My Fireplace

To continue with the crafty catch up, here's my Fireplace!  I posted a very pitiful Photoshopped version of my fireplace.  Then one day, I took the plunge!  I went to Lowes and picked up a quart of Kilz primer and went to town on it!  The change is amazing!  I think it's the first redecorating project that my husband has actually said, "It looks so much better!" Normally he's more in the "I'm happy you're happy" camp, but he actually really loves this!  So here's the before and after:

Before: Nasty nasty bronze, red bricks.  It was just soooo busy when you looked at it with my desk and everything we had in that room. 

And now nice and white! Goodbye Bronze!  Hello clean and simple. =)

Yeah, I still need to clean the glass on the doors.  But if it was perfect I'd have nothing to distract me from staring at my computer screen =)

Moose Head =)

My nephew Casey is turning ten this year!  It’s insane =)  He’s such a fun, awesome kid.  They recently moved to a new house so he got to decorate a room just the way he wanted it.  It looks like it came directly out of the Pottery Barn catalog, he has good taste =) He loved this moose head, but since Pottery Barn prices are a little scary, I offered to make it for them. 

Here’s the inspiration…

Source: pbteen.com via Chrissie on Pinterest

And here’s how mine turned out!  We haven’t figured out yet how we’re hanging it, we’ll have to figure it out after I get it to their house.  My dad cut out a basic moose head shape with his jigsaw.  This took a LONG time because of all the curves, but he did a fantastic job!  Then my job was to sand, stain, and seal it. 

Then Dad took it back and attached little boards all around the back.  He had drilled holes through these boards so he could wire an LED rope light all around the moose.  I love how it turns out, I can’t wait to see Casey’s face!!!

A Stocking for Donovan

A Stocking for Donovan          

Well, I’ve had this on my to-do list since before he was born… and I managed to get it done the day before I put up my Christmas Decorations.  Ahh, deadlines.  I work so well with them. =)  I made three patchwork stockings five years ago.  I made three, partially because I already was wishing we had a baby, and partly because I had purchased a set of stocking holders from Pottery Barn that spell out JOY.  (Or YOJ when my husband has his way and mixes up the letters.)  I saved scraps from that sewing frenzy so that I could make more stockings as our family gets bigger that matched the originals.  So here’s how I did it!

I bought a little new fabric for the lining.  I managed the front and back with scraps.  I chose one of my favorite quilt square patterns, pinwheels in this case.  I used pinwheels on his baby quilt and made real pinwheels for his mobile, so now they just make me think Donovan. =)  So I made a pinwheel about 8 inches square, and then just added strips where I needed it to be bigger.  With the originals, I made patchworky blocks about 12 inches by about 18 inches, but this way there was less waste, and it still looks nice and patchy to match the originals. 

So after sewing  a top that was big enough to match my stockings, I cut out a backing, and then two more pieces to be a lining.  Sew the fronts together, leaving the top open.  Sew the linings together, leaving the top open and a hole on one side to turn the finished stocking.  Then you put the two pieces together, sew around the top, and then turn through the hole you left in the lining.  I never sewed this shut, although you certainly could, especially if you put lots of little things in the stocking.  I’ve never lost anything though.  =) 

The original three are pretty too, but I think Donovan’s is my favorite =)  Serenity’s stocking is a log cabin pattern, which was my original favorite.  I’d always wanted to do a log cabin =)  Eric’s is just lots of triangle blocks and nine patches.  Mine is a pretty pointy star.  I wished I’d added some of the ivory to it to make it pop more. 

I just love sampler-type quilting.  I’ll have to share my tree skirt soon =)   

Lullaby Art: Fall Pinterest Challenge!

It's that time again, another Pinterest Challenge from Young House Love and Katie Bower.  It's such a great idea to take all that pinning and actually make something for a change! 

