Makers Gonna Make.

I want this shirt!

I was recently telling some friends that I'd never photograph or talk about all the things I make. Why? Because I'd be embarrassed about how much time I spend crafting/painting/sewing/whatever.

I made these paper pinwheels out of scrapbook paper and painted dowel rods using a tutorial from Miss Mustard Seed. Then they sort of sat on the ironing board for about a week. Maybe they even got moved to the dining room table a couple times. I realized I had no use for them. I couldn't even think of a place that I could stick them. I think I was going to put them in the entry way as part of my spring decorating, but I couldn't remember exactly how I was going to do so.

They sat there long enough that John finally asked me what I was going to do with them.  I didn't know. I just wanted to make them.

They ended up in this pitcher type thingy on top of the hutch in the dining room. I can't say I even really like them. But there they are.

Is that the Easter bunny? What's he still doing out in mid May? Well, he's just a 75 cent thrift store bunny to me. He has the sweetest face and ears. I didn't even have to spray paint him. I did paint that pot with the fern though. Sometimes I just randomly paint stuff with craft paint while I'm cooking dinner.

It really must be true. Makers gonna make.

Speaking of which, back to the sewing machine I go.

I didn't spray paint it!

My Mom gave me this painting last spring:

I keep an eye out for original art when I am out thrifting. I like this painting, but the frame wasn't working for me. I considered spray painting it, but I never got around to it. I think it's been in the basement for a year.

Then I decided to change some stuff out in the dining room for spring. I wanted new art, but didn't have anything in my hiding spot that was catching my eye. Then I remembered this painting. I emailed Mom to see if I could modify it.

My idea was to make it into a chalkboard. I was all set to get something to make into a chalkboard and paint it. Then I found this piece of poster board that was already painted. And it fit. Maybe I DO have too much stuff! I was going to do a quote or something, but I decided to just go with a doodle. I hung it up, but there was a nail hold showing above it. I stole this little plate from my plate wall, hot glued a pop can tab to the back, and hung it up.

I am so ready to decorate for spring. I've got a couple other crafty ideas for the dining room. Here's one that's almost done:

Felted nest.

I made this nest by holding one strand of wool yarn with one piece of novelty yarn on every other row. Some is cotton, and some is eyelash yarn. There's some twine in there too, but I didn't like the look of it after it felted so I cut most of it off. I still need to paint a little egg and put it inside.

I put it in my huge ironstone bowl, and it will be our dining room centerpiece until I get sick of looking at it.

The basement is so close to being done! I just need to put one more coat of paint on the cabinet doors and the hand rail. I took it down to paint it, so I'll need to hang it back up again. I'm still hoping to get it done by March 1st.

All you need is......

Before.

All you need is 1. a free piece of art from your Mom's yard sale pile (broken glass optional), 2. red spray paint, and 3. chalkboard spray paint. Oh and chalk borrowed from the kids.

After.

I got rid of the broken glass. I spray painted over the boat print which was actually a nice, heavy cardstock. I just shoved it back in the frame with the two pieces of cardboard that were behind the picture. It's not even secured. 

I  made this last night:

Book page wreath #2.

I never was overly satisfied with the first book page wreath I made. I needed something to hang on the dining room door since I moved the stick wreath to our bedroom. I have a good supply of vintage books right now thanks to my Dad. He bought two boxes of them at the auction he frequents. I think he paid a dollar or two per BOX and there were 12-15 books per box.

I'm starting to see a pattern here. I get a lot of free "junk" from my parents.

Stolen from Dad's yard sale pile. Didn't even give him 50 cents.

I've tried many times to pay Dad from the stuff I take from him. He buys it super cheap though, so he never wants money for it. He has a couple booths at an indoor flea market where he resells stuff. Anyway, I thought this was a good shaped frame when I stole it. I actually plan to cut the picture in two and keep the horse and buggy. That's a project for another day. 

Mystery art.

I actually forgot I had the frame. It was down in my hoarding spot in the basement. John and I had talked about framing this little piece of mystery art for our gallery wall. It was warm enough to spray a paint yesterday, so I painted the frame to match the others I'll be using.

