Barbed Wire and Sun Flower Wreath

I've been a little bit obsessed with wreaths the last few weeks.  I've seen them popping up all over the net in all shapes and sizes, which makes me that much more obsessed.  I already have a ton of wreaths in my garage waiting for their seasonal debut, but...August didn't have his own wreath!  I saw this ginormous wreath at a lavender farm a few months back with a whole bouquet of purple and orange flowers attached to a roll of barbed wire.  I loved the idea of using rusty barbed wire as a 'wreath' base.  I'm sure anyone that lives 5 miles outside of a major city can find miles of free, rusty barbed wire, but after a pretty extensive search through antique stores, and pondering the pros and cons of of slicing some off a nearby farm (kidding!), I decided to do the only thing I knew how to do to acquire rusty barbed wire....I ebayed it.  I found 20 feet, and the good news it was .99 cents!  The bad news is it was more than 10 times that for shipping, which I didn't notice.  Ooops!  The reason given was that 'rolling' the barbed wire from the seller's grandfather's farm in SD was labor intensive.  Oh well, I got my wire, and learned a lesson-check the shipping.  20 feet of wire wasn't as much as I thought, and after playing around with a few ideas, I took a leap outside of my comfort zone, and I went simple with just a few precious sunflowers I snagged at a boutique, and this ribbon from Hobby Lobby....which brings me to a non-related wreath matter....did you know you can pull the Hobby Lobby coupon up on your iphone and they will scan it and give you the discount as if you had brought in your weekly ad with the attached coupon?  As if I wasn't enough of a Hobby Lobby shopping monster!
Linking To:
Funky Junk

The Whole Enchilada....Otherwise Known as My Guest Bathroom

I decided at the beginning of the summer it was time for changes around the house, after nine years of living in my house and not changing it from the day I moved in and spent too much money at Pottery Barn...things got boring.  Fast forward a few broken appliances, ruined floors, and cracks later, and the last few months found me watching some great renovations on blogs from thrifty crafters.
There is one teensy little problem with my plan.
I'm a teacher.
I'm single.
I took Dave Ramsey's money management class a year ago.
I'd love to charge all the changes, but Dave's voice is just too loud in my head to allow that. (I loved the class, really, but it does put a dent in the reckless fun I'd like to have!).
Soooo....I do have a spending budget I allow myself each month for 'whatever' as I try to 'live like no one else today, so I can live like no one else tomorrow' (debt free, with a cushy savings....I'm still on step two of about 2,345 steps, but whatever. At least it's not step one!).
So keeping in mind this little budget, I gave up the usual things I buy with my free money....like koolaide, and stamps (look, it's little, that's my point).
I started hunting for ideas that wouldn't break the bank, but would give me a little pick me up as I entered a decade in the house, and I started with the second smallest room in the house, but the most visited by others....the guest bathroom.
I'm classy like that. 
I didn't take a 'before picture'....I'm new at this renovating thing.
My changes....
New-old empty frames in the entry way.
New-old crate shelf with bath salts and ducks in vintage canning jars that almost drove me over the edge...until I remembered I'd fallen off that edge years ago, so I just kept trudging along in the valley I rediscovered myself in...
New-old window with white wreath.
New-old random duck hook thing-a-ma-doo-hicky-ma-bob with no purpose unless I A) Find a candle or B) Perhaps hang some sort of loofah or something from the loop.
New-old iron towel hangers, and new-new 'embroidered' towels-I left them wrinkle-ee to go with the vintage look (do you buy that?).
Please forgive these pictures, the light was weird, and all my walls look sort of dingy in the weird shadows.





A few of the things I'd still like to change....
The floors.
The bathtub/tiles.
The sink (times that by 1,234,543).
The light above the sink....you can't BUY that sort of class these days...THANK GOODNESS!
The number that reads on the scale that I weigh on in the linen closet.
The little knob on the linen closet (I guess I might could have afforded that change, but it's too late....I'm moving on!)
The wall color+wainscoting+a painted border with some sort of script...maybe mom-isms about bath time....just b/c it's fun (sort of like I did with the tea towels, which were inspired by the embroidered towels and baskets).
...I could go on from here....but I'll stop. I have more rooms to do...maybe I'll do the hallway next ;o).  ...and when I say next, I mean....ten  years from now.  I get distracted by puppies, and butterflies, and dust bunnies....and budgets...ewww!!!

