Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Finally Let the Makeover Begin....

Do you have unfinished projects?

My bedroom makeover is one of them. 

One year ago I purchased paint samples and that's as far as I got.  My 50th birthday just recently past and my mother in law gave me a gift of money.  She insisted I use it on something I wanted. 

 Ooooh, I knew exactly what I wanted. 
Yhippie...  The UPS driver has arrived with my gift,
so let the decorating begin.......




My "dream" room would have a chandelier, not a ceiling fan. Susan, at Between Naps on the Porch has the perfect chandelier in her master bedroom.

  Let's take a peek...


Isn't it  beautiful?  You can read about all about it HERE.

 My husband has very few requests
when I decorate. He lets me do as I wish.
But a ceiling fan in the master bedroom is a must for him.

So when I saw this beauty HERE in the Horchow catalog
I was sooooo excited.
But there was a problem...the price.
Oh, how I hate when that happens.

 What's a girl to do when you're on a budget?
Ebay....That's the answer.
  I found it for less than half the price!
Now my non-demanding husband can have the ceiling fan
and I still got a light fixture that had crystals!

Isn't it a beauty?


I couldn't wait to get it put together.....
 

Let me share with you my inspiration room
 which I first saw on Rate My Space.

I even have the same four poster bed as in my inspiration room.
I just love the colors of the room.  They are so soft and soothing. These colors are nothing like the rest of my home,  
which have warm tones throughout.



Now I had to select a color.  That's the hard part as you can see in the photo below.  I painted several different colors.  Some had to much green or blue.  I finally choose the one with the blue X.
Sherwin Williams, Herbal Escape....


Do you have a hiding spot in your bedroom?

You know, where you stash that one of a kind bargain.
I'll share my hiding place with you...

You may have the same spot. 
 That's right, under the bed.

 Over the past year, when I have seen something on clearance I snatched it up and hid it under the bed.
 I have actually forgotten what I have hiding under there.



Here's the fabrics for the draperies and dust ruffle.
It's been propped up in the corner of the bedroom
about as long as I have had the paint samples on the wall.
I found the toile fabric at Calico Fabrics. 
 It's the same fabric as my inspiration room. 


Isn't it just lovely.


Here's the fabric for the dust ruffle.


Bye... Bye... old ceiling fan.


We painted the ceiling Sherwin Williams cream fleece.


The walls were painted  with the Sherwin Williams Herbal Escape. 
It isn't as dark as I thought it would be. 
I like the color, but it's going to take some getting used to.


The trim has been painted and now the ceiling molding and my beautiful ceiling fan/chandelier will be going up. 

Stop back I'll be posting as soon as my hubby hangs it up this week!
Now I need to start sewing the window treatments and bed skirt.
I can't wait to share it with you.
I'll be linking up to....

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Thursday, September 16, 2010

Is it a Dining Room or Craft Room?

Do you have the same problem as I do?

Have your craft projects taken over rooms in your home?

I have a wonderful dining room  fancy room that is rarely used for eating.  The problem is, because it is rarely used for it's intended purpose, it has become a workspace for all my projects in progress. 
I'm going to give you a sneak peek at what the room looks like when there are no guests.  When I know someone is coming over, I run around frantically trying to put away the mess.

Here's my latest project all over the dining room table....
 

The problem is I never have just one project going at a time. 
 So there are boxes and supplies all over.


 Here's the bags from my latest shopping trip with my friend Shelly, to Hobby Lobby and Michaels.

Another project....
Centerpieces for the Macomb Charitable Foundation.


Lots of pincushions for my Etsy Shop and upcoming shows.
I just need to find the time to put them together.
I tried to hide them under the buffet.


Here's an order for 80 teacup pincushions....


They are going to be shower favors.  I've been working on them during this summer.  It gave me something to do during those 57 baseball games my son played!


A few are almost complete. 
 I just need to add the decorative pins.


So now that you seen my secret hiding place.....

I'd love to know if I am the only one who has a dining room that is really just a craft room.


See the tiered platters on the dining room table?  I made them for a shower.  Stop by later in the week I'll  be posting about them.
 
In the mean time I better get going...
We're having guests this weekend,
 I need to clean up the craft room dining room!

I'll be linking to the following creative sites....

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Sunday, September 12, 2010

Just A Slight Little change...

Don't you just hate when you forget to take a photo before you begin your project? 

My entire family thinks I have lost my mind, when I'm running around the house frantically looking for my camera.  It just doesn't have the same impact when there is no "Before" photo.

Well that's exactly what happened when I began this project. 
 I forgot to take the "Before Photo". 
Thankfully I had a photo from the furniture catalog of the item.

This is my kitchen table and chairs.  
 I loved them when I got them about 10 years ago.
Actually I still like the set, I just grew tired of the stained chairs.....


Then I spotted this photo in a catalog...
It got me thinking.  Sometimes that's dangerous!

  Maybe, just maybe I could paint the chairs black.
  Just a slight little change, that's all my chairs needed.
Off to the paint store.  I walked into the house with the can of paint and once again, my family thought I lost my mind.  My oldest just laughed and said, "Do you always have to have a project going?"

I guess the simple answer is YES!


I used oil paint and a brush.  This required a primer first and then two coats of paint.  If I did this all over again
(which will not be anytime soon)
I would spray the chairs.  Much easier and quicker. 

It was worth it..... I LOVE my chairs. 


I recovered the seats with a checked fabric
that has a hint of black in it.


It's amazing what a little black paint and some elbow grease can do!






