Quote Sunday

Silly Saturday

I know this is so "corny" but I just couldn't resist! Enjoy your weekend, friends! :)

Quote Sunday

Silly Saturday

Have a fun and safe weekend!

Quote Sunday

Silly Saturday

Have a great weekend!

Old Atlas Tabletop Make-Over...



 

Well, friends, today is the BIG DAY...Justin closes on his house this afternoon! Mike and I are so excited and proud of him! I spent some time over the weekend making and freezing several casseroles to put in Justin's freezer so he won't have to worry about cooking for a while. :) 

 

Last weekend I had Mike haul down a couple of old end tables out of our attic so that I could give them a face-lift for Justin to use as bedside tables in his new home. Mike built these shaker-style, pine tables about 22 years ago:

Through the years, the tops had dried out and cracked. I had first thought of filling the cracks with wood filler and then painting them, but then I had a better, more creative idea...

I have some old books that I rescued from the dumpster...I knew that someday I could put them to good use for crafty projects. One of those books happened to be an atlas from 1943. The pages were kind of yellowed, but I KNEW they would be perfect for this project!

The hardest part of this project is deciding page placement for the table tops! Simply begin by tearing out the pages that you want to use and play around with arranging them on the table tops until you decide on the perfect placement. (You might want to take a photo of how you lay them out on the tables to refer back to...just sayin'...if you're anything like me, you'll get distracted if the phone rings or something on TV catches your eye, and you might lose track of how the pages are supposed to go on your table! LOL!)

Wipe down your tables with a slightly dampened cloth to remove any dust. Using a sponge brush, paint on a nice layer of Mod Podge and begin placing the pages on the tables. If any of your pages overlap like mine do, be sure to put Mod Podge on the bottom pages before overlapping them with the top pages:

Once you've gotten all the pages stuck down, brush a nice layer of Mod Podge on the tops and allow to thoroughly dry. Make sure that you get the edges coated really well, so they won't peel up. (Waiting for the tables to completely dry was the second hardest part for me, because I am an impatient sort of creature and I just wanted to see how they were gonna turn out!! If you are working in a room with a ceiling fan, turn it on for Pete's sake! It will make everything dry faster!! LOL!!)

 

When the Mod Podge completely dries, you can distress the tops even further if you wish. The options are endless...you could lightly sand and ink the edges; rub coffee grounds over the top and then wipe off; or....my friend Cristi O. told me that she recently read where a lady used soy sauce to age/distress stuff! I LOVE that idea, and although I didn't use it on this project, trust me, I will be trying that idea in the near future!

 

I had first thought that I would sand and ink the edges of the table, but after sleeping on it I decided that I kinda liked them just the way they were, so I didn't do anything else to them. A good idea is to spray the tops with a clear sealant to protect your work. (Valspar clear lacquer in a spray can, which can be purchased at Lowe's, is a good choice!)

 

Here's a close-up photo of one of the table tops, with a few accessories added of course!

 

Lastly, here's a full shot of one of the tables...yes, complete with accessories! ;)  (Remember the faux rawhide lampshade tutorial from a previous post?? If not, click HERE for instructions on how I made it.)

 

I really love how these tables turned out, and so does Justin! They are gonna look TERRIFIC in his room at his new house!

Thanks for dropping by today! Wishing you a SUPER blessed day!

Quote Sunday

(Image found on the Internet)

Silly Saturday

HA! HA! Thought this was pretty funny, so just had to share! Have a great weekend, and whatever you do, don't dance badly!! ;)

Quick and Easy Happy Halloween Projects!

Happy Halloween! I've got a big basket of candy bars to hand out to the trick-or-treaters that will be ringing our door bell...are you ready too?

We've been really busy here at the Brown house getting ready for Justin to close on his house next Monday. He's completely moved out of his apartment and is staying at our house until he takes ownership of his home, so I haven't felt much like crafting because my craft room is stacked deep with boxes of his stuff. For me, a cluttered craft room kinda kills my crafty mojo...how 'bout you?

Anyhoo...I decided to make a couple of quick Halloween projects, which made me feel better about my non-functional craft room - ha! ha!

First off, I made a fun spider Halloween headband for a super sweet little girl in my life! Her name is Heather and she is the youngest daughter of my terrific friend Megan F. Heather is a 3rd grader at the school where I work, and she is so much fun! Every morning she stops by my desk to say good morning and share one of her precious smiles with me...she totally makes my day! Here's a close-up view of the giant pom-pom spider headband that I made for her:

This project comes together really fast...here's how I made it:

Start with a large black pom-pom and 2 fluffy, tapered chenille stems:

To form the spider legs, cut the chenille stems into 4 pieces each. Bend one end into a little loop to create the "feet", then shape each piece to look like a leg:

Next pour a puddle of craft glue onto a paper plate. Dab the end of each leg into the glue, then tuck the end of each leg into the body of the spider. Attach a couple of google-eyes and glue on some beads form a mouth. Tie a scrap piece of ribbon into a knot and glue it to the head of the spider, if you want a girl spider. (If you want a boy spider, you can glue the knotted ribbon under the mouth to give him a bow tie.) Lastly, cut a piece of black elastic to fit the circumference of a head. (I used elastic that was covered in black sequins.) Stitch the raw edges together and then using some heavy duty tacky glue, (I like the Aleene's brand), glue the spider to the headband to cover the stitched seam. Allow to thoroughly dry and then place on the head of an adorable little girl:

Lastly, I decided to make some cute witch's broom pins for a few of my gal pals. These are SOOOOO EASY to make! I purchased a few packs of little brooms, which can be found in the miniature/doll house section of your local hobby store. I also bought a couple of packs of Halloween buttons and some pin backs. Using some more tacky glue, I attached the buttons to the brooms and allowed them to dry. (I removed the button shanks from the backs of the buttons so that they would lay flat on the brooms.) After everything had dried, I flipped the brooms over and glued on pin backs...here's a photo of a few of the pins that I whipped up...I know, cute, right?? ;)

I tucked each one into a little cello bag and tied the top of the bag with an orange, zig-zag stitched ribbon. I'll hand these out to some of my peeps tomorrow!

Thanks for dropping by today...have a fun and safe Halloween! I've been working on some awesome home decor pieces for Justin's new house, so be sure and check back next week to see what I've been up to!

Have a blessed day,