I realize I haven’t shared many creative endeavors here on the blog in a while. That is, any that are mine and mine alone. Yes, our house is still torn up in several places and most of the efforts are going into what has become the longest kitchen renovation in the history of the world. C’mon, folks! Try and top it! Leave your comments, be honest, and let me know how long your kitchen makeover took. It’s coming along, but we do get weary at times. However, there is only one of Smuffy and everything is hand-crafted in this project, so on we march toward the finish line in our tortoise-like fashion.
In the middle of it all, I decided that if I had to look at our fireplace one more minute I might just scream. I’d passed the grumbling and sneering phase long ago. Built in 1950, our home, for which we are grateful in many ways, was given a fake fireplace from the start. Sturdy and solid brick with a nice oak mantle, it stands tall and proud and just a shade wonky which is better than many other things in our house which are wonky in the extreme. After living here and working on the house for decades, we’ve come to the conclusion (with no offense intended) that our house had to have been built by someone who, being a certified nitwit on his best days, practiced up for his future career as a builder by whamming away on his first project (our house) with a dull axe during bouts of extreme drunkenness.
Many are the projects we have undertaken and pushed through to the end with heavy sighs, but the fireplace has stood just as its maker intended, since 1950.
Then, as happens to so many of us, I saw a photo on Pinterest at acottagegirl.com. I love Cindy’s ideas on her blog. I’d never really known what I wanted to do to the fireplace till I saw her fireplace photo. It filled me with that feeling that can only be described as “Oh, yeah!”
Then came the research. I had to know how to get the look without making some mistake I’d be sorry for. Here’s what I did and a little bit about how I did it. I hope you enjoy the results. I’m very happy with the outcome. The before photo is in Spring 2020 when I hadn’t much desire or inspiration to decorate and the after is, as you can see, decorated for fall. I’m not quite finished tweaking it for Christmas just yet.
I had a long talk with an experienced paint man at Home Depot who recommended a good masonry primer. After applying this, I applied a Behr paint in a Magnolia color called “Lit Candles”. Then, I got pretty jittery about how to apply the darker color and get it to look right. I ended up choosing a Behr paint, “Armadillo” , in a satin finish and mixed it, one part paint to four parts faux glaze. I only had to buy a sample jar of the paint and I had the glaze on hand. I applied this with a sea sponge in a horizontal swiping/dabbing motion and then, with a wet rag, removed as much paint/glaze as I could from the mortar between the bricks. It was a bit like being way too close to your Monet while painting, but each time I stood back and took in the effect, I grew a little more confident that I wasn’t creating a total disaster.
The dark accent wall behind the fireplace, along with the rest of the room, has now been painted in Valspar’s “Milk Toast” from Lowe’sand I’m liking it better and better every day. It went on like a dream in one coat over a special primer called “PPG Gripper” from Home Depot, recommended to me by their helpful paint guy as something I could put straight over my old faux-finished glazed walls without having to sand them. God bless this man!
I’m pressing the pause button on all home updates other than the kitchen until after the holidays. I’ll take progress on that room any time I can get it!
So, dear readers, show me your fireplaces and any other fun updates you’ve been doing lately. I value your ideas because I need to make changes in several rooms.
You can check out some of my other creative projects, including writing, wood burning, decorating, sewing, re-purposing and restoration by exploring my Create! page.
It’s Christmas Eve and they coming – or you’re going – and then, suddenly, you find out that you’ve forgotten someone. Or, perhaps you’ve just discovered that So-and-So is coming after all. Yikes!
It truly is last minute. I’ve simply had no time for blogging lately, but I did want to share this great idea in case you need a little something extra to give.
So, run to the storage room and grab a small jar you’ve kept for no good reason other than that you just knew it would be ideal for something someday. Dash back to the kitchen now and grab a mixing bowl and spatula, because we’re making –
Homemade Peppermint Sugar Scrub!
You’ll find complete instructions here in my post about making the lavender coconut version, along with some tips and reasons why sugar scrubs are a wonderful addition to the bath.
However, since the effort to make this takes less time than it does to read that post and I know you’re in a rush, here’s a quick how-to on this falling-off-a-log gift for friends and family. You’ll probably have the ingredients on hand.
To a medium mixing bowl, add 1/2 cup softened or melted extra virgin coconut oil. With a spatula, stir in 2 cups of regular granulated sugar. Add about five drops of green food coloring and ten drops of peppermint essential oil. (I use therapeutic grade, since we are applying it to the skin.) Stir well to mix in the color and oil.
Oh, my goodness, I hope you’re not too exhausted to spoon this into your jars! The number of gifts you create will depend on the size of your little jars. With the jars I used, as pictured in the photo, I was able to fill four of them with one recipe. Small jelly jars work great and since they go to different people, a mix ‘n match batch of jars is just fine.
Now, grab a length of ribbon or twine and tie on a tag such as the ones I made that let the recipient know that they are “MINT” to have a Merry Christmas. If you don’t have time or don’t know how to make nifty tags like this on the computer, a hand-written tag is even more personal.
There you go! Have a very Merry Christmas and all my wishes that this idea has come to the rescue for at least one of you!
Gotta rush – there are still gifts to wrap at my house! Why don’t I have a recipe for that?
I’ve figured out why they call it “The Merry, Merry Month of May”. If ever a month came pre-loaded with celebrations, May wins the prize!
There’s the given – graduations. They rarely come in singles. There always seems to be a wedding or two, not to mention showers in anticipation of the weddings in June. Mother’s Day comes along and since a portion of those mothers became one in May, there are birthdays and the parties that go with them.
Do you ever feel like you’re spending
more on gift wrap than gifts? I’m
definitely a rescuer and a saver, but I don’t want to go down in history as the
lady who left this earth having owned the most cottage cheese containers. I want a purpose or a re-purpose for my
stash. I want to do something with my frugal hoard and part of that hoard is
merchandizing bags from stores that I just know
I can turn into beautiful gift bags.
