Easy Pine Cone Wall Art

I hope everyone has had a good week so far! Our week has been busy but, we are looking forward to the weekend and a family gathering.
Today, I wanted to share an easy craft  with you.

First, find a frame  and spray paint it. I started with this ugly frame and spray painted it Krylon hammered copper. I know it’s hard to tell from the photo, but it’s kind of a weird faded black. The people who lived in the house before us were avid golfers and left the print here for us.
Now, I don’t have anything against golf…just not a fan. In fact, if anyone is interested in the print I will mail it to you. First one to email me (happyhodgepodgehome at yahoo dot com) can have it!

 Next, dismantle a couple of pine cones. Try to leave the “petals” intact when you take it apart.

Cover a piece of foam poster board (cut to fit just inside the frame) with some fabric. I chose this cream colored knit because I really liked the texture. Stretch the fabric on tight  (try not to leave bunches in the back) and hot glue it to the poster board.

Lay out your petals and beads  the way you want them and hot glue them into place. I used  suede strips (found on a spool in most craft stores) to make the stems. You could also use ribbon if you want.

Place your picture in the frame and find a nice place for it!

This is a very easy and inexpensive craft that can be modified in a lot of different ways! Have fun creating!

I hope everyone has  a great weekend! :o)

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My Cloche

I hope everyone is having a happy and safe Fourth of July weekend! We are mostly relaxing and spending time with family. Maybe we will take in the local fireworks display tomorrow. :o)

Today I have something to share that is by no means a new idea. Here is my version of a cloche that fits with my tropical/Asian decor.

First, I found a couple of candle holders at a thrift store for .25 cents apiece.

I also found an old cheese dome for under $3.

I took the little feet off the bottom of the cheese dome.

I spray painted the candle holder and the bottom of the cheese dome.

I flipped the candle holder over and glued the bottom of it to the bottom of the cheese dome. I prefer my hot glue gun as opposed to other types of glue. It adheres well and there is very little wait time while it sets up. I’m just not that patient. 😉

Next, I glued some heavy twine around the outer edges.

All finished! That’s my version of a cloche. I don’t think I’ll keep the little birds in there long, but for now they work for me.

Have a great Fourth of July!!! :o)

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Glidden Paint Testers

What could be better than paint for a project? FREE PAINT!!

I like to watch forums such as A Full Cup and Hot Coupon World for special deals. Glidden has had several promotional offers where they have given away free paint. In the last 2 offers they gave away enough paint for me to repaint my entire kitchen (OK, so it’s a small kitchen…). This time they gave away two testers.

I am totally sold on Glidden paint. It has great coverage and goes a lot farther.

Here is what I did with my testers:

My husband found this old breadbox at Goodwill for $4. After some major cleaning and some light sanding, I used my tester colors on it. I chose True Turquoise for the outside and Arctic Blue for the door.

Here it is now:

A lot of coverage from those tiny bottles. I still have a little paint left over! What would you do with free paint?

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Gitter Done – Redo the Porch!

Edited Post: Donna from Funky Junk Interiors has asked us to share our favorite projects. I would have to say that this one is my favorite right now. 🙂 I first posted this on Donna’s Gitter Done project…now, Linking this to:

Lately, this (below) has been the view of my porch:

That’s right a fold up table, a chair and an old beat up Tonka truck.

Here’s my mailbox…looking a little sad.

I’ve been planning to do something about this for a while, but just couldn’t get motivated. Donna over at Funky Junk Interiors offered just the push I needed.Today she is hosting a day for getting things done!

So, here is what I’ve been up to:

My porch now! Here are the details:

One of my brothers gave me this glider rocker.

A bit worn out…so I spray painted it black and made some new pillows for the back. 

I spray painted my mailbox black, and look…there’s my tropical birhouse!

                           

Here’s my rope lamp on a shelf full of trinkets.

I made a new cushion and pillow for the wicker chair.

A cozy little table to eat breakfast at in the mornings! And no, that is not a hole in my lamp (as my husband suggested) it is a decorative ribbon that I will probably remove. I just don’t feel like re-taking the photos. 😉

Another view. 🙂

OK…Here comes my favorite part!!!

