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

Guest Post for Gail

I am so excited and honored to be guest posting for Gail while she is attending  her daughter’s wedding! Gail has been such an inspiration to me! I have  adopted her as my “blog mentor”! As busy as she is with her own awesome blog and projects, she always has time and patience for my questions! I love Gail’s style of repurposing! I have several of her projects on my “to-do” list to try myself!

Today, I would like to share one of my own repurpose  projects.  It was fast and easy and turned out looking as good as I had pictured it in my mind! That doesn’t always happen for me.:(  I’ve had this small roll top desk for years.

I found it at a thrift store and it kept begging to come home with me. I finally gave in even though the drawers on the side were missing. I figured I could put some luan in the space to form a shelf and pop in a basket for a “drawer”. Over the years, I have had it in the kitchen, dining room and finally the living room. It hasn’t had any real function except to collect junk and dust. I even considered retiring it, but there was just something that wouldn’t let me. Then the other day, I looked at it with a new vision and knew that it had finally found it’s purpose! Have you read any of the many posts around blogland for creating a “command center”  for your home? I have needed and wanted one for while, but I don’t have (or didn’t think I have) the typical space in my home for one. I really just needed to look at things with a fresh perspective. After staring at the desk for a few minutes, I realized that I could transform it into the base for my very own kitchen command center! Before I moved it to the living room, it was  in my kitchen, doing nothing. Now I’m moving it back to the same spot and it will have a job to do! There is a small wall between two doorways and it is perfect for a kitchen command center! There is even a magnetic chalkboard, also in need of a makeover, on the wall already!

To start the transformation, I sanded the whole thing with a palm sander. I found that the cubbies inside the desk were actually removable YAY! The cubbie section

is one of the things that has kept me from using this for much. They are too small to really hold anything and they took up valuable space inside, so out it came! It made the sanding and painting much easier too!

   Next, I gave the whole thing, except for the roll top, a coat of gray primer (forgot to take a picture!) and I used spray paint primer! It covered well and  didn’t run.

I kept the roll top covered in newspaper and painters tape and sprayed the desk with Krylon’s satin black spray paint…easy! Two coats and I was done. It dried fast!

  

   For the roll top, I  wiped on two coats Minwax stain in cherry. I’m trying to decide if I want to put clear satin poly over it.  The black paint and  rich wood tone together was exactly what I was hoping for!

Next, I wiped the baskets down with the same cherry stain. They were pale and needed a little warming up before I put them back in the slots.

 

While I was waiting for them to dry, I  cut and nailed a “shelf”  from another piece of luan, where the chair would normally slide under the desk. The larger basket will fit here and be a great place for my cooking magazines!

 

Everything came together fast and easy, just the way I like it! I now have the start of my kitchen command center and the motivation to keep going with it!

Thank you Gail for having me today! I want you to know that I did all my own sawing and nailing on this project! With hubby out of town, I had no choice. ;-) It wasn’t to bad actually, I’m looking forward doing some more!

If any of you would like to come visit me at Keen Inspirations, I’d love to have you stop by. I’ve got some thrifty, repurpose projects like my kitchen chandelier turned solar street lamp:

 

I’m very proud to say that it  won first place at the DIY Club March Contest! I made some dollar store solar basket lights too. Another fast and easy project!

How about some printable word art?

As they say in the here in the North Georgia Mountains, “Ya’ll come see me!” Hopefully I’ll have some more done on my Kitchen Command Center!Thanks again Gail, for allowing me to be your guest!

ummm….Hello???…

Is anyone still around? Not that I expect there to be…I’ve been gone a while with no explanation. How rude of me…I didn’t intend to be, I just thought that “tomorrow, I will surely be able to write…” In a nutshell, I have been gone more than home. With hubby on the road and two boys playing baseball on separate teams,many dental appointments and then throw in life in general and it doesn’t leave alot of time for much, sometimes not even enough for the cookin’ and cleanin’. Whatever made me think that I would have more time to blog with my hubby working out of town???

