Makeover Monday

A little late, but technically it is still Monday! And that is good enough for me.

I will apologize in advance, bloggy friends for the disaster in the background. I dumped my craft tub looking for just the right embellishments. Another word for embelishments: additives. Isn't it funny that we really are quite against additives in our food as a general rule, but additives in crafts just make everything... more yummy?! They make food more yummy, but we know the down side to putting them  in our bodies. I don't think there is a down side to additives in our crafts! But I digress.

So. I found this cute sign and in reality was pretty fine on its own.

But we aren't satisfied with fine, are we ladies?!

So makeover Monday this Monday is making something new even better and more delicious with additives. We'll veer away from my traditional course of taking something old and making it better. We're going to personalize one of those cute, but run-of-the-mill signs we see everywhere so that it really is something special.

Using various sizes and textures of rick-rack and cloth ribbon I added some framing to the sign.

I used MIGHTYMENDIT! and glued the ribbons to the back of the sign on the top and bottom with a dot of MIGHTYMENDIT! in the middle too. I liked the contrast of the black and cream and I felt it really stood out from the dark  with dark lettering.

Then even though the sign came with hangers on the back I felt like it was just one more opportunity to add somet extra special. I found some cute cream with blak dots ribbon and tied it to the hangers. Then I tied little bows to the bottoms of each side to a.cover up the little tail of ribbon that hung off when I tied the ribbon to the sign and b. I thought it looked really cute.

Voila. You probably won't have the same sign as me, but I hope this inspires you to take something that was cute but generic and really make it your own. Happy Monday!

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.

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.