Pages

Monday, December 28, 2009

DIY Lamp Shades

Whew!! That was a whirlwind of a Christmas holiday! It came as fast as it went. Yesterday I battled our semi-dried out tree and took down all the decorations. After hubby hauled the shedding beast out the front door, I got the honors of vacuuming up the precious needles. There were so many, my vacuum cleaner staged a protest! It took me 20 minutes to unclog the vacuum head and wand attachment. I never knew a vacuum cleaner could have three separate clogs! If you look at it logically, the first clog should have pretty much stop the flow of air...so how did it get three clog??? Oh well, next year I plan on avoiding this sort of debacle by starting my decorating the beginning of November. That way it will take me until February to take the stuff down...Heehee


Now that I have my living room and dining room back to normal, I had the overwhelming urge to decorate something. Being that I have a gazillion (is that even a word?) projects around the house that need to be completed or started for that matter, I thought it best to choose something rather easy. I grabbed some fabric, left over wrapping paper, spray adhesive, hot glue gun and a lamp shade from my dining room Chandy.



First things first, I used a piece of red wrapping paper to draw a pattern for my little shade. I added 1/2" inch to all sides of the pattern. This was to accommodate lapping of edges and folding of the top and bottom.





I used my pattern to cut three wedges of my decorative fabric. Typically when I recover an "A" shaped lamp shade, I lay the shade down on the fabric as a guide and cut out what looks like a giant donut shape. But this time I had to do something different because the fabric I choose just wouldn't work that way.


I took each piece and folded one edge down...about 1/2". I made sure to only spray adhesive on one piece at a time. To insure permanent contact, I had to spray the shade as well. Now...here's the most important part! WEAR RUBBER GLOVES AND TAPE OFF THE PARTS YOU DON'T WANT EXPOSED TO ADHESIVE OVER-SPRAY!! I ended up looking like one of the Sticky Bandits from Home Alone 2.


I used the hot glue gun to glue the edges around the top and bottom of the shade. Now that its complete, I think I will go to the fabric store and pick out some vintage looking trim for the bottom of the shade.





Back to work...one down five to go!!


I'm linking up to Met Mondays


Talk to ya soon


Wednesday, December 23, 2009

I just wanted to say...

Thank you so much for being my bloggy friends...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Teacher Gifts...and a Funny Story

My little man has two of the most wonderful teachers!
He loves them and their class so much that he begs to go to school on weekends. We wanted to give them something they could use in the classroom. So I started racking my brain and of course looking in Blogland to find a cute project that wouldn't break the bank. Then I remembered that Chris over at Just Beachy had recently shared some of the handmade gifts she had purchased on Etsy. One of which was some cute as pie appliqued hand towels. Well my little brain automatically linked these little towels to my monogrammed purse from several posts ago. I decided to make each teacher a monogrammed hand towel. Well I found out the teachers' favorite colors and off I went to Wal-Mart. This is what I purchased:


Two Hand Towels $4.50ea.
Accent Fabric $2.00




My son was very pleased...but I think I will added some cutesy ric-rac trim or ribbon next time. Total cost was $5.50 ea...can't beat that!
Here's the funny story...even though they turned out cute, I did have some anger management issues I had to work out with my dinosaur of a sewing machine. It seems that the little light bulb located over the needle/pressure foot has melted...Yes I said melted...and tried to drip down before cooling in a most bizarre form. I had to wear a head lamp on my head while I sewed...I looked like I was trying to deer hunt in the house! "Watch out deer, I'm pack'n a sewing machine"!!!
I really don't know if I will ever be able to get that hard as rock glass out of my machine. Guess I'm stuck head-lamping it!! heehee
Merry Christmas!!!

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

My Christmas List...heehee

I Love Christmas!!...
the gatherings, the singing, the food, the decorating, the smells of fresh pine and cinnamon, the magical twinkles in my children's eyes, and most of all celebrating the birth of Christ. Last night on my way home from work, I noticed how sweet it was to see almost every house with a brightly lit tree gracing their front windows. I wondered what it was like in those homes. What were their family Christmas traditions?...watching Christmas movies, having Christmas parties, drawing names, Christmas caroling, attending Christmas plays or recitals??

Then my mind began to travel back to my childhood. The tradition I love the most was looking through the Sears Wishbook catalog and making my Christmas list out. Oh what a glorious time...thoughts of beautiful Barbie houses and cuddly teddy bears popped in my head. What would Santa bring me??

