Glittered Dove Ornament

Welcome to Day 6 of the 12 Days of Holiday

Inspiration Blog Event brought to you by 

"The Inspiration Crew". 

We’re just a group of online crafty

blog friends who love being creative. 

This time we're doing a 12-day event to provide you with 

tons of

Holiday Inspiration.

We're making crafty projects using products we like

and some of us are even offering prizes. 

Check each blog and the information there for what prizes are

being offered and when the 

winners will be announced

on that blog.

At the bottom of this post is a list of all the crafty

ladies participating in this event. Be sure to visit all the

blogs each day for loads of fun Holiday craft ideas.

 Dressing up die cuts with glitter is one of the easiest things you can do to make a new ornament for your tree.

It's coming along nicely. Only six more days to go. I might be making some cards by the end of this 12 days ;)

Have a super fun weekend.

Stay crafty and check out these other blogs for more inspiration.

Donna Bowman

Rachel Kleinman

Ceal Pritchett

Ardyth Percy-Robb

Jennifer Cuthbertson

Lynn Kopas

Misty Buck

Folded Paper Cone Ornament

Welcome to Day 5 of the 12 Days of Holiday

Inspiration Blog Event brought to you by 

"The Inspiration Crew". 

We’re just a group of online crafty

blog friends who love being creative. 

This time we're doing a 12-day event to provide you with 

tons of

Holiday Inspiration.

We're making crafty projects using products we like

and some of us are even offering prizes. 

Check each blog and the information there for what prizes are

being offered and when the 

winners will be announced

on that blog.

At the bottom of this post is a list of all the crafty

ladies participating in this event. Be sure to visit all the

blogs each day for loads of fun Holiday craft ideas.

I began by cutting 2.5" squares from book pages. I then wrapped and glued them into cones. I inked the edges and then layered them into each other and gluing them together as I slipped them into one another. I punched a few daisy shapes from glitter paper and layered them. Added an adhesive pearl and glued it to the front of the cone.

I added glue to the interior of the cone and then dipped it into sugaring glitter. It's nice and chunky. 

Finally, I punched a hole and added some twine to hang the ornament. You could easily make these in short order. The most difficult part is turning the paper into cones. :)

Stay crafty and check out these other blogs for more inspiration.

Donna Bowman

Rachel Kleinman

Ceal Pritchett

Ardyth Percy-Robb

Jennifer Cuthbertson

Lynn Kopas

Misty Buck

Doily Snowflake Sticker Ornament

Welcome to Day 4 of the 12 Days of Holiday

Inspiration Blog Event brought to you by 

"The Inspiration Crew". 

We’re just a group of online crafty

blog friends who love being creative. 

This time we're doing a 12-day event to provide you with 

tons of

Holiday Inspiration.

We're making crafty projects using products we like

and some of us are even offering prizes. 

Check each blog and the information there for what prizes are

being offered and when the 

winners will be announced

on that blog.

At the bottom of this post is a list of all the crafty

ladies participating in this event. Be sure to visit all the

blogs each day for loads of fun Holiday craft ideas.

Today I put together another doily ornament with a sticker sheet set that I believe I purchased at Dollar Tree. I loved the look of the snowflakes. 

As you'll also notice I finally dug my mini tree out of storage and got it a bit more decorated.

So all of my new ornaments have a home here.

Just goes to show that you can create ornaments from things that you have on hand. This doily is from Michael's. It came in a two tone pack. Hey, maybe I'll use the other color to make just one more doily ornament...we'll see. :)

Stay crafty and check out these other blogs for more inspiration.

Donna Bowman

Rachel Kleinman

Ceal Pritchett

Ardyth Percy-Robb

Jennifer Cuthbertson

Lynn Kopas

Misty Buck

Woven Paper Snowflake Ornament

Welcome to Day 3 of the 12 Days of Holiday

Inspiration Blog Event brought to you by 

"The Inspiration Crew". 

We’re just a group of online crafty

blog friends who love being creative. 

This time we're doing a 12-day event to provide you with 

tons of

Holiday Inspiration.

We're making crafty projects using products we like

and some of us are even offering prizes. 

Check each blog and the information there for what prizes are

being offered and when the 

winners will be announced

on that blog.

At the bottom of this post is a list of all the crafty

ladies participating in this event. Be sure to visit all the

blogs each day for loads of fun Holiday craft ideas.

 I used Kraft colored cardstock for this ornament. I cut the strips at a little less than 1/4" wide by 6" long. You need twelve strips. I followed this "Homemade Gifts" tutorial for putting it together.

It looks very intricate but only took a bit of time to put together. Waiting for the glue to set up took the longest time of anything. :)

Give it a try. I'd love to see how your's come out.

Thanks for stopping by and stay crafty.

Check out the blogs below for more inspiration.

