May Mantel

Boy these months are sure flying by, especially when you are on a mantel redo deadline.

So, let's just cut to the chase. This mantel actually came together just this past weekend. I had pictured in my head all month to do May's mantel with some sort of picture banner and birdhouses. Well, I never could find anything I wanted to make the birdhouse craft out of. So plan B was burlap. I've been really liking burlap a lot lately and thought I would make a burlap banner with a nest theme (being that it's Mother's Day month and all).

So first, I got 1 yard of brown burlap at our Walmart for just under $3. They had a pretty light green moss burlap too, but I stuck with the brown. Then I got a humongoid size roll of freezer paper for just under $6. I really didn't want to buy that big a role but now if I come into a lot of meat to freeze I'll be ready!

First, I cut 4 even triangles out of the burlap for my word (nest). Then I cut out a stencil using the freezer paper and my cricut (saw that handy dandy little tip online somewhere, sorry, don't remember!).

Cut out your stencil so that the shiny side of the freezer paper is face down. That's the part that will stick to your fabric when you iron your stencil to it. So, then, iron your stencil to your fabric.

Then take acrylic craft paint and dab it over the stencil. I actually didn't have a stencil brush so just used a cheapy foam brush and it worked perfectly.

Let dry (luckily it dries pretty fast because I am Ms. Impatient) and peel off stencil.

And voila! I was giddy excited at how super easy and fun this was. Banners for everyone!

Since I didn't want to sew or glue my banner triangles onto the hemp cord, I just used clothespins. I liked it, but then thought I would like it more if I painted the clothespins Oil Rubbed Bronze. Oh yeah.

What do you think, regular clothespins or oil rubbed bronze clothespins? I went with the ORB.

Then I got kind of cute-sie and decided to put the word "our" on top of the "nest" so back to stenciling on the burlap.

Did I mention how much fun that is to do? And easy? Try it!

Then I put the fabric around Mason jars and added little rocks, water and wild ferns that grow all around here. I will eventually add wildflowers as they start to bloom.

The mantel in its entirety:

There you have it. May's mantel.



Until next time,

Linking up to these fun & fabulous linky parties:
Freckled Laundry

Music Paper Eggs

Here's a secret.

I don't like plastic eggs.

Whew. Glad that's off my chest.

Last year I tried painting them, like, the day before Easter. It wasn't pretty.

Was. Not. Pretty.

Have I mentioned how I don't like to prime anything first? Anyway, if you want to know what happens to a plastic egg when you paint it with craft paint and don't prime it first, well then, I'm your go to gal.

So this year, giving myself PLENTY of time before the big floppy-earred guy arrives, I pulled out my son's stash of plastic eggs.

Then I pulled out a recent thrift store find of a music hymnal.

Then I got my Modge Podge.

And went to work:

My friends. This is a messy craft. Messy. It also requires patience. I don't like messy and having to be patient. But I persevered. You can cut the paper in strips, squares, circles, whatever you want. I cut my paper in maybe 1 1/2" squares. Some smaller, some larger. You really don't have to be precise. I painted some Modge Podge on a section of the egg, then painted it on the back of the paper strip, then I put the paper on the egg and smoothed it down (with my fingers) and  then Modge Podged over that. The thinner your paper, the easier. Mine was probably copy paper thickness.

Project words of wisdom:

• Forget about having a smooth egg. Wrinkles are in.
• You will get Modge Podge all over your hands (and under your nails).
• Don't answer the phone with Modge Podge on your hands. Just sayin'.
• Eggs roll.
• Perhaps use an egg carton to set them on while drying. But don't let any glue touch the egg carton or they'll stick to it.
• I actually didn't use an egg carton, so they dried (and rolled) all over my table.
• Don't let anyone fool you. This is not "just a two hour project."
• Did I mention the patience and mess part? Okay.
• The finished project is SO worth it!

See?

After they dried, I just tied some jute around them. Aren't they awesome?

