Times They are A Changin'

I've made an executive decision this morning.  Mostly because I'm home today and it's Monday.  Mostly because my contract was ended Friday and I'm still in shock and I need something to do.  I've never been without a job.

I'm making this blog about my personal life only, mostly about down syndrome and creating a craft and upcycling blog and moving my creations over there.

So stay tuned!!! All one of you!!!

Another Good Find

I found this gem at Goodwill last Saturday. As soon as I spotted on the shelf I knew I had to have it!!!

I mean seriously?  1975 called and they want their butterfly back........  This picture makes it look small but it's a good 3 ft tall and it's heavy.  Luckily the oh so loverly butterfly/sunflower combo are painted on the inside so I can paint right over them as the glass is not coming out.  

I am thinking I'll do chalk paint over the glass.  I can't wait to get started!!

(Yes Virginia that is laundry hanging on the back of the chair......OMG!).

As Promised - The Valentine Finds

I promised to share what I made out of the 80's wooden hearts I found at the thrift store.  I know you've been hanging on the edge of your collective seats.......

I took the mirrors out of them and painted two of them with red chalk paint and one with pink.  I then distressed them and and waxed them.  The pink one I added some dark wax because it took on more of a golden tone.

I think they turned out pretty darn cute!!!! 

Here is the pink one in a Valentine Vignette on my pie safe. The chocolate sign I also found at Goodwill for 99 cents!!!  The cutting board was another Good will find and I added one of my Mason Jars! The Pink heart is sitting in a cute heart jello mold (yet another Goodwill find at 39 cents!).  

And the mirrors?  I am painting one with black chalk paint to see if it will make a cute little chalkboard.  And I used another as a pattern to make cute little stuffed fabric hearts that I placed in baskets as seen below.  If the chalk painting works, I'll paint the other two.  Since I don't have small children at home, I can put these in baskets as well....they do have sharp edges!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!  

A Valentine Find

This is a quick post to show you a cute find I made at Goodwill this weekend.  I bought some wood hearts at Hobby Lobby for 79 cents.  I'm painting them red, pink and white and going to mod podge them with some cute valentine scrapbook paper.  Well I managed to get out and a do a bit of thrifting on Saturday, when I came across these little gems...

I found three of them.  The picture isn't the greatest, but there is a mirror in the middle. Classic 1980's decor.  I got them for 39 cents each!!! Score!!!  I'm not sure what's reflecting in it, but it looks like bandaids! LOL.  

I won't give away all my secrets so you'll have to wait to see what kind of magic I work with these babies!!!!  

My Top Projects of 2014

Well this post will be pretty easy to sum up. Mainly because I posted most of them in one post already! I guess I had some premonition already.....so why make it hard on myself eh? LOL So here it goes.........

 The majority of my projects can be found here........ I'm pretty proud of myself. I took some risks and learned alot. I am going to branch out more in 2015 and see what I can do!!! I'm going to try more furniture! I would love to start my own business too! We'll see!! My other project was re-doing my son's bathroom. I first decorated when we moved in. He was five. He's now almost 15! It was time. It's a cute beach theme. Below are a few pics....

This is a cute boat shelf I found at Goodwill. The cute boy/girl luau figurines were my Grandma's. They fit right in!! And the Hawaii tin I picked up in Maui when we went for our 10th anniversary. The little perfume bottle was my other grandmother's.  I love that I have a place to display them now.

I can't remember where I got this one........I think maybe Kirkland's......love that store....I could live there.  But sometimes the scents in there can get overwhelming....and I know you're digging the band-aid box.......

And the last picture here is a shelf that I got for 1/2 price at Garden Ridge. It had a ding in it so I scored big time. I painted it with blue milk paint and got the chippy effect (who doesn't love chippy - cookie or otherwise?). The sign above it came from JoAnn Fabric, along with the life preserver. I think the "My Heart Belongs" and the string of fish also came from Kirklands. I've since added a red fish statue from Hobby Lobby during a 50% off bonanza and it sits to the right .... What you don't see is a cute paddle with hooks (thank you Home Goods!) that hangs over the door and the blue, beige and white shower curtain and the dark blue bath mat. I also have a blue fish soap dish and I found a cute lobster chowder bowl again at Goodwill for $1.50 that sits on the counter. All and all I think the bathroom turned out pretty cute and I didn't need to re-paint or overhaul the tile etc.

