Creative Cats

i like chocolate covered almonds.

i like listening to music while i paint.

i like old trucks.

i like the idea of turning my family into a nudist colony so i don't have to do anymore laundry.

i like roller coasters.

i like raspberries.

i like emotion.

i like this red door.

                                                                     (source unknown)

i LOVE it when you link up to Creative Cats!! 

If you are wondering if you should link up today the answer is YES!! If you are wondering what you can link up today the answer is ANYTHING that falls under the enormous umbrella of creativity: sewing projects, tutorials, recipes, before and after shots, paintings, kids crafts, throw it all my way today!! After you have linked, leave me a comment so I know that you are there and I can move your name and project to the blog page and grab yourself a Creative Cat's button to display on your blog! 

• Vanessa @ Vanilla Lavender~ Teaches us how to make a no sew burlap window valance. It looks so easy and really dresses up a room!
• Fawnda @ Fireflies and Jellybeans~ Shares a super easy way to make a really cute 4th of July centerpiece!
• Misty~ Oh my gosh!! You are going to LOVE this Time Capsule project!!
• Daisy Day~ Shares a fireworks printable page and activity for your kids to start getting excited for the 4th! 

10 Spot~USA Craft~

It's been a while since I've done a 10 Spot craft. For those of you who are wondering what the heck I'm talking about, I'm just going to share a spot where you can find the materials to make something for under $10.  

Today's 10 Spot is Robert's Craft in Pleasant Grove, Ut. They are having a clearance sale and they are selling little 2.5''x2.5'' frames for $.75.  Their wooden letters are about a dollar and they also sell rustic stars and wire for a $1.49 a bag.  For the next couple of days they will have the coupon at the front of the store with the 50% off of one item.  I also bought 2 pieces of paper bringing my total to $9.55. That's without using the 50% off coupon, so you should be able to do it for about 9 bucks. This craft doesn't need too much explanation because of the simplicity, so I'll just give you a few quick instructions. 

• Paint the frames and the letters. Distress with sandpaper or rub Gel Stain on the edges.
  
  
• Mod Podge paper onto the cardboard pieces that come with the frames.
  
  
• Glue the letters onto the frames and add decorative rustic stars and wire.
  Can't get much easier than that folks! 
  

Tomorrow is Creative Cat's Tuesday so get ready to link up a project you've been working on!! Don't be shy!! It just won't be the same without you!!

Painting burlap

We took the kidlets to a museum in Provo and stopped off at DI on the way home.  

I decided to join the burlap bandwagon and make something that I could put into the green frame. 

 I drew a primitive bird and joe traced it onto the computer and printed up some vinyl that I could use for a stencil. 

I've seen people use stencils on burlap before, but I always assumed it wouldn't work very well because it seems like the paint would bleed. I put the bird sticker on and just dabbed the paint on with a sponge brush.

  I love how it turned out!! And no bleeding!! I stuck another sticker on to paint the wing.

  What I love about primitive artwork is that you don't have to be an amazing artist to be able to make some really cute pieces. It's so basic. I think I could even lose the little legs of this bird next time. 

Thumbs up to burlap! I will definitely be painting it again sometime!  While I was letting the fabric dry I worked on the frame. I painted brown over top of the green and I figured I would just sand it down with steel wool so the green would show thru. 

 YIKES!! Too similar to the picture and not so cute!! I had a feeling while I was painting the brown that I should really be going black. 

Black is much better! I used an upside down laundry basket as my painting surface.  While I waited for the frame to dry....for the second time, I looked around the house for a piece of cardboard that I could use to back the burlap. Thanks Kichler box! Perfect! I cut it to match the frame using a razor knife and used spray adhesive to stick the burlap to the brown side so color from the box wouldn't show thru.  I stuck it on the shelf in the kitchen along with the little towel box I found and some ceramics for color.

 Have a wonderful weekend!! Get up tomorrow and go searching those yard sales!! Find something you can share with us on Creative Cats this Tuesday!!

Umbrellas

I've really been diggin umbrellas lately. I keep seeing really cute images like this one 

and it makes me want to decorate with them.  I've been trying to figure out a way to use one. I found this old plate rack for a buck at a yard sale

 and used a plate that I bought at Walmart for a few bucks

 and a tray from Thai Pan. 

