Notes from A Cottage Industry

Dining room wall decor update, at last.

Ohmygosh, could you hear my nail gun and me squealing with delirious glee at 1:45 am last Thursday night? (Or Friday morning, depending on how you view that time I refer to as "the middle of the night".)

I am 100% happy at long last with my dining room wall! (For now anyway. You know how I like to change things up in my house all the time.) It took me three days off and on, working ten or fifteen minutes at a time, (I was busy with etsy orders and my booth space, and had to allow drying time for the paint between coats....) but I finally completed my sign, and it is just what I wanted.

Neutral, kind of understated, and personalized, all at the same time. What do you think?
I began with a twelve dollar board from Home Depot. It was a four foot by four foot board (some sort of thin plywood) and I had the guy cut off one foot. (Which I will craft into another sign to sell in my booth and recoup my twelve bucks and then some...)

I painted it with primer....

I painted it a butter yellow that I had from a tester bottle for my Mom's laundry room way back when. It took a little adjusting to get the color muted just right. (I added white paint)

I then used Annie Sloan dark wax around the edges to weather it a bit. Then, I patted a paper towel of watery white paint over the glaze, and the oil to water mix made it kind of do a weathered looking thing.

After that, I printed, transferred, and painted my words.

We live on Harney Way, which is why the sign reads "The Jewel of Harney Way" at the top.The idea for this line came from a visit to my best friend since fifth grade's home several years back, when she still lived in northern California.

We had taken a walk one morning and we passed a little cottage with a picket fence. On the gate was a bronze oval plate that read "The jewel of such and such street" (I don't remember the street name) and I thought it was precious.

I knew I wanted to steal this idea so I squirreled it away in my mind, but once I put up my own picket fence at our cottage, I was torn, because I already had my little sign that seemed also perfect for my gate to welcome friends. Here is a picture to remind you of it from last summer...

...so, I kept waiting to use the idea. I thought it worked on my dining sign, so here it is.

It's not perfect, and I still might weather the paint a bit more, but I am feeling all sorts of crazy mad love for the wall now. It fills the wall, without being too showy, which is just what I was after.

Now, to decide about the black hutch...

Gift wrapping tips and tricks, Part Two.

Whew! It's been a day.

(Nothing terribly exciting, just seems that way, because of that time management issue I keep mentioning...)

So.

Yesterday we covered supplies, and I hope you found at least one idea or supply item that was new to you! Today, (ehem...tonight, really.) it is all about my wrapping style.

(You may already know and do these few things, but in case you don't.....)

When I wrap, I use a measure and cut my wrapping paper like we all do. Then, I use a piece of tape to hold my wrapping in place on the center-ish area of my box, and then wrap the cut paper around the package.

When I get all the way around the package, I make sure the paper goes past the end of the box, and I crease it there. (See that fold there on the right hand end? That is my crease.)

Then my outer piece of tape on on the edge. It makes for a neater, tidy, seamless looking wrap job, especially if you use double sided tape, and put the tape under the seam where it is hidden. (In my humble opinion, anyway....)

Once the box is wrapped, I am ready to add the the various fun touches, such as shred, and tulle, and anything else that strikes my fancy. The first adornment step is usually ribbon.

I wrap a length of ribbon around my wrapped box, and tie it just like this...

Now it is ready for the fun little adornments. In the box I am sharing today, my first layer was red shred (Dollar Store- I love their colors, and their price!) I simply take a small amount of shred (the bigger the package, the more shred you use) and laid it on top of the ribbon, then tied the ribbon over the shed, like so, like that. ( I'm typing this in my best Tabitha Brown voice...)

On top of the shred layer I added 3 pieces of tulle (stacked on top of each other and bunched up in the center.) then I tied the ribbon again to hold it in place.

Next, I added a little sprig of faux greenery from my Christmas stash...

Then, a jingle bell (Dollar Store again...eight in a package!) topped things off. I was ready to either tie a bow, or, as in this case, I opted for a more simple look, and let it as a non-bow, with nicely trimmed ends on my ribbon.

I always like my ribbon to have an upside down "V" at the end. To get this perfect every time, simply fold your ribbon in have and make an angled cut. Unfold, and it's perfect every time.

The last step is using my spray glue and glitter when I am wanting a shimmery festive look. (And, in this case, I did.)

Ugh. The sun was setting, and my lighting got bad for the last shot there. (I told you, I suffer from a fairly severe time management condition...)

This method of gift wrapping works with shred, tulle, tissue paper, and anything else you can think of, along with clever tags (I didn't get my tag made before the sun set...) and any kind of little ornament, or treat you want to tie on to a gift. The same exact process works when wrapping a wine bottle, except you would use tissue paper or tulle to wrap your bottle.

The little gift boxes I use do not even need to be wrapped, which is pretty sweet when you're in a time crunch, or when wrapping a lot of gifts, it is extra nice. (More on these in another wrap related post!)

I am looking at the clock now, and it is after 8:00 PM Pacific Time. I am thrilled that I managed to complete this post before the clock turns twelve and I missed the day entirely.

 

 

If you're lookin' for a sign that it's time to party on the back porch, this is most definitely it.

AmIright?

During the stay-at-home order I found myself doing some serious nesting, both indoors and out. My cottage was built in 1952 (I think) and at some point in time, the person that lived behind this house put up a decent sized storage shed.

Right on the property line.

Mmmm hmmm. The back of my neighbor's shed, faces our covered back patio. In fact, the back of the shed is the first thing you see upon coming out to the covered patio from the garage. (To get to the backyard, you go through the kitchen, then the laundry room, then the garage, and out the door to the backyard.)