Donna Bowman

Rachel Kleinman

Ceal Pritchett

Ardyth Percy-Robb

Jennifer Cuthbertson

Lynn Kopas

Misty Buck

Super Simple DIY Wooden Spool Christmas Ornament

Welcome to Day 2 of the 12 Days of Holiday

Inspiration Blog Event brought to you by 

"The Inspiration Crew". 

We’re just a group of online crafty

blog friends who love being creative. 

This time we're doing a 12-day event to provide you with 

tons of

Holiday Inspiration.

We're making crafty projects using products we like

and some of us are even offering prizes. 

Check each blog and the information there for what prizes are

being offered and when the 

winners will be announced

on that blog.

At the bottom of this post is a list of all the crafty

ladies participating in this event. Be sure to visit all the

blogs each day for loads of fun Holiday craft ideas.

By the end of this twelve days my bare little tree that we used as a "Gratefulness Tree" during Thanksgiving is going to be full of ornaments. Here I took a small wooden spool and wrapped it with platinum glitter paper. I used a large flower bead to keep the twine from coming out of the bottom and topped the spool with layers of flower punch outs that I just fluffed up. 

Completely easy and fun. 

I hope you enjoyed today's post and it get's you started on your holiday crafting. 

Have a great day!

Check out the blogs below for more inspiration.

Donna Bowman

Rachel Kleinman

Ceal Pritchett

Ardyth Percy-Robb

Jennifer Cuthbertson

Lynn Kopas

Misty Buck

Doily Ornaments or Gift Tags Holiday Inspirations

Welcome to Day 1 of the 12 Days of Holiday

Inspiration Blog Event brought to you by 

"The Inspiration Crew". 

We’re just a group of online crafty

blog friends who love being creative. 

This time we're doing a 12-day event to provide you with 

tons of

Holiday Inspiration.

We're making crafty projects using products we like

and some of us are even offering prizes. 

Check each blog and the information there for what prizes are

being offered and when the 

winners will be announced

on that blog.

At the bottom of this post is a list of all the crafty

ladies participating in this event. Be sure to visit all the

blogs each day for loads of fun Holiday craft ideas.

 My first day of inspiration contains ornaments I made with some aqua doilies that I purchased from Hobby Lobby. I punched scalloped circle and starburst shapes from the platinum glitter cardstock and layered it. Next, I die cut snowflakes from heavy white card stock an popped them up on top. Finally, I finished them off with a bit of bakers twine to hang.

They were simple and fun and could also be used as a tag topper for a present or a mason jar. The possibilities are endless, really.

Stay crafty for Christmas and check out these other amazing ideas!

Donna Bowman

Rachel Kleinman

Ceal Pritchett

Ardyth Percy-Robb

Jennifer Cuthbertson

Lynn Kopas

Misty Buck

Thanksgiving Banner

I received a Thanksgiving Card in the mail from our insurance provider. I loved the image of the pumpkins and the colors. It gave me a great starting place for a Thanksgiving Day Banner.

Here it is hung on the frame in my living room

A little closer and you can see the pumpkin image card.

I traced and cut the bottoms of each sheet of patterned paper. The cardstock doilies are from Michael's. The leaf stickers are from Mrs. Grossman's...yes, I've had them for ages. I used a few pieces from the Gathering collection

I hope you hall have a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with family and friends. I am just starting to get back into crafting after a very long hiatus. Time to paint a dresser. :)

Stay sweet!

Faux Metal Kitchen Backsplash, Paintable Wallpaper

One of the final projects that we had to tackle was the back splash behind the stove. Here's a little reference of where we began. We first tiled behind the stove back in 2005. I needed to do something because this country pink and blue flowered wall paper was very hard to clean.

Here we were a few short months ago. Cupboards were painted and the tile was quite a dark spot in the kitchen. Enter demo-man (aka my adoring husband).

Just one, teeny, tiny problem. Removing the tile was tearing off the drywall. We ended up having to remove all of the drywall behind the stove and over to the refrigerator.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure I have a picture of just the plain wall, but here it it when we put the first pieces of  wallpaper up. Please don't judge me for still not having painted or textured the wall behind the stove. It's a great reminder of where we've come from ;)

I wanted to use what we had on hand instead of buying those faux tin tiles they carry at home builder supply stores. So, I used the same textured, paintable wallpaper that I used for my cabinet make over that you can see here. I used Krylon's Brushed Nickle Satin Spraypaint to paint the paper panels before hanging them on the wall. It's the same paint I've used on my hardware and pulls and MANY other things around my home ;). It did not take long to dry at all.

At first the seams were quite pronounced (well, they were to me, but not to Travis)

 As the day went on and the glue dried they were hardly noticeable. We also painted the cover plates and receptacles with the same spray. It may or may not hold up over time??? We aren't plugging and unplugging a lot on this wall so hopefully it will last. The metal plates are pricey.

