The saga of this Cheesebox has been an interesting journey. I think it was two years ago when my neighbour, Paul, came over and gave me this antique cheesebox. It was all dirty, but still had the original writing across the lid. What did I do with it? I painted the base rim off-white and the actual round box of it "red". That was during my menopausal red stage of wanting to brighten my world. That's over. Now, I just want peace and serenity in my world with lighter, muted colours. Did I take a before photo? No, I didn't. I wasn't a blogger then. But, did I take another before photo of the red cheesebox? No, I didn't...I was a stupid blogger then. I was just going to paint it and throw it somewhere as extra storage, however, had the bright idea of adding legs and making it into an occasional table. Here it is.....
I found some 2-1/2' lengths of whatever those legs were originally...we can't figure it out? Anybody know? Didn't seem long enough for a kitchen table...there were only three of them and they didn't seem to be from a stairwell? But, they served my purpose for $4.50 for all three. Dan cut them down for me and...they were already painted! How great is that?
The top was a bit of a dilemma for me. I sanded it down, but carefully...just enough to get the grime off it and not obliterate the writing as I wanted to preserve at least the outline of it.
That's shadows on the lid, not stains...I'm really not the world famous photographer you think I am...lol! As you all know, I'm the queen of bone-headed moves on my projects. I had it completed...just like above, when I decided it would be lovely to put an image of a crown above the wording in the empty space. Nuh-uh! Oh no....too much grain in the wood to transfer it properly, so then.... I attempted to draw (by hand) over the vague outline of the crown with a black wood marker and that just looked so tacky and horrific. That's when I sanded it all back again and restained the top of the lid. Why does it always take me double the time to finish a project you may ask? Because I get overzealous about tweaking it with my own touches? Well, I like how it turned out after I had gone over just the original trace of wording. And that is how I've left it sitting in my screened-in room and it's perfect with the wicker furniture in there!
Ahhhhh.....another project put to rest, along with myself! xo
I'm one of those people who just wasn't into the Chalkboard Fad that's been going around blogland for all the time I've been here and sincerely didn't ever want to make a chalkboard framed or chalkboard signs or specifically...never a chalkboard wall! But, as I mentioned previously, I was at my daughter Alana's place in Toronto last week and following an afternoon out and about the city, we retired to her two-story apartment in the Beaches and proceeded to open a bottle of red wine together. After a couple glasses, we decided to go upstairs and check out her chalkboard wall! Well, one thing lead to another and both us being a little off...(in a good way), I started to draw a very large tree on her wall...
It just progressed from there and Alana got involved, after grabbing her camera! We even put veins in the leaves on the tree!
Then Alana took over the last portion of the tree and I took over the camera!
And seriously....check out the awesome headboard Alana & Mark drew on the wall with a projector...it's become a wee bit smudged from overnight guests...but still looks so crazy cool! Can you imagine putting a chalkboard wall in your child's room?!
Would you paint chalkpaint on your child's bedroom wall? I would now! How much fun could you have drawing and imagining different scenes and characters and changing up the headboard whenever the mood hit you?! I'm now trying to get everyone I know with kids to try this....ehemmm.... because my 30yr old daughter and her 32yr old hubby did and they don't have kids! Hahaha! xo
I know, I know....took me awhile! You have my "Heartfelt" apology!What can I say?Life gets in the way.... Okay....Felt Hearts!You saw the finished project on Monday... And, how it attached to the pillow itself. Plus...in the following photo, make note of the back of the heart for tutorial purposes!
To make a perfect heart shape out of felt, you'll need... a can of soup (I actually used Sweetened Condensed Milk...little bigger) a ruler a pen red felt
Fold your felt piece in half and with most of the circular bottom of the soupcan, draw around it partially.....like so (we all learned this in elementary school...it's just nice to have a gentle reminder right?)
Draw a straight line angling down to the fold from the partial circle and cut your heart out. You may need to cut in the center between the circles a bit more.
Here's the fun part! NOT! Cut out 2 million circles....okay, only 1 million....! Kidding, it just feels that way....probably about 50-60 depending on how big you made your heart...mine is 6" at the widest point and 5" from the bottom tip to the top middle. My circles were cut freehand, but I'd say they were about 2" across. I didn't want to trace them because the pen lines would show up on the good side or bad.