It wasn't hideous, but it was....big.

One day I got the idea to go buy a piece of thin plywood and design a giant four foot by eight foot sign. I would paint it and have Ralph help me hang it on the neighbor's shed backside with screws, I thought. 

Then I worried about drilling on my neighbor's shed.

(Hmmm, maybe not the best idea.)

Then it hit me that I could simply paint my design directly on the shed back.

Yes!

So, I designed my sign, and then made a graph layout so I could gauge size of letters.

(I got pretty excited at this point.)

I used regular blue painter's tape to make my rectangle, using a level to make sure I kept things straight...

...and then I primed and painted the white four by eight foot backdrop. I used the blue tape to create a green line around the outer edges...

I used my little design template to figure out how big my letters should be, and then printed the largest words (Back Porch) in my cheesy print program....

....and I tried doing a chalk transfer, but it was a rather epic fail. I then cut out the letters, traced around them, and painted them in.

Success!

For the smaller letters, I used my Silhouette cutter. Now, I had not used this machine in about...oh, maybe eight years, so I was a little nervous, but it turned out that it was like riding a bike. It all came back to me.

I transferred my letters to form words in the fonts and estimated sizes I wanted, and used them as stencils....

I then made a rectangle out of my blue tape to create the green painted background for the bottom of the sign....

....and it started really coming together.

 

I'm crazy about it. What do you think?

 

The cost to do this project was my time (I guesstimate it took me about four or five hours) and less than five dollars in new supplies that I didn't already have around the house. (I had the tape, white paint, and the paper and such needed for my patterns all around the house, so the only item I had to buy was a sample size of exterior green paint for $3.89 at Home Depot.)

Have you ever tackled a project like this? Just got brave and said "it's only paint!"? I'd love to know your thoughts!

Craft supply shopping in my workroom inspires creativity.

I've been in a bit of a less might be more mode (in terms of spending) as of late, and so I am trying to use "things" (craft supplies, my vintage furniture and table top stash in the garage, fabrics, paints, etc...) I have as opposed to buying even more "things" until I feel like I have all a little more under control.

I have been looking through my crafty supply inventory and then coming up with new creations for either my own home or for my booth spaces. I'm feeling so creative, and productive, and at the same time, I am getting my craft and work areas of my home much more organized. (It feels amazing!)

Last weekend I decided it was time to do something with a large piece of chenille with a couple of large holes in it that I had bought, thinking it was a bedspread. (Ugh. I hate it when that happens; I get excited and buy something without fully checking it out...)

After fiddling around with it for a few minutes contemplating ideas (more pillows? Some sort of table runner? Not quite feelin' it, but maybe....) I knew just exactly what I wanted to do. I have all of the fabric accessories in my back yard done up in black and white, and I decided to make a cute little banner to hang between my outdoor heaters. (I knew I had some black and white checked fabric remnants in my craft room somewhere....)

I took a simple piece of clothesline, (Discovered on my workbench in the garage...) and cut it a bit longer than I knew I would need. I then gathered my fabric remnants and cut them into simple strips.

I tied the clothes line to a closet doorknob in the hallway, and the other end to a dining room chair back to keep it taut. I then tied the fabric strips to the clothesline and in a matter of ten minutes or so, I was ready to take it outside and hang.

I think it's just what the space needed. What do you think?

Repurposed sweater sleeves de ja vu.

Well, a color change-up, anyway.

Remember this post from last year? I shared how I cut the sleeves off of a thrifted old sweater to make wanna-be socks from them to add a pop of color to my old vintage ice skates. I am hanging them in my own home this year, and I'm kinda still loving my Robins egg blue color way in the living room, so I went with that. Here was the process.....

I hung them by the front door on my coat hook, along with some mittens and a scarf. I'm ready to get my home ready for fall and winter, even though autumn weather is just barely hitting the Pacific Northwest. (We are currently enjoying sunny days all week in the mid to high 70s!)

I'm happy with the results, and I am now thinking I may just stick with my Robins egg blue this year for my Christmas decor, and keep the closer-to-traditional red, black grey and white for another year....

Speaking of Christmas, did you know that it is less than ten weeks away?!

How did that happen?!?!

Reinvented vintage wheeled laundry basket turned bar cart.

I scored a vintage folding-wheeled laundry basket (minus the old fabric laundry basket that hung in the center) at the Monticello Yard Sale a couple of weeks ago, even though at the time I had no idea what I would do with it.

I got it home and then had a mild case of buyers remorse, as I looked at the wheeled contraption and drew a blank. I left it opened up in the garage, and kept going out and looking at it during study breaks, drawing a total blank each time, until it occurred to me that I just might be able to adda  shelf up on the top, and use the rods that held the fabric laundry bag as supports.

I tried several different pieces of wood, and then an old cupboard door, none of which fit or looked right. Then I tried a hinged shutter I had stashed in the corner of my wood pieces. I uses this shutter as a backdrop for my etsy photos mainly.

Bingo.

It was a tight fit, but I got it in there, and it. was. fabulous.

Exactly what I was looking for!

Then, I scrounged around my junk a bit more and came across an old metal filing basket, complete with the original rubber gripper supports underneath, and it too was a perfect fit.

Meant to be.

I could hardly wait to get it down to Camas Antiques, where I placed it in my small case, and decked it out with bar items. (Of course it could be equally fabulous as a garden cart, or in the corner of a home office, or...well, you get it.) In my set up, I discovered that vintage tool box trays also make great wine or champagne serving trays too...)

Whatcha think?

Clever little gift wrap trick.

