Goodwill picture frame tray

I got my idea for this here......I just love her blog!

Go to Goodwill and grab an old, ugly, chunky frame.....do NOT worry about how ugly it is.

Spray paint it with Rustoleum Canyon Black or whatever black satin spraypaint you have on hand.

I then took sand paper and roughed up the edges.

Grab a set of handles at a hardware store......thankfully, I can SEE the True Value from my house!!!

I didn't drill holes or anything....I used my husband's drill and drove the screws from the handle right into the edge of the frame.

Look....you can even see the price tag!!!!  And it was 30% off the $3.97 because it was "pull your discount from the fishbowl day!!!"

Cover the cardboard from the picture frame with fabric.  Attach it with spray adhesive....or use whatever is on hand....a hot glue gun!

It will look like this:

Slide it back into your newly-painted frame.

You can't see the handles really well, but they are on the right and left side.....you now have a gorgeous frame/tray to decorate with!



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A bulletin board for me!

So I showed you a bulletin board idea HERE that was a gift idea for my nieces. 

But I had this really nice black fabric that was just calling to me....."make me a bulletin board....make me a bulletin board."     So I had to listen.....

(...and I am getting a little nervous because my diaper box supplier is potty training her daughter......so I need to make as many of these as I can before my supply runs out!)

It's hanging by my phone in the kitchen....I can't wait to put scripture memory verses, prayer requests and special reminders in a place where I will be sure to see it.

....and if you think of it....would you say a prayer for Jackie, too?  She lost her Mom today to cancer. 

Thanks!

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ORB intervention

My neighbor Kristi emailed this afternoon because she thinks that she might need an ORB intervention.....

Before:

Goodwill:  $0.50!!

After:

She sprayed it to match her newly sprayed switchplates.....

I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If there's an intervention......Kristi and I will be sharing a room........ :)

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Pottery Barn knock-off candles

Pottery Barn:  5 inch pillar music candle---$16, 8 inch pillar music candle---$29

Excuse me while I GASP-----WHO can afford that???  And if you could.....why would you spend $45 on 2 stinkin' candles?  (Although they are offering free shipping....)

Okay....let's get thrifty!! 

Grab some sheet music....if you don't have your own aged Sonatina album, you can go here.  This download would actually work better than mine because it is just the trumpet line and would look even more like PB.



Go to your scanner and print it out!

Now....I wanted mine to look "aged" so I decided to tea stain it.

Grab an old box of tea....at one point I was on a green tea kick because I read that it was so healthy for you....the problem is that I had to kind've gag it down because it's so gross.....so I had A LOT of green tea left for tea-staining!

Briefly soak your paper.....the second one I stained I actually dripped some drops of the tea bag on the paper (by accident, of course!) and I really liked that effect because it left darker marks....

It takes forever to dry!!!

Once your paper is dry, grab some Mod Podge.....now this is the first time I have used Mod Podge.  I had read a recipe here for homemade Mod Podge, but it just sounded a little complicated because I really don't know what varnish is......



But truly...it just smelled like glue.

Run to The Dollar Tree.....grab these flameless candles.  (Or since you all probably live CLOSE to a Walmart, run there and get an actual candle!)

Now....I realize that scrapbook paper may be a better choice for this because it is 12 x 12.  My 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper wasn't wide enough to go around my candle, so I had to trim and paste it to look like one very wide sheet of music.
                                      


Hmmm.....It just struck me that maybe I could have copied it the wide way on the scanner......why don't I think of these things in the moment????


Paint your candle with Mod Podge.

Carefully place the music paper on your candle.....I've been reading about Mod Podge and everyone keeps mentioning the wrinkles.....well, I now know what they are talking about......they just appear out of nowhere!!

I then painted a layer of Mod Podge over my candle and waited for all of it to dry.

Now, because I am just not an exact-kind-of-girl....I had some rough edges at the top and bottom of my candle....so, go grab a piece of fine grit sand paper and sand it down even with the edge of the candle.

And you have this.....

Now....I have to confess that I didn't think that the tea-staining "aged" it enough, so I added some glaze.  I just took some on an old t-shirt and wiped it.....heavier at the edges.

Not bad considering that the 2 flameless candles were $1.00 each and the tall pillar was also from The Dollar Tree at a cost of $1.00.  The sheet music was free and I had some ribbon already.  (And yes....this picture was taken before I sanded my rough edges....they look all even now!)

So.....$45.00 or $3.00????

