CHARMED

Well I'm happy to report I've been logging in some quality time with my NEW SEWING MACHINE. (a most lovely gift from my future mother in law) I've read the manual front to back, scowered the internet reading sewing blogs and looking up how-to's.....I've become well acquainted with Jo-Ann Fabrics....and I think I single-handedly cleared out the soon-to-be-obsolete fabric department at my local Wal-Mart as everything was marked down to $1.50/yard. The poor man who had to stand there and cut yard after yard after yard asked if I was making a quilt - with all that fabric! I happily proclaimed NOPE - I DON'T EVEN REALLY KNOW HOW TO SEW!!!! :-) To which I think his reaction was bitterness and confusion. .......but guess what, once I grasp what the hell I'm doing, I'll have plentyyyyyyy of fabric to do it! At this point we all know I've made a headband, showcased in my last post. Well the options of what I can make for you haven't evolved TOO much. I ca...

TOTAL BLUR! So much has happened in December, my mind spins thinking about it all! My soon-to-be husband purchased a new car (Toyota Yaris, now there is 2 in our garage! Luckily NOT matching.......because that would obviously be lame) This was not a completely voluntary action. It was necessary after his dinosaur from 1993 pooped the bed for the very last time.......THE MONDAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS. With our job locations and schedules, there is no possible way to operate with one vehicle in the family. And I just had a quick deja-vu of last Christmas/Winter when 3 of his 4 tires POPPED within the span of two weeks.....and I had AAA on speed dial and was approaching stalker status with our tow truck guy. WE WERE OVER IT. It happened like magic, browsed local listings online, printed out the one he wanted, went to the dealership and within a few hours he DROVE OFF THE LOT in it :-) JUST BEAUTIFUL......and meant to be. 2:30pm he's calling me in a ferociously bad mood.......8pm same day h...

Whenever I'm thrifting-sniffing-around one thing I always make a point to look for is old frames WITH matting included - if you find a framed photo that's matted, PARTICULARLY CUSTOM matted - blind your eyes away from whatever shade and texture of ugly the frame is - and how terrible the photo is. You've struck gold! Matting is really the element that catapults your framing into a higher level of sophistication - and unless you are crafty enough to buy and cut your own mats, or are fine with purchasing the selection of pre-cut run-of-the-mill-sized mats - it's pretttttty pricey to have professionally and CUSTOM done. So here we are -- I found a very LARGE CUSTOM matted and framed (puke brown) photo (a duck....from the 80s.....an 80's duck). It cost me $4.50. Throw in a couple of knick-knack wall-hangings I got over a year ago and quickly fell into hating.....and a cheap gold-framed mirror - ALSO being sold for peanuts. I gathered up the motley crew and spray painted...

I DID IT! And completely by myself at that! It required some diligent measuring, many swipes with the stud finder, heavy duty hooks, and a steady hand.......BUT I DID IT. Feeling accomplished :-) My $10 goodwill-find-transformed is looking stunning.

So while on one of my thirft-scouting-adventures I spotted the following amazingly fabulous mirror at goodwill.........for $10. $10!!!! One thing I love to do is mix throw in antiquey/old/worn items randomly into our mostly clean and modern designed home decor. What is more classic than a curvy "Queen Victoria" mirror? I honestly have no idea if that's the proper name for this shape mirror, however we're gonna go with it. ANYWAYS - Of course it was not only a disturbingly bright shade of orangey brown when I found this little gem......it was worn on the top and reminded me of a musty basement. Nothing a little surface cleaner, elbow grease, and black paint can't solve! I had already begun painting/staining with the black paint in these pictures - however you can still see the NEON-ISH hue of the original stain on the inside lip. I will have Part 2 up shortly hopefully. I had finished fully painting/staining with the black to my liking - and hope to hang this sucke...