Today, I want to share a money saving idea you can pull off without losing your mind. All you need is store bags (hopefully ones that do not have wrap-around logos printed on them), scissors, ruler, glue and your “stash” – whatever that means to you – and possibly some kids or grandkids if you really want to have some fun and you are one of those people who is at peace with the concept that it’s the process that counts – not the product.
Here’s part of my stash, including the gift bag project in mid-progress. I have a Cricut die-cutting machine. Believe it or not, I even got that at the Goodwill Store! Don’t tuck your tail between your legs if you don’t have a fancy machine. I’ll give you some ideas for working without one.
I find that Dollar Tree and Tuesday Morning are great sources for finding doo-dads on the cheap. A full sheet of sparkly jeweled stickers for around a dollar will last you through many a creative binge. I do some scrapbooking, so I always have leftover snippets and papers to cut up for projects. You can often pick up a book of coordinating papers at Hobby Lobby at half price, but if you don’t want to do that, scrounge around for some cardstock, old wallpaper or wrapping paper that isn’t too thin. Kids love working with thin, colorful sheets of fun foam, available at Hobby Lobbyand they can cut out flowers, leaves, trucks, letters and numbers and anything else they have a notion to draw or trace onto the foam. Dollar stores also have full sheets of themed embellishments for scrap-bookers. All you have to do with those is cover the bag’s logo with a shape you’ve cut from foam or paper and stick the embellishments all over it and your once-a-throw-away bag is redeemed. How about the fronts of those fancy greeting cards you’ve been given? There’s some fabulous artwork you can use to decorate your bags!
If the bag rescue idea appeals to you, but you want to avoid the expense of a Cricut or other machine, there are some fun tools to watch for when you’re out bargain hunting. Decorative scissors are inexpensive and will trim the edges of your papers into scallops, ocean waves or a number of other designs. They are usually around five dollars. Punches are fabulous things. You can align paper along a printed guide, punch the design and slide the paper again to punch long strips or all the way around a shape. They come in geometrics, florals, eyelet and lace designs and more. I’ve found them at Tuesday Morning at prices between three and ten dollars, depending on the size. Martha Stewart makes quality punches in varied styles. Visit the link to see what is available and then watch for sales in stores that carry office and craft items. Metallic pens come in a wide array of colors and can be used to add sparkle to the edges of cut paper. If you have no fancy scissors or tools, why not tear the edges of your paper by hand? Once you’ve given it a jagged edge, use the metallic pens to highlight the torn edges and make them pop against the background. Backgrounds are important. A layered effect always makes an embellishment project look much more professional.
Since I do have a Cricut machine (and they are marvels, to be sure), I used leftover scrapbooking paper to cut designs that I felt would be useful for any upcoming gifting needs. As you can see, I just glued the design onto its contrasting background and then glued the whole thing right over the original business logo.
Next, I used a few cheap stickers from
my sparkly jewel collection to add some pizzazz to the design. You certainly don’t have to do this, but even
just a few tiny embellishments will take your design to the next level and give
it a designer flair rather than just a
look’s-like-she-couldn’t-find-a-gift-bag-but-she-could-find-a-gluestick-project.
Here are the bags, before and after being be-jeweled. Little things mean a lot, don’t they? Zoom in for the thrill of the sparkle.
Speaking of glue, I highly recommend Martha Stewart craft glue as seen here. It dries clear, doesn’t string, gives you thirty seconds or so for wiggling items into place and then the items stay put! If I run out of it, I will put off a project until I can get some because of the frustration it saves me.
Once you’re finished, the bags are ready for colorful tissue and maybe even a cute tag or a ribbon tied onto the handle if you want to get that fancy.
Here are my finished bags. Now for the rest of the stack I have saved up in the closet. Call me cheap, but my mama would be proud!
I do love a rescue project and handmade gifts and this combines the two. Need more ideas? Take a look at the wooden utensil project I did with my friend Kathy here, the falling-off-a-log-easy gifts here, rescued vintage tablecloths here, Sweet Annie wreaths here, and what to do with those pretty leaves you can’t resist picking up here. After all that, you’ll need to treat yourself. Relax with some homemade sugar scrub here.
Any questions? I’d love to hear your comments. Is there anything you’ve repurposed that the
rest of us are throwing away?
If ever a holiday had a tendency to sneak up on you unexpectedly, it’s Valentine’s Day. Somehow, when Christmas is over and the last Happy New Year is wished, we tend to hunker down for winter and take on the attitude that there won’t be a single bright spot in our lives until spring.
So, I’m
wondering, are you ready for it?
I know, I know. So much is said about how commercialized Valentine’s Day has become and how it was given a big build-up by the retail world in order to suck us all in to their stores so they could empty our pockets, leaving us to stagger out in a daze wondering if we’d just done too much or too little when all we really wanted was to say, “I love you”, or “You’re special to me.” We resist the nudge to fall into such traps, but let’s ask ourselves one thing – What could be better than a special day to remind us (because we so often forget) to offer someone a loving gesture?
I love old-fashioned, sappy Valentines. Here are some that I’ve made and you can see more about that here.
A card will do just fine, but as for gifts, I love to give a few special people a simple token of affection without going on a spending spree. Let’s face it, a homemade gift always means more and if you go overboard you can send the person you’re trying to bless on a guilt trip if they think they need to reciprocate. Or, even worse, you’ll start that horror of horrors – the yearly contest to see who can outdo the other – an uncomfortable situation that empties everyone’s bank account and does little to fill the heart.
If you’re feeling a twinge of panic and wishing you had a few tokens of affection to offer, try making this homemade sugar scrub. You’ll have it whipped up in one minute and have nothing left to do but fashion a cute tag declaring that the gift is “Because You Are So Sweet”! I wish I could remember where I found this great idea and recipe so I could give credit where credit is due, but it’s been a while and a Pinterest search is not bringing it back to me, so I have no idea. If anyone can send me the info or a link to it, I’m happy to include it here.