All that to say, that I have actually completed some projects and am working on some more. One of my them is over on Gail’s blog My Re-purposed Life. I had agreed to guest post for her while she is away at her daughter’s wedding. I did get that done and written up! So I haven’t been a total slacker, just mostly a slacker! :-) Go check out what I’ve been working on, it’s the beginning of a much larger project!

Keeping this short and sweet so I actually post it! I will be back tomorrow…or maybe later tonight, I know that I have some catching up to do…I think there is even a giveaway that I need to wrap up….yeah, I’m bad…

Until later…

My Big News!!!

Wow! Three posts in three days…I’m on a roll! As excited as I was to share my news, it’s been a busy day! Hubby has been working out of town all week and I’ve been doing all of the boys baseball practices as well as getting my other kids where they need to be! Everyone is finally settled in and I’m able to share my exciting news!

 

I Am A contestant on Season 4 of Win Lose or Blog!!

I am so excited about this!! It’s “The Biggest Loser” …blog style! There are eight contestants and they have set each of us up with our own WLB Blog to share and track our progress. You can meet all the contestants here. You can read my introductory post…complete with picture here ….but you won’t find my weight listed anywhere! ;-) I will be laying out my goals and plans and then tracking my progress there several times each week. I’d love to have you visit and help to keep my motivated and encouraged with your comments. There will be prizes for comments left on contestant’s WLB blogs as well as the main WLB blog and giveaways at the main WLB blog!

I know that this challenge is just what I need to help get me on a healthy track for eating and exercising and I’m ready to get started! Come with me and check it out!

Let’s inspire each other to a healthier lifestyle!

I WON!…and the “Fun Friends” Giveaway

See, I told you that I would be back today! :) A little late maybe, but I’m here.  Well, after finding out only yesterday that I had made the Top Ten over at the DIY Club, today I found out that I WON for March!!! Woo-Hoo!!! It was for my Solar Street Lamp:

I get a DIY Charm:

And an amazing prize package from the DIY Club Sponors! I  can’t wait til it gets here so I can show  it to you all!! If you can’t wait (I couldn’t! lol) click on the link above and check out all the goodies! Thank you for the honor DIY Club!!

Get your projects ready to enter for April!

I celebrated my one year “blogiversary” with a coffee theme. If you are wondering  “why coffee?” and even if you aren’t , I’m going to tell you. I LOVE coffee!!! I love to drink it alone but I especially enjoy a good cup of coffee with friends! I thought it would be a great way to celebrate with my blog friends but since we couldn’t get together for a cup of coffee, I did the next best thing and gave away the Starbucks card! I also made some coffee printables.  To celebrate reaching over 400 friends, I figured I would carry on the coffee theme and add a friend printable.   My super creative friend Bretta created this cute coffee cozy from cashmere that she felted herself! Keep your coffee hot and your hands comfortable in this adorable cup cozy! Works with tea too! :-)

I’ve been seeing these cute knitted headbands all over the internet! Now you can have one of your own, complete with a coordinating ceramic flower button.

You’ll look fashionable when you go out for coffee!

Bretta made this too…told you she’s creative!

My other friend Nichole, wants to share some of her K-cups in 3 delicious flavors!

Green Mountain Coffee’s Hazlenut, Kahlua’s original Kahlua flavor and Tully’s French Roast. These are intended for a Keurig one cup brewer, but could possibly be used in other machines…or open the cups, pour into your coffee pot and enjoy! How about a box of 24?

Bretta and Nichole, thank you  for helping us celebrate with these  wonderful gifts and thank you for being such sweet, generous and encouraging friends!

I have little something to share too. It’s my way of saying thank you to all of my blog friends for your support and encouragement.  I did the definition of friend:

It is about 5.5”x5.5” so that it can fit on one of those 6” tiles I seem to be putting everything on these days! The definition is downloadable by clicking and then right clicking to save on the larger image. If you want a different size, email me and let me know. I should be able to adjust it.  If you download, please let me know by leaving a comment. That’s all you have to do to enter the giveaway as well. Just leave a comment! Easy enough??

Tomorrow I have another BIG announcement!!! I can’t wait to share it!!

Stay Inspired!