Wednesday, August 31, 2011

First Link Party {Fridays}

I'm new to the blog scene and want to host a link party.  Let's see how this goes :) Hope to see everyone there!


Ready, set, go....
  • Link to the specific post for something YOU have created (not to your main blog page). 
  • Grab the DesignDNA button to add to your blog page.
  • Be sure to visit other posts and leave them a comment! 
  • Let me know if you've featured me, and I'll let you know if I've featured you ;) 

Photobucket



Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Wasted Space - What Are You?!



I mean really, the most useless area of space in my house.  It is my understanding that this hole of dusty cobwebs is to house plants.  Seems like a lot of work to clime on a latter and water plants every day...  

Living in the desert makes it hard to keep up on the dusting so that is another dilemma on what should fill the space.  So, here are my first 2 attempts at filling the gap.

Attempt # 1

Lots of artificial ivy and flowers from Hobby Lobby (dust collectors)....

 ....fake grapes, olive oil, wine bottles and wicker boxes


Not an entirely terrible look but it is very taste specific.  I quickly learned it wasn't much my taste.


Attempt # 2 

This time around I wanted to be more practical.  With that being said I cleaned out the lot of cook books I was hoarding inside my tiny pantry.  Most of them were put in the thrift store pile - I had cookbooks from the 70s about how to cook meat in the microwave (I wasn't even born in the 70s, not sure how I acquired them).


The cookbooks that made the cut found a new stomping ground (still dust covered but not losing the theme of practicality).  

I continue to clime chairs to access them but their colors are more my style then the traditional Tuscan feel of the grapes and wine bottles (more my sister's taste).  

I stacked the books in groups of threes - some laying flat while others stood on end (gave it more visual interest I thought)



I'm not in love with attempt two and will be trying an attempt three in the near future (any suggestions??)

Saturday, August 27, 2011

DIY Apothecary Jars

Halloween is my favorite Holiday and I'm very excited to begin planning for my sister's 3rd annual Halloween bash! There is something gratifying about making my own decorations and if I can save money while being creative then what a bonus!

I've seen these specimen/apothecary jars all over the Internet so I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon.


Candy jar and candle stick holder form the Dollar Store




Each specimen jar consists of:
  • A candle stick (Dollar store and Savers)
  • Jar with lid (Dollar store and Savers)
  • Wooden finial (Hobby Lobby) - Chess pieces would work!
  • Wooden base (Hobby Lobby - I only used a base for 3 of the jars)


I primed everything with the exception of the clear jars - then sprayed them with a combination of black matte and black stone spray paint


With a heavy duty glue (I used E6000) adhere all of your pieces together.

"The base bone's connected to the candle stick, the candle stick's connected to the clear jar, the clear jar's connected to the lid, the lid's connected to the finial....."





I've linked up with:

Witch's Spell Books {part 1}




I went to Savers the other day and scanned their "wall-o-stuff-in baggies" and came across this glorious set of 3 wooden books (the largest of the three is 6" x 4") for only $2.99!



I painted the books with 2 layers of black acrylic paint.

I found these foil embossed stickers at the Dollar Store (painted them black). They were exactly what the books needed!

Scrapbook sticker letters were used to spell out the book titles.

Googly crafty eyes fit perfectly in the center of the dollar store stickers!
Picnik.com was used to spookify the picture

Featured on







I've linked up with:

Friday, August 26, 2011

Thrifty Wall Art - re do






Before:

 



After:


What was used for the re-do:
  • The green background is made of solid colored scrapbook paper
  • Wooden Letters  from a previous art project
  • Cut out letters are from an Express advertisement
I've linked up with:

    Thursday, August 25, 2011

    Upcycled Key Holder



    The project began with 2 interesting wall hangings (fiberboard) purchased from Savers @ $2.99 a pop.

    I found these multi-colored chipboard letters on sale @Hobby Lobby.


    Next step is to glue the letters to your board then eat pickles and drink shots!  ...or use the pickles and booze to weigh the letters down while the glue dries.




    After the glue dried, I hammered 3 nails into each board.  Then primed and spray painted everything black.


    Clear beads were super glued to the end of each nail to prevent the keys from falling off the nail - plus it adds some bling to the board!




    After hanging the boards on the wall and taking a step back, I didn't like how the letters blended to the point of not being able to make out the word.



    With a sponge brush I combined tan and black acrylic paint (added a ton of water) and just skimmed the top of the letters to make them pop a bit off of the board. 









    Tuesday, August 23, 2011

    Organizing On The Cheap

    Grocery Bag Holder 

    What you'll need:
    • Plastic container with a lid (there will be a re do once I find a large enough container - this container only holds a fraction of my grocery bags)
    • Spray paint
    • Scrapbook letters
    • Exacto knife to cut slit in the lid









    Powdered Packet Organizer

    I purchased 2 of these pocket organizers from the dollar store and hung them on the inside of my pantry door for additional storage.  





    Monday, August 22, 2011

    Flower Pens



    What you'll need:
    • Plastic Pens
    • Green floral tape
    • Artificial flowers

    What to do:
    Start taping at the flower end of the pen.  Guide the tape while winding the pen in a circular motion.  The tape should cover the entire pen down to the tip in one long vertical strip.  Secure the tape by pressing it gently down with your fingers. 

    **for the feather and pin wheel pens I used white floral tape


    Aluminum can decoupage "how to" here

    Sunday, August 21, 2011

    Halloween Costumes

    Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion



     





    ***This was my original Girl Scout vest with patches ( I added a few extra for fun)the purse was constructed out of a girl scout cookie box.




    LinkWithin

    Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...