Christmas Ornament making

When it came to my Christmas decor this year I wanted something a little different than my usual gold scheme. I tried my hardest to rock the blue/green/peacock combo but I just couldn't love it. And, if mama don't love it, she can't deal with it in her face for a month. It just wasn't cozy enough for me, but it shore was purdy.

On to something else though.

Red, because it screams cozy to me. But with a twist, some gray. Which could feel really cold and the opposite of warm and cozy but, I think with the right color gray and with the soft textures it works really well.

First up, some yarn ornaments. These aren't new to the blog world at all so I'll spare you a how to. It's easy, hot glue a bit then wrap. Over and over and over it can feel like forever. I also only glued the ornament and didn't add any more on once it was all covered because as you wrap the yarn holds itself. Easy. No mess. Non-breakable. Yes please.

Next up. Faux mercury glass ornaments.

Now, a few things.

They aren't exactly mercury glass looking, almost like old foggy glass mirrors? Spooky looking windows? This is because I couldn't find any mirror spary paint at Michaels the other day. Clearly everyone else wanted to make these ornaments too when I thought I was on to something new and awesome. ;) I also wasn't going to drive all the way across town to HL.. Oh well.

I used Chrome instead. Chrome works, I like how it looks.

First I did a super light coat on the ornaments and then I used a spray bottle filled with water and spritzed the ornaments pretty heavily. Then I sprayed the chrome once again and let it dry.

Once they were fully dry I wiped them off with a paper towel, you could take a light sander to it, which is what Katie did on her mirrors but I didn't have one on me and it was coming off really easily anyway.

Cue the Ohhhh and ahhhs Aren't they pretty? I love them! They're not reflective like mercury glass but they're so.. lovely! See through and splotchy but good splotchy! And, where the chrome was more heavily applied it's more shiny. All around good, okay. All. around. good.

 The tree looks so cute now! I can't wait to show you. :) Let's all cross our fingers and say a prayer that we get some nice weather in Michigan so I can take some pictures of it!

Until then.. me being artsy.. with one heck of an awkward pose going on.

Linking up to Centsational Girl's holiday party!

How to add a shade to a ceiling fan tutorial.

How about a ridiculously easy tutorial for the day? Yes?! I thought so too. I'm still tired from the mini vacation this weekend, gotta keep it easy today.

*wink* 

Too far? :)

So we had a very u-g-l-y fan in the playroom. White, one light, very standard and blah.

*Imagine a before picture..here.*

I wanted something with a little more pizazz and searched lots of tutorials online but they ALL needed a fan with two lights so you could screw a rod/finale into the fan to attach your shade too.  Young house love did it a few times. Did you hop over and see what I mean? Yeah, mine couldn't uh..do that. So I used my thinker.. and thunk some more.

And. BAM.

Thanks to my Secret Santa at work this year I had a handy dandy little tool bag that had some wire in it. I wrapped it around the prongs? arms? metal part.. yes.. the metal part of the shade, like so.

Then made sure it was all semi-even and just stuck it right on the screws that had formally held the old globe in place.

See how freakin' easy that was? I KNOW. Imagine all the awesome shades you can put up now! Awesome. It's not super pretty from below, but no one will be looking right up at it, since the kiddy table is below.

Yes, I'm aware there isn't an after picture. You have to wait till tomorrow. Because..the room..is.. DONE! :) Yay!  How about a sneak though?

Wanna see the whole room?

Check it out here!  

And, Layla's how to day!

Gumball Machine Stand Tutorial

Holy guacamole ya'll. This is a good one.

We've had this old gumball machine on the top of our cabinets for..well about three years now. I wanted a vintage theme up there but that got old fast so it just sat there, alone. Wanting me to fix it up and make it gorgeous. So, this weekend I did.

The moment I saw Lindsay's gumball machine (filled with goldfish {squeal}) I knew I wanted mine on a stand. But how!?

Case in point. Lowes.

I purchased a single banister rod (At least I think that's what you call it.. That's what I call it.) and some small corbels. I also took a crappy cell phone pic. Hey, it is what it is.

I spray painted that sucker and glued the corbels to the bottom using wood glue because it's what I had on hand. I would have liked to use screws but mine were all too long and they would have hit each other. Oh well. My kids may or may not swing from this so we'll see how the glue holds up I guess. It wasn't too expensive so I wouldn't be super mad if I had to make it again. Once the glue dried I added another coat of paint to the whole thing.

