Teacher craft in process

I saw this cute birthday countdown calender (on Pinterest I think) but the sign holder- although very cute- is like 8 bucks at office depot.

Kinda blowing my cheapie budget considering I was thinking of making at least 6 of these, maybe more like a dozen.

But then I looked up and saw this

Remember I had made it awhile back? So I had hubby drill the holes and I made this:

(sorry for the blurry photo – too lazy busy to take another one). I used the binder rings and lots of stickers and scrapbooking leftovers. The numbers are these big black old stickers I have had fovever. I used the cropadile to punch the holes and computer printed a bunch of holidays so the teachers can just change out the holiday bit. The hard part (because math and logic is hard for me) was figuring out what number to go on the back so that once the cards are flipped to the back, they can be turned around on the rings as needed. (Boy, that makes no sense- I mean I wanted to use both sides of the cards as effectively as possible)

Then I got the bright idea that since this would be in a class there would be lots of grubby paws on it so I laminated each number card. But that created some issues. Since I had not originally calculated the laminated edging into the size, each card was too long now and I had to trim each card before laminating and then trim and round the corners with scissors because no one has made a frigging corner rounder that work on lamination (I wish to heck I could patent that idea and make a fortune!). And rounding the corners always makes me grumpy because they never look identical. ugh (ok, just me, right?) I also used the cropadile once again to re-punch the holes.

And it seems that in a fit of purging I let go all my clear acrylic frames and none of the thriftstores have ANY all of a sudden. I got one from Dollar General but it is kinda flimsy. Will try it and let ya know how it goes.

My plan is to pound these out over thanksgiving weekend and gift them to the teachers on the 12th day before the end of school before winter break when I start my 12 days of gifting. (other gifts I have set aside: bacon chocolate bars, chalkboard spraypainted mugs, chalk pens, chalkboard thought bubbles- still have to make those- fleece blankets with names on them, our annual xmas music cd and more).

Quickie

 

I picked up some little cork board tiles at a yardsale.

Glue gunned them to the inside of a couple of kitchen cabinets.

Tacked a couple of photos that make me smile and recipes etc on them.

The only tricky bit is to make sure the tack does not hit the shelf when the door is closed.

Easy cheesy!

I *heart* the dump!

  I got all this for 8 bucks!

The water table alone will sell for more than that on craigslist!

Sweet! Do all dumps have an awesome recycling center like mine does?!?

I had mentioned it before here.

The round thing is a lazy susan and the water table is headed for CL.

Awesome Party decoration!

My mother in law’s big birthday bash.

I am huge into photos, scrapbooking, preserving the past etc.

So, how did I contribute to the decorating?

I printed a ton of photos and taped them to a wall. Printed on my home printer on photo paper in various sizes, I tried to pick photos of her through the years with people I knew would be there (or who had passed on- like her mother- which made her tear up). I tried to keep it sorta like a timeline and just used folded over scotch tape. I tried to keep the tape off the walls because I didn’t wanna mess up the awesome paint finish at my in brother & sister in law’s place. And I passed the pictures along to whomever wanted them at the end of the evening.

It was a huge hit! (*whisper* and super easy!)

Toilet paper Roll = pencil holder

Cannot recall where I first saw it but we have been making these things for years now. Toilet paper tube + 2-3 binder clips (depending on size of clips). Clip one med or lrg or 2 small at one end of the tube to hold it shut. Clip another on one side and fold one silver arm up to create the hanger. Fits easily over a push pin. We have these on each corkboard and several by the kids’ desk. Yes, you can write on the tube to jazz it up. We also sometime staple the end shut and just use the binder clip for hanging.

Spray Painting a Knife Block

  I love wood and I love spray paint. Usually I do not paint wood but . . . I saw this idea and then everyone in the blogosphere was doing it. Always late to the party, I had to try it, too! I had found this pampered chef knife block at a yardsale ($2 I think – I *know*! I was thrilled!!) and thought if it came out ugly I would just find another knife block at the thriftstore or yardsales. They are pretty easy to find.

So, I spray painted it using Oil Rubbed Bronze and it looks good! I’ve been using for a couple of months now and it is fine. No chips or anything. And no, I did not even sand it a smidge – just washed it good and set it in the sun to dry.

I sprayed the bottom (I thought it was the easiest way to paint the bottom edges), then just sprayed and flipped and sprayed some more. I gave it pretty good coverage and no clear coat. Love it!!

  Yes, that is a plate (glued to a candlestick) cakestand.

Yes, those tomatoes are from our garden.   Yes, we have wood laminate countertop and backsplash.

And yes, the ORB painted block looks much better than the old blonde tone wood did.

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And this basil is thanks to Julia and this is the second little bunch to root for me. I tried to plant the first one in a pot outside and it died within days. I am a horrid gardener. Anyone wanna tell me how to grow this outside? There are sooo many roots on these!! And all I do is change out the water ever couple of days.

