Craft Room/Guest Room Reveal

SPECIAL NOTE:  I have to warn you, this post is very picture intense.

I have had a very busy month.  My goal this summer was to clean the guest room.  It was quite a task, but I did it.

Let me start by telling you I was starting to feel like a hoarder.  I have so much *stuff*.  Things I didn't need, didn't use, didn't want.  It was overwhelming.  I would look in the room and the mess and just turn around and leave.  What was I going to do with this mess?  Where would I even start?

I am so ashamed that I let this room get in this condition.  It was a catch-all.

We live in KY during the spring/summer months.  In October we will go to Florida.  I decided to take everything I didn't want to Florida to sell in a garage sale.  I would have had a sale here in Ky, but I live in a rural area and not an ideal place to have a garage sale.  So, I have a ton of tubs filled with goodies when we make our trip to FL.

Once I got the room cleaned out, I started the task of making it presentable.  I decided to use this room for my crafts also.  I painted the room a soft robins egg blue/aqua.  I ordered fabric and made my curtains.  Love them!!!  If someone knows how to take a picture in front of a window without washing out the color, please let me know.

This is the true color of my new curtains.

 I found a pretty comforter in the colors I was using.   I made a few pillows for the bed with a little pop of pink.

 I prefer a gathered bed skirt.  I didn't want white, so I made my own.  Love it!!!

Next I painted a lamp I already had and covered the shade.

I was looking for art work to hang above the headboard and found a pair of watercolors.  Loved them but not the price.  Being a DIY kinda gal, I painted my own.  I have used acrylics and oils but never watercolors.    Found a pair of frames at the thrift shop and painted them white. Then I got out my watercolors and attempted to duplicate the prints I loved.   I'm real happy how they turned out.

Next, I had a round mirror that had roses painted on the frame.  That was not going to work so I primed the frame.  I found some chevron contact paper at TJ Maxx and added it to the frame. Much better.

Now on to the other side of the room.  I do a lot of crafts.  I love to sew and paint.  I put a lot of my fabrics in the armoir.  I found a pair of vintage owls and painted them pink!!

My craft table holds my sewing machine.  I made a cute cover for it when I'm not using it.  My husband helped me hang some shelves to hold all my crafts.  I covered boxes, bins and containers to better organize everything.  What a change.  I added a floral wall decal over my table.

I had a wooden plate that was put aside for the garage sale, and then pulled it out to make this cute button.

Can't forget my computer chair.  It was an ugly black.  I found this cute fabric at Hobby Lobby.  Such an improvement.

I still have a few more accessories to find.  I need a rug next to the bed.

I am so happy to finally have this room cleaned out and back to being what it's suppose to be.  I have a space for guests.  I have a space to do my crafting and sewing.  I'm a happy camper.

till next time...

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Turquoise Table & Mirror

I am loving turquoise these days.  I'm usually not this bold.

My sister-in-law gave me this table when she moved into a smaller space.  Lucky me.  I wish I had a before picture.  It was black with pink flowers.  Not my style at the time.  I originally painted and glazed it a soft sage.  

My daughter is a mini me.  We are a lot alike, but when it comes to decorating, she likes bold and bright.  I tend to lean more towards soft muted shades.

She was redecorating her living room and had some leftover paint.  I thought about it and thought a little more about it.  Then I thought, what the heck.  Just do it.  So I painted my table this bright turquoise.  I had the antique mirror stashed away in the closet and painted it too.  Wow!! What a difference.  It took on a completely new look.  

It really adds a bright spot to my hallway.  

till next time....

Linky Parties:
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sweetlittlegals  carolynshomework  reasonstoskipthehousework
cherishedbliss  mygirlishwhims  gingersnapcrafts  jaqsstudio
thediydreamer

Longest Yard Sale 2012

I'm sure every one has heard of the longest yard sale.  They did a few segments on HGTV.  It's on Rt. 127 and extends from Michigan through Alabama.  Rt. 127 is the main route passing through our town.

We have a lot of vendors from out of town that set up throughout the city.  I used to do the yard sale for 3 days, but it seems to get hotter and hotter each year.  It was close to 100 this year and just too hot for me.  I did manage to hit a few places in town.

I'd like to share a few pictures I took.  My daughter snapped a few on her way into work.

So many things to look at.  The only drawback was the heat.

So, what did I buy?  I am really into owls at the moment.  I found quite a few vintage owls and scooped them up for a great price.  Can't wait to give them a redo, when it cools down outside.

Here are my sweet owls..........

until next time...

Mellow Yellow

Do you have a piece of furniture that has a special meaning to you?

My dad had a stroke in 1995.  My sister and I took turns caring for him.  Yesterday was the 7 year anniversary of his passing.

My kitchen chairs are on wheels.  Too dangerous for my dad to try and sit down.  We found a set of chairs and I took one and my sis kept one for her house.  They had this ugly brown velvet on the seat cushion.

