Deck the Halls!!!

Ahhhhhhh...its the most wonderful time of the year! I love Christmas...and this year has really been perfect so far...shopping done early, everything decorated...cards made and sent...presents wrapped and under the tree...and all the baking is done.  Its wonderful to have such a relaxed December...being off work has afforded me the pleasure of getting everything done without any stress or time constraints. Just wanted to share my decore for the holidays!

Below is my little village...hubby got most of them on sale on Black Friday many years ago, and since then, we have found a couple at yard sales, and some damaged ones cheap, that of course, were easily fixed.

 This is my "junky" centerpiece. We bought the box (along with about 10 others) from a local guy who had been collecting them for years and finally decided to get rid of them all. Its long and skinny, and even though dh didn't like the box when he first saw it, he now says he's glad "he" bought it, as it fits our long dining room table so well. The apothecary jars...one on the left purchased at St Vincent de Paul for $3.00, the middle one is actually a trifle dish and the last one dh bought at a yard sale. Greenery was cut from some local trees that had been taken down and left in a pile to be removed.

 Dave's parents bought us this nativity set many years ago, and I love how it fits so well in my kitchen window.

 Ahhhhhh...my fireplace. Always wanted a fireplace just so I could decorate it for Christmas...dh put an old barn board on top for some extra width and I kinda like it there. The jars were all made from dollar store glassware...jars and upside down dessert or candle holder...I'm just too cheap to pay for actual apothecary jars.

 Made new stockings this year...had some fabric left over from my new tree skirt, so I thought I might as well make stockings to co-ordinate with my color scheme

 And finally my tree, all fancied up with its new skirt...my colors are chocolate, green and cream...with a large focus on birds. I love it...it makes me happy :)

 Merry Christmas everyone!!!!!!

Ruffled Tree Skirt

I saw this ruffled tree skirt a few years ago, and fell in love, but I had just made a new tree skirt to match my new Christmas color scheme...which is green, chocolate and cream. So....then we decide to move...and our new home has higher ceilings than our last house....and my tree looks a little dwarfed. I know, I should just buy a new tree, but I can't seem to find one that is not pre-lit...and really...hundreds of dollars for 1 more foot of height, seems silly. I have a really good quality tree now, so the plan is to put the tree on a box...stay with me now...I'm getting to the point...my tree skirt however, is not large enough to cover the box and down onto the floor....so...yay...I get to make the tree skirt I wanted...the ruffled tree skirt.  I already had some cream linen, I think it was an old tablecloth...and I've never used it, so time to repurpose it. I headed to the fabric store for some chocolate fabric...lucky for me, they were having a sale, buy 1 meter get 2 free. So for 14.00 I walked away with 3 meters of chocolate brown fabric. Do not underestimate how much you need...I didn't use all the fabric I bought, but had enough to make 4 new stockings as well, but thats it.

Started out with a pattern...I used some wrapping paper to cut the shape, or half the shape of the skirt, and although I didn't take a pic...I did cut half a hole in the middle of the long straight edge, which will go around the tree trunk. Size will be determined by what you need...I measured with the box and tree stand, and I needed more than four, not quite 5' in diameter...so I think I settled on 56"

 I used an old sheet for the base...I mean, what are you going to do with a sheet that doesn't match your bedroom decor anyway???

 Then I cut the linen and the chocolate...3" strips...the longer the better. I also decided to zig zag what would be the exposed edge of each strip. I was concerned about fraying over time, so I figured I might as well take care of that issue.

 Starting on the outermost edge, I began hot gluing the strips (after running to the store to purchase a new hot glue gun, as my 20 year old one decided it didn't have another project in it), pinching as I went along. Only a couple of burns...after which I usually exclaim "HOT glue"

 When I came to the end of a strip, but not the end of the row, I put some glue down on the previous strip edge, and put the next strip right side to right side of strip already down and glued...so it looks like another pinch

Stay tuned for a finished product picture on the weekend, when I set up my tree with the new skirt and the new matching stockings.

 Here, as promised, is the finished tree skirt under the tree...I am very happy with the finished product.

Rag Rug - No Sew

Hello, hello...I am so excited to share this project today. Ever since I found Pinterest, I have been wanting to make this project...the Rag Rug, or some posts call them T-Shirt Rugs...I wanted a little one for my main floor 2 piece bath, which has really cold floors in the winter. I had been looking for some rug hooking material all summer, and then last week had a brainstorm after purchasing some anti-slip material for some other rugs...I thought to myself, "well, that looks just like rug hook material" I purchased it at the dollar store and still had a large enough piece to work with. So, my intention was to do a large band of white with the rest being chocolate. I proceeded to mark out the band where the white would go with a marker right on the grip mat. As you can see, the middle would be chocolate, and the outside edge right to the end of the grip mat and the "framed" part would all be white...that WAS the plan...