 

Woodworkin’ in the Shed and Rescuing a Vintage Buffet

  When we got the new carpet in the living room we took a look at our tired cheap old plain entertainment center and decided it was time to let it go. We had bought it in a rush after the last time the house flooded and we were ready for a change. See, we are saving up for a flat screen TV as a family X-mas present and knew we wanted a vintage, long, real wood, something to go under it and also knowing our living room is HUGE and, well, *HUGE HUGE*, scale was something to think about. Selling our entertainment center proved harder than we thought and we ended up giving the sidepiece to a friend and free-cycling the main unit. No one is buying entertainment centers nowadays.

On Craigslist (duh! where else??) we looked at oodles of buffets and sideboards and record players and finally found a kinda banged up buffet that had been languishing on CL for over a month. Asking price was 80 and he took 40. It was at his friend’s house and the friends wife (or girlfriend, I cannot recall) wanted it outta the spare bedroom. Woo-hoo! Score! We loaded it into the truck and squealed the tires as we drove away (not really, but I was all smile-y and thrilled and doing the happy dance in my seat –while Pete rolled his eyes at me but thankfully he saw the potential in the piece, too!)

It sat in the shed for a couple of month and then Pete got to work. Sanding and sanding and more sanding, teaching the kids to sand by hand (child labor laws do not apply at our house!), gluing veneer and puttying the patches that were too far gone to resuscitate. Then he used a maple wiping stain and a bunch of clear spray finishing cans that I always pick up at yard sales and cleaned the handles – which are kinda like shells and are either Bakelite or some vintage plastic and it looks great!

We moved it into the house and I love it and think it would look great in the dining room if we decide it does not work in the living room! It matches the table and looks great under the dining room window! But for now the plan is to have it in the living room.

Stay tuned for the other piece of furniture Pete is refinishing at the moment – it was a craigslist freebie!! A vintage radio/record player cabinet!! The plan is to put the two pieces side by side (they do not match perfectly but we are hoping they will look good together) and the radio cabinet will house the electronics – the cabinets are a smidge wider than the buffet’s cabinets- and the buffet will house the DVD’s, games, etc and the dream TV will look nice hanging on the wall above the two gorgeously refinished vintage rescued pieces.

Crafting with candlesticks

  I have been busy making these lately. I saw this craft making the blog rounds and was inspired. Then it became something of a passion and now I would say we are entering addiction territory. The recipe is simple: plate + adhesive + candlestick. Buuuuut the plate can be a small saucer or dish or bowl or platter. The candlestick can be tall or squat or something else (I have used a vase, a drinking glass and more!). Alot of folks on the web are picking up candlesticks at the dollar stores- trust me, get one without wax on it if you get it from the thrift store. It will take you longer to remove the wax than to make one of these! The plates, saucers, bowls, etc I have been mostly picking up at the thriftstores for under a buck each.

  The adhesive is supposed to be E6000 but I happened to have an opened tube of Plumber’s Goop in the shed so I used it and it has worked like a charm. Both are washable (although I hand wash not dishwasher for these) and stable. They do stink so proper ventilation, ok, people?

  You turn the plate (or bowl or saucer etc) upside down and then take the candlestick (or similar) and neatly glob or squeeze the adhesive onto the candlestick and adhere it to the plate. I sorta use my finger widths to judge if it is centered because some of the backstamps are not in the center. I put another plate and a weight on top to help it adhere well and give it a few hours before turning it rightside up and letting it sit for another day or two to cure.

Any clue what the base on this one is?? It is a ceiling fan light fixture!! I found a set of 5 at goodwill. They are gorgeous with cut diamond pattern and etching. And they nicely work on the larger charger sized plates.

  I have them all over- on my dresser to hold earrings etc, one on hubby’s dresser for change, one by the sink to hold bits and bobs, a big one on the island with fruit. The plan is to give them to some teachers at the school for val day (even though a couple have xmas poinsettias on them). I store them upside down on my pantry. I used them at the holidays and the varying heights make a nice display on the buffet.

       But I think I will be making these for awhile. Can you see one holding a cupcake as a birthday gift, or cookies (wrapped in plastic wrap) or in a bathroom with a bar of soap (not with my kiddos around but it would look cute in someone else’s house!). The only downside seems to be that my taste is vintage floral and glass and that might not be everyone’s cup of tea.

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Have you ever spray painted a *DOOR*??

You can and it works great!! We have had this sad white bathroom door for years. It was dingy (boys with dirty hands will do that) no matter how much we tried to clean it, it just looked grubby so I made an executive decision to spray paint it and sent Hubby off to Home Depot for supplies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He came back with a trigger sprayer and a few cans of celery green paint.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tape the knob and spray away. Flip, repeat. Hang and admire.

ahhhhhh - - You have to trust me that it looks good because my Autistic son likes to peel paint and the doorframes look reeeeeally bad. When i get a chance to repaint them, I’ll take a follow up photo. *sigh* The project list continues!