If you have a stash of stuff like I do, you probably won’t even have to leave the house for supplies. You’ll need a mixing bowl, spatula, small jars, extra virgin coconut oil, white table sugar, 5-10 drops fragrance oil (rose or lavender is nice), red food coloring, ribbon and/or fabric scraps, paper tags, cardstock you can fashion into tags or, better yet, the FREE PRINTABLE TAGS you’ll find at the end of this post! This recipe made three gifts, but it all depends on the size of your containers. Clear ones are best, because the sugar scrub is really pretty!
Instructions:
With a spatula, blend ½ cup extra virgin coconut oil, 1 ½ to 2 cups white sugar, 5-10 drops fragrance
oil and five drops food coloring together in a mixing bowl. Fill jars and add a cute tag or label.
I hope you didn’t nod off during that lengthy description. Coconut oil softens at 76 degrees Fahrenheit, so if your work area is colder than that you may have to put the bowl in the microwave for a few seconds to bring it to the point where it mixes easily.
I got into my Printmaster program and designed a tag that suited the look I wanted to achieve. You can always make this quick gift for a birthday or any other occasion by using different colors of food coloring and changing the look of your tags or labels. Again, I used various jars, ribbon scraps and bags I had on hand.
Why give sugar scrub, other than the
fact that scrubs are popular and can be expensive? My main concern was whether or not they are
good for you or pose some sort of health risk or cause skin damage. I am not your doctor or your licensed skin
care specialist, so I am only passing on a little of what I know in order to
help you continue with your own research.
What I discovered in my limited studies is that some body and facial scrubs are not so good for you. Their exfoliating ingredients range from nut shells to polymer beads to salt and sugar. Let’s face it, exfoliating feels wonderful! However, nut shells and other ground matter have sharp edges and who wants to be scratched? Polymer beads are round and smooth and leave the skin much more intact, but they’ve been found to last forever, making their way into the rivers and oceans and harming marine life. As for salt, it’s a great option, but the edges of salt crystals are still sharper than that of sugar and it may not be what you want for use on delicate areas of the body or if you have sensitive skin.
That leaves sugar! While I would recommend removing as much of
it from your diet as possible, I’m
giving it my approval , so far, as a scrub.
The coconut oil is just about the most wonderful thing you can put on
your skin and the combination will leave you soft, moisturized and much, much
smoother.
A natural source of glycolic acid, sugar already contains the ingredient that a lot of over-the-counter, spas and dermatologists offer to remove dead skin cells and encourage cellular turnover. It’s an alpha hydroxy acid, and since your homemade scrub is mild, it will be safe to use a couple of times a week in the evenings. Some stronger formulas, available in stores and from spas and professionals, will recommend wearing a sunscreen if using alpha hydroxyy acid formulas during the day. You can read more about that in this article from Huffington Posthere.
Sugar is also a natural humectant,
meaning that it draws moisture from the air into your skin – and that’s a good thing.
Some scrubs can do your skin more harm than good and you can learn more about that in this article from The Sidney Morning Herald. More info, including safe recipes for sugar scrubs that include honey, avocado oil and other natural ingredients can be found in this ETimes article.
If someone needs to hear you say, “This is for you, ‘because you are so sweet!’”, homemade sugar scrub might just be the perfect token of your affection.
Now for those FREE printable tags – just click below and you have a whole sheet of tags that you can print on cardstock. Attach a pretty ribbon and tie to your jars of sugar scrub! Could I have made it any easier, folks?
Questions? Comments?
I’m
happy to chat, because you are so sweet!
Welcome to Midwest Storyteller’s first installment of –
If we analyze our friendships, we’ll often return to the old saying, “You can’t judge a book by its cover”. I found this to be especially true of Kathy. We estimate that we’ve known each other about five years. Prior to that, I knew she existed, but I didn’t “know” her.
The things we miss out on! It’s happened before. Years ago, a lady named Rebekah showed up at my writers’ group. Soon after, she volunteered to help with the Youth Theater I directed. I discovered not only that she’d been my neighbor two doors away for the last two years, but that she and I were twin souls! (Is that what you call it when you each think the other is riotously funny?) She encouraged me and inspired me, helped me and then, as sometimes is the way with life, she moved away, darn it all. She has a blog, too! Be sure to check her out at “There Will Be a $5 Charge for Whining”.
Kathy has proved to be another of those rare souls who has moved from the fringes of my life and taken up residence in my spirit. I’ve been hoping she’d succumb to my hints and agree to be a guest at Midwest Storyteller, so I’m thrilled to welcome you to her debut!
I misjudged Kathy at first. When a friend of mine invited her to a monthly food and fun night, she seemed to fit right in, but, my-oh-my, she took a lot of notes! As we all chattered away, sharing life, tips, ideas, stories, recipes and more, Kathy seemed to be jotting down everything we said in a little notebook that already bulged with previous notations. “Type A”, I thought. “Hops out of bed at the crack of dawn, rounds up all her ducks, requires them to salute as they line up in their rows and that’s the way they march. All. Day. Long. (Without making a mess).”
Then, one night we played a fun personality game. Kathy shocked me! By the time we finished, I could tell that the only thing I’d gotten right in my assumptions about Kathy was the possibility that she might have a collection of actual ducks! I looked at her, astonished. “The reason you carry your little book and make all those notes is so that you can keep all these ideas and go home and do them all!”
Smiling, she nodded. That’s when I knew that Kathy’s brain is every bit as “squiggly” as mine and bursting with creativity! I knew she had a “stash” – a treasure trove of things yet to be. I knew she had a messy room brimming with projects at various gestational stages. I love this woman! I’ve come to know I can count on her for understanding, prayer, hands-on help and she’ll probably adopt any ducks I find because not only does she have a pond – she loves animals!
