Country Cottage Chic

new weekly feature: Timeout Thursdays

noreply@blogger.com (Day before Michelle) — Thu, 12 May 2011 17:18:00 +0000

So here I am, riding the couch. no sewing, no crafting, no cleaning, no anything. I awoke Sunday morning (Happy Mom's day to me right?) with a headache, sore throat, fever and feeling like I'd smoked about 5 packs of cigarettes...and I've been tobacco free for 2 years. Anyhow long story short, I went to my docs and I have bronchitis.

Today marks the 3rd day of antibiotics, which is another way to say that I feel almost 100%, as long as my rear is parked on the couch not doing anything.

The bright side is that I'm getting caught up on my blog reading, the down side is that I have to restrain myself from getting up and doing any of the items on my oh so long to do list, and because I'm getting caught up on my blog reading I'm adding more and more projects to that same list!

This got me thinking, Why not institute a feature day?

Thus Timeout Thursdays is born!

This will give the the chance to stay current with my fave blogs, and introduce my readers to blogs and projects they may have been missing out on, Like this one from Flamingo Toes;

Love, love, love the chicken wire!

Or this beauty from Dreamingincolor

so sweet!

and this Vintage sheet turned dress from The Cottage Home just makes me wish I had a little girl to sew for:

and her bowl covers are so cute and perfect for every pot luck gathering!

Hopefully I will be back soon with projects of my own to share in the meantime I will just continue to drool over everyone else's!

Jumping on the band wagon!

noreply@blogger.com (Day before Michelle) — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 22:04:00 +0000

So I am totally in love with these star quilts that are cropping up all over blogland..and now AmandaJean of Crazy Mom Quilts is also working on one and I figure it's perfect for when my back just isn't up to sitting at the sewing machine. So after a quick stop at Joann's today to get some template plastic I'm going to get some prepping done in time to start sewing tonight while we watch our DVRed DWTS and Glee. Can't wait to snap some pictures of my own!

Pictures tomorrow!!

A sewing weekend!

noreply@blogger.com (Day before Michelle) — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 19:29:00 +0000

It feels like it has been years since Jan Ome (janome..get it? yeah I'm THAT dork! LOL!) and I have been able spend any time together, but we've been making up for it this weekend!

It feels so good to be getting some projects ticked off my list! Michael (AKA Minion 3) got a TV in his room for his 13th birthday (yes, we are those parents..all of our boys had to wait until they were teens to have their own personal tv) But after putting so much work into refinishing his vintage dresser, Hubby didn't want to put the table straight onto that painted surface. Sadly, that means that Michael's TV has been sitting on his bedroom floor since Feburary 6th waiting to be set up.

Now, I don't feel too awful about it, he pretty much uses the tv in the living room constantly since that is where the Xbox and Wii are, but in keeping with my quest to end the procrastinating and getting our house in order It's time to get his room Finished! At least as much as possible for now, the major construction of the reading nook won't be happening until the decluttering and downsizing is complete.

So today I took an hour to whip him up a simple quilted table/tv pad (Runner) He picked the fabrics (kid has a good eye!) and it will fit right in in his room! My only wish is that I'd used smaller strips of white and used them between each fabric. But he loves it and that is what matters!

Last Night I also whipped up some Mug rugs, they are just waiting for the bindings to be sewn down and then they will be winging their way to Ireland :)

I've got more news and some great thrifty finds for you, but I'll save those for later in the week!

Have a great Sunday!
M

Fantastic Giveaways all month at Rusty Rooster Vintage blog!

noreply@blogger.com (Day before Michelle) — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 22:38:00 +0000

Let me tell you, even if you don't enter the contest, you will definitely want to NOT miss a single post!

Please show my new bloggy friend, Vicki, some love and check out her blog!

Getting the house dressed for spring!

noreply@blogger.com (Day before Michelle) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 03:48:00 +0000

So last night was one of my insomnia nights..I couldn't even get sleepy, let alone actually fall asleep. So I did a a couple of quiet chores and then got some more work done on some projects, and started and finished a couple of others.

One of the started and finished projects was this Rabbit. I knew I wanted a Rabbit to center my easter/spring display on my kitchen buffet around and I had an picture in my mind of what I wanted. I didn't have a lot of luck until I walked into Walmart last week to grab some masking tape.

There he was, the bunny I had been looking for! The only drawback was that he was grey, and I wanted white. I bought him anyway and with a little help from my Favorite shade of Americana paint (bleached sand) I have a white rabbit for my kitchen!

