I was FRAMED!

I found these little plastic oval gold frames at Goodwill for  $0.99 each and knew that I could do something to liven them up.

I wanted to try a technique I found on The Diary of Daves Wife.  I am pretty much in love with her  (read how she became Daves Wife and I promise you will love her also) and everything she has created especially the silhouette. I don't have glaze, but I have Distress ink and wanted to try it out.  I started by cleaning the frames and taking them outside to my trusty spray paint board.

I used some Wal-Mart brand that cost under a dollar and gave them each two coats.

After they dried I rubbed on the Distress Ink, tea stain I believe.  I was not happy with the outcome.  They didn't have the depth I wanted and the color was way to orangy-brown for my taste.

So I went to the garage and pulled out my Minwax stain and rubbed it in. I let it dry for about five minutes and with a clean rag wiped it of.  This is what I was looking for!

I couldn't find a silhouette I liked and I wanted to try out some of my new stamps. I went to my paper supply and found a cute green and brown damask pattern.

I'm a little embarassed to say, but I had to make about 5 different ovals before I finally got it right (or close enough).  I popped them in the frame and am quite pleased with my $2.00 wall art.

I'm not gonna lie, I don't absolutely LOVE them, but I like them. I think when I find the perfect place to put them my love will grow. I am pretty pleased with how they turned out.

Typing into my heart

I love Pottery Barn.  I mean LOVE IT!  As you know I have begun a life of thrifty shopping and saving money.  Pottery Barn does not condone my lifestyle.  So as I was stalking looking at some awesome blogs I came across this beauty from Holy Craft.  I knew in that instant I had to make it.  So I began the simple steps.  I had the font on my computer already so I typed it up and printed it off on card stock.  I the size I chose was 300, I know it sounds huge, but I found it to be perfect for the size of the squares.

I then used the most amazing thing known to the craft world...the Martha Stewart Circle Cutter. Yes it is a piece of crap and yes I have had to replace it twice, but believe me it has made cutting out these circles a snap.  They are round (a feat that wouldn't be accomplished if I free styled it) It goes all the way up to 5 1/2" circles.  Pretty amazing for my circular needs. I got at Wal-Mart on clearance for $11.00.  I am thinking that the overall quality has knocked it down to $7.00 in less than a week.  Still a good buy until I can find a better model.

Roughly 20 minutes later I was left with these treasures.  I took a black sharpie and colored in any white lines that were not supposed to be there and colored the sides so they are all black...I know, I know I obsess. I managed to cut out all but 10 to my standards.  That just means I have to print and cut again.  Pretty dang easy.

Now to my board.  My father is a woodcrafter/whatever and he has tons of wood in either workshop.  We managed to find a 24X25 piece of plywood that was PERFECT. It needed to be trimmed one inch.  You know the old motto measure twice, cut once...it wasn't used with that piece.  Because he is amazing he picked up a piece and cut it to the perfect 24X24 square.  He also scored the entire board so I am left with perfect 4x4 squares.  Please see the picture below... I know I have mind blowing math skills and I may have lost you.

I have never stained anything in my life...well OK, mustard gets me every time, but I am new to the wood stain.  Let me tell you it's not something you want to rush into. I found out a bit late that it is best added with a gentle hand.  There are parts that don't have that brushed on blended look.  Thank the Heavens for second coats. After I let the stain dry I took a little Modge-Podge and went to town!  I ended up framing it out with an old piece of wood I had laying around.  I think it gives it a more finished look. I pretty much LOVE THIS!

When I finish my buffet I will show you what this bad boy looks like in it's natural habitat, but for now this will have to do.

Whoooo! doesn't love a bargin?

This Saturday I went into "town" to pick up some burgers for Brian and I  from the local Cafe. It was so dang hot there was no way I was cooking. Crescent comes alive with garage sales on the weekends and Saturday was no exception.  One of my favorite stores is open only on Friday and Saturday.  It is a complete junk/hole in the wall and I was almost eaten by a spider, but I was able to get some wonderful treasures!  Everything I bought needs to be revamped, but for only $15 and a near death experience can you blame me for being excited?  I found this little owl that was from the 60's I think. It is 20lbs of solid plaster and  concrete (OK so maybe it's just plaster, but dang is it SOLID). I could definitely see me  shattering my foot if it's ever dropped.  I passed right by it at first because it is a bit rough, but at second glance I saw it just needed a little love, and I have a lot of  love to give. The lady was asking $10 for him ( I know right?) I offered her $3. Ladies and gentlemen meet Oscar...

I am kind of in love with the etched flowers, leaves and hearts.  I know I can't keep him this color because it does not go with my house and his feet/claws disturb me. They look like worms.  So I did my old standby and gave him a coat or two of white.

I think I his finished color will be a mocha brown, sage green, or a bright red. I'm pretty sure I can paint over any color I don't like.  What are your feelings on Oscar's final color?

Keep looking for all the other goodies I found on Saturday. I will link to this page.

Nesting...

I love the idea and look of a bird's nest.  I love how cozy they look and how I hope one day to have a few little chicks of my own... I came across this AMAZING find and KNEW I had to make one for my little nest.  I love googiemomma and am pretty sure we should be besties... She has amazing taste and I am sure this won't be the last time I link to one of her ideas.


I have a million little twigs and things in my back yard. In fact during the last storm the hail and wind knocked a couple of branches down. You would think I could make a nest in no time flat, but if you remember ROGER you are well aware of my "nest skills".  So I searched everywhere for a nest and came up empty. I tried to twig up and create one of my own, but it was not happening. I had almost given up hope for this project when low and behold I was walking through Family Dollar and found this creation!

ABSOLUTELY HIDEOUS, but has such potential...and yes if you can see that tag it does say $2.50. SCORE!  So I stripped all the leaves, and mini pine cones, fake plastic eggs, plastic flowers and a couple of squishy birds.  I added moss with a glue gun and came up with this comfy cozy nest. Just waiting for some little blue eggs.

Now onto the eggs. I gathered my materials: 3 wooden eggs, 3 leftover Halloween pencils, hot glue gun, and craft paint. I am not sure of the colors I just grabbed ones I had in my paint box.

I am afraid to use an exacto knife, really tall people and being hit by a train, so I went to Hobby if I didn't have a church I'd worship there Lobby and found some cute little wooden eggs.  I had the hardest time figuring out how to paint the eggs and then it came to me...I took an egg and hot glued it to the top of a Halloween pencil I had left over.  TA DA

 I then took them outside and put a coat of white spray paint on them as a base and placed them in a cup filled with sunflower seeds I was going to throw out.

I let those dry and then painted them a nice blue. I wanted lighter when I started, but as they dried and I placed them in the nest I really liked the darker blue.

After I flicked some brown and white paint on the eggs they were finished.  So I moved on to the frame. I was thinking of using an old frame and painting it gold, but I really liked this creamy white frame and felt it went better with my home than a gold one.

I decided to use burlap inside the frame because I couldn't find the perfect decorative paper or printed fabric, and I love love love burlap.  After I glued the nest to the mirror It looked a little bare and like the frame was too big for the nest.  I was super frustrated but then had a stroke of genius and decided to raid my ribbon box.  I found a cream that matched the frame almost perfectly and it gave  an added texture and dimension that I feel completed the piece.  I hope you like my finished product.  I only took a picture of it by itself because the table I want to put it on has not been refinished yet...this weekend I hope to start it.  I am in love with this I mean I LOVE IT!  I hope you enjoy.