moving

hey - i moved my stuff to upcyclery.blogspot.com
same stuff - different name. thanks for moving with me.

great giveaway

just love fei fei's stuff at www.feifeistuff.blogspot.com - her 'stuff' is so creative, simple and beautiful. and now she is giving a huge amout of 'stuff' away. check it out!

episode 0007 - come what may...

episode 0007
'come what may...'

evil villain: clutter and lots of it!
hero: canvas and your own imagination

once again we join our hero...
if you've been to my house you know that we call the back room our 'garage' because it is where we dump everything. lately i have been putting everything back there and now it is home to piles and piles of stuff. i have to clear it out. it is nagging at me at all hours of the day and keeping me up at night. i have dreams of it coming to life and consuming my entire house! so, in order to combat this evil i have decided that i must clear out my stuff before i start any new projects! for starters i had this blank canvas just sitting there saying, "paint me! paint me!" so, i did. and here is what i came up with. really, it is nothing original but i wanted to share.

first i painted a base color. silver sage. this color has become popular through restoration hardware. it is one of their signature colors. it's popular with me too and i LUV that store. (just can't afford it. if you want this color in your home, i recommend going to home depot and doing a color match.)

then, on the computer, i made my saying and printed it out. i used the font 'teletype' and used the 'outline' option to save ink. frugal-yes. i scribbled pencil lead (#2 of course) on the back of my paper and then positioned it on the dried canvas. you then trace the letters and it magically transfers on the canvas. (it's like a carbon copy.)
i then painted the letters in with black and orange.
i need to add a little something to the top is what everyone is telling me but not sure what. i am thinking a simple silhouette of birds on a telephone wire or a floral something. (the canvas is about 10" wide and 22" tall)

update: since i scheduled this post i decided what i wanted on the top of the canvas. here it is.so even though i got this out of my 'garage' it is still in my home. soon i will finish and send it to a new home and out of mine. i am on my way to defeating that evil known as 'clutter'.

the story behind this is simple. i have a friend who loves this quote and needed a little pick-me-up. so, i am making this for her. sorry i ruined your surprise! i want her to know that i love her and think that she is an amazing person! life is hard. i am learning that each day as nothing seems easy anymore. everything has it's challenge. but if we focus on loving life, not despite, but, because of it's challenges we will be a happier and more content people. have hope, have faith, come what may, and love it!

episode 0006 - monogram to the rescue

episode 0005
'monogram to the rescue'

evil villian: leftovers
hero: monogram

once again we join our hero...
who really likes leftovers? ok - there are a few things that taste better when they have sat for a day. my husband will tell you that my 7-layer dip tastes better when it has had time for the flavors to 'blend' or my chicken salad when it has 'marinated' with all the goodness overnight - and i will agree. leftovers are also an easy lunch fix. but leftovers never taste as fresh, they take up room in your fridge and they almost always get forgotten and then we've got Neurospora crassa and Aspergillus nidulans growing in a custom made petri dish - yuck! the problem is we feel bad when all the leftovers get thrown out - that is wasteful.

so when i ended up with leftovers from a recent project i needed a solution. i didn't like the idea of throwing the leftovers out and i knew that i could be more conscientious and creative. here is what i came up with. i took a square block of wood, piece of a dowel and a chunk of a candle stick and created what i call a 'monogram stand'. see below.

here are the leftovers:

a square block of wood. painted black (cause that is my favorite accent color), hole drilled in the bottom side (centered and the same size diameter as dowell) and then i stenciled an 'a' on the front. EZ!
piece of a dowel. about 20" and painted black. i love spray paint! double EZ! and last, the chunk of candle stick. again, painted black and a hole drilled in top the same diameter as dowel. now all i have to do is assemble and...

here it is in my home.

didn't cost me a thing. gotta love that! ahhh, i love leftovers!

