Red Heads Craft More Fun

Chasing Trucks... and other things

2012-04-03T20:31:00.007-04:00

This week I am spending my time in places that look like this...

...with pools and fun colors that look like this...

...and have names like this... (I am living the dream.)

...and palm trees... oh the palm trees!

And I'm sitting on porches that look like this...

...and getting off the porch to chase trucks that look like this...

...and I'm spending most of my time here...

...with friends that look like this...

...this week is great! I hope you're having a great one too!

Hello Birdie.

2012-03-11T19:07:00.000-04:00

Did you know they make yellow burlap? Amazing! When I saw it, I knew exactly what I had to do. I made a pillow.

You can cut your burlap to whatever size you want. Mine was pretty small, like 6"x9"ish.

I then created a stencil using my Silhouette.

I stenciled it on using white and grey.

I put the right sides of my pillow together and sewed around it, leaving an opening so that I could stuff it. Don't forget to clip the corners.

I then stuffed my pillow with grocery bags (recycled material) and finished sewing it closed.

I made it as a gift to my bestie. She and I took a chair reupholstery class and she wanted to put it on her chair. It's super cute. Look how adorable her chair turned out!

I'll be linking to these parties this week. Spring is in the air!!

Antique Drum Table

2012-02-26T21:00:00.001-05:00

So now that you know about my little obsession with Annie Sloan paint and you also know about my other obsession with going to estate sales, I thought I would show you the marriage of my two obsessions...

Enter one antique wooden drum table bought at estate sale. She's a beauty, right?

Enter a couple coats of Annie Sloan's Pure White Chalk Paint...

Distress and wax to liking and it's a match made in heaven!

Read about how I judged those books (sitting on top) by their covers. Yikes!

I will be playing at these parties this week.

An Ode to Annie Sloan

2012-02-23T21:00:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time, (when I was like 15), I read a greeting card that said, "You have my heart. It is for you to hold. Forever." Or something like that. Anyway, I dreamed of the day I could give that card to someone. (Romantic, I know.) Today is that day. And I give that card to... Annie Sloan. (Just so you know, it was a toss up between Annie Sloan and the color Turquoise.)

Yes, Annie Sloan. Since the day I met you a few months ago, all I can do is think about what I should paint with you. I use you until you are all used up, and then I use you some more. I can't walk into a room without picking out every. single. piece. of. furniture. that I would paint with you and I am guilty of doing this, not only in my own house, but also in the dwellings of my friends and family. Obsessed much?

You were top priority on my Christmas list. I drive 45 minutes just to look at you (that's the closest store that stocks AS paint). I turn to you multiple times a weekend just for the fun of it. And it doesn't stop here.

My husband wants you to take out a restraining order against me. He said he would file the papers... he might even chip in.

It's a sickness and the cure for the Annie Sloan obsession is... MORE Annie Sloan!

(I have some fun projects (using Annie Sloan paint) on the way to show you.)

I judged a book by its cover...

2012-02-20T21:16:00.004-05:00

Yep. Hate me if you want to, but today I judged a book by its cover. Ok, I lied. I didn't just judge ONE book by its cover, I judged TWO! Now, before you judge me, take a look at the beautiful books...

I bought them simply because I liked the color of their covers. I know, I'm cool like that, but please make me feel better and tell me you've done something similar.

Best Holiday Decorations. Ever.

2012-01-11T20:59:00.009-05:00

Two questions for you. One: Have you ever been to the Opryland Hotel in Nashville? And, Two: Have you ever been there at Christmas time?? Holy decorations!! Their decorations are so spectacular, they must make Martha Stewart look like a Scrooge!

The hubster had some business to do there right after Christmas, so I *had* to go with him (and by "had" I mean "jumped at the chance"). Nashville is so fun and I couldn't wait to get junkin/antiquing.

Now, look at the next picture and answer me this... Can you imagine how long it takes to put up over 2 million lights and decorations?? And I thought decorating my house was bad...

That's a lot of lights!

Everyone appears to be out looking at the light show...

...and listening to the charming Christmas music.

Watch out for the little lambs, I hear they bite!

But really, no disrespect intended. The GINORMOUS nativity scene truly is awe-inspiring.

And that's only the outside! Don't even get me started on the inside. If you are lucky enough to find your way around, you will find 3 atriums full of indoor decorated gardens.

Giant Christmas tress and wreaths hang overhead.

One of the lobbies even had a giant poinsettia tree... meow!

Cascading lights.

Magical hot air balloons.

Toys taking flight.

