Showing posts with label thrifty finds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thrifty finds. Show all posts

Thursday, March 31, 2016

The Little's Rooms Got Some Love

Last week I was thinking about how much creating I do for custom orders or for volunteer jobs. I spend a lot of creative energy on people outside of my family and so I suggested to David that it would nice to spend some creative energy on the littles. I had some ideas brewing and when he gave me the thumbs up, I went into full design mode. We settled on a gallery wall for each room plus curtains, hooks for their towels, shelves for each bedside and an art hanger for each little. I made a list of elements I wanted to include in each room.

  1. something sewn/fabric element
  2. woodcut element
  3. string art
  4. monograms
  5. photograph
  6. printable art/quote
  7. scripture verse
Then I narrowed down to specifics as to what that looked like. So for the girls' room it ended up like:
  1. kite
  2. heart (inspired by HEart by CC)
  3. crown
  4. cut out of foam board
  5. siblings picture
  6. "Dream Big" (source)
  7. I will add a verse to the heart woodcut at a later time

The boys room:
  1. deer head
  2. arrow
  3. sword
  4. cut out of foam board
  5. siblings picture
  6. fox
  7. I will add a verse to their arrow art later

David shopped, cut and stained wood during the daytime. He was in charge of the woodcuts, string art, shelves, towel hooks and art hangers. I painted the clothes pins (for the art hangers) and the frames plus rough cut out the fabric elements during the day. The rest of the projects were done in the evenings after the littles went to bed. That meant late bleary eyed nights, but I'm really happy with the results. Last night I planned the gallery walls, but putting them on the floor. I took pictures to give to David for hanging and while I took the children out on a playdate, David re-arranged the girls' room and hung all the elements we crafted. What a thrill it was to reveal it all to the littles!


The deer head was made from a pattern found here. I found the wood plaque at the thrift store and a with a bit of paint it made a great mount.

David cut this based on a few pictures I showed him on Pinterest. I didn't want to tell him exactly what to make, but I knew I wanted an arrow. It turned out great. His favourite piece.


Again, I asked for the sword, but I left David to do the style he wanted. He found a sword image on google, added a cross in the middle and enlarged it to make the template. Screws were an easier choice and he just went with it. I like it a lot!


The monogram "M"s I printed out on the computer, taped to foam board and cut out. I painted them and that's it! Super easy and a great and cheap monogram! We enlarged a photograph from our last family pictures in 2014. The same picture for both bedrooms. 


I thrifted and painted this cute frame and got the printable from here


Here's Malachi's art hanger in action (sorry for the dark picture). Just clothespins painted and glued to a board. Each little has one, though we haven't hung Hannah's yet. We are saving it until she is a bit older.


Michaels had these cutlery clothespins in a bin and I simply glued them onto this little board, also from Michaels. Cheap and funny, considering the boys are always thinking about food. This wasn't planned for, but added on a whim.



I found this wood pineapple at the thrift store. It was varnished and worn, but I saw its potential and snapped it up. I painted it and glued an oversized clothespin on it and it's adorable! My favourite piece in the girls' room!


David did the crown the same way as the sword and he did a great job!


The girls' monograms were done the same as the boys. I found the birdhouse and bird at Michaels and threw it in. 


The kite I made up as I went. I drew a pattern and did a basic quilting pattern on it. Then simply tied jersey bows onto a ribbon tail.


Each little got a shelf on their bed. They all needed a place to put water bottles and treasures etc. Here's Abby's in action. David made simply with two boards, painted white and attached right to the bed frames.


David made this based on a picture I showed him. Abby thinks it looks like a minecraft heart.



I used flat sheets from two of the littles' bed sets to make quick curtains. Not too difficult as I cut them in half, finished the two cut edges and voila! Curtains! I hate sewing curtains, but this wasn't too bad. We are exhausted, but happy with the results!



Tuesday, January 26, 2010

I QUIT! ...Scrapbooking that is

I was a scrapbooker. I started scrapbooking before it was even called that. It began in elementary school (grade 5 to be precise) and yesterday I decided that I'm not going to scrapbook anymore. Why? I discovered the joy of photo books and a great company called Shutterfly.


I first tried a photo-book for our anniversary in August. I spent hours online here and ordered a book and waited. Well, it came in good time, but the quality was terrible. I was so disappointed. They did refund my money, and for that I was grateful, but all the time I put into it was gone. I was leery about trying another one, but then I read Michelle's review on Shutterfly and thought I'd give it another go. It was a week and a half before Christmas and the advertising guaranteed on time delivery for Christmas, so I ordered an 8" x 8" padded hard cover photo-book of our wedding for David. I'll spare you all the details, but I just got it yesterday. I had to contact the company and tell them that I never received the book and they shipped another one out right away.

The funny thing is, that I received both yesterday... the missing one and the new one. The result... I love it! It turned out great. Some of our pictures aren't the best quality, but then they were taken in a dark auditorium and then lightened up at the developing place (back in the day of 35 mm film). I went with the 8" x 8" for that very reason. The base book comes with 20 pages, I purchased 2 extra in this book.

Anyway, there are already half a dozen more books I want to make and I'm considering selling off my scrapbooking supplies to fund the photo-books. As far as cost is concerned, the photo-books are way cheaper per album, plus you spend way less time on them. As far as scrapbooking is concerned, I am happy to say it, "I Quit!"





 

Thursday, September 17, 2009

"mid September update" or "I don't know what to call this post"

A quick update, because I am trying to cut down my internet time and get to some serious sewing. Here's my latest lovely that I picked up from a garage sale for $75! My sewing machine I named after a lady in the bible who sewed clothes for people in need (Dorcus) and my serger needed a name. My mom sent me this scripture verse and suggested Sheba for a name. I like it. So, I'm happy to introduce you to Sheba!

Sold with Sheba were these 2 feet and these bags of thread!



I'd say that I got a great deal! In other news here's a picture of one of my kitchen chairs (we only have 2) that David recovered for me. I love them - I don't have before pictures because they were too embarrassing. He did a great job!

And finally, I got to go see this movie with my friend last night and it was so wonderful! I will definitely own this one and torture my husband for years with it! It was such a cute and heartwarming chick flick that I definitely recommend it. Oh, and the soundtrack is divine... have to get it!
This movie almost makes me want to learn how to cook.... almost!

Friday, July 10, 2009

David crafts for me!


I saw these kind of wind chimes at the Forks last year and have been wanting one ever since. They sell for over $100 and I thought to myself, surely we could make one. So the hunt for silver began. Not much luck initially for finding silver inexpensively and so it got put on the back burner. Well, David and I were thrift store shopping on our holidays and he found me all the silver I needed. Then he bought a special drill bit and proceeded to make my wind chime. Total cost came to about $25. I LOVE it! Thanks, honey! Oh, and it sounds really pretty, too!