Bottle Recycling

Here's a candle holder trio I made from the tops of beer bottles (remnants from our kitchen redo). The bases are made from some decorative laser cut wood pieces which I found at Micheal's and then I wire  wrapped to hold the bottles. The stands are slices from some table legs we recycled when we build our bathroom vanity (we build that before I started blogging & one of these days I will get around to doing a post on it).

Wire Wrapped Upcycled Jar Vase

 This is what I made my mom for Mother's Day. Years ago I had torn from a catalog a picture of something similar . The photo was very small, so I couldn't really see the detail of how it was made and I think they were smaller. 
Well to make mine, I went out & got some glass beads (blue and clear) some 16 gauge blue craft wire (two 7 foot packs) and some silver wire from the hardware dept (it was cheaper than the craft wire, but will probably tarnish quicker). I had a neat jar from maple syrup that I was thinking of using, but it seemed a bit big. I then looked in the fridge & found an old jar of McCormick cocktail sauce that I don't even remember ever buying. I emptied it out (it's color was off) washed it out & then used some blue glass stain on it for color. 
I then slid a few beads onto the wire and started twisting the ends into curls and following the shape of the bottle. I wrapped more wire around the top & bottom of the bottle and looped the side pieces through them. At this point I got frustrated because the side pieces were just flopping from side to side. Obviously I didn't quite get the construction right. I used the silver wire strung with beads to attach the separate swirl pieces at the bottom and for additional decoration. To get the sides to stay in place I attached some more silver wire with beads & just wrapped it all around the two pieces to get them to stay in place. 
Now I'm just hoping that the weight the vase once a little water & flowers are put in won't cause it to come apart.

Halloween Decor

After putting up with the big green monster (dumpster) in my front yard for a few months now, I decided it needed some decoration for the holiday. We went out & purchased a skeleton & a few dollar store goodies and some red paint. My husband found a piece of black rope & made a noose and now the dumpster is creepier than ever.

Glass Tile Samples

Today I received some glass tile samples for the kitchen backsplash. As with anything you order online, you can't always tell colors on a computer monitor. I ordered 3 different samples, one of the 3 was a different manufacturer than the others. They all looked slightly different online, but two ended up an almost complete match (both the glossy ones). The other one is a matte finish and we like it better, but it does appear a little more blue than green. You can see scratches on the surface of the glossy ones and since we're planning to use larger 4"x12" tiles to cut down on grout lines, the scratches may be a problem.  I may order a few others yet.

Floor Design for Marmoleum Click

This is a possible floor design for our Marmoluem Click kitchen floor. I've been drawing up dozens of patterns but wasn't particularly thrilled with most of them. We have 5 color samples & planed to combine 3 colors, but are even undecided on which 3. With a layout of the kitchen that isn't really rectangular complicating the flow, it's been a challenge. I've been collecting lots of mid century modern graphics to develop the kitchen design & was looking at a leftover piece of scrapbook paper and was inspired by it's print. As the click  tiles are 12" with square corners I couldn't exactly duplicate the rounded corners of the rectangles, but the basic idea is there. I ended up using 4 colors though. So far it's my favorite, but I may refine it even more.

Floor Plan

Scrapbook Paper

Splurging on Stove for the Kitchen Renovation

Since my husbands other passion besides photography is cooking we plan to splurge on the new stove for our kitchen. We've chosen the 30" DCS RGU-305 Professional Gas stove. It features 5 sealed gas burners with continuous grates and a convection oven with telescopic racking system. It's going to be so nice to have a working oven again.The oven portion on our old gas stove died about a year ago & we've been baking in our microwave/convection oven for all that time. It's done a great job for us, but has really limited space, it will be great to have the new 4.6 cu. ft. oven.

Work in Progress – Brick Wall

I’ve finally returned to my project of painting the brick wall. I thought I might be able to get it all done last week on my two days off, but it was a bit more work than that, plus I was utterly sore from those days of sitting on the floor and sponging on five different colors of paint. 
    
I’m thrilled with how well it’s coming along. Everytime I look at the side I completed I can’t get over how much more I love it than the white brick it used to be. Now that we have our financing together to finish the kitchen project, I’m starting to get back into the planning mode. Since the project has been delayed a year now, some of my material choices are no longer available, so I have to do some additional planning again. With working a job with a revolving schedule, it’s a bit of a task to find time to stay concentrated on the kitchen. I hope I get it organized soon so I can get a contractor hired and have the kitchen of our dreams.

Etsy Treasury, Hippie Days are Here Again

I created a new Etsy Treasury today, I've really been slacking off on my Etsy Shop & Blog since starting my part time job in January. But this morning I was inspired to through a treasury together, Hope you like it.

Using a Door for a Photo Gallery

My mother-in-law was a water color artist & my husband is a photographer. On top of all the numerous pieces of artwork they’ve produced we also collect works of other favorite artist. Needless to say, there is never enough wall space in our home to display all of our collections. I wanted to frame more of Bob’s photos and needed a place to display them.

We have a glass door in the house that had been painted over years ago for privacy purposes. The glass panels in the door are recessed, providing nice spaces for pictures. I decided that removing the paint would probably be too much work & I wasn’t sure the glass would come out clear enough. So I began looking for pre-made frames that would fit the spaces. Since they weren’t a standard frame size, the frugal side of me decided custom sized frames would be too costly. I was fortunate enough to find 8”x20” frames for around $6 per frame. They fit perfectly inside across the recessed areas. Now all I needed was to come up with a way of attaching them to the door. I was looking for something to bridge over the frame that I could screw into the wood frame of the door. On Ebay, I found some wood triangles that I thought would look interesting. I ordered a package of them & some small brass screws. I then had to stain them to match the color of the wood frames. I then attached them with 2 screws to the sides of the frame and one screw into the door. The most time consuming part of the project was choosing which photos (there are thousands to pick from) to put together in each frame and then cutting some mats to fit them. Now that they are up, I find myself constantly staring at the beautiful door gallery.

Handmade Pillow Covers

Handmade Pillow Cover, a photo by b-a-boop on Flickr.

I finally finished the pillows I made those covered buttons for. The fabric is from the piles of designer samples my girlfriend gave me which I'm always using for my craft. This was one of the few fabrics that I had large samples of, 4 matching pieces about 20" x 24". After looking at them many times and debating what to make with them, I finally realized they would go well in my own living room. And luckily I had some coordinating brown cotton to make the edges with. I'm so pleased with how they turned out.

Halloween Decor Roundup

Here are some recent finds I've come across for Great Halloween Decorations.

Ric Rac Pumpkins at Eddie Ross

Bat Wreath at Did someone say party?

Decoupage Pumpkins at Makes and Takes

Framed Pumpkins at Indie Pretty Projects

Pineapple Pillow

 Funny how when it comes to sewing for myself a lot of my projects end up unfinished. I too often get sidetracked by projects for the shops or presents I need to be make. Years ago I made a bunch of pillows for Christmas presents and started two for myself. Well after years of sitting in my unfinished pile, I finally finished off my pineapple pillow. All it needed was the velco sewn in for closing it. Its pillow mate has been hanging out in the livingroom alone all this time since it got finished right away. I’m glad they are finally together.