I received a lovely, uplifting surprise yesterday!  My picnic table was featured on Ohdeedoh !  How cool is that?

I check out Ohdeedoh every day.  I love the wonderful ideas and inspirations I find there.  I'm so thrilled that one of my ideas was featured.

4x4 Pumpkin Porch Decoration for FREE

I saw these lovely pumpkins made out of 4x4's http://youcraftmeup.blogspot.com/ . Having a pile of wood from a portion of my deck that was removed just lurking around, I was sure I could scrounge up enough   4x4's to make some pumpkins. I ended up making 6 of them so that I could gift a set to my mom.

I cut three lengths of 4x4, and using the instructions on the craftmeup website, I used a chisel to gouge off the corners and some dents in the sides.

Here is a tip: lay your 4x4 partially on your lap and the other end resting on the floor. Then use your chisel and hammer to take off the corner on one of the bottom corners. I started by sitting the 4x4 flat on the floor and trying to take off a top corner. Taking off a bottom corner is much easier and does a neater job.

I then sanded, painted, and sanded again. I used thick branches for the stalks, and attached them as suggested on the website.

I didn't have any dark wire to make that lovely curly wire accent, BUT, I had removed a couple of coil bindings from some old manuals and had them sitting in a craft box! I took them outside and spray painted them black (they were white), and BINGO! I now had lovely dark coils. I clipped a few inches and added them to the stalk base along with some leaves from my craft box. Then I painted a sign and stretched out my coil binding to attach the sign.

I love how it turned out! And I'm so glad I kept that book binding! You never know when or how you will use this stuff, but it is fun when it finally comes in handy!

Linking up to:

Carolyn's Homework tipjunkie cherishedbliss todayscreativeblog craftyconfessions sugarbeecrafts Notjustahousewife linda-coastalcharm Hope Studios ladybug-blessings http://athomewithk.blogspot.com/ http://www.gingersnapcrafts.com/ http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/ http://organizeyourstuffnow.com/ http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/ http://goodbyecityhellosuburbs.blogspot.com/ http://southernlovely.blogspot.com/ http://diycraftstomake.blogspot.com/2011/10/whacha-work-up-wednesday-weekly-linky_25.html http://theartsygirlconnection.blogspot.com/2011/10/pininspirational-thursdays-linky-party_26.html http://www.houseofhepworths.com/ http://whipperberry.com/ http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/ http://tatertotsandjello.com

Parties and Link Ups

Here are some of the great blogs that I post to.  There are so many wonderful, creative ideas out there!  I love to see what other people are doing.

Carolyn's Homework 
tipjunkie 
cherishedbliss 
todayscreativeblog 
craftyconfessions 
sugarbeecrafts 
Notjustahousewife 
linda-coastalcharm 
Hope Studios 
ladybug-blessings 
http://athomewithk.blogspot.com/ 
http://www.gingersnapcrafts.com/ 
http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/ 
http://organizeyourstuffnow.com/ 
http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/ 
http://goodbyecityhellosuburbs.blogspot.com/ 
http://southernlovely.blogspot.com/ 
http://diycraftstomake.blogspot.com/2011/10/whacha-work-up-wednesday-weekly-linky_25.html http://theartsygirlconnection.blogspot.com/2011/10/pininspirational-thursdays-linky-party_26.html http://www.houseofhepworths.com/ http://whipperberry.com/ http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/ http://tatertotsandjello.com

Puppet Theater

My oldest child was heavily into making up stories.  He would flip up the seat cushion of our of our chairs, hide behind it, and use it as a base for a puppet show.  So I knew it was time to build a real theatre.

This was actually a pretty simple project.  I used a sheet of plywood and cut two small ends off.  These would become the sides of the theatre.  I cut a window out of each piece, as well as a large rectangular window out of the remaining piece of plywood.  The two ends were attached to the main section using a couple of hinges.

Here is what it looked like unfinished:

Puppet theatre, lemonade stand.... so many uses!

I wanted the theatre to also act as a kind of reading nook, or an inside fort.  I wanted it to be somewhere they could sneak away to and have a quiet time (or maybe I could!).  So I thought I would paint it to look like a tree house.  I base coated the plywood with a light beige/cream colour.  Then I used a ruler and pencil to mark off "boards".  Next, I used a chocolate brown acrylic paint to add the board details.  I also gave a few highlights to the cracks and knots with a white acrylic craft paint.  I made a little glaze by adding some water to the chocolate brown craft paint and washed the whole thing down.  It muted the colours nicely.  I also added a few fun details :)  

My kids have enjoyed the theatre and used it for many creative displays.  I especially love to see my oldest child put on plays for the youngest.  Most of the time the humour they enjoy is something only two brothers can experience.  They find the storyline hysterical while I sit there trying to figure out what I missed :)  The bond of brotherhood!

