Wallpaper Projects

Do you get the Martha Stewart’s Organizing Tip of the Day? If so, you are probably familiar with today’s newsletter, but for those of you who don’t receive her daily e-mails, here’s what’s on the menu today: decorating with scraps of wallpaper you have left! I have to say I’d never thought of that, but good ol’ Martha is always full of fresh ideas:

Aren’t they just gorgeous? Head on over to MS's website to take a look at all of the lovely ideas posted there.

In the meantime, I’m working on the first few items that I will list for sale on Etsy very soon. I actually have the first four completed.

Hope you’re having a fabulous week!

[All images courtesy of marthastewart.com]

Been So Long…

I know, I’ve been a total slacker when it comes to keeping the blog updated lately! I can’t really say I’ve been swamped with projects and things to do, but work has the tendency to suck all juice out of me to the point where when I come home all I want to do is… nothing. Is this really bad of me?

In the past couple of weeks (and then some) I’ve only worked on a couple of things. On a good note, I have the rest of the week off of work!

I bought a cardboard sheet to use as backing for my serviette technique pictures, but I still need to go out with mom to buy some frames for them. I’ve also got a random ideas for napkin rings, which I will probably complete by the end of the week, so that will give me a chance to finally start that Etsy shop. In addition, I’ve got some cups and plates lined up that I can work on, and I’m buying some really neat boxes I found at the craft store that I will decorate and list there as well. In fact, something similar to the box I did for my mom:

   

And I had a neat little ‘thrifty’ find! While rummaging though my grandma’s closet I found this little beauty:

Isn’t she gorgeous? I have a couple of leaves in there that I am trying to grow, but imagine the teapot with a small bouquet of random little flowers! I think it could make the perfect provance center-piece!

In any case, now that I have a few days to myself, I can not fully indulge! I will keep you all updated!

A New Month – New Beginnings

Today Bulgarians celebrate July Morning – a tradition that is traced back to the 70s and the hippy movement in America, and was regarded as a quiet protest against communism in the 8os (and gets its name from the famous Uriah Heep song July Morning). Enthusiasts travel to the Bulgarian sea-side to greet the morning sun on 1st of July – symbol of a new beginning.

That being said, I hope to see some new projects on a more personal level this month as well! Needless to say, I am very much behind on my June list, and I’m quite embarrassed about that. I guess I didn’t really take into account the fact I was going back to work full-time after my finals and how that would cut into my spare time – significantly, I have to say. And as much as I would have loved to have crossed all items off that list, I only managed to do a few… very few. Here’s a recap:

1. Go shopping for craft materials:

• Spray paints – various colors (Not done, but at least I have a vague idea about what colors I want)
• Wooden picture frame, plus some cheap plastic ones (On the to-do list this month)
• Chicken-wire and some hooks (Not done)
• Mother-of-pearl ornaments and shells (Some progress)
• Twine (Not done)
• Bamboo piece (Not done)
• Decoupage paper and some napkins (Done)
• Wooden jewelry ornaments (Done)
• Wind chime kit (Done)
• Felt of various thickness and colors (Not done)
• Buttons (Not done)
• Sea salt (fine) (Not done)
• Glass bottles (Found some while cleaning the house)
• Metal plaques (Done)
• Tin wire of various thickness (Not done)

Such a sad, sad state of affairs. But the list continues!

2. Work on some hand-made jewelry. (Not done)

3. Figure out what to do with that tin can I salvaged (love being so vague, ha!) (Done – for now, the tin cans are perfect for storing my brushes)

4. Find some old glass jars and use them as hanging planters on the wall. (Partially – found the jars, haven’t used them yet)

5. Make the jewelry rack for mom. (Erm… not done)

6. Make a tag from the metal plaques. (Got the materials, still working on the creative part)

7. Make the chicken-wire ‘hanger’.(Not done)

GARDENING:

1. Repot the Dracena Marginata in a larger pot. (Not done, I think the plant is doing alright in the pot it’s in)

2. Move the cherry tomato plant in a bigger pot. (Not done – but I got a ripe tomato)

3. Move the Pelargoniums outside and prune them. (Not done – some serious space issues. For now they are out on the steps are not doing too shabby)

4. Buy potting mix and more planters to plant the rest of the small petunias. (Done)

5. Sow more basil. Also, check the lavender seeds and transfer into a pot. (Not done – I bought a lavender plant, and don’t need more basil)

6. Buy some petunias from the market and plant in pots at the bedroom window. (Done)

PERSONAL:

1. Stick to my diet at all costs! ‘Cheating’ only allowed on Saturday/Sunday. (Semi accomplished!)

2. Do some exercising. (Not accomplished – not in the least)

3. Find a good book to read. (Done)

Alright, after this boring wall of text, I am ready to proceed with the July list, which is not ready yet, but will make sure to post it once it’s ready. To shed some light, though, I am working on several projects, some personal, some not so. My mom has a set of cups she’s donating to my future Etsy shop, where I’ll be offering similar items. In addition, I’m working on decorating a small vintage stool she has, and I actually can’t wait to start on that. Right now I am working on decorating a cigar box she found, and that’s been a fun little project. The box is almost complete, so I’ll make sure to post the “after” pictures soon. Oh, and I scored some vintage chairs from my aunt (which she was getting ready to throw away), so I can only picture the yummy goodness these will be! Of course, in order to do that, I’m planning on taking two weeks off of work sometime at the end of July/beginning of August. Fun fun!

Are you guys getting the BHG newsletter? They have some beautiful flower arrangements and tips today. Check this out!

Beautiful, aren’t they? And the tips are so simple, and yet form the ‘core’ of flower arrangement. Head on over to check all the gorgeousness!

I would also like to say one big WELCOME to the couple new followers I have. You all make this so worthwhile!

[Click on image to go to source. Flower images from BHG.com]

What Was All This Noise About?!

Do you remember the mystery project? Well, I think it is time for it to be revealed!

 

Beach-time Wind Chime is here!

I know it took me much longer than anticipated to finish this project, but I had some minor complications, namely the shells on the rim took waaay too long to dry once glued on. I had to do one shell at a time to allow the glue to dry before attempting to put the next one on. Overall, however, I had a blast while working on that one!

I am debating making the raffia bow a bit smaller, as I think it dominates the whole wind chime right now. What do you think?

Enjoy!

Mystery Sneak-Peek

Things have been quite busy around here, and while I’m not as far in my ‘to-do’ list as I’d like to be, I’m slowly creeping forward and crossing things off.

I bought some lovely pink cascade petunias the other day, along with some planters, and planted them yesterday. Now they are happily sitting at my bedroom window creating a lovely patch of color on the otherwise boring facade. Some time this weekend I will find the time to do one more planter, but this time it will be the petunias I started from seed.

I can only hope my bedroom window starts looking something similar to this soon! Ha.

We went shopping last night but got to spend only 5 minutes in the store because they were closing, but I managed to pick a couple of things. And so, I give you a sneak-peek of what I am working on now, and I will hopefully have a tutorial posted in a couple of days!

Can you guess what it is?

Stay tuned!

Wish I Had One Of Those…

One bad thing about living in an apartment (among many other bad things) is that there isn’t enough room to go crazy with decoration ideas and set up special rooms for hobbies, crafts, etc. I have seen pictures of craft rooms, in particular, that really draw my attention and make me really wish I had some space to make one of my own – especially with my stash of materials growing!

Oh well, I guess that’s something to aspire for – getting a house where I can have a room to call my own craft room! In the meantime, here’s some eye-candy:

  

 

 

You should really check the last link, there’s some gorgeous craft room photos there!

Here’s hoping!

[Click on images to go to sources]

Finally, the tea/coffee set!