episode 0005
'cheese tray upcycle'

evil villain: craft itch
hero: cheese tray

again we join our hero:
i've seen these around an thought i would create one for myself. first i took some candle sticks that i had that were just taking up space. i also bought some old cheese trays. you can find these at thrift stores and they run about $5. however, if you go when they have their 50% off sales (saturdays) they are around $2-3! yippee! i had the spray paint just laying around and it was keeping company with some random screws. so that is about it.

first i cut the candlesticks up into 5 pieces. you can determine how many and where based on what you like. (don't let me keep you from doing it how you want - make it yours) i wanted 3 trays (one with 2 levels). i then drilled holes in the tops of the candlestick pieces and through the center of the cheese trays.
with a little messing around i figured out what tray to place on which candlestick and screwed them together.after a little spray paint (2-3 coats) and a little drying time, they looked perfect. i can either add the glass domes or not. the whole project cost me around $12. i've seen these things go for close to $80 a piece! who would pay that?
i still have to figure out what i want to put inside - christmas ornaments, pine cones, lemons, etc. got any suggestions? here i put dumb-dumbs because they were fun and brightly colored.
here is the group. the other day i took off the domes and placed cupcakes on them - it was super cute!wondering about the 'a'? - join us next week when our hero fights her greatest nemesis, leftovers!

episode 0004 - gone awol

episode 0004
'gone awol'

evil villan: bland kitchen
hero: the power-packed dou - 'monogram' and 'vintage colander'

i've gone awol, no, i am not absent - but it seems like it. my goal was to have at least 1 post per week and i am already failing! but who's really paying attention to this blog but me anyway.

i just wanted to share a really thrifty way to add some flare to your home. i love monogram - monogram, monogram and more monogram. so to show off my love affair with monogram i decided to hang a few on my wall - that's where we get the 'awol' or 'A-wall'. ha ha - you're not laughing?

well, you might be thinking that this is way too much, but i love it! each letter was about $1. i painted them or modge-podged on scrapbook paper. the total cost was under $5. not too bad. and the best part about doing it myself is being able to personalize it! see below. if you decide to create this yourself - send me a pic of your very own A-wall or B-wall or C-wall or D-wall...

also, for the whole 'thrifty to nifty' i found these little beauties. they were a little more than i would have liked to spend. about $10 for the two. the problem with thrift stores is that you never know if you'll see something there again so you've got to buy it if you really want it. i got the red and the yellow, now all i need is the green and i've got my very own 'colander stop light'. i love these bright and glossy enamel colanders. they add a great splash of color to my bland kitchen. with a touch of vintage. very fun.

side note. i am seriously thinking about changing my blog to 'upcyclery'. why? well that is really what i am passionate about. i love the idea of taking something that can be almost useless to something more and something different. i just want some opinions on the matter. i have already created the blog so it's just a matter of creating a link and getting the word out. let me know.

episode 0003 - baby room art

once again we join our hero...

evil villain: a blank wall
hero: iron-on transfers

here is my latest project. a blank wall in a room can be a huge nemesis. even worse is the cost of art work to put on that wall. it can be daunting. so i am here to save the day. lately i have been trying my hand at various ways to create art work for my girls' room. here is one attempt i created for my sister... well, its not from a thrift store, but it is just a fun and clever idea. (no, i can't take full credit.) i created some images on the computer for my baby sister's baby's room (blah!). (i am addicted to photo shop.) i wanted to have them on a canvas and tried many different ways to accomplish this (various image transfer techniques). i was about to call it quits when, shazam!, i got a brainstorm. i used a fabric iron-on transfer and put it on a canvas. the images were not as crisp as i would have wanted, so, i distressed them a little. they actually turned out great. i can't wait to surprise my baby sister with this cute and modern art for her baby's space. this is my new baby gift idea. (if your looking for a unique idea for a gift and need someone to 'create' some fun art - drop a comment. we can work something out. (sorry for the solicitation but i have to support this addiction somehow or my husband will go crazy, me too, just in a different way.))