...really old, used ruler Here's where you heat up your glue gun and put out a sheet of waxed paper to work on. Don't use newspaper or you'll be peeling it off the bottom of your project. Learn from me AGAIN people! Fold your wee circle in half and then in half again, then cut the bottom point off, while still holding it in your hand.
Apply glue liberally to the cut section of your circle ...still holding it together... then place on your heart wherever you want to start.
_Until you get this...... As you can see from my heart that's finished, I started on the outside edge and I'm not sure if that's better or not...maybe better uniformity to the edges if you start on the outside, but perhaps the pattern would be nicer if you started in the middle. Regardless, keep cutting circles and gluing until you are tired of it...or when it's done. Throw a piece of iron-on velcro (which I glue-gunned) onto the back and you are finished! See how easy that was? You could do this on a 4-leaf clover for St.Paddy's Day! ....or I could. Happy Cutting Circles! xo
A few weeks before Christmas, an idea was hatching in my pea brain. I was seeing all these beautiful pillows on blogs and I kept thinking... where, oh where, will I have room to store all these seasonal or festive pillows?
And, then the epiphany! Girl! Use your brain! What if I used one neutral coloured pillow and changed up the look of it whenever I felt like it?!
Using......Ta-dum.....VELCRO! Yah Baby!! And it worked!
Valentine's Cherub Thankyou to Graphics Fairy for this image! Valentine Heart!
Romantic Fabric Flower!
Baby or Child's Room? Thanks again Graphics Fairy! And definitely, let's not forget Christmas!
This was a fun, creative project to do and the great thing is.... I finally got my sewing machine out and dusted it off, but, if you don't sew, all you need do is go shopping for a neutral pillow and let your creativity guide you with your glue gun.
Here's the shot of the Velcro attachment...
See how easy this is? I KNOW!! Space-Saving too! Imagine only needing a wee drawer to hold your seasonal bling for pillows!
The possibilities are truly endless don't you think? I bet you're thinking in your minds right now....hmmm...I've got an idea for a pillow embellishment! Do it! I'll do a couple wee tutorials in the coming week of the how-to's on the accessories I made here, but I'm sure you will all do just fine! I've got to get working on more! xo
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_Again...one of Alana's crazy crafts! This photo is her when she was in San Francisco with Mark last year...just to show you how completely off the wall she is....in so many zany photos of her it was hard to pick one! Alana 29yrs old...hahaha! She said a few months ago to me...."Mom, I was in my graphic arts class and our teacher showed us this awesome medium she used to make jewellery and keychains and all kinds of wondrous stuff! So, I bought it and brought it to you and now we can do this awesome craft together! Yay!" It sat in my house for awhile until we could co-ordinate our schedules and yesterday was the day. (Anything to get out of doing her coffee table in driftwood finish) I thought...right on! This sounds like soooo much fun! Boy....was I wrong? Just kidding...it was 5 hours of fun, but it was a complete wash...other than the learning experience we got from it! And the extremely hilarious bouts of laughter we caused among Dan & Mark, Alana & myself while the "Shrinky Dinks" (which they completely were....hahaha) baked in the oven into unrecognizable blobs of art.
Here's the package...in case at the end of this you think you might want to try it!
So....how it works is you use the transparency sheets to print off a graphic from your computer using an "inkjet" printer and following the directions given in the package. Laser printers get too hot on transparencies to print properly. Keep in mind that the graphic you print is going to shrink to 1/3rd of it's size.
Here's what we printed off in the hopes of making rings!
Now, after we printed this one off, we realized you have to print it off 50% lighter, which was a whole other challenge to figure out how to do that....but we did.
Here it is with the lighter mode in place which we found in Microsoft Picture Manager while setting the page up.
Now, we attempted the clear transparencies....not good.
SO BAD!!! So horrid! See the runny lines? Does anyone know how to do this properly? If so, I would really appreciate knowing how to print onto clear transparencies without the running ink???
Onward. We trimmed up the individual graphics, rounding the edges for wrap around rings and placed them strategically on parchment paper on a cookie sheet.
