Chair Makeover

I’ve been kind of stressed lately and when I’m stressing I seem to go on craft overdrive. So, I craft away and I fix things. This chair is my most recent free find and the most recent thing I’ve made over.

The seat was covered in a plastic flower pattern material that I ripped off and replaced with some dropcloth. I painted it white and distressed it, and I’m pretty happy with it. Here it is at my desk!

I’d also re-done my desk area recently (yes, again) because I came across the most amazing old desk and I just couldn’t pass it up. I also got my hands on a larger window than the one I had before and it just feels so perfect there.

I have totally fallen in love with my little space all over again!!

So, there you have it! I hope you guys are having a lovely weekend!

-Mari

My New Obsession

I started making hair accessories a long time ago but I’d always stuck with one style. Recently, I began trying new ideas and different materials and I must admit I am kind of addicted to making them! >.< Here are just a few of my favorites.

I’ve also been making some adorable baby girl tutus and I will share those next time I post!

Have a great one and as always, thank you for coming by!!

-Mari

Headband Holder

I have not been keeping up too well with this blog but that’s not to say that I have not been crafting away! In fact, crafting is what’s kept me so busy that I haven’t had a chance to blog about it.

One of my favorite things to do right now are baby girl hair accessories. I make them to give away and I’ve even started selling some! So, I needed to find a way to store them without them getting in the way of the rest of my things.

A few weeks ago, I was helping one of my sisters tear down an old shed and I kept two pieces of old wood. I didn’t have an intended purpose for them at the time but I figured I’d eventually find a way to use them! And here is what’s become of them!

The wood is not in a perfect shape and the perfectionist in me is extremely bothered by it but I’m learning to work with what I’ve got and to stop being so controlling! >.< So, for now they are hanging on my wall as is. I hung the top one with jute and it serves a double purpose because it holds hair clips on it, too.

It was a fairly easy and fast project because I already had the painted clothespins! I'm happy with it for now! I've got tons of other stuff I've been working on and as soon as I've got a chance I'll post some of it, as well!!

Happy Wednesday, everyone, and thanks for coming by!!

-Mari

Double Digits Coming Soon!

We’ve been having quite a rough time with the weather changes in our area. My little one has asthma and any time the weather changes, it triggers her allergies which can very quickly escalade to full blown asthma attacks. She was diagnosed with bronchitis a few weeks ago and after two different types of antibiotics, she finally seems to be getting over it completely but now I’m the one who has it. I’m getting better but it’s definitely taking some time.

Her 10th birthday is fast approaching and though I’m not big on parties I was inspired to do a mini birthday shoot with her just for fun. I got to working on making some tissue paper pom-poms, a pretty banner, a birthday hat, and a birthday hair bow, among other things.

I initially wanted her to wear a dress so I could make everything girly and pink for her pictures but I got to thinking that getting her to wear a dress would require a lot of bribing and would make for a very uneasy child at picture time. So, instead of going with what I wanted, I went with what she likes. I let her pick the colors she wanted for the props and I went with it.

The day we took the pictures seemed like the worst day to do so. The wind was crazy, we were both coughing up a storm, and we got a bit discouraged. But we waited it out a little and decided that even if the wind didn’t let us use all of the props we had wanted to use, we would just do the best we could without them. We ended up having a great time taking these! I would share more of them but I don’t want to overwhelm you guys!!

I must admit, I really do like these colors a lot and she loves them too! So, in the end it was a win-win situation for both of us!! We are only a few days away from her birthday and I know that I won’t have time to post this then so I decided to do so today. They sure do grow up fast!!

Thanks for coming by and happy Friday to you!!!

Handmade Valentines

Hope everyone had an awesome Valentine’s Day! I just wanted to share some of the treats my little one took to school. We made personalized clothespin magnets sets for each one of her teachers and gift wrapped them appropriately, of course!! I love the tiny white paper sacks! And we bagged cookies in cellophane bags for the classmates with handmade tags! The pictures are not so great but here you have them!

The little one made the teachers the cutest paper heart bookmarkers, cut out hearts for all of the name tags, and wrote each person’s name on them. I love handmade things! I hope everyone at school loved them just as much as we loved making them together (bakers twine is my new love, by the way)!! ((:

Happy Monday, you guys!!

-Mari

Girly Stuff

My little one is used to being surrounded mostly by boys so I have a hard time getting her to wear anything that seems too girly for her. That leaves me with making girly things for anyone who lets me dress their little girls.

A few months ago I decided to give bow making a try and I didn’t do too bad. I don’t like intricate bows so I tried to keep them as simple as possible but used different ribbons to make them just different enough from ordinary bows. Here’s only two of those (I made some cheerleading ones for a neighbor’s niece but didn’t get any pictures of them).

I also made my very first tulle tutu for a co-worker’s newborn baby. It isn’t my best but for being my first it wasn’t too bad! I also made her a matching headband with one of my favorite burned edge fabric flowers!

She was less than five pounds so this is a rather tiny tutu! I set it on a candle and candle stick for the picture. So, that should give you an idea how itty bitty the baby was!! I had hoped to take her picture in it but life got in the way of that and before I knew it she had already outgrown it. I still hope to be able to take photos of her soon and when I do, I will share them here!

Thanks for coming by. I hope you are having a wonderful weekend!!

-Mari

Oh, How I Love Old Things!