Now I help my children with their Christmas lists every year, but I haven't wrote out my own personal Christmas list in a very very long time. So to recapture a little bit of my childhood, I decided to share with you my list.

Here goes...


Dearest Santa,
I've been a good girl this year. I would really love you too much if you were to put one or two of these under the tree for me this year!!!
Pretty Please with Royal Icing on top!!!
Sewing/Embroidery Machine
Cricut Expression



Drawing Table






OH and this table and chairs from Paula Deen's Furniture Collection!!!

Ok I'm done now...thought if I was dreaming, I might as well dream big!! Heehee

Merry Christmas!!!!



Thursday, December 10, 2009

Handmade Ornament Ideas

I love handmade ornaments. Whether they are my creations or someone else, handmade ornaments are treasured keepsakes...memories from Christmas' past. I remember sitting in my high school art class carving Rudolph out of a piece of balsa wood. I still have it and it's on the tree every year!

This morning as I was reading my emails, I found some really cute and easy handmade Christmas ornament ideas at BHG.com. I wanted to share some of my favorites.

Who doesn't love tassels? This one is made with simple felt, ribbons and a bead...easy for children to make. If you wanted to take it to the next level, you could use decorative fringe trim, ornate glass beads or silk ribbon.
All of us have seen those boxes of a dozen clear glass ornaments at Michael's or Hob Lob...Well here are several ideas putting those plain Jane globes to good use.
By coating the inside of the glass ornaments with craft paint, you can change the color of the ornament. Then use some cute as a button glittery stickers or appliques on the outside. Tie a sweet little ribbon on the top for a hanger and you have it made!However, if your in a lazy mood (like I'm in today) you can just purchase pre-colored ornaments. They cost a little more but you don't have to paint them!...Less mess!
Why not put those glitter pens and rhinestones to work? Use them on an glass ornament. Any small abstract design would be very cute...stars, circles, swirls, etc.
OH Boy my favorite toile! This little beauty is decoupaged with a toile paper napkin. I have seen around Blogland many ladies using monogrammed paper napkins from Homegoods to personalize/monogram white plates. How cute would that be to have a tree full of monogrammed glass ornaments?
The last idea I wanted to share isn't an ornament but a dainty little advent calendar made out of match boxes. The boxes are covered with scrap book paper and numbered on each end. They are glued together to form the outline of a tree and topped with a paper applique. Too cute!!

Well back to work!!
Merry Christmas

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Gift ideas for a little girl

Wow Christmas is rapidly approaching and I feel as if I have nothing done! I have been trying to organize my Christmas list and sort out what items were to be purchased online, what items were to be purchased in store and what items were to be handmade. While doing this my mine wondered back to a gift we gave my step-daughter last year. She is very into all things American Girl Doll. Now for those of you who don't know, American Girl Doll is a very cute and even educational line of dolls, books and clothing for little girls ranging in age from 2yrs+. Although be prepared to get price tag whiplash!! They aren't cheap!

So back to the gift. My step-daughter wanted a cute little bed for her doll. But we really didn't see paying $145 for a doll bunk bed. Heck that was more than the doll!!

So I started searching Wal-mart and Target...and found this for $20+.

It came with some light pink boring bedding...so I purchased some small pieces of fabric that coordinated with my step-daughters bedding. I made small duvets, pillows and mattress covers. voila customized American Girl bedding! If you didn't want a white bed, a sweet little can of spray paint could fix that! I think all together I had $30 in this gift...It sure beats $145!

Happy Shopping and Merry Christmas!!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

New Find

As I was surfing the net this morning, I came across a website called Wallies that sells wall decals and cutouts. My head automatically began to spin, thinking of all the ways I could use these sweet little things. And of course I couldn't resist not sharing it with you.

They offer:
Cute as a button Seasonal decals...Peel and Stick...easy peasy and easy to remove.

Pre-cut designs

How great is this...chalkboard on vinyl sheets!! This would be a great way to turn a cabinet door into a chalkboard with out actually disturbing the paint/finish of your door. Or you could cut small rectangle pieces and stick them to canisters/containers for labels. The possibilities are endless.

What a cute way to allow your child the freedom to decorate their walls. These peel and stick play decals can be repositioned.

Each element of the decal are cut separate, allowing you to place them anywhere and design personalized murals. Check out their website HERE

Merry Christmas!!