Hair Bow Holder

Yesterday, the kids had a birthday party to attend. It was at one of those indoor bounce house places. I have to say I was pretty impressed with the place. The kids had a blast, and I enjoyed catching up with all the moms. When trying to figure out what I wanted to give the birthday girl, I was kinda stumped. I didn't want to buy any toys b/c she has tons of toys, and I knew that she would be getting more. I didn't want to sew anything b/c it's just been too sunny, and I didn't want to be stuck in my windowless craft room. So while at Walmart, I ran across some wooden plaques in the craft section. They were super cheap. This one had the most interesting detail, so I picked it. I also bought some ribbon that I thought would match her bedroom.

The letters for her name are stickers. I had those on hand in my scrapping stash. The background is scrapbook paper. I glued the background to the plaque and after it dried, used my Exacto knife to cut off the excess paper.  After applying the letters of her name, I pulled out the ole trusty Mod Podge, and slathered on two coats. After everything was dry, I hot glued the ribbon on to the back of the plaque.

I didn't measure how long the ribbons were, I just kind of guessed at how long they needed to be. I made one for S.R. last year, and I didn't quite get the ribbons long enough. Guess I am going to be making her another one..like this one:o)

I also made her a little hair bow out of the same ribbon. I am usually pretty terrible at making hair bows, but this one actually turned out the way it was supposed to:o) Imagine that:o)

 This project costs less that $5 to make and it was super easy. Just remember THAT when you see those super expensive hair bow holders on Etsy, Ebay, and in Boutique stores:o)

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Fabulous Yard Sale Weekend

I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend. We had some BEAUTIMOUS weather. Perfect for some yard sales. This time of year is so exciting for me b/c everyone starts to remove years of accumulated junk...or what they perceive as junk...my mother refers to them as "treasures." But she doesn't pronounce it that way. It's more like tre-shuuures. Just a little country twang in it:o) Anyway, I live very close to a neighborhood that is VERY affluent. It's where the money makers go to live. They host two major neighborhood yard sale weekends every year. One in the spring and one in the fall. I was so pumped Friday night, that I didn't hardly sleep a wink. My neighbor and I were out the door just before 6:30 to see what treasures were waiting on us. Now she isn't a big shopper, but I buy everything in sight. I haggle till my eye balls are ready to pop out, and try to come home with great deals. My major big purchase was this bench.

It was $50, but I was able to talk the lady down to $40. They used this bench on their back porch to take their shoes off, but I am going to use it on the back side of my breakfast table. Hubs was proud of this purchase. He normally rolls his eyes at everything I bring home b/c he sees another project that will require his attention to detail. Something I don't lack, but don't have as much of:o) He wants to sand it down and stain it the same color as the top of the table. I love that idea:o)

This set of cabinets was $10 for all of them. Solid Cherry...ahthankuverymuch!This cabinet used to be over their kitchen sink. I think we are going to put some legs on this and make it a bench.

There are also 3 "spice" cabinets...not sure what we will do with them??

Here are some dresses I got for S.R. They are so cute. Two of them are smocked and the other two have some sweet embroidery on them. This top one is a Strasburg. I paid $8 for it:o)

The tall lamp I paid $3 for(will go in the living room), and the small one I paid $2 for(S.R.'s room). The shelf is from P.B. It was $8. I am using it as a side table b/c it is so large. Pics to follow soon. The large pic frame was $4.

Mag. rack $2, the ugly pic 25 cents. The flowers were a quarter too.

These little wall shelves were $1.50 ea. Not sure where those are going yet. And the thing with the little cupcake on it is an apron and chef's hat. Too cute to pass up. It still has the tags on it.

I thought this little shelf was so sweet. Very old, and all it needs is some hinges to make it functional. I'm not going to do a thing to the finish b/c it's perfect...perfectly imperfect that is:o)

A Radio Flyer tricycle. The kids were super pumped over this. $12. Now if we can get them to SHARE! 

And of course Buzz. E will not put him down. He LOVES him some Buzz:o) Well I hope that you have enjoyed checking out my finds for the weekend. Hopefully you found some treasures of your own. I would love to hear about them, or shoot me an email with some pics. I love hearing from you guys! Have a great day!!

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Recovered Chair

I bought this chair from a yard sale last summer. I walked past it several times, went to another yard sale next door and came back, and finally decided that I needed to buy it. It was absolutely in shambles! The before picture looks great compared to what it did when I bought it. I paid $5 for it and as soon as I got home with it, the hubs started ripping the fabric off of it b/c he was afraid that something was growing in it:o) It was kinda gross...So here is the before pic...

The reason why I got this chair was b/c it had good bones. The hubs removed the springs b/c those are a bear to try to put back in. He cut a piece of wood down to size to fit the seat bottom. I got a foam seat cushion at Hobby Lobby and I also had some on hand for the back. The fabric came from Hancock Fabrics and it had been majorly discounted. I used Krylon Ivory spray paint and a little Valspar glaze on the arms and legs.

I love the little details on the chair. It's very simple and not too "over-the-top."

