Monday, February 8, 2010

Winter Projects

Fall and winter are my favorite seasons for getting creative and crafty! Besides the fun of making Christmas and Thanksgiving crafts, Dave and I also came up with some great ideas for decorating the apartment with cute and inexpensive homemade items.Take, for instance, this star and the pictures surrounding it:

No, this picture was not taken during an earthquake, and our apartment is not slanted :)

Anyway, we were checking out the local craft supply outlet (aka I was pretty much going nuts and buying a bunch of awesome supplies at said outlet) when I found a really huge, cool-looking barn star. It had been made to look rusted and worn, which was neat, but I wanted to paint it to match the kitchen...so that's what I did! As for the surrounding pictures, I cut them out of a calendar of antique crate labels and framed them with dollar store frames. Looks pretty kickin', huh?

Our next project was, oddly enough, inspired by two things: a blank wall space and the pattern on my purse.

After moving our bookshelf, we ended up with a pretty boring blank space on our wall. Instead of buying a painting to go on this wall, I decided that I wanted to decorate it with something Dave and I made. I actually had started to think about the pattern on my purse, and with that inspiration I came up with this:

(this picture was taken in the middle of the project)

Dave and I bought some picture frames on sale, and then went home and drew the design on with pencil. After that, we got painting and had a blast! We each took a canvas and painted over the pencil outline with either red, black or gray paint (to match our living room color scheme). It turned out great, but we are still working on some finishing touches (since we noticed some things were imperfect after putting the paintings on the wall). It was so fun to do that together! I'll post the finished product soon.

And...my latest obsession? These stamped-metal necklaces:

(from etsy.com)

I LOVE these pendants! Not only do I want to buy one, but I have this crazy notion that I could start MAKING my own! It looks like supplies for the project would be a little expensive at first, but I'm really excited at the thought of starting! Once I get going, I'll even make one for you if you want! ;)

That's it for today!

6 comments:

Chandelle said...

I love etsy!

These are great projects. Those old-fashioned produce crate signs are something I grab whenever I see them.

J said...

Count me in for the necklaces. I've gotten into jewelry making, and it's not so hard once you figure out what you're doing. I'm sure you'd be able to make them pretty fast and sell a bunch. I also like the star. I'd been wanting one for our house for awhile, and then some anonymous person left 2 of them on my porch as a gift. But since I put mine up I notice them more often on other people's homes whenever I'm out driving. Kind of like when you buy a new car and then you tend to see THAT same car EVERYWHERE. Eh, must be it. Anyway, I also wanted to mention I really like the pattern you guys painted for your wall. I've got a big blank space too that's been there over a year now. I really don't know what to do with it, but it's driving me mad!

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Anonymous said...

Good luck

Anonymous said...

Good luck

Anonymous said...

I would buy one, but I really love making jewelry, too and I would like to know how to do the stamping. my e-mail is czimmerman@dc.rr.com and if you have a minute maybe you could give me some guidance. I am a retired English teacher and administrator and love filling my time with crafts. I live in Bermuda Dune, CA. I am not sue who you are or where you live. This may end up being a new friendship! Thanks. cz