Now, my kitchen buffet has been taking a beating here lately, Have you ever noticed how whenever you are working on a major project or if you are feeling down that the hot spots in your home go completely crazy and out of control?
Exhibit A.

Really?

I wish I could blame it all on the guys..but I'm just as bad about it, especially when I am in one of those funks. This is just an example of pure laziness on all of our parts, it took me all of 10 minutes to gather everything up and..GASP...Put it away!!!

Ahh..Now isn't that better? Clean and tidy with a new White Rabbit center stage!

All that is missing are my stuffed eggs that I haven't made yet...and I think the rabbit needs some glaze.. I will have to think on that one!

hehe the little chick was a dollar store buy for the fun of it, Nefferkitty isn't real sure of it when it is hopping around, but CleoKatra doesn't even spare it a glance. She's such a Diva.

The little blue birds are actually salt and pepper shakers that I scored at Loot last week, and the plate they are sitting on was the goodwill buy I posted about last post.

And don't the vintage Milk bottles look great with the fresh daisy stems?!

Once I am able to uncover more flat surfaces in the house (it's been a several week funk..At least I was awake and fairly even tempered!), I'll probably do some shifting around, try to get away from the symetrical feel it's got going on, but this works for now ;)

What about you? Are you ready for spring yet?

Antiquing with Hubby, Craigslits buys and Goodwill Scores!

noreply@blogger.com (Day before Michelle) — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 22:02:00 +0000

Ok, I can hear what you're thinking..How on earth is going shopping going to help decrapify our home?

Well, in an odd way, it does.

See, as we find new accessories and furniture we are able to get rid of the rattier, crapified stuff, which makes the place look nicer, which in turn means that we are better about not letting crap build up.

The rules of acquisition are thus:
Does it have a use?
Will it have a "home"?
Do you love it?
Does it fit the budget?
Will you discard something else in order to bring it home?

If the answers are yes, then it's all good, if I answer no, it needs a bit more thought.

Since I did a major decluttering when we painted the loft, we were able to get a couple of accessories to replace those that were no longer...Us.

Bill got this really ~~cute~~ masculine candle lantern that he plans to use in his office, and I got the Owl candle holder and the 2 milk bottles.

The milk bottles are going to be so sweet on my kitchen table as vases with single stem flowers in them.

The owl? Well, it's just the perfect touch of whimsy and will eventually live in our bedroom.

We have also picked up a couple pieces of furniture, all of which are project pieces, but now that spring is almost upons us I will be able to get to them!

First up is this Chair, It was a $10 Craiglsit buy and really, if the fabric weren't so dated and ugly, it wouldn't need any work!

I also got an antique vanity ($35!! A major steal!), but I don't have pictures yet, and it DOES need work! And for the kitchen, this Stand was a great bargain and allows me to store my glassware out where I can see how pretty they all are when they aren't in use!

And yes, I do use the vintage glasswares, even the Pyrex mixing bowls That were a new in the box gift from my SIL a few years ago(thank you again Lisa!!!). What's the sense in having them if you aren't going to use them, Right? .

And finally, last week I started scouring used furniture stores and thrift shops looking for a tv stand for the new tv. I knew what I wanted, but I was having NO luck!

Finally, on my way home from what I thought was my last attempt I spotted a goodwill..How I'd missed it on my way (I was enroute to a rummage sale) I have no idea..I guess I was paying too much attention the the GPS LOL!

Anyhow, I zipped into the parking lot and popped inside. I looked around at a few things, and found a cute vintage plate to add to my dining room wall, a very small chicken wire egg basket for my easter display and was on my way to check out when out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of This:

Is it perfect? No, It's scratched..fairly deeply on the front there, and the chrome knobs will be going sooner than later. But other than that it is *almost* what I was looking for in a tv stand. BUT it was $20! SO when it warms up it will go out to the garage for a makeover, and I will not bemoan the lack of shelves or drawers between the glass doors, nor will I cringe over the modern lines of the legs, because really? once it's painted and distressed with some awesome new knobs, I am going to LOVE it!

I will be back later this week with the rest of my latest finds, and hopefully a craft or 3!

Later!

Let Freedom Ring!!

noreply@blogger.com (Day before Michelle) — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 03:18:00 +0000

No, I'm not singing God Bless America, I'm referring to the fact that as of today, We are officially free of all Credit Card debt !!!

This is a giant step towards being completely debt free (not counting the mortgage) And I know that with sticking with a budget we will continue to chip away at the wall until it finally comes crashing down!