Linked up to:

Lego Storage Man

If you have Lego in your home, you have no doubt pondered the best way to store the pieces.  I myself would love to see the kits built, displayed, played with and returned to their shelves.  But Lego is meant to be played with and reconstructed time after time.  In order to do that, you need to have a lot of freely stored pieces.  I have tried a few methods, and hopefully this new idea will at least allow me to have the lego sorted, stored and displayed in a fun manner.  Maybe it will even encourage them to put the pieces away by themselves!  

I noticed one day that my Kirkland Peanut Butter jar looked an awfully lot like a Lego head.  Do you see the resemblance?

So I finally picked up a bottle of flat yellow spray paint and was keen to get started.  I found a 2x4 and set it so that it was extended over my deck.  Then I inserted the opened jar over the end.  This allowed me to spray the whole jar evenly.  It worked really well.

As the paint was drying, I created a Lego face and cut it out of paper.  I didn't have any spray adhesive to hold the paper in place, so I just taped the stencil on as tightly as I could.

Using a light, steady pressure, I sprayed black spray paint over the stencil.  I waited as long as I could before removing the stencil - which was only a minute or two!

Voila!

I plan on eating my way through enough jars of peanut butter to make one head for each colour.  Wouldn't they look cute all lined up on a shelf?

Linked to: Beyond the Picket Fence House of Hepworths Katies Nesting Spot Gingersnap Crafts Joyful Stamper Mommas Kinda Crafty Fingerprints on the Fridge Shabby Nest Roca and Company

Bra Alteration

After years of knowing that my bras do not fit properly, I went in for a fitting.  Not only was I not wearing the proper size, but it turned out to be an irregular size and one that no department store would carry.  You can guess that the price for such a bra would not be cheap.  So I had one properly fitting, must be handwashed bra.

After looking at all the cute, cheaply priced bras one day, I attempted to once again find one that fit.  I did not, but I did decide that it was time for me to address the problem and come up with a solution.

Here is what I did.  I am very small through the rib area and larger in the chest.  So I need a large cup but a small band size.  I tried on several bras and found a cup that fit well.  Then I went home and lay my expensive bra on top of my new bra.  I matched up the centre point as best as I could and I marked the location of the clasp sections.  Then I cut along those marks, resulting in both clasp portions being removed.

Cut off any bits of extra fabric attached to the clasp section.  Next, take a seam ripper and open up the back portion of the clasp section.  Slide this opening over the cut edge that you made.  You may have to tuck in the fabric as it may be wider that the portion you removed.  Sew the clasp portion in place.  Do this on both sides, making sure that you are attaching the clasps in the proper direction.  The circled areas below show where I opened up the seams and inserted the fabric.  Hopefully you will have matching thread at your disposal as I somehow ran out of black thread before I started this today!

Sometimes I have to move the shoulder straps too.  Just use your seam ripper to open up the back seam and remove the bottom portion of the shoulder strap.  Mark the proper position and stitch it into place.

This is not difficult to do, and I am so excited to finally be able to wear well fitting bras without having to fork over hundreds of dollars.

Linked to:  Blue Cricket Design Someday Crafts Sew Much Ado Gingersnap Crafts

Picture Frame Revamp

I've had these wooden picture frames around for, oh, 20 years.  I haven't actually had them hanging up for the last 12 years or so.  They held wedding photos.  Since I definitely won't be hanging those up any time soon, I thought it was time to make these frames wall worthy!

First I removed the photos and gave the glass a good washing and the frames a good dusting.  What I will do with huge wedding photos will have to be a later post.  Cut them up for a mosaic piece??  I'm sure there will be something I could use them for.

Then I took the frames outside and sprayed them using a flat black spray paint.

 I am always amazed at what a coat or two of spray paint can do.  Completely transforms!

Back inside, I took the cardboard backing that was in the frame and I placed it on top of a piece of white fabric.  I cut out around the cardboard leaving extra material all the way around.

Then I took a stapler and starting with the corners, I stapled the material taut.  You need to go as close to the edge as possible so that the staples don't show up on the other side once the fabric backing is inserted into the frame.

 This is what it looks like on the front.  Nice and tight and flat.

 I chose some favourite digital scrapbooking pages that I made a while ago and taped them onto the fabric.

I took some black bias tape from sewing box (another item I use a lot and adore).  I cut four pieces of bias tape for each picture, mitre cutting each end to give a nice frame like look.  I used a good glue to glue these into place.  The bias tape overlaps the photos a tiny bit, but are not glued to them so that I could change the photos if I wanted to.  Why I would I don't know, but I was trying to think ahead.

The black borders really made the photos pop.  I love digital scrapbooking, but I'm not experienced at the normal form.  So those white spaces will eventually be filled with little trinkets or items associated with the photos.   For now, I think they look great and the black and white combo really draws attention on the taupe wall.

This project has been linked to: Boogieboard Cottage Embellishing Life Every Day Making the World Cuter Keeping It Simple Pinkapotamus Sugar Bee Crafts