Oops

Oops! Was the word of the weekend! nothing went my way! I had hoped to get things hung on the walls in the bathroom, Murphy's Law had other ideas!

I got a bunch of cool industrial metal baskets to hang above the toilet to hold some pretty things and toilet paper.

When hubby drilled the first hole he hit a furnace duct. Fortunately, he knows what he's doing and thought there might be something there, so he didn't put a hole in the duct. However, I can't hang anything up there that requires more than a nail. I haven't given up yet tho (it's just not in my nature to give up!) I have a couple ideas still bouncing around in my head for that project.... stay tuned!

Then we decided to put another rail on the loft bed before I took pictures to show you and ......

OOPS! Forgot about the ceiling fan! Cracked the glass. At least it didn't shatter and fall all over the place. Going to have to replace that!

I also spray pained a magazine rack and ledge shelf (that I got at the Salvation Army for $2.99-yay me!) and for some reason the paint bubbled up on it!

Guess I'll be sanding that and repainting! Again, not giving up! I work every day this week so, it may not happen until next weekend.... we will see how motivated I am! Hope you had a better, more productive weekend!

Votive Candle Holder Tutorial

I have a little tutorial for you today. I'm pretty excited, it's my first tutorial, I hope you like it! I'm working on my master bathroom. Nothing drastic, just hanging some things, taking some things down, etc. I haven't really done anything in there except paint, so it's time! I hope to show you everything on Monday. But for now I will show you one of the things that will be going in there!

I made this little votive candle holder out of an empty salsa jar. If you would like to make one too, here is the supply list:

*empty, clean glass jar: Goo gone and a razor blade

*fabric linen, muslin or I used a drop cloth

*ribbon, embelishments: stamps, ink, paint, twine etc.

*ruler, scissors, hot glue gun

*(optional) mirror spary paint

Pretty simple really! Here's what I did!

First: you want to take the lables off. So get your Goo Gone and a razor blade and scrape until your hand cramps you get all the goobies off.

Second: measure around the jar. I used a tape measure and add a 1/2 inch to overlap on the back. Then measure how wide you want your fabric. Now cut it out so you have strip of fabric.

Third: This step is optional. Spray the outside of your jar with mirror paint. Wait just a minute or two, you don't want the paint to completely dry, then pour some vinegar on a paper towel and wipe some of the paint off. We are going for a mercury glass effect here, so it should be spotty. I just wiped away spots on the top rim and the bottom edge where the fabric isn't covering the glass. I then sprayed on the inside of the jar just to give it some dimension. Let it dry completely now.

Fourth: Stamp or paint your images on the fabric. I used a "words" clear stamp to stamp all the way across the fabric. Then I cut a small circle (about 2inch diam.) and stamped my little sparrow on it. If you're using stamps and ink, make sure you use Staz On ink so it doesn't bleed on the fabric.

Fifth: Make the rosette: Cut a small circle out of fabric (about 1 inch) and a strip about 15 inches long and 1 inch wide. Working in small sections, glue the fabric strip around the edge of the circle folding and fanning it as you go. I then took a piece of brown satin ribbon and ran a gather stitch along the edge and pulled it tight to make another smaller rosette. Glue all the layers together. Beautiful!

Sixth: Wrap the strip of fabric with the "words" on it around the jar glue one edge to the jar then pull it tight and overlap the other edge over and glue it down. Glue on your rosette, maybe some pretty ribbon around the top to hide the edge of the jar where the top was screwed on, tie some old keys or other embelishment on and voila! A beautiful votive holder on the cheap!

Thank you for sticking it out with me to the end! Have fun making your own personalized candle holder! If you make one, please let me know! I would love to see it!

 I am linking this post to:

Somewhat Simple

Crafty Scrappy Happy

The 36th Avenue

Thrifty Thursday Blog Hop

Doin' it Yourself Linky Party

Chic on a Shoestring

Whipperberry

Simple Home Life

Act Different Be Normal

A Little Knick Knack

DIY Showoff

Nifty Thrifty Things

Skip To My Lou

Primp

Not Just a Housewife

A Tisket A Tasket

Since we just talked about Pinterest I thought I would show you a project inspired by Pinterest (via West Elm) that I pinned and then actually COMPLETED!
Here is the inspiration piece:

                                                                source
I love everything about this basket! Unfortunately, it's no longer available! I probably wouldn't have loved the price tag anyway!

