Quinn's Lamp Makeover

My son has had this lamp in his room since he was born.

I still like the shape of the lamp, but 1) the fabric shade is horribly dusty, and I can't seem to keep it clean, and 2) I am getting ready to redo the room and I thought I new lamp would be better.

So, instead of throwing this perfectly good lamp away, I decided to give it a makeover.  I sent Quinn on a hunt to gather up a bunch of toys he no longer plays with.

Here is what we ended up with.

Next I gave the lamp base a quick coat of brown spray paint--Krylon of course!  Then I got to work on the shade. I don't have great pictures or directions for this part, so if you want to try this and need better directions, check out Traci's directions over at her blog Beneath My Heart.

First I took off the "ribbon" around the top and bottom of the shade.  

 Next I slathered fabric glue one the shade, one side at a time, and just rolled my burlap on.  After that was dry, I trimmed the excess off the edges and used my hot glue gun to glue the seam together.  I just folded, tucked, and glued.  

I also glued the bottom edge underneath the shade.

I trimmed the top as close to the shade as I could, and then I hot glued some jute to the top.  I just thought this gave it a more finished look.

By this time, my lamp base was dry.  I took the toys that Q had gathered and just started gluing them on the base.  Here is the final product:

 

And here are some close ups just for fun!

 

This was very fun, very easy, and free!  A one-of-a-kind lamp made out of a lamp that was destined for the dump!  What do you think? 

Easter Bunny Makeover

My friend gave me this cute little guy yesterday and said, "This is really not my style, but I am sure you could do something with it."

Well, it really wasn't my style either, but she was right.  I COULD do something with it!  I got out my "Almond" spray paint from Krylon, and went to town.  This is what he looked like after SEVERAL light coats of paint.

Better, but still needing some work.  (When I talked with my friend this morning, she asked how the bunny was turning out.  I told her that when you start with weird, you are still going to end up with weird, but that it would be an improvement!)

I decided to glaze the bunny.  I have mentioned in previous posts that I just water down a little paint and make my own glaze, and that it is exactly what I did again!

Then I use a small paint brush to get the paint into all the places that I really want the glaze to stick.

The I wipe the glaze off with rag, being sure to go against the grain and not wiping off all of the glaze that I just applied.

To finish him off, that sounds a bit brutal!, I added some leftover greens from another project.  Some little flowers would probably look better, but this is what I had! I also made a couple of burlap rosettes and hot glued them right over the previous tulips.

As I am looking at this picture and typing this post, I realize that I forgot to glaze the inside of one of the feet! Oops! I will have to fix that, but, for now, let's just say I was doing this as an example to show you the difference between the glazed and non-glazed paint.  Mmmmkay?

Riding the Fabric Rosette Bandwagon

In the past couple of months, I have spied fabric rosettes EVERYWHERE!  And, you know what?  I LOVE them!  I recently bought some necklaces for $1 each at the flea market, and I thought some rosettes would make a perfect addition!

I was going to write a tutorial, but, seriously, the tutorials I used were so fantastic, I thought I would just point you in that direction!  The first tutorial I read was from Stampin' With Gina.  You can read Gina's tute here.  A couple of days later, Living With Lindsay posted a great video tutorial.  You can watch Lindsay's video here.

I started with some scrap fabrics and some old T-shirts.  The backing that I used for my rosettes was a pair of the hubs old shorts.  The shorts are made of a more heavy weight material, and they hold up well with all the hot glue!

I took my fabric straps and started gluing and twisting, gluing and twisting.  When I reached the end of my circle, I glued the fabric to the back of the rosette to hold it in place.  The back doesn't look pretty, but no one will ever see it!  I then went to my "treasure box" to find some embellishments.  I found an ancient bracelet (actually probably not that ancient, just a relic from my MaryKay days!), that I had saved and now knew why: those little bead would go perfect on one of my flowers!  

I was going to glue my rosettes right onto my necklace, but then I had a better idea.  I decided that if I put pins on the rosettes, I would be able to make MORE rosettes in different colors and have interchangeable necklaces.  So, I very carefully glued the edges of the rosettes together (that way I wouldn't have to pin them all separately), and then I glued a pin on the back.  (I put a pin on the top and the bottom to keep the flowers from tipping over.)

Here are the final products:

Sorry there aren't more pics!  I made this late Saturday night so that I could wear it to church on Sunday!  

