Another morning project. I paid more than I usually do for a thrifted item, but this piece was in perfect condition.
This book stand is perfect for propping your phone, your iPad, the book you are reading, or an old fashioned cookbook.
I added the Dollar Tree stencil, using a light gray chalk paint. One trick for getting crisp lines with no bleeding is to use a clear sealer first. Let that dry and then paint over the stencil with your color of choice. The front is sealed with Wise Owl Salve.
You learn something new every day. I bought two of these wire rustic forms at Goodwill. One for me and one for my friend.
They were called lampshades. But Danny and I couldn’t figure out how they could possibly work.
They appeared to be new and they had about 6 of them. I was wishing I would have bought more because we figured we could cut the wires out of the bottom and make cloches. One had a bigger hole and I was able to wedge a candle wreath holder and candle through it. 😬
Danny just now went to cut the wires and called me to come take a look. He tugged hard and pulled on the bottom out and Folks….we have a lampshade. 😂😂 I wonder if the original owners wondered what kind of lampshades they had gotten and sent them off to goodwill. They were hard to pull out.
Anyway, he did cut the bottom wires off on one because it fits perfectly on a charger plate and will look beautiful decorated French Country style for my friend’s dining room table.
The other we are leaving for now because I’d like to try it on my pendant light in my kitchen. I think the top hole is too small for it, though. Maybe Danny can figure it out. If not, I will spread it flat for a different kind of cloche.
Danny, the inventor, is at it again. He’d been reading up on glass blasting. He has a vintage table lamp he wants to restore. So….
He found a little desk he thought would be the perfect stand. He removed the top (I’m sure we will see it again somewhere) and built this little contraption to keep the glass beads contained and caught, as they are reusable, while he blasts a piece of the lamp with glass beads. He found the beads on Amazon.
He finally got everything together and is testing it out today. He even found a booster for his air compressor at a yard sale that he wanted. The only thing he didn’t have was ear plugs and a mask for the first test run. He did have safety glasses and leather gloves on. He has them all now.
He needs a tarp, though, to catch any that escape. There seems to be quite a bit on the patio, but he did drop the pan that collects extra when showing it to me. Oops.
I’m impressed. It actually works.
Yesterday, I found a new kind of rub on transfer at Dollar Tree. It is on parchment paper. You rub off just like the other type. I do think, though, after using it, it is more like transferring ink.
I used the sunflower bouquet and transferred it to this Monkeypod plate I thrifted. It is beautiful and so easy to use.
Note: 😳 Do not try to apply wax to seal it. The wax removed the transfer!! I had transferred a whole sheet. 😳 I removed the whole thing, cleaned it well, then just did the bouquet. Maybe it needed to dry or something first, but now I’m afraid to use wax. I think I will just leave it as for about 24 hours and test a little bit on the underside and spray with lacquer.
Sometimes just a small change can perk up my kitchen. I thrifted this metal bowl made of stars several years ago with the intention of painting the stars red, white, and blue for patriotic holidays.
I did a few stars then got bored and quit. So this morning I decided to finish just around the top. The metal was already distressed from age so my paint job looks a little distressed, too.
🙂 But hey! It makes a great holder for the extra fruit we always seem to have on hand. And it’s just in time for The 4th of July!
I was starting to clean up my messes (and put a few bags of DT items away) 🙄 and had a bit of a new DT “plank look” rub on transfer from covering the coaster I made yesterday. I also had some pieces of boho looking transfer left from another project …. and a rock.
The DT coasters are actually really nice, but I thought the “plank” rub on transfer might tone this one down some and it did! You can still see the wording even after I sealed it with Mod Podge Pearlized Glaze sealer.
I had a rock and some of that transfer leftover. I looked at the rock, then looked at the transfer, then thought ….I wonder what would happen if I covered the rock with it? Wow! I love the look! I may never paint another rock! Well, as long as I can still find this transfer. Lol
So then, I added some of the boho looking fish transfers and ….Voila’! I had a beautiful little Zen display… and I had something beautiful and calming from practically nothing!
But I wasn’t finished yet!
I’m also putting away some gifted Oui jars. But….the other day I found these wired canning jar lids at Dollar Tree. I wondered if they would fit over a Oui jar since I knew the seals did. Yes, they do. Like a charm!