Having delved into arts and crafts “forever”, Kathy is now retired from the insurance industry and has time to use all her hoarded supplies. Her favorite adventures usually involve a splash of paint as Kathy’s specialty is reclaiming old objects and making something new out of them. Take a look at a few of her fun projects –
And, how about these innovative ideas?
Kathy’s life is built around Christ, her husband, Robert, three children and five grandchildren. Although all the animals in the world would love to belong to Kathy and Kathy often dreams of this, she draws the line at the dog, Bre and the cat, Trixie. I’m grateful that she’s taking time out for us here at Midwest Storyteller to share her latest adventure – wood burning.
After seeing the set of beautiful wooden spoons she created for her mom with a wood burning kit, I wanted to try my hand at it, all the while muttering to myself that all I needed was one more hobby. Nevertheless, I took the plunge with Kathy holding my hand. Take a look at how her project turned out –
Let’s get started. Here’s what Kathy recommends:
Take a little time to watch some tutorials. YouTube always has lots to choose from and Kathy got great ideas and tips from CreativeBug.com
Put down something to protect the surface if you are doing this on your dining table, countertop or some other surface that you don’t want to risk getting a burn mark. Wood burning tools are hot! We used cardboard.
Gather your supplies. Needless to say, you’ll need a wood burning kit. Kathy found this Walnut Hollow Creative Versa-Tool at Hobby Lobby for $29.99. Of course, it’s always a good idea to watch for their great half-price deals or use their weekly 40% OFF coupon. Needle-nose pliers are great for removing tips from the tool that will be way too hot to touch, and a small tube of graphite powder keeps the tips turning smoothly when you screw them in and out of the tool. Safety glasses are a good idea if you’re tackling a project that will take you a while. Remember that oldies tune, “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.” Well, it does. (We worked on a nice day with the windows open and didn’t really notice a problem.) A piece of scrap wood for practicing with the tips will reduce the “oops factor”. I couldn’t find any, so I grabbed a couple of paint stirring sticks and that worked just fine. Food grade mineral oil, rubbed on your finished project, will bring out the beauty of your work. An extension cord will probably be helpful to allow you to position your work comfortably.
Practice with your tips on your scrap wood. Also, practice with your temperature control so that you’ll be able to get a clean look when creating your design. The paint sticks were “raw” wood and had no coating. The spoons were bamboo and seemed to have a coating or polish on the handles that required higher heat.
You can transfer a pattern if you need to or take off free-hand like a dare-devil! I chose middle ground by placing my spoons on the cardboard surface and drawing around them. Then, I penciled in whatever pattern came to mind when I practiced with the tips, offered up a prayer and gave it my best shot.
Once you’re satisfied with your artwork, erase any stray pencil marks, brush away any eraser crumbs or stray wood fibers and rub with mineral oil.
I know you can do it! All you need are supplies and bravery. My spoons aren’t perfect, but for a first project, I’m pleased! I thought Kathy’s were a masterpiece!
Here are a few more tips that Kathy shared with me and things we learned as we went along –
The shading point is great for leaves and flowers with pointy petals. It helped to rock it back and forth so that the wood burned all the way to the edge of the pattern because the spoons, like many other things you might use this tool on, look pretty flat but have a slightly curved surface.
The tapered point worked nicely for thin stems and small dots, while the flow point, though it looks too big for the job, draws nice lines and is best for cursive writing.
The hot stamping points added a lot of fun. The kit came with three – a square, a round and one with concentric circles. I used the circles for centers of flowers. The square one, pressed carefully along in a line, created the diagonal pattern you see on one of the spoons. The circular one, for some strange reason, reminded me of dandelion fluff, so I used it in clusters to create flowers that resemble those.
Neither of us may have every single duck in a row, but we did manage it with our spoons. Here they are –
Kathy and I both recommend Pinterest for tons of wood burning ideas. You’ll be inspired to create something fabulous! We hope we’ve helped do just that here today.
Thank you, Kathy, for teaching me how to do this! Wood burning turned out to be much more fun than I expected and I’m so pleased with the results.
Kathy and I would both love your comments. Have you tried wood burning? Are you inspired to give it a try? Let us hear from you!
Subscribe now so you don’t miss out, because we’ll be Creating with Kathy again soon!
A reminder: June is about to come busting out all over and you know what that means – There’s a First Friday Freebie coming right up!
Do you ever feel as I do – that you’ve just recovered from a volcanic eruption of decorations back before Christmas, only to experience the aftershock of trying to put it all way? No? Well then, I guess it’s just me.
I’m tired of overhauling the whole house just to satisfy my seasonal whims, so as I’ve already mentioned here, I had planned to do a re-mix on some of my winter décor and share the spring results with you.
Remember my winter mantle?
I’m still just all over that terrarium! I knew it would stay. So, with a few simple changes, we’re feeling springy inside, even if there was snow – yes, I said S.N.O.W. on the ground outside as I began this post and more in the forecast for tomorrow. I’m trying to keep my chin up, reminding myself of all you folks out east who just endured their sixth nor’easter.
Here’s how I switched it up for spring while keeping my favorite things –
As you can see, I didn’t make drastic changes. Switching out a few things seemed to be all I needed to take away winter and invite spring into the room. I took the photo at dusk to highlight the candles, but things look much more airy during the day.
Other than the terrarium, the thing I’m enjoying most about my spring décor is my sheep! Aren’t they fun?
I told myself as I stood toying with those in Marshall’s that they would make an ideal First Friday Freebiefor one of my loyal subscribers, but once I got them home, I weakened. I sat them here. I sat them there. They just got cuter and cuter! I confess! I crumbled under their vapid gaze and kept them for myself.
Nobody’s perfect. And, a little whimsy never hurt anybody.
