes or bobby pins with the Goop.

I was really surprised at how easy they were to make, and how cute they turned out! I am eager now to print out  some different templates and make some more. I am thinking bunnies and carrots!

End Table Redo

This is what I am working on today. It was my grandparent's. There are two of them, and this one she used as a nightstand. I have been really conflicted on what to do with them because they are special to me, and also because they are real mohagony. This one is badly damaged with water marks. We have no end tables, so I decided to use one of them for that. I am painting it and then I will distress it. I may stain the other one. I am not sure yet.

Wine Rack Revision

Well, I am already changing the wine rack. All day I just kept coming back to it and thinking that it needed something else to look good. It just didn't look distressed enough. After researching online, and of course making my husband stare at it and give me advice, I decided it needed more brown paint along the edges. I don't know if it is because the teal is so dark, but the brown was just too watered down. I decided to only use one part paint to one part water instead of two. This picture was taken this evening, so the teal appears darker than it truly is. I am really pleased now with the results! What do you think?

Wine Rack Finished!

It is finally finished. I have learned so much from this project. I am very new at furniture redo's, so I definitely have to ask you for patience, and I also have to HAVE patience. The first mistake I made with this project was that I let the clerk at the store talk me into purchasing the paint with primer already in it. It ended up being extremely thick and the rack still needed primer anyway. This paint was so thick that I ended up having clumps on the wine rack because it was drying too thick. Second, I shorted a little on the sanding.  I used Zinsser primer which is excellent for coverage, but I still should have sanded more. Third, I made the mistake of trying to paint some of the lower part of the legs while it was standing upright. You probably know where this is going.....the legs stuck to the plastic at the bottom and clumped up. Fourth, I decided to try eggshell finish. If you really want it to look distressed, I feel like you need flat finish. Now I know what I like.  All of these things are just part of learning, and I have to say that even though the paint job did not turn out as I would have liked, this project is perfect because of how much I learned!
After priming, and then painting the wine rack in teal, I then mixed my brown paint one part paint with two parts water. I found it did not take much paint to do the distressing. I used 1/4 cup paint plus water for this and it was way too much. I then applied the brown paint mixture with a clean cloth in a circular motion on the areas I wanted the look. I then took another cloth and after waiting about fifteen seconds or so I lightly wiped off the paint in a circular motion. I adjusted my pressure by how much  paint I wanted in that particular area. I bought these cloths in a package of 10 at Home Depot. The paint I used was Valspar from Lowe's. The pictures below will show you the process. I may end up sanding away some areas for added distressing, but I haven't decided if it needs it yet. I am now ready to tackle the next piece of furniture waiting to teach me!

Wine Rack Update

Tomorrow should be the day! I've had a lot of trouble with this project, and I thought it was going to be an easy one. I'll get more into that on my next post. I should have finished photos on here tomorrow, but here are the before and in progress. I purchased this at a great little thrift shop. They have different furniture everyday. Some of it's priced too high for me to justify a redo, but I felt this was in reason. See you tomorrow!

Inspiration

What inspires you? I am very sentimental, and I love my family and friends so much, so when I see an item that reminds me of them or the time I spend with them I want to have it and display it.  I feel that warmth even more every time I look at it.
The most important of course would be the jar of belongings that were my son Ryan's I have posted about previously. Although it is hard, it is important to me to see it everyday to remember what he was like and what he enjoyed. When I see his ball cap I picture him wearing it. When I see his I Pod I remember the type of music he liked, and when I see his glasses I remember those beautiful eyes of his.

This is one of the reasons it was so important to me to do the cabinet redo as well. It had belonged to my grandma and grandpa. They were beyond frugal. It actually made me sad at times because although it was great that they managed their money so well, and had lots of it, they didn't spend enough on themselves. The cabinet was just put together with all different wood and needed painted badly. I just wanted to honor my grandmother who kept in it all of the tea cup and saucers we would use for our tea parties. I finished it and now I feel such a sense of warmth when I look at it. It still reminds me so much of them, but it also shows a new generation of life and family time.

Now I'm finishing this wine rack that I purchased at a thrift shop. I'm not a huge wine drinker, but I have enjoyed many gatherings drinking wine with my friends. We like to joke about drinking a lot more wine than we actually consume! Since I'm going with a Tuscan theme in my dining room, it seemed appropriate to have a wine rack. I knew it would remind me of the joyous times I've had with my friends and also times of relaxation.
Although "things" aren't what matter in life, I believe it's important to have some things around to always remind us of those special people and times we've been blessed to have in our lives. Please share with me some of your projects that remind you of your family and friends and gives you inspiration. I would love to see and read about them.
Also, here is a sneak peak of the wine rack I'll be posting about later.

Oh, Where Are You Recipe?

Have you ever been in a big hurry to cook, and then you realize you can't find your recipe? I know this has happened to me more times than I could count. It's because I've never had time to sit and write down every recipe I come across. I mean, who really has time??

Spicing It Up

Today we are going to talk about my new button holder. I have had this small spice rack for years. We have used up all the spices that we like. My in-laws purchased it for us, and I just didn't want to part with it. I decided to convert it to a button holder.

Verde Chicken Sandwiches

Yesterday I was in a car accident. I was rear ended and then thrown into a concrete barrier. Needless to say I am extremely sore today. My husband took a vacation day to help me out. He decided to make a very easy crock pot chicken recipe we found on www.allrecipes.com. I cannot emphasize enough the word EASY! Here is the recipe.

1.5-2 lbs Frozen Chicken
1 Jar of Pizza Sauce
1/2 Jar of Verde Salsa (Green Colored)
1/4 Cup Sour Cream
Hoagie Rolls
Optional- Peppers, cheese

Take FROZEN chicken and place in crock pot. Add pizza sauce and salsa. Cook on low 6-8 hours. Before serving stir in sour cream. Serve on hoagie buns. We also cook some mixed bell peppers in a small skillet with cooking spray and dump in at the end. You could also top with pepperoncini peppers and some kind of shredded italian cheese. These are optional. We think it tastes great so give it a try and let me know what you think!

Free Stencils

I have a neat project I will be posting tomorrow, but in trying to complete it I was in need of some alphabet stencils. I had purchased some, but I really wanted a different font. I started searching the web and realized there are many fonts and stencils that you can print out for free! I decided to list a few of the ones I found, but I am sure there are many more out there.

www.karenswhimsy.com (Offers many images and lettering)

www.all-about-stencils.com (Offers a few free stencils)

www.fashionfrog.com (Offers free images)

www.spraypaintstencils.com (Go to alphabet stencils and scroll down past the paid ones. Also offers free images as well)

www.wallandmural-stencils.com (Offers many different images and alphabet)

These are just a few of many that I found. You have to search around a little, since most sites want you to make a purchase, but I was surprised at how many free items I found! Tomorrow I will talk about a method I found on Pinterest to transfer the letters I printed off onto wood.

Yarn Lantern

I have to say this was one messy project! I heard people have been making these for years. I just recently found the idea. You need the following supplies:

Yarn
Cornstarch
Glue
Balloons
vasaline
String
Water
Light Kit