One of my sisters and I have a mutual love of going “treasure hunting” as the little ones refer to it! We take random drives through town and see what we can spot being wrongfully thrown away (two sets of eyes are always better than one!). I have really been looking for are old windows (I want to make some photo props with them and some shutters I already have). Unfortunately, our search for them hadn’t been turning up anything! That is until a few nights ago when I went for a quick trip to the grocery store and on my way home I just couldn’t believe my eyes!! On top of a huge pile of debris was this precious old window you see below!! It’s like it was just waiting for me to come get it!! And get it I did!!

It’s too small for the project I had in mind but it is perfect to place above my desk! Oh, what a joy it is to find things you didn’t even know you needed!! So, I got to making some changes around my desk. I was delighted to add  some of my milk glass pieces!

First, I intended to do a dry erase board with the window. I added fabric to the middle pane and had the idea of adding corkboard over the other panes. But I already have that shutter that I used as a message/inspiration board. And what I’d really been wanting was a chalkboard in my little space. So, I dug my favorite chalkboard out of my photo props and hung it over the window. Then, I added a yearly birthday and anniversary calendar because I’m not really good at keeping up with everyone’s birthday! >.< I also added some tissue paper pom poms above my desk area and a couple of simple accessories. The personalized calendar is from here.

On my shutter memo board I have meaningful little notes and photos. I also proudly display the thank you notes I get from people who’ve been the recipients of some of my homemade gifts! Here’s my favorite thank you note and my most favorite milk glass piece, as well!! Aren’t both so pretty?

I’m thinking of maybe adding some floating shelves but I’m really enjoying the simplicity of my little space as it is.

Thanks for stopping by, you guys!!

 

 

 

P.S. I just noticed I watermarked my photos with the URL to my writing blog! I apologize for that, let’s just say I had a very long day!! >.<

From Trash To Treasures

Crafting is therapeutic for me and lately I’ve been creating a lot of stuff but I haven’t had a chance to post anything because I’ve been pretty busy so I’m just going to post a lot of it in this one post. I don’t say this lightly, please prepare for a picture overload!

I found those shutters at a yard sale (at only $4 for the PAIR!) and snatched them as soon as I saw them!! I painted them and hung my book page rosette wreath on them. I am in looove with them! You can see them better in the picture at the bottom of this post with the mirror on the opposite side of them.

I also have an unexplainable love for milk glass and I collect it (I’m secretly hoping that I will eventually have enough of it so that I can use it to make the center pieces when I have a wedding but don’t tell anyone)!! Can you believe I have never paid more than $2 per item?

I also have a fetish for chalkboards and I found that shelve in a pile of trash. I painted the chalkboard over some roosters and I sprayed painted the wood and distressed it a little and now it hangs in my kitchen.

I’d also been wanting to sew some pillow covers for a while and I finally built up the courage when I found an almost brand new white sheet at my local thrift shop.

I made a couple of them from the white sheet and some plain ones from drop cloth to complement them.

Another one of my fetishes is for coffee filters and I made these two pom poms using two different techniques and I absolutely love them both!

And then there’s another curbside treasure that I rescued; that lovely mirror! I painted and distressed it and now it hangs in my dining room.

I’ve also discovered a newfound love for grapevine wreaths and I’m really enjoying the simplicity of that wreath I hung on my bedroom door.

And last but not least I present to you one of my most precious finds!! That lovely window that I found in a trash pile a few months ago (like seriously, who in their right mind throws away a window?! Lol!). I’m thinking of doing something else with it but for the time being it sits on my night stand! Isn’t it just lovely?

I’m sorry if I overwhelmed you with all these pictures and please don’t hate me but I’ve got more things to post. I will do so as soon as I get a chance to snap some decent shots of them!! Let’s just say I found a smaller window and now my desk area is getting a make over to incorporate it so I can look at it when I sit here and blog because I love old things that much!!

Thank you for bearing with me, I hope you guys are having a wonderful night!

-Mari

The Joy Of Giving

I love crafting and I love giving. So what better thing to do than to make something to give to others?! Each year, I send homemade gifts for the littlest one’s teachers (the oldest one doesn’t cooperate anymore)! And this year I made personalized wreaths. Her teachers don’t follow my blog so I can share them here before I send them out.

I love the pink in this one but I didn’t want to make them both the exact same one so I used the same concept but changed it up a little bit for my second one. The next picture is not the best one because my settings weren’t perfect but I don’t have time to take some more so I here it is anyway.

I sure hope they enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making them and as much as I enjoyed the look on my little one’s face when they were finished! ((:

Hope you guys are enjoying the holiday season!!

-Mari

It’s The Most Wonderful Time of The Year!

The Christmas tree is up and so are the rest of my decorations for the living room. Since I have been super busy with work I am not sure if I’ll be doing much more decorating than that so I’ll share these with you guys for now.

I was testing my camera in the above shot and I actually like it a lot!

That chalkboard that my coffee filter wreath is on is one of my latest projects that I haven’t had a chance to share here. I am in love with chalkboards and they are all over this place. I even used some chalkboard tags on the tree with Christmas words written on them.

That ruffle pillow cover is only one of a few bunch that I sewed not too long ago out of a queen size white sheet (in case I messed up, it wouldn’t be too pricey)!

I love this type of packaging and those wrapped little presents are from last year but I couldn’t help myself and I just had to used them again this year!

Stockings haven’t been hung but I’ll share those later if I get a chance! How about you guys? Have you put up your tree and decorations yet?

Thanks for coming here and I wish you the most wonderful holiday season, my friends!!

-Mari