girls' room artwork

i finally finished some art work for my girls' room. it has changed design and colors a few times but i am satisfied with it this time that i feel comfortable to hang it in their room. about time!

i also made this burlap banner. it says 'christmas'. turned out really cute. so cute that i'm gonna make more. we made these for my 'mom craft day'. if you want to learn more then leave me a comment. sorry the pictures are so dark. :(

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!