Can you guess what this is? Well…it’s made out of these shutters…

It’s my beautiful new table made for me by my Sweet (and talented) Husband! Isn’t it lovely?! A couple of months ago, a really awesome neighbor crawled under her house and pulled some lovely shutters (a whole stack!). She gave them to me (so generous and sweet)! My husband took one set and made this table for me! =D

He left it so the slats could still open. His explanation was that if there were crumbs on top you could open the slats and let the crumbs fall through. 😉

My new table is a great place to have a cup of tea! 

Here’s a little candle I spruced up to put on my new table.

Ah, my table…

Umm…anyway, here are some more shots of my porch:

I love my new porch! Thanks, Donna for the little push that I needed to “Gitter Done”!

And thanks for stopping by

Tropical Bird House

I found an old wooden bird house in the basement a few days ago. Just a plain craft one from the Michael’s store that  had been sitting on my craft shelf forever. I decided to dress it up a bit and use it on my porch. In case you haven’t noticed by now, my husband and I prefer Asian and tropical style decor. So I thought maybe a tropical looking birdhouse would go nicely.

First I primed it. It had a few splotches of red on it from one of my kids. He was going to paint it, but then lost interest.

Then some chocolate brown spray paint.

Next I thatched the roof with some bamboo pieces that I saved after having the blinds in my kitchen cut down to size.  Then I wrapped it in twine. Sorry I didn’t get any photos of this…It was too hard to glue and snap pictures at the same time, especially with my sticky fingers. :o)

I painted the posts red and added a couple of yellow flowers for color.

A little taste of the tropics. :o)

Thanks for visiting!

Michelle


P.S. Don’t forget to check out my GIVEAWAY

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From Junk Mail to Wall Art

Today I went to check the mail and found the usual…bills and junk. One of the pieces of junk had a pretty little picture on it and I didn’t really want to throw it away so I decided to turn it into free wall art for my kitchen.

I started with this old frame and matting.

Here is my Arbor Day Foundation junk mail.

After a couple of coats of paint on the matting and frame and a little distressing, here it is now.

Not too bad for free, right?

I made a little flower to cover some writing that the matting didn’t hide.

Thanks for stopping by! :o)

Michelle

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Thrifty Decor Chick: Before and After Party 

Finding Fabulous: Frugalicious Friday

Autism and Decorating

Eighteen years ago I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, who happened to have multiple disabilities. When he was born, I was told he was profoundly deaf. At the age of three (he still couldn’t walk) he was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. We suspected he was Autistic for quite a few years before he was formally diagnosed at the age of 8.

When he was young, decorating was the same as it would be for any little boy. As he grew, it became a much greater challenge. Especially during puberty!

If there was anything with mesh he would obsess over it (or eat it). If it had wheels, he would spin them all night (or break it up…and eat it). If it was wooden he would either climb on it or break it apart (or eat it…I’m not kidding! He once ate 30 wooden beads from an abacus that he broke up!).

I wanted him to be able to have a cozy little room, but was limited in what I could put in there. Plus, all of his toys have to be locked in a closet at night for safety concerns and his sleep issues (he was staying up all night every night obsessing over toys). So, he spent the next few years with very plain walls and an empty-looking room (except when he pulls the entire contents of his closet out onto the floor).

I’d tried all sorts of ideas out, but never considered painting a mural since I wasn’t blessed (like the rest of my family) with a whole lot of artistic talent. One day, after drawing the same little bird on his hand (he loves birds) that I’ve been drawing for him since he was a baby, I thought, “Why don’t I put that on his walls?”

I got out my craft paints and paint brushes and went to town. 

These are his walls now (sorry, didn’t think to take a “before” picture…so just imagine emptiness). I’m not such a great artist but, he was very happy with his new birds and that’s what matters the most to me! :o)

Big tree in the corner with birds, butterflies and dragonflies.

Scene with a bird trying to fly.

One giant bird.

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