As for the mystery art, John's Grandma painted it. When her estate was settled, all of her artwork was distributed. We got several beautiful pieces. Then it came down to this sort of strange scrap pile. John and I both loved this one piece. The back is almost just as pretty, though I don't think it is a painting. It it just brush strokes in yellows, blues, and oranges. Like maybe she was cleaning her brushes or testing colors. As for the barn on the front, I'll always wonder where the other half is. Or why someone would paint something so beautiful and then cut it in half. Maybe she was unhappy with it or just doodling. Or maybe she spilled her coffee on it. We will never know, but I do love it anyway.

Don't breathe.

Don't breathe.

Don't sneeze.

Don't run.

Don't jump.

Whisper.

Done!

I haven't heard anything fall off for two hours. I'm taking it as a good sign. As I was hanging it, ornaments were falling off. Then I took something to the garage, and I heard more falling off when I came back in. Nothing broke. I used more glue and tried not to breath too hard.

Probably shouldn't even look directly at it.

Last year my stick wreath hung here, and John ran into it daily. I usually stand the ironing board behind this door, but I've moved it. The door is closer to the wall. I hung the wreath up high so the girls wouldn't bump it. I took out the nail that's usually in the back of the door and replaced it with a drywall screw. The wreath is very heavy. I'd guess there are between 350 and 400 ornaments on it. I have no idea how I'll store it after Christmas. I seriously doubt the hot glue will hold up for a year in storage anyway. I'm just going to enjoy the heck out of it for however long it lasts. There's a mix of vintage/thrifted, plastic, new/clearance, and ornaments I've used on the tree in previous years. Grandma Mary gave me a huge box of her vintage ornaments to help me out, but I couldn't bring myself to use them on here.


I also hung up my yarn wreath in the entry.

I didn't want the pink tree to be the only pink thing in the room, so I made this wreath to match it. It looks sort of out of place right now. I might try to sneak a few more Christmas thing up from the basement this weekend.

Lessons learned.

First lesson: Don't paint until 11pm when you have a cold. You'll wake up in the morning to find something like this:

Oops!

I was removing the outlet covers as I went instead of doing them all at once. I was going to go back for this one. Oops. It's fixed now.

Second Lesson: Even though you know it's going to take hundreds of ornaments, you can't really grasp that it will be HUNDREDS of ornaments until you dig in:

Getting there!

I stopped counting after the first hundred, but I think I'm close to 200 now. I still have to go back and fill in all the gaps with small ornaments. Maybe another 150 or so will do it. That's an 18 inch straw wreath form under there somewhere. I've only broken two ornaments so far. It weighs a lot. I have no idea how or where I am going to hang it. But it is going to be pretty!

Ornament wreath

I've wanted to make an ornament wreath for three years. I actually tried to make one a couple years ago, but it looked awful. I took it apart. Last year I started buying thrifted ornaments whenever I could. I still didn't have enough. I had a few from the clearance racks too. Finally, I asked my Dad to help me get some. He got me 10 boxes for $2 (total) at an auction he frequents. Yippie!

Now I just have to find time to make the darn thing. It's going to take forever, and about a million hot glue sticks. I pulled my boxes of ornaments from the basement tonight and started sorting them. I'm hoping to start on it tomorrow during Ellie's nap.

I hope it ends up looking something like this:

Better Homes and Gardens

Or this.

Finding Home

I hope mine turns out looking that good.

I have my other Christmas wreath done. I need to get a picture. We're still working on the house too. I was right! The paint chip wasn't the same color as the existing paint. It's similar, but I like it so much better. I'm hoping to get the last bit of the project finished up this weekend, but we are going to be really busy with other things too. It finally feels like we are so close to having this entire trim project DONE!

something crafty

I made a little quilted table topper for our kitchen table last week. It isn't very big as we eat in the kitchen, and I don't want to take it on and off daily. I'm also not into decorating for Halloween, but I'm thinking of making a bigger one for the dining room table. I have a lot of fabric left over. I'm pretty happy with this little one though, as the log cabin square reminds me of my knitted blanket.

I'm also making another set of felted pumpkins/gourds. I wish they were for me, but they are going to John's sister Kate who lives in Spain. I have a couple other small projects to work on, and then I'm turning my attention to Christmas stuff.

Today the girls and I filled the planter boxes with new daffodil bulbs. I got 96 bulbs in each box (29 inches by 29 inches)! They are going to be beautiful in the spring!

Pinterest

If you don't know what Pinterest is, you don't want to know. It sucks time away. It inspires a thousand new projects. It makes you want to get chickens just so you have a reason to build a fancy chicken coop. Or maybe that's just me.