After my experience here, I thought I might like to live in such a grand place! On second thought, who am I kidding? Something about having to clean 2,881 rooms does not appeal to me. I'll settle for a vacation there anytime though.

Joy Banner

2011-12-04T19:07:00.009-05:00

My Mom and I wanted to add some color to our Christmas decor so we went to the fabric store and came home with these.

We traced and cut out a pennant shape.

Then we made a stencil out of chipboard for the word "Joy". (Cricut Doodletype Font.)

We traced the stencil onto red burlap and cut out each of the letters.

We also cut out squares of regular burlap and sewed the letters on with a zig zag stitch.

We wanted to add a little tree to each side, so we attached that to the burlap too. (We freehanded the tree, didn't use the Cricut on this one.)

Time to lay out the banner and put it together.

We used bias tape to go across the top.

Here she is up on the Thanksgiving mantel. (I haven't decorated for Christmas yet- gasp!)

I'll be linking to these parties this week. Have a great one!

Where have I been??

2011-11-13T16:44:00.005-05:00

Ok, ok, ok, I KNOW it has been awhile since I posted last, like yes, a whole month! So what in the world is my great excuse. (I always tell my students I am happy to listen to their great excuses, but it doesn't mean I will believe them.) So yes, my great excuse as to where I have been these past few weeks is as follows:

My Aunt and I decided to do a craft show! Let me tell you. They. are. a lot. of. work. Oh my. But it was so fun! So, between getting things ready for the craft show, working full time, and conferences at school, I was one busy lady. It was well worth it. My Mom and bestie/cousin were HUGE helps too!

Here are a few pics of our booth.

If you are interested in learning more about our little side project, click here. As soon as my Aunt gets her website up and running, I will pass that info along as well.

Oh, and thanks for being patient while I try out this new endeavor. I am not giving up on Red Heads Craft More Fun and I can't wait to show you some of the cool things I have been making. Thanks for stopping by and can I just say, it's good to be back!

Zig Zag Footstool

2011-09-18T20:44:00.004-04:00

I found a super cute footstool at an estate sale. I paid about $5 for it. It was in great shape, but the tapestry fabric was not my thing.

I reupholstered it with some leftover chevron fabric I had and spray painted the base black. After all that hard work, time to put my feet up!

There's even a little storage inside! What should I put in there?

I'll be linking to these parties this week.

Red Wire Basket

2011-09-11T19:49:00.004-04:00

Check out this cute red wire basket I found!

Lean in a little closer and check out the metal plate on it.

I spray painted it with chalkboard paint and now I can label it!

Isn't it fun?

I'll be linking to these parties this week.

Hello Sign

2011-08-23T18:00:00.000-04:00

I'm cuckoo for estate sales! See this lover-ly treasure I found?

Here is a close up in case you can't admire the plant life.

I was so inspired by this piece, that I ran right home to get to work. I didn't even stop at any other estate sales- I promise!

I took off the round discs and painted the frame white.

I painted the background blue and I painted the discs with chalkboard paint!

Now I can write quirky messages to welcome people to my home!

I'll be linking to these parties this week.

Guest Bedroom Reveal

2011-08-14T16:21:00.005-04:00

Well, it's not completely complete, but I like where it's headed. Our guest bedroom used to be our office. Really it turned into the room where we shoved everything when we didn't know where to put it or if people were coming over. (Shut the door and it is out of sight, out of mind kind of thing.)

This is the color the office used to be. Yup, I liked it when we first painted it. I thought the office would be the perfect place to play with color, but now I just laugh when I see this picture.

After some new paint and repurposing, this is how it turned out. It could still use a little artwork for the walls, but I like how it's coming together so far.

See how I recovered the lamp shade? I also sewed the pillows for the bed (it's bothering me that they aren't laying right in the photo- grr).

I painted the candlesticks yellow, refinished my childhood dresser and made the artwork. It's amazing what a little clean-up can do.

I'll be linking to these parties this week.

Recovering a Lamp Shade

2011-07-31T20:04:00.000-04:00

Remember my childhood dresser redo? I mentioned that I've been redecorating our guest room and that is where the dresser is, but I also needed a lamp to provide some mood lighting to my guests. Today I want to share with you this cute lamp that I painted and recovered.

Don't get scared. If *I* can recover a lamp shade, so can you! I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, but I love how it turned out. I'm hoping I can shed some light (pun intended) on the subject for you.

This is what the lamp started out looking like.

I taped off the electrical components of the lamp and gave it a nice spray with light yellow paint.

