Yard sale me this

Saturday, I went yard saling for the first time in a very, VERY long time.  It was glorious! 

I did some homework and mapped out a route of sales I'd hoped to visit.  First off was just down the street, in a gated community.  Scored a few things there...

Stopped by a church rummage sale I noticed on the way.  Scored 1 thing, but hey, it goes to their Jr. High camp fund, so it was worth the stop.

Headed out to my second destination, but got detoured by a lovely sign proclaiming an ESTATE SALE in an upscale neighborhood.  Even though I was almost an hour late to the party, there was some lovely stuff there!  I scored a vintage pyrex, some vintage teacher's shears, a wicker magazine basket, and a GORGEOUS vintage gallery frame, that was already naturally chippy and worn-in.  Yes, the man in my life rolled his eyes when he saw it.  To him, it's just broken.  To me, it's just waiting for me to love it.

Getting out of that neighborhood was tricky, and I was seduced into several drive-bys and a couple more stops.  Once I finally got out of that maze, I found myself two blocks from my second listed stop anyway.  Found a cute little brass pot there. 

It was just hitting 8 am, and I knew there was one more stop I wanted to make Fo Sho, at a sale that started at 8.  I'm so glad I went!  I'd been searching high and low, near and far, for an old Coca-Cola bottle crate that would not dent my wallet.  And I totally found it!  It's going to have a new life in one of the boys' rooms.  I also found an incredible little mirror...they were still clearing the garage when the sale started, but, I had limited myself to $20 and an hour.  I didn't hit my dollar limit, but I did hit my time limit.

All of those photo frames are 10x12, and solid wood, some with brass.  They have all been given some new life with a coat of white craft paint.  Of course, I realized they were'nt 8x10 a little late in the game, but I've come up with an easy, no-cost fix for that so I can use them as I intended, for my 8x10 art!  Stay tuned.

A Monogram project & a photo bomb

I was recently (ok it's longer than recently, but who's counting?) browsing through Pinterest, and was inspired by this post:

http://www.craftaholicsanonymous.net/33-ideas-to-display-school-photos

Cute huh?  I thought so. 

So, a few weeks ago I happened to be in JoAnn's.  They were having a sale on their craft letters, and I picked up this large W.  This was a HUGE score, because they were on sale for 40% off, and, because it was slightly damaged, I ended up getting it for 60% off!  Can't beat $3.50 for a 2-foot tall letter.  Sorry, but you just can't.

Now I'll be honest and tell you that this thing floated around the house for WEEKS.  Seriously.  I lost count of the times I yelled at the boys to leave it alone, for fear of them bending it in half or otherwise mauling beyond repair.  They have a history y'all.

I decided to paint the sides with my prize MyColor by Pantone paint in Medieval Blue.  It's a deep cobalt, and I adore it.  I actually won some samples of three colors from MyColor by Pantone last year, and had not yet used the Medieval Blue.  It ended up being the perfect compliment to my photos, and just the pop of color I was hoping for.

Now, none of my projects would be complete without accompanying disparaging remarks from the men in my life.  I received various versions of 'Wow, that looks like crap!' while painting the sides.  It seems that, despite my years of painting, I've been unable to convey the idea that, it's always going to look worse with one coat of paint before it looks better. 

For the photos, I just dumped a bunch of my favorites into a separate folder on the computer, then played with color and focus for a while.  I wanted pops of blue and a smidge of green, so the photos that had that received a soft-focus watercolor treatment to mute the colors a bit.  Everything else went black and white.  Then I simply printed them out wallet size and cut them out.  And YES, I did manage to find some snaps with me in them, and I did include those, butt-crack-hair and all.

As I was painstakingly determining optimum placement of each cherished memory, my oh-so-helpful hubby sauntered by with a snide 'Uh, you're going to trim those I hope.'  Nope, I thought I'd just lay them out willy-nilly and make my 2-week paint job look like crap.  Geez, MEN! LOL

I just used some watered-down school glue, foam brush and my fingers to adhere the photos.  Just glob some on the monogram, smoosh the photo into it and use your fingers to moosh the excess squishing out the sides around and over the front.  Once you've got a dry surface, you can either coat with another layer of the glue, or spray with poly.  I chose to use some archival-quality spray poly I had lying around.  I can't even remember where I got it, or what brand it was (probably because I snitched it from the parent's garage!).