The most amazing thing about these little sheep? They sit in plain sight, just inches off the floor and Phoebe Junehasn’t eaten them. Come to think of it, I don’t think she’s even noticed them, which is odd because she pretty much pounces on anything with a “face”.
Here’s how much money I didn’t spend –
The mirror. It stayed – a family treasure described here.
A bunch of forsythia wound into a not-too-perfect wreath – a Hobby Lobbyfind – maybe $4.00.
A metal wreath stand – another Hobby Lobbyfind – half-price at $12.00. I’ll use this year-round.
A topiary bunny purchased years ago at a garage sale for next to nothing.
Set of 3 flameless candles (the really cool ones with the realistic moving flames). I found these a couple of years ago at TreesNTrends. The whole set was $29.99! I see on their website that they’ve gone up a little in price, but they’re still worth it. They have timers and a remote and the batteries seem to last a long time. They come in ivory or red and you can find them here.
Our mantle clock – it stayed just as in the winter mantle. The clock, as well as the other “keepers” are described here.
Green glass candle-holder. Strangely enough, Smuffy found them. He comes home with odd things some days and that’s all I’m sayin’.
The terrarium! Another Hobby Lobbyfind that I describe here.
The contents of the terrarium. These were all items I already had – a small fake plant, also from Hobby Lobby on half-price sale; two brown ceramic pillar candle-holders with twine and bead accents that I picked up at Cargo Largo a couple of months ago for $2 each and have been waiting to use somewhere; perched on the candle-holders – a set of white alabaster doves we received as a wedding gift; and a string of tiny battery-operated lights that I taped around the inside frame of the terrarium to light it at night.
The word-art sign stayed – another Hobby Lobbyfind described here.
Fake yellow tulips – a rummage sale find I had on hand.
Rustic bucket (my tulips needed to be “re-potted” from the ugly container they came in) – a recent Hobby Lobbyfind – around $5.
Glass candle jars with pillar candles – they stayed also. I shared how I updated them with sisal rope here. I had the candles on hand.
Wooden box with lavender silk crocus. I gave this to my mom when I finished doing some re-decorating for her. Now that she’s gone, they’re another sweet reminder of her and her favorite color.
Those boogey-woogie, not-too-intelligent-looking sheep – Under $5 at Marshall’sseveral months ago.
Vintage Black wooden suitcase. It’s something that was always around the house when I was growing up and holds special memories. Mom kept things through the generations, so I have no idea how old it is and, of course, wish I had asked. It was one of the few things I asked my mom to “put my name on”, if you know what I mean.
I’m happy with this budget makeover. All the items that I consider “new” came to around $20 and all of them can be re-purposed for various seasons and different rooms. I hope it inspires you to work with what you have.
Keeping family treasures where I can see them makes me happy no matter what the trends are. My house does not look like the latest magazines. Perhaps it did once, back in the 90’s, when designers, on a Victorian flight of fancy, took a turn at decorating with everything old. All I had to do back then was pull out Mom’s and Grandma’s stuff and artfully arrange it all.
Designers moved on, but since my décor and my inheritance were one and the same, I stuck with the look that I like to refer to as a cross between Grandma’s attic and a rummage sale. I’m thrilled that Joanna Gaines has done much to bring back the popularity of “old”. (I was digging around in dusty old flea markets and toting home “junk” way before she came along!) The farmhouse style so often featured on “Fixer Upper” is making it easy and inexpensive for me to plan my upcoming kitchen makeover. All I’ll have to do is dig a new batch of “old” out of the closet and, once again, artfully arrange.
A major remodel job is coming my way soon and the “fireplace” in these photos may or may not be staying. I’d love to hear your comments and ideas on this. (It’s not a real fireplace anyway, so we can do something else fun if Smuffy and I have any strength left after conquering the kitchen.) I’ll chronicle all that here, which might prove to be therapeutic amidst the rubble, so as they say, stay tuned…
Let me hear from you. Scroll back up to the top of this post and “Leave a Comment”.
Remember – First Friday Freebies happen the first Friday of every month, so fun stuff is just around the corner – as in tomorrow! Share this post with a friend and if you haven’t subscribe NOW, because freebies are for subscribers only. Check out the Freebies pageto see past gifts and their winners!
They call it “voluntary simplicity” – that thing where you rid yourself of all but the items you need to function on a daily basis, freeing your family to embrace experiences rather than stuff.
While I envy the wiggle room this lifestyle provides to its adherers, I don’t think I’ll ever hop on board the minimalist train. For starters, what few items of my precious stuff would I pack for the journey?
I prefer to blame it on a combination of frugality and creativity. Eventually, I get around to doing way cool projects with the things I’ve kept and a pleasing part of the outcome is that I haven’t wasted any money.
I do, however have an artist/writer friend who keeps nothing. I recall her bare-bones medicine cabinet. If no one in the family had a headache, stomach ache or cold, she’d throw all the over-the-counter meds in the trash (expired or not). I saw this as an act of faith. I preferred, however, not to take the risk of waking in the middle of the night moaning, “Where, oh where is my Pepto!”
If I must erase the excesses from my life, I’ll skip the latest movie or restaurant and surround myself with books, antiques and fodder for my next creative whim.
For years now, I’ve had a stack of stained and tattered vintage tablecloths, given to me by my mom. Cute in their day, they’d long ago become something you wouldn’t want out for everyday, much less entertaining. Add to that the fact that they didn’t fit any of my tables and they’d become nothing more than closet filler.
Recently, I decided to do something about it. I gave a couple of the really tattered ones to a creative friend, knowing that they’d undergo some transformation that I couldn’t imagine. That left me with my favorite – an aqua blue tablecloth with pink and gray ferns and a white border.
I took my idea and my tablecloth to Hobby Lobby and spent under five dollars.