In the meantime, as a reward we did splurge a bit..and are really enjoying the picture quality of our new Aquos!

Let the search for the perfect TV stand begin! Tomorrow I plan on hitting the used furniture and thrift stores, I haven't found what I'm looking for in the big chains as of yet, but for tonight, some more TV is in order ;)

Library walls are painted! and other things

noreply@blogger.com (Day before Michelle) — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 02:05:00 +0000

wow...this should have been posted over a week ago, but I didn't get the chance to get the pictures edited. Oh wel, here it is now :)

I finally finished painting the library walls!!
Now I just need to go over the baseboards and trim, put up the crown molding, make the curtains and the rug and finish the footstool and it will be done until it's time to make the built-ins.

There's not a lot to report on from here, I went antiquing with my best friend and her daughter (Hey Sarissa and Bethany!) last friday We had a ball, there were no large purchases, but a lot of oohing and ahhing and dreaming, and we spent over 3 hours walking the mall, but we covered every inch! (The olde Shoe Factory Antique Mall in Lancaster Ohio for those who may wonder)

I did get a couple of things, This owl pitcher was just too adorable to pass up, And is my favorite buy of the day!

a bit of feedsack and a cool hankie,

and this fabulous Atlas Mason Jar with a zinc lid was filled with these old clothespins!

Hubby and I went antiquing as well, a week after this post, but that is for another post :O)

Library mini Update

noreply@blogger.com (Day before Michelle) — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 19:57:00 +0000

Well, As usual, I gave myself an unatainable goal with the Library. That's something I need to work on. I'm only 1 person and there was really no way I could have gotten the entire thing done in 1 day. Of course after the first day I got very busy and haven't had the chance to work on it since :/

Here's an update of some of what I did get accomplished on it the other day.

This corner is completely done for now. After all of the painting (whole house) is done I will hopefully start working on crown moulding, But that is later..Maybe by the end of summer. The book shelf has been loaded with some of the classics made simpler for the younger set, and a few favorite series (unfornate events, Twilight etc) As well as all of my crafting books and binders. These will eventually need to be gone through as well, but for right now at least they have a home.

I do really love the color, It still feels light and airy, but with some warmth. I will be making my own window treatments for the space in the next month or 2, and I'm hoping to purchase some White Bamboo blinds as well. This afternoon I'm off to pick up a teacart that will serve as a table, and then I will back to painting!

Later!

Project Decrapification

noreply@blogger.com (Day before Michelle) — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 13:46:00 +0000

I'm going to let you all see some of the craziness that is a Bipolar, thrift store Junkie, shopaholic, crafty, OCD's space when let go unchecked, and the journey to reclaiming it. Today's mission? The loft Library.

Once upon a time the books were all put away and organized but the space lacked character. I've been slowly working on that, and now that most of the pieces have been collected it's time to put them all in place and get rid of the clutter that has been living here for far too long.

Eventually the space here with the 3 unmatched bookshelves will be a long section of built-ins, Unfortunately that is a ways off so for this makeover we will use what we have.

The mattress is Minion 2s old ~~nasty~~ mattress, and is already scheduled to be picked up tomorrow ( In the Columbus ohio tax area Trash pick up is free, but if you want to dispose of anything that won't fit into your minidumpster, you have to schedule a special pick up date..but you can't put anything in any kind of bags...annoying but what can ya do? LOL) along with up to 5 boxes of junk (non donatables like old toys that have been banned under the new CPSIA laws)

The rest of the things lying around are decor items purchased or repurposed for the room that just haven't been placed, more books that have been aquired, or older books that haven't been put away (one of my biggest pet peeves!) And you can see stacks of quilting magazines and cross stitching supplies that need to be gone through and thinned out, a lot. My goal today is to get the space cleaned, organized and possibly painted, We'll see how it goes :)

Later!
M

shhhhh....

noreply@blogger.com (Day before Michelle) — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 17:27:00 +0000

I have a secret! I'm so terrible with secrets, I have such a hard time not just blurting them out (I should clarify. My secrets are hard not to share...Others' secrets I have no problem keeping)

But it's so exciting!

Whatever could it be?!?!

(ok SSA Groupies..not. one. single. word.!! LOL)

I Won!!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Day before Michelle) — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 05:38:00 +0000

Oh my goodness..I was totally dying to spill yesterday when I came home to an email Saying that I..ME! was the winner of the Ramsign Giveaway over at FleaMartkettrixie!