I used the lamp shade to trace and make a pattern. I kind of rolled it as I traced. I didn't have a lot of fabric to work with, I was using a scrap that I found in the remnants bin at the store, that's why I decided to go with the making-the-pattern-approach.

This is what my pattern ended up looking like. Depending on your lamp shade, yours will look different. My pattern is for 2 sides of my lamp, so I knew I would have to cut out 2 pieces of fabric using this pattern.

I cut out my fabric with a little help from Choco. (She has a habit of always making herself comfortable on the exact area of fabric I need to work with. She is too cute to kick off.)

Use some spray adhesive to attach the fabric to the old lamp shade.

Remember how I was working with a small amount of fabric? Because I had 2 pieces of fabric, I had to seam up my edges, but it was easy, I just folded the ends under to finish them off and used the spray adhesive.

The top and bottom are going to have all kinds of crazy fly-away fabric. This is ok. I will show you how to finish it off.

Trim the excess fabric.

Now use bias tape and hot glue it around the edges to finish it off.

Smooth it down and make sure it stays put!

It was really pretty easy!

I have a few more finishing touches to put on the guest room and then I will let you see it! I am also still working on a spray booth tutorial. Good things come to those who wait...

I will link to these parties this week. How fun!

Pegboard Update

2011-07-24T21:45:00.006-04:00

I've had this pegboard around for as long as I can remember. My Mom and I painted it for one of my first apartments when I finished college. Now I have hanging up by our back door to hang coats and bags on. I just thought it could use a little update though. This is how she turned out... what a beauty!

I used my Silhouette to cut out the stencil for the numbers.

I measured and spaced out the stencils because I am crazy like that.

Begin stenciling.

Let it all dry.

Hang it back up!

It's a great home for my market bag!

I'm going to link to these parties this week.

Three Tiered Crystal Dish Makeover

2011-07-18T18:04:00.007-04:00

I have been hitting up the estate sales lately. I'm finding all kinds of fun things! There was this awesome victorian house on the lake that I went to recently (Ok, I went to it and then went back 3 other times- it was that good).

That's where I found this beauty... She is a three-tiered crystal flower dish. I was totally eyeing her, but wasn't digging the gold posts and handle.

Nothing a little spray paint can't help.

Put it all together and voila!

Totally cute! I can't wait to have a party so I can use it right away!

Please join me at these parties this week.

Childhood Dresser Redo

2011-07-10T19:52:00.006-04:00

Man, I have been having a great summer so far! We just got back from an awesome trip to Nashville visiting some great friends. But it is now back to business and time to get some things done. This week I was busy refinishing my childhood dresser.

I don't have a good before picture, but if you look at this one, you can imagine what it looked like with the drawers. It used to have big wooden drawer pulls too.

Anyway, this dresser is now in our guest bedroom (which is undergoing an amazing makeover, by the way). I knew exactly what I wanted to do, but I needed my partner in crime to help me, so my Mom came over.

We sanded the top and then we were going to stain it a dark jacobean color, but it didn't look good. (It kind of turned out leopard print, which my inner sixteen year old secretly LOVED, but it wouldn't match the look of the room.)

So, we sanded it AGAIN. This time we painted it with black paint, but we painted it lightly so that some of the grain still showed through. I love that look.

I plan to repaint the white to go over some of the wood knots, but I didn't feel like getting the white paint out. Two words: Lazy Summer.

That's all I'm going to show you until I reveal the rest of the room! I have some other neat things planned to show you too, perhaps a lamp shade re-do and a spray booth tutorial! Woot woot!

I will link to these parties this week.

Let Freedom Ring! (Another Burlap Sign)

2011-06-27T22:50:00.005-04:00

Sick of burlap yet? Me neither. I think we all know the drill by now.

How to make a burlap sign:

1. Cut burlap to fit in picture frame.

2. Make stencil with Cricut/Silhouette (I used Cricut's Doodletype).

3. Stencil word on burlap.

4. Put burlap in frame.

5. Display proudly.

6. Thank a Serviceman or woman for your freedom!

I will be linking to these parties this week.

Square Pedestal Re-do

2011-06-19T19:40:00.003-04:00

Even though Sumer has started, I haven't had much time to craft. I was busy getting things ready for a garage sale, and this week I am teaching a few camps. However, all work and no crafts makes Courtney a dull Red Head, so I refinished a wooden square pedestal.

Being the super organized person that I am, I could not find my before picture of the square pedestal. (You might have to use your imagination, but it started out wooden.) I got it at an estate sale for under $5. Here it is with a coat of primer.

