Practicing Thriftcraft!

Hello All!

We are working on the craft room but it's a process!  The crown molding is up and the flooring will go in this weekend if the weather cooperates.  In the meantime, I wanted to share the light fixture that's going in there.  A few weeks ago, I saw this at Class and Trash:

It's the kind that has glass arms!  It was taken out of a home in Northern Virginia during demolition.  It needed a good cleaning, new wiring, a little paint, and new crystals.  Dan and I got busy and took it apart:

It made me a little anxious to take it all apart.  Look at all those glass pieces!

Plus, all the hardware pieces:

My part was easy--cleaning and painting--but Dan took on the task of rewiring it.  He showed me how it's done.  Yeah, I'll need a few more classes before I'll feel comfortable doing it on my own ;)  Here it is now:

The champagne-colored crystals came from Shabby Elegant Designs.  I kept the vintage prisms and will use them either on another project or as ornaments on my Christmas tree.  I love the look of blue opaline also and gave those a try:

Also gorgeous!  But when I painted the room --Bravo Blue by Sherwin Williams--the blue just blended into the walls.  Based on the other color/design choices for the room made the champagne crystals my next choice.  Once I saw the on the chandelier, there just wasn't any other choice!  (sneak peak alert! :)

I'm linking up!

Coastal Charm, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday No. 201
Elizabeth & Co., Be Inspired Features and Link Party #107
From My Front Porch to Yours, Treasure Hunt Thursday, #145

Have a great week,
Lisa

My Craft Room - Before

Hello All!

I mentioned back in October, I would be re-doing my craft room.  Nothing much happened before or after Christmas besides putting together a Pinterest board of ideas.  Finally, we have started making some progress and since I had "before" pics I thought I'd share them.  I don't have any before before pictures --you know, the ones with all the builder beige walls and boob lights.  I claimed this room as mine the day we moved in and, three years later over one long weekend in January 2008, Dan and I created the room you see below.

I picked the smallest of the bedrooms and one in the front of the house with the most windows.  I LOVE LIGHT --the more the better; it's hugely motivating and great for crafting.  Our house faces east so we get full sun in the mornings.

The inspiration for this room came from a scrapbook kit from Michael's in which the theme was poppies.  I started out with painting half the room "Moss" (Laura Ashley for Valspar) and the remaining walls and ceiling white.

We gutted the closet, removed the doors, but left the brackets in case we convert the craft room back into a bedroom.  I did this so we could fit two more shelving units in the room.

 Dan edges for me when we paint.  I like to roll, roll, roll.  The edging is far too tedious and he's far more patient!   Once the painting was done, I added the wall decals (found online).

Poppies!  These wall decals are really wonderful.  They are the kind that peel off and stick on and are repositional/removable.  I can vouch for them that they do in fact stick and peel off and can be removed and repositioned; they have been up since 2008 and I haven't had one problem with them.

Once the decals were in place, it was time to start furnishing the room.  Here are the shelves; I was so happy they fit so well.

This one is is behind my desk.

More organizers - the one on the wall came from Michaels and the shelf from Ikea.

I loved the curtains when they were first up, but now I think they would look so much prettier if they hung down to the floor.

The computer desk.  I swapped out the small flat screen for a larger one and now there is a shelf above the bulletin boards.  I was able find a small shelf for the printer so the small end table is now in the sun room.

So that's the way it looked when we started the makeover--I cannot wait to show you what it looks like now!

Have a great week!

A Little Monkey Business

Hello all.

I finished the diaper cake for my niece.  One of her friends is expecting twins --a girl and a boy!  The nursery theme is monkeys.  This is the cake I came up with.  I was going to make two individual cakes, one all pink and one all blue but I had a difficult time finding monkey-themed baby items so one big cake became the plan.  All the monkeys were cut and layered using my Cricut and three different cartridges:  Create A Critter, Baby Steps, and New Arrival.  I used Bazzill cardstock but the pearl paper is by Recollections.

Since I had to mail this bad boy, I just stuck to diapers, receiving blankets, and paper decorations but the top layer is a box and the storks are mounted on cake poles that have been glued to a round piece of cardboard.  It creates a sort of lid for the box and I stashed some baby items in there --two sets of onesies, two sets of booties, and two sets of Johnson & Johnson baby lotion and wash.

Here's a closer look at the decorations:

And one more all together:

Have a great week!

Heavy Heart

Hello All.

My grandmother passed away this morning.  She was 94 years old and while she has had health problems she had been able to live independently with the exception of the last two weeks.  My Gran is who I get my craftiness from.  She could sew, crochet, needlepoint and craft --everything she made was exceptional.  As I sit here now remembering and reflecting, it's my prayer that she knows how exceptional she was and how much she will be remembered.  I am so thankful that my beliefs allow me to rejoice in knowing that she is with God and is no longer in pain; that I will see her again and, in the meantime, she is reuniting with her loved ones and Grandpa.  I can't imagine how our family would get through if we didn't have God's comfort.

