Craft Weekend

Wow. What a weekend! 4 of my girlfriends drove down to Austin to visit for a couple days filled with crafting and loads of delicious treats.  One of the gals' boyfriend also came and hung out with my husband, so the poor guy wouldn't be stuck in the house with 6 women all weekend long.  (They went shooting at the gun range and ate macaroni covered hot dogs. So manly.)

On Friday night the gals drove into town and Saturday morning we were up and at em brunchin' and  craftin'.  I wish I had taken more pictures, but alas, there was just no time for that between glue gun burns and countless hashtag jokes.  Silly ladies that I wouldn't trade for anything. 

I prepared a trio of crafts

1.   Faux Snow Globe

2.  Holiday (or non holiday) Wreath

3.  Oven Bake Clay Gift Tags.

We've all seen the faux snow globe, and seriously it is unbelievably easy.  You do not have to be crafty at all to complete this one.  My friend was supposed to take step by step pics in true DIY fashion...but I totally forgot about it.  I took it from a pinterest search, so check out THIS blog for a description.  Here are our results!

*Note the one morbid bloody jar. "A Walking Dead" Christmas. Even the people are painted green!

*Materials: Walmart-  Mini tree (.75 ea.), fake snow (2.50 bag),irredescent & gold glitter (2.77 ea.)                                     Mason jars (12/10.00)

                  Dollar Tree- Mini figurines (3/1.00)

We took a break after this craft to attend a church craft show down the street and then jumped into the felt flower wreath. Also found on pinterest and seen on THIS blog.  This lady said she did it under $6. I'm pretty sure I spent about the same, except I had lots of felt at home, so we added more flowers. If you search pinterest for felt flowers, you can find various ideas to add texture.  Tapping into my art teacher ways, I made little explanation cards for my guests for easy reference.

*Materials: Walmart- Wreath (3.47), 

                  Hobby Lobby- Felt (4/1.00)

We opted out of the last craft to spend time with the boys eating pizza and playing blackjack outside. We will save that one for our next craft night. This was such an amazingly lively weekend and I loved hosting my lady friends!  I sent them off with a parting gift house plant, to remind them of all the silliness and laughter we shared on their trip.

I look forward to many more to come!

Kitchen Redo (ish)

Hello blog world! Today I have been slaving away on home improvement shenanigans. It's a love-hate relationship really.  I cannot WAIT to get this house aesthetically up to par, buuuuuut I also know it's going to be full of trial and many many errors before I resolve all the visual problems.  Being a DIY-er (and a frugal penny pincher, well.. on some things) I have tried to be budget friendly and stick to not hiring people to do things I am fully capable of.  In other words, painters, landscapers, electricians... well, that's a job for my dad.  Nevertheless, do it yourself home improvements are fun and rewarding, but challenging for a beginner.

So, here is some progress on our new home kitchen cabinetry.  Or simple painting, for all you pros :)

I was scared the paint department wouldn't be able to mix a match to the spray paint I'm using for my cabinet doors, so I thought I would attempt the spray paint for all of it. It was going okay, even though I couldn't breathe.  Unfortunately, I am not great at spray painting perfectly smooth and even, SO I had to swing back up to Lowe's and grab some paint.  They mixed a pretty close match. A little darker, but shouldn't be noticeable :)

 

still a little wet here

And again, when you don't ever wear shoes, be prepared for the results!  

Don't forget to bag up any extra paint you don't use.  It's always good the next day! waste not, want not!  That is....if you can find a plastic bag.  (in our city, the ordinance is no plastic bags allowed, so we don't get any at target or kroger.  reusable or paper only!)

As Chance would say, "Ooooh I found a prized possession"

More to come on my other endeavors of ceramics and daily life :)

A little clay day

Today has been superb! I just have to say!  It has been a real winner.

Firstly, I had bible study fellowship this morning, which has already been a huge blessing.  Our multigenerational & multicultural group is just full of knowledge and experience.   I also met a girl in my group that just moved to Austin too!  She actually knows some people that I know from home....meant to be!  We are meeting next week for lunch. :)

Feeling great about the day, I came home to prepare my art goods and work on some clay projects. And then, well, the power went out.  Luckily hand building uses zero electricity!  Here are some images of my day in a nutshell, including some of my new critters.

Blue bird, blue bird

As I am unpacking some previously made art, I came across this little guy 

and he just really brightened my morning! I hope he does the same for you. 

Kitchen redo

Whewee people!  I have been outrageously busy! I haven't been avoiding my blog, but simply have been in a whirlwind of a move into our new home!  I am so excited to get things ready here and make this place our own!  A small bit has already been transformed, as I tackled the biggest feat yet, the kitchen wallpaper spectacle. And a spectacle it was!  Some people might love dainty floral patterns or, in our case, tiny bunches of fruit, but that is not our style.  Call us "youngins" but we are over the wallpaper!  Bring out the paint!!

We are planning on painting the cabinetry a dark blue-gray (same color as the table legs and chairs in This post on a DIY table re-do). The wall color is undetermined until we get the cabinets completed, but we just could not stand to keep that wallpaper around for a moment longer. So I set off on my first wall paper removal adventure.  And it really wasn't too bad, considering the horror stories I received beforehand.

And sometimes you need to stand on the countertops to get what ya gotta get!

Also, I never wear shoes, which is highly unsafe.