After my dad passed I put the chair away.  Recently I painted my kitchen a sunny yellow.  I needed a chair for the desk area and remembered the ugly chair my dad used for so many years.

This is what it looked like before I gave it a makeover.  I had forgotten to take a before picture and my sis was kind enough to snap a picture of her chair.  

I started out priming the chair.  I used a primer with stain blocker, applying 2 coats for good coverage.  I wanted something nice and bright.  Since my kitchen was yellow I thought it would be a good choice for the chair.  I found this cute fabric with the colors in my kitchen.   

I love how my chair turned out.  I think of my dad every time I look at it and I think he would have loved it too.

until next time.....

Linking to:

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Heart Quilt Finished!!!

You never know what you'll find while cleaning and organizing.  I decided to tackle my closet.  I have a walk-in closet that is so full of tubs, etc.  that I can barely walk in it.

While going through the tubs, I found 3 quilts that I needed to finish.  Two of them only needed the border quilted and then the binding added.  Doesn't sound like a lot of work, but if you quilt, you know it takes time.

I never machine quilt.    I use my machine to piece the quilt but all the quilting is done by hand.  It takes forever and a day to finish a quilt.  It took me a total of 4 days just to finish hand-quilting the border and then  add the binding.  Another process done by hand stitching.

I saw this pattern on Simply Quilts on HGTV.  It's been off the air for a few years and that is when I first started making this quilt.  So, I'm thinking maybe 3 or 4 yrs ago.

I am so happy to finally finish this.  Here are some close-ups of the embroidered leaves and the hand quilting.  The quilt is heavily hand-quilted with circles of inter-twining hearts.  

I am putting this one away for safe keeping.

till next time...

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Ribbons Finally Organized

How do we accumulate so many spools of ribbon?  While trying to organize my craft room, one of my concerns was how to get a grip on my growing mound of ribbons.

See what I mean?

I browsed pinterest hoping to find a solution.  I had too many spools to use a paper towel holder.  I would need at least 10-20 of those.  Then I would be faced with another dilema.  

I have a long curtain rod (extends to 102") I wasn't using.  I nixed that idea when I realized how wide it would need to extend to hold all this ribbon.

The spools were the problem.  They take up a lot of room.  They had to go.

I took some card stock and made these holders.  

It took me a full day to transfer all the ribbons to the cards.  Didn't realize it would take so long, but then again, I had a lot of ribbon.

I found the perfect box at TJ Maxx.  I was really surprised it held all the ribbons and I still have room for a few more.  Yes, I will probably buy more ribbon.  You can never have enough ribbon, right?  

I love the box, but not so much the design on the lid.  No problem.  I covered it with this sweet paper. 

I'm still amazed that I was able to get all that ribbon into this box.  I was stressing about getting it under control.  So, how do you organize your ribbon?

till next time...

Recycled Lamp Parts

I'm still trying to organize my craft room.  I came across these glass lamp parts.  They were heading for the trash.  I had every intention of tossing them out.   I tend to hang on to things, thinking I'll use them on a project.   So, into a box they go, ready for the next trash pickup.  Every time I passed them, I would look at them.   Then I noticed the lattice beading in the glass.  Ding, ding, ding!!!

So, out comes the paint.  I clean the vases.  Yes, now they are vases, not lamp parts.   

They have a hole in both ends, so I tape up one end and get to work.  These were too pretty for just any paint.  I used my metallic paints in shades of peridot, ice blue, silver sterling and pearl white.   I flipped them over to drain the excess paint and let them dry completely.

I love how they turned out.  The metallic paints were perfect for these little gems.   I am so glad I didn't throw them out and found a new purpose for them.

till next time...........

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Red Sunburst Mirror

I have my great granddaughter visiting for a few days.  She is 4 yrs old and her name is Kayleigh.

I was sitting here thinking of a craft we could do together.  I am making a chrysanthemum mirror out of plastic spoons.  I have all these handles left over.  I didn't throw them away, thinking I can make something out of these.

I am a big fan of sunburst mirrors.  Then it hit me.  These spoon handles would be perfect to make Kayleigh her own little sunburst mirror.

I asked her what color she wanted her mirror to be.  Her favorite color at the moment is red.  So, no surprise that is the color she chose.

We started with a 4" mirror from Hobby Lobby and a batch of spoon handles.

We painted the handles with red enamel paint.  We probably should have roughed up the handles before painting them.  They chipped pretty easily.  We applied 2 coats.

I hot glued the painted handles to the back of the mirror and added a hanger.  We added a red (of course) ribbon to the hanger.  To add a little interest we decided to add some cute little buttons along the edge of the mirror.  We chose green, blue, red, white and pink buttons.

Here is Kayleigh with her own little sunburst mirror to take home.  She told me she is hanging it over her bed. 

  

Linking to:

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