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Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Whaaa ha ha ha ha! Yahoo! Yippee! Giggle!


Lookee what I finished!







See my cool Leaf knobs?













And Pulls?














And the WAY groovy mod-podged inner doors!











See how the undercoat comes through in the distressing?











And my cute stuff, fabric, buttons, jars, tins, etc. I get to show off now?













Totally groovy if you ask me!

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Hutch Refinish in Progress...


Remember the Hutch I'm refinishing?
Well here are some sneek peeks, and color adjustments:

This picture shows the FIRST green I tried. (I'm going for ultra cheap on this, I got the hutch for $30, and am using 'oops!' paint I tend to buy every time I see some, from Home Depot. $5 a gallon! Can't beat it!)
This picture doesn't really show the colors well (of course, got to figure out how to use my camera better!), but this green was too bold and bright for what I'm trying to achieve.

So, I grabbed yet another gallon of Oops! paint, and started on the second coat (on the right side). I figure the first coat will look good as an under-coat when I get to the distressing part of the project.

Again, this is an awful portrayal of the actual color. It's really a nice sagey green, not this yellow/gray looking thing.... the first pic is taken w/out a flash...



This pic is taken WITH a flash, but is not much better...









This is probably the best I'm going to get for now, the wall behind is a light creamy yellow, again...not shown so well here.

Gonna have to figure out how to get some actual good color shots!

Anywho, project "Studio/Sewing/Craft Room' is well underway! More to come!

Friday, March 25, 2011

New Pics of my Boys!




I took my boys to PhotoWorks in University Mall (Orem, UT) today! I do have to say, I'm a baaaadddd mom. I haven't had professional photo's taken of the kids since Drew was about 2 months old. Bad Mom!

So these were long overdue, but they are AWESOME! (Don't you love the 'mean boy'? Douglas wanted to look BAD... I think he accomplished it!)

This is a sampling, I got 26 poses in all. The cool thing about PhotoWorks is that when you buy the sitting it includes a CD with all photos and edits they do for you, and YOU OWN THE COPYRIGHT! So you can get re-prints at Costco, Walmart, where ever!

I have some serious redecorating to do!

I'm thinking of Mod-Podging a couple of more thrift store frames for some of these! Will post if/when I'm done!

Monday, March 21, 2011

Mod Podge Frame!



Remember these cool napkins that I scored for $.97?


I played around with Mod Podge for the first time today, and used 1 of the napkins to make a picture frame!


I was told by some (not mentioning any names here...) that the Mod Podge would rip the napkin apart, the paper would become too saturated and easily shred...


I decided to experiment.


The napkin paper DID absorb a lot of the Mod Podge, probably more than paper would, napkins being made to absorb and all....


So the finished effect is textured, not smooth. But I think it looks pretty darn cool!



The bottom corner shows a wrinkle, but I don't think it detracts from the overall effect.


I grabbed the frame this morning at the Salvation Army for $.70 (it was a Pottery Barn frame too!), so this whole project cost me about $1.00, if that!


The frame was a blond wood, and the napkin became a bit transparent when saturated... you can see the yellowish undertone. Works well with the pattern!


Now I just need a new picture of my boys to display in my cool new frame! (coming soon...)

Can't wait to find something else to plaster with these cool napkins!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Weekend projects

I managed to complete a few projects that have been waiting patiently for me to work on them this weekend.

First we have Rainie's animal print coin purse, it is lined with the pink striped print it's sitting on.

Next we have Shellie's doughnut pincushion, the beads are a light green and the stitching is a sage green, kinda hard to see in the pic...

And last, we have one of the pillows from this post that my neighbor gave me, I made a cover out of a sweater she also gave me! The sweater was in great shape, and was a Calvin Klein, but the only time anyone I know is going to wear a big American Flag around would be in July, which is NOT sweater weather. So now I have a cool patriotic pillow for my front room!

Friday, March 18, 2011

Max & Whiskers complete!






I finished my postage stamp quilt today! Isn't it cute? Drew decided to "cheese" for me while taking the photo's.. you can tell who's going to be using this quilt!



See the quilting? I stitched one diagonal through the patterned fabric, and the other through the solid fabric.

Also, check out the binding fabric I found at Joann's, it goes really well with the print! The project called for 3/4 yard for the binding... you can see how much I have left over... I used my new bias tape maker and made 1/2" tape from 2" strips. I'm thinking the pattern was using 2.5" strips...that may be why I have so much left over.