A pretty gift wrap job doesn't have to have a huge bow, and printed gift wrap to be memorable. I wrapped a housewarming gift a couple of weeks ago, and I decided to add a great quote to the package.

And it was super easy.

I simply found a quote that I liked, (I always search for quotes and song lyrics on Pinterest. I typed in "new home quotes" in the search bar, and up came a huge assortment of quotes!) then, typed and printed the quote out. I used a dollar store glue stick to attach it to my package, which I had wrapped in my signature brown kraft paper. I also printed and cut out a small tag, which I added to the gift with a length of baker's twine.

See how easy that was?

Next time you need to wrap a gift, and you'd like to add a personal touch, try searching out a quote that would fit with the person, or the event, and then give this easy-peasy gift wrap idea a try.

Runnin' down a dream. (...on the bucket list)

Today is my Ralph's sixty third birthday, and this birthday he is actually out of town, so I slipped his birthday present into his carry-on bag for him to find.

We have a bucket list of sorts, filled with places we want to see around the US, and concerts we want to attend, and I was feeling pretty smug a couple of weeks ago when I discovered that Tom Petty was going to be in Seattle this summer. (Seattle is a mere three hour drive, and oh! How we love our little road trips!) I could not have found a more perfect birthday present for him.

(And, I get to enjoy the present too! It doesn't get any better than that, I tell ya.)

Anyhoo, after I got over the concert ticket prices sticker shock, I was thrilled to have secured two tickets for us that are not in the nose-bleed section.

My next big challenge was how to wrap and present the present. Do I give it to him before he leaves on his trip?

Or when he gets home on Saturday?

Or...do I have him find it while on his trip? Yes, that was the way to go, I decided.

My next hurdle was how I was going to wrap the present. I don't know about you, but I like to make the wrap job extra fun on presents like gift cards or tickets to events. I mean, they are flat, and they are not the actual gift, but a paper or piece of plastic that will lead to a present at a later time, so it is fun to make the presentation a little more exciting.

I ended up creating a little flip book of sorts, with a clever cover showcasing Tom's smiling face, and then the concert details, followed by the seating chart, and then a closing page with an appropriate song lyric.

I completed my little flip book by connecting it all together with a customized tag on a ring, and then popped it into a manila envelope with another song lyric personalized with a birthday greeting.

I placed the envelope in his carry on bag when he left the room for a minute, and then stashed a snickers bar in the side pocket of the bag, and it was all good to go.

I had so much fun creating all of this. I think it's much easier when you're working with a theme, because once you get going, the possibilities are endless!

I am quite happy with the way it all came out, and I can't wait to hear what the birthday boy thinks.

 

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A chalkboard art tutrial, sorta kinda.

So, I did up a chalkboard easel to share all of the engine details about Old Blue at car shows, and a few people wrote to me, wanting to know how I did it.

First of all, it looks like I chalked it on there, but it is really white paint. I used the same method I have been using for about twelve years now, which is detailed in a very old blogpost here.

And, more recently...here.

If you click on the links, you will find the "How-To's" for making your own sign. Today I wanted to share the fonts I used, which look great when wanting a "chalked" look paint job on a board, sign or framed art.

**EDITED TO ADD: These are PAINTING techniques, and not chalk techniques. You can do the chalk portion and then clean up the chalk dust shadowing and use it that way, but my sign on the easel was made to be permanent, so I used regular latex white paint. Any craft paint will do!

The fonts I used are:

Alex Brush

AlwaysHere

Return to Sender

traveling_typewriter

Chalk hand lettering faded

There you have it.The fonts were all free, so go grab 'em....easy, peasy.

Do you have any other favorite "chalkboard" type fonts? Please share!

 

If you want instant decorating gratification, frame out a window.

I have never fancied myself a carpenter.

I can paint furniture, and do any sort of paper crafty-ish project, and I can bake a wicked dessert, but using power tools, and slinging a hammer?

Notsomuch.

I couldn't imagine it, nor did I feel even the teensiest bit of interest in this.

Then I moved into a 1952 fixer-upper cottage.

And I realized I needed to do quite a lot of updating that clearly would require carpentry work.

And, hiring it out would do ca-razy insane things to my budget.

That's when my daughter, handiwoman extraordinaire, stepped in and assured me that I could do this. Really.

Really?

Really.

I said I would be the judge of that.

She came over, chop-saw and nail-gun in hand, and we did a walk through my gonna-be-so-cute-and-cozy cottage. In the end, we decided the bathroom window would be the project I would cut my carpenter teeth on, so to speak.

My mama-of-FOUR-BOYS-tape-measure-toting-carpenter daughter whipped out her trusty crowbar, and showed me just how easy it is to pop off a window frame from 1952.

We then headed to Home Depot, picked up the wood trim, and got to work measuring the window.

Measure twice (or four or five times, if need-be.) and cut once.

We set up the chop-saw on the garage floor, and jerry-rigged a way to keep the wood straight while cutting (If you try this, do as I say, and not as I did...) because my work bench is still covered in tubs of holiday items from my move last December.

(Oh dear. Has it been more than four months already?)

She had me watch her work the saw. Then, she had me work the saw.

Oh my. How fun was this?!

A whole new creative frontier.

Fast, clean cuts. The smell of freshly made sawdust. Instant gratification. Oh yes, I could get used to doing this.

Mmmmm hmmm.

The nail gun proved to be even more fun.

(As if that were possible.)

In roughly eighteen minutes, first the side boards, then the bottom, and finally the top pieces...

...start to finish, we had nailed up and framed my sweet lil' bathroom window, without breaking a sweat.

Aah-mazing.