After baking for 3 minutes, and seeing them curling up and then flattening out (except for the ones that curled up together....note to self....don't place pre-baked strips so close together ever again!), we had to grab them faster than what we thought because we lost half the batch to hardening...meaning they would become fridge magnets, not rings.
See how small they shrink up to? And, we obviously put too many of them on at once, because they cool so fast, you can only put a couple on at a time if you have any hopes of molding them into the shape you want! If you try to mold them when they are almost cool, they break. That's right....throw those puppies out. We attempted to put them back in to soften them up. Nope....bad idea. Do you think this is where you need a teacher in the room? I'm thinking...yah....that'd be great!
Bird Graphics courtesy of Graphics Fairy This is what we ended up with....a couple rings and lots of hard flat pieces for possibly magnets or hair barrettes? Too funny! Live and learn! But, we did get an idea of what would and wouldn't work. That big blob up in the right corner was a very large piece...like a 6x8" page which Mark was going to make into a keychain, but it scrunched up into itself and stayed that way...so beware...don't make large items! See how much you're learning? Play along with me....la,la,la-la! The rings are pretty hard to size and I only got one good one out of the batch..... on my index finger! or thumb!
Um...yah.....I did everything I possibly could to this photo in Picnik to take your attention off my 49yr old elephant hands....guess it's time to start using handcream everyday instead of just when I think of it? Okay....so I'm not going to be doing hand shots on commercials....I'm okay with it.
We had a hoot attempting this craft for FIVE HOURS today. Dan & Mark laughed and shared knowing looks with each other as Alana & I freaked over the curling transparencies, ha-ha'd over the unrecognizable blobs, and agonized over just about every little step of this whole procedure!
I actually just had a thought! I could make markers for my herbs and they'd be weatherproof plastic, but permanent! Or, tags for preserves.... oooooh....the ideas are coming fast and furious now!
Don't try this at home....or actually....do try it and tell me how you made out! Or....pull out your sewing machine instead...like I should have done! xo
I know I said I'd be blogging about the Antique Shop in Cambridge we visited over the Christmas Season...however, I'm so excited aboutmy experiment today that I must share...(and we have had company drop in today....so...need to be quickish)A couple months ago, after starting to follow Rosemary at Villabarnes, I ordereda splendid blender pen from an online website because....you can't get them at Michael`s in Canada.....and...it finally came right before Christmas!I stashed it away to play with when I had a single, solitary moment to myself and today, remembered and tried it out! I`M IN LOVE WITH IT!We are going to the States on the weekend and I`m going to buy more!It was so much faster than Citrasolve and now I can't wait until all our company (family and guests) LEAVE! But, shhh.....they're still here....hahaha!Just kidding! I love them being here!Here's what I experimented with today....a wee little bathbag with a graphic fromThe Graphics Fairy. SUWWWWWEEEEET! Thanks Rosemary!xo
The inspiration for my craft I'm showing today came from Unrefined by Lindsay (Etsy)who was featured by My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia last week.Lindsay makes these beautiful photo blocks for sale.... ...with a choice of your photo on the front and a pretty pattern on the back.
So, inspired, I had wanted to make something out of a gorgeous photo my friend Lynne's daughter had posted on facebook of her children (Lynne's grandchildren) and remembered seeing Lindsay's photoblock. Our theme for gift giving with myself and my three other childhood friends, for our quarterly appetizer & wine gathering, was something small that you could pull out every year to remind you of each other at Christmas.
And here's what I did.....
