Re-vamping a lamp 3

I always loved this lamp I bought from Target. The shape was great but the colors I bought didn't ever go with anything I tried to design. Go figure. So I decided that I would help it along and make it fit into my new room idea.
Tutorial Here for re-vamping a lamp.
We'll do some quick steps here but for more in-depth steps click above.

Trace and cut from seam to seam. Spray adhesive and carefully wrap your old lampshade in your fabric of choice.

Cut slits in the fabric up to the shade. Hot glue or Tacky glue them under for a finished edge.
Take large rick rack and glue along the bottom and top. Leave it hanging on the bottom for a lacy feel. Fold over on the top for a finished look that doesn't look funky. I tried leaving the top but it looked REALLY weird so I folded it over, glued it and it looked a lot better.
Oh. At first I spray painted my lamp base heirloom white from Rustoleum. It used to have a dark bronze finish.

Voila. A plain, ill-fitting lamp to just what I needed to amp-up the romance and serenity of my room.

Re-vamping a lamp 2!

I got this lamp at Target a few years ago and always thought it was really plain. Today I decided to do something about that. I bought various sizes and textures of black ribbon and rick-rack and glued it on! Easy, simple, and yet... it makes a world of difference.

I made the bows on the sides mainly to cover up where the rick-rack didn't meet nicely. Simply take a piece of ribbon and glue the ends together. glue the middle together. wrap one piece around the middle and then glue the whole thing on. Voila.

Friend Makin' Mondays

Friend Makin' Mondays at Friend makin' Mondays

 

I am.... sick at the moment

I think.... my in-laws like me better than my family does

I should... go to bed early tonight

I dream.... of a house of my own

I want.... it to be old and fabulous

I know... it will happen someday

I don't like.... days with out naps for the babe

I smell... Taco meat that the hubby made

I hear.... a band practicing down the street

I fear.... everything. Especially dead bodies and spiders

I usually... stay up too late and blog too often!

I search... for inspiration

I miss.... being young and making friends just because you wore the same color

I always... brush my teeth

I regret.... not saying just what should have been said

I wonder.... if anyone reads my blog

I crave.... ICE CREAM and chocolate shakes

I remember... summer. Where is it now?

I need..... fabric for a lamp I am re-purposing

I forget.... how much I love my husband

I feel....blah. and a little alone tonight.

I can.... do anything

I can't.... spend any more money this month on crafting!!!! Eek.

I am happy.... holding my baby and writing and painting

I lose..... track of time

I sing.... The one or two lines I remember from a song over and over again

I listen... To so many things

I shop..... at TARGET!!!!!!!! And sometimes Wally world.

I eat.... home cooking almost every night

I love..... my family and my hobbies

Make over Monday

I think it's fun how lots of you out in blogland have a themed day or two. I think I am going to try to post something I have made over every Monday. Hopefully it will inspire you to find things around your house that you either hate, are sick of, or don't know what to do with and turn it into somehting you LOVE.

I did that with this frame.

A lot of people know how to Mod Podge a frame but I figure there might be someone out there who doesn't OR has been too scared to try it. If not I hope the look of the frame can give you an idea for how you want YOUR frame to look!

get your frame

cut your paper pieces. I cut mine a little bigger than what I needed and I will tell you why.

paint the bits that won't be covered in paper.

Mod Podge your paper onto the frame.

Using a nail file or sanding block sand along the edges of the paper that is hangin over the sides. This trims your paper to the perfect size and lends a shabby touch!

using a dry paint brush 'dirty up' your frame/ distress it by painting in crevices and streaking on the paper and/or paint.

Mod Podge the whole thing.

Pull one side of wire from wired ribbon to bunch up one side of your 'flower'. Twist until it is a flower shape. Take some felted wool (or just felt) and cut it into a circle. Using pinking shears (or just do it by hand) cut along the outside of the cirlce to create a jagged edge. shove that down inside and hot glue the whole thing onto your frame. The hot glue should hold the center in place and glue the entire flower onto your frame.