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Rescued from the donation pile

So, this cheap thin plastic gaudy gold frame (originally bought from goodwill for a couple of bucks a few years ago) was sad. I used it to teach T (the 11 yr old) how to spray paint and he painted in an old leftover tan (sorr, I accidently deleted my before shots).

Then I could not pawn it off find any of my friends who needed it and it was in my donation pile – until . . I decided to paint it black and maybe my sister in law could use it in her new house. . . . but then I decided it actually looked neat in the toddler’s room.

I toyed with repainting it (again) pink but I kinda like how the black works. One day she will have a mirror -when she is tall enough to see herself- because at this point a mirror would just be 1) a reason fro her to climb on top of the dresser and 2) something for the rambunctious trio to break.

I used Rustoleum Black Laquer with my spray trigger clip on handle.

and here is the AFTER:

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Giant Photo Collage Frame

The prices at my local Goodwills have been on the rise and to tell the truth I shop at other store wayyy more often than goodwill these days but I saw this and it was marked 10 bucks! I had to grab it. I put the ruler there to show the size. I guess it was in an office or something.

   Our open plan living area has been called “cavernous”, “huge” etc and that is not a joke. Super high ceiling and the open plan make it huge. I have always been aware of that. It should be two living areas but we always use it as sort of a large play area/foyer and the livingroom in front to the tv. When we first moved in I hung 11x17 prints in frames and they looked like snapshots on the expanse of wall. So I was hoping this large frame would work with the scale of the room.  )Please Note: Furniture is being moved around ain preparation for the X-mas tree to go up so the rooms are a mess)

With a vision I went to work! I took the frame apart and had originally planned to donate the faded mat and “lovely” print to the school art teacher but I have another vision! “Ain’t nothing a little spray paint can’t fix” is the thought behind my thinking. 

    I set aside the glass and the cardboard backing and spray painted the gold frame black (Black Lacquer because I had it on hand). This was a tough choice. Black, white, another color?? The huge livingroom walls are orange- not a soft orange, ORANGE! Exactly one shade away from true burnt orange (Hook ‘em!) We lived with cream walls for over a decade and then we went bold – and love it! I brought home an orange (“for an accent wall”) and a moss green. Hub chose the orange and once we started painting, we just kept going and love it. It is rather bold, though.

  There is a black wrought iron railing separating the dining room from the drop down sunken living room so I thought black would be better than white. Plus I knew what wrapping papers I had on hand to work with.

  The next choice was which wrapping paper to use. I had a matte bronze and a matte gold. I was also torn between color or black & white photos. Hubby said he preferred the color photos and they look better with the gold (the B&W looked better with the bronze). I wrapped the cardboard backing in wrapping paper and just scotch taped it on.

Choosing which photos is hard, too. Do you go with all time favorites? How far back do you go? As a scrapper and in a household where literally everyone even the 2 year old takes pictures, there was a lot to choose from. I think I made some good choices.

I just played with the layout and stuck them on using hermafix (scrapbooking non permanent adhesive – in case I want to change the photos out later). I do wish the photo of us in the center was bigger but that was as big as I could print it. I was fitzing around with it and fussing over the layout until my non scrapbooking sister in law said I was worrying about things only *I* would notice. So I just stopped, called it done and Hubby put the frame all back together. I was kinda scared of that monster piece of glass (my knickname is “Grace” and I am rather clumsy). Then we bent back in place the gazillion staples to hold it in. (Note: A couple of the photos fell so we had to open it up and glue them down better *TWICE*!). The blank spot on one corner is intentional. It was too small for another photo so I plan on adding some vinyl- probably the word Family is fancy font.

  I hope to find some other large scale pieces to use on this wall but- it has been blank for 17 years. I think it is in no hurry to be covered in artwork.

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I went shopping at the DUMP!

My dump has a Resale Center.

I only recently discovered it and I am hooked! Hooked I tell you!!

I wish I had known they have doors (some really nice ones, too!) starting at 6$! They are all sizes and kinds. I bought a new barrel to burn leaves in for 6$ and they cut the top off for free. They kind of have stuff grouped.

There was a bin of glass blocks (1$ each), a crate full of bbq grill grates , there were bed frames and a non working go cart and lamps and fencing materials and shower stall doors and all kinds of tubes and pipes and tires and bikes and lamps and skis and toilet tank lids and a boat anchor (4$!!). There were drinking glasses and smaller stuff but I was more interested in the odds and ends.

I also ended up with these bun feet. Not sure what I will use them for yet but they were neat. At 3$ each I thought they were on the high end but they are solid wood and in great shape. I think I want to give them a wash in a bleach solution but hubby thinks it might damage the wood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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