Side I of Lynne's
Side II of Lynne's
Side I of Karen's
Side II of Karen's
Side I of Melanie's
Side II of Melanie's
Notice my pictures DO NOT fit the blocks!I said, "Hey, Dan.....could you do me a favour?" (very sweetly of course!)"Could you cut me some 6" lengths out of a 2x4 if you have one hanging around?""Of course Darlin'!" was his answer....or something like that....hahahaha!Little did I know that when you print off a 4x6 photo....it's not really a 4x6 photo.Nuh-uh. It's more like 4-1/2 x 6!So, I just downsized them and of course, they no longer fit in length....butthat was okay...I had a plan.I liked that there were cracks in the 2x4 chunks...alot. Because I wanted to make the background/base like Elmo's stool (Le Chien Etape here) with the Benjamin Moore Atmospheric (blue/grey) base and antique white homemade chalkpaint (see Maureen's directions at It's All Connected) on top.Then distress the white back to the blue and the wood.That all worked out lovely.Like this.... But then....it came time to decoupage my photos (Picnik enhanced to be Sepia) on one side and my vintage Christmas Cards from The Graphics Fairy on the other. Glitch.While trying to rub out the bubbles on one of the photos, I rubbed the photoout in one wee part and thought....hmmmm...do I rip this off and start over?Nooooo!I decided to incorporate the cracks from the wood base right into the photosand I love how they turned out.It took a bit of fussing with an exacto knife and some brown craft paint, then the blue paint, then a titch of the white chalkpaint, but it all turned out in the end! _I used modpodge to coat the whole block and wrapped some matching ribbon around them (for the life of me I couldn't get Mel's straight!) topped with wee silver "bead caps" (found at Michaels) for some bling! I call them Sofa Table Block Art because of the fact they are two-sided! You can put them on your table behind your couch or on your floating counterand they look pretty, no matter which side you are standing on! Better yet, in front of a mirror would be pretty as well so you could see both sides at once! Best of all, I'm giving my friends a precious memory of cherished ones to have for always!Hope you enjoyed this...I loved, loved, loved making them!I didn't get the opportunity to give these to my friends as 2 out of the 4 of us were sick yesterday, so if they see it here first...Merry Christmas guys! But, I'm going to try to deliver them today!xoThanks so much Brooke for featuring me at Get Outta My Head Please! Also featured by:
_sharing this with: Funky Junk Theme Party - Picture Frames
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating
One of the very first items I pinned to my Pinterest page was this....
It was posted originally by So And Sew Productions blog and it came from either The Pottery Barn or Restoration Hardware. But the ideainspired me to try this at home! So, for the last month...everywhere we go out in the vehicle or on foot, I've been searching for the perfect branch. It's actually quite funny, because I've even got Maureen involved in finding the perfect branches. A couple days ago, she hauled over a fairly large branch from her backyard she found for me! I wonder what people were thinking watching her walk down the street with a giant branch!?But...it wasn't the one I wanted....I know...I felt bad!Dan & I went for a walk up the sideroad with the dogs yesterday morning and after much chaos with the dogs getting tangled in the brush with their leashes wrapped around small trees and weeds, muck on our boots, and juggling...we managed to get these. Whatever branch you pick, it has to suit your tastes...of course, but it also must have branches wide enough to hold the candle holders.
Which leads me to what I used for candle holders.
These are called "Nail-On Glides" and come in a box of four. They're used for the bottom of chairs to help them glide across the floor, but I spent a long time checking out the hardware aisle for something that would work to hold my candles on....and this was it! The beauty of having nails is your candle slides right down and if, by chance (something I'd never do....hahaha....did it), your candle nail is on crooked, you can actually adjust the candle by sticking it into it on a wee bit of an angle.
After trimming up my branches to how I wanted it to look and twisting the branch upside down to see which way it sat flat best, but still looked interesting, I hot-gluegunned the Nail-On Gliders in spots here and there, trying to keep them level and spaced out sufficiently. I actually enjoyed trimming it up....felt like a crazy artist sculpting something!
This is the Gold branch before.
And....this is my Silver branch before.
Having affixed the candle holders, I spray-painted two coats, top and bottom, including the candle holders and here's some photos of the finished product!
This Silver one was actually a secondary thought for me, because as you can see from the photos, silver in my house...not so good! But, I quite like it and feel in the right environment, it could look completely excellent!
In this close up you can see how lovely the silver metallic paint is and how the real look of the wood shines through.
I can't decide which one I like best, but I obviously can see the gold branch looks preferable here over the silver.
Dan & I both liked that there was moss and knarlyness (is that a word?) to this particular branch and it's definitely a unique piece because it's been given such texture as a result...shiny in two tones.
You could add some Christmas Bling to it as well. I kinda wanted to keep it simple looking, but will definitely play with it some more and add perhaps some boughs from the tree or some holly berries?