I found this there:

From Shades of Light $439

I think it looks like our entry way light.

Yard sale light with spray paint $5

Hmmm. I should have left that center rod brassy. Maybe I could paint it back? I probably won't though.

Then I saw people making something similar to this:

World Market print $129

I was inspired to make something like it:

For the master bathroom.

I gave up on copying it dot for dot. I just sort of made it up as I went along. I painted it onto the back of a piece of paneling from the dining room. There are a million and one uses for that stuff. I'll be sad when we run out. Of course I know where to get more - the kitchen walls.

In other news, I still only have one ruffled pillow case. I hate it. I can't bring myself to make a second one. It has turned into a cat bed. (I took the actual pillow out between cat naps.) I've already started on replacements. They should be done soon. I hope I like them.

I've been told I need to go play in the sandbox. Apparently rest time is over.

Sewing room

I'd love to have a sewing room. Maybe some day when the girls move out. I usually sew at the end of the dining room table which works out well. But for Mary's quilt, I needed a different set up.

I've moved the table over to the wall. I only have one side up, so there's plenty of room for the girls to play.

Ellie has found every pillow in the house. She has a pile of blankets and toys there too. And stickers. She never has enough stickers.

Mary's been coloring or making a "nest" of her own in the other corner. Then they pretend to nap! Haha.

I get to sew in 2-3 minute intervals and then get a snack, change doll clothes, get more craft supplies, change Ellie's diaper, spell something for Mary to write down, etc, etc. After an hour, I give up and go cook lunch. There's definitely more playing than sewing going on, which is fine. It is fun to all play and work together. I'll be able to work more on it at night. I worked last night until I couldn't see straight.

And the quilt? I haven't cried or thrown it in the trash. I have become an EXPERT at ripping out seams. I think I did a good job pinning to together (I used about 250-300 pins). I started quilting it in the middle, running a diagonal row from one corner to the other. It was nearly impossible to shove half the quilt all bunched/folded up through the middle of the machine. So impossible that the back of the quilt puckered up in several places. By the third time I'd done that row, it looked pretty good. I think I have six rows quilted now. I'm doing them three inches apart. It's getting easier now that I am not in the middle of the quilt. The girls and I are going out of town tomorrow, so I won't be able to work on it for a few days. When I get back and recover from our trip, I hope to finish the quilting in about 2 days. Then I'll have to do the binding. I have no idea what color to use. I went and looked at fabric on Sunday but nothing caught my eye. I don't think I want to do pink, red, or green. I want something that pops. Maybe a print? Maybe a plain turquoise blue? One of the fabrics has stripes, and it has some blue in it. Gah! I don't it to be wrong.

Rest time (Ellie has given up naps yet again and probably for good) is over. Going outside to play ball and swing.

Thank goodness for crafy friends!

Last fall, my good friend Karen decided it was time to clean out her fabric stash. She sent me some stuff she thought I could use. I saw one huge piece (original price tag still on it), and it screamed "blanket" to me.

I have no idea why I didn't get right to work on it (or why I didn't iron it for this picture). Maybe I was busy. Maybe I remembered the half done, falling apart, not even close to square baby blanket I tried to make 2 years ago.

But my craft closet was overflowing, so I decided to start on it. Seemed easy enough. It's just three pieces of fabric on the front, and 4 on the back (more on that later). It has quilt batting inside. I laid it out on the dining room floor and pinned it together with 200 quilting safety pins. Then I noticed the backing was just too darn small. I took all the pins out. I added another piece of fabric to the back. I pinned again.

Next up, drawing out the grid for the yarn ties. Left to right was easy since they are on the stripes. I'd get a line or two marked and realize I was going sort of diagonally instead of straight. I was crawling around on top if it, cursing. Tried again. I'd try to square it up to the previous lines. I'd get half way down a row at 4 inch intervals, and then the next square spot would be 3.5 inches. Ugh. I was almost ready to throw in the towel.

Then, magic. Magic in the name of Grandma Mary. She came over last week, and we were talking. She was telling me about every blanket she's ever made. There's a quilt in her guest bedroom that I love. She was telling me she was just going to lightly quilt it, but then looked down and realized she was on the wrong row. Instead of taking it out, she just did more work to hide her mistake. I think she said she was going to quilt ever other seam, but got off a row. So she ended up doing twice as much work. And then she said, "once your blanket is laying on the bed, you'll forget in a week that some of your ties are a quarter inch off. And no one else will even notice in the first place."