Once it was all said and done, everyone decided this was one of my cooler projects.  The boys fought over the leftover photos; Stanky is still convinced that the baby pic of his big brother is their cousin Bobble. 

So, here's the photobomb - thanks Stanky.  Not only did he bomb the photo, but the focus changed at the last second and blurred out my masterpiece! 

They all decided to get in on the action.  Stamped faces, kabob skewers and all.

Updated, slightly nicer photos (stuck with the cell-phone peeps), without the minions...

Now, do you remember this table from last August's Swap Meet?  Yeah, I've been sanding when I feel like it, and moving it from one house to another, in the hopes of being stricken with inspiration.  I think it was that awful textured tray top that stumped me.  After days and days (yes, all those hours added into days!) of sanding and filling and sanding and filling and sanding and crying because it still sucked...

Well folks, inspiration struck, and she don't look like dis no mo!

 

Stay tuned for the reveal...I'm keeping this one!

Sharing this week over at

Down Home Wine Glasses

A few weeks ago I went on a church retreat to the local mountains.  On the way back, my mom and I and two ladies from church decided to stop and browse an antiques market, where mi madre spied a set of jar wineglasses.  She absolutely HAD to have some, until we noticed that they were $10 each! 

I told her I'd make her some for WAAAAY cheaper.  And lo & behold, I actually did it!  And within a reasonable amount of time!  See, sometimes I can finish a project quickly.

Here is what you need:

I picked up a case of Ball canning jars at OSH during their 'We pay the sales tax' weekend.  I think the whole case cost me 12 bucks.  While I was there, I grabbed a tube of E6000 adhesive.  Then I walked all of 50 yards down the sidewalk to the Dollar Tree where I cleaned them out of glass candlesticks.  So, I'm up to about $23 worth of stuff.  

Truly one of the easiest DIYs to date for me (besides the hokey Valentines door-hangers).  I did wipe the tops of the candlesticks and bottoms of the jars with rubbing alcohol before giving them a quick sandpaper massage to ensure good adhesion. 

Followed the directions on the adhesive, married the two pieces and VOILA!  Redneck/Okie/Down-Home-Country Wine Glasses! 

I did let the adhesive cure overnight with a weight on top as per the instructions.  But I was able to throw them in a basket and give them to mom at church last Sunday - she was so surprised!

This entire project cost me less than $25.  I gifted 6 glasses to my mom, and plan to sell the other set of 6 for $30 to cover costs. And that is still half the asking price of any others I've seen lately ($10 each? Really?  It took me like, a minute to do each glass.)

New projects!

3 projects in the works. The cocktail table I thrifted last August, a recent find, and some mason jar magic.

Yes, all but one photo is sideways. Shelf is clamped for veneer repair, and the boys were supposed to be wiping down the table.

See you all soon!

I've got nothing

Been in a bit of a crafty desert lately, what with the kids' school, and work, and church. 

Pretty much all I've been doing is making and buying things for the church nursery.  Oh! I've taken over the nursery at our church.  I'm smack in the middle of trying to revamp that space, and time is a very precious commodity around here.  Do you all KNOW how long it takes to make flowers out of 160 dollar tree coffee filters?!  A LONG TIME.  Because I started weeks ago and am still not done yet.

But rest assured, I WILL have something to share.  One day, when my eye stops twitching and my fingers can type more than 100 words without cramping...

The Easiest Decoration EVAH

I'll admit it.  I've been super lazy about finishing even one project since the  holidays.  I just have no motivation.  It's cold outside, I'd have to move cars around to be able to work in the garage, the light sucks, the list goes on.

So that's why I'm not posting.  I'm lazy.  I haven't even taken my Christmas tree down yet - it's on a table in an otherwise blank corner of my living room, not infringing on our space in any way.  Besides, I'm kinda freaked about having a naked corner again. 

That said, I've just "made" the most simple hanging valentine's decor you will EVAH EVAH EVAH (sorry, The Pigpen thinks Taylor Swift is his girlfriend, and sings her shizz all day long) see anywhere.

