subway art

there are so many takes on subway art.  and i had not yet tried creating my own.  and lately my craft groove has been dormant (along with my blogging groove).  but today i gave it a try.  a sweet friend is having a birthday...a big one.  so i decided to make her some subway art with the places and things that are most meaningful to her and her family.

what a fun project.

now i need to start one of my own.  how about it ball's?  give me your favorite family traditions, memories, places.  i'll see what i can come up with.

and don't tell me nothing.

geez.

you know we did stuff.

a gumball machine

i needed a gumball machine.  on a stand.  not that i was anxious for 10 grandchildren to be running around my house chewing gum and leaving it wherever....

no, i needed a gumball machine because this little girl is a sassy, i'll say hello if i want to, kinda gal.

i needed a bribe.  so when she comes over i can get some loving.

yep, i needed a gumball machine.

like this one.  because miss sassy will do just about anything for gum.

but every gumball machine i found was red and black.  and i wanted black and white.

so out came the paint.  spray paint.  one of man's greatest inventions. 

here she is.  all ready.

so come on over elise.  this nana can't wait to get some leelee loving!

update

i loathe painting.  it's still not right.

i should have gone to disneyland.

while the cats away

i L.O.V.E. it when my boys go off together.  trampling in the wilderness.  chasing the big one.  sitting around a campfire telling remember when stories.  patting each other on the back.  eating soup that i made just for them.  makes me feel all warm inside.

it's their own male bonding time.
and over the years their male bonding time has given me plenty of opportunities too.
girlfriend time, sleeping in time, chick flick time, shopping time, and best of all...
daughter time.
why one time when they went hunting carrie and i left them a note on the kitchen table.
'gone to disneyland', it said.  'see you when we get back'.
now their latest hunting trip hasn't taken me to disneyland.
but that doesn't mean i'm sitting around whining and crying in my diet coke.

no sireee.  let the fun begin.
painting the kitchen.
because while i love the kitchen cabinet redo from last year,

i hate the way the cabinets look with the current color of my kitchen walls.
a nice, soft swiss coffee background is just what they need.

so thank you, my boys, for giving me a free weekend.
i hope you are enjoying your male bonding time.
and that pot of  soup.  it's filled with love. 

finishing touch

i finished the burlap pillows.

i'm liking the texture. 

and the best part of these little pillows...i didn't have to buy a thing.  i had looked for a pillow insert that was the size i wanted, about 8" X 16".  couldn't find that size anywhere. but all i needed to do was check my pillow stash.

there it was.  the average pillow.  16" X 16".  so i cut it in half.

oh how i love upcycling.

p.s.  no bathroom jokes allowed.

at last

finally...my chairs are reupholstered.  and i couldn't be happier with them.

here they are before.

during

and after

now i'm off to make some little burlap back pillows.  i think they could use the texture.

that and i love burlap.

woot! woot!

i've been featured!

F.U.N.

http://www.inthefunlane.com/

(click the link above and you can see all the fabulousness)

mine vs. theirs

these are my chairs.  (given to me by a friend.  aren't i a lucky girl.)

i'm swooning over these chairs.  aren't they gorgeous.

i want these chairs.  i want these chairs real bad.

and my chairs could be these chairs.

just paint the frames black.

reupholster the seats and backs in a similar fabric.

easy peasy...but...there's always a but....

i can't get the seats and backs off my chairs.  i even took them to an upholsterer.

just to get the seats and backs removed.

he wouldn't touch them.

he said the seats and backs were glued on.  tight.  real tight.

i'm tempted to take a sledge hammer to the bottoms and backs and pound away.

because when my chairs look like these chairs my dining room will be complete.

and then i could post pictures.

if i could take pictures.

another story.

i'll keep you posted though on my demolition.

i'm determined to get those chairs.

ideas needed

i found this quote perusing vinyl sites.  do you love it as much as i do?  i want to recreate it in vinyl.  but not on wood or a tile or not just applied to the wall.

i want something more abstract. 

but i don't have any ideas.

do you?