  I cut out a vinyl umbrella

  and looked in the french/english dictionary for the phrase,"let it rain".

     Aren't umbrellas cute?  

I've had a few questions about what I sell and what I keep.  If you'd like to know- click up on the links in the right hand corner of the blog. I try not to advertise too much on this site because I'd like to make it more of an idea area, but if you ever see anything you'd be interested in purchasing please let me know. I will also be making a vinyl link soon with all of the vinyl products we make if you are a DIY-er.  

Remember that this next Tuesday is Creative Cat's Tuesday!! Get your projects ready to link up and show off your creative genius!! Happy Thursday!

Table Top

Joe has been picking up things for me when he catches a good deal. I've had two tables in the basement waiting for me to give them some attention. The other day Joe said that maybe he should stop buying me tables.  Well, that's no good, so I guess I'd better get on top of these projects he keeps finding for me.  You can always tell when I am kind of stressed out because I tend to make things as distressed as I feel. I let my frustrations out of this poor little table top.  I painted it a light blue and then sanded it like mad. 

I painted a leafy design on top.

 I'm still trying to decide if I want to put the legs back on for a table or turn it into a headboard or something. hmmmm...I'm going to have to think about that.  

Refashioned Wine Cabinet

Another great day for garage sales last Saturday. You may think that when it's raining you won't have any luck with garage sales.  The good thing about a rainy day is that people have already committed to have a yard sale and they just want to get rid of everything that they can. You can usually get a few screamin deals because of the weather.  Take for instance this wine cabinet. I asked them how much they'd sell it for and they asked me what I would pay for it. I told them I really didn't know and so she offers up $5.  Well, YES!! That's sounds like the right price. With a little sanding and green paint it can turn into a nice little accent piece for a girls room.  I used Mod Podge to glue a piece of craft paper that I also found at a yard sale for $.10 to the drawer and added a cutesy pink knob.

I then sanded down the whole thing. *TIP* If you are sanding down a piece of furniture that just has a pretty light finish on it you just have to sand it down enough for the paint to adhere. You really don't need to get every little bit of finish off. 

  I painted a few coats of this awesome green paint that I found at Lowes in their 'oops' paint area for $8.  I sanded down the edges and a few random places to distress and age it a little.

  I topped it off with a clear varnish. 

 

I'm participating in a trash to treasure party at Reinvented!

Refashioned Friday

Good morning!! Today I'm really excited for our Refashioned Friday segment because I didn't have to travel far to find loads of talent. I just hopped around in our play group this morning and I was so excited to see some of your creative blogs and projects.  Here are a few that I love today!

This is a shirt turned adorable dress by Krafty Mum. I would have never seen the cuteness potential in that shirt and I love how it turned out!

This next project is by Amy over at World Of Mod Podge. This little side table has so much colorful life after it's makeover! So fun!

I have to say this lamp refashion really caught my eye! It is so updated and gorgeous! This is by Vanessa at Vanilla Lavender.

Rachel at The Painted Lady turned this little table into an amazingly elegant piece of furniture!

Thanks to all of you ladies who have linked to my blog so I was able to take a peak at your coolness! If you have a project you'd like to have featured on Refashioned Friday please email me a link to a post or before and after pics.  poppyginger@gmail.com subject: Refashioned Friday.

~Andy

Scrap Art

If you like to craft you know that you always end up with lots of little scraps of everything. I think it's an interesting challenge to try and use those leftover pieces to make something.  We use dowels a lot when we are making shelves, so I took an extra piece and chopped it into even smaller pieces. 

I painted the edges black and used Mod Podge to glue some scrap pieces of craft paper to one side.

  After the paper dried, I used a piece of sandpaper to sand the edges of the paper off. I routed and painted a scrap piece of mdf and used a little leaf shaped stamp to create the petals for my flowers. I glued the finished dowel pieces with wood glue and added some left over vinyl lettering that I've had kicking around the house for a couple months.  The little dowel pieces were really fun to use and I like the added dimension.  I'm excited to find something fun to do with them! What do you do with all of your leftovers? Chuck em? Or do you try and use every little piece? I am kind of torn. I'm big into organizing lately so I like to get rid of as much as I can, but some things are hard to toss.