Projects!

I've been keeping myself busy with a few projects lately. First, I found a shelf at a garage sale last summer for $3. It was that ugly 80's golf leaf-looking color, so I painted and distressed it to my liking. Now this little shelf is hanging above our loveseat and has been deemed my "seasonal shelf." My goal is to decorate it according to the holiday/season coming up. Here's what I did for St. Paddy's day. Those four-leaf-clovers in the frame are REAL! Not only that, they're actually from IRELAND! Jim found them when he lived there for two years serving a mission for our church. Besides the frames and clovers, I made everything on the shelf.

Below is my spring look. Most on this stuff is from the dollar store, and then re-painted to my liking, and the plate is from a thrift store. I just cut out the pink vinyl on my silhouette to put on the plate. I painted the frame, and used some scrapbook paper for the mat. Then I cut out "Lil' Chickadees" with some vinyl. The chickadees I'm speaking of are my own two lil' birds. See them there in the pictures looking all sorts of cute? I'm still not sure what to put in the small circular frame. Something spring-ish. Until I figure it out, that cheesy model couple will be there.
So, I felt bad that I haven't done anything for Hunter's room, and I've painted a lot of fun little things for Tralee's. So. . . I went to a favorite craft store, picked up a $10 canvas, and started to paint. I knew I wanted a dinosaur, so this is what I came up with.

Close up:

Not to toot my own horn, but I really like how the "sky" turned out in the triceratops painting. Everything is hand painted, except for the grass and flowers. I cut out the grass and flowers with different scrapbook paper using my trusty silhouette, then modge-podged them down.

Moving right along. . .

I've been thinking an "EAT" sign would look good in the dinning area, so I used some square canvases, paint, paintbrushes stain, sandpaper, soap (yes, I said soap. . .use it between layers of paint, then sand it off, and it causes a cool antique effect), antique crackle, scrapbook paper, and my silhouette and came up with this:
I DID NOT paint the picture below. It was in a frame I bought at a thrift store (used in a different project) but I didn't want to throw away the painting. Someone obviously used their time and talent to paint it, so I proudly hang it in my kitchen next to a funky jar (also found at a thrift store) filled with candy, and a can full of straws. The overripe bananas will be turned into a delish whole-wheat, low-fat, refined sugar-free loaf of banana bread. Seriously, SOOOO good for you and my kids gobble it right up like it's the bee's knees! I also just realized I was talking about a healthy loaf of bread right after showing you a picture of a jar filled with candy. Yeah. . . I'm awesome.
The last two pictures are of my kitchen and living room. I had just cleaned, and we all know how long a clean house lasts around here, so I thought I better capture it.

I recently put the pictures of my lil' chickadees on top of the entertainment center. Not sure if I like them there yet. They might be flying off to a new local soon.

That's all. Hope you enjoyed this little tour of my projects and house.

Until next time. . .