Build a better bird house

While out junkin’ yesterday, I found this birdhouse for $5.00. Cute, but not substantial enough. I scrounged around the house for something to make it have more presence.  These are the things that I found. You may remember the large candlestick from the table I put together, which I really didn’t like, no matter what I did to it.

I glued all of the pieces together with no more nails, set two cans of paint inside to hold it down and waited.

Then I sprayed it all

I had this little bird in one of my cloches, so I put him on a stick with some fake ivy. Isn’t he adorable?

 

For the top I used part of a pepper mill that I took apart, and added a glass knob

And here it is all put together

 

My few days of vacation are now over, but I still have the weekend to figure out what other junk I can throw together :)

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Junk Trunk

I bought this trunk 12 years ago from a local craftsman. It lived in my old house as a coffee table/toy storage and back then I had the south west theme going on (cringe). One day I decided that it should no longer be stained blue, but should be black, and then I gave up. That was 11 years ago and since then it has sat in my garage, being used as something to practice my piling addiction on. LOL.

I’m warning you, it’s ugly. But it’s a good sturdy piece with dovetailed construction.



I set to work yesterday to make it pretty. It was sanded, then primed with an oil based primer.



I then painted it with 3 coats of Ralph Lauren’s Roadster White. I love this white and use it on most of my signs; It’s creamy without being yellowish.



I wanted something on it that was simple and decided on a damask pattern. I cut out a stencil and applied it to the top and the front. I sanded lightly to make the damask look like it had been on there a long time. Some distressing was done to expose the blue stain underneath the paint.





And now it is a welcome addition to my front entry, providing tons of storage and a place to sit to put on shoes.

I am not a furniture painter by nature, if there is such a beast, and I think there is :)  But I may change my mind after this one because it turned out better than I anticipated.





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PB Teen pillow knock-off

Here is my version of PB Teen Suite Ribbon lumbar pillow.

This is their version

Granted my version was made with bleached drop cloth and my ribbon isn’t quite as thick, but I made mine for nothing, with things I already had. Their version just for the cover is $36.51 Cdn. and the down insert is on sale for $20.15. Um, hello, a cushion for my daughters bed for $56.66, I don’t think so!

Which one would you buy given the choice?  My choice is clear.

Raindrops

I enjoy playing around with this large wall in my living room. It’s an endless source of creativity, figuring out what to display. When I got my grubby little hands on my plum faux fur, I wanted to bring that colour in to the room, but in a subtle way.
I changed the large frame from white to black, then covered a piece of luan with some textured paper.

Using scrapbook paper, I cut out some raindrops and then arranged them in an organic shape.
So for now it works, until I come up with another change.

One Love

After seeing so many great projects using globes, I finally decided what I would do with mine, and jumped on the band wagon.

I picked this up many months ago, but it just sat there, staring at me :)

Are you singing Bob Marley’s song yet? Or maybe Dionne Warwick’s “What the world needs now, is love sweet love”. Let me know :)

I don’t bake

But I can make a sign :)  As a joke of course, because along with cooking, baking ranks right up there as something I loathe.  I still cook every day because I have to.
I saw this sign at Paint Me White and decided to make one for myself.

I modified it to work with the fonts I have and the wood that I have. I decided to add a little red to it also.


Now I realize that the word bread is crooked and it’s not supposed to be, oh well :)

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 Just a Girl

Plum perfect

I’ve been searching for some plum fabric for my living room for some time, but didn’t find anything at my price point (meaning, thrift store discount price).

Jackpot! Today I found this ginormous, plum, minky fun fur. There is at least 3 metres of it and it’s really wide! Here it is totally covering my loveseat, plus some, for $10.

Which inspired me to create a piece of art

And they go together perfectly.

I will make a throw and a couple of cushions and then I’m sure I’ll still have some left over.