Who tears their kitchen apart the first week in November?!?!?!?

ME!!! It seems that our family always starts a project right before the holidays, like we need more pressure?!?!? Last year it was the utility room and bathroom. Those projects never made it to the blog, mostly because they aren’t/weren’t completely finished. The kitchen WILL be different! I’m sooo excited about it!! It’s been something that I’ve wanted to do for quite a while, so let me take you back to the beginning…

As I’ve mentioned before, we live in our basement, building “up” without taking out a loan. It’s been a MUCH longer process than we had ever anticipated. The economy going south hasn’t helped at all either. Anyway, we started out with a “this is only temporary” mentality and we didn’t put much thought into looks, only functionality. The longer we are down here, the more I want something that looks good! The kitchen started out with salmon-y pink, formica cabinets, which were given to us. Now, this was almost 10 years ago, so no one was sharing how to paint formica on their DIY blog, so we worked with what we had and I put up some hideous wall paper to coordinate. Several years later, we had to rebuild the cabinets around the sink because of a moisture problem. Unfortunately, we couldn’t match the old salmon-y counter top and had to get something new. Could have been a great opportunity….

However, Hubby decided to “surprise me” and bring home new counter tops! Yeah…trouble is we have different tastes. Since they were already cut and couldn’t go back, I again worked with what I had and went from “salmony-pink” to “grey-green”!

I look back know and call this my “what was I thinking phase?” At the time I did it I must have been happy but now I keep wondering, “what was I thinkin’?!?!?”. This is what I’ve had for the last 5 or 6 years….

So, last spring, when my DIY solar street lamp won at the DIY Club for March, part of the prize was 2 gallons of paint from Mythic Paint. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them…paint the kitchen and get rid of all that green!  I had been toying with painting the cabinets black to coordinate with the counter tops and possibly repainting the walls a beige with gray undertones instead of yellow. These are the colors that I chose.

               Cloud Burst                                                                          Almond Biscotti

                                                 

 

Then due to life happening over the summer and the thought that we might have to tear the sink cabinets out AGAIN, the painting the project went on hold.  While googling black cabinets recently I found this picture :

and my project idea was re-born! This is Emily’s kitchen from Chatting at the Sky. I haven’t told her yet that I’ve had a picture of her kitchen on my laptop for my background screen for inspiration, but I will.

Well after finding her kitchen and falling in love, the project went from a  simple painting the cabinets to a full blown “re-model” in my mind. The only problem? No money…. the more I thought about it the more I knew I could make it work, creatively, of course! I will be working with what I have, what I have been given or bartered for but will still have to buy some things. My original goal was to keep this under $100 out of pocket cash, but since I have decided on some tile and don’t want to give in on that, it will probably be more like $200. I am really excited about sharing my ideas on how to make this work so cheaply, but I’m also looking forward to getting some input! I hope you’ll follow along with me on this project, I’m sure I’ll need some encouragement as well as help! Like, what color trim paint would you use with the paint colors I’ve chosen? NOT “white”, we have basic white now and it doesn’t work for basement living…shows EVERYTHING!

I know I have some questions to answer and some comments to return, I’m not ignoring anyone, my laptop went down week before last and had to have everything re-installed. I’m still trying to get caught up!

If you’ve done a kitchen remodel and have any “what not to do” advice, I’d love to hear it! Tomorrow I will be sharing “The Plan”.

Yes, I made a pumpkin out of a…

thrift store light globe!!!! I saw this

sitting on a shelf at the thrift store several weeks ago. My first thought was “pumpkin!” but I had to quickly remind myself of my commitment to really being sure of a project before I brought it home. So I stood there and looked at it for a few seconds asking myself “Will I really get this done? How will I use it? and Uh-oh…How will I make the pumpkin stem?” On the stem idea I figured I’d better wait, ‘cause if I couldn’t come up with a fairly easy stem, I knew it would end up upstairs in the “pile”. I confidently walked away knowing I had done the right thing. Then a day or so later, I saw these while I was checking out Dollar Store Crafts.

Now I  knew  how I could make a pumpkin stem! Modge Podge and brown paper!  Back to the thrift store I went and there was my light globe patiently waiting for me. A whole Twenty-five cents later, I was on my way to a pumpkin!
I brought it home and gave it a good bath, it had definitely been sitting a while. After it dried, I sprayed it with a light coat of Valspar Plastic Primer. It really gives a nice surface to glass as well as plastic, so the paint can grab on and stay! Since I’m not a big fan of traditional “pumpkin orange” I used Valspar Satin La Fonda Copper. It’s a little deeper orange. One coat did the job!
To make the stem, I cut a small piece of brown kraft paper (a paper bag would also work) and spread some Mod Podge on it.

I folded it and added more Mod Podge until I had it down to about twice the height I wanted for the stem. Then I folded it in half and twisted it. When it looked about right I stuck it to the top of the pumpkin with some Mod Podge for glue.

