denim cuff bracelet

I made this in light of the Lucky Star Search Jean Crafts Contest going on at Lucky Star Lane.  The rule was to recycle a pair of jeans into something else in honor of Earth Day.

Here are my materials:
old pair of jeans
old jewelry cuff
pearl bead
ribbon
lace
hot glue gun
Fray Check

And here is what I did.  I used the waistband of my hubby's old jeans... made sure I kept the original button and a belt loop intact!  I covered an old jewelry cuff with the portion of the waistband, using hot glue.  On the inside of the bracelet, I did the same.  Covered it with ribbon.  In fact, I used 2 ribbons and overlapped them, just for fun.  One of the ribbons has a ruffly edge that peeks out from under the cuff.

Then I went to town with the embellishments.  I cut down some wide ribbon and hand stitched a ruffle to go around the button.  Fray Checked the edges.  I hot glued a pearl bead to the center of the button.  And I added a small scrap of lace to the belt loop.  Super easy, super fun!  It has a sort of shabby cowgirl feel to it, huh?  Yep - definitely wearing this with my cowboy boots!  Yeehaw!

Hello, summer!

I have had these shoes for so long. Since the 90s you guys! They've survived the test of time. But I got bored with them and so they haven't gotten much wear the last couple summers. It's amazing that they've also survived the last couple trips to Goodwill. Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to do this with them:

10 minutes, you guys. 5 strips of fabric tied on to each shoe. That's it. And a little Fray Check. Satisfies my apetite for both new shoes and the color turqouise!

Linking up:

Hook troubles

I have soft walls.  Hate them.  Where's a stud when you need it, you know what I mean?  And I ain't talkin' men. ;)

I have had this hook I got at Cost Plus hanging in my half bath since we moved in, pretty much.  Since I wanted to hang it in a spot that didn't have a stud we used anchors.  But a couple weeks ago even the anchors weren't holding anymore, and my hook became homeless.  So I have since been on a mission to find an alternative way to hang it, sans screws and more gaping holes in my wall (and hopefully hide the exisiting holes in my wall).  An alternative, CREATIVE, fast fix way to hang it.  Until I have time to properly patch and repaint, etc., etc.

Here is what I've finally come up with (after much trial and error).  Sorry for the photo, there are no windows in this bathroom so I was stuck with the effects of automatic flash lighting.

Materials I used:

decorative wall hook
frame
scrapbook paper
mod podge
heavy nails
hot glue

First I removed the glass from the frame.  Then I mod podged scrap paper over the cardboard insert in the frame.  Hung my frame on the wall using heavy nails.  And I secured it to the wall with hot glue.  (No throwing tomatoes!)  Then I nailed the hook THROUGH the frame's cardboard backing into the wall with 2 more heavy nails.

I sure hope it holds up because it's freaking cute, isn't it?

Linking up!

Master Bedroom revamp - one new piece and another way to use an old piece

I'd said that we got one new piece of furniture for the room.  I loved it the minute I saw it:

This chest is from the Edland line at IKEA.  It is dark gray and connects my pine chest/bureau to my black bed frame beautifully.  

(Here's a photo of the pine bureau)

Here is what the chest from IKEA looks like in the room - sorry, this is the best angle I could get because it is alongside our bed:

No need the remind me that I've got a hot mess of chords on display. :)

So the items we purged from the room? The chest at the foot of the bed:

And the black armoire, which held a tv at one point.  Then my husband upgraded to a wall mountable flat screen and we kept the armoire for storage.  In the end I decided it was both too bulky and too squatty (is that a word?) for the room:

Another fun change was to replace my old nightstand (you can see it 2 pictures above) with this fun find from Goodwill:

Just a big pail turned over.  Fills the slim space under that window nicely.  Learned this trick a while back when a horse trough became my quirky, always-a-good-topic-for-a-stale-conversation,  coffee table.  True story.  In fact it currently is a quirky, always-good-topic-for-a-stale-conversation coffee table on my back porch:

But I digress.

The room is just about complete now.  I kept the one wall the same as it was (the wall in the photo above  with the pine bureau in it).  Now I really want a long, skinny bench to go below the fabric mural I posted on Monday.  Any idea where I can find one on the cheap?  Or the best way to make one?

Now because I don't ever get rid of anything that can still be put to good use, all these disposed of pieces have a new home.  The chest that was at the foot of our bed is now here:

Love how it looks.

The file cabinet is now in my design room:

And the black armoire is now in my brother's house!  And is being well cared for there. :)

I think they all look better in their new spots, don't you?  

Eh, so much for not digressing.

Master Bedroom revamp - displaying pictures

Today I'm going to show you how we rearranged the photos we had hanging on the wall. Before, I had a family picture above my bed.  By doing so I'd committed one of the most cardinal sins of home decorating, which is to hang pictures that are too small for the space on the wall.  Here's a prime example:

It looks small and unimportant there, doesn't it?  One better option would have been to do a collage of pictures, if I really felt that photo needed to be on the wall.

I've seen people hang even smaller pictures though - 4x6, 5x7.  Even 8x10 in some cases is TOO SMALL to go on the wall.  Unless it is part of a vignette, in a niche or a corner somewhere.  Those sizes are meant for table tops. That is why they have a stand that folds out behind them, lol!

So I wisened up and put this larger Ansel Adams print above our bed, in it's *new* location.  Because it is now framed by 2 windows, it is the perfect size for this space.

I'm not sure why but a lot of times we are too afraid to hang large photos or even artwork on our walls.  The same attitude goes for color.  Why are people so afraid to paint their walls something other than tan?  Break out of your comfort zones people.

So what did I do with the family photo I originally had hanging on the wall, you might ask?

Here it is!  Along with several other favorite photos.  I leaned all my photos up against the foot of the bed while we were rearranging things, not on purpose at all.  And decided I liked it!  That happens to me a lot, coming up with something awesome by accident.  In fact - here's a story for you.  My daughter has the most exquisite piece of furniture in her bedroom.  A perfectly shabby chic dresser.  13 years ago we "inherited" this piece from my in laws' garage.  I loved it.  But it was an awful color (at the time).  A dark forest green.  My mother-in-law agreed to help me strip it down to bare wood.  We worked and we worked on that thing.  All day long.  Took a break to eat something and when we came back I decided I liked the way it looked with all the layers of paint peeking through.  Not a year later guess what trend emerged?  Shabby chic ya'll!  True story.  I know Rachel Ashwell had been doin' her thing for some time, but I hadn't seen it yet.  Not that I'm tootin' my horn or anything.  Some accidents are just meant to be, I guess!

And should you be curious about the first shabby chic dresser ever (kidding!):

I might have a made a killing off of this had I known, though.  Given Rachel Ashwell a run for her money?  I'm just sayin'!

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE FOR ME IN SWEET CHARLI'S BIRTHDAY PARTY CONTEST!!!  GO HERE AND CHECK OUT MY ENTRIES: #1, #5, #13 and #14!!!