More Inspiration

When I saw this picture - I knew I had to replicate in my house, somehow, some way! This is one crafty home decor enthusiast - Her blog - Imperfectly Beautiful has some great things. Here is my inspiration:
While I love the browns and blues - it doesn't really jive in my living room. So I looked around at stuff I had in various rooms and the basement and this is what I have come up with:

When I "finished" (are we ever really finished) I decided it needed a little something extra. I am having a love affair with all things French lately and wanted the look of french linens. Well, you can't just waltz into Joann fabrics and get some french linens - you know! I have looked a little online and the real deal is way out of my league. So, I decided that a little muslin, some tape and red paint will give me the effect I wanted for about $3! I am happy with it (for now!)

Ballard Designs Inspired

I love Ballard Designs. I drool over the catalog when it comes in the mail. Just a special little gift from Mike the mailman. However, I don't know real people who can afford the stuff in there! Seriously - way too pricey. So, what's a girl to do? Improvise! I decided to give the jute covered bottles a go. I have seen others in the blogosphere do it, why can't I??


So, I started with an empty Bombay Gin bottle. Just happened to have a couple of them just laying around. Hmmm....I don't drink Gin! My hubby went to his 2nd home, The Home Depot Sunday morning and made the fatal mistake of asking me if I needed anything, like DUH! Just a little jute! Yes, I had to explain what jute was - he was like "Oh, you mean twine." Well sort of! He ended up coming home with sisal string - which I had to take back for JUTE - it was in the next bin over!!!

So, with a bottle of gin and a pack of jute - a glue gun and a free hour I got to getting and wrapped my bottle. I had a little piece of leftover blue satin ribbon from some other project and thought that the color worked nicely with the color of the bottle. The jewels hanging from the ribbon was actually a piece of an elastic bracelet that I picked up on clearance from Charming Charlies. There are 5 similar parts on my craft room floor waiting for me to do something with them! I really like how it turned out. I guess we need to have a couple more parties so I can get some more bombay gin bottles!!!

Thrift Store treasure

Funky, huh? I saw it at the thrift store and just knew I had to have it. Nothing a little spray paint and fabric couldn't fix?? I was just in one of those moods...make something new out of something old. I have been hooked on watching American Pickers and it just makes you want to go junking. Here are a couple more "before shots."


I ended up paying $45 for the chair - way more than I wanted too - but I knew if I left the chair in the store, I would regret it later. The money goes to the hospice, so it is all for a good cause. Are you ready for the makeover??? Check out this beauty!

Like it? Now tell me, why do I only have boys in my house??

Valentine's Day calls for something a little special!

How do you change a drab black purse into something totally fabulous (in my opinion at least!) Add a gorgeous flower!!! Here is the before of a purse in my closet:

It works - but gets a little boring, don't ya think?? Todd and I are going to a Valentine's Day dance - a first for us. We usually don't really celebrate, but what the heck, right? He was kind enough to take me to Talbot's today to look for a sweater to wear (he did wait outside in the truck - so I did have to hustle a little!) I found a cute red cardigan with rhinestone buttons and it was on sale! SCORE!!

So, I came home and started thinking about accessories - I love purses. No, seriously it is an addiction. I knew I had this cute little number in the "bin" but it just needed a little something. TADA:
I constructed this "flower" out of some red raw silk fabric I had laying around doing nothing! I hot glued a pin on the back and added it to the purse. I just love it!!! Here is a closer look at the flower. If you want to know how I made it, just let me know!

Ok! Enough posts for today! Happy Valentine's Day.

Denise

Ummm, what time did you say it was???

It took awhile, but i realized I had no clock in my craft room - that can be a good and bad thing. Some days you can kinda forget that the kids like to eat meals - within a prescribed time frame!! I will be up there in my room, crafting away, oblivious to the sounds of starving children (yeah right) in the living room! So, to remedy the situation I made this clock. I started with a 10"x10" canvas frame (1/2 price at Joann's) I covered that with fabric (I think this particular piece came from Key West Fabrics) and then topped it all off with a clock kit (also from Joann's - used a coupon for that.) All told I probably spend about $10 to make this!

