One Good Idea Leads to Another......

 Or, why you should stay out of Lowes on a dreary, windy winter afternoon.....

It feels like it's been ages since I had a "project" around the house!  You know....painting something, crafting something, switching some things out to create a new look....that sort of thing. 

I guess you can safely say the old homeplace has been in a bit of a rut lately.  

So, while Eddie Dale was off today, we went out to Lowes and prowled around.  Uh oh.....

Actually, I had two particular projects in mind.....

~ A heavy-duty-yet-visually-pleasing shelf in my kitchen area to display a bunch of cookbooks that are stuck in drawers here and there.  Let me be blunt - I need that drawer space to hide store other stuff!

We found some unfinished wood brackets and lumber to "create" that. 

~ More useable storage space in my rather small closet.  I've been paring down and weeding out as much as possible, but it's still a messy, cramped space.  We measured before we headed out and came up with the idea for some shelving that will fit above my hanging clothes and wrap around a corner. 

Materials for this project - purchased!

I figure that on his next day off, we can probably knock both of those projects out in a few hours! 

Here's the kicker, folks....the idea of adding a white shelf in the kitchen makes me want to repaint a couple of pieces of furniture/decor in there and tie it all together.  (Not to mention the fact that I really would like need new curtains in there!)  This thought led me to the paint aisle.....which ultimately led to picking up gobs of paint samples and pretty little idea brochures -

because I am suddenly inspired to paint some furniture - and not just in the kitchen.... 

You know, going to Lowes for ideas and inspiration....and picking up the latest edition of "Cottage Style" magazine at the checkout....can lead to all sorts of problems! 

Now my head is swimming with ideas for new "projects"!!!

Let's just call it a case of Spring Fever and see where it leads.....

CrAfTiNg for ChRiStMaS!!!

Here is it...just a few days before Christmas. And I have finally completed a Christmas craft project!!! It's just been one of those years when time has gotten away from me. But, I saw this great gift idea on a couple of different blogs and just had to give it a try.

First off, I couldn't find any tiles here in our little town, so I asked Eddie to pick some up at Lowe's when he went over to Amarillo. I specifically asked for 'matte finish' tiles and these were the only ones he could find that he considered 'matte finish'. Uh, they weren't smooth...more like tumbled stone, kinda uneven...and I wasn't sure how they would work.



But, I forged on. A trip to Dollar General yielded some pretty tissue paper. The instructions I had seen called for cocktail napkins with a design that would fit on the tiles, so I was 'making do' again when I went with the tissue paper. But, at this point, I was beginning to get a vision in my head of how my project might turn out, even though it would be somewhat different from what I originally planned.



Next, I got some little felt pads in the hardward department of WalMart and a fresh bottle of ModPodge and spray polyurethane. The original directions called for cork to cover the bottom of the tiles, but, alas, I couldn't find any cork in this town either!



After covering the work surface of my dining room table (my most favorite crafting surface), I was ready to get busy!



I just cut squares of tissue paper and used the ModPodge to cover the tiles, top and sides. Once that was dry, I gave it two more coats of ModPodge, brushing the surface in one direction on the first coat, and across the other way on the second coat. See how it gives the finish the look of canvas??



After these dried overnight, I took them out to the garage for a couple of thin coats of spray polyurethane. After letting that dry overnight, I used hot glue to set the little felt pads on the corners of coaster bottoms. There's no way those little suckers are coming off!



Finally, on the third day, I put sets of four coasters together and tied them with pretty wired ribbon. I even used those little dollar store bells on some of the bows.



Voila! A perfect little gift for someone special at Christmas-time.



I was pleased with how these turned out. They aren't quite like the ones I had seen online, but I still like them. Just goes to show ya that you can use what you have (or what you can find) to modify a craft project and make it your very own!

Wishing you and yours a season filled with love and wonderful new memories!!

Jane

Christmas Blessings and Simple Ideas

HoLiDaY GrEeTiNgS to one and all and a special WELCOME to all the SITSahood!!! I'm linking up to "The Secret's In The Sauce" over at http://www.thesitsgirls.com/ for Merry SITSmas 2009.

We are under three weeks on the CoUnTdOwN to ChRiStMaS...can you BeLiEvE that?!?!? I've been out there in BlogWorld, busily perusing all the fabulous ideas for crafting and decorating. So many Fabulous and Fantastic Ideas...I'm going into "sponge-mode-overload" trying to soak them all up!

I really haven't had just a whole lot of time to craft in recent years, but I wanted to show you a few of my FaVoRiTeS for this year. They're not all homemade...they're not all terribly crafty...but they all WoRk for Me!!!

My "Best Find" for this year is this beautiful red vase, which I picked up for $7.99 (nope, that's not a typo!) at Ross. I couldn't believe my luck when I spotted it AND got my hands on it before my Mother did!!! I simply filled it with a couple dozen old silver glass balls (already had these, don't we all?) and - voila - a beautiful piece that really makes a statement!

Next project: We had a need for a large centerpiece for the dining table that can be easily picked up and moved. I recently purchased a simple brown wooden serving tray at WalMart that I knew I wanted to use a the base. I took a cheap 9-foot artificial garland and wrapped it around a couple of times and shaped it to fit snugly down in the tray. Left-over silver beads and ornaments were just draped and snuggled into the greenery and a trio of silver candlesticks nestled in the center completed the arrangement. I just love the way this turned out and it's soooo easy to just grab it and move it when we need the table space!


Finally, I unwrapped these little pinecone trees I crafted a couple of years ago. I had the tiny clay pots, leftover from a project years ago, and transformed them with silver spray paint. Pinecones, gathered from our property, were simply tipped with glue, using a spongebrush, and dusted with silver glitter. A little dried spanish moss was tucked in the base and a pinecone hot-glued on top of that. How simple!


I made about a dozen of these one evening and have tucked them here and there as accent pieces to finish out little vignettes. Great fillers!


So, there you have it! These fun and simple decorations - some made and some bought -help brighten our country home for the Holiday Season.

You know, at this Special Time of the Year, Eddie Dale and I are feeling truly BLESSED. We have a wonderful home, our health, our awesome Family and Friends...too many BLESSINGS to list.


I wish for each and every one of you Abundant Blessings during this Season of JOY!!!

Jane

Check out other great DIY projects from BlogLand over at: http://asoftplace.net/

(Sorry, Kimba, can't get your button to load up over here!)