My mother-in-law gave me this candelabra when we were first married. It’s now 22 years old. It was gold plated & absolutely beautiful. But with time, the gold plating was coming off & it was starting to look a little worse for wear. I wanted to use it, but it needed help. So, I did the unthinkable. I painted it. It has gone from a gold candelabra to a Shabby Chic Candelabra! And all it took was a little paint, some crystals & a little patients.
This is how I did it. Continue reading
I’ve had this little night light/lamp for more years than I care to admit to. I love this little lamp. It’s perfect for the corner of the dining area & sheds enough light at night to guide our steps for that late night glass of water or fridge raid. But it’s seen better days. The base & shade have aged to the point where it doesn’t look so good anymore. I really love this little light, and I guess I could have replaced it, but I know I’ll never find another one, so I had to save it. It needed an overhaul.
And this is how I did it: Continue reading
I like to decorate using white as a backdrop for my rooms. I know… boring. But when you use a neutral color as a background, it’s easy to change the room from season to season. Spring is here! And I wanted to add some color in the house. I’m always changing the table setting, but this time I wanted to add some color to the bathroom.
I had repainted the shelves in the bathroom a while ago & went with ivy, pearls & clear candle holders, but it was time for a change. Continue reading
When you’re a crafter or an artist, you don’t look at things the same way that other people do. You always look at an item & say, “What can I do with this?” When I was shopping at Walmart, I found this silver dance-wear fabric. It really is a bright metallic silver. (It just looks a little ‘purple’ because of the sun shining in my craft room window.) As soon as I saw it, I just knew I had to have it. I bought a couple of yards of it.
The girl that rang up my purchase looked at me a little strangely. I told her what I had in mind & she said, “I thought maybe you were going to make a silver disco outfit”. (she knows that I make a lot of my own clothing)
What I had in mind was a table cloth. Seriously. A table cloth. Continue reading
I have a bad habit of picking up towels when they’re on sale. Since I like to sew, I know that I can always change them up to match what ever theme or color that I’m using at the time. It doesn’t matter what color they are, I’ll find a way to use them & decorate them to make them work in my home. And isn’t that what crafting is all about? Why have a plain white towel hanging in your home when you can have a decorated one?
I had a little left over fabric from my Easter Place Mats, so I thought I might bring some of the fabric into the kitchen. There wasn’t very much fabric left over, but there was enough to trim one side of a hand towel.
The Easter Towel was given 2 different looks. I put fabric on one side and ribbon & an applique on the other side. I like having reversible items, mainly because I like change. (at least when I can control it.)
What a difference a placemat makes. I turned over the Easter Tablescape Place Mat to the solid side to make this tablescape. I love the color purple, but living in a household full of men, I don’t usually use the color around our home. (it’s not really a ‘manly’ color) But for Easter, I couldn’t resist. I hope you enjoy our Easter Table Scape.
It’s almost Easter! Time for a new tablescape! I love doing these. They brighten up the dining area & with a plate change, the whole table looks different. Using the Easter place mats that I made, I created 2 looks using the patterned side. I thought I’d share them with you.
Spring is right around the corner! And that means that Easter will be here before you know it. Time to change out the St. Patrick’s Day decorations & replace them with all of the pastels of Easter.
There were so many beautiful fabrics to choose from this year. I spent more time in Joanne Fabrics than I should have, but I finally found a theme for this year. Easter Eggs! And the fabric that I found had so many lovely colors in it. I checked the color sample area of the fabric & really had to debate on which color I wanted to go with this year. 
Since I live in a household full of men, I don’t use my favorite color very often. (not exactly a ‘manly’ color) But, I just had to go with Lilac for my tablescape. I couldn’t resist it.
My little princess (her name is Two) likes to hang around me, where ever I am. She’s behind me on the chair when I’m at the computer, she cuddles with me when I’m on the couch, & she’s usually at my feet when I’m in the craft room. The craft room has vinyl flooring, so it can be a little cold. We put vinyl flooring in so that I wouldn’t have to worry about pins or beads getting lost. But it can be a little cold and it’s not as soft as the chair or couch. So I needed something for my little Two to curl up on.
The new sewing/craft room is tiny. It’s only 6′ x 7′. In order for me to get everything into this room, it had to be organized. I’d originally had all of my fabric in plastic drawers. There were 11 drawers stuffed full of fabric. In fact, this is what started the whole room ‘re-do’. It got to the point where I couldn’t get the drawers opened. Any time I wanted to make something new, I’d have to fight with the drawers to get out the fabric I needed.
I’m a very visual person. So the drawers were good for that. They were clear plastic, so I could see what I had. But the frustration that I would feel when I had to get to the fabric, made me not want to sew. And my sewing machine is never put away. I love to create, and I get new ideas all the time. But when it’s too frustrating to get to the supplies that you need, it becomes a chore. Not the pleasure that I usually feel when I’m making or decorating something new. Continue reading