A DELICIOUS 3 ingredient recipe

Okay. You HAVE to try this if you like squash. If you don't... well, make it with pasta!
To be honest, I usually do make this with pasta but tonight tried it healthier and it was DELICIOUS.

So. "What is it, already?!" you are asking. Browned butter and Mizithra cheese over spaghetti squash.

Here's how you make it:

Bake your squash in the oven at 400* upside down until fork tender (about 40 minutes?) on a cookie sheet. You can put a little melted butter on it if you want.
scoop it out. You should have long stringy spaghetti noodle like bits of squash.

Note: I used half a squash. I steamed the other half and then blended it to make my buck-a-roo some more baby food.

Melt 1/2 a stick butter in a sauce pan stirring constantly until BARELY browned.

Grate Mizithra cheese (you can buy this at your local grocery store). Mizithra cheese has a creamy, slightly tangy and salty flavor. It is INCREDIBLE and far and away one of my favorite cheeses.

Put squash (or cooked spaghetti noodles) in bowl and pour browned butter over. Toss to coat. Then sprinkle a handful or two of grated cheese (really up to your personal taste). Toss that and EAT!

YUM!

The Old Spaghetti Factory makes a browned butter and Mizithra cheese pasta and I attempted to copy it. Turned out pretty well if I say so myself.

If you need a blog button...

http://oikology101.blogspot.com/2008/09/make-your-own-button-for-your-blogger.html

Check out this website. So easy. You copy and paste a few things and follow simple instructions and you'll have a blog button in no time.

Well... you do need to create one first (in some sort of photoshop/illustrator/digiscrap program)

So. I have a button. Grab it and let me know you did and I'll come 'round and grab yours. Sounds terribly inappropriate... love it!

Hint: This is not my button... just a picture of what my button looks like!!

Simple Decorating at its... simplest?

Like me you probably have either nothing on your washer and dryer because it would fall off and break or every thing piled on it (i.e. detergent, towels, cleaners, &c.). Well... what if I told you this whole bit cost me about $7 and it TOTalLy re-invented my washing area?!

Vinyl placemats from Target. They were already coordinated and everything! about $2 each on sale

Plastic drink tub form Target $2.50 in the dollar section

A few sheets of tissue paper on sale at Target $.50

Mod Podge (had on hand)

Now. You need to know. PLacemats aren't just for your dining table anymore. I have a placemat (but no picture since it is messy) on my bedside table that a. protects it from cups of water and b. dresses it up, makes it cute, acts as a table cloth so-to-speak without covering up my cute table. Love it!

As you can see in the picture my washer and dryer are low enough that you can totally see the tops of them. These placemats will be easy to clean in the event that I spill detergent (likely) or they make a nice folding surface. I don't have any cupboards near my washing machine so I bought that tub and decoupaged it to match the room. You can't see it but I found this fab chindi rug at Target for like $5 and it is various shades of blue, white, and teal. That's where the teal comes in!

The tub was originally a strange blue color that wouldn't work so I tore strips of tissue paper and Mod Podge them on. I wanted it to be crinkled so I wasn't super careful. I plan to add some embellishments later once I figure out where I am going with it...

I have another SUPER great idea just for the laundry area but I have to track down a wire wreath form first. Any ideas?

Book page wreath... my version

I've seen a few different versions of book page wreaths around. This is my version.

I made this for an English teacher hence the 'Bibliophile'. You could do any number of things but the English Teacher is a guy and didn't want anything girlie (with good reason) as decoration. I also wanted to use book pages for as much as possible.

First I covered my foam wreath form with book pages torn in half length-wise. I then mod podged it (I needed it to hold up since it will be in a classroom).

Then I started at one corner of the a book page and rolled until I formed this. repeat, repeat, repeat.

I glued them down using Elmer's glue. I decided after that I should distress the edges with ink.

bad idea once they are all glued down. I used a cotton ball squished onto my ink pad and then distressed the edges that way. If you want to do this to yours I suggest distressing them the regulkar way BEFORE gluing!

Make your embellishments! I used 1, 2, 3, and 4 book pages (taped together) folded 3 times and then rolled around a skewer. I glued them with Elmer's glue at the end to keep from unrolling.

