More Organizing ~ Something New ~ Lists

That big project is DONE ~ I love completing projects

and crossing them off the list plus this one is

assisting me in organizing ~ A Great Plus!

Remember that large entertainment center that

I started to redo some time ago (how it was done

click here)

Hubby put the shelves in and ta-da it is now complete

holding those large 12x12 scrapbook albums, bedding

for downstairs and room for more!

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint "Coco" color with

dark wax.

A couple of years ago my in-laws gave me this 

unfinished wood piece that holds 4x6 photos.

I wasn't too eager to paint it so it took me awhile

to get this done ~ almost a year ago I came 

across this spray can at Crafters Direct ~ it 

worked wonderful and looks just like stain.

So easy.

If you have some unfinished wood to decorate

I highly recommend this (don't even remember how

many different colors it came in - but know I found

it at Crafters Direct)... So easy and much easier

than trying to paint ~ now to choose pictures

to put in it!

Also got my horse tack room cleaned out and

re-organized ~ it is soooo nice.

Hubby built it three years ago  (seems like longer

ago than that) - it had accumulated stuff plus

we store different things in there during the

winter... It was great to get it cleaned out,

organized and put up some nifty saddle racks

to organize the saddles.

Now to go through items we have way too many 

of and get rid of some things....

Ahh  - it is nice enough to have a chair in it to read

a book or take a nap   :)

2012 - Projects #1 - Christmas Cards

I am a project junky - at least browsing and finding

ideas - I don't always get the project started or

completed - but I do have the idea!

I gather many ideas from fellow bloggers - and I thank

each and every one of you for giving me inspiration!

This project took about an hour this evening -

Thanks to I {heart} Nap Time for this project idea - be

sure to stop over and visit her blog and get the printable

"Christmas Cards" if you wish.

Supplies needed doing it "Livin' It Up Country" way =

binder, cardstock, adhesive tape or double sided tape

and protective sheets.

Ta-dah!  Very easy and didn't take much time.  I put

together the 2011 Christmas cards (mostly the photo

cards) within an hour. 

I also included the handmade cards I received - this will

be very easy and handy just to set out at Christmas to

share with family and friends.

I have one addition to make to this binder - I always keep

one of our Christmas greeting along with a copy of our

Christmas letter and have done so for many years - I am

going to add another page to include that information.

Let me know if you come up with some different ideas.

Have to Love Homemade

This Christmas brought a few homemade gifts.... Renee

and I got together and made a personal ornament for

everybody...  Renee stuck stickers and  a picture of herself

on  paper mittens with a string to  hang on

the tree.

The dogs were happy with the tennis ball ornaments

and especially liked their bag of dog treats from Aunt Lori.

Grandma Edie shared her canned peaches, pickled beets

and more with everybody.  Hmmm!

Lineman Gal's family did a cookie exchange - they made

16 different kinds of holiday baking and she shared

with us - it was so good!

She also made these cute Hot Chocolate Jars as gifts - with

the most creative red speckled marshmallows!

Mom and Dad made and rolled Anise Cookies - just

like Grandma Arvilla made.  She had to special order

the anise oil and it came with many warnings - one

was "not to ingest" - Hmmm - a quick search of

anise cookies and none of them looked like this. 

I will have to do some more researching  :0

Mom also made some homemade Chai Tea and bottled

it up in canning jars - we used them for gifts also.

Far Side and Far Guy once again did their handmade

ornaments - I love this little carved St. Nick - thank

you so much - he is right up there towards the

top of the tree with a few of the recent years.

Far Side is the well known blogger at Far Side of Fifty.

Scarves were very popular this year - both of the

grandmas have been very busy - One crochets and

sews scarves and the other knits.

Say Goodbye to 2011  - it was a wonderful year!  I am

looking forward to following all you blogger friends in

the new year - HAPPY  NEW YEAR and WELCOME 2012.

Ready - It Is Christmas (revised)

Most everything is ready - have some cooking

to do over the weekend for our holiday celebrations

but for the most part we are ready!

My last project was "doggie decorations" for

our four-legged friends-

Kong Air Dog (tennis) balls; some ribbon, a glue gun

and some dog treats..

All gluing was done on the ribbon so as not to ruin

the ball and the treat - that will be OK too. Just

take that glue spot and pop it off.

Merry Christmas to you all!

Revised - for some reason I hadn't included all of the

pictures when I posted this - it sure didn't make much sense.

Fall Brings Creativity - Craft Bazaars

Late summer - early fall my mind starts to think in

overdrive - Christmas ideas - but then it easily strays

to crafty ideas - home improvement ideas

on and on....

I have been de-cluttering so the mind is even busy

thinking what this stuff could be used for instead of

just getting rid of it.... any of you have the

same dilemmas?  When I go to wally world or

the grocery store I have to stop myself from

buying crafting / decorating magazines -   :)

One of my fall projects was buying these artificial gourds

at walmart and making them "grungy" or dirty... they were

all bright (fakey) colors....  dirty it is around here.

I did the same with the picture frame - I guess I am

kinda hooked.... Paint it - Grunge It....

Did a little redo to this box (Daughter grabbed this

one up before it was complete) - I  used my Cricut which

I believe may be the 3rd project I have done on it so I am

going to part ways with it... of course, I already have

some other ideas and yes a different machine in mind. 

These drawers usually send my creativity into

high! --- today I am taking items that I have

done and that my mother has made (she is the

really crafty one) and will be spending the day

at our local community center for a "Ladies Afternoon

Out" - hopefully packing up less to bring home than

I took down.   We also have another one coming

up on December 3rd - so yep you guessed it I have

projects lined up in the garage partly done for

that one!

