Take Six: DIY

Showing posts with label DIY. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Before & After ~ Easter Topiary

This week a thrift store in my area moved to a much bigger location. I thought it would be supportive of me to "help them celebrate" their grand opening *wink*. I took a quick run in one afternoon. What a celebration. The very spacious parking lot was full, and both sides of the four lane highway were lined with cars (including mine!) I hurried inside and grabbed a shopping cart. This little "before and after" is one of my finds from that day.

I spotted this cute little Easter topiary just as another lady picked it up off the shelf. So I just waited patiently and she finally decided to put it back! Swoosh!!!! (That was me grabbing it quickly!) ;) This topiary was too "bright" for my taste. I was looking for a more muted look. So the first thing I did was tear out all the bright green moss and silk flowers.

That's better...but the pot was too bright as well. I took it outside on the weekend. It was -1 and sunny. Too cold really for spray painting outside. But I spray painted it anyway and took it back into the warm house to dry. The pot looks white in this picture but it is actually a warmer ivory color.

I'm getting there! Then I took the glue gun and Spanish moss. I just broke off small bunches of the moss and glued it in between the eggs, and at the base of the topiary branch.

Oh, so much better! Are you doing some Easter/Spring decorating? I'm working on it now. It makes my heart sing! Such a very fun time to decorate.

Wishing everyone a very Happy Spring!

Tanya

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Wednesday, October 24, 2012

If the Broom Fits...Ride it!

But don't fall off and land head first!! ;)

I saw a cupcake like this recently, by Better Homes & Gardens. Such a cute idea. I picked up these cupcake wrappers and black and white straws on clearance this summer at TJ Maxx...before I had even seen the cupcake idea. Yippee... I was prepared. I just needed my daughter to free hand a little witch shoe so I had a template.

I cut the little shoes out of black card stock. (All the money I spent on scrapbooking supplies years ago is still coming in handy!) I heated up the glue gun and dabbed a bit on the end of each straw. Stick on the shoe and voila!!

Watch for my these yummy cupcakes on my Halloween tablescape!

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Thursday, September 20, 2012

Takin' Charge

Isn't spray paint the best thing since sliced bread?

Honestly, what did DIYers do before spray paint?

What I'm sharing with you is not rocket science.

Just real quick, easy, and so easily changed.

Supplies:

8 dollar store charger plates that you've had for ages

1 can of spray paint

that's all folks!!

These silver chargers have been around for awhile,

and like some of us, they are starting to show their age. ;)

But after 2 coats of "Hammered Copper"...

they will be perfect for my Thanksgiving table plans.

For the price of a can of spray paint, I have a set of 8 "new" charger plates.

For the price of another can of spray paint,

I can paint them again and have another "new" set for my Christmas table!

How easy is that?

Tanya

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Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Spice it up ~ Organizing your spice drawer!

I get such a rush from organizing things.

I love uniformity and organization.

I should qualify this by saying,

you would never know this by visiting my home.

This is a project that has been simmering on my back burner for ages.

My intention was to use baby food jars for this project.

A dear friend Rachel saved me a big bag of them.

However it has been awhile since I used baby food, and I didn't remember

them being quite so small. They just wouldn't be large enough

to hold the contents of one of those yellow packages you see below.

Then I remembered the cute little squatty (is that a word?)

jars I used when I made body lotion last fall.

I was unable to find any more of these particular jars

until just a few weeks ago.

Yay for a new canning season! :)

SUPPLIES LIST:

3 cases of jars

chalkboard paint

small disposable paint brush

piece of chalk

spices

I gave all the lids one coat of chalkboard paint.

I washed the jars, and dried them well.
Anything that was too old was disposed of.

Next, all the spices were emptied

from the jars, packages, and small cans

into their beautiful new homes!

I let the lids dry overnight to ensure they were not tacky,

and labeled each with chalk.

This is such a great way to label them.

If you want to change the contents of the jar,

you can easily change the label.

Ahhhhhh, so much better! :)

One word of advice: Do yourself a favor and purchase a regular sized piece of chalk. You know... like your school teacher used to use. I used a great big sidewalk chalk and it was very hard to print with it on this small surface. ;0)

Now as summer winds down, and we usher in my favorite season of all, I will be stocking up on those herbs and spices that have been running low. I usually do a thorough check of my spice draw in preparation for those wonderful recipes that I associate with fall. Can you smell the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice in those pumpkin recipes? Oh my!

Tanya

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Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Which way?

This sign hung outside at our cottage.

When we sold the cottage this spring,

it came home with all the other "stuff".

I wanted to use it at our new little spot in the country, but it just didn't suit.

We are on a river there, not the ocean

and this sign looks "beachy" to me.

It hung in the sunshine and salt air

for several years, and did it's job

very well by pointing the way to the salt water.

However it really was faded and chipped.

A fresh look, and new job

were definitely in order.

So, I removed the rope hanger,

and took out the rusty little screw eyes.

A coat of black paint really freshened it up.

When the black paint was thoroughly dry,

I put on a thick coat of "Crackle It".

That dried for several hours,

and then I put on a coat of white paint.

As the "Crackle It" continued to dry

under the coat of white paint

it did it's job very well.

It crackled it!!!

The arrow has a very important new job now.

It very proudly points the way to...

THE OUTHOUSE!!

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Tuesday, January 24, 2012

All Bundled Up

All over Blog land, you can see some great examples of vases and glass containers of all kinds, "bundled up" in sweaters. I think they are so cozy looking and perfect for winter time. I've been pinning examples for inspiration and finally pulled out the supplies recently to complete them.

SUPPLIES:

1 sweater

1 old rose bowl

1 new Dollarama vase

glue gun

buttons

hemp string

For the rose bowl, I slid one of the sleeves on, and ran a bead of hot glue around the base of the bowl. Then I cut the leftover fabric off flush with the bottom of the bowl.

For the tall vase, I had to "take in" the arm some, as it was not the same width all the way up, and was too big for the vase. I cut the excess off and used my glue gun to "sew up" the side of the arm. I slid it on the tall vase, turned down the top edge, and tied on some hemp string!

It was as easy as that. I do highly recommend, if you decide to use buttons, that you stitch the buttons on BEFORE you glue the bottom of the sleeve to the container... ;0)

The body of the sweater is perfect for covering a cushion. That is next on my list!