Not like we need more fun stuff to make, but....

My friend Krystal, needed to come up with a gift for a co-worker. Like the smarty-pants she is, Krystal went looking at that co-workers pinterest boards. She found something that the lady had recently pinned and would be fun to make!  While she was at it, she decided to make more than one for Christmas presentsJ

So this post is not made by me, just written and photographed by me.

Since last years Christmas time project was also inspired from a pinterest image, I thought I'd stick with that theme. The so many great people with great ideas theme...

Since it’s always handy to have more than one reference before doing a project, here’s where the idea came from:

http://babypmakesthree.blogspot.com/2012/03/gumball-machine.html

Keep in mind, the type of candy and style of the ribbon can be changed to suit the current holiday... So this isn't just a Christmas idea!

This project uses: 4" Clay Pots, 5" Clay Saucers, Glass Bowls, Wooden Knobs, Ribbon, & Spray Paint. Oh ya, and some glue. Krystal Used E6000.

Click on Read More:

So many great things get shared

If your're a regular to fb, (which I am, and hate admitting) you no doubt have countless inspirational sayings you come across that you share, but just get buried on your wall.

I have realized that since there is no image folder for the things we share, I could keep track of all these great sayings if I were to save each of them and then post them as though they were mine.  So, ya... I don't.
I have to scroll through my timeline and find them if I want to remind myself of these great images and cool epiphanies someone had and turned into a graphic.

Yes, there is also Pinterest, but that too would mean effort and I just never have time to prioritize fb "images".

Once in a while you come across a gem that speaks to you. This saying spoke to me, and frankly I don't have reason. ~ I just like it!
It says:
"Lighthouses don't go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there and shine."

I chose a font that fit the saying, and I laser printed it on plain old white paper, in a size that looked right. (Lucky for me, the size I guessed was the right size on the sixth try... jk, it took me two goes.) Then instead of having any straight edges, i cut out all the words with curves just like this.

Seeing the Potential

I've said before I can't leave anything alone... and while that's not entirely true, it is for all the cheap things I manage to get my hands on.

Everything in this image was cheap, and 5 of the things are different now than when they started.
Frames painted white, dresser stained with handles painted, lamps painted, decorative circles painted green, and flowers totally altered.

This next pic is kind-of a before pic, although I didn't get all the frames in the shot. I had 8 white empty frames on the wall. Dresser off center because of a heater vent, and this little arrangement in the middle... which I'm quite fond of.

This post is specifically about the flowers...

Booked a Mannequin...

… with Winnie the Pooh.

Wow that really doesn’t make sense, but truly, it’s what I did… I took Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne, and I covered a Mannequin with it. Turned - out - GREAT.

I’ll elaborate.

I’ve got this mannequin; I bought her on ebay for about $35 when I was making jewelry. I needed a way to assemble some necklaces, and then a way to photograph them. She didn’t work so great being black, so I spray painted her top half white. 

Anyway, here she hangs out looking all strange, and I had this idea…. Cover her in text from a book, then decorate her in fancy trims.

Once I finished covering her in the book I decided against the fancy trims since she looked so cool.  Fancy trims will go elsewhere.

Here’s what I did…

Same Chairs Underneath

One of my oldest and best friends is my biggest fan.... Irrespective of a blog, regardless of any outside influences, she tells me that her newly remodelled home "has you in every room". (If that isn't enough to make a girl feel good, I don't know what is....)
We brainstorm together, we talk about what we want to achieve, figure out how it can happen, and then slowly but surely move forward... Sketching out everything that requires figuring out. Talking about it to give ourselves the girl-confidence required to "rip and tear, hoping to repair".

So... This friend; lets call her Trisha, She is nearing the end of a remodel on her home that started with her, a sledge hammer, and no commitment of cooperation from any family members. (this has since changed)
Her style, her dream, her home, is turning out just awesome!! I was there yesterday taking pictures for this post, and wow.... these things take time when you do them yourself, but the end result is beauty and satisfaction that keeps you grinning like a Cheshire cat.

K, back to why I'm here posting....
I did a makeover on a round table, (antiqued it) and shortly after I did, I got another old table that I did a make over on, and ended up not needing the first table. It went up into a spare bedroom until Trisha's make over, and her old black table was no longer what she wanted. Since my round table was going unused, and it was the right size for her space, she took the table but needed chairs to match.