Oh I am SO excited about it, we are going to order a nameplate like this that reads McCoy Manor for our house :)

I just want to say thank you to Trixie, And to Ramsign for Offering such a fabulous prize to one of her readers (ME! LOL)

Later!
M

Ahh..Where there's a will, there's a way!

noreply@blogger.com (Day before Michelle) — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 23:12:00 +0000

I am Happy to say that the towel tutorial is at the testers, and has been since yesterday, so hopefully I will be able to post it this weekend. This is very exciting for me, Since the decision to end Shee Designs as a business and fall back to a hobbyist level, the creative ideas have been flowing like crazy. In the past week I've completed the totwel tutorial, a fabric rosette ring (tutorial coming soon) and a new pattern titled "In a clutch" (Thank you again Carolyn for the name..it's AWESOME!) Plus about 4 more project ideas in various stages of development.

I've started printing out some inspiration pictures for our house, now that all of the children are older, we will be mostly toy free. which allows for a LOT more flexibility design and decor wise.

In other news, Bill has just this week changed over to a job in the company that will allow him to work at home, which could be fantastic..or an utter disaster LOL.
Seriously though, I think the fantastic days will far out number the sick of each other days.

The new meds are a mixed blessing. The pristiq I take in the mornings for depression really helps to get me moving and rocks the anti depression angle, however the seroquel I take at night for the mania basically overrides this effect and leaves me groggy and sleepy for hours after I wake up the next day. My doctor assures me that this wears off after a couple of weeks so I should just give it time, But I have to admit that, at times, it is so tempting to drop the seroquel and ~~ignore~~ deal with the mania just to be able to get things done!

Maybe if I'd started them both at the same time and not realized how good I felt on the pristiq alone I would be more enthusiastic about waiting out the sleepies, but I didn't, I had almost a week of getting more than should have been possible accomplished before starting the ~~make me sleep~~ Seroquel. Oh well, it is what it is and there's no sense in dwelling on it. This too Shall Pass.

Well, I will leave you with this peek at In A Clutch sans straps, and am going to go see about making another one for pattern writing purposes.

Later!
M

Technical difficulties

noreply@blogger.com (Day before Michelle) — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 05:41:00 +0000

Well..I have 2 tutorials ready to be shared here, and am working on a new clutch design as well, But it seems that something is not quite right as Both mine and my Husbands efforts to convert my word documents to PDFs have been fruitless thus far. Something is causing an error. We have a couple more ideas, but they will have to wait until tomorrow. Right now I'm off to sew up my new clutch, and will leave you with these sneak peeks :)

Later,

Coming Soon!

noreply@blogger.com (Day before Michelle) — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 04:04:00 +0000

I will be starting off with a bang In the next few days with a Fantabulous Tutorial for the kitchen! You won't want to miss this!

I heart Olive Rue and How about a tutorial?

noreply@blogger.com (Day before Michelle) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 17:02:00 +0000

Last week I was able to take advantage of OliveRue's Valentines Sale, but it was so hard to choose what to get, I LOVE her images, and they are so versatile!

While I have a lot of projects lined up and some even started for many of the sale designs, I'd like to share what must be a particular favorite of mine..(after all, I bought it a few days before the sale..and then again AT the sale! LOL No worries though, Crystal is Fantabulous and a quick email about this and one other duplicate purchase and she swapped them out in no time flat :)) her Bon Appetit image.

Last night I was in the mood to do some ~~playing~~ sewing and remembered a package of flour sack towels I'd bought at walmart previously. I wish I could say I'd thought to snap a comeplete before picture, but I'm a bad blogger and didn't. They aren't hard to find, they are with the kitchen towels and come in a 5 pack for $5.47.
So anyhow, these towels are HUGE! They come in at approximately 29" x 30".
Which is a bit too large for my purposes. So with a bit of a snip from my scissors and a tiny bit of humming from my machine I ended up with these:

Today I'm going to share how I made the Second one, Stay tuned for the pattern for the 3rd towel to for sale in my shop soon! :).

Thrifting haul and a challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Day before Michelle) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 23:42:00 +0000

So here I am again..and I've been noticing a trend of mostly shopping posts here lately..I need to fix that..really.

Today Mom had an appointment downtown so I planned a quick (NOT! LOL) stop in at the thrift store.

With a little help from my absolutely wonderful husband I was able to whittle a cart FULL of things I didn't need down to this plus a few articles of clothing:

My only regretted non purchase was a mirror/picture frame with knobs..and I might go back for it.

Grand total was $35. In addition to what you see in the picture, there was a pair of Sonoma jeans for minion 2, and 3 shirts for me. More on one of the shirts later.