Bathroom Tea Towels

This is the last of four projects I did last June to jazz up my guest bathroom. Someday I want to get a new tub/sink, and add wainscoting, new paint colors, and a scripted border along the ceiling with sayings like the ones on these towels...'mom-isms.'
As far as these towels go...I have two more 'gifts' I've made I'll post closer to Christmas that are along this same line, BUT these are some hand towels I threw together for a really affordable price.
I found these 'flour sack' towels at the Dollar Tree. I originally bought a pack of 2 at a craft store for 6 bucks, and then I ran across these for a buck, squealed in the aisle, and haven't been the same since.

I grabbed a selection of ribbon and rickrack at the craft store. Let me pause and say I love this 'ball' ribbon stuff. It's so cute, I would trim all my skirts and jeans in this stuff if I didn't think they'd throw me out of work. Then end.
I took one of the huge flour clothes, cut it in half, and then trimmed down the edge I cut. I sewed on the ribbons, and then printed off the words I wanted on my computer. I used a pencil to sketch this, and then I made up all my own rules for 'embroidery' and followed my sketch with a needled and thread.

Notice, no close up? I don't want anyone that actually DOES know how to embroider accidentally stumble across my site and see the mess I call 'stitches' and report me to the sewing police. From a distance, they meet my standards. I also am pretending like the shower will emit enough steam to 'iron' out the wrinkles out without me actually have to ::shudder:: iron it by hand!
Linking To: 
Fridays at http://thegirlcreative.blogspot.com

UnFramed Melody

I've seen this around the net on some of the amazing blogs with renovation and junk to jewels. There is not one specific post that got me started on this particular project (I love them all).  Running across it time and time again got me motivated, so I'll just say-it's definitely not my idea, but I love it. I also went through my guest bathroom at the beginning of June and changed up a few things b/c I have been bored with my house after 9 years of living here, and letting it settle. This is the third out of four things I added to this bathroom.
I went to a Goodwill store in town, hoping they'd have some small cheap frames, with fun 'moldings'.....I could care less about the glass since I was planning on tossing it anyway. I got all three of these for 4 dollars.

Let me just say, I think I'm the only person that can spend too much at the Goodwill store...I'm going to need to apply for Goodwill benefits if I visit it with any more frequency! I just fall in love when it comes to stuff like this, and I wish I could etch a sketch it from the portion of my brain labeled 'crafts.'
I sprayed these with some white spray paint, added some ribbons via my trusty staple gun, and then hung them up. Somewhere are some cute hooks that match my bathroom, but who knows where that is in this house, so....until then...my trusty thumb tacks will do.

Poppy Wreath

I've seen lots of poppy flowers popping up around blogland, and I love them. I decided to combine those ideas with this concept of burlap and misc fabrics (of which I have TONS of from past projects/quilts/aprons/first birthday dresses etc). I saw a gorgeous calla lily wreath via Under the Table and Dreamings linky, on this website. And so....I went to work...
Here are the poppies....ready to be sewed, arranged, and glued.

I sewed the pieces together, and then superglued them to the wreath. I had some bare spots, so I added some green fabric, and burlap leaves, and raffia....my drug of choice. This is not her permanant home, but it gets her out of the way of my next project until I decide how and where she will live. The point of this is....I had everything except for the wreath to complete this project which is good/slightly disturbing....mostly b/c I could make about 67 more of these and still have more fabric scraps than is probably allowed via the city's fire code. Don't report me OK....well...unless you can guarantee the fireman that comes to check the status of the fire code violation in my house is single, kind, and really into slightly eccentric gals....if you can guarantee that....my address is....
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Me and My Bucket
Funky Junk
I Heart Naptime

Old Drawers=New Shelves

Old Drawers....

....to New Shelves....

I acquired these old drawers at an antique shop last weekend. Once upon a time, this is the sort of thing I would have tossed, now this is the sort of thing I see and can't live without. Go ahead, contact the show Hoarders, I'm going to need them in another week or two. I first eyed the drawer on the right hand side of the first picture, thinking it would be a cute place to store mason jars filled with....something (I've seen these ideas online). They didn't have a price and the lady offered me all three for ten dollars. I informed her I just wanted one, and to name a price, then she offered me all three for five dollars. I took the deal, and changed my mind about what I wanted to do with three drawers.
I like these drawers just as they are....missing the bottom, missing a nob, and chipping away splinter by splinter. I left them in their original condition, though I removed a little antique dust....they'll get enough of that at my house, they don't need to bring their own. I also added a few of the loose wood pieces on the 'best' drawer to the empty one so you don't see too much wall behind the drawer when I hung it. I had to put a few nails and glue in the square drawer b/c it was falling apart on one edge.
Once they were sturdier, I nailed picture holders on the back, and then went hunting for things in my house to fill these boxes, trust me, I have enough junk to fill 2,345 of these.
Just fyi...the drawer on the left houses some books my Mom gave my Great Grandfather (an avid reader) when she was a little girl. The Russian nesting dolls are from a friend (LeeAnne's) trip to Russia when we were teenagers. My friend Mary brought me the cross from Rome. The middle box houses a cross I bought in Mexico the first time I visited as a teen, the bell is from my Great....Great Grandparent's house, they used it call people working in the field for dinner. The last box houses a random candlestick floating around my house, a cross from a friend, and a Welsh Spoon from my friend Kelly's trip to Ireland.
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Craft Gossip
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Funky Junk
Under the Table and Dreaming
Keeping it Simple
Between Naps on the Porch
The Girl Creative
C.R.A.F.T
Coastal Charm
Fine Craft Party
Night Owl Crafting
Beyond the Picket Fence
The T-Shirt Diaries
Simply Sweet Homes