This is when it gets tricky. I bought the round piece of wood from Hobby Lobby to sit the gumball machine on but I wasn't sure how I would make it stay, kids can be crazy ya know. I didn't want it to be permanent in case I ever got a wild hair to not have it on a stand. But I didn't want to just sit it on it knowing full well someone would bump it and boom..crash..cry. So, I opted for heavy duty velcro.

This way it's good for now, but I always have the option to get it off if I need to. And, better yet. I can get to all the money I'm gonna make from this money maker in our entry way. Cha-ching.

I also thought it looked a little too...new. So I scuffed it up with some distressing ink.

Yes, that's still that one chip of paint that is hanging in there. For all the "get a mani", commenters. I know. I'm lazy, true story.

 LOVE. I filled it with Gobstoppers because they're amazing and I hate gum with a passion. 

I think it's a little tall though, so I'm gonna chop some off. Er.. have my Father do so when he brings his saw over. I don't want to risk any un-evenness with my box saw. :) Not a good time. But, all in all.. I think it's freaking cool as heck.

100000 Points to the person who noticed I painted the entry way again this weekend. Yeah, it's subtle I suppose but I can totally see a difference. Now onto the trim again (hello, black spillage there) and the ceiling and this room will be done. and done. 

There's a few ladies I'll be partying with :)

Beth & her Tutorials & tips Day

Layla How to's Day.
TipJunkie's Tip Me Tuesday

Bench warmers.

Finally I can sit down! It felt like I've been doing wall sits for a lifetime now. Yeah that was lame. But it's late and that's all I've got. Let's build a bench, shall we?

(Four) 2x4 pieces of 3/4inch MDF check.

(One box) Itty bitty finishing nails check

Wood glue to help stabilize the piece on my..heavy days. Check

Paint, empty wall space, eager builder Dad to take the lead help you along the way, check, check and check!

Lets go!

Make a frame. Front piece which is essentially like a toe kick to a cabinet. Then add a vertical brace in the middle. This will help stabilize it so it doesn't dip. Nobody wants a wimpy bench. :)

I didn't photo the brace. Shoot. But it goes directly in the middle. Ya know? Yes. Good.

Then we he cut the bottom of the bench, where the shoe baskets will be. He made it hang out a bit further than the frame. Just like cabinets remember? The sides go directly on top of the bottom piece and nailed into the wall and the bottom, with beads of glue along the way.

Add the seat, glue & nail.

Then the middle vertical piece to help hold the weight. We could have stopped there and it would have probably looked just fine, but adding some trim sealed the deal. Using the scraps from the bench we he cut 2 inch strips and made a frame around the opening, with a little lip above the top and bottom. It will help to keep the baskets in place and just make it prettier! :) That's it folks. Yep, easy huh?

Measure, frame, box it out, picture frame trim. If builder Dad wasn't such a perfectionist he would have let me use the power saw. Nope. When will he learn? :) It's not like those battens cut themselves Daaadddd.

Sorry my inner whiny 15 year old was coming out.

Looks sturdy. Shall we do a test run?

Perfect!

Before and After :)

Comin' along nicely if I say so myself! Notice the baskets? Come back tomorrow for the deets on those!

Whimsical Pumpkin

I'm really getting bad at these titles. Sorry about that. :) But anyways I received a lot of comments and emails about the silver pumpkin. This one here, from this post.

Well this may be the worst and/or easiest tutorial ever. Take a pumpkin; preferably one from Michael's at 60% right now! This one here is a bigger one, he was 7.00ish the smaller one was 4.00 and tax.

Grab some silver spray paint- any will do. Take a sharpie and write whatever you wish, I preferred House of Czuk--Scribbly and not perfect-I'm cool with that; it looks kind of like something out of the Wizard of Oz doesn't it? No? Really? Huh.

Then add some witches brooms and polka dots. Easy peasy. Once everything is dried put about 17 coats of high gloss clear, this gives it the sheen. I love it- it's the one thing that everyone comments on when they come over.

Even with all drips, I love it. Remember Nester's Mantra "It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful!"

Sorry about the lack of photos; I'm no pro at the tutorial game! Come back tomorrow for a front porch reveal, that is if the rain lets up! Night!