All that is left is to touch up the seams and nail holes with caulk, and paint.(and spend a good amount of time outside with a razorblade, scraping off the sloppy extra paint on the windows from a paint job a couple decades ago.) and the job is complete.

Squeeeeeeee!

She was right, I can do this! (And I will.)

Step aside Bob Vila'. Gramma Cupcake's gat a nail gun, and she's not afraid to use it.

Going big.

My daughter and I stumbled upon eight of these ginormous framed and matted prints at Salvation Army a couple of weeks ago, priced at $15.00 each. (They must have been from a hotel or something...?) It was supposed to be a half off day, and when we arrived at opening time, they had changed the sign.

Aaaurgh.

So, we didn't buy them.

A few days later when half off day finally did arrive she went back and miraculously, they were still there! She got them all, and I bought two of them from her.

I reinvented the first one last week, and I was very happy with the way it turned out.

I used my signature old book pages as a matt behind the chalkboard print I designed and printed on my computer.

The longest part of the entire project was getting the matt and old print out of the frame, 'coz they had used some serious tape all around the back, as well as those little tacks holding the matt board in place.

I was completely thrilled with the outcome, and if we had room on awall here at home, I would replace the smaller framed copy of that quote that I have in our entryway now.

Instead, I took it down to my case at Camas Antiques, and it will find a place in someone else's home.

Next time you're out thrifting, look a little closer at the frame and matt job on pictures, and you just might find yourself a treasure in the making.

 

Love me till my heart stops.

You know, I think it's rather hard to find the right thing to hang above a bed.

Coming from California,(earthquake country) shelves with lots of little trinkets kind of freak me out, and artwork sometimes looks too busy for my taste, so what's left?

At the risk of having one too many signs, or framed quotes in the house, I decided to recycle an old folk art piece.

(Please don't hate me for losing the pig couple.)

The frame was exactly the size I was after.

I printed my quote on my cheesey little Printshop program, using old dictionary pages, then I taped them together to make the size I needed. I used the glass from the frame as my guide to cut the quote out, and put it all together.

In less than 10 minutes I had it printed, assembled, and hung above the bed.

What do you have hanging above your bed?

Easy-peasy cupcake flags.

 

Yesterday I shared my easy tutorial for frosting cupcakes, and so, today I thought it only made sense to share how I whip out easy-as-can-be cupcake flags to top them off.

All you will need is ribbon, toothpicks, and a glue gun.

 

I take my ribbon and cut it into one inch strips. I then cut little "V's" out of one end of each ribbon strip, by folding the ribbon in half length-wise and making one angled cut. (This makes the "V" perfect and not lop-sided)

 

Next, it's time to add a tiny dot of hot glue to the toothpick, and add the ribbon.

 

 

Pop them in your cupcakes....

 

Ta da!

It's that time of year again.

 

..and, by "that time" I mean the time of year when the dollar store (and every other big box store in America) gets out their summer gear, which includes pool noodles.

You've seen these things, right?

Now, my Mom enjoys a good pool noodle. In fact, when she lived in Nevada, she was part of a click of summer-time pool junkees who boasted sassy swimsuits with coordinating cover-ups, flowered-flip-flops and brightly pedicured toes. They would catch up on the latest news around town, (Remember, they don't call it the biggest little city for nothin'.) and sunbathe and paddle around in the pool with their noodles.

This explains why they were lovingly referred to as the "Noodle Girls".

Anyway.

Pool noodles.

They're not just used as floatation devices anymore, people.

Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no..no.

They're also the coolest, cheapest, most fantabulous boot-plumper (boot holder-upper? Boot support?) in the free world today.

Thank you, Pinterest. (What did we do before Pinterest? How did we live?) Boots that have been abandoned on the floor of our closets for the off seasons,lie there like lopp-eared bunnies, taking up far too much real esttae on the closet loor.(and getting all creased in the wrong spots to make matters worse)They almost always manage to become separated from their mates during this time, so that when boot weather finally does arrive again, it's a scavenger hunt to find a matched pair.

 

 

At a dollar a noodle, you can create two pair of boot incerts (that's fifty cents a pair, or a quarter a boot. You can't beat that!) and they cut like butt-ah when you use a Cutco bread knife to create them.

Just sayin'.

It effortlessly sliced right through the three noodles I bought, and in less than one minute I was ready to go organize the floor of my closet, which currently is just a giant pile of assorted footware.

 

What are you waiitng for? Those pool noodles at the dollar store will be long gone by June, and then you'll have to wait another whole year. (I know this first hand, as I discovered the idea on Pinterest last year, and waited till July to go buy some.)

An easy secret to amazing gift tags that add a whole lotta wow to any gift.

 

Okay.

This is such a no-brainer, I am betting 90% of you already have thought of this, but for those other 10% of you...(or those of you who knew this, but just kind of forget to try it...)

Here's my easy-peasy trick for great gift tags: whatever the occasion, I google up the word (Like, let's saay...birthday, or graduation, or whatever) and, after the word, I type "quotations". Up pops pages of quotes about a topic. I search them until I find one I think is perfect for my need, and then, I copy and paste it into my cheesy print program, and change up the font to a sassy looking one that fits my taste.I add whatever else I want (Such as, "Happy Birthday!" or "Happy Housewarming") Then, I print it, cut it out, punch a hole, and tie it to my package.

Ta da!

A fabulous gift tag to make any present more special.

(Shameless Gramma post, masquerading as...) Photography tips from an amateur picture-taker.

We spent last weekend in the biggest little city, seeing friends, my son and daughter-in-law,and those two precious grand babes! My daughter-in-law had the great idea to have me take some pictures of the family at a nearby park that has an old historic one room schoolhouse. That old schoolhouse turned out to be a perfect backdrop for our photo shoot.