I got back to work. Marking it. Stitching and knotting the yarn. Making bias tape. Machine sewing the bias tape to the front, and then hand stitching it to the back. It isn't perfect, but I was happy. I washed it. Half the knots didn't hold up so well. Last night I was crawling around on the floor yet again to fix those. Then I tossed it in the dryer and went to bed (which explains the wrinkles).

It's for Ellie. Fabric from my dear friend Karen. Made by me on my Mamaw Judy's sewing machine. She was there with me in spirit. Sage advice from Grandma Mary gave me the push I needed to finish it. I hope Ellie sleeps well under it for many nights to come.

Back home again and it's spring!

We've been on vacation. We went skiing in Utah. Now I'm back, I'm refreshed (that is, refreshed as a person can be after waking up at 4am every morning on vacation due to being 2 time zones away from home), and I'm ready to go again.

Simple spring centerpiece.

I think I did everything on my "to do by March 1st" list before we left. I actually lost the list itself. I do know that on it was to clean up this HUGE ironstone bowl, to cover these jumbo sized Easter eggs, and to add stripes to my drop cloth table runner. The bowl was so dirty when I found it that I almost didn't recognize it as ironstone. It was a not so thrifty find at five dollars, but it was too cool to pass up. It's so big that it will not fit into my kitchen sink. The eggs are from the Dollar Tree. I covered them in pages from an old DT book that I'd used for the wreath last fall. I still have book pages to spare. The runner was already made, and I just painted the stripes on with craft paint and textile medium. It should be machine washable.

Ellie saying "cheese!" and wondering why I keep snapping pictures of the centerpiece.

About a week before vacation I got my next round of ideas. Ledge shelves (done and waiting to be hung) with spray painted thrift store frames containing the girls' artwork (almost done). They are going in the girls' bathroom. But then I was giving them a bath one night, and thought that I should really paint the walls before I hang the shelves. The tub needs re-caulked too. A while back I'd decided to just leave the bathroom as is for this round of remodeling. But soon all the other trim (except the kitchen) will be white, and the bathroom will stick out like a sore thumb. So I am just going to paint the existing woodwork to match the new stuff we've been installing. I'm painting the walls (and ceiling) with a neutral off white color. I got the supplies this morning, and will be ready to prime tonight. It won't be a huge change, but it will make me happy as I sit in there and give the girls their baths. It will also solve the problem we created when we installed the new light in there last winter.

Bathroom before new windows.

It doesn't show up very will in the picture, but there's a ring of lighter colored paint right around the light. Some day will be be gutting this bathroom, but I think the white woodwork and some fresh paint and decorations will keep me from finding out if that wall in the middle of the room really is load bearing or not.

Afternoons

I wondered what Ellie and I would do on these winter afternoons while Mary is at school. I had thought Ellie would be napping, but she quit napping about 6 weeks ago.

My awesome sewing machine I inherited from Mamaw Judy.

Turns out she plays by herself! Huh. All I have to do is supply the voice of her animals and friends. She says "what's wrong, cow/puppy/baby?" and I reply that they are hungry/sick/tired/need a kiss. She feeds them M&Ms. I wonder if she is my child as I never want to share my candy!

Blurry Ellie and her friends.

And then I get stuff done. Yesterday we played puppy while I worked in the kitchen. Puppy needed a doghouse and a nest and food and a drink. And blankets of course! Today I sewed.




I made these quilted coasters for Mom using left over fabric from her table runner. I'm pretending that I've gotten a jump start on my Christmas 2011 sewing. But I plan on giving these to her this month and will probably give her something else for Christmas.

I've put the log cabin blanket away. I'm sick of it once again. I plan on doing some more sewing, and I'm also knitting some fingerless mittens for my SIL whose birthday is in a couple weeks.

I'm getting ready to transform Mary's desk too. Just as soon as I put all the Christmas stuff away. John got it all carried downstairs for me, but I need to get it back on the storage shelves.

This week is flying by. It's almost time to go get Mary from school.

I've got to get my knitting done!

I am just not in the mood to knit. Ugh. I am going to regret this when I'm up all night on Christmas Eve.

I've been too busy looking at my dining room. I love it. When I imagined it with the dark paneling down, I imagined it with the tree up.

View from my desk this morning.