getting my craft on

tonight i was itching for a crafting project.  and this little stool was tired of being naked.

so we met up.  stool is no longer naked.  i'm no longer itching for a crafting project.

mission accomplished.

now i just need a tutorial in the art of picture taking.

sweet little pin cushion cake on the loveliest little cupcake stand

disclaimer:  if you don't get bountiful baskets you won't get this.

so, deb, you might want to quit reading.

this was today's project.

and what a sweet project it was.
the sweetest little double layer pin cushion cake on an ever so lovely little cupcake stand.

i'm in love with these sweet little diy pin cushions.

i'm in love with thrifting for glass candlesticks and little dishes to make these ever so lovely cupcake stands.

today was a most sweet and lovely day.

10 minutes of thrifting

with this kid = SCORE

literally in and out of the store in less than 10 minutes.
i told him what i wanted.
a couple of clear glass items to put together to make cupcake stands.

 (because who doesn't need a cupcake stand...or a pin cushion stand)

the boy has an eye.

this is what he found.

and you see the milk glass dish.

won't my paperclips look lovely in that.

thanks for 10 minutes of bliss sash...you're the best.

yesterday's projects

this is my laundry "room"..."room" being a word only a builder would use.  because a space that measures 10' by 7' is not a room...a closet maybe.  or perhaps a pass through.  yes, that's what this is.  a pass through.  and i pass through it a dozen times a day.  i've tried to make it an inspiring place because sometimes i do more than just pass through to the garage.  sometimes  i "wash, rinse, fold, repeat" in here. so yesterday morning i got up and decided to add a little pizazz. 

i got an old frame, some chalkboard paint, and my vinyl cutter and perked it up.

and can i just say i love the orange frame on the chalkboard.  oh that beth rubin.  she knows her stuff.

( jen, you and miss beth must be bff' since you've been adding touches of orange for years.)

i wanted a chalkboard...a place to jot down reminders and write little love notes to that boy i live with.  and, of course, every chalkboard needs some vinyl.  mine says, "scrivere, i verbo; esprimere o comunicare nella scrittura.  italian.  translation - write, verb: to express or communicate in writing.  (because someday i'm going to italy and i need to be able to write about it.)

swooning

i need to quit perusing design sites.  it takes hours of my time and has me falling in love on a daily basis.

today i fell in love with these.

how simple and cool.  burlap, a stencil, and some black paint.

i'm swooning.

check out more.

http://www.kmckaydesigns.com/

keeping it real here

last saturday i went shopping at ikea (oh ikea...i love you more every day) with these two lovely ladies.  aren't they cute.

we each have some redecorating projects we are working on.  mine is my master bedroom.  and when i'm in the middle of a project i'm not very tidy.  i get too involved in my project to worry about being neat and putting things back where they belong and making the bed.  i mean, who has time. i'm projecting here.

so, to those of you that think i am hopelessly entrenched in my ocd, i proudly give you the following:

i know it doesn't look like i'm doing much, so let me fill you in.

my color scheme is black, brown, platinum, and a silvery green.  i am painting my "tres amigos" furniture black.  i mounted a flat screen tv on the wall (heaven).  i'm moving an armoire (also to be painted black) from the guest bedroom into the master and moving my antique dresser into the guest bedroom.  my new bedding is a yummy, delicious silvery green that you won't get to see until the project is done.  i'm replacing the window coverings on the slider...still undecided there but i want texture, like wood or woven woods, in a rich expresso with creamy white panels on the ends.  i've got my eye on a fabulous piece of artwork (from ikea of course) for over the bed.  and i'm reupholstering a side chair and creating a little seating area with the sweetest little ikea side table...(duh, it's from ikea...of course it sweet.)

most of the furniture painting is done.  it's what i do at night since the boy i live with isn't around to play.

i can't wait until it's done.

neither can my ocd.

score

perusing craigslist i came across these two pier 1 beauties.

clean and contemporary.

just the look i'm after for my master bedroom.

asking price $50.00.

selling price $20.00.

tee hee...i'm such a frugal shopper.