I have achievable plans for everything here.

The arm chair tray will get a coat of paint to match my tray and be of use during family movie night, or when I'm stitching.

The airplane picture frame will go into Minion 3's room..it's metal and the propellers actually spin..So cool!

I go through so much stitch witchery that it isn't funny, so I will put it to good use and the tiny package is actually a pair of joints for a jointed monkey I plan to make soon.

The spindles and finial are for wreath hangers.

These metal containers seem to have been made for herbs (there were originally from world market and marked at $3.00 a piece, I scored these babies for $0.90 each!!) But I will use them for glitters and beads.

And the glass globe was originally for a porch light or similar, but I have an idea for it that I will share with you after the weekend.

I love the pebble like texture of the globe.

And this wasn't part of the thrifting haul, but it didn't arrive until today, Hubby knows just exactly what to give a shopper for any occasion...Guilt free shopping!

With my Valentines mad money (Thank you again Honey! SMOOOOCH!) I/Bill got me this really cool vintage magazine rack..Which will of course get a nice new coat of....., Well, I haven't decided that yet lol!

It's double sided, and the plan is to keep my Country Living magazines (from the new subscription that I/Bill also got me for Valentines) and softcover crafting/needlework books close at hand and showcased here.

Love it :)

And now for the challenge..and one of my new to me shirts.

Over the past many years I've been really losing my battle with the scales. I could give many, many, reasons and excuses for this, but it doesn't matter. What matters is that I need to lose weight.

I will never be "skinny", I will never be like many of the young little petite bloggers that I follow, nor would I want to. I am too big. I'm 5' 6.5" tall, and even right after Highschool when I *wasn't* overweight, I couldn't wear the same clothes as the rest of the girls, my frame is just too large. I couldn't (and still can't...now I'm allergic LOL) even wear bracelets, watches or anklets without special ordering them.

And I'm ok with that, this isn't about trying to look like a fashion model, this is about becoming healthy, this is about elongating my life expectancy so that I may (with grace and luck) live a long life full of *doing* and not just being.

So today I bought this new to me shirt. 2 sizes smaller than I am now.

(I do have to say that, I heart this shirt, it is totally "me" as even hubby will agree, and I cannot wait to wear it!)

The challenge?

To lose enough weight and tone enough muscle to wear this shirt before the first frost of next winter by making healthier food choices and excercising..lots and lots of excercising. Anyone up to joining me?

The shirt will hang there on my wall (where everyone coming over will see) every day from today until I am able to wear it. It hangs directly in front of my cardio glide, which, unfortunately, I haven't used consistantly in years.

I know that using this machine works..I've had success with it and NOT watched what I ate. So I will be using it to ease back in and strengthen some muscles before going on to more jarring (3 herniated discs...) and strenuous excercises (like jogging).

Once I find one I will be adding a weight countdown to mark my progress, and plan to post weekly updates of my meal journal in order to create some accountability.

But for tonight, my last night of indulgence, I'm going to have Nachos, smothered in meat, cheese and sour cream..they will be the last I get to have until I'm at my first goal of 15lbs off!

Later!

My shopping and crafting list...

noreply@blogger.com (Day before Michelle) — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 16:29:00 +0000

Ok, here's my shopping list for the upcoming spring project..My Dining room!

Cost: $16.95

Cost: $17.95

Cost: $16.95

Cost: $4.95 ea Qty: 3

Cost: $7.95 ea. qty: 6

And though they are OOS..Iwould love to have a set of the crown China..Hopefully they will get more in stock.

These aren't for the dining room, but I've been looking for the perfect towel holder for my vintage tea towels in my Kitchen and I think this is it :)

Cost: $9.95 Qty: 2

And this I just love and think it needs to reside in my craft room, don'y you?

Cost: $5.95

On the list for creating my own versions:

And wow..I love these curtains..I borrowed the picture from The Shabby Chic Cottage

Gina is amazing, Click on the picture to see her fabulous cottage bathroom..Love. it.!

I guess I'd better get my rear in gear decluttering so that as soon as it warms up I can get started!!!

Thrifting and crafting and sewing Oh my! II

noreply@blogger.com (Day before Michelle) — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 00:27:00 +0000

Part 2: Crafting

The other night I crafted this heart wreath while we watched Idol (I just love Steven Tyler as a judge, he is a riot!)

I didn't take pictures like I meant to, but it was very easy to make.

All you need is Florist's wire, Florist's tape and a few strands of bendable stems (beads, pips, vines or flowers..just as long as they will bend.