Made some clean and "dirty candy canes - perfect for

decorating packages or the tree.....   I love them with

a centerpiece of pinecones and Christmas  bulbs.

Also been busy "dirting" up some decorative cans... a little

bit of paint - add some fake dirt and decorate...

Have a wonderful Sunday everybody!

Use, Reuse & Some Memories Keep on Going

This bowling ball has a name - "Mosconi" - have you ever

seen bowling balls with names on them at the

bowling alley? 

It has been years since I have been bowling - my kids would

have been young - maybe we had a bowling birthday party

or it could have been our 4-H club group activity.

"Mosconi" belonged to Grandpa Carl - it was his bowling

ball and yes he gave it a name.... "Mosconi" the bowling

ball is named after a boar pig.... that is what farmers that

raise pigs who bowl on a bowling league do --- Name their

bowling balls after pigs!

Grandpa Carl gave this bowling ball to Lineman Son.
So what do you do with a bowling ball that is just
left around the house......

To put the bowling ball to some use - I made it into
a gazing ball - I wanted to keep the name since that gives
it a lot of character.....

The finger holes were filled with spackling... and left

to dry.   Now this became a summer project for me I just

did a little here and a little there... so it really did take

me all summer long.

Then some sanding to level out the spackling - sand until

those areas are smooth.

Then I used primer paint and sanded in between coats.

Now the difficult part - trying to pick out a color.   I wanted

this gazing ball to be colorful and to appear as much like

a true gazing ball as possible.   I chose Krylon Metal paint

in a metallic shiny red.   Since I wasn't painting metal and

since the bowling ball soaked up the paint - my gazing ball

isn't very shiny.  I did several coats sanding in between

each coat.

I did some searching online and found an irridescent spray also

made by Krylon that I would like to try to give it some shine.  

I didn't find the spray this year and didn't get it ordered online -

so maybe next summer.

I did add an acrylic clear shiny spray...  

Here is the finished "Mosconi" - did any of you notice in

my fall decoration blog a few days ago  that this was a bowling ball?

Just an interesting way to give new life to an old item -

especially one that has some meaning...

Wonder what Lineman Son will think...

Wall Makeovers

Big events or celebrations usually cause some new projects...

this wall makeover was way over due.

This wall in my kitchen is above an open stairway so not real easy

to get to --- back a few years when I first hung this rustic

americana style lap quilt up - I meant to eventually buy

a quilt hanger.   I never did so it hung like this -

When we built our house 16 years ago I had the shelf special

ordered out of oak through our local Amish store.

It is a permanent fixture. 

I have a tendency to get ideas - think about it and think

about it - pass those ideas that I need assistance with by

my hubby and then sometimes after several revisions

make some headway in getting it done.

This frame was a gift from my mom over a year ago - first I wanted

it on this wall then I changed my mind - but came back to this wall.

I filled it with family pictures - each one makes me smile!

I worked on gathering items that might be used in my wall

collage..... this "L" was purchased at Hobby Lobby and it

was a gold color.  I spray painted it tan and then took

brown shoe polish to add "wear and tear" to it.... and

finally sprayed it with a clear acrylic to seal it.

I posted earlier about my canvas pictures in some of the

other canvas crafts - I used two of the country theme

canvas prints on my shelf - both featuring large round hay bales.

I love the plate - it says "Plant Smiles, Grow Giggles,

Harvest Love" and the little doll was a gift

from my mom - she purchased it from PrimDolls by Nancy -

check out the blog - they are all so cute!

Here are all of the items assembled - to do this Hubby

has to make some makeshift scaffolding since it is over an

open stairway - it is a good thing that he is tall and has

long arms   :)

One last addition - a frame that I had been waiting to use

in the perfect place - the white square one in the

left corner - it was a Walmart find a few years ago

and says "A House is Just a House, A Family Makes

It a Home".

More Canvas - Words

Another project with Canvas - I purchased some canvas pieces

all on framework at the local dime store (craft store) when

they were on sale this past spring... I first painted the entire

canvas the tan color.

This project I took large letter stickers and placed them on

the canvas - using many words.  I then painted using white

spray paint - the stickers didn't stick very well so wouldn't

be a good idea for small words...

Before removing the stickers the entire piece was painted

with white spray paint.

Then I took different colored Sharpies and wrote "words"

that meant things to our family and splashed them

all over the piece.

Then to give the piece a used or weathered look I then took

brown shoe polish and dabbed and rubbed it over

the front of words...  once dabbed or rubbed on be

sure to polish or rub the entire piece to remove

any excess.

Let sit or dry for a time - then spray with a clear acrylic.



I made this just prior to our daughters' graduation so the words

included are things  that meant something to my family

as the kids were growing up.

I added this to a display in our hallway - accompanied by

by pictures I took here in our area.

For other canvas ideas check out my "Craft" topic just

under the header picture.

This week I am going to link up with "Sew Many Ways" and her

Darn Crafty Link - click here to check out some other crafts.

Crafts - Giant Clothespins

If you need a project - almost for any age - girl or boy - give

this a try.

Gather some scrapbook paper (bond or heavy), Mod Podge, a

giant wood clothespin and a brush.

Cut your scrapbook paper so it fits on the clothespin - then

take your Mod Podge and put on the backside or wrong side

of the paper.   Press it on the clothespin and then put a layer

of Mod Podge on the printed side (which gives it a nice

finished look)

These decorative pins make nice holders for pictures -or

how about for holding recipes - or a to do list for each

family member.

At our recent graduation open house - I made several "pins"

and used them to display pictures of the graduate.

This last picture shows how we decorated the table - a "pin and

picture" on each end with curly ribbon and glasses in the

center which we filled with mints and nuts.

Note: I purchased the giant clothespins at our local Ben

Franklin (dime store).