Now, I do not claim to be any sort of expert on photographing people, but I think I do okay with posed shots. I have a Mac, and I use iPhoto to edit my pictures sometimes, or I use PicMonkey, which is a very easy to use free photo editing site.

Simple backgrounds are always best, I think. (see this simple stained door?)
If the backgound is too busy, it seems to take away from the main focus of the picture. The simple lines of the old doors on the schoolhouse and the white siding make for a perfect, calm backdrop, and my makes my subjects really stand out.

If I am not thrilled witht the backdrop, I can always crop the photo in really tight, and just get the subject, with virtually no bacground showing.
Speaking of cropping, the first thing I do with posed-people-pictures is crop them. I typically crop them to be 8 by 10 constraints, so if I want to get them printed (I always use Walgreens, because I can send them online and they are done in an hour, but you can use a home printer, or whatever...) they will fit nicely in a frame.

Once I crop the photo, I usually sharpen it up. Then, sometimes I change the finish. Here is the same photo from up top there, but in an antique finish.
I am putting this version in my new home office. (oh yes! I am in the midst of creating a wonderful space to work on all of my crafty-computer-y things...my bliss.)

Anyway.

Back to what I was talking about...photographing posed people.

Sometimes in a group shot, one person stands out, and you can crop the photo to now be a single....
How can you not love that face?! (Ooooh! I just wanna hug the stuffins out of him!)

Black and white is another nice way to go. I have ony black and white photos in my cubical at work, and I love the artsy look of them.
Lastly, I take a ton of photos when I  am trying to capture something. More is more in this case. The beauty of digital cameras is that you can take 300 pictures, and while you may only end up with five good shots, you aren't out a dime. Just delete the bad shots and move on.

So, there you have it. Photo tips from someone that isn't a pro, but still manages to snag a few great shots.

Easter decor details...and an egg-citing surprise!

I wanted to share a bit of my my Easter decor, even if it is after the fact. (You know I meant to share all of this before the holiday, but time wasn't my friend.)

(I am guessing by now you are used to this, coming from me.)

So...Easter was our first real foray into semi-formal entertaining in our home for my Rock n' Roll Buddy and I. We jumped in with both feet, hosting not one, but two different meals this past weekend. Both events were relaxed, and a lot of fun.

We had his family over for an early supper on Saturday, and my family arrived for brunch Sunday morning.

So much fun!

I was in June Cleaver heaven.

(Seriously.)

Ralph had a pretty great time as well.

(I have to say it again. So much fun!)

I started off with a darling lil' idea I found through a friend, who shared a link of a party one of her friends did that made it to the fabulous Amy Atlas blog. (Thank you so much Sarah, for sharing that!! It was my most favorite part of the decorating!) Simple little pom-poms tied to the backs of each dining chair to create bunny tails. (I tied them to the stools at the kitchen counter as well, and I will have to add those pictures tonight!)....a word of advice: I used a furry-ish white yarn (Sorry, I don't knit or crochet, so I can't tell you exatly what it is called, but I got it at WalMart, and I thought it would look the most like a real bunny tail. Anyway, the yarn looks great, but...man, oh man. It sheds! I had little yarn hairs every where...on the table, on the floor...so consider this when selecting your yarn if you decide to try this idea yourself.
The table was done up pretty simply, with a square table topper I have had for a few years (made for me by the Sewing Queen, of course, complete with coordinating cloth napkins.) and a thrifted basket filled with silk ferns and a faux chocolate bunny and plastic Easter eggs. Our Easter dinner was pretty much traditional, with a honey glazed ham, roasted asperagus, potatoe salad, ambrosia salad, dinner rolls and sme yummy deviled eggs. Desssert was carrot cake and some dipped strawberries.

Easter Brunch the following morning was hearty, with eggs, ham, bacon, hashbrowns, fruit and creme' brulee French toast.....mmmmmmm. so good!

We did have one extra-fun surprise here during our Easter brunch! Carter gave everyone a plastic Easter egg and we all opened then up to find little yellow "Peeps" in them....
...except one of us. GiGi (The Sewing Queen) had a little blue Peep in her egg....looks like Carter and Coen are having a new baby brother at the end of summer!Check out some of the reactions here!)

 

I'm sharing this on the following Blog Parties...

Metamorphasis Monday

Easter touches that are egg-stra special. (and some FREE printables for you!)

Yeah, yeah, it's a pun.

(I couldn't help myself. Eggs..extra...eggstra....well, you get it.)

(heh heh. I crack me up sometimes.)

(Crack....more egg..er...eggshell...humor.)

Aaaaaah. Anyway.

I found this adorable (and so easy!) idea on Pinterest, and it got me thinking that it would make for fabulous invites to our families for Easter. (Did I tell you that we are hosting Easter? We are. In fact, we are hosting two Easter parties. Supper on Saturday for one crowd, and Easter Brunch for another. Sooooo fun!)

I'll be sharing all sorts of Easter decor, and menu ideas this week, and I'd love to read what all of you are doing!

Okay, let's get back to the cutie patootie invites, or Easter greetings if you prefer...(*note* I changed my mind about 16 times on the colors of ribbon and such, so the photos may not seem like they are from the same process, even though they are. I just didn't want to re-take pictures that many times!)

Here's how I did it:
I colored RAW eggs. Using a sewing needle, I then poked a little hole in one end, and a slightly larger hole in the other end.

I blew the egg out, into a bowl and use the eggs for baking later.