After hauling out the rotary cutter and mat, I released a deep sigh, promising Mom and the tablecloth that it was all for the best. Here’s how I dissected it.
The white border was tattered beyond repair, so I trimmed it off. It is already gone in the above photo. There were no holes and stains on the corners because, having hung off the table, they’d been out of the way of spills. The center looked good, but the area surrounding it had plenty of wear and stains.
I removed the corner pieces, cutting them into 12” squares. Then, I cut the center into a perfect square around the fern pattern.
Next, I took the center square to my serger and finished the edge, not only to keep it from unraveling, but also to create the straight line of stitches that would give me an easy guide for turning over the edge for finishing.
(If you do not have a serger, use any wide stitch on your sewing machine that will give a nice, straight line for folding.)
Now for my Hobby Lobby find. I happened across this gross-grain ribbon. It’s scalloped pattern in the colors of my tablecloth made it the ideal trim and the black edge gave a nice touch. Turning the serged edge of the cloth toward the RIGHT side of the fabric, I stitched the ribbon carefully along the edge so that when I finished, the edge of the fabric would be concealed under the ribbon.
Each time I reached a corner, I lifted the presser foot and rotated the fabric, pulling the ribbon around to keep the edge of the ribbon even with the folded edge of the fabric. Once I made it around all four sides, I stopped, cutting the ribbon straight across so that I could turn the end under.
Next, I attended to the corners, carefully cutting the ribbon almost to the stitching line, allowing one of the cut ends to lay flat while folding the other under at a 45 degree angle to give the corner a mitered appearance. I top-stitched over this, tacking the corners into place.
Now, just as I stitched the other edge of the ribbon, I changed my thread color and stitched all around the inside edge.
This encases the edge of the fabric neatly inside the ribbon between the two rows of stitches and finishes this part of the project. How cute is that to place in the center of any table – round or square?
But what about those four corners I sliced off? I took those to the serger as well, adjusting it to apply a picot edging to all four pieces. You could do a rolled hem or just a narrow hem on the sewing machine if you prefer.
The result? A centerpiece cloth and four of the cutest luncheon napkins, minus all the tatters and stains!
I’m more than pleased. I especially like how the fern pattern, flowing from one corner of each napkin, gives them a different look depending on how you fold them. Above, they’re shown four different ways. Now redeemed from life in the linen closet, this lovely set is ready to be used, admired and passed on. Mom would approve. She was adept at making something out of nothing and you can get a glimpse of that here.
I won’t tell you, however, how many more treasures like this I own that hide way in the dark, waiting for my next brainstorm. I don’t really know how many. Another of my rescues, a battered, old clothes hamper, can be seen here. I’ve been known to rescue things that would otherwise be nothing but compost and you can check that out here.
You can help by sharing your ideas! Scroll back up to the beginning of this post and leave a comment. What treasures have you rescued and how did you do it?
Maybe I can help! Tell me what you’ve got and, who knows! I might get an idea. If you’d like to send a photo, go to the “Contact” page and email it to me.
Maybe together we can, as the old song says, “Rescue the Perishing”!
I hardly know how to act! For the last several days it’s been warming. I love you, Sixty-five Degree Days! (Until Seventy-five Degrees starts flirting with me.) Spring-like rains have pattered the dry earth and my tulips and hyacinths have jumped up to shout about it. I’m tempted to warn them that it won’t be over till it’s over and they should retreat and wait a while.
I’m always thrilled to arrive at March’s doorstep, but to be honest, once March invites me in, it makes me mad. It loves its cruel jokes and is afflicted with violent mood swings that I’m convinced are contagious. Year after year, it claims to have thirty-one days, but if you ask me, the experts should investigate this. Here in my part of the Mid-West, March lasts forever!
Though it may blast me yet again with snow and ice and force me back into my winter coat, I shall dig my heels in and decorate as though life is just one big romp out in the green grass and sunshine. I know, I know – it’s not really spring for another three weeks, but should I be forced to look at winter again outside, at least I can pretend it’s spring inside.
I invite you to join with me in blowing winter an official good-bye kiss. Let’s take a look some simple winter décor, which, of course, I meant to share with you in January. We live in an older home, so getting too trendy can just look weird. Here’s what I did –
It’s always so difficult to decide how to decorate after Christmas. I look for ways to get rid of the reds and greens and keep some of the snowy things, yet keep it cozy. Without a lot of storage, I do a lot of re-purposing and design re-mixing. Sometimes, however, things just get “tired” and nothing looks right. Smuffy overheard me mumbling about it and suggested I go shopping. I ran out the door without even stopping to take his temperature!
Here’s how I mixed the old with the new –Here, I’ve kept the antique dynamite box filled with pine cones (#1) I used at Christmas, removing the wreath from the front and the ornaments that were scattered throughout. The antlers? Smuffy hunts a lot. The sticks? I saved those from a bush trimming session last May. You can see how I used them for fall decoratinghere.
On the floor, I used some glass jars I found at resale shops (#2)and re-purposed by gluing sisal rope around the bottom. After filling them with smooth stones, I inserted taper candles. Total cost (over time) probably came to around $11.
Above the mantle hangs one of my treasures from my Grandpa Judge’s barber shop. The mirror (#3) has made a move or two around the house since my mom passed it on to me, but it’s a forever-keeper. You’ll enjoy some stories involving Grandpa Judge and you can check those out, along with photos, hereand here.
After Christmas sales on holiday items are a great way to find winter décor. Just because the store classified it as “Holiday”, it’s likely to have significant markdowns even if it isn’t red and green and wishing you a joyous Noel. I found this “ice” covered tree (#4) at one of my favorite places, Tuesday Morning. I snatched it up for under $15, knowing that I’d use it for years in various rooms, depending on my many whims.
