Hang Up Your Own Art!

I wanted to change up the big wall behind our couch but I didn't want to spend any money. So I went shopping through my own stash of artwork. These are projects and paintings I've almost all done myself.

I crashed the house for miscellaneous decor items and went to town.

I LOVE the way this came out!

This is my first try at using book pages as an art background. The tattoo design reflects all my tools (except a crochet hook, how could I forget that?) And the slogan, "each day is a gift," is in honor of my late sister. I know I'll be making more of these pieces!

Here is the big tree painting before I added the red and orange leaves. NOW I prefer it with the golden leaves. Guess it calls for another try!

The leaf art was a pillow cover I restyled into wall art by stapling it to a square canvas. It's like it should have been wall art all along!

Book pages on canvas with painting of books on bookshelves. This was fun. I must do more.

This was one of my first curvy family tree paintings. I painted it on a large pizza box. Now when I paint these I use real canvases. LOL

The fern painting is from a photo by a family friend.

 The skeleton keys come from my sets of skeleton keys. 

Little gold mirror? Yes! 

My granddaughter made the arrow art. They are silver glitter on a dark turquoise background. 

The wooden curlicue is from my daughter's junked couch.

 And the red "etc." is from waaaaay back in the 80s.

 The two artworks on the right are experiments I hung up while I decide if I like them.

 And the curvy tree at the top?

I painted it on foam board not realizing that foam board dents. So it has LOTS of finger indents on its surface. But hey, looks great on the wall!

This wall cheers me up no end thru these long days of winter, when the sunshine is so scarce. But hey, sometimes it peeks through....

I'll take my colors where I can get them.

Spring and summer cannot come soon enough for me!

Recyle Drawers Into Shelves

I kept these wooden drawers from an old waterbed because I had a brainstorm....

....with the addition of a board across the middle, I could make some cool shelves!

And here is how they came out! LOVE IT!

I spray painted them then Mod Podged neat papers inside. 

The turquoise shelf has tan tissue paper from Starbucks. 

The black shelf has damask scrapbook paper.

The white shelf has pages from an old book.

Using craft paint I dry brushed all the edges and corners

 for a vintage look and sealed them with clear spray acrylic.

Then I had some fun styling them up for photos. I think this one is my favorite.

Now I am always on the lookout for sturdy wooden drawers. 

I have loads of ideas for making more in different styles. 

AND, this is a fun project!

I didn't buy a thing for this project. I had everything on hand.

I call that a win win!

Sidelined by Sorrow

2016 was a roller coaster year for our family. We had a huge blast of sadness when my dear sister died after a brief but fierce battle with cancer.

Eff cancer.

When she knew her time was short she gathered all of us together in small groups 

and told us she loved us.

She also asked that we love each other.

Well, of course we love each other, you might say, but she said,

"Love harder."

Because at the end she reminded us that love is the end all and be all of our years here on God's earth.

And if there is anything we could do to improve our lives, then loving more and loving well and loving better is the answer.

So here you go, Leetle Seestar. 

Losing you has done a number on my heart.

 Like an illegal tackle after the ref's whistle in football, grief is a shock 

and a blast and a black hole and it is just not fair.

But there it is.

I'm slowly reclaiming life after being lost for months in a cave of shadows.

Getting back to blogging.

Getting back to painting.

Getting back to writing.

Getting back to creating the projects which spark in my head.

But also, loving harder.

It's what my sister would want.

Life turns on a dime, folks. 

While losing her greyed my days I found that slowly

sunshine was coming back to my soul.

Because the family welcomed a new baby girl in November.

And now we'll have a new grand baby this summer.

Count your blessings.

And Love Harder.

Big Nancy Love, my people.

  

Keepin' It Straight Gallery Wall Project

I have always had a family photo gallery wall and I figured after four years in this house it 

was time to JUST DO IT. 

If you go to Pinterest or Google images or anywhere online looking for inspiration you could get bogged down with the overwhelming creativity and ideas. Trust me on this.

I know from experience that it is almost impossible to keep all the framed photos on a gallery wall straight. So frustrating! But we came up with this design a few years ago and we've been doing it this way ever since.

So we keep it simple and with a bare bones budget, really CHEAP. 

Like, less than $18 cheap.

Here's one end of our project. It's a GOOD start!

For this really simple gallery wall I chose three - 1" x 3" x 8' molding boards for $2 each. They are made of a lightweight wood, usually pine or poplar. It is important that you peer down the long side and make sure the boards you pick are STRAIGHT. Turn them over and look at them from all angles. This will make your project much much simpler, trust me on this. 

