Weekend Wrap Up..Buh Bye Now

Our playroom has a brick fireplace.  We had the room painted when we moved in, but weren't real sure what we wanted to do with the brick.  It's not a pretty brick.  Just regular old red clay brick.  I will say here that we don't use this fireplace.  One days we'd love to put gas longs in there but with three littles, I'm not real keen on the idea of anything hot.  I also have a dream picture of what I would want for a fireplace but until we actually use it, and it's not hidden from toys the room changes function there is no reason to spend all that money.

However, it's almost been three years...and I was recently left alone for the night.  So what's a girl (that can't drive and couldn't go anywhere anyway because I had two sick kids) to do..work on a new project of course!  What I did know is that a white mantle was a definite and the hearth part will be black.  I spent five minutes on pic monkey putting those ideas on paper:

My first thought was white.  That is the easiest.  Also very predictable.  But very clean and fresh.  After priming, I was not sold on the white.  This is what the hubs liked.

Then there is the same color as the walls option.  It would blend in better.

I found lots of painted fireplaces on pinterest, mostly darker.  This is where I was leaning.

But there is also the distressed look that I like but this might be too busy for this already very busy room.

So I sent around an email for some thoughts and opinions...What did I end up doing?  You'll have to come back and see!

Weekend Wrap Up-Wreath Chronicles

Awhile ago when my BFF was in town we made some  hair bows and wreaths.   I started this wreath making weekend by creating a wreath board on my pinterest page . That way she could choose what we were going to do and I could gather supplies before she got here.  She chose this Halloween one:

Originally from Jamie at Something To Do. This is her picture and the wreath is so pretty and full and perfect.

Before Kelly arrived, I read Jamies tutorial and of course got to work deciding how we would make ours.  Maybe Jamie is like me and knows there are a gazillion tutorials for anything you want to make and she didn't feel like writing another one.  I certainly wouldn't blame her!  I didn't know what size hoop she used or if she used all of that 12 yards of tulle she bought. 

Here is my brief tutorial: I bought 1 10" wooden embroidery hoop (however, if you look closely at Jamies embroidery hoop, I doubt it's 10"...oops, you will see why this mattered...keep reading) for $1.59 (now I had 2 wreath forms!) and 12 yards of black tulle from Hobby Lobby for $3.99.  While I was casually perusing busting butt to get through there with my 3 children, I wasn't thinking and only bought one roll.  Another day was I was in Hancock Fabric and they had shiny black tulle!  How fun!!  10 yards for $3.99.  I spray painted my embroidery hoops black for any see thru.

When Kelly got here we were ready to get down to business..there may have been some wine involved.  

I wrapped a piece of tulle around for measurement and landed on 14" for cutting the pieces. Why 14"? Why not? This stuff was full of glitter...By the end of cutting we looked like 2 teenagers that had been to see New Kids on the Block Big Time Rush.

We got to wrapping.  Alternating 1 piece of black sorta glittery  and 1 really glittery piece of tulle.  When we were done with 24 yards of tulle this is what our wreaths looked like

Oops! That word comes up a lot. Don't fret. We made our way back to Hobby Lobby and Hancock. 2 more sorta glittery and 2 more really glittery. We came back, cut and started wrapping again... We used alllllll the tulle. But we were really pleased with how they turned out! Thanks Jamie for your inspiration!

Our totals were 36 yards of sorta glittery and 30 yards of really glittery (of course you would not need this much depending on how big your hoop was or how big your tutu is). 1 black embroidery hoop. A tiny bit of black spray paint. A few feet of orange satin ribbon. A couple of hours and a bottle of wine....WITH your BFF.  Life doesn't get much better!

I plan on making one similar for our big celebration in December.  Little Miss turns 1!  Stay tuned!

I'm linking up with Coastal Charm, A2Z, & Savvy Southern Style

Weekend Wrap Up-Artwork

I promised you (well at least I promised my gma & mom) on Friday some completed artwork today.

Big wall, over the couch art.  6+sq ft for $12.00.  It is super hard to find over the couch art.  I know this because I am currently looking for some!  I find it all so...so...expected.

So here is some that is hopefully unexpected and won't break the bank.
What you need: 6 12x12 canvas (7 pack from Michaels $19.99-40% off coupon= $12), 1 old calendar, 1 pail sample paint (Sherwin-Williams Blue Reef), spray adhesive, and mod podge.  Of course you will need a paint brush or 2 and if you are lucky like me you'll get help from a super cute 3yo assistant!

The calendar I used was from 2000.  There wasn't much on it.  Except my first & only Bay to Breakers,  my interview in Boston, my brothers wedding, & my last day in San Fran.  It was a good year!  The calendar is a staple gift every year (thanks Nina).  12 months of beautiful artwork and yummy recipes (of which I have only tried a few?!)

