Fast and Easy Table Runner

The day after Christmas a few years ago, I purchased some pretty white and silver coordinating ribbon. When I stopped at my mom's house the other day, I saw that she needed a table runner to match her blue and silver ornaments. All I did was sew the ribbon together - we're talking all straight seams here nothing fancy - and the whole project only took about half an hour. (I had previously made a pillow for my niece using 3/4 inch wide ribbon and that took quite a bit longer). My runner was limited by the amount of this ribbon I had. I might have to make her another one for next year when she alternates and uses red and gold. Sorry my pictures aren't the best - I'm still getting the hang of it. Just to get an idea of how it will look at her house I put some blue ornaments in a bowl. I just hope she likes it...

Easy Wreath

I just love the fall leaf wreath that Vanessa made for So You Think You're Crafty. She is so talented and creative. This is a link to her blog V. and Co.

I decided to make one, but wanted to make it a Christmas wreath. I had some green corduroy on hand - I have no idea why I ever would have purchased this, but, anyway...it came in handy. I have also seen so many people make things with the pretty plates from the Dollar Store. So, I combined these two things and this is what I came up with.







I did sew my leaves together since I was using heavier fabric than Vanessa had used in her tutorial. I also used fabric glue as well as hot glue for each leaf. And I added some "cranberry" beads.

This would be so cute to make for every different season as it would look completely different in say, pastel fabrics for Easter.

Thanks for stopping by!

Shop Class Wall Sconces

I love going to Goodwill to see what I can find and spruce up. On my last trip there, I found several items to transform. I found two sconces like the one below for $2.99.




They looked like something a young man would have made in shop class and given to his mom for Christmas. I just loved the rustic quality and the natural element of the wheat but the wood tone was no good. So, I brought them home and went to work with some cream paint, a little sanding, and my mocha glaze.

And here is one completed. Doesn't it look completely different?






Here's the one in original condition and the completed transformation.





These will go in my husband's manroom, (aka, the basement family room) when we finish our mantle. I better get crackin' on the second one.

Thanks for stopping by!

My Space

I like to see where everyone works on their projects and how the space works for them. So, I thought I'd share my space. The room I work in is a multi-purpose room that we call "Bubba's Room." Yes, that is in Bubba, the dog. This room was his first (yes, my dog had his own room) and as new functions have been added it remains Bubba's room. In a future post, I'll show you Bubba's digs. But, for now, back to my project area.



When a local company relocated they gave away their old office furniture. I was lucky enough to get three of the filing cabinets and purchased a piece of counter top from Lowe's to serve as a work surface. This works great!

A lot of my office and craft supplies are stored in this sweet secretary type dresser. She was in pretty bad shape when I got her for $5 at a white elephant sale. But we fixed her up, gave her some new paint and hardware and she's a beauty again.

The area is still kind of sparse but I just love the two pieces of "art" that I have hung so far.

The first piece is a window that I painted brown and distressed a bit. Then I made copies from an old bird book and mounted them to the window panes using photo corners. I didn't take an individual picture of it but it's above the counter top.

The second piece is very special to me. When I was little I used to look through the photo albums my mom created as a teenager in the 1940's. The albums have black craft paper pages and the photos are mounted with photo corners. She gave me some of the duplicate photos a few years ago and I wanted to display them. So, I mounted them to black craft paper with photo corners before I put them in the frames. This way I have them out for all to see, but still retain the photo album look I remember from my childhood.



And, here's a photo of my mom. I wish scarves would make a comeback; they're so ladylike.



I'll have to show you the computer/office area at a later date as right now it's filled with all of the "mess" that was in the project area before I took the pictures :) You didn't really think my project area was that neat, did you?

Thanks for stopping by!

Fabric Flowers

Hi,

I spent Saturday afternoon (in my pajamas) making fabric flowers. Husband was out deer-hunting so the house was nice and quiet except for the hum of my sewing machine. I found this great tutorial over the summer when I was looking to make myself a flower brooch to wear to a wedding. It was so much fun to make and it wasn't very hard.

I used some homespun I had on hand and added zig-zag stitch around the edges to bring in a little bit of color.



Aren't they cute? As I took this picture I kept wishing they were cookies!

And here is a close-up view. You'll have to stay tuned to see the ideas I have for these little beauties.



Go check out Dawn's tutorial at sew ritzy-titzy

I'm linking this up to:








Thanks for stopping by!

Entry Way Decorating

Hi,

I'm going to try to link up to the Cottage Instincts McLinky Party Made It With What I Had. This is only my third post so wish me luck!

All of the items that are hanging near our back door were things that I had collected over the years knowing that I would use them somehow. These items include:

1) a bell my sister got for a wedding gift in the early 90's - I spray painted the black metal a textured deep brown

2) an old mailbox from my sister's first house - this was also black and got the same paint

3) a small gold row of birds with hooks - ditto on the paint and attached to a painted and distressed backer board

4) I save the best for last. It's the door knocker from my Grandma's front door. After she passed away and the front door of the house was replaced, I got to keep the knocker. That one also got some paint and then I made a frame for it out of some wood I had around the house.

So, here are the pictures of my Made It With What I Had decorating:







I think they make a nice little grouping, I hope you do, too.

Cell Phone Bench

When we redid our kitchen, we didn't anticipate how much we would use the small span of counter top just inside the back entrance next to the stove. It's just the logical space to charge your cell phone so you won't forget to take it when you head out the door. Well, all those cords next to the possibly hot stove top didn't make sense. I found this little bench at Goodwill for $1.99 and thought I could make it work. It must have started life as some kind of candle holder but it was missing what I assume would have been the glass "seat" for the candles to sit on.



So, I painted it black. Then I needed something to make the new seat out of. My mom had these pieces of wood that were actually from the bottom of old roller shades (and yes, she had kept them)and they would work perfectly. I just cut them to size and put poly on them.



But what to do with the cords?



So, I sanded this little cheese box I've had forever and poly'ed it, too. Then the cords can be stored here and the excess cord can be hidden when the phone is being charged.

Now, my cell phone is just chill-axing on it's new little bench.

Happy "Howl"oween!

I hope you all had a safe and fun Halloween! She made me a costume. I was a pony complete with ears, mane and a horse blanket. I hated wearing my costume and really put my growl on so She would take it off. We had 204 trick-or-treaters come to the house and I was so excited! Unfortunately, my barking scared some of the smaller children so I was exiled to the bedroom.