"Where am I going to find 4 matching chairs?" She wondered.
Well, four black NOT matching chairs are available for a make over....
So, she sanded down her old 4 chairs and brought them to me.

So Much Doing It Yourself (on an Emotional level)

The expression Do It Yourself has new meaning to me. I know that sounds silly since I'm someone who always wants to have-a-go at most projects and ideas myself, without a professional's input or much help beyond lifting heavy things.... (cause I'm not buff)  But today, I see DIY differently. A lot has happened.

Where I am in my life right now, I am very much doing it myself.
In March I decided I wanted a divorce. On May 1st the divorce was final, and within a week I was living alone and "doing it myself".  This process of finally deciding to divorce, doing all the papers myself without a lawyer, and the heart wrenching finality of it all has been the hardest and longest thing I've ever had to do... People keep telling me how strong I've been, and frankly, I've never felt weaker and more falling apart. This kind of explains why I haven't managed my measly one post a month on my blog for a while. (I'll get to that)

I don't "put myself out there" any more than necessary, but I am the type of person who likes to help others, and today of all days, after a conversation with someone very close to me, I realized, I think I need to share some of this heartache. Not in the sense that sharing makes the burden easier for me, but in the sense that sharing helps others in a similar situation; to see and feel they are not alone. Surely my discomfort that is paid for, should be available to others for free.

Talking to someone when you feel and think SO very many things, really helps you process what is going on. And if there is any main lesson I learned from all this, it's that I need to help myself understand what I'm feeling.  All these feelings don't have words... they are feelings. And for ME, feelings don't make a whole lot of sense. I NEED what I'm feeling to make sense to my mind, that's how I function, so putting words to feelings for me is vital.

Bedroom Shutters

This image I found online inspired me to make myself half shutters.

This post is long over due. One of the things stopping me from sharing is I have yet to paint the finished product.

I will get there, but this is a lesson in procrastination…. When you MOSTLY finish a project, and the one thing stopping it from being complete doesn’t stop you from USING the project, you sometimes quit.

I quit cause I put it in place, telling myself I would get them painted shortly. I didn’t. I won’t say how many months it’s been, but I am ashamed…. *chin drops*

Another thing that stopped me… I was so keen to finish them, I did a cruddy job at taking photos of the process. (sorry… the good thing on that is, this is a short post.)

It was when put wainscoting

Painting a friend’s room…

...and not painting the walls solid.

It started all because of this printing plate. My cute & thoughtful friend Makenzie and I were in a consignment store and found this cool printing plate. The matt was water damaged, and the frame was rank. But the plate… very cool.

I had intended on sharing the make over of this plate, but it was far too boring; spray painted the frame, bought new double matt, and that was it… too easy.

SO, instead, the project became painting Makenzie’s room so this lovely new plate had somewhere to live.

A Bird on the Wall.

Saved by grace, or in this case, saved by leap year! February got away from me, but I’m still managing a project posted with a date of Feb! (By the skin of my teeth… yes.)

So, I have this white wall… you may have seen my Christmas tree this year, it lived against the blank wall. I have had a few plans for it, but none have panned out.

A few months back I found a canvas on clearance at Hobby Lobby discounted down to $20 because it didn’t have a protective plastic cover.

I’ve been saying I would pull out my artists smock and have a go, but I’ve been too worried I’d ruin it.

Recently I’ve been looking around Pinterest and loving all the Bird things I’ve been seeing… so I made a Board of Birds, and stared at them long enough to feel I had courage.

I’m not a “painter” of paintings, I’m a painter of walls -and the occasional graphic image, so this took some self encouragement.  Go on. Natty…. You can throw up colorful paints in the shape of a bird….. And I mean throw and up as two separate words. Confusing the two would mean failure. I’m not after a bird that looks thrown-up.

The Season for Scarves!

It's like I'm cheating with this project.... and it's really not a project so much as a solution.
When I was looking at giving my closet that make-over last year with shelves and multiple hanging rails, I had seen this closet system in the Ikea catalog:

One of the parts in the catalog I cannot find on their website, but it was the most exciting piece of the system to me...