Well, it’s been a few days since I last posted and promised “before” and “after” pictures of the tea/coffee set! The set has been complete for almost a week now, but in my defense I now get home late in the afternoon when the lighting is bad and I didn’t want to post pictures where you couldn’t really tell the difference. That, and I’ve been dropping like dead as soon as I get home…

Here’s the “before” pictures:

 

As you can see this was a pretty boring and bland little milk glass set that we bought 10 years ago. In fact, I was tempted to throw it out a few weeks ago when I was going through the cupboard. Needless to say, I am glad I didn’t! Even though the set didn’t quite turn out like I would have liked it to, it gave me a nice base of experience.

Here’s the “after”:

Overall I think it turned out nice, but I need to work on the edges and a technique of folding the napkins so that they turn out even. However, the most important thing I learned – the motifs brown slightly after being baked in the oven. Believe it or not, I actually didn’t account for that. Here’s what a cup looked like before baking, and after.

It is difficult to see from the pictures, but the “after” product has a slight brownish tint to it. When I took them out of the oven the pieces looks so brown I was terrified, but once they cooled completely off and after three coats of varnish, things looked better.

This, if nothing else, was a lovely little learning experience! In fact, I’m really looking forward to “upgrading” something else that has been forgotten about for the past 10 years – and there’s plenty of that in my house!

Hope you have all had a great week so far!

Tea/Coffee Set Sneak Peak

Remember me talking about the tea/coffee set transformation? Well, I went out and found some really cute napkins that I thought would do just fine. After spending a couple of hours working on it, here’s what I have so far:

This is one of the cups/plates before baking and before glazing. The cups are currently in the oven, as I had to make some finishing touches on the plates, and the glue is still wet.

What I found out is that it is incredibly difficult to measure the size of the napkin cutout against the size of the cups/plates, not only because they are very angular, but also because once the napkin is wet it stretches beyond my expectations. I’m not very happy with the way the edges of the plates turned out, but I guess I can file them slightly once done.

When the set is fully complete I’ll post before and after pictures.

Hope you’re all having a fabulous day!

June’s Projects

Sweet Kim @ Heart In The Country had a great idea and posted a monthly ‘to-do’ list. I was so thrilled when I read her list that it inspired me to write one of my own – and maybe that would be an incentive enough to keep to it, ha! Plus, remember me talking about starting a crafter's journal? Well, what is a better place to do that than my blog?

So, here it is, the ‘June to-do list’:

CRAFTS:

1. Go shopping for craft materials:

• Spray paints – various colors
• Wooden picture frame, plus some cheap plastic ones
• Chicken-wire and some hooks
• Mother-of-pearl ornaments and shells
• Twine
• Bamboo piece
• Decoupage paper and some napkins
• Wooden jewelry ornaments
• Wind chime kit
• Felt of various thickness and colors
• Buttons
• Sea salt (fine)
• Glass bottles
• Metal plaques
• Tin wire of various thickness

2. Work on some hand-made jewelry.

3. Figure out what to do with that tin can I salvaged (love being so vague, ha!)

4. Find some old glass jars and use them as hanging planters on the wall.

5. Make the jewelry rack for mom.

6. Make a tag from the metal plaques.

7. Make the chicken-wire ‘hanger’.

GARDENING:

1. Repot the Dracena Marginata in a larger pot.

2. Move the cherry tomato plant in a bigger pot.

3. Move the Pelargoniums outside and prune them.

4. Buy potting mix and more planters to plant the rest of the small petunias.

5. Sow more basil. Also, check the lavender seeds and transfer into a pot.

6. Buy some petunias from the market and plant in pots at the bedroom window.

PERSONAL:

1. Stick to my diet at all costs! ‘Cheating’ only allowed on Saturday/Sunday.

2. Do some exercising.

3. Find a good book to read.

I’m sure I will think of something else to add to the list so I will update it regularly. I so wish I can keep to it – I am excited about everything I want to do, and yet I find myself lacking the motivation sometimes. Hopefully, with the list being now ‘public’ I will feel obliged to follow my list and complete the projects I have set myself to work on.

Alright, now I’m going to work on that tea set!

[Click on images to go to sources]