It's amazing the inspiration that you can get from a photo.  That's what I love about all the wonderful blogs with such creativity.  It constantly gives me ideas of things to create.  If only I had more time.  Thanks for stopping by and seeing how a slight change can make such a big difference. Stop by DIY Showoff for a wonderful  Delta Faucet Giveaway.

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Friday, September 10, 2010

Words of Affirmation.....

Doesn't everyone want to know they are loved?

I know that at times in my life,
just a simple caring word made a difference.
How about making a simple gift that lets someone know
 how loved they are?
That's exactly what I did for my husband.

Let me share this "Creation From My Heart" with you...


I started by making the card.  After I attached the striped paper to the front of the card, I used my sewing machine and added a zig zag stitch round the outer edge.  If you have a sewing machine, try this it's a lot of fun and adds some texture to your project. 
Next step, I added an oval frame that held the words
 "You are Loved". 


I mounted the clock decal to a piece of chip board
 and inked the edges.
  For an extra embellishment I added a button
to the center of the clock.


"Words of Affirmation" 

This is a fun game we play at the dinner table from time to time to time.  We started it when my boys were small and it had been a  day where they had been well lets say....
 not so very nice to each other. 
 We would sit at the dinner table and each of us had to say something that we loved about the other people sitting at the table.  By the end of dinner, everyone felt better. 

 Isn't it funny, how when we're older we sometimes think
 we don't need to do that any more?

Well, I thought my husband needed some words of affirmation.  He's the kinda guy who would do anything for his family and for others.  He has always led by example
and he never waivers in his beliefs.

 

I made 5 cards and labeled them. I gave my boys each a card and my in-laws each a card and asked them to write
something that special that they loved about my hubby.



I just used some rubber stamps to put the names on the cards...



  To the top of each card I stapled a simple brown ribbon.  This can be used to pull out the card.  I attached a pocket in the inside of the card and used another frame to hold the words...
"Words of Affirmation"


Just a simple gift that you can make, which will let someone know how much you love and value them.
Wouldn't you love to get a card like this?
 I know I would.
I'll be linking up to the following sites....
at 11 comments:

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Do You Make a Mess?

I have a secret to share with you....

I am a messy crafter.

Can you relate?
  When I create, the mess is everywhere. It's not a pretty sight!  Today I wanted to share with you a crafting tip that I have shared with many of the ladies who have taken craft classes from me.  How many times do you start a project that requires glue or some type of sticky adhesive? If you are anything like me,  the glue and adhesives get all over your table and your project. 

Well here's the tip... 
Let's take something that could be trash
 and turn it into something very usful.
Do you have any of these catalogs laying around the house?


Or how about these?



Really it doesn't matter what type of catalog you use.  I love the big thick catalogs with a lot of pages. 
Just old magazines work great also. 

Here's what I do.... 

 Open to the inside cover and turn to the back page.  Use this page as you starting off point.  Work directly on top of the page and  apply the glue to your project.  Now any excess glue will be on the page of the catalog.


When you're ready to glue the next piece just flip the page.


Now you have a clean spot to begin working on.



No more sticky table or getting glue on your project.  Just a simple trick that will make your next craft project a little easier
and a lot less messy.  If you found this gluing tip helpful head over HERE to learn anothter helpful tip for using your hot glue gun.

I'll be linking this quick and easy tip to the following sites....


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Saturday, September 4, 2010

Making a Custom Wreath

Are you a person who always has a wreath on their front door?  I am definitely a person who feels that their house is "NAKED" without a wreath on their front door.  A wreath says WELCOME to me. Before the summer is totally over I wanted to share with you my summer flowers.  Here's the wreath I  made for the front door.  It was the perfect color to coordinate with my flowers last year. 



I added matching floral door cans to match the wreath....


Only problem with the wreath was that I changed my color scheme this year.  Are you laughing at me, right now?  Are you thinking, "What does she mean by color scheme?"  I will admit that sometimes I can be a bit anal.  Each year I decide what colors all my flowers are going to be and then I make sure my wreath matches.  Well this year one of my "angel friends" secretly dropped off an entire flat of HOT PINK geraniums on my driveway.  NO note nothing, just a wonderful gesture of friendship.  To this day, I still do not know who did this.  Many of my friends read my blog, so I want to say thank you for Blessing me with a true gift of friendship. 

Well, since the flowers were hot pink, I decided to go with a inpatiens that were called "Taboo Mix".  Next I needed to change up the wreath and add some hot pink and purple flowers.
Here's what I came up with...






I also changed up the door cans to match the wreath.


Now that's better. 
 The wreath and the potted flowers all coordinate!



Take a look at the "Taboo Mix" Impatiens under the tree....








Here's a tip....
 I found this iron basket at Joann fabrics and hung it on the brick wall near the front door.  The iron grate is separate.  I found this at Home Goods and just attached it to the bricks just above the basket.   Before I hung them, I spray painted them with the same color so they matched.   I had seen something very similar to this in the Ballards Catalog for $200 a few years ago.  I was unwilling to part with $200 bucks and decided to try out this idea. 
It looks just as good and only cost me less than $40 dollars.



If you want to see other seasonal wreaths I have created come visit HERE. Well, it's almost time to change the wreath and front porch decor to my fall harvest theme.  I'll make sure I share with you as soon as it's complete.  But as for now, I'm still enjoying the warm summer weather!  I'd love to know if your front door is decorated with a wreath to welcome your guests? 
 Do your match your flowers to your wreath?

I'll be linking up to the following wonderful blogs....
Show and Tell
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