I assembled my boxes and filled them with shred. (I ordered my acrylic boxes online, which I usually use for boxing my cupcakes, but craft stores sell all sorts of cute boxes as well.)
You can print a message, an invitation, or whatever, on your computer (or write it by hand.)

I cut the message out, (An invitation, in my case)and rolled it up (I used a toothpick to get it started so it is a nice tight curl.)I inserted the message into the hollow egg.

I printed the two tags and cut them out. I used a tiny hole punch for the smaller tag, and a regular hole punch for the larger tag.
I tied a bow around the eggs with instructions to crack the egg open. Then closed the box and I tied a pretty bow around it with the other tag.
I packaged up the invitations that I needed to mail out of town, and hand delivered the local ones.

Feeling inspired, I made one more sample egg up to share another version of this idea with you. It's more vintage feeling, with a few lil' feathers and mocha shred. (This look is actually more my style, but I saw that bright apple-y green shred one day at WalMart and just decided to go for a more chipper-cheerful-springtime-y look...
I thought I'd share some tags with you here, so you can make some of these sweet lil' eggs up for yourself if you like. Click here to Download Open me and crack me open tags. Click here to Download HAPPY EASTER TAGS to roll up and slide inside your eggs, or to use as gift tags....

(gluing a white pom-pom over the bunny's tail makes a nice addition to this tag!)
I can't wait to share the tablescape for our Easter meals with you, along with the menus later this week!

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Super fast and easy charming gift wrap job.

**Pardon the grainy photos..I used my old Generation-Whatever iPhone at work to snag these shots**...

I love fancy packages with beautiful gift wraps and ribbons and bows, but I have whittled down all of my gift wrap supplies these days. (smaller homes require creative thinking and more sensible purchases...) These days I have opted to go with a more neutral wrap job that can be changed with the color of tissue and the style of gift tag. I now use only brown craft paper (the kind you buy to mail packages in...) and I have a stash of two sizes of an oatmeal colored handled gift bag.

Yesterday I bagged up a gift for a friend that is retiring, and I wanted something charming and simple, but vintage looking and pretty. I got it all in about four minutes time. 

A bit of tulle, a strip of pale Robin's egg blue ribbon (My favorite! So yummy!) and a  hand written (with a fine point black marker)tea dyed manilla tag (I actually dye them in large quantities in a tub of uber hot instant coffee, and let them air dry on cake cooling racks.) Some matching blue tissue and a little sprig of milnery flowers from my collection finished it off.

If you keep your wrap supplies simple, and organized, it will be a snap to make any present look like a million bucks, and will make your recipient feel oh-so-special.

Everything in it's place and a place for every thing.

...and if you can make it cute, all the better. (.....you can quote me on that.)

I think a long time ago I shared with you that I collect greeting cards when I find ones I like, and I store them  in a lil' basket so I am ready at a moments notice with the perfect card for the right person,at just the right time... but I never actually showed it to you.

It started years ago with me accumulating a few extra cards...and a few more...and...well, at some point in time I realized I had so many cards that I needed to actually file them by event, so I could find them as I needed them. You know, birthdays, Christmas, Blank, etc... and that has worked really well for me. When ever I see a card I like, I buy it and put it in my card file so I will have it when I need it.

That was the original plan anyway. (And we all know what they said about the best laid plans...)

Over time, I have gotten sloppy, rushing in and plopping the latest cards into the front of the basket, thinking I'd put it in the correct category it later. After doing this a million and six a few times, I managed to create a pretty unorganized basket of cards. Something needed to be done, and I decided that today was that day.

As long as I was going to the trouble to reorganize, I might as well update the look of my system, I thought. Seriously, I am so over the hot-pink-with-screaming-taxi-cab-yellow labels I had created in the early 90's (I think this must have been around the time I was busy puff painting over-sized Tee shirts and sporting really big hair...)

I decided to go with a simple look, using my favorite old typewriter font. I printed my dividers on manilla folders that I cut to be the size of a sheet of computer paper.

All I did was set up 2 columns in WORD, and printed my paper in "Landscape". I cut the paper in half once it was printed and I was ready to put them in place. Within a few minutes I was back to being organized, and it all looked clean, tidy, and cute.

Now, let's see if I can keep it this way.

Easy window valance tutorial....

Both of my daughters inherited my love of decoratin. One of them redid her upstairs guest bath last week, starting with a fresh coat of paint, and cleaning the window (which had a bit of birdie poop on it that required climbing out the second story window to clean properly...)

Anyway, once things were completed, she was looking for an easy window treatment. I mentioned the cute crocheted lace runner valance I had created in ten minutes in my Barbi Condo kitchen....

We decided to give the same treatment to her cute little bathroom window.

 She had a few pretty cutwork runners, and we chose one that was about two thirds longer than her window was wide. We hammered small finishing nails at both ends ot the top of the window frame,...

 as well as one last nail up top in the center, then we folded the runner in half, length wise, and hung it from the center nail..

then pulled the runner fairly taunt and hung it from either end on the outer nails..

We fluffed the ends of the runner so it hung neatly and we were finished. It added a pretty touch to her cute window, and still let plenty of light in. If you're looking for a quick valance treatment for a kitchen, bath or mudroom, you might want to consider your own version of this treatment idea yourself!

A few well chosen words.

When you're entertaining, it's the littlest details that make things memorable. One of my favorite never-fail little details is so easy that I thought I'd share it here today.

 Whenever I am entertaining (or giving a gift, for that matter...) I google quotations for the event, or the person. For this past event I googled up love and engagement quotations. I found several that I liked, so I copied them in a simple font (courier) and printed them on a checkered background from my cheesy lil' print program.

I then cut them to fit in some of my simple black frames and added them to the buffet table...