Seriously. If I was a hen, I'd sit on these.

I actually want to make more. I think I like plastic eggs now.

(Did I just say that?)

Until next time,

Linking to these fabulous and fun linky parties:

• The Shabby Chic Cottage
• Beyond the Picket Fence
• Chic on a Shoestring
• Fingerprints on the Fridge
• The Shabby Nest
• Tatertots and Jello
• Funky Junk Interiors
• C.R.A.F.T.
• Between Naps on the Porch
• Super Stinky Boys

Thrift Store Lamp Makeover

Pottery Barn does it again darn it! I don't know why I get that catalog. It's a love/hate relationship. I love looking through it getting loads of inspiration, then get sticker shock looking at the prices.

For example. Finials. I love old finials. Love them. Do I have any? No. Does Pottery Barn have any? Yes!

Let's drool for a little bit shall we? All images courtesy of Pottery Barn.

Decorative Finials:

Lamp Finials:

Even a Coat Tree Finial:

Aren't they droolworthy? I thought so too, but I just can't justify the cost (unless I win the lottery of course).

So, I've been on the lookout for months for something to make my own finials out of. I've been stalking our local thrift stores for candle sticks or bed posts or fence posts or lamps or something.

Then one day it happened. I was walking around one of our local thrift stores and lo and behold I spotted this beauty for $1.50:

I should have taken a picture of it at the thrift store, but there were several people hanging around and I didn't want to waste any time in grabbing it. I mean, $1.50??  I grabbed and ran buddy. Grabbed. And. Ran. All's fair in thrifting.

I knew I didn't want to turn it into a finial lamp, though that would have been awesome too. Imagine my delight when I took it apart and found it was actually TWO pieces! Awesome went to awesomeR!

My friends, there are many tutorials in blog land on how to distress things. You can prime and plaster, paint and sand, etc. etc. These are ceramic, so all I did was take my trusty can of flat white interior paint and sloppy paint them. Sorry the pic is a tad blurry, I was just excited.

*Note, hammer was not needed for this project.

After they dried, I sanded some of the paint off here and there and voila! My finials! Aren't they pretty?

So, Pottery Barn finials for appromately $120 for both:

My finials, final cost $1.50 for both (already had the paint):

Here they are in their current spot on my mantel:

Next I'm looking forward to incorporating some green in there! C'mon spring!

Until next time,

Linking to these fabulous linky parties:

• Under the Table and Dreaming - Sunday Showcase
• C.R.A.F.T.
• Between Naps on the Porch
• Coastal Charm
• My Backyard Eden
• Faded Charm Cottage
• A Beach Cottage
• Savvy Southern Style
• Elements Interiors
• Fingerprints on the Fridge

The Unveiling of the March Mantel!

Wow, can you believe March is here? February just seemed to fly by, probably because I was busy working on the March mantel which turned into a TOTAL redo!

First, I need to give credit where credit is due, I was so totally inspired by Donna's mantel gate over at Funky Junk Interiors. If you haven't seen it, quick, click this link because her gate is awesome!

Donna at Funky Junk Interiors Awesome Mantel Gate

Did you see hers? And you came back here? I'm honored, because usually I get lost over at her website and forget what I was doing.

Anyway, so all I had to say to my husband were those two sweet little words to get him to help me build a gate. Those sweet little words were "Power Tools."

Let's get this show on the road.  First we took an old pallet we got for free and put it on the back of the truck and began dismantling it:

That's our border collie mix, Gulliver. He wanted to help.

I decided I wanted my gate slats spaced apart and not butted together because I wanted more of an open, airy garden gate, so we spaced them evenly and added the cross bars of the "Z."

Yup, Gulliver is still there. I kept wondering why he was hanging around then saw the dog treat bag up in the truck. Oops!

After we spaced the slats so carefully, I realized we had to flip the whole thing over because I wanted to drill the screws in from the back so you wouldn't see them. Ah well.

