MAIL TIME!

I had a great weekend filled with projects. I am so excited to have some new pictures and posts... and most of all - to have prettied up some things around the house.

The first one I'll share this week (I'm starting off small here) is a little box that I found at an impromptu visit to the Goodwill last week. We actually have an outlet store here that has HUGE bins of crap treasures that you pay for by the pound. It is at this point that I need to state the obvious. If you pick out the three heaviest pieces of crap stuff, you don't get the best deal. 'Nuff said.

BUT - I did get this very cool little box - that I had a specific purpose for before even buying. I actually liked the creamy yellow color that it had already been painted. As luck would have it, I found a matching color of new spray paint at Michaels. The unlucky part - I bought two cans of this stuff and it is the worst spray paint I've ever bought. It sprayed unevenly leaving big drips and took a long time to dry. If anyone really wants to know the brand - I'll tell you. I'm not being secretive... just lazy as it is out in the garage right now and I don't remember what kind it was.

So - here is the before picture. Notice the little feet are broken and missing. When I started trying to take the other one off - I ended up taking all the trim off too because some of that was broken.

This is the space that needed help! I'm kind of embarrassed to post the picture - and I will say that this is on a bad day. But, it obviously needed some help. And one goal I've developed as I'm do these little projects is to make them useful and pretty. It's not an either/or - they should really be both - because I'm not about just doing useless things. Usually.

So - then, I did my thing with the temperamental spray paint. I might have said a few bad words as I made a mess of things due to the new brand of paint. Then, some cute black ribbon - and VOILA! It is perfect. And look at my little counter space and mail holder. Ahhhhhh. SO MUCH BETTER. I love it.

Stay tuned this week. I have at least three more projects to post... and maybe another. I'm linking up to Metamorphosis Monday! Yay - check her out! Updated: I found another party too - this is another big one! I can't believe I hadn't had the pleasure of checking out her blog until today. I know most of you have! Southern Hospitality!

Personalizing the Thank You

We recently spent a week in rural Pennsylvania with my husband's side of the family. In addition to a lovely and relaxing stay away from the rat race of home - we celebrated our daughter's birthday and were blessed with gifts and love all around.

When I started to do thank you notes, I decided that doing something unique and handmade was the best way show our appreciation. I used a family photo that was taken of the four of us that week (as we sat by a camp fire using a timer on our camera but it turned out surprisingly decent). Using a googled imaged of PA, Picnik , and PowerPoint I created a snazzy little picture and then printed it on some off-white card stock. The finishing touch was a little red bandanna bow. The result was perfect for the occasion. I can't wait to have someone else to thank now! There are so many tools available for FREE and using your imagination you can make anything you dream up!

A Post without Pictures

A post without pictures on a creative ideas blog is a little lame. However, I don't want anyone to think I've completely lost my mojo and am not busy creating and getting ready to share. I haven't. And I am.


To update on a few things. If you hang a cork board in your bathroom (like I showed here) to organize your jewelry, either a) secure it with something heartier than sticky tabs or b) do not hang it on a wall near the toilet. It is not fun at all to walk into the bathroom and see all of your jewels (yeah, right) in the toilet. My recently sanitized jewelry is now hanging on the other side of the bathroom in a FRAMED cork board which is nailed to the wall.

In other news - my little sister came to town and on the way to my mom's house we stopped by a thrift shop that this blogger has written about (in fact I'm linking to a post from this week where she found a lamp at the store). It was very cool - and huge (although all I scored this time was a one dollar leather purse) and then another little store in the same town caught my attention. I can't wait to return and do some actual treasure finding. The other store had shutters, cabinets, old stools, chairs, beds - and more. I just had no time to make thoughtful purchases. And no money either come to think of it.

Finally - I'm VERY excited that a friend has asked me to help her with some owl themed bedding for her nursery. She's due in November so we'll get started soon. I love all the owl stuff this season and I'll be posting pictures soon.

So - that's it. My post without pictures. But I'll be back soon with something to show... I just haven't decided what yet.