Below it, I used a bit of word art. This wooden “peace” sign (#5)is something I found for practically nothing at a resale shop. I keep moving it around and re-purposing it. At Christmas, it looked great on a low shelf with fake poinsettias and tiny fairy lights all around the base. I was impressed. So was Phoebe June. After a week or two I admitted defeat and took it down. A kitten can only stand so much temptation.
In front of “peace” sits a little brown birdie (#6) from a resale shop that probably cost me a whole dollar.
The mantle clock (#7)has been around for decades.
I stumbled over the long sign (#8) – an item that will work well against the brick of the fireplace no matter the season – at Hobby Lobby on the half-price sale. At $12.50, its a bargain and a great reminder that we live a blessed life.
The weird, green candle? (#9) It spoke to me a while back from a shelf in a re-sale shop. Don’t know why. At $2, I just found myself stroking it and thinking, “No one else is going to have one of these!”
On another Hobby Lobbyexcursion, (I think I may have mentioned that I love that place) I rounded a corner and saw “it”. The terrarium(#10)drew me in an instant and, reading the sign above it, I checked my delighted squeals as I discovered it really was half off! I knew it was something that would change with the seasons depending on what I filled it with. I don’t usually spend much on décor, but for $32.50, I lowered it gently into my cart, reminding myself that Smuffy had told me to go shopping. I filled it with a cute, fake plant, some remote controlled candles that I already had and another little brown birdie. The terrarium stays. I’m looking forward to filling it with spring things.
And now – can we all shout it out loud together? – “Goodbye, Winter! Hello, Spring!” I’ll share my photos with you when I get things switched over. I hope I’ve given you some ideas for future decorating.
I’ll help you get switched over to spring, too! The First Friday Freebie is coming up March 2, so get ready to enter and win. Share this post with all your friends so they can subscribe and enter as well. A touch of spring will be arriving for one of you from Midwest Storyteller!
Looking for ideas to help you rescue and recycle the poor, the tired and pretty-much-trash stuff around the house? You’ll find them here and here!
It’s time for true confessions. It’s embarrassing, but true. I’ll try anything artsy once. Well…just about anything. Here’s the part that’s embarrassing: My successes have made me fearless – and rather messy. I wouldn’t want to throw that nifty scrap or tidbit away because I will, most definitely, encounter a friend, TV show, YouTube video or Pinterest pin that shows me exactly what to do with it. Then, believe it or not – I actually do it.
The house is full of things I’ve tackled in a fit of crafting passion and many of them, I might humbly state, are masterpieces in their own way. Some are just plain odd. Others – the ones that dragged me way too deep into the crafting waters – nearly got shoved under the sofa and never completed, but that’s fine, as they can always keep my marbles company under there, if you know what I mean.
Now we approach the time of year when I get super excited about making gifts. It’s also the time of year, at least in our neck of the woods, when falling temperatures bring us indoors more and it begins getting dark earlier…and earlier…and earlier. Before long we’ll have darkness by five o’clock, which leaves you with long evenings to fill if you’re not a writer or blogger or if you’re not Smuffy.
Smuffy has an organized series – yes, series – of to-do lists so detailed that they are filed neatly behind his master list, entitled, “LISTS”, which is, as the name implies, a list of his lists. I am not making this up, folks! I’ve known him to misplace this on rare occasions and it’s traumatic, to say the least. I have lists, too – somewhere.
Sometimes, we all need something quick and fool-proof to spruce up the place, get ourselves organized or give as a hand-made gift. At other times, we need something to do with the kids or grandkids that doesn’t take forever or tear the whole house apart – something that keeps that last little marble from rolling under the sofa to join all the others.
I’m going go share some photos of three easy projects – and I mean falling-off-a-log-easy projects. So easy, in fact that you could make them on your own just by taking a quick look at the photo and pretty much ignoring any written instructions.
Get your creative self in gear and let’s go!
First, take a look at this photo and guess what this cute pumpkin was before it was a pumpkin:
Pat yourself on the back (or, backside, perhaps?) if you guessed –
Yep, toilet tissue!
Once you have gathered some supplies, this project takes just a couple of minutes to complete. All you need is a roll of toilet tissue, an 18 inch (or ½ yard) square of fabric and some leftover fluff such as raffia, ribbon, greenery and a stick or what I thought made the ideal stem – a dried okra pod! Let’s give a round of cyber-applause to my friend, Robin, who demonstrated this last week to a gathering of ladies who promptly pounced on the table full of goodies and turned out some really cute pumpkins! Imagine how cute this would be wrapped in burlap or an orange polka-dot or chevron print! You could also use a little polyester fiberfill around the toilet tissue before you pull the fabric up and stuff it into the center of the roll in order to make your pumpkin a little fatter.
What a cute idea for anywhere in the house or perhaps on the bathroom vanity as a spare hiding in plain sight!
Go ahead – say it: “This craft project is not too hard for me.” Seriously, if you mess this one up, I’m not sure I want you fixing me dinner or driving anywhere near me in a motor vehicle! You might just be dangerous.
Next up – a set of candle-holders made with your very own little hands! Don’t get all worked up about it. The pumpkin thing should have you feeling like an awesome artiste by now. All you need to do is see the “after” photo of this one –
Start with a trip to a well-stocked grocery store for three bags of lentils. They come in the usual tan, but also in red, green and orange. Choose the three colors you want. Stop at your local discount store or Hobby Lobby and get a skein of twine, some varied-sized canning jars and some votive candles.
I also chose to paint the canning rings with Krylon Fusion paint(also available at Hobby Lobby) in a hammered metal finish in order to “antique” them a bit. I chose the chocolate brown color, but I think the black or copper would also look great.
Next, go home and raid Grandma’s button box and choose some colors to go along with your candles and lentils. String them together and tie them to the twine you’ve wrapped around the rings. Pour the lentils into the jars and nestle the votives into the lentils. What a cute an inexpensive gift or a quick way to switch up your own décor!