I used 5 strands of Floral wire cut to the same length. Shape into a heart ish shape (you will work on this more in a bit) With Florist's tape, cover the 2 ends of the strands together, forming a v shape for the dip of the heart.

Randomly secure strands together with bits of a tape.

Now you will play with your base strand shape until it is pleasing to you, Set aside.

I, Unfortunately, only had 1 of the "berry" stems. They were an after Christmas

Clearance purchase at Meijer. So mine didn't get filled out a lot. But I have to admit I like it better this way..it's different :)

Anyhow, Start cutting and adding pieces to your wreath, twisting and shaping where needed.

You can also use the florist's tape on the ends of them to secure them. Continue until your wreath is a full as you would like, then make any adjustments that may be needed to the shape.

Make a small wire loop out of the florsit's wire, twist onto the wreath and there you go..a very, cute heart wreath for next to no cost!

Breakdown of Cost:

Florist wire: $1.00 @ dollar tree

Florist tape:$1.00 @ Dollar Tree

Beaded stem: $1.99 @ Meijer

______________________

Total: $3.99 + tax Not bad at all...and I have plenty of wire and florists tape for future projects.

This one has been almost done for ages.

I had my glue gun out for a quick fix the other day so I went ahead and got the (also previously) Rose glued to it and set it in the bottom corner of an empty frame.

Happy Crafting!

Thrifting and crafting and Sewing oh my!

noreply@blogger.com (Day before Michelle) — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 17:02:00 +0000

Part 1: Thrifting

Can you say Score?

Yesterday I needed to make a run south to add some inventory to my booth. Normally there's at least 1 person going with me but it worked out that yesterday I made the trip alone.

Now, if you've been a reader of my blog for a little while, you know that I am a shopaholic, And I don't mean in the tongue in cheek kind of way. so making this trip was a big step for me. Armed with $20 that was mine to spend in any manner I chose (shopaholic = cash only and a strict budget!) I went on my way with the plans to stop at a number of my favorite non chain stores to shop, which included several thrift stores, an indoor flea market and 3 antique malls.

Well, I only made it to 2 of the thrifts stores BUT I stayed under budget even though I desperately wanted to buy more. When the cash was gone I canceled the rest of my stops, as to not push the temptation to reach for my reserve emergency card too far, and went on down the road.

Thanks to sales and bundling, I stretched that 20 bucks as far and possible, then tugged a bit more out of it!

My unpictured haul: 3 vintage pillowcases, 1 vintage table cloth prepped for embroidery, still new in the package, 3 cornicopias, 8 porcelain knobs, a wood basketball game, a handmade wood marionette, 2 unopened packs of green bead garland, a wood candle stick, a snowman jar, 3 belts (have an idea for these!) and some ric rac.

Oh! and just because I love it so, Here's a picture of my vintage tablecloth I picked up on a previous approved trip :)

If you would like to see close up pics of the vintage sheets, you can find them here.

Stay tuned for part 2..Crafting!

Later,

Decisions, Decisions and a tutorial

noreply@blogger.com (Day before Michelle) — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 20:57:00 +0000

Today I embarked on a great craft idea..I waffled about it next to final step, and decided to go ahead and finish it. Yeah, I'm not liking it so much. In fact I dislike it so much, that, I won't be posting it, at least not until I have the chance to stop in for a few new containers to remake it in my "Duh! Now why didn't I think of that earlier!!" vision.

In the meantime, I finally made up my mind about what project I am going to enter in the American Crafter Contest. I have decided to enter my Memo board, I considered entering my Fall wreath, but I'm not sure if there is a cap on when the project was supposed to be made.

Without further ado, here's a minor repeat for those who follow my blog..My new memo board, dressed for Christmas still I'm afraid, but still darling.
Of course, you know that the first step to any project is to gather your supplies..and if you plan to do a tutorial, you really should be a good blogger and make sure you get pictures all the way through the process, so pretend you saw the frame before I primed it lol. Ok, here is what you will need.

A Large wood frame. Mine didn't have a back or glass, but if you have one with both you can do the alternative finishing, so don't get rid of it until you know for sure which way you want to go :)
Spray adhesive if your frame is glassless
Paint. I used Plaid Glossy, which oddly enough I have only been able to find at walmart, hmm.
Small Clothespins (NOT the minis, the 1.5"-2" ones)
Florists Wire
Paper or fabric lagre enough to cover backing.
Foam core if your frame is backless.
Assorted painting, cutting and measuring devices
Thumbtacks, I chose white
Needlenose pliers

This was an old frame that Hubby and I picked up for cheap (I'm thinking we paid $2.99) at local thrift store

It was missing the glass, backing and at some point someone had decided to hang it upside down. Originally it was a faux cherry color.