 So that's it for me............now bring on 2015!!!

My Projects

I've been having trouble posting from work but I switched to Chrome and voila! I can post again! Took me long enough eh? Geesh. Please ignore some of the spelling mistakes. I'm trying to do this on the sly at work......so I am hurrying a bit........ So now it's time to share some of the crafty things I've been up too. Prepare to be dazzled (no, not bedazzled...)! First up......are some fun Mason Jars. My Mason jar obsession started when I got the idea to create the center pieces for my dad's 80th birthday party. It was alot of work but man was it fun (both the party and making the jars! I've gotten lots of requests to make more and I have fun doing them! I scout the goodwill and junk stores for old jars everytime I go!

Do you not love the Pointer picture just visable to the left here?

Aren't they cute? I made 17 of them for the party!!! I even did a few with flags to commemerate his time in the service! I didn't get those uploaded though! I put those in a blue wire basket. They turned out pretty dang cute! Kept those and now they have Christmas lights and I plug them in at night and it's pretty cute in the dark! Next up is a table I painted with a cream chalk paint and distressed. I think it's an old telephone table. I found it at a thrift store for $14!! The minute I saw it, I just had to have it!!! Here's the before:

And now the after:

I think it turned out pretty dang cute too! It does have some spots where it should have been sanded but overalll for my first furniture effort I love it. Right now I have it by my loveseat and it has a very cute red plaid Christmas owl and some Christmas decor on it! Next up is a Snowman serving tray. He's kind of a spooky looking fellow if I do say so myself. I thought he could use an antique look......

Is it just me or is he on the creepy side??? So I gave him a coat of red chalk paint then a few coats of green and then distressed him. While I think he still maintained a bit of the creep factor, he does look more antique now....

Now onto my past (and present) love of France........I tried my hand at creating a homemade cloche. I found this clock at Goodwill.

It was a mere $2.99. Don't fret the base was plastic and it didn't work anyhow. I took it apart and used the glass top for the cloche. I put a green plate for the bottom. You can use almost anything for the bottom including the base of the clock....

Add some fake snow and the Eiffel Tower and there it is!!!! I love this!!! I can re-use this for any holiday or for everyday!! Next up is a plant stand. Another foray into furniture. Again this is the creamy chalk paint. Here is the before, which was a dark cherry wood. I got this for $3 at Goodwill...

And the After:

Again......I think it turned out pretty good!!! Last but not least........A button snowman!!! I have this at work!!!

Thank you for sticking with me and this long post!! I did post these on Facebook and apparently a few of my friends felt pressured to "like" them. So I came here to post instead. No pressure people (not that anyone really checks in here anymore). I have been toying with the idea of starting my own business and selling this stuff. It's a big deal for me......putting myself out there...some people will not like it...there will be critics. I am sensitive to critism. But I love doing this....it makes my heart beat a little faster. So we'll see.

My New Obsession - Estate Sales!

A friend of mine recently started working part time for a couple of gals who own a company that comes in and does estate sales. So we thought what the hay, we would support her and go to one. Now I've never been to one before so I didn't know what to expect. But it was kind of fun. It was an indoor garage sale. Don't get me wrong, there was stuff for sale in the garage too, but there was stuff in the house air conditioned house too! The 87 yr old woman living in the house went to a home. The house was well kept. It was dated in the 80's but clean. Some things were too high priced though. There was a set of bar stools priced at $ 115 a piece!! Seriously, Daniel Boone better have carved them himself at those prices! I bought an old Mason jar (I also have an obsession with Mason jars right now, more later on that), a ladder for my Cat's Meows and a old spool all for $11. Then my friend had us write a few things that she could get at 1/2 price at 5:00 pm that if they didn't sell. Well I got them and I was more excited about those!!! I got a set of 5 cast iron bunnies for $5 and an old crock for $5!!! Now to go pick them up!! I think we'll go again, I have the estate sale bug!!! I want to find some furniture to try out my chalk painting obsession (ok that's three obsessions now right??).