Denise

Sewing supplies organizer

Always looking for your scissors? I made this with a variety of scraps I have laying around. Took all of 30 minutes to throw this together! I think the ruffle on the bottom pocket took the longest.

Denise

Have a ball!

I know these glass balls are usually reserved for christmas crafts, but I was bored - stuck inside for the umpteenth day in a row and I decided to play around. I put about 20 drops of Green Galore re-inker from Stampin' up in the ball and swirled it all around. I then added some glittered acrylic paint and swirled that on top of the green color. Turned it upside down and let it dry. I used one of the Sharpie paint pens to paint my name and the polka dots.

Looks cute hanging in my craft room!

I have more posts for today - compilations of crafts during the snow days. Enjoy!

Denise

Another snow day?!?!?!?!?!

OK, Seriously, I live in VIRGINIA! This is our 3rd major snow storm of the year - we are all going to be a little stir crazy when this weekend is over. The latest estimates put the snow at possible 36" before all is said and done. Really - 3 feet!! Ugh! On the bright side - i am getting some crafting done. In today's post, I think you will see a trend emerging...It is the "Help me, I need Spring" theme. While all the snow is falling and we can't get out to the craft stores, the grocery stores or anything else for that matter, take a gander at these projects and think about Spring - maybe even summer and enjoy a little picnic in the warm sunshine. Can't you feel it on your skin right now?


Project one was all about the invitation! You are cordially invited to a picnic with me! Let's imagine what we would have in the basket - fried chicken, some coleslaw, biscuits, brownies - some lemonade for the kiddos and perhaps some wine for us big kids. I can hear the kids running around playing a game of wiffle ball. Right?? The stamps, solid papers & buttons I used all came from Papertrey Ink (the ant was a random stamp I have in the collection...and the picnic plaid paper I got a Joanne Fabrics)

Here is a close up of the ants marching across the picnic cloth. I love the "Let's do lunch" bit! I couldn't just leave this as the only picnic related project...I am totally in love with the next one!




Remember the recycling of my kids jeans that I have been doing? Well, I had some random "legs" left and I was trying to figure out what to do with them - so I came up with the cutest little napkin rings!! I got the overall button parts at Joanne's along with some adorable cherry fabric and some large white ric-rac. The red and white checked ribbon is just a random ribbon from my rather extensive stash of ribbons. I just love the way these turned out, can you tell? I added a couple more shots so you can see the cherry fabric too.

Hopefully, I will get some more projects done before the storm is over! Until then,

Denise!

New room, new inspirations

Now that I have my awesome new crafting space, I started to hit up on my new year's resolution - finish the multitude of craft projects I have had laying around for MONTHS!!

I looked at my facbric closet (oy!) and decided to start using some of it. I started with this cute fabric cube - it will hold some of the mountainous supply of fabrics that I own.



These purses I found 1/2 finished in a plastic bin the basement. Seriously only took me about 20 per purse to finish - why did I leave them just sitting there - for 3 years??? They turned out cute.


And finally, because I love me!! I dressed up this plain jane letter "D" with some of my ribbon stash.

Craft Room Makeover - the after pictures!

Here, finally is the room!! I would still like to paint, I have a light yellow called Shortbread, picked out. Just dont' have the energy to paint yet.

When you walk in the door you are greeted by the Stampin Up Armoire. Can you believe I got this at a yard sale for $10?? I painted it inside and out and put new hardware on it. But what an amazing storage piece for such a low price tag.


I finally have the storage space for all of my Stampin up stamp sets. I can really see what I have and start putting them to use again. I am getting excited to start doing some crafting.




The bed is dressed with a pink and white striped comforter and has a green and white polka dot blanket and pillow. Just girly enough!!! The french memo boards are one of my projects - there are three more that are almost done leaning over by the door. Just need to find the best buttons to accent them!