The upholstery took around 2 hours to finish. Not too bad for only my second attempt at reupholstering:o)

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There is a major neighborhood yard sale that I am hitting tomorrow. Hoping to post some serious deals on here Monday. Hope you all have a FAN-TAB-U-LOUS weekend! Hugs!!

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Cards "Babies" Can Send

Today is a rainy day. I like a little rain every now and again. We have had some absolutely FAB weather here lately, so I am thankful for a little rain, so that all the things blooming will stay beautiful for a little while longer. Rainy days around here mean getting very little done in the house. I had planned yesterday for today to be a craft day. We started out today making a Thank You note and a We Miss You note for two precious souls at our church. I don't think it's ever too early to show little ones the importance of writing a little note to someone to let them know that you are thankful or that you think they are special. E received a little car from a sweet man on Sunday, and his Sunday school teacher was out for her monthly treatment (which helps her survive). They both deserve cards right now, so we sat down at the coffee table and got to coloring. E is old enough to start writing his letters, so I wrote out the words on blank card stock, and he traced over them with crayon.

S.R. got in on it too and she helped color the "We Miss You" note. She LOVES to color. I think I have a little artist on my hands:o)

 After they were finished coloring their cards, putting stickers on them, and writing out their words, I flipped the cards over and used my "Handmade" stamp, and wrote their names out.

Hopefully there will be a break in the rain so that we can make a trip out to the mail box. This is a big deal to my little ones:o) Later on we will be painting bird houses that I picked up at the $ Tree.

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Mirror Overhaul

Can you believe that the thing hanging over that chair used to be a mirror?:o) I can barely believe it myself! I am in LOVE with this "picture." You might remember that the mirror was in the background of the last post. I bought it at a yard sale for $1. That's right...$1.  This thing weighs a ton! But I got it home with no idea what I was going to do with it. I knew I wanted it to go in the living room, but I already have 2 other large mirrors in there, and people might start thinking we were a little vain with all these mirrors:o) Then the idea hit me that I could paint over the mirror.

The tools I used:

-A very cheap mirror(in it's past life, it was a dresser mirror)

-Black paint

-Ivory Krylon Spray Paint

-Valspar Glaze

-Vintage White acrylic Craft paint

-Tracer(a little contraption that is similar to an overhead projector)

-Pencil

-Roller Brush

-Paint brushes

-Sand Paper

I don't have a step-by-step picture tutorial, but I can kind of tell you how I got the finished product. I taped off the mirror, just around the edges of the frame, and laid paper towels around the rest of the mirror to control some of the over spray from the spray paint. I sprayed two coats on the frame. After it dried, for a few hours, I sanded down the edges to make sure that some of the orange layer that was painted on by the previous owner, and some of the actual wood was showing thru. I wiped it all down with a damp paper towel, and applied the glaze. I was a little nervous with this step b/c I had never attempted it, but I think it turned out just fine.

This is a closeup of the finish on the frame. After I got done with the frame, I rolled out a few coats of black paint on the mirror, using a sponge roller brush. This part was a little tricky, and if I could have removed the mirror I would have. It was stapled in, and it required more effort than I was willing to exert:o) I printed out the little phrase, of which I love b/c it is soooo my humor:o) Used my tracer to blow it up onto the mirror, traced the letters and filled in with the acrylic paint. It was still missing a little something so I added the swirlies and the painted flowers. The hubs was awful proud and he loves it just as much as me:o)

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Yard Sale Finds and New "Artwork" for E's Room

I hope that you all had a fab Easter weekend. We surely did. It was a gaw-jus weekend, except for the massive thunderstorm that interrupted my yard sale Saturday:o) I did catch a few finds before the bottom completely fell out. That enormous mirror was found on Friday for $1. I am in the process of transforming that Beaut. I was very excited about all the space pics. I'll share the "after" of those in a minute.

 Got this sweet little mirror for $1. The silver platter was $2.

This box of zippers was $5. I was particularly happy about this find. I never have zippers, and now I won't have to buy any for the next 2 decades:o)

 These Japanese lanterns I got for $8. Not sure if I will use them, but if I don't I can always sell them on ebay:o)

So, back to the space pics. They came in wooden frames, and they were all different shades of ugly, so to unify them, I spray painted all the frames black. I got 5 pics for $5 and I had the hubs pick the 3 that he thought would look best. He is the rocket scientist in the family, so I thought it was his right to pick them:o)

 So here's the after...

Hubs even picked the arrangement and style of hanging. He said that my way was boring...lining them up in a row. He was probably right, but don't tell him I said so. Don't need that noggin getting any bigger. We have a hard enough time finding hats for him:o)

Now that wall is no longer nekked and E is very happy about his new posters:o) To see the full post on E's room go here.

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Yard Sales

Lovin' me some of this weather, and that means YARD SALES! I am heading out this morning and tomorrow morning. If I come back with some fab deals today, I'll post them this afternoon...if not, I'll see you all back here on Monday. Have a Happy Easter everyone!!!!

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