I decided to make mine out of jute webbing. You know, the stuff you use to upholster chairs?! Here's what I came up with:

Mine is a little floppier than the felt, but it is exactly what I needed to store extra blankets and throw pillows in our bedroom! The best part about this, other than the price, is you could make it any size or shape you wanted! I do think I will be trying some out of actual felt too for Mr. Doodles new shelf under his soon to be loft bed! Thanks for stopping by today! Make sure to follow me on Pinterest to see what other inpiration I come up with!

Linking to:

Whipperberry: Friday Flair

My Addiction

I'm sure by now you all know what Pinterest is! It's my new addiction!  My husband said last nite "I don't know what you're doing on that laptop all nite, but you have a twinkle in your eye, so I think I'm in trouble!"  How right he is! I have projects lined up for us for eternity! LOL! Right now we are working on a loft bed for my 10yr old "Mr. Doodles" so I have a whole board just for his room, wanna see some of what has inspired me for his bedroom? He is a big outdoorsman (shot his first deer this year!) so his room is already rustic.  Here are a few of my faves from his board:

 

source                                                      In my dreams!

 

source                                        This is more like the one we are building!

source      I know these are a litte cliche, but it would match the decor of the rustic cabin feel we are going for in his room.

source                         This would be great above the bed, need to find an old ladder.....

source                                                   His own private get away!

source           He wants a beanbag chair, not sure if my sewing skills are up to this one tho....

So, what do you think? Pinterest is quite addictive, so if you haven't jumped in yet, go with caution! I'll give you updates on Mr. Doodles room progress!


Linking to:

New Lamps!

I've wanted new bedside lamps for awhile. I actually really like these lamps, but since I painted the walls a chocolate brown, they just kind of blend in so..... what is a girl to do?

Spray paint ofcourse! The middle of the lamps are glass so I decided to do a faux mercury glass technique on that part. If you've never tried faux mercury glass go HERE for an awesome tutorial. The top and bottom are a brushed bronze sort of color which just disappers against the brown so, I simply painted that part Heirloom White!

New lampshades were next. Still a little to plain so......

I used a stencil to trace 2 bird silhouettes and cut them out of black cardstock, then with a little spray adhesive I attached them to the inside of the lampshade so you only see them when the lamp is on! Now I not only like my lamps I LOVE them!! And since I already had everything except the lampshades new lamps only cost me $16.00! So happy!

Linking to:

Not Just a Housewife
Creative Crafts
Shabby Creek Cottage

Do You Decorate for Winter

After all the Christmas decorations come down, do you decorate for Winter? Call me crazy, but I do! I hate taking down all the Christmas decorations. It's so depressing. So, to relieve my dispair, I put up snowmen. Lots of snowmen and snowflakes!

I put a few snowmen and some sparkly snowflakes on the mantle with some white lights behind it all. I made the "Winter Banner" a couple years ago and still love it! I got the sled at an antique store in Buffalo and added some greenery! Here's a close up of the mantle with the lights on~ soooo pretty!

On top of the armoire in the living room, that I keep the games and blakets in, I have a small portion of my snowman collection. I love snowmen, they are all over the house!

I even made a few for the wooden box on the kitchen table!

The dining room has snowballs, pinecones and my Pottery Barn knock off  "Jar of Snow and Birds"

And ofcourse the front door got a makeover too after all the lights came down and the wreath was stored away.  It looked so blah. I loved this wooden skate from Hobby Lobby, I just spruced it up with some old left over greenery!

And, since we don't have any snow yet (Im still hopefull!) my 10 yr old and I made this cool snowflake "garland" It was super easy,  but very time consuming! I love the way it looks tho, almost as if it's snowing outside!

Well, if you don't normally decorate for Winter, I hope I have inspired you to get some snowmen out and make some snowflakes! Happy Winter!

I linked this post to:

 

Best Of 2011

Happy New Year! Wow, can't believe it's 2012! I know everybody is saying it, but really, are we in a time warp or something, because time is going faster every single year!

Over at my favorite sketch blog TWISTED SKETCHES we are doing a "Favorites of 2011" all the design team members have submitted their favorite layouts and the sketch from the last year. My favorite was sketch #120 with the twist "buttons". I not only loved the sketch, but it really is one of my very favorite layouts from the past year. First because I love the picture, it isn't often I get a picture of all 3 of our Patricks together. Second I did the layout with my favorite line of the year "Rocket Age" from October Afternoon! You may have seen the layout before, but I will post it again, just because I love it!

Now go check out the TWISTED SKETCHES blog and see everyone elses favorites!