And finally, after lots of gooey fingers and wallpaper stripper dripped down my arms, I have torn off ALL of the fruity paper.  I did get a bit OCD behind the fridge and insisted on removing all of it even though no one will ever see it.  I....would always....know!

(Hey! these are the finished chairs & tabletop from the DIY post.)

One last tidbit of fun, just because I love my critters.

Stay tuned for the "after" shot of all that kitchen redo goodness!  :)

Get real people...

That awkward moment when you meet someone who truly believes that money buys happiness and makes them better than you and/or most everyone!

I had this experience only moments ago when I found myself telling  a woman twice my age that "well, money isn't everything!" . How sad to consider this person has made it to nearing retirement age and doesn't know that being known and having stuff is not what we are designed for! Consumerism is a nuseating thought as it is, but to earn money and think hoarding things will be the end all...is sad. What a disappointing existence.

As I embark on my journey of not working a full time job outside of the home, I am encountered with people asking what I'll do all the time. Well, for one, I am working just so ya know! Creativity is a lot of work! Something I find, in people without creativity, is their ability to simplify it as if you are just piddling around staring at the sky. False. We live in a world that revolves around creativity! Take the time to consider that as you use that smart phone, type on that iPad, buy a lamp, spin around in front if the mirror, or drive to your sales job. Creativity and art is life and you benefit from it as much as anyone else.

Furthermore, this conversation with the wild eyed lady made me realize something about myself. I am selfish. I do not want to end up like her or "seeing things in millions" as she so kindly worded. My hope is to use extra money and extra time I may have to benefit the kingdom of God. I want to serve others, serve the children, and love on the lost. It is one of the things I look forward to the most as we move to a new city, and I redirect my time from lesson plans and matting art to tapping into a few other unused gifts The Lord has granted to me. Your prayers are appreciated, that I not forget what I realized today, and I make an effort to fight off temptations to fall not apathy or laziness just because I can.

DIY Stained table

Whewww eee!

I'm sorry I've been gone for a couple of weeks!  I have been outrageously stressed about the house closings BUT they are officially done. finished. woohoo! (almost)

We closed on the dallas house and the austin house within a couple days of each other this week.  We don't take possession of our new home until the 18th.  The current owners are leasing it back for a couple of weeks. Good for the budget. Sad for being homeless.   I am more than ready to get there and moved in and for the house to become our new home.  I miss living with my husband and I am ready to have my own spaces again.  Living at my childhood home is a blast, but it definitely has the feel of when I was the only child living at home during high school.  I have really enjoyed watching shows with my parents, devouring ice cream on a daily basis, and having gorgeous sunsets to view each night. :)  The puppies have also enjoyed running away from big dogs and chasing after bunnies.  Tucker even got her first tick!  Country living! (and it's not even really that country anymore)

DIY UPDATE:
Nope. I still haven't finished the kitchen table yet.  That is my goal for this week!
Here is the next step I have done, staining the table top.  Pretty simple! All that is left now is to seal the top with a clear coat!

When staining, I started with:
-Rubber gloves
-A metal paint scraper
- natural hair brush
- SO FAST paint and varnish remover
- a pizza box (to throw the yucky stripped varnish blobs)
- can of stain (I cant remember what I used. I twas just something I found in the garage.)
- 2  pieces of a t-shirt that had been cut to make rags :)

1st:  I poured on some varnish remover and painted it around the area I was working.  It needed to be pretty thick and you can kinda see it start to set up.  If you scrape across it with your scraper and it isn't blobbing up with removed varnish, wait a minute more.  (Mom taught me the how to for this project!)

After the varnish starts blobbing up when scraping, you will start to see the raw wood tabletop underneath.  I wasn't very careful with my scraper, because I liked the beat up look.

Here, I had to add more remover because it had mostly dried up by the time I was scraping.
Nevertheless, you can see the raw wood versus the finished wood.

2nd:  I rubbed steel wool around to get off the extra little specks of varnish that hadn't been removed and let the table completely dry just to be safe.  This only took a couple minutes in the 95* TX heat.

3rd: Then, I began the staining! I used a very difficult and technical method that you may not be able to do unless you are a professional....follow the instructions on the can! :)  Shake the can, dip your rag in the stain and work quickly and efficiently in covering the table top and sides.  I wanted for the yellow pine to show through some (shocking i know!), so I only left the stain on the table for about 5-10 minutes, then strategically started wiping away (with my t-shirt rag) the areas I wanted to be thinner, letting the wood color peek through.  I absolutely love how it turned out!  I originally wanted it to be a deep dark stain, and could have gone back over it again, but I just really liked the depth that the pine and stain made together.

These pictures were taken outside while the sun was very bright.
 It almost looks like it has a blue tint to it when I stand at an angle.  I love it!

Close up of the wood with little nicks and scratches.  I wish I had made more before I stained.
This is my favorite part of the table top.

There ya have it!  I will finish the top with a clear varnish this week and then reattach the legs for the final photo...then promptly detach the legs and pack them in the car for the haul to austin!

  I wish I could show more pics of the new house, but my dearest husband informed me that people can search my images if they came from the internet and creep up and find where we live.  SO I have deleted the one that was up and will post my own later.  We don't want any stalkers around here ya know!

Only a few more weeks of selling snow cones and then I can get serious about my art and home decorating! I am more than excited!!

Hope everyone has a splendid weekend.