 I had an old white t-shirt I purchased at a thrift store for the project...and began to cut it up...strips about 3/4" wide x 3" long...lots of cutting...used every bit of the shirt up, the body, and the sleeves

 I had seen on another post, to pull the strips so they curl, but I don't think it is necessary, as they end up looking more like tubes instead of fabric scraps...but I had already done it...so ya gotta stay flexible when crafting.

 I began by doing every "stitch" along the inner line with the white, and I tied each one as I went, cause I figured I will want to wash it and I didn't want it to come apart. It became very clear at this point, what I thought was a huge amount of white strips was not going to go very far...so being flexible again, I opted for the one row of white as shown.

 For the chocolate, I purchased some knit fabric at a local fabric store...I was able to match my ceiling color exactly...yes, yes, my ceiling is chocolate brown. The store had a sale, buy 1 meter get 2 free...so for $8.00 I got 3 meters (1m = 39" for you Americans) Plenty of fabric and figuring I would have some left over for something else....NOT!!! LOL

 You don't have to be particularly careful when cutting the strips, they don't have to be exact, as you can see mine above are not even, you won't even notice once they are on the rug. Then the time consuming part came...all the chocolate knots...now I did every other stitch (I kinda treated the grip mat like cross stitch material) with the chocolate...so I would work row by row...and do alternating stitches...kind of like laying bricks...hope that makes sense. I was plenty thick enough doing every other one.

 At the end of 4 days of tying single knots...not sure how many, but thinking about 2000...I had sore fingers, but it was done. I got the bright idea to "bind" the edge with a long strip of the chocolate, and threaded it in a large needle and as shown in the picture, went through 3 holes all the way around...

 Almost done...just trimmed the excess grip mat...now, in hindsite, I wouldn't have chosen to bind the edge as when you trim it, you end up seeing a strip of the grip mat, which I'm not thrilled about, but binding was a lot of work and I didn't want to take it all apart...so it is what it is...I think if you just leave it and trim to the last row of knotted pieces, you wouldn't see the edge at all...but, oh well, live and learn. Below is the finished rug in my little bathroom...it's perfect...I love how it turned out, even if it wasn't completely the way I intended...thats why you have to be flexible when crafting, roll with the punches...now I can rest my sore and stiff fingers...before starting my next project...the ruffled tree skirt!

Give Thanks!

Made this little Thanksgiving display for my front porch. Yes, us Canucks celebrate Thanksgiving earlier than you Americans...this weekend is the big turkey day for us...and our family certainly has a lot to be thankful for this year. Dave had triple by-pass this summer, and we didn't even know there was a problem...so we are thankful that he did not have a heart attack...from the time he had his stress test to surgery to recovery to home was only 15 days...which we are very thankful for...he didn't have to wait months and months for this, cause he would have kept working and who knows what could have happened. We are also thankful that he recovered so well and is doing amazing now...he is back to work and life has returned to normal again. The thing I am most thankful for is the amazing faithfulness of our Lord Jesus...I could not have done this summer without Him and He continually intervened and got us through. Thankful for our amazing friends who prayed and believed with us for DAve's complete recovery...it has been a challenging summer, but we are on the other side, and I for one, am very thankful!!!

Jewellery/Light Filtering Shutter Display

 So this is my little project. I woke up this morning staring into our master bath, thinking, why have I not covered that window...that morning light is too bright. Then in a whirlwind of a moment, it all came to me..."I could put those old shutter in the window ledge, and THEN I could hang all my jewellery on them...pretty and functional. Mhmmmmmmmm."

The shutters came from a yard sale a couple years ago, 50 cents a piece for 4 of them. Darn good price I'd say. Two I had repurposed as part of a headboard, but still had two left, just begging to be used somewhere in the house. I went a got some satin finish espresso spray paint, and went to work

 Here they are all pretty and painted up

 Oh yeah baby....awesome...love love love. I can see all my jewellery at once. I had hubby drill and install some small silver hooks for things like rings and bracelets and necklaces. I also made some cork pads at the bottom, covered them in fabric, and can stick all my stud earrings in them. I love this...and so quick and simple to put together

 Bonus...tomorrow when I wake up the morning sunshine won't be quite as bright...and...another bonus, is even though hubby insists no one can see in that window, cause its that rippled glass, now I know for sure they can't. LOL...he just rolled his eyes at me...

A Little Birdie Told Me...

Gotta love yard sales! Dh and I go every weekend, only for an hour or so, but we have so much fun and find so many cool things. This past weekend I nabbed this birdcage...it was early, and the stuff was out on the table, but the house was closed up, so I just left the moolah on the table, hope they got it.

So here is the little beauty after I stripped it of its somewhat tacky flowers...

