A Few Fun Organizing Ideas

Bonjour Mes Amis!

In preparation for the "Where Bloggers Create" linky party later this week, I've been busy cleaning, organizing, and "fluffing" my craft room!

It will be my first time participating in this party, I finally got up the courage to do so! I'll be sharing my space with you in a few days, but for now I thought I'd show you a couple of fun ways that I've been getting things spruced up!

 I've seen several versions of tin cans turned organizers here in blog land, so I thought I would have fun and put a little French twist on a few of my own!  A sweet friend of mine gave me a huge roll of the most gorgeous Parisian themed wrapping paper, and I thought it would be perfect for this project.

 They were so fun and easy to do, who would have thought that a humble tin can could look this good?

I simply used double sided tape to adhere the paper to the washed and dried cans. Then I used some pretty cream colored cotton lace that I had on hand, and hot glued it to the tops.

 I thought these pretty cream and pink little paper roses that I had were the perfect addition as well!

Easy, peasy!

 My next project used the same paper, and a large round cardboard box that I bought at Hobby Lobby.  It was my first time covering a "hat box", and I must say that it was a learning experience!  While it is no where near perfect, now I know what to do, and what not to do next time!

I decided to use Mod Podge to adhere the paper to the box, and I really wasn't happy with all of the resulting wrinkles!  But, once I place this on top of the hutch in my craft room, you won't be able to see all of those pesky wrinkles!

 So, for my next box I will try just using the double stick tape, I think that will not only be alot easier and faster, but hopefully I won't get any wrinkles!

After the Mod Podge dried, I brushed a coat over the entire surface of the box and lid, and let dry.

 I then looked thru my stash of trims, and added this pretty cream braiding to the lid and bottom, with hot glue.  A bit tedious, but maybe next time it will get easier!

 Overall, I am happy with my box.  Now I have a pretty place to stash my crafting supplies!

 Ok, now I'm off to do some more sprucing up of my room!

The party starts here over at My Desert Cottage, on Friday!  Be sure to check it out, for all kinds of inspiring ideas!

Aquamarine

Hope you all had a great 4th!  It's hard to believe that it's over with already, isn't it?

Today I wanted to share with you two of my latest painted creations that I've put in my shop, in yummy shades of aquamarine.  I think it's such a happy color, it makes me think of a day at the beach!

First up is this chalkboard makeover.  I wish that I'd taken a before picture (bad blogger me!). The vintage frame was an icky shade of olive green (and I mean icky!).

It contained a print of a horse on cardboard. While interesting, it just wasn't the look that I was going for!

I knew right away that I wanted to paint this puppy in pretty aquamarine tones. So, I mixed up a bunch of different paints that I had on had (I love mixing my own colors!), and think it looks so much better!

I gave it a generous dose of distressing, followed by an antiquing glaze.

I had hubby cut me a new masonite board that I painted with multiple coats of chalkboard paint.

I'm so happy with the way it turned out!

Next is this solid wood wine rack, that I was super excited to find on our camping trip up north last month.

It is made of walnut, and was a dark finish when I discovered it.  You know me, I just had to cover it up as soon as possible!

I used the same shade of aquamarine that I'd mixed up for the chalkboard.

It took me quite a bit longer to paint than I thought it would, but I think it turned out great .  It holds 12 bottles of wine, and is really sturdy!

Look at these neat wooden pegs on the ends that hold it all together. Love them!

While we are on the subject of wine, I just had to show you the neatest wine glass that a sweet friend of mine gave me for my birthday in May.  I've never seen one like it, it's Paris themed, and so me!

(sorry about the glare, it was hard to get a shot without it!)

I love this quote!  So true!

Ooh, la, la!

My friend knows me well!

And here is one last look at the wine rack.

Now I just need to get busy and start painting the deck railing on the front of our house!

Craft painting is more fun than that, I'm afraid!

Enjoy your weekend, and keep cool and crafty!

Vintage Altered Book Bundle

Bonjour Mes Amis!

Today I wanted to show you one of my latest creations, an altered and embellished vintage book bundle.

I've enjoyed making them in the past, and part of the fun is that they all turn out differently!

 I must say that this one is my favorite so far!

Another great thing is that I didn't have to purchase anything for this project!  

My motto is "make the most of what you've got".

So I love trying to find creative uses for all of the materials that I already have, rather than running out to the craft store to buy a bunch of stuff!

 Anyway, I took a couple of vintage books that I had lying around and removed their covers.

(no worries, I didn't damage any valuable books, I would never do that!  They were just old Reader's Digest books that had been all but forgotten!).

