got a name?

got a name? well, here is a great way to show it off. google leo reynolds and find his blog. he is a photographer and has some fun stuff. like his letters. download some of those and send them to get printed at what ever store you frequent. i like costco. i did adjust the pictures to fit a 4x6 inch picture.

then all you have to do is frame them up. now that is the hard and expensive part. i went to hobby lobby and bought a frame for $15. it was 36" long, 10" wide. i had them custom cut a mat. i was quoted $1-$2 a cut - i thought they meant cut-out. i was way off! the mat cost MORE than the frame! so my suggestion is that you find a pre-cut mat to fit your frame OR go to target and buy the frame with a 'floating' look. meaning that there is no mat but you 'float' the pictures between 2 pieces of glass. you can fit quite a few pictures in there so if your name is long then you won't have to pay $2 a CUT! i am soooo embarrassed that i allowed that.

hope you like leo's stuff. remember it is not to be used for profit!

total cost on one of these was - $37 (ouch!) i learned my lesson.

enjoy!

monogram, um... wreath?

just made this. the letter A for 'Adams'. i used a 9' lighted garland that i found at ross for $9.99. it was a steal! bent the garland a little and secured things with a little wire and viola! got the idea from ballard designs. their wreath cost $25 and it was NOT lighted! i feel pretty cool right now. its like a craft high! if you are trying this out then let me give you a hint... if you want a fairly manageable sized letter wreath then DO NOT buy a very full and ornate garland. it makes for a HUGE letter. 9' is the length you want but forget all that greenery and berries. wait and add that later if you want. my letter (A) was a pretty easy and symmetrical letter to compose, yours might not be and may need a little support with dowel or something. sorry, because the letter will vary, i have no way of telling you exactly 'how' to do it. good luck.

total cost=$9.99 + tax.

enjoy!

so this is where i am moving to. sorry but i just like the name better and besides, some of the stuff that i make is really not from the thrift store.

well, this is...

i got this idea to make a 'graveyard' in urns to display for halloween. i only had time to do one. so next year there should be more. here's hoping.

first i found this urn at arc (thrift store). it cost $2. probably because it was ugly - why did they sell it like this in the first place i will never know! i spray painted first with a wall texture that i had on hand ($0). let that dry. i was trying to make it look like concrete. then i used a silver spray paint that i also had on hand ($0). after that dried i was able to add black, purple and green acrylic paint to give it that aged look.

finally i stuffed it with styrofoam and moss. ($5). the other stuff i had from the past years. i love halloween with a creepy feel and this does it for me.

total cost=$7. enjoy!