Then I had the lumber guy cut them off at 5', so I now had six pieces. Three five footers and three that were three foot long. The store will cut your lumber for free!

Just as important as the straight boards are the bulls eye  rosette blocks I got for each seam. They look just like what they are called and they are IMPORTANT to give your project visual interest and style.

I paid less than $2 apiece for the 6 blocks we needed. What a deal!

I painted all the boards and bulls eye blocks white before we put them up. I know in the photos they look unpainted but they are not.

We laid out our shelves based on the basic framed photo sizes we were using plus we had to work around a smoke detector and the furnace thermostat/controls. Measure twice and make sure your marks are accurate because now the fun stuff starts!

Use a level. Use a level. USE A LEVEL. I cannot emphasize this enough. Do it.

We used wood glue and our handy dandy favorite brad nailer to attach the boards to the wall. Easy. Simple. Accurate. And the nail gun makes a really satisfying 'kachunk' sound.

Kachunk! Yes, you can have a turn. 

You can also use regular nails or screws and just fill in any holes with wood filler when you're done.

And here you see how the bulls eye blocks give our gallery wall just a bit of punch and visual style. We staggered the joints on each run for some interest. And even though they look like plain wood here, the blocks and boards are all painted. Though if you choose to leave them plain or even paint them a fun color, that is up to you on your own wall!

Look how STRAIGHT everything is. Gotta love it!

This was much easier than it sounds and it looks GREAT.

Let's hear it for late but finished projects!!

Make Big Acorns For Fall

You will never guess what these BIG acorns were before.

Ready? Oversize plastic Easter eggs from the Dollar Store!

When I saw this Pin way back in 2012, I knew I had to make them.

Following the Pin to its source I saw that the blogger used plastic Easter eggs! This is my kind of creative recycling: making something clever out of something else.

I decided to use these oversize Dollar Store eggs from my stash.

 First, I painted them brown with craft paint.

 I hot glued the eggs closed then wrapped them in burlap scraps. I pleated the burlap around the egg and used hot glue all the way around to secure it. Then I deconstructed a pine cone and used it for the top and added a twig stem. Cute!

But that first one  didn't look quite right to me, so I tried this....

I used the two rounded ends and glued them together. 

Already this looks more like a natural acorn shape.

Instead of the pine cone petals, I used hemp garden twine and hot glue.

Hemp twine hot glued round and round the top until I had the plump acorn look I wanted. 

A little twig adds to the finished acorn.

By George, I think I've got it!

You could also use the regular size plastic eggs but I wanted BIIIIG acorns, so I used the big ones.

Now I'm remembering those HUGE eggs for panty hose and wondering where I can get some. Now THAT would be a statement acorn. LOL!

Make Spooky Floaty Bats for Halloween Decor

I wanted to make black bats that would float and drift around in the October breezes but I couldn't figure out how to hang them. Then I got the idea to put them on curly wires instead!

I LOVE how they came out!

I found that I had these black foam meat trays in my stash. 

After running them through the dishwasher, I knew I 

could use them for something and they were perfect

 for these flighty bats.

I drew a simple pattern and cut them out with a razor knife.

We cut long lengths of sturdy wire and curled them around a broom handle

 then wrapped one end around a foam bat shape.

We stuck them into our deck planters to see how they looked in the wind. 

We were so pleased when even the slightest breeze made them turn and twist and shiver!

So we made more and attached them to our Halloween archway.

They look great!

Not only were they fun and easy to make, but they are 100% weatherproof 

and easy to store for next year. 

That's a win win in my book!

Halloween Decor From Video Tape and Trash Bags

Here is my Halloween porch, chock full of fun and CHEAP decor ideas.

 I have a few pieces I keep from year to year, like the pumpkin lights 

and the painted signs, but most of my 

Halloween look is made out of old VCR tapes and trash bags.

Dollar Store, here I come!

The big fat orange pumpkins are Halloween trash bags filled with crumpled newspaper. So easy to do  and so easy to store. But they aren't the real surprise here.

These spooky flyaway torn "curtains" are the most fun part of this decor,

 and I made them from black trash bags cut to open all the seams

 then cut in strips for creepy flyaway curtains.

The Welding Man set up a simple archway with scrap lumber 

and I stapled lots of black plastic strips all over. 

My grandkids made the sign out of twigs and an old board.

I LOVE how they look when the wind blows!

Then we took a couple of old VCR tapes and stripped them loose from their cases so we could do THIS!