I had so much fun putting this together.  Let me show you some of the pretty details.

 I bound the books together with a wide piece of burlap.  Then I hand tore a long strip of the most gorgeous material that has glittery light blue crowns all over (love!).  I also used some really pretty light blue lace.  The crown fabric and lace were given to me a while back by sweet and thoughtful Susan over at 

Evelyn and Rose.  

 Adding the embellishments is half the fun!  With some blue and white baker's twine, I tied on this neat skeleton key imprinted with the word "memory".

 I thought my little clay birdie tag would be the perfect addition, too.  You may remember me showing you my tags awhile back.  I thought this glittery light blue tag was just what my book stack needed!

 And the piece de la resistance is this large faux blue flower (love!).

 I've got a little surprise for you..............

This flower didn't start out life blue, oh no!  It was from a large bunch I purchased last year, in bright autumn-ish shades. Well, I just knew those tones wouldn't work, so I thought, why not try painting a blossom?

So that is just what I did, and I am pleasantly surprised at how well it turned out!

Of course I had to add some glitter to the blossom,

'cause you can never have too much glitter!

I must say that I really love how it all came together!  I've added this bundle to my Etsy shop, and I can hardly wait to create more!  Of course I'll have to make one for myself while I'm at it:)

Have a happy and safe 4th!

Sea Shells and Roses

Bonjour Mes Amis,

Each summer I always love to bring out sea shells that we've collected on beach vacations over the years.  Not only do they say "summer is finally here!", but they also serve to bring back many wonderful memories of places we have visited.

 So a few weeks ago when I received the most beautiful hand painted shell from a very sweet and oh so talented friend, I could hardly wait to incorporate it into one of my shell vignettes!

 I knew right away that I wanted to create a shell display in my glass apothecary jar, that was a garage sale bargain from last summer. You may have seen me use it in various displays thru out the year.  

I've placed it on a pretty large silver tray, along with some sand dollars, a little glittered shell and a pretty pink rose.

 Ok, now back to the star of my vignette!  Just look at this shell with the most gorgeous hand painted roses!  Isn't it beautiful?  I love the touches of blue that my friend added amongst the roses and leaves.

 I think it looks perfect with my sea shell collection!

Oh, I forgot to mention that I added some decorative sand to the bottom of the apothecary jar.  I found a bag of it last year at Jo Ann Fabrics.

 Here is another close up of the shell.  Love!!

 It's on our dining table, along with a vintage white eyelet runner that I've had forever.

 More shell and rose love!

 It's hard to see in the photos, but there is a nice clear glossy coating to the shell, giving it a glass like sheen.

 Here is one last look.

Have a great weekend!

Recent Projects

Bonjour Mes Amis!

Hope you all had a great weekend!  It's been hot and muggy here at the chateau, making it the perfect excuse to stay inside and work on some projects!

So today I thought I'd share with you some of my latest creations, which I've put in my Etsy shop.

 I was super excited to discover this large galvanized flower bucket recently, and just knew that a pretty label from the Graphics Fairy would be the perfect addition!

 I've used this gorgeous French perfume label quite a few times.

 I think the colors are so pretty!

 Ok, do you ever have those projects sitting around forever, all but forgotten?

Well, I had this cute little vintage wooden desk organizer stashed away for several years.  Can you believe that it was bright orange when I found it?  Ugh!  Well, I had originally painted it aqua, and just wasn't crazy about it.  Oh, I almost forgot that I added the cute little wooden ball feet too (love!).

 I finally pulled this poor puppy out of the cupboard a few weeks ago, and gave it the makeover that it deserved!  I painted it creamy white, and bought the prettiest little clear glass knob for the drawer.

 I'm so much happier with it now!  

 I also painted a set of matching frames the same creamy dreamy white!

Just for fun, I added the most gorgeous Parisian themed wrapping paper to the inside of the frames.  The paper was gifted to my by a sweet and thoughtful friend.  I can hardly wait to find more uses for this pretty paper.

 Of course the paper can easily be replaced with photos or artwork.

 Oooh, la, la!

 You know how much I love creating chalkboards. And how much I love picture frames.  So I just had to turn this cute oval frame (which was formerly boring brown!), into a new pretty in pink chalkboard!

 I think it would be so cute in a little girl's room or nursery!

And of course, I couldn't resist sharing a few photos of our little girl, Katie!

 She will soon be 5 months old, and is growing up so fast!

She sure has quite the personality!

 Here she is on one of her favorite perches, the wicker bench at the foot of our bed.

 All this picture taking is making me sleepy!

Keep cool, and have a great week!