I do have quite a stash of buttons - they are all from Papertrey Ink and I got the cute little spice jars from World Market. They are the perfect size to hold the bag of vintage buttons. The shelf holding the buttons came from my Mother -in-law. It was a plate shelf she had in the attic. I painted it up and backed it with the blue gingham fabric. I think it is such a cute background! The white storage unit came from Target and I put it together and backed some of the cubbies with pink paper with white polka dots. Love it!
I got this storage cabinet from Target too. The ribbon holder above came from Michaels and so did the tool organizer on the top. I use this cabinet for storage for my cricut and other handy tools! Like my binding machine. Soon, my Letterpress set will go here as well. I got one for Christmas - but it is backordered until the end of January...patience!!
This is my desk. I got the desk on clearance from a kids furniture store. I think I paid $25 for it! The board on the back I covered with ribbon and it dressed it up just enough.


This unit holds all of my clear stamps and other non SU stamps that needed a home. It is full - so I may need another one in the future - Did I mention that I am going to Michaels today???

Craft Room Makeover - the before pictures

**WARNING** This post could scare you!!! These are the awful messy before pictures of my girl/craft room/mommy space.



Scared yet?? I didn't even get the full affect of how much stuff I really have. Oh, and yeah! I have a 60% off coupon for Michaels - and yes, I am going today!!

Sick day crafts

I guess there is something to be said about being home with a sick kid, I got some crafting done! Cody is now old enough not to want to sit on my lap all day when he doesn't feel good. As a matter of fact, he just took over the recliner and watched t.v. all day - in between his naps, that is! Ok...on to the good stuff.

This was the first project of the day. I bought these frames at either Michaels or Joanne months ago. They came in a 4 pack and I think I maybe paid $4 for them. I dug into my massive button supply and just started gluing. I needed a perfect frame for the picture my 8year old drew for me. In the picture, he is wearing a shirt with an arrow pointing to me that says "I love her." I have a shirt with an arrow pointing to him saying "I love him." He also added a picture of Yogi Bear and Boo Boo bear. So cute!!

When I finished that, I was so proud of myself I decided to try something else...

Here are the "ingredients" I used a small jar from some Classico Pesto sauce and some scraps of fabric, foam and batting to get the project under way - oh, and of course the very important hot glue gun!!



I cut out some circles of foam and glued them to the lid of the jar. Next, I cut a circle of batting and started gluing the batting on top of the foam - pulling a little tightly to make it "pouf."

After that, I glued the circle of pink fabric to the batting, trimmed it all pretty and tied it up with some striped grosgrain ribbon. What do you think about my productive day???

Happy New Year!

The holidays are over and it is time once again to start fresh! Will I be a better blogger? Will I post more than 5 times this year? That all remains to be seen.

Jon (my 8yr old) asked what my new years resolution is...I took some time and really thought about it and decided that it would be to finish some of the gazillion projects I found lying around in my craft stuff.

I have moved into a new crafting space and haven't even begun to make heads or tails out of all of my "Junk." Right now it is just a HUGE mess. I will post a little later the before / after shots of the new space. The before is really a little scary. Who knew I had that much stuff???

I have this picture posted...doesn't he make you happy?? He does me.

For a friend...

It is always hard when your friends move away. When I was growing up, my dad was in the Navy and it was usually me who was moving. We lived in 7 different places before I was in 7th grade! I always had numerous pen pals and I guess that is where my fascination with stationary and cards began. Last month one of my best friends from college left the great state of Virginia for new opportunities in the also great state (not as great as Virginia, but who is??) of Ohio. I have made the card to send her along with a little box of goodies.

I also got lucky enough to have a business trip in Dayton, OH last week. Do you know how thrilled I was to learn that Dayton and Columbus are only and hour away?? Well, that sealed the travel deal for me and I pulled off the BIGGEST surprise by showing up on her doorstep. Her husband was in on the plan with me - but she had no idea. I loved it and got to spend almost 24 hours with them.

Here is the card I am sending:

I used a Stampin up! set (Branch Out) for the tree, bird & swing. The sentiment is from a Papertrey Ink's set (Boards & Beams).

I used SU! Read red, chocolate chip, black, and various shades of green for the colors. The button is also from Papertrey Ink's vintage

button collection.

My favorite part of the card is definitely the "rope" I used for the swing! I decided to try and use twine (also from Papertrey ink!) and using an embroidery needle was able to sew the twine on to look like rope! I really do like the way it turned out. What do you think?