TIPS: If you are giving these as gifts, I recommend giving them with the canning lid on top as well as the ring to keep from spilling all your lentils before the gift is opened. Also a tiny dot of hot glue goes a long way in keeping the twine in place when you’re wrapping it around the ring.
I know you’ve got to be feeling unstoppable now, so let’s move on to something that is super-simple but may take just a little more time. Repeat after me, “I can. I know I can. Yes, I can, can, can!”
I’m talkin’ about cans!
Most households seem to end up with these, whether it’s from mixed nuts, protein shakes or, in my case, whole food nutrition. They seem to be pretty easy to accumulate. Instead of sending them all to the trash or recycle bin, why not save a few in varied sizes and give this a try –
All I did was clean the cans out well and remove the labels. Then, I dug around in my stash of leftover pre-pasted wallpaper rolls for some coordinating prints and colors. You can always use scrap-booking paper, but keep in mind that it will not have its own adhesive and you’ll have to glue it on.
The only time-consuming part of this project is measuring and cutting the paper to fit exactly to the inside and outside of the cans. You’ll want to do this before wetting the wallpaper or applying glue to the paper. I also chose to spray paint the metal rims of the cans to coordinate with my paper choices. I used the drying time to do all my paper cutting. I received the added bonus of using up several of the almost empty cans of spray paint that accumulate in the basement cupboard! Hooray for wiggle room!
Once all the adhesive is dry, apply coordinating ribbon around the can, securing it with a dot of hot glue. I like fashioning a “faux bow” to the front to cover the seam in the ribbon.
Again, raid the button box or pick up a package of scrap-booking embellishments at Hobby Lobby. They add just the right final touch.
You can keep the plastic lids if you want to use the cans for giving out goodies this holiday season. If you do this, you’ll need to wrap the treats in plastic wrap or put them in a food-safe bag before inserting them into the cans to keep them from coming in contact with the glue and wallpaper.
These sets of three cans make a great way to organize the supplies on your desk or keep hair and make-up supplies from becoming out of control. Kids and teens will love receiving them or making them for a friend, especially when they are done in trendy prints or playful character papers. See how just a simple switching of the buttons changes the look.
I suppose some kid will get the bright idea of poking holes in the lids and inserting a frog or something with even more appendages, but I, in no way, advise or condone such usage. Just so you know.
Now that I’ve filled your head with creative, and – let’s be real – CHEAP ideas, get busy and start having fun! Be sure to post in the comments your photos and ideas for how you’ve completed and used the projects.
I’m sure you have some great ideas of your own. I’d love to hear them, even if it’s a tale of a crafty disaster! Just scroll back up to the top of this post and click on “LEAVE A COMMENT”.
Next up! First Friday Freebies. November is upon us and so is the next give-a-way. Check out last month’s gift and winner here. Freebies happen on the first Friday of every month and you must be a subscriber to win. You’ll get an email telling you how to enter to win. If you’ve not yet subscribed to Midwest Storyteller, do that here so you don’t miss the Friday’s Freebie.
There’s nothing like getting something for nothing! Oh, that glorious word – F R E E !
I’ve been wanting to do this for a while and so I’m happy to announce (drum roll, please) First Friday Freebies! Each month, on the first Friday – I did that on purpose to make it easy for you to remember and wasn’t that clever of me – I’ll be offering a gift to one of the loyal and loveable fans of Midwest Storyteller. All you have to do is: Don’t dawdle!
First, let’s take a look at our first gift –
In my last post, I gave a“2017 Tour of the Estate” in which I mentioned Sweet Annie and posted a photo. I’m offering a wreath today (hand-made by me) of Sweet Annie. Let’s look a little further into what it is and what I do with it and you can decide if you want to win!
As mentioned in the last post, Sweet Annie is a fragrant herb that grows tall and is happy in a sunny place. It smells “like fall”, so this is the perfect time of the year to decorate with it. I’ve filled my wicker planter with it to give it a fall “weedy” look and make my porch smell nice and I’ve also used it around this little bucket next to Hermie. I am lagging behind in decorating my side porch, but at least I’ve got my “weeds” as Smuffy likes to call them, in place. You get the idea.
Here’s a photo showing how I make a wreath.
Let me state this clearly. Sweet Annie, like any other plant, is organic. That means it’s been in the great outdoors. That means that other little “organic things” once strolled through it’s branches saying hello to their little organic friends. This wreath has been drying under my porch for a couple of weeks and should now be free of all the critters that may have liked to munch on it while it was green. I make no promises. However, I’ve never had anything on my wreaths once they dried. (If I’d brought “creepies” into my house, you would have heard my screams.)
Also, dried plants are exactly that – dried. I use Sweet Annie as a candle ring or a wreath on a wall or mantle-piece, but I don’t place it on a door that we’ll be opening and closing, as that shakes it around and causes it to shed.
Here’s the wreath I’m offering as Today’s Friday Freebie. You can easily remove the burlap ribbon and replace it with anything you like.
And now, here are the rules. There are always rules, aren’t there?
First Friday Freebies are available to SUBSCRIBERS ONLY. That means if you have come to this post through social media or someone has emailed you a link to it and you haven’t become a subscriber yet, you’ll need to hop on over to the right sidebar and do that really quick. If you are on a phone or tablet, the easiest way is to go to the “About Me” page. As a subscriber, you’ll receive an email each time Midwest Storyteller has something new, which won’t likely be more than once or twice a week. It keeps you from missing out on all the fun and FREE STUFF! And, I’m not sharing your emails with anybody.
You’ll need to scroll back up to the top of this post and under the title, “Leave a Comment”. The first subscriber to comment with, “I’ll take the wreath!” will win, provided that you’re already on the subscribers list and that you live within the continental United States.
Two rules. So simple. Have a wonderful and blessed First Friday of the month! Now, go! Subscribe! Comment! Go!
