I finally put something on this wall, and even though it's not quite finished, I am super excited about it. I held onto some of the old windows when they were replaced about a year ago, and I always intended one for this wall. I had lots of ideas for it- applique quilt a little bird and tree scene and use it as a frame, put a mirror behind it, hang it plain, etc. But I figured it out the other day, so I finally got a move on and repainted and scraped all the paint off the glass.
This is a little wreath I put on for the time being. I cut out a cardboard wreath shape and then wrapped it with a couple different twines I had and then added these little tulle flowers. It's going to get better, though- I'm going to get vinyl lettering on the bottom pane that says- "Better keep yourself clean and bright. You are the window through which you must see the world." -GBS I'm excited about it. I'm also excited about all the different stuff I could hang from the latch at the top. Dried flowers, an initial like I have on the back door, or a picture frame. One question: should I do the vinyl letters in dark brown or white? I think black letters would be too... extreme, for lack of a better word. Also, should I distress the frame? I'm thinking so- there's lot of little things still wrong with it that are still visible, despite the fresh coat of paint, so I might as well make them look intentional.
Mike got me a jigsaw for my birthday because he's awesome, so I put it to some use yesterday. I used sheet moss over drywall. I was going to use wood, but then remembered the drywall that I had gotten from Home Depot for free a few days before. I needed about a 6"x6" piece for a patch in our living room, and when I asked if they sold it in pieces smaller than the sheets, the guy just gave me a piece a couple feet square that they were going to throw away. So, the patch is done, and the rest of it was just the right size for this big letter J. You know, for Johnson. I already had the moss and the burlap for hanging, so it cost nothing. I free-handed the letter- it's an imitation of the Elephant font in Word. I think I'll embellish it a little more, add some little blossoms or something, but I love it plain, too. Jigsaws are awesome.
I added this little bit to the new bookcase after I did that letter. I've had the moss forever, I think I just forgot about it. And now-I'm so proud of this- the newly repainted kitchen! True, I did paint just after we moved in, so it hadn't been 2 years since I first painted, but I hated the color. I just wanted a tan, but the tan I chose, as it turns out, had very strong red undertones. It looked pink. I gave it a year to see if it would grow on me, but last fall I decided I would be repainting. So I finally got to it last week. Before:
During:
After:
I took the before picture in natural light, since that's when it looked the least pink. In the second picture you can see the contrast between the two paints and my awesome laundry board nook. I've had the door off of that since we moved in- somehow it didn't get painted when it had the chance and it just ended up in the garage forever. But it's finally back on- much better. And I'd been dying to use chalkboard paint, so it worked out perfectly. And I've put flowers in those little planters on the table now- red poppies. The pail next to the laundry board cubby is to hold chalk and an eraser. I've started my first quilt. Pictures to come.
Mim's first birthday was Thursday (April Fools! No, it really is.) and we had a little party for her yesterday with some family. I made a couple banners for her. The first is like the ones that are everywhere these days- just paper and cut out 400pt letters printed from Word. The other one is a repurposing one that I'm kind of proud of. I still had a bunch of cards from when Mim was born and I feel guilty throwing cards away, especially when they contain sweet sentiments, as many of these did. So, I punched holes in the corners and connected them with ribbon. And now I have another sweet birthday decoration that I can add onto every year (which is the plan) and not just a pile of cards that don't really have a place but that I'm reluctant to throw away. And when she's older, she can go back and read cards from previous years, which I think will be neat. I plan on doing this for all my kids. Also- I know the banners are in the same place here, but the card one got moved to the hooks below the mantle after the picture was taken.
I've been looking for a big trunk or chest for our living room (no luck so far) and checked out several consignment shops last Saturday. At the Mona Lisa consignment in AF, there wasn't a trunk, but there were these little wood plaques that had old seed packets mod-podged onto them. I loved it, so I made my own (the plaques, about 2"x4", were 12$ a piece). Here's my version:
I had the frames lying around (the one on the right was actually another little project- I painted and added the beads, like this one, sans butterflies), and the burlap, and got the seed packets at walmart for 20 cents a piece. I also tried to age the packets a little bit, but you can't tell in the picture. I crumpled them up and folded them a bunch and rubbed them on the burlap to make the creases look old. I also added some dirt.
My next framing idea was inspired by something I saw at Gardner Village forever ago, and then was reminded when I saw the skeleton keys at the consignment shop (for 4-5$ each- I remember being in high school and going to Star Mill before it was all prettied up and getting a whole jar of skeleton keys for that same price). Anyway, since I didn't want to spend that much on them, I just googled "skeleton keys" and found this place and bought a bunch there for a lot less. I actually already owned that first big jailer's set- I got it at Tai Pan awhile ago. So, on my bookcase I now have this:
I might paint the frame, but I don't know. Seems like all of my frames have been painted now, so I kind of wanted to leave one natural.
Nobody look too closely- I did this really fast and didn't fix several things that went wrong, because, hey, it's a garbage can. How the garbage can problem arose: In Mim's room, I was using a sort of medium sized, white, open top garbage. I'm pretty sure it was just an extra that was around that I put in the baby's room. When she was younger and going through about 10 wet diapers a day, I was great about emptying it daily. As she's gotten older, it fills up less quickly, I get kind of lazy, and as a result, her room occasionally smells a bit like pee (poopy diapers are always taken immediately to the outside garbage; I'm not that gross). So I plan that this new garbage will solve 2 problems- 1) it's only big enough to fit maybe 4 diapers in, thus I can't be as lazy, and 2) if I am lazy, it has a lid, which should help contain the pee smell until I can shake the laziness. I used acrylic paint over the plastic and then mod-podged some wrapping paper I already had on the rest of it. And then hotglued on some buttons to hide my crooked bottom border. I kind of want to do something to the top, but no ideas yet. If you have one, let me know.