The Transformation of our little stool

This little stool has been in the family for a long time. I can remember it at my grandparent's house years ago - it was just one of those things that was always there just sitting in the living room, so when she offered it up for grabs... I grabbed it! However, the fabric it was covered with had seen better days and lately the trim started falling off and little upholstery tacks had been coming loose. Luckily, none of these tacks ended up in any little feet around here - but I was afraid it was just a matter of time.

My re-doing of the stool was done with what I had on hand and it is definitely a more casual look, which works with our home. The top is a fabric that I had from some old curtains - and the trim is a pretty little print I bought at the beginning of the summer and hadn't used for anything yet. I like how it turned out - and I didn't even get out the spray paint. I just couldn't paint the little guy - I was afraid it would look too different - and fade the memories I have of it in my grandparent's house.




And because nothing "just sits" around this house - it is placed directly below the chore board so that my son can reach the chalk to mark off his accomplishments. ;)


Check out more cool Transformations at The Shabby Chic Cottage!

An Old Window

I just read Kimm's post at Reinvented and she's talking about decorating with old windows and asking for other ideas. My husband and I first did this several years ago and have changed out the pictures a couple times. I think we bought the window for $10 at a junk shop in my home town in Indiana. We've definitely gotten our money worth and always get compliments on this. It's very simple. After breaking the glass out and cleaning up the window pane - I just added pictures attached in clear frames. I've used floating frames and fishing line before too - for a kind of floating picture feel.

I look forward to our next move because I may do something completely new... or not... I sure do love pictures of my kids around. ;)

A Handmade Baby Gift

My husband's cousin and his wife are having a baby. They registered for a very cute bedding collection Crib Set - which they have received. We don't live near them but will be seeing them this week. After looking through the options online... I was thinking of getting this lamp, which goes with the collection. I love the color combo of this collection. However - that just seemed too easy. You know, to buy something. Or to use their registry. ;)

So, I took this unstained, window pane style mirror and fancied it up to match their Migi Splash collection!

I ended up painting inside the frame on the glass a little to give the white trim a thicker appearance. Then, I used cutout contact paper as stencils for the fish. These were the hardest part - at one point an entire fish pealed off when I went to remove my stencil. Definitely remove tape while the paint is still wet.

The little fishing pole is actually a chopstick painted white with some craft rope as the line. The hook is real. I'll warn the cuz's not to let baby play with this. ;) The rest of the decorating was done with small sponge brushes.

We don't know the sex of the baby yet - but once we find out... I feel a fish-themed onesie of some sort coming on. I'm waiting though - because if it's a girl - she's going to need some pink and a matching bow.

I'm linking up to DIY at Kimba's Blog: A Soft Place to Land. Click the button before this post... or just go here and check out tons of cool projects.

Thrifty Thursday Chalkboards!

This chalkboard was created out of a need for somewhere to start our five year old son tracking and fulfilling his responsibilities around the house. He's been wanting to earn some money for random toys that he would like to purchase - I'm proud of him that he's asking to work for them and not just for us to buy them. So - we've jumped on it and started a "Chores" list. Since it will be constantly changing and evolving a chalkboard will be a good way to jot down chores and let him work on reading and writing skills with us as we check off chores, etc.

Here is my $1.79 tray from the Salvation Army store.

I used chalkboard spray paint and then hand painted a border to match the area where we are hanging it. I will admit... this isn't my greatest masterpiece ever. But, I won't openly critique it. ;) It serves its purpose and it does look cute hanging by our ladder frame. However, I have to devise a new mounting technique. It fell down mid-picture taking!

I also picked up these little plastic plates while I was shopping for my big chalkboard. I think they were $.99 a piece. I made a custom chalkboard for each child to hang on there door knob to their bedroom. This is actually an example of a cute idea... that in practice didn't turn out great. My son's is fine, cute, works, etc. See:

My daughter's (3 years old in 2 days) lasted about 3.5 minutes until she drew ALL over the plate including the WHITE ribbon that I trimmed it with. Duh. Why would I use white ribbon?! Then she SLAMMED her door knocking the chalkboard to the floor and breaking the hanging ribbon in the process. A re-do is in order... grrr. But, live and learn. ;)

Head to Tales from Bloggeritaville for some more great thrift finds!

Linking up to a Trash to Treasure Tuesday at Reinvented also!