It adds a bit of interest as well as color to the table, don't you think? It works just as well on gift tags, so remember this next time you are hosting a party or  wrapping a package!

Birthday decorations that won't break the bank, but WILL look like a million bucks.

Most of us are on budgets these days. Even people lucky enough to still have good paying jobs are dealing with the ever rising cost of gasoline and groceries. I've realized that I am having to live more creatively than ever before in order to still enjoy living my charmed life on a shoestring. Case in point...

Three birthdays within seven days,(One of my dearest friends from the biggest little city who coincidentally was up for a visit, my rock n' roll buddy, and my first born daughter!) and I wanted everyone's birthday to be special for them. You know, birthdays only come once a year, so they should be special. With a little thought, some scraps of paper and a little time, I had created lots of little touches that made the birthday clebrations fun. I thought I'd share them with you so that if you feel so inclined, you can make someone's day special too.

First of all, I made a fabulous Beatle inspired "You say it's your BIRTHDAY" banner that worked for all three of my birthday people. 

Another fun idea is to make a custom gift tag. I took the opportunity to borrow an old family photo my rock n' roll buddy had when he wasn't looking. I took it home and made a copy on my printer (never use an original photo for this!) and cropped the picture to become part of my gift tag on his presents. I matted the picture copy to piece of scrap book paper. I added a second tag to coordinate, and seriously, it took all of three minutes....the best part was that he loved the tag nearly as much as the gift, and he was surprised to think I had managed to borrow his old family photo, which made it all the more special. One more bit of fun was this lil' flag I made. You know I love flags on birthday cakes, pies...whatever...so this time I made my rock n' roll buddy his most favorite treat and took them down to his office.(By the way, I think his office mates enjoyed them as much as he did...)
Oh, yes. The fabulous lil' button adorned flag made the rice crispy treats a hit, taking them from ordinary to extraordinary! Stay tuned...Monday I'll share a few more birthday ideas!

 

Before and after....70's maple night stands get new life in 2011.

Oh, the wonders a girl can work with a little creativity and a splash of paint.

I found two matching 70's maple night tables at a thrift store a few weeks ago.
They were in great working condition, but they looked out dated and the tops were scratched. I removed the pulls, then primed the drawers and body.
Two coats of paint (because I was doing a charcoal black shade, mainly.)Viola'!
Reborn with a basic Pottery Barn look...all set to re-invent someone's bedroom, and it cost less than $25 to do both night tables, start to finish, including my purchase price of $12 per night table. You just can't beat that.

When life gives you lemonade, make a really cool vase.

Have you seen the pretty shaped bottles of lemonade they sell at a lot of grocery stores these days? My daughter had them at the baby shower she hosted last month, so I snagged a couple of them, and I was glad I did.

They have such a pretty shape,and there was an indention for the label, which made it so easy to trace by pressing a piece of vintage sheet music over the area, and tracing it. I then cut it out and glued it in place with a simple glue stick.

I added a vintage skeleton key and some ribbon around the top of the bottle neck and it was done. Perfect for serving water at a meal, or using as a fabulously charming bud vase, don'tcha think?

And...best of all, it was a totally free craft project.

Monkeying around with my favorite gift box, but with a different twist....er...bow.

Ya, ya... I am in the midst of moving...but last night I took just a few minutes to whip up another aodrable gift box (Remember the last one I did? Made from a generic photo box?) to hold a lil' prezzie for my bestie friend here in Stars Hollow Camas. Amongs other things, we watch quite a bit of TV together, and when I found a card that had a couple of monkeys watching television (The boy monkey with popcorn, and the girl with a magazine, no less...tell me that wasn't meant to be!) I had to buy it. I cut the picture from the card, matted it with a background paper...(As always, click on the photos here to see them enlarged for better viewing of details)
and glued it on top of a ribbon going across the top of the box (I used my glue gun to secure the wired ribbon). I then glued a second ribbon to the botom of the box and tied tow bows this time, one on each side..... I added a little personalized statement to complete the box top's look....and of course I put something in the file pull.
These boxes are just my latest most favorite thing (and I can't get over how classic the black always looks!) for doin' up presents, 'coz the possibilities are endless for the themes you can create, and they are so nice and sturdy. An added plus is that your recipient can then use the box for something else later...and think of you each time they look at it.

Okay, back to what I am supposed to be doing now...

The perfect little gift box.

Beyond my passion for baking, I love clever packaging to put my baking in (or any kind of gift, for that matter) when giving it to friends and family. I've discovered the perfect container for this use, and I wanted to share it with you. It's a simple photo storage box, available at places like WalMart, and all of the craft stores.

They come every which way you can imagine, printed with seasonal designs, or florals and plaids, and solid colors, (which is what I actually prefer) and I usually have a few extra on hand in my storage closet of my workroom. They are really sturdy little boxes, which is perfect when boxing up any kind of baked goods, and you can decorate them so that the box becomes an additional part of the gift. I especially love the little label-holding-pull on the end of the box, which can house a tag that has a person's name in it, or an appropriate saying, like Happy Birthday, Thank you, or whatever else you can think of to carry out your theme. The latest box I created was Halloween themed, as you can see. I found an anatomy diagram in one of my old books that was the perfect size for my box lid. (check out old books at thirft stores and yard sales. Vintage children's books are great for baby themes, and old cookbooks are perfect for a charming vintage baking theme. Old books often have amazing photos and artwork that can be used in altered art, or for things like clever lil' gift tags and such ..the possibilities are endless!)