Supplies:

Dollar store felt heart garland (9 feet for a dolla - HOLLA!)
Dollar store felt heart (these were on sale 2 for a dollar!)
Glue
Some sort of contraption for hanging - for the one pictured, I used a very professional thumb tack

Process:

1. Figure out how low you want your heart to hang. 
2. Separate the garland at that point.
3. Glue the end of the garland to the top of your large heart.
4. Stick a thumbtack in the wall above the only window in your office (which happens to look into a hall)
5. Hang that bad boy up!

Easy frickin peasy!  And it only cost me like, 33 cents to make the thing.  Guess that means I'll be making one for home too.

Handmade Gifts for the Holidays

Do you have someone especially difficult to buy for?  Or do you just want to give something thoughtful, that you made with your own two hands?  I've got a quick and easy tutorial for you, for something that pretty much everyone needs: Coasters. 

Not just any coasters, CUSTOM coasters. 

Here is the supply list:

1. Simple Green or your favorite all-purpose cleaner.
2. 4-inch clay saucers - I got mine from OSH.
3. Spray paint - I chose Krylon's metallic ORB paint that I already had on hand
4. Scrapbook paper, labels, fabric, photos, etc.  I used vintage beer & wine labels for these, scanned printed on regular copy paper.
5. Mod Podge - mine was DIY
6. Non-yellowing clearcoat.  I used a Krylon archival quality clear poly that I had on hand.
7. Felt pads

First off, I cleaned the coasters with a paper towel dampened with Simple Green.  It's my go-to for pretty much anything, as it doesn't leave a residue behind that could cause streaking or adhesion problems.  Once I had the dust cleaned off (clay saucers are dusty!) I didn't plan to prime these, so I roughed them up just a smidge with some medium-grit sandpaper and wiped down again. 

Then I used my very professional work surface (ahem, the top of the garbage bin) to spray paint the saucers.  Now, mine started out brown, so it didn't take as much paint as I thought it would to get good coverage and go from this...

 To this...

I ended up using 2 coats of ORB to get the color and coverage I was looking for.  I did need to sand down the edges once, because I was impatient and turned them over before they were fully dry (rookie mistake - doh!)

While you are waiting for the paint to dry, start working on your inserts.  I chose to scan some vintage beer and wine labels for mine, since my giftee is a wine-o and her hubs (my bro) is a beer man (love you guys!).  I sized them to fit and printed them all out on plain copy paper.  You could use a pretty scrapbook paper, or even print photos on copy paper for this, though I don't recommend using photographic prints, due to the layers of paper and the chemicals used in the printing process. 

Once you've got your inserts ready (and your paint is finally dry!), you can start adhering them to the saucers.  I used a 50/50 mix of white glue and water, applied with a cheap sponge brush.  I made sure to apply a coat on the bottom of the saucer before I laid down the graphic, then applied more over the top.  You will probably need more than one coat of Mod-Podge.  I went ahead and applied the MP all the way up the sides of the saucer, but that's by no means a must.

I loved the horseshoe label here!

And I thought this elephant was pretty cool.

And this EAGLE!  I confess, the first time I looked at this I thought it said GASSER, which I thought was pretty darn funny.  Oh well.  It's still cool.

Another elephant.  And I just really liked the parrot.

Once everything was dry and pretty waterproof from the MP, I sprayed on two coats of the non-yellowing clear poly.  I know some people like those thirsty-stone kind of coasters, but I've always found that the stone chills down with the liquid, and leaves a ring on the furniture anyway!  Much nicer to just swab or tip the liquid out of a saucer I say...

After your clearcoat is dry, you want to make sure you protect that furniture!  I found some small felt circles in the craft section of the Dollar Tree and used those on the bottoms of the coasters.  They were pretty thin, so I doubled them up to get good coverage.  They slid across my coffee table nicely before I figured out what the boys were doing and put the kibosh on coaster hockey.  After all, these were supposed to be a gift!!

I had originally thought to tie these up with some jute twine and put a cute handmade tag on, but the project pretty much emptied my brain of creative resources, so I opted for a gift bag and lots of tissue paper. 

I'm happy to report that my SIL loved the coasters.  Even my bro thought they were cool.  I think I'll put these on my go-to for DIY gifts from now on...