The first step was to clean it and take the extra hanger from the back bottom. Then I primed it with white. While The primer was drying on the frame, I got to work on the backing. For those whose frame is missing the backing and/or glass:

I had taken measurments of the opening before priming so I marked my cut lines onto foam core and cut it out. Then I cut a slightly larger piece of the paper I was using.When my pieces were cut and ready to go I sprayed the foam core with a light coating of adhesive spray. Putting my paper print side down on the table I carefully position the sticky back down on the center of the paper. Turn the backing over and smooth any air bubble there may be on your front.
For those of you who have both backing and glass, cut your paper/fabric to the size of your backing and place as you would a photo when the frame is completely dry and ready to go. now that the backing was done it was time to work on the clips.

I don't recommend trying to paint clothespins while they are put together, so the first step for these is to take those babies apart. Make sure you put the springs somewhere safe, you'll need them when the clips are dry! The ones pictured here are for my friend Mollie's, She used regular sized clips as hers was a smaller frame and still had the glass. I had already painted my clips the night before so I'm showing hers to have a photo hehe.Paint the clips in your desired colors (mine were all Plaid Glossy). let dry, flip and paint other side. Repeat as necessary.

By now your frame's primer coat will be ready for some color. I chose a nice bright aqua/blue from Plaid's Glossy line and painted it using a foam brush. Make sure to get into all the nooks and crannies.

Now it's time for those to dry while having a bit of a snack and chat with a friend ;)

Ok, so now that everything is dry we are going to first put those pins back together, once that is done It's time for your finishing touches.

Take your florists wire and straighten it out. measure out enough to reach from one side of the frame to the next, and adding an extra 2-3" cut the number of lengths you plan to use on your board. Mine was 2, Mollie decided on 1.

Take your thumbtacks and set them next to where you would like your hanging line to be, I used a yard stick and level to make sure mine were straight across from each other.

Push 1 thumbtack almost all the way into the side of the frame piece, and using the needlenose pliers wrap one end of the wire around the stem of the tack a few times. tuck end under the tack top and push the tack the rest of the way into the frame.

Now we will thread the wire through the springs of the clips and stretch wire across to the other tack, pulling taughtly. Be carefull not to pull too tightly as this can pull your first tack out. Now you will wrap the other end of the wire around the other tack just as you did for the first one. This time you will stop after 3 wraps to just if you have too much wire left. if so cut it off about 1/2" from tack, the continue wrapping, tuck under and push the tack the rest of the way in.

Repeat if you want to have more than one hanging wire.

With Mollie's, since she had glass, we hung the wire low enough for her to have a space for Dry erase messages..don't worry, the dry erase works wonderfully when you aren't using a should have been tossed already marker hehe.I could have put anther hanging wire across the top of mine, But I have plans for that area just as soon as I own a silhouette!

My final touch was the red cardinal perched on the top, He's just taped there so I can change him out with the seasons :)

Linking up to:

Sharing some crafting from over the holidays!

noreply@blogger.com (Day before Michelle) — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 15:59:00 +0000

I've not been being very productive the past little while, but just before Christmas I had been doing much better. Since I didn't blog much during that time I thought I might share some of my projects now.

This one wasn't me actually, Hubby took care of it for me while I was doing other things :)

Our cheesy cheapo dining room chandelier went from ick to slick with the help of a can of ORB and by replacing the glass globes with inexpensive shades. The shades are in line for some burlap treatment when I get to it :)

My Memo center, dressed for the Holiday

My friend Mollie's version, this frame still had it's glass so it only got 1 wire of clips in order to utilize dry erase markers as well.

I just Love me some Embellished towels, don't you?

Too cute Elephants!

Owlberta, She can actually grasp some surfaces in order to perch on her own.

Ribbon rose ornament, this was so super simple to make!

So that's all I have pictures of, there was more creativity going on but it's been a few weeks and well, who can remember it all?!?

Time to go take down the rest of Christmas, Later!

Halloween and Fall Crafts take 2 :)

noreply@blogger.com (Day before Michelle) — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 17:15:00 +0000

SO Today I want to share with you some more of the fall and halloween crafting and decorating that has been taking place here lately.
Here you see my new to me corner shelf. Can you believe I got this for $20 bucks?!?!