After the top and bottom parts were screwed together, we added the middle cross bar.

Okay, confession time, after I took the above picture (by the way, that's hubby's arm), we realized the gate was too tall for above our mantel, so had to disassemble, cut off some more of the length and reassemble again. Measure twice, cut once anyone? Maybe next time.

Then I sloppy painted it with flat white paint. I wanted some of the natural wood showing through so didn't put too many coats of paint on.

After that I sanded the gate in spots to make it look more worn. Especially the upper right "grab to open" area.

See? Doesn't it look like we've been grabbing that corner of the gate for years to open it? After I was done sanding I added some gate hinges on the left side of the gate.

Time for the reveal! I found some barbed wire in my husbands shop area and took a metal star I've had for a while and decorated the front of the gate.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!

For the rest of the mantel, I added a few pieces from my white enamelware collection and also some homemade finials I made (tutorial on those later this month).

Of course, I needed to work a bird in there, so a nest with a small ceramic bird sits on top of one of my enamelware buckets.

Homemade finials with a cow that was given to me by a friend a few years ago.

Now the mantel in its entirety:

My picture this month is just a silly shot of the 3 of us that I had printed in sepia.

Now the best part, my total cost this month was $14.50!

$3.00 for the flowers (1/2 price coupon at Dollar General), $5 for the gate hardware, $5 for the white paint and $1.50 for what I made the finials out of. Woo hoo! Under budget! Everything else I already had.

Thanks for looking!

Until next time,

3/7/11 update. Just found out that Linda over at Coastal Charm featured my mantel gate.  Wow! Thanks, Linda!

Linking to these fun and fabulous linky parties:

• Coastal Charm
• Krafty Kat
• The Stories of A2Z
• Faded Charm Cottage
• The Shappy Chic Cottage
• Beyond the Picket Fence - Under $100
• Chic on a Shoestring
• Funky Junk Interiors - Saturday Night Special
• Tatertots and Jello - Weekend Wrap Party
• DIY Home Sweet Home Project
• C.R.A.F.T.
• Fingerprints on the Fridge

Candle Holder turned Hurricane Lantern

Hi blogland friends!

I've been wanting to make a homemade hurricane lantern for quite some time.  I've had these candle holders (below, only one pictured, I have two) for about, hmmm, 15 years. They were given to me for free by someone who was redecorating and didn't want them (excuse the glass vase that wandered into the picture). Yes, our outlet is upside down. No, we didn't purposely do that, the person who lived here before us decided it would be fun to make ALL the outlets upside down. Um. Yeah.

 The candle holders are kind of fancy schmancy and never really fit in anywhere in my house so have been living up in the attic. Poor things. Well, plus, our local funeral home has the Same. Exact. Ones. Yikes. So... time for a revamp!

I've been wanting a hurricane lantern and have seen tutorials on them all around blogland, so decided to make my own. First I got out tools and took apart the candle holder. I really only wanted to use the bottom third of it.

Lots of fun pieces now!

I selected the pieces I wanted to use and spray painted them. Oil. Rubbed. Bronze.

Are you surprised? I'm so predictable. I'm surprised my blog isn't called "Shades of Brown" or something like that. Hey, I like that title! Hmmmmmm. Okay where were we? Oh yes, painting. Here's the picture.

Ohhh purdy!

Then I went and pulled out a bunch of different glass vases I had from various occassions and selected one and started epoxying. First, I had to glue the round flat piece to the vase:

I decided to flip it over and put a book on top for better drying.

Dry, dry, dry.

Time to glue the second piece.

 

The wa ai ting is the hardest part! Dry time that is.

But here it is finished! Yay! This is it decorated for my February mantel. But I will be able to use it in so many different places throughout the house. I'm charged!

Another pic.

Another angle.

So there you go!

From this:

To this:

My new hurricane lamp. Yay! Thanks for looking.

Until next time,

Linking to these parties:

Coastal Charm, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, All Thingz Related, My Backyard Eden