I gave the stem a final coat all over and set it by the heater to dry. While it was drying, I went looking for something to put it on. These days most pumpkins end up on a pedestal or urn anyway, right? I had a candle holder from Dollar Tree in my closet and it was just the right size for the base.

Next to the holder was an LED tea light and that got me to thinking…How would the pumpkin look with a light inside?

Here it is in the dark:

I love the way the variations in the paint coverage look when it’s lit up! Looks more “natural”!
Here it is in the daylight:

Looks pretty good next to my Welcome Fall tile too:

I think I’m finally on a roll with the fall decorating. Better late than never! Have you made a pumpkin out of something unique or unusual? I’d love to see it! Just leave me a comment with at link!
Have a wonder"fall”  week!


Sharing my pumpkin at these fine parties~
                     
 Today's Creative Blog

So How Hard Can it Be…

To just write a post and stick it out there? No long explanations to catch everyone up on why I haven’t blogged all summer. Is it really necessary to go into all the details or just start posting and share what I’ve got? Hmmmm…??? I’m a “fill you in on all the details kind of gal”, so it IS kind of hard for me. I’ve written many, MANY blog posts in my head over the last months. I’ve even done some projects and remembered to take a few pics! But it’s time for me to get going again, I’ve truly missed blogging, sharing and chatting with all of you. I know if I wait ‘til I have time for all the details and excuses, I’ll never get back at it. How about I just jump in with what I’ve been working on and throw in a few details to catch everyone up along the way?
Alrighty then, here goes! Fall is my favorite time of year! I have always loved decorating for fall, even more than for Christmas. But, like my blog, my seasonal decorating is waaaayyyy behind. I’m actually just getting started for fall. I have been working on several things and can’t wait  to share them over the next week. I’m going to start with a fall and Halloween project since Halloween is so close. Some of you may remember my Family Word Art Printable from Valentines Day.


Ever since I have done that project, I’ve wondered what else could be Mod Podged to a tile in the name of “art”? Well, I’ve done many  such projects “in my mind” and a couple with my hands. Here is the first one.

I found the artwork at Tea for Two Scraps. There are some great digital scrapbooking freebies there! Many of them would look good on a tile! I chose this one

and added “Welcome Fall” to the bottom using Photoshop Elements. Then, I used the tissue paper printing technique that so many folks are using to print for canvases. I  printed the image out on tissue paper, using an inkjet printer. In order to get the tissue to go through the printer, you have to first tape it to a piece of cardstock or thick paper.

I’ve also used glue sticks and that works great too! Print it on “general everyday” printing mode so that you don’t saturate the tissue. Oh, you want to print on the NON-shiny side! After printing, remove the tissue from the cardstock and cut out the picture.

Next apply a layer of Mod Podge to your tile. I found a 6x6 at a thrift store that had cut edges.

The colors were also perfect for the print! When you lay your tissue down over the tile, be sure that you have it centered. The tissue doesn’t come up too easily for repositioning…smooth outward as you go. No need to weight the image down, the tissue almost immediately “fades” into the tile!
After it has dried a little, but not too much, I use my fingernail to tear away the edge of the image.This helps add to the appearance that the image is actually painted on the tile.

Let this dry. I sometimes put it in a warm spot to speed this step up!  When it’s dry, brush another layer of Mod Podge on the top, brushing in one direction. After this layer dries, you will brush the second coat on in the other direction. As it dries, it will take on a canvas effect! While it the final coat is drying, I spray painted a little stand that I had picked up earlier today at a thrift store.
I had first hoped that the tile would work too, but it had too much gray in it. So I had to use one from a previous thrift store trip! Price was  the same…a whopping 25 cents!
 
I used oil Rubbed Bronze on the stand.
 
It is the perfect size for the tile and even has leaves on it! Don’t you just love it when a project comes together? You can’t beat a finished project for about a dollar either!
Here are two more images that I think would look great on tile or canvas…if you like spooky stuff! :

Even though I am not “artistic” and can’t draw a straight line or paint, I can get a little creative with Photoshop and I made these!  I started with some photos that my 13 year old son had taken. Now, those of you who know me, know that our family doesn’t celebrate Halloween but these pictures got me thinking about my niece, Melissa, who does!
                                    
They really were just asking to be made into something “spooky”. I plopped them into Photoshop and went looking for some Halloween images. I found the witch at The Graphics Fairy and the cat and bats via google image search. I had to edit the witch a bit, then I played around with them until I was happy…
So Melissa, these are for you! I hope you aren’t all decorated for your party yet…and I hope you don’t mind me sharing them! If you would like to download them, click on the image and the full size image will open in a new window. Right click again and “save image as…”. I would love to know how you would use them!
Happy to be back at it!

Partying at these fun spots!

                 Today's Creative Blog