You'll need at least one more person to make this giant web 

and the results are so worth it!

We did the horizontal stringers first then wrapped 

the vertical stringers last. 

We wrapped each joint with black electrical tape and

 stood back for the finishing touch.

Every giant spider web needs a giant spider.

We filled two black trash bags with more crumpled newspaper then wired them

 in place on our garden arch. We attached long pieces of strong wire

 and bent them into leg shapes then wrapped them with strips

 of black plastic and electrical tape.

The eyes and fangs are red felt.

So cool!

On the left side of the photo you can see the start of another huge spider web.

We had fun doing this and it was so easy and 

CHEAP!

On another post I'll show how I made the easy and cheap but 

still creepy and floaty black bats. 

I'll link it up right here.....

Is That Chair Leather? No, It's Painted Fabric!!

This chair really looks like fine red leather. But it's not.

I painted the upholstery on this chair then sanded it to make it into this beautiful red piece that feels soft as suede and totally perks up my living room.

Here she is at the start. The local St. Vincent store had two of these chairs but I only needed one. I am now KICKING MYSELF for not buying both!

The frame and fabric were in excellent condition. Very tight joints, comfortable seat. I figured I could re upholster it or...as my Pinterest board says, 

Paint That Chair!

I won't do a tutorial since the DIY info is all over the web. Literally....videos, Martha Stewart, Better Homes & Gardens, HGTV, Hometalk!

I decided to use acrylic paint in bright red and liquid textile medium. I mixed two parts paint to one part textile medium. I used a full 8 ounce bottle of craft paint and 4 ounces of the textile medium and mixed them well.

Then I sprayed the fabric with water in a spray bottle (mixed with a bit of fabric softener). I dampened each area just before I painted it using chip brushes. I also masked the wooden areas.

I painted on my back deck on a 90 degree day. Excellent light and weather for painting! But I have to tell you ladies, even after multiple coats I was feeling very very iffy on this project.

Very iffy. 

I was already calculating if I had enough red fabric in my stash to go ahead and re upholster this chair, I was very undecided about the appearance.

And then after three coats the fabric started looking pretty good. 

Lovely color retention, really good texture of the original woven pattern and 

I was using less and less paint for each layer. 

Of course, I let each coat dry for an hour in the hot sun before adding the next coat.

Urg. Here's what I used. 

I know most blogs have neat photos and a concise list of brand name products plus links for purchasing, but I was ready to PAINT so I just dove right in. 

I didn't buy anything since I already had it all in my stash.

Ahem.

Here's the painted and sanded fabric up close. 

It looks just like leather and after sanding it feels like a very soft and sumptuous suede. 

I am totally pleased with the way this project turned out!

I cleaned the wood with Murphy's Oil Soap then polished

 it up with Olde English lemon oil polish.

And the paint does NOT rub off.

Even if you are wearing white jeans as a test.

This was totally worth the time and money to get myself

 a bright and comfy chair for our living room.

Would I do it again? YES!

Pallet Wood Planter Covers Part 2

One of my post popular posts this last year was this DIY using pallet boards to cover black plastic nursery pots.

 I LOVE the way they came out!

Here's the link to part 1....

http://makethebestofthings.blogspot.com/2015/03/pallet-wood-planter-covers-diy-part-1.html

And here is what we did to finish them off and how they look filled to overflowing with flowers and plants. 

These are the type of planters we get at our local tree nursery. The smallest we used for this project are about 10 gallon size and the largest are about 25 gallon size. The big ones measure about 24" across the top.

We did not sand the boards. We just cut them to length. On the bigger planters we wedged each board under the top rim then used the brad nailer to attach each board.

We also spaced the boards closer together at the bottom than the top to allow for the taper in the planters.

Here is one of the biggest 25 gallon planters. It took a bit of finagling and mitering, but The Welding Man added a nice, neat frame to the top rim. It finishes it off quite nicely!

I like the natural wood look but on a whim added a bit of dry brushing with the trim color from our deck. The Walker's Low Catmint fills this pot to overflowing with purple flowers all summer long.

I like it alot!

Here is a comparison of natural wood and dry brushed planters. For my garden I prefer the painted look!

I checked online on the expected longevity of these plastic pots. Since they are made for commercial nurseries they have a high UV tolerance rating. They are made to last for years. That is good to know.

We have several more pots and a bunch of pallets ready for more planters. I've already bought new rosebushes so we better get to it.

And the best thing about this project? The plastic planters are less than $6 each, even for the biggest ones.

I call that a win win!

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