Fine Compliments

Throughout my childhood my mother had a small metal sign hanging on the wall that said "All the fine compliments and all the good wishes will never replace help with the dishes". Looking at the empty space above the pantry door I've often thought something should go there and this week I thought of that saying and had to add it.



She had another sign in the same style that said "I'm the boss in this house and I have my wife's permission to say so" but I thought maybe Husband wouldn't like that one quite as much.



I did this one in a few evenings. I laid out chipboard letters, traced, and filled in with craft paint (two coats mostly). After a clear matte finish and a couple hooks I now have something in the empty space of the wall that reminds me of my childhood and my mother.





For the very observant you may notice a paint sample on the wall in the picture above. I decided to keep the green in the great room but the back wall of the kitchen (currently yellow) will be changing to this. It's a Walmart Colorplace color called Sesame which is NOT the same as Open Sesame in their colors. Sesame is a warmer color than Open Sesame and I've used it several times in my homes such as the nursery below. (more pictures of the Jungle room, and a castle bedroom, are in this post)

Making memories

My front door patio is really plain. In fact, about the only things out there are a welcome sign and a bunch of bikes, scooters and skates. Over the next few weeks one of my new projects is remaking that space into something as interesting as I can for as little money as possible. Which means shopping home.



I started by making this very simple sign (that I found the quote for on Pinterest here)



Materials were:
- A board from the scrap pile
- Brown spray paint
- Clear spray poly
- Craft paint (white wicker)
- Stencil made on the Silhouette machine (I broke the computer cable last week (cry!) but figured out how to use the SD card)

Since I already had all of this it made the project FREE! (love that kind!)



After painting and before poly I sanded it off a little because it looked a little too perfect given the sentiment of the sign.

Raised Paper Art

I've been seeing quite a few images of art with raised wooden words and I'm really liking it (a couple favorites here and here). BUT, I didn't really want to spend a couple hundred on art and I don't like the idea of being limited in fonts to only what I could buy at the store in pre-cut letters. Then yesterday while I was working on another project it occurred to me that if my cuts are all exactly the same (like if I cut it out with a paper punch or with the Silhouette) then I could layer the papers for the same effect. Enter the test project:



Looks like the verdict is that it definitely works. I used 5 layers of watercolor paper for the letters and 9 layers of card stock for the center star, both to about the same height. So, for future simplicity, this project style will certainly be done with watercolor paper (less layers to glue together).



Simply cut out your text/image multiple times and use a trusty glue stick to put them together. Same effect as the wooden letters, at a much cheaper price, and now I have the start of my mantel finished for July 4th.



Sharing here:

No Cost (but time) Wall Art

I originally saw this phrase in a picture on Beth's blog (love her blog!) but I'm not sure where the original came from. Any ideas? If I google the phrase it gets a ton of hits from everywhere. Anyway, I loved it and during a few quiet moments yesterday (staining) and today (painting) I finished it right up.



I was really bummed that the second line came out a little crooked but my very sweet husband pointed out that since it is "we do second chances" it's a little poetic. So, yeah, I oopsed but I kinda like it that way.



Total cost for this project? $0

-The wood is scraps left over from building the boys' headboards (I didn't even cut them down for this, these are the size the scraps were already).
-The stain is left over from the coffee table I built last year.
-The piece screwed into the back to keep it square is scrap from the new dollhouse floors.
-Add a little paint from the craft box and a stencil from the Silhouette machine and done.

Volo

I follow Jody Bergsma on Facebook. She is a watercolor artist whose work has been in every home I've lived in, well, ever (before I was old enough to remember). Her work was always in my mother's home and it is in my home now (and my sister's). Recently someone posted a quote to her Facebook page and I loved it. I knew I wanted it in my house somewhere and that night I started this project on a whim.

When you come to the edge of all the light you have,
And must take a step into the darkness of the unknown,
Believe that one of two things will happen:

Either there will be something solid for you to stand on,
Or you will be taught how to fly.

That alone I thought would be beautiful but then I remembered the state motto of Oregon, which I have long been in love with (not just because I grew up there), of Alis Volat Propriis, meaning She flies with her own wings. If ever I were to get a tattoo (and I'm still not sure if I have the nerve) that phrase is what I would use. So, to the quote above I added Volo which means I fly (and apparently also I wish).



I had several leftover 2x2s in my garage and some canvas drop cloth from one of my painting projects so I thought maybe I would try my hand at making my own amateur canvas. I just cut up and screwed together the 2x2s and then stapled the canvas on.



Combining several blues and greens I had in the paint box gave me a good background. I painted the entire thing navy blue to start and then randomly squished the other colors all over the canvas, brushing them back and forth and mixing them a bit to blend them in. The kids thought that part was pretty funny (and that mommy is crazy, which they may be right about).



And this is what I ended up with:



I started laying out the words to kind of match the Word document I worked out.



On a whim I added a little bird to the end of the quote and added a few coats of Poly to keep it nice. Now this is hanging in my entryway and is one of the first things you see when entering the house.

What has recently inspired you to start a project on a whim?



I linked this post too:
Be Different Act Normal



And I heart naptime

Sun of all my mornings

Anyone remember when I put the reeds on my bedroom wall? Well when I put that up I figured I could put a picture above the bed to cover that big seam. I bought a big white canvas and hung it up there to check the fit and then, well, left it there still in the plastic it came wrapped in for months. I was afraid. I have never painted on canvas. I've never painted on anything that big. And I had *zero* idea what I wanted to put up there anyway.



After months and months of worry I finally decided to just jump in already. Whatever I came up with probably wouldn't be worse than plastic wrapped and blank, right? I put down that first bit of red and kinda freaked. It was so bright and against the white it was shocking for a minute.



See? So different. But I've started and really I have no choice now so let's continue.



Yes, that is a lot of red. I was getting kinda happy with it now though. I originally intended to do a few layers to make it more solid but after the first layer I decided I like the variation better and left it there.



I cut out all the words I wanted using the Silhouette and lay them out on the canvas.



I taped some thread down on the sides to give myself a guide for straight and level lines.



I got the first row down fully prepared to still scrap the whole project and then breathed a huge sigh of relief when it worked.



And now there is something to cover most of that big seam and I wish I hadn't waited so long. After this project I jumped in with canvas. I have painted 3 more store bought canvases (even bigger!) for my living room (almost done with those) and one I made of 2x2s and drop cloth for near the front door. That one really made the kids look at me sideways and think I was crazy squishing paint all over. I'll try to show you that one tomorrow.

If you can't say something nice...

I wanted a centerpiece for a spring mantle. My kids need a lesson for being nicer to each other. I figured, why not combine them?

I grabbed a piece of MDF that was hanging out in the garage and used some turquoise paint left over from the bookcase I built last year. I traced Thumper in the corner with a pencil and then drew over it with a blue Sharpie marker. Then I explained to my kids who Thumper is because I have apparently never bought that movie and introduced my kids to Bambie (which I will remedy this weekend).



Then I used my Silhouette machine (really love that thing!) and added a few nice words to my board.



Now we have some lovely spring color and I can point to it when the kids' words to each other aren't very nice (which is working already. yay!).