Tuesday, August 30, 2011

All Because Two People Fell In Love

Happy Tuesday everyone!  This is a project I did last week....going to hang it in the new guest/craft room....unless my daughter decides to take it home with her after her visit.  She's been wanting a sign that says this:

Started with a side of a cabinet that my daughter, Haley, painted plum, but it didn't survive the move to Kansas (got smashed in the U-Haul).  Of course I brought home some salvaged pieces!!!!  My husband wasn't amused.


First, I sprayed it black, then used Krylon's Blue Ocean Breeze.  Love it.

This is after sanding.  I couldn't even tell that I had sprayed it black....I really wasn't wanting the purple to show through the blue.

There's a tiny bit of black!

Added my vinyl that I purchased here on sale.


Oops..that wasn't supposed to happen.  It pulled off more paint.  Oh well, just make it work, right?

After MORE sanding.....I wasn't really happy with it, but then, Hana, my 14 year old, said she wanted it for her room and that one particular spot, she loved.  Okay then!!


I don't really think I would like Hana to hang it in her room because to be honest, I was making it with Heather in mind, but if Heather doesn't want it, it's going up for sale in the etsy shop!  Here is where it lives for right now:

Have a great day!
Libby :)


linking up to these parties:

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Curbside Find

While pulling carpool duty yesterday, I drove by two dressers and a bench sitting by the street!  I was so psyched!  Normally, Sarah B. finds all the good curbside items, so I was excited to load up one of the dressers.  I was going to snag the bench, but it smelled so BAD!  Horrible...it was a shame.  The other dresser wouldn't fit in my truck because I'm lugging around a million other things that don't belong in it...like a bike, four camping chairs, a camping table and a cornhole game....anyway, this is the BEFORE:


After getting it home and checking it out (it's not real wood, only particle board), I decided that I didn't want to spend too much time or money on it.  I used what I had on hand.  Kilz:



Ralph Lauren wall paint from Hagan and Hana's rooms.  The color is Sanctuary.


I got the chevron stencils from Tatertots and Jello.  I used our other Ralph Lauren paint, Country Mist, for the stripes.


Sanded everything down to distress it.  By the way, I was not careful with the paint or the stencil.  I knew I would sand it down, so I put on light coats.

I spray painted the handles Krylon's Pimento, and finished!  I kind of love it *sigh*







Everything displayed on it, I either repainted or made.  I also made the pom poms hanging on the branches.  For a project that costs me ZERO dollars....I'd say not so shabby....well, shabby on purpose.....but you know what I mean.


Linking up at these parties:
Be Different...Act Normal
Funky Junk Interiors

Libby :)

Friday, August 26, 2011

Easy Pinata -- NO paper mache

YES!  Finally!  Sarah B. has agreed to share her awesomeness with all of you!  Today she will show you how she made this easy, fabulous pinata for Hagan's birthday.  Take it away, Sarah B!
This is just too easy -- I promise.   These pinatas are sturdy enough to bash and have a pull string trap door too.  Unfilled pinatas at Walmart are $20... seriously?!  First, decide on a design and try to pick an easy shape.  My daughter had a Strawberry Shortcake birthday party so I made a strawberry.

So here is a tutorial for Mickey Mouse.  My supplies included a pizza box, thin cardboard (cereal or Coke boxes), electrical tape, spray paint, hole punch, and sturdy string.  I googled "Mickey Mouse face" and copied and pasted the image onto Word.  I then enlarged it to the size I wanted and printed it.  Since it was larger than just one page, I taped together the pages to form the whole face.  Next I cut it out and used it as a stencil to trace and cut out 2 of the shapes from the pizza box.



Now take your thin cardboard and cut two 4" wide strips for your pinata sides.

Once all 4 pieces are cut, spray paint one side.
 


Once the paint is dry, punch two holes on each face piece in between the ears.  Thread a string thru the two holes of one face piece and tie it off.  Repeat with other face piece.  Line-up the edge of one piece of the thin cardboard with the edge of the pizza box at the bottom of the face.  Start taping every 3" or so on the inside, but leave an 5" opening at the top for filling.

Continue with the other thin cardboard on the other side, overlapping the egdes at the top and bottom.  Next, put the other face on top and tape every 3" on the outside.   Now take your face stencil and cut out the face, eyes, nose, and mouth to use as stencils to cut the shapes out of colored paper. 
Glue the shapes on the pinata and finish lines with a sharpie on both sides.

Almost done!  Finally, attach some curling ribbon to a slit in the trap door at the bottom with some tape like this:


The trap door should tuck up inside the secured side and the top filling flap should tuck under the other secured top side.
Now it's ready to be filled and have the crap beat out of it.  Both this one and the strawberry were tough enough for 4 kids to have 2 whacks each before the trap door strings were pulled.

Thanks Sarah B!  And I was able to keep both faces and they didn't have any damage!  Hope you all enjoyed the tute and if you have any questions, just ask!  Happy Friday!

Linking to these parties:
Funky Junk Interiors
Young and Crafty

Libby :)

Thursday, August 25, 2011

My New Project

I actually have an empty room in my house since my daughter, Haley, moved to college!  It has been a very looooong time since we have had any extra space.  I was going to be doing a lot of room moving, but I decided that since Hagan doesn't sleep in his room, there is no need to let him have a huge room.  So, Haley's old room is going to be a guest/craft room.  This is my progress so far:
Before:
 
The colors she picked kind of reminded me of McDonald's, but it is a really light yellow and a super bright coral (NOT RED)

Why are men so clueless about color??  My husband thinks her room was tan and red.....


Hagan's artwork....permanent marker.  Yup, took about four coats of Kilz to cover it.

The guilty one "helping" me paint.
After:

After priming and cutting in around the trim.  I ran out of paint :(  I'll finish it Saturday!

 I'm pretty happy that I was able to get this much done in 2 1/2 hours!  Now I'm ready to start hanging stuff up.......

Libby :)

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

LOVE IT, LOVEIT, LOVE IT!!!!

Yes, I am shouting!!!  Look what I got in the mail today!
Cute wrapping!

Cupcake liners and lollipop sticks
Baker's twine (sold by the yard)



And my FAVE....a mustache cookie cutter!!!!!!  It's for my birthday party!  I'm SO psyched!!!
 SWEET Baking & Candy Making Supplies is where I ordered my goodies.  Very, very good prices and quick delivery too!  Super impressed!

(I have went over my exclamation point user allowance, sorry)

I would love to continue my post, but I really
Libby :)