I loaded the tree up this year! I didn't put a lot on it last year as I didn't know if Ellie would bother it. This year I don't care. If it fall, it falls. I'm going to enjoy it and hope it's still standing on New Year's Day when I take it down.


I sewed this circle garland the other night instead of knitting. It's doubled up across the curtain rod, then goes down both sides of the curtains. I love it. Mary did some writing and reading while I cut it out. Ellie colored pictures and played with her babies. It was so much fun to sit at the table and all of us have something to do. We played, we chatted, and we snacked. Ellie picked up all the scraps of fabric and put them in the trash can. I think she thought it was a game. Every time I see that garland, I'll have an awesome memory of a wonderful afternoon with my girls.

If no one is sick this weekend, we are working on Ellie's room. Last weekend Mary, Ellie, and John were sick (again? still?). I'm hoping to finish up Ellie's dresser and bookshelf AGAIN this weekend, and I'm hoping that John can get most of the trim installed. We have the old stuff ripped out. Then it will be my turn to paint the trim, walls, and doors. We hope to have it done by Christmas. Huh. Maybe I really should get to that knitting.


But wait! I just have to remember the before picture of the dining room one more time. I wish I had one with the tree up, but I don't think I do.


It doesn't even look like the same room. I am so proud of the hard work we put into it.

Birthday money and projects galore.

Yesterday morning I went to the big antique mall in the next town over. I had $45 from Mom. And I got 2 hours to myself. Perfect.

Milk glass jar and a little hen for the hutch.

Three ironstone butter pats and two tiny oval plates. These will go on the wall of white plates as soon as I get them cleaned up. They are pretty dirty. I have them soaking in peroxide to clean up some of the discoloration on them.


The hutch is coming along nicely. I need a plate to stand up on the bottom shelf and maybe a few other little things.

I also bought a HUGE oval ironstone platter, but didn't get a decent pic of it yet. It's so heavy. There's no way I would trust it on the wall. It's going to be used as a centerpiece.

Thank you Mom for the money, and thank you John for letting me have a couple hours to myself.

On the other side of the dining room, I made something to hang on the wall.


Over the chair in the corner there, on the right side, I hung these:


I did the frames a long time ago using this tutorial, but never could figure out what I'd put in them. I ended up using some left over drop cloth from the curtains, and embroidering them.

The dining room is almost complete! I am so happy with it.

To celebrate being done, I started ripping up the entry way flooring last night. It's glued down. I might have the adhesive removed before my next birthday. It is going to be painfully slow going. Not to mention my hands and arms are super sore today.

And a have my huge knitting project going.

AND!!!!!

John's making a new head board for our bed. I am so excited. He's almost done. Then I get to do my thing....painting, distressing, and glazing it. Woot! I am seriously so excited. It's the Farmhouse Bed from Knock-Off Wood. That lady is amazing. She uses furniture from Pottery Barn, etc for inspiration and makes free plans for anyone to use. I think the Pottery Barn bed frame was $600 maybe? More? And I don't even like or want a foot board. So John's just making the head board. I think he said he spent $60 including the bolts, etc.

Busy, busy, busy around here. Life is good.

Proof I read too many crafty blogs

It's a peeps bunting! Why? Well, for next Easter I guess.

Also, the dining room's days are numbered. I see myself tripping, falling, and accidentally ripping the paneling down sometime in the next two weeks!!!!! First I need to pack up all the china in the hutch and the junk in the other little cabinet. Then move out all the furniture, etc. Then it's demo time! There are no words to describe how excited I am about it. I can just see our Christmas tree in there this year with my new walls :). I stand in the doorway to that room every day while wearing Ellie and waiting for her to go to sleep. I imagine it with the walls painted, new white trim, new windows, curtains, and some of the junk I've been hording as accessories. Woot! So freaking excited!!

Spring eggs...before and after

So here are my eggs. You can buy something very similar looking to my finished product from Pottery Barn. They are $14 for 12 eggs. I got mine for a dollar at Dollar Tree.



And after!

That glass jar is one of my favorite things. I think I paid 75 cents for it at Salvation Army. Glass is super thick.


I'm so ready for spring! I took down the Valentine's decorations today. I had a few winter things out too, and they are put away as well.


I have my 4 brass candlesticks primed and one coat of paint on them. Unfortunately it's going to take 3 coats of paint, so they won't be done tonight. I'm going to try to get them done tomorrow though.