So, I put into these little jars some of the beautiful Missouri Chicory that grows through cracks in the asphalt in the grassy areas along our roads. I knew the blooms/buds would be mowed down soon, so I cut some. I also had a beautiful goblet I had thrifted the clay “frog” I made the other day and put some blooms/buds in it.
They turned out so pretty! Can you image a big display of different size glass jars and bottles for blooms? You could easily buy a bouquet of real flowers at the grocery store or use blooms from your own garden and do the same.
Last night I made a simple macrame boho wall hanging….while I watched TV. It was fairly time consuming so I recommend TV watching while you do this. 🙂
I had a dowel 16” long by 3/4” diameter. A slightly smaller one would work as well. A cut down plunger handle from Dollar Tree would be perfect.
I unraveled the whole nautical rope from Dollar Tree. It made 3 strands. Then I cut those strands in half and I had 6. Then I cut those in half and I had 12.
I attached the 12 strands to the rod with a larks head knot (a basic macrame knot). That was the quick part. Here’s a tutorial on how to attach the strands to the dowel rod: https://www.macrameuk.com/amp/2018/03/02/beginners-macrame-knots-1-larks-head-knot
I know had 24 strands to unravel. The time consuming part was unraveling all the strands until I got the look you see in the photos. Take your time and do just a few strands at a time or you will get it all knotted at the end. Trust me… I know. I did use a dog brush I bought at Dollar Tree for macrame projects and brushed the strands out as much as possible after I separated them. Then I trimmed the bottom a little trying to go at angles toward the center.
I attached a flower and foliage with hot glue. I bought four flower pots with a variety of high end flowers and foliage through an online auction for just $8.50 for all four after fees. They were originally priced at $10 each! What a bargain! If you haven’t tried online auctions, you should!
I then used some of the burlap trim from Dollar Tree to make the hanger. I wrapped some around a small metal book ring from Dollar Tree, hot gluing it as I went around. I took the length of one of the pieces in the package and cut it in half. I wrapped one end of the piece completely around the dowel rod, securing it with hot glue. I did the same for the other side. Then I brought the ends together, put them through the covered ring and hot glued them to the ring on the back side. I did that twice to make them very secure.
I took photos hanging from my fireplace and French Door. I especially love how it looks hanging from a fireplace for summer!!
This beautiful boho greenery arrangement is just another way I have found to use a Oui yogurt jar.
I love taking photos of the projects I do outside on sunny days.
For more ways I’ve used Oui jars:
This was a quick little project this morning for my kitchen window sill.
I was gifted this awesome bottle with such a cool shape! I think it held some type of oil and vinegar. It had white script writing on the front, but that easily washed off.
I simply placed (well, shoved and rearranged with a chopstick) a sprig of faux greenery and a blue flower bud in the empty bottle.
I whittled down a wine cork to fit the top and that was it!
It will sparkle in the sunlight!
It all started this morning when I decided to give myself the incentive I needed to start some deep cleaning I’ve been putting off….so I started with my sink area.
I saw an idea for adding a pedestal to your sink area for your dish soap, etc. I just happened to have one I made.
I glued a round piece of glass I had to the bottom of a small bowl. I’ve been using it in other places. I had this thick round piece of glass I got at a flea market one time, but a wood round would work, maybe even the plate from an old microwave.
Then I cut a placemat to fit it. I had a plastic hand soap dispenser I already made and cleaned off the label on another one.
Of course, I just had to add some small transfers I found at Dollar Tree just because.
Then I was ready to start deep cleaning……
My kitchen is now clean! Yay! So my reward to myself was creating this little boho woven rope vase!
I’ve been seeing similar rope vases all over. In fact, I could buy one for $50 from this vendor. Or…. I could create one myself, which is so much for fun and cost saving, too! 🙂
I saw this woven rope idea and tutorial on Pinterest.
I had already spray painted a little red glass vase I had with metallic gold paint.
The rope was from a Dollar Tree mop head I cut apart. I used 15 strands of it and hot glued each strand side by side from bottom to top, laying the vase on its side to work. Then I separated the strands into groups of 3 and wove them over and under (spot gluing ever so often to hold them in place) until I got back to the beginning. I cut each group of 3 even with the beginning edge and hot glued in place.
Whew! Oh! And my clean kitchen. Here you go!
Now, for a late lunch and a much needed rest before I tackle another room. 😂
SharSum Paint 