This is how it turned out with new paint. I love the shape!

Have a great week! I'll be linking to these parties.

Chevron Tray and a Free Chevron Stencil!

2011-06-12T21:21:00.006-04:00

I think I may have jumped on the Chevron bandwagon! I found this super cute wooden tray at a garage sale for $1.

I took it apart and spray painted it yellow.

Then I made a chevron stencil. See the bottom of this post to print your own. I traced it and painted it with my new favorite color by Martha Stewart- driftwood gray.

It takes some patience, but it is worth it.

I spray painted the handle of the tray gray to match.

Here is the finished product. Makes me love chevron!

I will be linking to these parties this week.

Print your own chevron stencil here:

Chevron Stencil

Summer Sign

2011-06-05T20:36:00.003-04:00

Just in case you need reminding, Summer IS HERE!!! I do not need reminding, however, I like to celebrate the start of summer BIG TIME. (I am a teacher and I have been counting down the days until summer since, oh, let's say last September!

Anyhow, in honor of the great yellow blob in the sky and to remind people to never forget summer, I made a burlap sign. Every time I glance at it, I smile to myself and then think of how many days we have left of school (5 in case you were wondering).

Step 1: Cut out burlap to fit in the picture frame and cut out the summer stencil (I used 2" Doodletype Cricut cartridge).

Step 2: Paint it on the burlap. Let dry.

Step 3: Put into picture frame.

Step 4: Stop staring at your sign and get outside and start enjoying summer!!

I'll be linking to these parties this week (and dreaming of summer vacation).

Picture Frame Chalkboard

2011-05-29T20:39:00.007-04:00

Happy Memorial Day! A HUGE thanks to all the veterans (thanks Dad!)!!

I scored this seriously cool picture frame at a garage sale last weekend.

I painted it bright blue.

Then took the painting that was inside and repainted it... with chalkboard paint.

Too cute, don't you think?

I'll be linking to these parties this week.

Plant Stand Re-do

2011-05-22T21:07:00.004-04:00

A few weeks ago, we went on a crafting field trip of sorts. We headed over to the Allegan Antique Market. It was SO cool! I scored tons of awesome loot (more on this later). That's where I found this plant stand.

Great bones. Not so great color.

So I painted her up and made her purdy.

So adorable. It's amazing what paint color can do!

I'll link up to these parties this week.

Quatrefoil Tray

2011-05-15T20:33:00.005-04:00

A year or two ago I wanted a tray for the coffee table in my basement. As I walked through Target (love that place) I found a white, square tray on clearance. Score! It started out looking like this (except in real life, it's not blurry - thanks camera):

It's cute and enjoyed some time in the basement, but lately I've wanted to switch things up a bit. Enter my obsession with the quatrefoil pattern. Jen at Tatertots and Jello made an awesome printable pattern.

I traced it onto the tray.

Then I began to paint. I wanted a color I haven't used before, so I chose Raw Umber.

I like how it turned out.

It just has that extra pizzazz, don't you think?

I will be linking to these parties this week.

Refinished Footstool

2011-05-08T18:49:00.006-04:00

I scored an awesome deal on this old footstool. This is what it started out looking like:

And it even opens- look how cute!

But this top part of it... I don't like it so much.

So I took it all apart.

I sanded, cleaned and painted the bottom of it a light yellow color. I removed the old fabric from the top.

I used the old fabric to measure and cut a new cover.

I then stapled it on with the staple gun.

I put it all back together.

When you're all done, put yer feet up!

Too cute! What treasures can I store inside?

Stay tuned for some other vintage treasures I am refinishing. Until then, I will be linking up to these parties this week.

Market Bag (Recycled Coffee Bean Bag)

2011-04-24T20:09:00.000-04:00

Every now and then, there comes a project that does not go as planned. Perhaps it is a project like the apron I made, where it takes A LOT longer than expected.

Case in point, about a month ago my Mom, Aunt and I tackled another sewing project. (I think we are going for one epic sewing project a year.) We made market bags out of recycled coffee bean bags and used pillow cases to line them. Please don't laugh if this sounds easy to you or if you are able to produce a market bag an hour. (Ok, I guess you can laugh a little bit- hehehe!) It may have taken us a few evenings of work, but I just love a project that uses your whole brain to figure out how exactly to do it. I think they turned out great. What do you think? They are nice and spacious and will fit everything the Farmer's Market has to offer!

I'll be linking to these parties this week.