Freida Sophie Elkins, November 27, 1920 - January 26, 2014

Dear Gran,

A wife, a mother, a grandma too,
This is the legacy we have from you.
You taught us love and how to fight,
You gave us strength, you gave us might.
A stronger person would be hard to find,
And in your heart, you were always kind.
You fought for us all in one way or another,
Not just as a wife not just as a mother.
For all of us you gave your best,
Now the time has come for you to rest.
So go in peace, you’ve earned your sleep,
Your love in our hearts, we’ll eternally keep.

--Legacy of Love – By Author Unknown

Star Quality!

Hello All!

I am working on a couple of projects that I hope to post soon --one is a diaper cake for twins and the other is my craft room makeover.  But, no matter what projects I'm working on, I always take time out for American Horror Story--I am a big Jessica Lange fan--and was thrilled to see that a lamp I thrifted is the same as one used on the set!

So, here's my lamp.  I found it at Goodwill for $15.  It came at a great time; I was looking at mirrored furniture for the master bedroom.  Of course, mirrored furniture is crazy pricey so this lamp gave me the pop of mirrored decor and for little bucks!

and here's a lamp like mine on the set of AHS!

In this past week's episode (#12), Fiona is sitting for a her portrait when she gets a nose bleed.  The camera cuts to the lamp--MY LAMP!! LOL!--and Fiona sees her reflection. I thought I could download a clip but wasn't sure how to do that so I just took a picture of the screen - LOL

My thrifted lamp has a twin who is a star - I knew it was special ;) It's been sitting in the Master Bedroom with some other treasures I've thrifted but I hadn't shared them yet because I hadn't decided yet how to put them all together.  I had also found a large, mirrored frame for $12.50 that looks great with the lamp but I'm not sure how to arrange it.  I don't have artwork large enough for the frame -

The mirrored frame was $12.50.  The console and owl came from TJ Maxx.  The gray frame ($8) was a terracotta color so I painted it (and it still needs another coat). Isn't the detail simply gorgeous?

The picture is by Eugene Garin, the same artist responsible for the other artwork in our room ( this post: HERE.)

The large basket was $2 from B Thrifty and so was the chunky knit throw.

 Since I was already snapping pics in the master bedroom, here are the other thrift finds in there.  I hadn't shown the dresser yet because we were thinking it needed to be refinished.  The longer it sits, the less I think so!  Dan and I found it at the Salvation Army in Richmond and I think it was maybe $75?

I found the painting at Village Thrift in Woodbridge.  It is signed "Wesner" and titled, "Maine Shoreline".  When I bought it, the frame, although all wood, and the mat blended in with the brown and ivory of the painting.  One day it occurred to me to paint the frame using the colors in our bedroom.  It was amazing how it brought out the beautiful shades of gray and teal in the painting!

The gray candlesticks, moon and stars candle holder, and one of the turquoise glass candlesticks were all thrift finds too.A few months after finding the turquoise candlestick at Goodwill for $1, I found the mate at Hobby Lobby on clearance for $2 or $3.  The gray candlesticks had plastic baubles hanging from it so I replaced them with glass turquoise tear drops.

OK - I'm going to get back to the diaper cake.  Dan and I are heading to Class and Trash tomorrow to pick up an all crystal chandelier for the craft room so I really need to get the cake done.

I'm linking up!

The Thrifty Groove, Thrifty Things Friday #144
Elizabeth & Co, Be Inspired Features and Link Party #102
Coastal Charm, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday #197

Have a great weekend!

Christmas Cookie Swap Party

Hello All!

I had hoped to get this posted sooner but the time just flies by when I'm off work!  Jenna's cookie party was a hit.  She and I got the kitchen decorated:

Jenna hung the glass globes filled with white glitter and the snowflakes.

Next we set up the buffet:

The guests placed their cookies on the dining room table:

They were the star of the party!

Maple Walnut Blonde Brownies

Creeper Trail Cookies

Egg Nog Sugar Cookies with Nutmeg Glaze

Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies

Orange Butter Cookies with Orange Glaze 

There were awards, too!  The best looking cookie went to Victoria and her Red Velvet Chocolate Chip cookies:

She won the apron she's modeling for us :)

Most unique cookie went to Nicole for her Creeper Trail cookie.  These cookies are like a soft gingerbread; they were delicious.  Nicole said she got the recipe for them from a bed & breakfast where she and her husband stayed on vacation.

She won a Starbucks gift set.

The most creative cookie went to Jacob for his maple blonde brownies:

He won the milk & cookies mug man!

The best tasting cookie was tie between Jenna's orange butter cookies and Melissa's Egg Nog sugar cookies!

She won the cookie baking set.

The day was so much fun and everyone agreed we should make it an annual event!  Jen and I have already set up our Cookie Swap 2014 Pinterest planning board!

Have a great weekend!