Check "Old Window" Off the List

Please forgive my lighting in this picture...it's the bathroom, low lighting is best in environments like this!
Is this the most creative thing I've ever done? No.
This IS, however, something I've wanted to do forever (forever in my world....is a month and a half....I like to go by the time clock of a June Bug)). I don't know why I like old windows. I always have. I like the fact that they had a home before they came to live with me. I love things that I acquire with a story, even if I don't know the story. Someone looked through this window...maybe daily, and watched the world. I pretend they all have happy stories. In my world of unicorns and butterflies, everything has, and will always end well! I found this white window for my bathroom at an antique store in downtown Dallas for 10 bucks. Gee, and if that isn't a happy ending, I don't know what is!!! I'm sure they give these away in smaller towns, but in the city, that's a good deal (and if it's not, remember, I like when things end well, so don't mess with my ending in the bubble I float around in). I decided not to repaint it. I didn't want to cover any of it's history (cough and I might be feeling a teeny tiny bit lazy cough). I rigged up a way to hang it (which also means it may come down tomorrow). Then I added a wreath. I looked a whole solid week for the right wreath (which is practically a life time when you are as impatient as me). All three of my craft stores failed me on my hunt for a white berried wreath. It's far enough from silk flowers to make me happy. I finally hit up a local boutique, and found this in the clearance section for 6 bucks (originally 25). Ummm...I wonder why it was still there? Maybe it was the speckled plastic eggs?

Just a hunch.
I cut off the eggs, and they went to live in 'a better place.' I used some ribbon I had that I didn't end up using on a previous project to hang the wreath. I know...who's frugal? Oh, it still doesn't make me frugal? If it helps, I wanted to go buy some fat ribbon, and I made do, which is a new concept, and I'm practically Dave Ramsey's clone in my book.

This Crate Made Me Crazy

It is always amazing to me which project does me in, consumes my time, and makes me want to start looking up numbers for a nice stay in a padded room without paint, glue, or glitter to haunt me.
This crate did it for me.

It all started out innocently enough. I found it at a thirft store. I had entered a thrift store one time in my life up until about two months ago, and then I started reading about these places that people go and don't have to pay full price for things you plan on dismantling and forming into something you call a 'craft' project. I went, I fell in love (per usual).
They have baskets I usually spend 10 dollars on for less than a buck, and they had this really cool crate (I recently bought something similiar at Michael's for 6 dollars WITH a 40% off coupon).
It was less than two dollars at the thrift store.
But then...I couldn't decide what I was going to do with it. I don't know why this tormented me. Fill it with dried flowers? Paint it black and do something kitchen-ish with it? Bathroom shelf? ...maybe. After weeks, and no real inspiration, I pulled out white paint and just went to work....
...it took about 5 coats of paint...if not more to get it covered....and not even well. It's wood, what's the deal? I used a tube of paint, I have a feeling I should have gone with spray paint.
I decided to 'antique' it. I'd read home-grown techniques online, but decided not to risk it this time around, and bought some crackle paint. I used the whole stinking bottle and no real crackle!!! AND then...
...I gave up and hung it in all it's imperfection. I bought some antique mason jars for 3 bucks each, and 12 baby ducks (from a local store sort of like Oriental Trading called US Toys), made some bath salt with a combination of homemade epsom salt, baking powder and scent, hung it on the wall in my blue/silver and white/duck themed bathroom, and got over it.

Ducks in a jar...disturbing? cute? Such a fine line, I stand on the side of cute. I may evening replace the jar on top with a duck, I'm a loooong way from finished with this bathroom....so it stays for now.
Linking To:
Funky Junk