My Version

Source: hostessblog.com via Chrissie on Pinterest

I saw this beautiful painting that someone had done for a birthday party and knew it would be perfect for Serenity!  The colors were just right for her room, but I wanted to make it my own by using the lyrics from Twinkle Twinkle.  That is my go-to lullaby for Serenity.  I must have sung it to her ten thousand times, sometimes for an hour straight when she was tiny.  I'm not sure why, but it always reminds me of her now, and I sometimes hear her singing it to herself over the monitor.  =)

I have plenty of pink paint on hand, so I just took a light and a dark, plus a little bit of white paint.  I used a big, old house-painting brush because I wanted to be sure and see the brush strokes, and so I could cover the canvas with a minimum of fiddling.  I just started with the light pink, and when the canvas was mostly covered, dipped into the dark and added a few swipes of that, and then dipped in the white to finish up.  No washing brushes, quick and easy!

Then I went into photoshop to type out my lyrics.  I used the font Girls are Weird, and chose shades of lavender for my colors.  Print on some nice paper, and glue it down!  Then I just set it on one of her ledges to add it to her wall collage!  It's perfect, not only for the song, but because we seem to have quite a star theme going on in her purple bedroom.  To see more of her room, look here.  Or here.

I'm going to add a sound button to the back with my voice singing a little bit of Twinkle Twinkle, so it will have even more personal meaning. 

Source: amazon.com via Chrissie on Pinterest

If you want to know how to make some other things in Serenity's room, check out my Wall Vase for a ThreeYear Old post.  That one still makes me happy!  Or her Oklahoma Art.

Reorganization Stalled by OCD

So I was having a great Sunday.  We had Family Clean the Bathroom day and I assigned Serenity her first real cleaning chore (as opposed to picking up her own stuff.)  She got to clean mirrors!  She loved helping and kept saying, “You have to rub REALLY hard!”  She definitely worked at it =)  And I was so inspired by the clean bathroom that I decided to do something about my insane closet.  You see, anytime I start a project (which is almost every week this time of year) the closet ends up looking like this:

The problem is (besides my natural slobbishness) is that naptime is crafting time… and this closet is in the room where the baby sleeps!  So I have to tiptoe in there, barely breathing, and sneak out my supplies while he’s napping.  And forget putting them back where they go, even though all my supplies have perfectly good tubs and spots to go back into.  It’s not worth waking him up, if he wakes up before the craft gets done then my living room looks like that! 

So, I decided to move my crafting and office supplies upstairs to the linen closet that was holding mostly overflow toys (half my daughter’s and half my husband’s ;)  I got that all cleaned out and then, ecstatic, ready to organize…. I looked at it.  And it had that yucky tan paint that was all over the walls here.  I think the previous owners ( maybe two before me) must have had the entire house sprayed with that stuff.  I covered over it in all the main rooms, but most of the closets still have that paint.  And it just looks dirty!  So, I checked in my garage, and hey, half a gallon of white paint! 

So, I painted.  And guess what half a gallon of paint will do?  Two-thirds of a closet. 

So I bought an entire new gallon of paint to finish it up.  And now, I have another half gallon of paint.  So the next time I try to organize, I can once again make it a week long process by painting half a closet white =)  But the white is beautiful, and since the craft closet is going to get opened all the time, hey, I’m glad I did it!  Maybe by next week I’ll actually get to put all my goodies in it!

**Oh, and technically, the color is Silver Lining by Pratt and Lambert.  I love colors with pretty names, makes it even prettier =)

Oklahoma Art

I made some more art for Serenity’s wall!  She is addicted to maps right now, thanks to Stack the States and Stack the Countries.  So I thought she’d like a little Oklahoma on her wall.  I saw this on etsy, and decided to brave using my Silhouette to make it myself.

I used some vinyl, and found a gif file of Oklahoma that I cleaned up in Photoshop.  After some intensive googling, turns out Silhouette has an auto trace tool, which traced right around the outline of Oklahoma.

Then I just cut it out and applied it to my canvas, and brushed some purple paint all over it.  The line isn’t perfect, but it turned out cute!  I put a little heart in the northeast corner for Tulsa… maybe a little too close to the edge but it works.  

Here it is in Serenity's room!  To see more of her purple room, go here! To see details on the wall vase, go here.