 And with a coat or two of Heirloom White Spray paint...which, btw...dh and ds insist is just white, but you and I know its totally not...lol

 So here we are all prettied up and sitting on my dining room table. I made a wood base for it out of some old cheese box wood I got at a guys house. I stenciled the scripture "I am the Bread of Life, all that come to me shall not hunger", and put some felty-protect-my-table-from-getting-scratched thingys on the bottom

 

As always, thanks for looking!!!

Laundry Room Decor

Ok...let's just say I don't have the prettiest laundry room...I'm pretty sure it will never be featured in Better Homes & Gardens...but...I have done my best to pretty it up.  It is in the basement of our 120 year old home, and the walls are uneven, painted, poured concrete...its that old adage about making lemonade...you have to work with what you have.

Below is a cute little sign that hangs by the dryer...saw it on Pinterest and knew it was perfect, and more functional than the lone socks sitting in a pile in a basket that no one goes through. Hoping the array of strays disappears once everyone sees them.

 This is in the corner, dryer on one wall, then laundry tub and washer on other wall. All the pipes are exposed, so when I painted the room...I just painted them too, to at least make them less obvious. Also saw the fabric wrapped ladder on Pinterest, they did it with a flag, but I just took some excess fabric and raffia and did the same thing. Found some extra decor items and voila...I think I like it...:P

 This sign I made...or rather re-made! It was a "Family" sign we bought at Hobby Lobby and got ruined in our move last year.  Only the paper top of it was destroyed, not the wood it was on, so I painstakingly punched all the squares out of paint chips ( our local paint store had a whole box they were getting rid of ) took me for----ever to punch them all out. The colors were chosen for my bathroom, but then I didn't end up using it there...so it sat...until yesterday. I mod podged all the squares on, and then took a brown ink pad and inked all over the top to soften some of the colors and give it a more uniform appearance. Cut out the letters with my cricut and mod podged them on top. It works as the adjacent room is my sewing room and it is tealish in color. The bottle is just a dollar store bottle I glued twine to, and some pine cones to finish off the display. Im thinking I need some greenery along the shelf yet, but Im not sure

Thanks for stopping in today and seeing my latest projects...thats what happens when you get out of bed and go on pinterest...I decided rather than pinning more projects, I would make some of the ones I already pinned...yay, I love completed projects!!!

My Stamp Shelf

So a couple years ago, I was beginning to accumulate quite a few wood stamps, and needed a place to store them. I was praying one day, and clearly sensed God challenging me to ask Him for it? What?? How could this be?? Certainly there are so many more things in the world God needed to do than find me a shelf for my stamps. Well, learning from experience...I decided to take Him up on the challenge and I asked Him for one. Several weeks went by and nothing...I even considered just asking a woodworking friend to build me one. Then one Saturday morning, hubby and I were out yard saleing..and we were driving up to a sale, and there is was...laying on the ground...I had no idea what it even was prior, but there lay my stamp shelf, I could hardly wait to get out of the car...It had a whopping price tag of $2, I was almost in tears...do you know what its like to have the God of all creation answer your prayer? To care that much about every detail of your life? I know now that it was not about the shelf...it was about God showing me His faithfulness, even in the small things, and it built my faith in a huge way. Everytime I glance at that shelf, hanging on the wall in my craft room, I remember that God loves me and wants to give me the desire of my heart. I attached a photo of the shelf, full of stamps, and following a spray paint and glue job to make it look new. I hope you know God wants to do the same for you...you need only to ask and believe!!!

Antiques

Made this little sign up last night out of some wood I purchased at a yard sale. It apparently is wood that was/is used to make cheese boxes...great little planks for projects...so we bought a bunch of them. This one I painted with some leftover cream paint, and then wiped it off before it dried...then used a little black and brown paint around the edges to achieve that old, worn look. Then I created a stencil with my cricut and sure cuts a lot, just out of cardstock, and sponged over. Once dry, I took a sanding block to it to age it some more, drilled holes (getting good at that) and made a jute hanger. It hangs on a chest on our deck we picked up at a yard sale.

Yard Sale Chair Makeover

Ok, so I bought this nifty little chair at a yard sale for $10 two summers ago...wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with it, or where I wanted to put it, but after revamping my sewing room, I decided it had a home in there. Here is the chair almost as I bought it...I usually forget to take a before picture until after I have started the project...so actually hubby had already spray painted the wood flat black for me...cute chair huh???

 I grabbed an old Home Arts magazine I picked up at a local antique dealer a while back and started cutting out the ads and articles from it. It is from 1936 ...you should read some of these, totally hilarious...anyway...grabbed the mod podge too

 As you can see the chair back had some damage and mod podging over would totally take care of it

 Happily mod podging away...one layer at a time..make sure to let each layer dry 15 min before putting another on...especially if you don't want wrinkles

 Tada...here is the finished chair...love the way it turned out...fun and unique!

 Thanks for looking!!!