I almost couldn't believe it myself! Anyhow, My fall display in the center there was really fun to do.

The clock frame I had in my cross stitching stash, only I just decided to do some fun Mod Podge on it instead! The paper was a bulk bargain from Tuesday Morning at the beginning of summer, and the glitter chipboard pieces and clock workings were from Michaels.

I'm sure you may recognize the halloween busts, they were from the dollar tree. I painted them with Krylon Ivory satin and then glazed over them with Ralph. The books are part of an old encyclopedia set that we inherited, and I just used some scrapbooking papers, stickers and my handy Podge to tunr them into Potions and spells books. The wire pumpkin was completed by following a tutorial I found online..But I can't find it again to give Credit to the writer! ACK!!

Next up is my buffet display. The runner was just finished on Saturday..I've decided to keep it because I like it so much :)I'm sure you also recognize the skulls. Who knew this would end up being a Pottery Barn Knock off? I certainly didn't when I bought these 2 months ago and dropped them in my hurricane LOL! I keep meaning to take them out and glaze them, and put them back with a bit of moss to create a true knock off. We'll see hehe.

The spider picture was just an old frame painted with flat black, a bit of the backside of my Tuesday morning paper, a beware sticker and one of the boys' old rubber spiders I salvaged from some toys we got rid of a couple of weeks ago. A little mod podge, a bit of glue and I think it turned out really cute!

The black and White gingham Pumpkins were a Target purchase..Aren't they adorable?!? I just couldn't resist them!

and Lastly The boo Blocks were created using some cut up 2x4 scrapbooking papers, Chipboard accents, letter stickers and..yep, you guessed it, Mod podge! There's also an exclamation mark but it wasn't working for me with 4 blocks so it's on standby until I make a 5th block.

Ok. So that's it for today, but I'll be back with more decorating, crafting and the after to this Freecycled before as soon as possible!

Halloween and fall Crafts anyone?

noreply@blogger.com (Day before Michelle) — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 20:40:00 +0000

I've been crafting like crazy here lately, has a little something to do with a couple of herniated discs keeping me from sewing for very long I think, but still, it's been really cool to work with some other mediums.

I thought I'd share some of my finished fall and Halloween projects with you!

First is my Table center piece. I LOVE this! I got this gorgeous look for under $20, and I will use at least some of it year round!

I started with a large serving tray. The tray was a $3.00 yard sale buy. originally it was that very red not really cherry but supposed to be cherry wood. Some Krylon flat black (Krylon is my go to spray paint! LURVE it!) a bit of sanding and it fit the bill perfectly.

What makes planning a centerpiece on a tray is that it is easily moved for table cleaning (or like for in my case, pinning quilts)

The jute vase is just a salsa jar that was wrapped in twine, It turned out SO well. And who knew I would love this twine so much. I hope Target gets more next spring, I bought 3 balls of it when I found it in the dollar bins, but I'm already down to my last one!!

The white pumpkins/squash were from the Dollar Tree, I just spritzed them with a bit of Krylon Ivory, then Used my Ralph Lauren smoke glaze to deepen them up a bit. The other 2 ceramic pumpkins were also dollar tree buys, but I decided to leave them as they came for this year.

The orange "pumpkins" are round glass candy dishes with cable knit sweater sewn around them.
Stephanie Lynn at under the table and dreaming was the inspiration for them, although I made mine removable. In the large one I placed a tall candle stick with a plain emergency candle in the center, then I tucked a few dollar tree fall flower bunches in around it.

The tall brown vase is actually covered with yet another (removeable)sweater I picked up thrifting, and houses a vanilla scented candle. so yummy smelling! And the patterns it makes on the walls when lit is so pretty!

And lastly I took one of the dollar tree leave sprigs and pulled the leave sections off and scattered them around the tray bottom.
I like!

I am linking up to these parties!

DIY Dish "Basic" bag

noreply@blogger.com (Day before Michelle) — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 12:09:00 +0000

This was actually a easy bag to make, You're afraid of the pleats you say?

Well, They do a very good job of explaining how to do them, and they are seriously easy peasy.

Just one thing, if you are like me and prefer a bag with a bit of substance and form, fuse some interfacing or batting to your outerbag pieces before you sew down the sides.

Also, even if you don't interface the bag, you might want to consider adding batting to your strap..I know my purse tends to get a bit heavy and the extra padding really does make a difference.

So here's my version, done exactly as directed in the webisode. Ok, I'm off to make one with my changes and see how it goes :)
Later!