 If you can find some conch, here is a recipe for conch burgers!  Mmmmmm (But really, I love the colors on this month)

After trimming off the white edges, we (my assistant & I) painted the edges of 9 canvases (3 will go elsewhere, but 9 would be a great number to use over your couch as well, giving you more artwork for only a few dollars more!)  We painted them with that sample paint I had from another project.

After that dried, I sprayed the backs of the calendar with some spray adhesive (already owned!) and applied them to the canvas.  It takes a few minutes to stick so you have a little time to peel back if you don't like your placement!  I then flipped them over and added some pressure from the under side to make sure it was secure.

I let that dry and my final step was to add some mod podge (already owned but will have to be added to the next project budget since we are now out!) for a little protection!

And that is how you repurpose an old calendar full of beautiful pictures and get 6+ (add spaces between the canvas) sq ft of over the couch art!  Easy!

What do you do with your old calendars?

Linking up with Coastal Charm , A2Z, & Savvy Southern Style

Weekend Wrap Up- It's football season!

My BFF is like most of my friends.  She is extremely creative, talented, motivated and hardworking (not to mention smart, beautiful, and brings joy to my life).  These girls love a new and fresh idea (or one shared 110 repins later on Pinterest), but they always leave it to me for execution.

Once she bought her ticket to come visit, she decided we needed to make a wreath (or 2 or 4).  We both wanted a football one since football season is upon us (as much as I LOVE a good football game, my husband,  makes his weekend schedule around who is playing and when).  And IF it happens to be East Carolina, you can guarantee he is unavailable for the any pregame, the entire game, and any amazing highlights any network decides to share after.  And if they don't he will probably check you tube to catch anything he may have possibly missed if he so happened to blink.  Thankfully, I went to East Carolina as well, so I share a smidge of the spirit that he does. 

I made a wreath board on pinterest, for Kelly to look at of my faves. We decided on the rag wreath that Krystal at Sassy Sanctuary had done. Here is her picture.

After reading her Halloween rag wreath tutorial (which is really good, so I don't have too..woo hoo), I went out and started looking for fabric. She used 8 yards (4 patterns/2 yards each). Since we would be doing purple and gold I went for 1 yard of each (and I have LOTS leftover). But I did cut my strips the same (6"x1") and double knotted (as she suggested)!

My absolute favorite football wreath I pinned was the houndstooth Alabama one. Just because I don't think there is a pattern better than houndstooth!! But when people come over and ask me if I went to Alabama it might be a little awkward to say no.

I do think ours is a little on the light side, because I used fabrics with a white background (ie the argyle) but I went for fabrics I liked, not just color. And I would not buy the licensed ECU fabric again. It's higher priced AND you can't see it! I do love our football pin that we made. Overall I think this wreath is super cute and I can't wait to hang it on my front door! Kick off is Saturday! Here's a little Pirate Pride video to get you pumped up...it's on a constant repeat feed at our house!

Half way done!  Kelly went around and I did section by section.

Yellow Pirate

Purple Pirate

Thanks Krystal for the inspiration and the excellent tutorial!
Linking up with Beth at A2Z & & Wow Us Wednesday on Savvy Southern Style!

Weekend Wrap Up

EDIT!! Today (Wednesday) I linked up to the Pinterest Challenge with YHL, Bower Power, Erin at House of Ernest, AND Ana White!!
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In this post, I showed you some inspiration artwork for the boys room.
These cute prints both from A Vintage Poster and this one
too.

Even though we didn't get much else done in the room (we were a little busy with a visit from Aunt Kelly and Halloween and a head cold for me), we did get some nice and cheap artwork completed.

We started with these beauties from the goodwill.


I bought paper from Michaels using my three main colors (red, white, & blue). I found some images on line and picked my favorite two and printed them out (fit to paper) and printed.
This is where & why, I should insert step by step instructions and pictures:
I rubbed a pencil over the back of the images.
Taped them to the colored paper (the solid red sheet and the solid blue sheet). I traced the images (on the printout) which transfered the image to the solid paper.
I then retraced the image on the solid paper with a darker pen and covered with clear packing tape (so the paper was that much stronger) and then cut the image out with an exacto knife.
We painted the frames white.

And....

The lines aren't as crisp as a print and if I was really good at print/photoshop, I probably could have created my own print. But I like the texture of the paper and the mat effect of the layers.

Oh and I really like the price (not that the $28 for two prints was bad)...
Two frames from goodwill......$4
White spray paint.............had on hand (as well as packing tape and exacto knife
4 pcs of paper from Michaels..$1

I promise the curtains are coming!! You know the ones from the above post, that I thought we would get to with Aunt Kelly here. Opps!

Here's the progress on the boys room here and here