And my cute backing with the 6 leftover squares I had through the middle. I think it turned out awesome!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Max & Whiskers Postage Stamp Quilt




I managed to finish piecing and sewing together my Postage Stamp Quilt! I was originally going to follow along with p.s. i quilt's quilt along, but my neutral jelly roll took a long time to get to me. Oh well, better late than never, right?






I bought the backing last monday, while on a shop hop with my mother and 2 younger sisters. I also have 6 extra blocks left over from the front, I'm going to use them on the back... more to come here as well!

Hutch Before....







I found a hutch to re-finish while waiting for the perfect hutch to show up. This one was only $30 on KSL.com and is very cute. It's well made, solid wood. The lady selling it said she inherited it from her grandmother, but never really wanted it. Well... I think I can do something with it! Stay tuned:












And this is the old hardware that was on it:

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Abode finds!



I've recently discovered a local consignment store called Abode. It's the store where I found the cool old tin bread pan in this post.

I was in Abode's neighborhood today, so of course I had to stop and see!

Good thing I did, because I found some really cool stuff! Clockwise from the two flowered pots:
Pots = $2.50ea
Vintage tin = $8
Vintage Bed linens (fat quarters) = $2 - $2.50ea
Pill box = $8
Vintage butter slicer = $4.50

I've got to say I'm loving consignment/thrift stores lately! I'm finding so many cool things to decorate and organize with!

I REALLY need to find my hutch to refinish and get my sewing/craft room put together!

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Moda Bake Shop Tutorial

Check out this awesome tutorial I found here:

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It was made by Jera from Quilting In The Rain. (Yes another blog to know and love…)

I might try this, but make it into a blanket rather than a rug. I may use my Max & Whiskers jelly roll, along with my Moda Primitive Muslins jelly roll. They are intended for a postage stamp quilt, but with the color value range in each roll, I’ve been stumped on how to make it blend well… this way each strip is a long piece and I can control the variances better!

Maybe... maybe not... I can't decide!

Either way, this is going to have to be attempted soon!

K.. now I have to stop playing on the web and actually sew something!

Friday, March 4, 2011

Seven Years of Plenty

I came across this site last week, Linda Ollson is the author and has recently published a food storage cook book:

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Seven Years of Plenty Cookbook

“Inspired by the limitless variety found in international cooking, Seven Years of Plenty brings together some of the best recipes made with commonly stored ingredients.

In a Pinch

At the end of each chapter is an "In a Pinch" section, containing recipes that can be cooked even when we lose some of the fresh foods we normally use, like eggs or milk. Even when our ingredients are limited, we can take care of our families the way our mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers did.

Planning for the Unexpected

Food security is more than just having food on hand. Familiarity with both preparing and consuming the food you have stored allows your family to feel a sense of stability, even in times of disruption. The planning section of the book includes simple guides for making your own three month plan of meals and translating that plan into the lists of storable ingredients. Having a meal plan tied to your food storage strategy makes being prepared a simple task. Doing so helps you integrate your favorite meals into your plan, as well as your planned meals into your normal lifestyle.

Tried and True

While many of these foods originate in other countries, each has been carefully crafted for preparation in the United States. Whether for ingredient availability, measurement standardization, time economy, or technique simplicity, each recipe has been carefully developed to deliver exotic outcomes from every-day kitchens.”

Sounds like a good book eh? If you’re interested in ordering a copy go here. She is selling them for $14.99/ea.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Boys new bed!

I exchanged the free King size bed I got for Mom and Dad’s double size spare bed.. I dismantled the kids lower bunk bed, moved that mattress up top (which has never had a mattress on it, just a carpet covered board to play on), and created a full sized bottom bed!

Kids new bed, vintage bedspread fabric 001Kids new bed, vintage bedspread fabric 002

I used the lower bed support as a brace for the bedframe, you can see the metal poles against the wall. I just attached it to the top and bottom back legs. The Ikea shelving got stacked, and now pretty much every surface in the room (excluding the ceiling, but including the walls) is utilized:

Kids new bed, vintage bedspread fabric 004Kids new bed, vintage bedspread fabric 005

I think they like it!

Kids new bed, vintage bedspread fabric 007