Framed Flower Vase... A 3 year old friendly version =)

Michaels had a half off sale on their frames, so I snatched up a couple for Serenity’s wall!  That means I finally got to do this framed flower vase project!  I bought these flowers months ago when I first moved her into the room, but just now figured out how to use them.  I wanted it to be kid friendly, so instead of using a fancy vase I just used a plastic drinking glass, and wrapped some twine around it to hang it from a simple hook.  I like the pop of light aqua color, and when she stands on her book club to play with it (which she WILL do)  there’s no danger of her breaking anything =)  She loves her flowers!

You can see the other side of her room here =)

Art Wall Update

Serenity’s wall is coming along nicely =)  No longer blank!  I stared at it for the longest time, and then when I hung things I stared at that too…  I just didn’t like the really dark pink, it disappeared into the dark wall, so I painted those little ledges I got at Target with some light pink.  Then when I added photos to the other frames I didn’t mind the touch of really dark pink.  Much better!  Next up I’m going to play with some empty frames and 3-D objects that you see everywhere!

Before: ( You can also see old versus new camera!)

After:

Finding pictures with purple and pink were easy with a three year old girl =) 

Another Fancy Wall

I love my gallery wall in my bedroom so much I want to start on one for Serenity's purple room!  I picked up a few things in Target and just started hanging them to get it moving...  And I'm not sure I like it yet.  The hot pink looked bright and cheerful on the shelf but it gets lost on the dark purple walls.  I think maybe I'll take some paint to them.  Also, Serenity can reach the shelves from her book club roof so nothing stays where I put it =)  Oh well, I suppose it is her room after all.  Here's what I've got so far!

 

Art Wall Frames

Art Wall Frames

About a year ago I made a very simple little art wall to show off Serenity’s crafts.  I just took some picture wire and a few eye screws and strung it up on the blank wall above my new cabinets under the stairs with clothespins to hold the art.  I loved the function, Serenity gets so excited to hang up her “beautiful projects!”  But since it was right inside my front door I thought I really should dress it up a bit.  But big picture frames are expensive!!!  So I made my own fake frames with three pieces of egg and dart trim from Lowe’s.  The ones I priced online were 300 dollars… each!  I made these for around 40… for both!  My sweet husband cut the boards on the miter saw and my Dad nailed them up with the nail gun since I was 41 weeks pregnant and couldn’t reach anymore =) 

Before

 (Before)

And here is the result!  Two frames 28 by 36, with the old wire still working as the hanger!  So much more finished looking.  (The size was determined by how high I could get it with just 3 boards… 36 was the right width for my walls)

I’m thinking next I should paint or modge podge those clothespins… the fun never ends!  Oh, and possibly fill the nail holes and angles =)

Where to hang...

Where to hang, where to hang...  The crazy mosaic is either going over the couch, or over the desk.  The other spot will get this painting I bought at bed bath and beyond.  (Sorry for not staging this any better, I have let the cleaning go for a few days as I finished up these art projects.  I'm going to clean like a whirlwind, just as soon as I leave the computer though!  So what do you think?

Art Mosaic… or the most tedious project ever =)

Well, I suppose going into it I knew that gluing down more than a thousand one inch squares was going to be time consuming.  The real problem was that I didn’t stick with it when I first got the inspiration from Remodelholic… oh about eight months ago =)  There isn’t a good scrapbook store in my area, and I just wasn’t content with what I found at the chain stores… so it took me months to collect the paper. 

Then, I sat down to cut out squares…  which took a long time by itself.  Then I did a sample to try and decide which one I liked best… eventually I decided I preferred it to have almost no patterned paper, just the watercolory ones and solid ones.  But I dithered so long I lost the momentum.  So the paper sat in baggies for a few more weeks…

Less Patterns

Least Patterns

Most Patterns

less patterns, more blue

And then, the gluing.  Which I did during the day a little, but Serenity really wanted to help.  It was a blast, with her gluing collages while I glued my squares, but she didn’t want to keep doing it as long as I needed to =)  And, sitting in one place isn’t exactly easy on the joints right now at 38 weeks.  So, this might be a great project for someone with a little more focus than me =)  And hey, didn’t it turn out nice?  So it probably goes in the “never again” file… who needs more than one giant Pottery Barn inspired mosaic?  Give me a few months and maybe I’d consider it =)  Now I just need to hang it… unfortunately not a job I can do myself!  I see more procrastinating in my future.