Paint your rolls any color(s) you like and once the paint is dry mod podge to seal.

Fold a book page a number of times until you end up with a triangle.  cut three points (kind of like making a paper snowflake) and unfold. I did four small and two large. I double them up and connected each burst with a brad. I carefully mod podged them so they'd hold up a little better. Keep them kinda squished up so they look more burst like.

Cut out letters with your electronic cutter or on a die dut machine that you can use at certain scrapbook stores (Archivers has a die cutter in the back).

Arrange all your embellishments, hot glue it all down, and then seal it all up with mod podge again.

There you go!

Charming...

Got the basics for this from my friend Candis... Amazing!

 

 Want to know how to make your own charming charms???

Read on.

Take some charms you don't care for but got on sale....

Take some paper you love.

Find a bit of your paper that has a design you like. I picked a little birdie since I am in the mood for spring.

Trace your charm. Cut and then cut down until your paper is in a little circle that fits just inside your charm. I left a little bit of the silver showing as a frame to my bird. There has to be another way to make this easier and better. Probably you could find a circle punch that is the same size as the inside of your charm, but oh well.

Mod Podge your paper circle into the center of the charm. I added a little rhinestone to the bird's wing to dress it up a little. Before any embellishments Mod Podge again and then add your embellishments.

Once the Mod Podge is dry coat it carefully with 'Glossy Accents' (can buy at your local craft store) Mine cost 8.99 but I had a 40% off coupon so it was less.

Let it dry until completely clear. It says 15-60 minutes but I had to leave mine much longer.

 

Once it is completely dry you are ready to string it on a chain, a ribbon, or anything else. You could add it to a bookmark or anything else you can think of!

I'll post soon about wire and ribbon bookmarks and we can highlight using a handmade charm to personalize it even more.

Spring Door Hanger

I saw this done with hearts for Valentine's Day, but by the time I was going to do it, V day was four days away so I thought I would do what I love to do best and take an idea I liked and make it one I loved.

This, of course, is the 'long-awaited project' that I posted about a while ago.

Warning: THIS TAKES A LONG TIME. The results are definiteyl worth it, but make sure you give your self multiple hours and if you have children... mutiple days!

You need:

1 24" by 12" (at least) piece of styrofoam. Don't use that funky floral foam that breaks apart and feels grainy. I used green styrofoam because it was less expensive than the white and I got more.

A couple of yards of fabric in whatever colors you like. I used five different yellows and 4 different whites.

Hot glue gun.

Shape you like.

Styrofoam half-balls

Ribbon or tulle to hang

Marker

I used a highlighter that my hubby had that hadfive different colors all around it and looked like a flower. I traced it onto a transparency and then projected it onto a 12 by 12 piece of paper. Traced that and then shrunk it and traced it again onto a new piece of paper. You could find a cut out you liked at a party store or even draw free-hand. It doesn't have to be perfect!
Once I had cut out my flowers I traced them using a permanent marker onto the styrofoam and then cut the flowers out with a serrated knife.
The two styrofoam half balls: I left one as is and the other I cut (as straight as possible) across to shrink it and then I shaved the sides a little too so it wasn't so round as the bigger one. I centered and then attached these on the flowers.

Tear and then cut some of your fabric into 2 (or 2.5) inch squares (DON'T need to be perfect) for the larger flower and 1.5" for the smaller flower.

I used a pen so I wouldn't burn my fingers with the hot glue. Fold your fabric over the pen, apply hot glue to the tip and then press and hold onto your styrofoam for a few seconds.

Should look like this. Cover the entire center with one color and then the rest of the flower with the other.

If you use tulle I suggest layerong one piece of fabric under a piece of tulle (the holes in the tulle assure that the glue gets on both pieces). This way you won't get hot glue everywhere!

Voila. You can trim any crazy bits that stick too far up. I also trimmed where the petals met eachother because I felt it needed more definition.

Repeat with the other flower and then attach ribbon or tulle to the backs of each to hang it from your door.

TA DA!

Make any shape you like. A shamrock done in various greens would be SO cute. And if you don't like the double you can always just do one and hang it alone or in the center of a simple wreath.