And the cool tray they are on.......a Goodwill picture frame!!!!!  (But that's tomorrow's post!!)

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Loving this wreath!!!

Oh my.... you must check out this wreath!! 

The total cost is under $7.00!!!  AND....you take a wreath that you use for the fall and recycle it for Christmas!!!!  I'm loving it!!!!

Supplies:   $1.00 wreath from the Dollar Tree, $3.00 package of corn husks from your local Mexican grocery store.  (You can make like a million wreaths from this package of cornhusks!)  and $3.00 silver spraypaint!!!  I am so doing this!!!

I just need to go and "borrow back" my package of cornhusks!!!!

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How to redo kitchen chairs....

Well....the whole reason that I was on Craig's list was to look for chairs.  We bought our kitchen chairs at IKEA about 7 years ago expecting them to be "dining room" chairs.....aka chairs that are to be "looked at" but never used.

Much to the chagrin of my MIL....we converted our dining room into our homeschool classroom and the DR chairs became our kitchen chairs.

IKEA chairs are awesome, but these were never meant to withstand 3 meals/day, science experiements, lego battles, and hold cute little bear-girls.....they were cheap, people, and I even used a coupon!!!

After both my hubby and dad trying to piece them back together....one day I again pulled the back off and had really had enough.....so I took to Craig's list.

There I saw advertised:  Table and 4 chairs $30!!!!  WooHoo!!! 

Now this was one of my first experiences purchasing off Craig's List and I had no idea that it can be rather cut-throat.  Thankfully, this family was ALSO a Christian homeschooling family (which I didn't know until we picked up the set) and didn't sell our table out from under us!

I don't have pictures of the chairs before.....but imagine this:

....with a WHOLE lot more scrolling on the back and they were that ugly 80's wood.

I soon got a little tired of sanding/filling/sanding/filling and my nose was truly just FILLED with wood-filler dust!
It was at that point that I got a little inspiration (some may just call it being lazy!).

I remember my Grandma having old black chairs that looked so worn that the scrolling was all faded and rubbed away....I decided to go for that look....

Instead of worrying about the scrolls being completely filled in, I left some texture to it......
(Yes...you are catching a sneak peek of an upcoming Christmas craft idea in the corner....close your eyes!)

I loved it!!!  It's hard to see in the photo, but the back is actually smooth....you can't really feel the scrolling, you can just lightly see it.

I did the chairs just like the table except that I didn't buy anymore KILZ primer....it was just TOO expensive to use on 4 chairs.

I bought a can of el-cheapo black spraypaint primer......one can covered about 1 1/2 chairs.

I then sprayed the chair in Rustoleum Canyon Black:

(Oops...yes I done stole that photo off of Yahoo images....please don't turn me in!)

It took 1 can per chair at a cost of about $3.79 per chair......but think of what it would have been like to brush paint onto all of those spindles!!!  Grueling........they would still be sitting in my garage!!

I was VERY nervous to "antique" it....but after spraying, I decided to rough-up all of the edges with sandpaper and it looks gorgeous!!!

I think it matches exactly what I picture my Grandma's chairs to be!

This was one of the bigger projects that I've ever undertaken and I was really nervous that I wouldn't see it through.....but spraypaint is just so quick and easy to use that the project really only took a couple of days!

Total Cost:  Table and 4 chairs---$30
1 can Kilz---$4.99  (used for the table)
2ish cans primer---$6.00   (I had one at home already)
2 cans Krylon ivory gloss---$6.50 (it was on sale!)---used for the table
4 cans of Canyon Black----$16
polyeurethene----free, I already had some

Grand Total:  $63.49 for a brand new to me table and chairs!
     

Happy Spraying!

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PB knock-off candles

Tutorial coming tomorrow......

(I'm still not done....you can still see my rough edges.....)

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Family sign

I love the Habitat Restore.....yes, it is overwhelming because it is SOOO big, but again....I go and shop with a purpose....I take a list telling me exactly what I need or I just wander around completely lost!

On this trip, I was looking for a cabinet door.   I forget how much it was per linear foot, but after the salesperson measured it, this door was only $0.80!!!  (And there were TONS of doors!)

Now I will tell you the correct way to do this....not how I did it because I was RUSHING!

Prime the door!!!  I didn't prime it and I started with Krylon's glossy ivory and I got these weird little bubbles all over the door.  In fact, I left it in the garage for days because I thought that I ruined it......but YOU CAN'T RUIN SPRAYPAINT!!!  A little bit of sand paper to rough it up and you have a completely new surface ready for its new coat of paint.

