Tree of Gondor

It all started because my son got an actual sword from his girlfriend for Christmas. We wanted to creat a cool looking hanger for it and after going through all our doodads in the house we found the perfect thing - antlers. My husband cut them and drilled holes and mounted them to the wall perfect - but then the wall behind it looked bare so I decided to paint the Tree of Gondor (Lord Of The Rings - we are big fans ) on the wall behind it. First, I found a picture of the tree on the internet and then I free handed it onto a larger piece of paper.

Insted of using carbon paper I simply scribbled pencil on the back side of the lines. When I traced over the picture the lines came on the wall. I only drew half of the tree so the other side would be identicle. You can see the antlers in this picture.

 After transfering it to the wall I painted it.

 

 

I did the same with the stars at the top...

 

The tree is really dark blue but it looks black....

I love the way it turned out. It fills the space perfectly, and the sword....

fits right in the center.

 

from Oatmeal container to Thanksgiving Holder

Okay, So I had this Oatmeal container that I've been hanging on to, thinking I would make something out of it. Well, since I need to make some cookies for a dessert auction at my church, I thought it would be good for a Thanksgiving container. After they eat the cookies,  they could use the container to store daily notes of what they are thankful for and then ( better for next year ) they could read each note and they would have a year of daily blessings to look back on.

So I started with a basic oatmeal container:

 

added some scrapbook paper with mod podge:

added borders cut with a punch:

printed " Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, His Love endures forever!" on my computer:

I stamped around the edges and added a border print:

Added a bunch of fall leaves, pumpkins, flowers, ribbon and gems:

I think it turned out quite nice, what do you think?

 

Autumn Banner

Wanted to use up some paper scraps, so I thought I would make an Autumn Banner :

I cut out basic triangles from different fall colored card stock. I used my cricut "Flower Shoppe" to cut various leaves, and "Plantin School" for the lettering. I also used a small leaf punch, small flower punch,  my stampin -up bird punch, and my Martha Stewart butterfly punch. The pumpkins were made by embossing 3 ovals and gluing them together. I punched holes in each corner and tied it with jute.

 

 

Disregard the date ( I didn't reset it on my camera). I really just made these 11/14

 

I hung the banner on a Hutch in my kitchen.

I love the way it turned out! What do you think?

 

 

Bird Cage

 

I was shopping at Hobby Lobby and they had a section with 90% off - WOW! I found this black metal bird cage for $1.40, what a deal. It must of had something on it but it came off. I thought I would dress it up a bit.

 

 

I found this

beautiful paper in my stash( I have way too much paper) that had a bird cage on it - how appropriate.

I printed the words" Love One Another" on it from my computer.

 





 

I inked up the edges and added some scrolls with one of my favorite stamps

then glued it to the metal with mod podge:

 

 

Then I added some silver studs and I cut out one of the butterflies

and glued it on so the wings stand out:

 

 

A little ribbon and a button at the top and it's finished. Not bad for $1.40:

 

 

Before and After:

 

 

 

 

 

Craft storage - dresser before / after

I have decided to start looking for old wooden dressers that I can use for my craft area/storage. The plastic ones I have are okay but they're not very pretty and the tops tend to sag and they can crack, like this one:

I recently went to a rummage sale at a local church and found this dresser for only $7.50! It's solid wood, in pretty good shape, and has lots of drawers for storage. SOLD!

 

 

The color is not what I wanted so it's time to paint.

First, since I was going to a lighter color (white), I put 2 coats of Kilz primer on.

Let it dry really well.

 

 

Then 2 coats of white paint, leftover from another project.

Let dry well.

 

 

I was going for the distressed look so I sanded the edges.

 

Then I applied a coat of stain. Wipe on then wipe off - depending how dark you want it.

Let it dry for a couple of days.

 

 

And it's finished:

 

 Before:                                                     

              After:

 

Now it's time to fill it with my craft supplies!

Tea-Time Banner

Not only do I have a collection of adorable tea pots - mostly found at yard sales and thrift stores

but I also have a collection of tea cups - way too many in fact

 

but there is something very comforting about a nice cup of tea in a beautiful piece of china and most of the cups I find are very charming. Once a month a few friends and I get together for a Tea Party. We bring out the fine china and set a formal table. We each bring our own tea cup and we have a wonderful luncheon together. Well I thought I might make a banner to hang over my tea cups.

First I cut out  diamond shapes in red and white and also the letters using my cricuit.

I punched out half circles in red check and glued them to the back of each diamond.

Then I added a few flowers and leaves and a couple of black butterflies...

I punched small holes in each diamond and weaved a green ribbon through each one...

 

I think it turned out adorable ...

 

I hung it on the top shelf of my cup rack. It was so easy to make. What do you think?

 

Time for a cup of tea!~

 

Ruffled flower pillow

Start with some pretty fabric. I got mine from the thrift store. It was a crib sheet. Wash, iron and cut off the elastic. Nice piece for a buck.

 

I set an old pillow on the fabric to measure . I always make pillows with an opening, it's so much easier than sewing it shut.

 

Make sure to fold the flap over before cutting.

 

 turn the fabric right side down and pin. Then slide the pillow out.

Sew down both sides and turn right side out. Stuff the pillow in the opening.

 This way you can always take the cover off and wash it or change it out.

 Now for the fun part- making the ruffle. I cut 6" strips. I used my rotary cutter. It's so worth the investment and it makes cutting straight so much easier.

Sew strips together. Fold the strip in half so your ruffle will be 3".

If you have a ruffle attachment on your sewing machine great, I don't so I did a running stitch by hand.

I sewed my ruffle after I basted it so it wouldn't come apart.

Now, some sewers might gasp at what I'm about to do but since it's just for me and it's just a throw pillow, I hot glued the ruffle onto my pillow. First lay it out the way you want it.

I started gluing in the center and worked my way out. I made a small circle to cover the center. I love the way it turned out!