Shades of Gray

 

I just finished this fantastic stool and I love it!  It has a little French look to it and would be great as a foot stool or an accent piece.

 

 

The stool, when I acquired it, was painted black. I refurbished it with a soft blue/gray paint and sanded it a little to reveal the black paint underneath.

 

I had some leftover burlap for the seat cushion.  This stencil worked out to be just right!

 

This is how the fabric turned out.  Not too bad...

Sheet Music Garland

 

Here is another project using my grandmother's old sheet music...garland!  I have cut out several different shapes (Christmas trees, stars, birds, butterflies, gingerbread boys and circles) and glued two cutouts together with twine in between.  The 8 foot garland can be used on Christmas trees, across the mantel, or just on the wall as decoration.

 

 

I have yet another project done with the sheet music...

Sheet Music Wreaths

For the past 35 years I have been moving around a rather large box of old sheet music that once belonged to my grandmother.  I thought the music could be worth something, but I guess after 35 years, I'm never going to find out.

 

While thumbing through a magazine I saw a wreath made from the pages of old books and knew that I had finally found something to do with all of this fabulous old sheet music!

 

These wreaths can be hung on the walls during the holidays or can be used for every-day decoration.  I have used many different types of centers for my wreaths including burlap flowers, seashells, Christmas ornaments as well as birds cut from the paper.

 

 

 I love them!  And I have another idea of how to use up this box of sheet music...

A Good Goodwill Find!

Today was a good day at Goodwill!

While looking for a desk chair for a client, I spied a MacKenzie-Childs soap pump dispenser.  There was a GW ticket on the bottom so I wasn't actually sure if this was a MacKenzie-Childs item but when I got home, I found the markings.  The dispenser was priced $1.99 but with my senior discount, I paid $1.39.  I checked online and discovered that these sell for $50.00...not too bad!

This is the second MacKenzie-Childs item I have found at Goodwill this year.  I found a beautiful square platter that was marked $9.99 but it was the half off color of the day so I ended up paying around $5.00 for it.  A similar platter sells for $195.00 on the MacKenzie-Childs website - but my platter is no longer produced so could bring a higher price.  I gave it to one of my daughters who treasures it.

I also purchased 4 frames, a darling cup and saucer and a metal container that will hold herbs when I get around to planting them.  I never did find the chair - guess I'll  have to go back to Goodwill another day!

Black Urns

Today in the Studio, I  was asked to paint 4 mis-matched urns that my friend, Missy, at Palm Court Design, wanted to use for a client's party this weekend.  They will be filled with beautiful floral arrangments and make fabulous centerpieces.  It is nice to know that you can have a coordinated look even when you can't find 4 urns all alike - and it makes for a more interesting looking display.

I simply painted the urns black, using a flat latex paint.  When they were dry, I used a watered down white paint and washed that over the urns so the white would catch in the groves and designs.  While this was still wet, I wiped off the excess, leaving the white in the cracks.  They look great and I can't wait to see what flowers Missy puts in them!

This is a good thing to keep in mind...when you find the perfect frame, vase, chair or whatever, and it is not the color you really want, just paint it for the desired look.  Easy-peasy!

Scrapbook Paper Covered Letters

While meeting and getting to know my new granddaughter, Molly Murphy Tracey, these past three weeks, I had plenty of time to decorate letters spelling out "Molly" with scrapbook paper. I usually hand paint letters for my clients, but I didn't have any of my paints or brushes with me on this trip.

Molly's mom and I went to Hobby Lobby to pick out the letters and paper.

Turning the paper over, I traced out the letters before cutting out each letter.

I also used white and black paints, Mod Podge and some brushes.

I painted each letter white and added black stripes on the edges to add a little dimension.

Using the Mod Podge I glued the scrapbook paper to the front of each letter.

I added some bright ribbon with hot glue to the back of each letter and hung them on the wall over Molly's changing table.  She seems to love looking at them while Mommy or Daddy change her!

Hand painted letters...

While my students have been busy on their projects, I was busy painting some letters for a client.  Harris is a darling 4 year old boy whose room I recently painted.  He wanted a rocket ship blasting off into the corner with stars trailing after it.



I purchased these letters at Hobby Lobby...

...and plaid from his bedspread as well as a martian!

I incorporated the rocket ship and stars...

I also painted letters for Harris' brother, Jared and recently did Katie and Liam as well.  So cute!  I used water based paints and a spray sealer when they were done.