Window to Nada

First off, thank ya'll for all of the encouragement! It is nice to hear that you're trying out some of these projects!  I would love to see some pictures of the Mason Jar Soap Pump ya'll are making :)  Really though, your comments are very sweet and thoughtful and I truely appreciate them, especially when baby girl is throwing a fit because I won't let her climb on the coffee table (who knows where that would lead) or I find the puppies eating dangerous pre-Katrina remnants they dig out of the backyard (a handful of Mardi Gras beads mixed with rocks seem to be their favorite (our home was flooded in Katrina by the way))  

Anyways, we found this window during the same trip we found this beauty.  I wasn't sure where it would go but I thought the panes were really interesting and for $5 what the heck. 

 It sat on the front porch for awhile before I finally made it to Lowe's to look for mirror to back it with.  But, I'm not about to pay $45 for a mirror, so it sat some more on the front porch. Then, I found this magical paint:               

            

Looking Glass Mirror-Like Paint by Krylon.  It looks like mirror when you spray it onto the back of glass for a fraction of the cost! It is pricey compared to regular spray paint ($11 for a 6 oz can) but I found mine at Michael's and used a coupon. One can was just enough for this window.  Simply clean the glass, and spray light even coats (about 5 or 6), I didn't even tape it off.  It dries super fast so this puppy was done in about 30 minutes.  We decided to hang it in the dining room since there wasn't a single thing on the walls but it's looking a bit lonely.  

I thought maybe a plate wall around it but hubby says that reminds him of his MeMaw. So like anyone, I've been looking for plates with man stuff like fish on them :)  I found a really cute manly one at Goodwill for less than a buck but being ever so graceful, that thing was shattered less than a day later. Any ideas?  My tabletop is looking a bit sad too, just some dishes and flowers...any ideas for that too?

Ashley

Salvaged Door

Hubby and I found this great old door at the salvage yard the other week.  It was tucked away in the corner with the paneled side facing out but a quick peek around to the other side revealed this beautiful antiqued glass.  And in the truck it went.  I should of taken a before picture but I was scrambling to finish it so it could go in the house before we had house guest arrive (anyone else decide to do a project hours before you have people coming over?) I sanded and scraped the paint off; it was so chippy that it was really easy to get it all off.  Thankfully, because I'm impatient!   We could of left it on because it was actually really pretty but being an old door I'm sure it was lead paint and we kinda like having our baby girl around, so out with the paint.  But I was looking at it this morning and thought it needed something...

I googled "New Orleans house numbers"and found an image that I liked, took an exacto knife to it and taped the numbers on the door.  Then I traced around the numbers with a pencil.

I am pretty lazy when it comes to crafting so I just used a pencil but paint would work great. I just wanted a light and distressed feel to match the door.

Pencil in the shaded areas dark (copied off the google image) and the main area in lighter.

Draw lines in the opposite direction as well to fill it in better.  Then take your finger and rub the pencil marks to make a more even finish.

Super easy and I still have some time to drink a cup of coffee before baby girl wakes up from her nap! You moms out there now the simple joy of uninterrupted coffee time :)

Have a great Sunday!

Ashley




linking to

Unexpected Places

We moved into our home almost 3 months ago and our living room walls are still bare, well, if you don't count the surround sound wires handing out of the walls...  My hubby is in grad school and basically lives at school and I don't have the patience to hang things level, soooo, there's a whole lot of nothing on the walls. But, I've found things I can do that don't require any patience or skill :)  Here are some ways I'm decorating in unexpected places:

Hallway to Master Bedroom with initials leaned against doorway frame (Hobby Lobby) and nope they haven't fallen yet which surprises even me :) 

15 months old and still as bald as the day she was born...love it :)

Hallway to Nursery with felt cupcake placemat from Pier1 taped to door.  I'm sure you could make this super easy but at 98 cents it was too cheap to pass up

A ladies room plaque from an old New Orleans hotel found at an antique shop rests above her doorway. I originally wanted to put in on the door but it's pretty heavy and hubby didn't want holes in the door.  I think this is better anyways.

A goodwill shelf got new life with a fresh coat of paint and is repurposed as a bathroom window valance.  The sign is also a goodwill find that got a coat of paint and letters outlined in sisal rope.  You can't tell from the pictures (sorry, still learning) but both are distressed...I might have to take the sander to them a bit more though.  I have some faux curtain panels made but I have to get a tension rod that fits the window.  I'll show ya'll soon!

So...what about you?  Any interesting ideas?

Ashley

p.s. Thanks so much for reading, it really means alot! And welcome new followers!!!

Happy Mardi Gras!

It's coming to the end of Mardi Gras season here in New Orleans right now, which means super hard-core partying; but instead of doing this:

Our family is renting a RedBox Movie and eating homemade mashed potatoes and chicken fingers.  Exciting right? Haha, there's always next year. I don't think there is any other city in the United States that comes to a halt for 2 weeks to do nothing but party, and man they know how to party.  

Happy Mardi Gras everyone!

Ashley

Mason Jar Soap Pump

I've looked at this Vintage-y Glass Pump every time I went to Target, but at $13 dollars I never put it in my cart.  I walked away thinking how pretty it was but I could buy baby girl a pair of shoes or a new outfit for that money.  Yes, I know $13 is pretty cheap but I guess I'm really really cheap thrifty.  So I went looking through my cabinets to see what I could come up with.  And here she is:

I picked this mason jar up at an antiques fair last summer for a few bucks.  Atlas is the name of a family company so I was drawn to it right away.  It's held everything from fresh flowers to rubber bands, so I thought I would make something out of it that I could look at everyday.

Here's how I did it: (being a new craft blogger I completely forgot to take pictures...actually I wasn't patient enough to get the camera, I wanted it done right then :)

Step 1: Since this thing will be seeing a lot of moisture I put a fresh coat of high gloss black spray paint on the lid to make clean up easy.

Step 2: Drill a hole in the center of the lid starting the hole on the top side.  I found out that my lid had a glass bottom that shattered but it wasn't a big deal.  If you're safer then me you might want some safety goggles on.  I used a 1/4 inch drill bit but depending on the pump you could go bigger.

Step 3: Insert the pump. I used a pump from a plastic soap dispenser I had lying around.  I'm going to replace it with a longer one when I find it though. * You could use some Gorilla Glue and glue it in from the underside but I found it's already a pretty tight fit without the glue and stays in place.

Step 4: Fill 'er up and brag to your hubby about how you used a power tool unsupervised :)

I made two, this one and one for baby girl's bathroom.  Hers has pink soap which turned out really cute.  You could use spaghetti jars or other random glass jugs too...I save all my spaghetti sauce jars and clean them out and use them as vases.

Hope you try it out!

Ashley