The second time around I decided to use Rustoleum Heirloom White.....it's a satin finish and really looks nice!  I think that I prefer satin....I'm just not a glossy-type girl.

Once again....at this point, I was not planning to start a blog, so I have no pictures.....but imagine a piece of wood now a lovely shade of ivory!

After letting the spray paint dry (which I didn't!), add some Minwax stain or my new favorite....Behr antiquing glaze.  I just rubbed it on with my son's old t-shirt.

I find that the antiquing glaze is thicker and allows you to add more depth to the "antiqued" look.

I wanted it to look really old, so I left so clumps and streaks. 

Then...I started to sand and rough up the board.

I thought that I let it dry long enough so I went to apply some of Jill's vinyl over at Utah Vinyl....alas....I didn't wait long enough and the spray paint was wet and pieces of paint pulled off and it was a complete disaster!!!

You can't see.....but the vinyl sticky paper pulled the spray paint off between the FAMILY letters.  I ended up spraying a blast of paint on a paper plate and using a watercolor brush to pull paint off the plate to fill-in the holes where my paint was pulled off.  I then just glazed over it again.....mistakes are ALL part of the charm!  (At least I just keep telling myself that!)

The vinyl cost about $5.00!!  So in all (since I already had spraypaint and glaze)....the project cost $5.80!!!



I'd like to drill holes at the top and run a pretty ribbon through it and tie a bow hanger on it! 

Wouldn't this be a gorgeous Christmas gift???

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Tutorial coming tomorrow.....

Total project cost: $5.80!!!
I'm also working on an inexpensive Christmas gift idea out of glue, Christmas-y napkins and ceramic tiles....spraypainted doorknobs.....Christmas mantel ideas......Pottery Barn knock-off candles......

Oh....the fun is just beginning!

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Thanksgiving name card

This is not my original idea.....but it's been so long since I saw this idea on a blog that I have NO idea where it came from....so sorry....I am unintentionally plaguarizing!

I used boring construction paper so that I can differentiate between colors for you.....pretend that these are made from gorgeous contrasting fall-hued scrapbook paper....

Cut scraps of paper......it will depend whether you are making a centerpiece or a namecard as to how long you make them.  These are about 8 inches long and 2 inches wide.

I am just totally guessing as to the dimensions......I didn't measure! :)

Cut between 10-12 strips of each color.

My inner pumpkin will be the yellow....I've seen this done with the solid color paper on the inside and a pattern on the outside.  My outside pumpkin will be the green strips.  (I made my green strips too long, so I had to trim off an inch.)  You want the "outside" pumpkin strips to be about 1 inch longer than the "inside" pumpkin strips.

Really....I'm trying to be clear....

Punch holes in each side of your exactly-the-same-length stack of strips....(I didn't measure, mine weren't exact....my holes were off and I needed to trim again...I was rushing...I had like 5 minutes while my kids were outside playing tag!)

Put a paper fastener through one end of the strips.....your "inner" pumpkin color should be on the bottom of the stack of strips.

Put paper fasteners in the other holes....This time, do not stack the piles but keep the "inner" and "outer" pumpkin separate and put paper fasteners in each pile.

Take your "inner" pumpkin and begin to pull the strips apart to make your little pumpkin.....so cute!



Once your inner pumpkin is "fluffed" start to pull apart your outer pumpkin.  Here is where it gets tricky because you will need to slip your inner pumpkin into the middle and pull your "outer" pumpkin around it....

You can then put a glue dot (which I don't have) or a dot of hot glue (which I am running out of...) and press the green "outer" pumpkin onto the yellow "inner" pumpkin like this...

Now you need to take a piece of brown construction paper or cardstock  (mine is green because I am lazy!) and wrap it around a pencil to make the stem.

Glue it on with you desired adhesive....I still had enough hot glue to stick on my stem....

This is truly the next picture in my camera because exactly at this moment I heard....."Mom....we found a kitten!"

NO.....it is NOT coming in the house....... 

Add some burlap, jute, twine, leaves from your neighbors yard......and you have a centerpiece....

.......or....miniaturize (is that a word???) everything....add a beautifully printed label from your computer in gorgeous font (or a quickly scribbled name with a black pen) and you have a neat little namecard for your Thanksgiving table.....

Blessings!!

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