I added a ribbon to the box once I had my gifts inside, and the packaging was complete...(Now, how easy was that?)
....Anyway, i'm sharing this idea, because I'm thinking you might want to grab a few of these great boxes to keep on hand for creating some clever packaging yourself..the holidays are upon us, you know!

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Halloween Hats...

 
I have been meaning to get these fun hats done for a couple of weeks now, and finally made them today. They are really easy, and inexpensive to create, and they make a great centerpiece for a table, as well as a hat to actually wear at a party or just to answer the door for the little trick or treaters on Halloween.

I used my easy starch method to cover simple party hats from the dollar store..... 
...let them dry, shaping them on top of an upside down pyrex bowl. Once dry, I used my glue gun to add crepe paper fringe and a small crow from the dollar store.
I printed little banners on matching orange paper and glue gunned that on to the hats as a final touch...easy, easy, easy.

Life is as sweet as we make it.

I was thinking last night as I was baking and decorating cookies for really sweet friend that it really takes so little to show someone that you think they are pretty darned special. It doesn't take an outrageous amount of money, or a lot of work. It just takes a little time, and a little effort. It's all about making the ordinary...extraordinary.

Mmmm hmmm, it's all in the presentation. A cute box or bag, some ribbon, a handmade tag and you're good to go. I buy these cute lil' acrylic boxes online, but you can find them at places like Craft Warehouse and Michael's Craft Store, and put a stack of cookies, or a cupcake in them for an Oh-my-gosh-how-thoughtful-was-that look on your friend's face when you give them their little prezzie.

I used my cheesy print program to make my tag, but you can use WORD on your computer, or hand write one just the same and make is just as cute as mine if computer-y stuff isn't for you. My print program creates ten tags per page, so I put the extra nine in a drawer where they will be easy to find the next time I want to use this idea again!

Ordinary cookies (mine are my frosted sugar cookies, but any home made favorite will be a hit and look every bit as cute) become fabulous when presented in a creative way. Spend an extra five minutes, and make your friends feel really special. Think about this the next time you're taking a hostess gift, or simply surprising your friend, sweetheart, co-worker...or your favorite postman with a little somethin' somethin' to remind them that they are special.

After all, life is as sweet as we make it, right?

A new lil' Cottage Industry tutorial blog.

 You all know that old book pages and sheet music are part of my signature look, and have endured seeing countless projects done this way. Well, the other day, I was over at Carter's home helping his Mama to add some book pages to an old book case for the home office in her new home, and she had the fabulous idea to film me for a nice little tutorial to share with you.

I'll tell you right now that I insisted she film my arms only for this first time online tutorial because :

A. I am a woman over 50 that is more vain than I'd like to admit (and I think most of us "girls" that are over 50 are this way....) and 

B. I was having a really bad hair day, (No, seriously I was.) and 

C. I was caught in a typical Pacific Northwest (I still can't really believe I live here, can you?!) downpour before going to Carter's home and it made the bad hair day oh-so-much-worse.

Anyway.

Now that I have shared why you only see my hands (and a fraction of my nose and lips in one ten second spot) I would like to share the very first tutorial video with you.  (By the way, Carter's Mama created the new blog for me on Blogger because Typepad, as much as I love it, isn't so video friendly as I would like.) I will however, be jazzing up the looks of this tutorial blog in the very, very near future (As soon as I get the password and such from Carter's Mama.)

The first (in hopefully a nice long series) of tutorials is on Decoupaging book pages. You can find it here. (The link to the tutorial blog is now on my blog's sidebar.) 

Oh, one more thing...I have a fair amount of kind of...pauses....and I do not usually talk this way (any, I don't think I do) but, I was trying to get my thoughts together, and there was a bit of a race for time, as we could hear Carter on the baby monitor, stirring from his nap, and time was of the essence. 

Night table reinvention how-to.

Thanks for all of the ideas and input from yesterday's post on my color dilemma! I'm still debating about my Robin's egg blue letters in my booth, although, I must admit I am leaning towards adding dark brown edges to them, or making them more of a weathered chocolate brown, and I will share any updates. In the meantime...

A copy of weekends ago I snagged two matching night tables at an estate sale. I like the simple straight lines of these miniature dressers; plenty of storage and still small enough for the tiniest of bedrooms. I knew what I wanted to do with at least one of them.(I've shared my technique before, but it's worth sharing again...)

...First, I removed the drawers, and the knobs, and I primed everything with KILZ. (Sold at most hardware stores like Home Depot and Lowe's in quarts and gallons)
Then, I painted everything with my signature Robin's egg blue paint.(It's a pale blue with just a subtle hint of green...although it's hard to tell in this photo...)

....and, here's the recipe for my Robin's egg blue paint in a gallon size with a medium base. (I used an eggshell finish enamel this go around.) The pale blue doesn't photograph nearly as well as it looks in person, and I am not sure why...maybe it's the lighting?
Finally, I antiqued the entire piece, as well as the lil' knobs with my tobacco colored glaze. I use one part dark brown paint mixed into three parts Behr Brand glaze. Paint it on, rub off lightly, and you're done painting.

Lastly, I finished this little baby off by decoupaging old book pages inside the drawers and on the back of the night table for a finished look. To do this, all you do is tear old book pages from several different sized books, and dip them in liquid starch. Wipe the excess starch from the page and apply the page to the drawer bottom or back of the dresser, smoothing out all bubbles and left over liquid starch. Let it dry and you are good to go.

This little treasure will be making it's way to Camas Antiques today. If you've got an old plain piece just sitting around your home looking like it wants a makeover, try my method, with any color you like, or a shade of white or cream. (I still have some copies of my Furniture Painting kit available here, if you feel like you need a more in depth tutorial.) I think you'll be happy with the results!