I felt so trendy!  Then I came home and put my "play clothes" on to do yard work--this Cinderella turns back into a pumpkin right after church! ;)

Spring Vignette Part Four: Letters and Frames

As you know (if you have been following along), my original idea for my vignette has significantly changed since its inception.  So that means lots of new projects to try!  

I have seen loads of stenciling over my crafting years, and I generally like the ways it looks.  I do not, however, like the way it looks when I try it.  It never turns out right.  Just ask my college roommates!  Remember the stars I "stenciled" (I use the term VERY loosely) on our washroom walls?  Ugh.  I wonder if they have been painted over yet… Anyhow, I had an idea to use some letters…for…soooooomething--I've come this far without revealing the final product, you didn't think I would tell you now, did you?!--but I was not about to try stenciling!  So, I went to my computer and searched for a font that I liked.  

I picked "American Typewriter".  Then I printed my letters on book pages.  I use book pages for many projects (I'll try to post some soon!), so I had several books on hand.  I like books with yellow pages, and to get them, I just go to GoodWill and browse the shelves for yellowed books.  It is so easy to see the difference in the page colors when they are all line up, and the books are only $0.59 each!  I do have to resist the urge to explain to the cashier why I am buying such random books though!  What can I say, I am a people pleaser… 

I am sure there is a better way to do this, but I am not very computer/printer savvy, so I did the best I could, and I will share my process with you.  The first thing I did was tape the top edge of my book page to a full sheet of printer paper.  I did this for two reasons: 1) I couldn't get the book page to feed through my printer by itself, and 2) my paper feeds through my printer top side first, so I placed my tape there as I didn't want the paper to move.

 

This process was a bit of trial and error.  I know I could have taken the margin measurements from Word, and measured out the exact dimensions on my paper, but, ugh.  My brain hurts from just saying that.  I know that this way is not the best way to do it,  so just do whatever works for you! 

I loved the way the letters were turning out, so I decided to try printing something else.  I have had these frames for several years, and I am kind of over them.  So I printed off free images onto my book pages.  I found a crow here, but decided it really didn't fit with my spring theme.  So I used a tulip from here.  

I took the backs off the frames (they were glued on, but it wasn't hard to get them off), and I mounted the prints on some fabric.  What a fun, quick, and easy change!

Also, I had a number of these frames that I bought from Hobby Lobby on clearance.  This one has a broken corner.  See? 

No worries!  A little bit of burlap and hot glue, and it's good to go!

As for my letters, I cut them out and mounted them on some scraps of card stock.

 

I cannot wait to show you the final product!  

Spring Vignette Part Three: Easter Eggs

Since I had a major egg mishap (see Part Two!) I needed a new idea.  There are so many great ideas out there on how to decorate/create easter eggs.  One idea that I really like was this one from All Things Belle.  So cute and so easy!  However, my new color scheme was going to be monochromatic, and I didn't think the thread eggs would have as much of an impact if I only used one color.  So I needed another idea.

I went to my fabric bins for inspiration.  I pulled out some burlap and muslin fabrics, and started running with a new idea! 

I tore up a bunch of strips of the fabrics, put them in the dutch oven, and poured a pot of coffee over them.  (For all my coffee loving friends, no coffee was harmed or wasted during this project!  I just ran a pot of water through the same grounds from the morning, and then I drank the coffee from the dutch oven after that items were done soaking. Eww!  No I didn't!  I like coffee, but that would be gross!) 

 

I let the fabric sit for about an hour, and then a hung all the strips and let them air dry over night.

The next morning, I gathered my supplies and got ready to decoupage. 

 

This was a bit of mess, but worth it in the end.  I wanted a very "rustic" look for my eggs, so I made sure my seams overlapped and that there were plenty of imperfections in my fabric.   Once the material was on the eggs, I let them dry overnight.

The next morning (for those of you counting, this is day three of this project!), I got to work on embellishing my eggs.  I just gathered up anything I could find that fit my color scheme: buttons, baker's twine, small wire flowers, and an old doily.  Do you recognize the buttons from Part One?

 

To make the buttons lay flat, I just snipped the loop off the back of them.

  

When I was done, I had a lovely batch of eggs!

 

Since I am using these eggs for my vignette, this crock is not where they will be staying, but I like them so much, I think I will have to make some more!

Want to try it?  You can TOTALLY do this!  Have fun, folks!