I realize it looks monstrous in some of the shots here, but in reality, there is plenty of room to share a meal around it at my table. I quite like the meshing of nature and metallic. Which one do you like best? And, do you think you'll try this at home? I'd love to hear back about this.... xo
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Chic on a Shoestring Decorating
Good Morning!
Today, I'm going to show you our Personalized Christmas Card we're sending out this year!
One year, we sent out a photo of Dan & myself on a magnet for the fridge to our special friends (that'd be the ones who actually wanted a photo of us on their fridge looking at them everyday!)
This year, I decided not to make "us" such a permanent fixture in other people's homes. Wasn't that nice of me? hahahaha!
So, here it is......
The idea came to me because....I have a picture frame right at my front door that holds a 4x6 photo and I change it up with the seasons/occasions by putting either a photo or a particularly funny card in it. This year, I was playing with Picnik and did this to one of our photos for the frame... so it's a photo as well as being particularly funny! Then, I thought....hey, what a fun way to personalize a card for others?!
I don't think I have to give you a tutorial on this because it's glaringly obvious how I did it. But, I'll tell you the supplies I used.
Folded Cards and Envelopes A photo (duh!) Decorative Photo Corners Ribbon Gem
In the inside I used some Black Card Stock paper I had and a Silver Glitter Gel pen. (I know...it's hard to tell in the photo that it's glittering...but it is!)
Dan even signed his own name....Imagine?! hahaha! I'd love to see your homemade cards too! Merry Christmas! xo
ps...we're only sending these to family members, so please don't be offended if you don't get this card in your
Wow! Welcoming Christmas has never been so fun and creative for me in the past! If my kids read this, they'll be in shock cuz I'm more of a throw up a wreath and some garland with lights kind of a girl. Blogging has inspired me! It all started with my milkcan a couple weeks ago and just flourished from there.
When Dan looked at it last night with all the candles lit, he just said "That's so beautiful Wendy!" and I'm like "Are you sure? Do you think it's too much? Do you think I should change something? Is it too gaudy?" Hahaha! So, this is going to be a long posting....full of photos! (I'd like to thank you in advance for your patience because this has been a culmination of several weeks worth of crafting)
Welcome to My Front Porch
(yup...that's me again...just like Halloween...in the window of the door!) The themes in my porch are Burlap & Bling, Gold & Antique White. Following are some of the elements for this shot.....
I made a sort-of valance out of burlap & ribbon, and hung some swaggy bling down the sides of the door frame.
If you click on any of the previous images it will take you to the "tutorials" for them....except the Letter Holder...that's pretty obvious!
Now for some more PORCH! Woohoo! I'll try to do Day/Night, so you get the idea of both looks k?
I absolutely love the feeling I get looking at this shot! It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy!
I DID NOT paint my potting table for Christmas! It was already this colour! How great is that?!
(You'll have to excuse my amateur camera work, but you get the idea right?)
This is looking in the other direction now...
Can you see the sweet lit up Terrarium Glass in the corner? I'll get to that preciousness soon!
Here's the View from the front of the long section of the porch... through the Potting Bench from the other side!
Cozy...and I hope Inviting....
As for that Terrarium in the Corner.....
I've had this little lovely kicking around the house for years. It actually had plexiglass in it that had yellowed and my sweet husband changed the windows in it for me, but I left the rust intact and I like it that way!
In this Daytime View you can see it's perched atop a very old birdbath! So old, in fact, we didn't bother painting it, because it's falling apart...all chipping off around the rim of it! I just added a twig wreath, some of the same bling around the door, and topped it with a pearly garland of battery operated lights. The wee sparkly tree inside was a great find and it's sitting on top of one of Dan's terrycloth shop cloths (the snow...you know?!)
Following is the RED Potting Table...I like it that colour all year. It makes me happy!
These are some of the elements on the Potting Table....
The only item in the above that has a tutorial is the Vintage BootA couple of other little touches..... Two Final Joyous Shots!
And.....THAT'S A CHRISTMAS "WRAP"! (I crack myself up....) xo
_I was also featured at Front Porch Ideas and More(a blog specializing completely about front porches) Thankyou everyone!I'll be sharing this with.... Chic on a Shoestring Decorating
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