I love how clean and streamlined it looks now. The best thing is is that if I ever want a change we won't be putting holes in the wall!!

Hope your weekend was fabulous. Stay crafty and enjoy the little things. I'm just about done with the house. I have a few more pieces of furniture to paint...including the piano (YIKES!)

Wood Stove Slate Tile Surround

After we ripped the carpet out of our second living area and put in the wood floors I knew that I would want a bit more tile on the floor surrounding the stoves so as not to singe the floor with embers from the fire. Please ignore the fact that my wood stove needs to a good deep clean. It gets A LOT of  use during the winter months here (awwwe look how shiny it used to be) and we've been uber busy with the remodel since February.

I purchased the slate tile from Lowe's back in 2002 or so. I'm so glad they still carry it so that I could continue with this project. In 2002, Travis hand milled the redwood mantle piece and built the raised platform with a pallet. We had a solid starting point, over the years the edge tiles in the picture above began to chip and fracture off...which is the nature of slate.  Major dilemma.

My solution was to cut the edges of the surround tiles at a 45 degree angle so that it couldn't shear off. We added tiles to the face of the platform as well as another whole run along the floor. I think that it looks much nicer now. Also, it's great to have an electrical genius as a husband. I get outlets wherever I want them :)

I found that the transition piece that looked the best between the tile and the flooring was a laminate marbled brown. It was not inexpensive, costing much more than a piece of transition wood does, but I'm glad for the splurge as hopefully it's low profile and durability will be a bonus as we trudge in wood and lug out ash in the winter.

Hope you're having a grand week. Stay crafty, or thrifty, or just plain busy.

Book Shelf Makeover: Divine Heirloom White

Well, here I am again. A little more progress each time I come back here and visit with you all. I purchased this bookshelf on Craigslist for $60.00 a while back. It is solid wood with solid wood shelves. One problem, it was dark and dreary and didn't match any of my other furniture.

This shelf usually holds all of my scrapbooks and doesn't look like such a major catastrophe. This is how it has been for the last few months though...while the remodel has been in progress. Heaven help us, there may be an end in sight.

I started priming it before I took the "BEFORE" picture. That's me, all gung ho and stuff. I remembered though and here it is. I don't have a garage so all of my painting either happens on my front porch or in my house...somewhere, usually the dining room. Makes for fun dinnertime conversations and maneuverings.

I really like Zinsser's NVOC Bullseye 123 primer. It seems to give the best coverage. I put on about 2-3 coats. Those crenelations on the top of the shelf were really no fun to paint...just saying. 

I did remove the doors and the hardware and painted it with my Krylon Satin Nickle spray paint. I also added 2-3 coats of Heirloom White satin finish paint. To finish off any painted piece I always use Wipe On Polycrylic. It's easy to apply, doesn't smell very much and dries pretty quickly. Much easier than varnish and doesn't cause a yellowing over time.

Here is the bookshelf in it's finished state. My albums are happy to be home (I purged about 10 games in the process) and the shelf is back in it's rightful place in the living room/office/scrapbook area. It makes me feel so much lighter. I keep all of the children's extra school supplies (paper, pencils, folders, workbooks) in the cupboard portion of the shelf.

I hope that the projects that you're working on are coming along just as nicely.

Thanks for stopping by and hopefully, some day, I'll get to start crafting again ;).

From Dull to Dynamic: China Cabinet goes Gray

 Here's where we started, back in 2011 when I purchased this bad boy from craigslist for $80.00. Well, it was $100, but we I talked him down. ;). And this is the way things stayed, for a long time. I've wanted to paint this darn cabinet for ages and I finally did it! 

Here's how the process went.

Remove retro chunky wood from front door panels. (We tried a pry bar first but that was digging into the outer frame. Next, I tried a chisel and that did the trick)

Ahhhh, already so much better.

I primed, two coats...ugh and DOUBLE ugh with these doors and the glass shelf holders

And then I painted...two coats. Not so bad on the lower part. That upper cabinet is a beast.

Next I had to decide if I wanted Earthy Gray or Heirloom White wall paper panels on the doors. I used a paintable wall paper from Lowe's. It comes in a roll and I cut it to size with and x-acto and a straight edge.

The gray won my heart. MMMMMM MMM YUM!

I painted the interior of the upper cabinet the same gray. Now, it's all put back together now and oh so handsome.

Time to finish up this room and get some window treatments now that my lovelies are all in school. Hope you enjoyed this makeover. I love the finished product. The process is getting easier too. 

Painting the bookshelf next ;)

Here is the shelf with the interior lights on at night.

Before and After

PS if you love this kind of stuff you should visit the BETTER AFTER blog. Tons of inspiration.