The First 2015 Holiday Projects!

I'm so excited for Christmas this year and all that it entails. I posted about my office decorations a few days ago. I've also gotten a few holiday projects done so far and I love them!!! Both projects involved cutting vinyl on my Cricut Explore.

First, is a jingle bell shadow box. This one is so fun.

I also did a reindeer name sign. I've been admiring similar ones on Pinterest and the like for some time now and I finally made one for myself.

Have you started any holiday projects yet? Now I just need to finish cleaning my house so I can put up the rest of the Christmas decorations. I have the tree up and decorated, but that's as far as I've gotten.

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life! 

Pinspiration: Gold Striped Wall Art

Yesterday, I posted a gold owl I recently redid. Today I thought I would share some fun artwork I made. I was inspired by several projects I've seen recently on Pinterest like this one:



and this one:



and maybe this one as well:




so I decided to make my own fun canvas art. Here's what I came up with:

I do enjoy the little things. Things such as this artwork.

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

Blast from the Past: Maddy's Minnie Mouse Birthday

In starting preparations for Maddy's birthday (only a month or so away!), I realized I never posted her party goodies from last year. I am featuring last year's party today as one of my Blast from the Past Posts.

Maddy was (and still is) obsessed with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. So, I decided to throw her a Minnie Mouse birthday party. I  also decided to go with the traditional Minnie color scheme of red, yellow and white, rather than the pink.

Here's the invitation:

I made it using some old Creative Memories software. I used a free font from somewhere (not sure, but it might have been on Da Font) that was a Disney look alike. Had too much fun with that!

I made Maddy a dress by sewing some cute jersey polka dot fabric I had to the top half of a t-shirt:

My mom bought Maddy some super cute red shoes with Minnie on them that I can't seem to find a picture of right now.

I also made Maddy's bows:

Here's one with her wearing it:

I made a wreath for the front door by wrapping a grapevine wreath I had on hand with black crepe paper. The ears are wrapped embroidery hoops:

I also made a sign for Maddy that now hangs in her room. I cut out all the parts for it with my Cricut.

I used that same free font I downloaded and my Sure Cuts a Lot software to make the whole thing. I found a mouse silhouette online as well. I spray painted the plastic frame (it was brown before) using Sunshine Yellow by Krylon.

I also made a banner using black paper plates and vinyl letters for Maddy's name:

Cheap and cute! I had goodie bags for the kids:

I again used the Cricut here for the mouse head shapes. 

I, of course, did not manage to get a picture of the food spread. *sigh* But I did snap one of the coordinating plates, napkins and silverware: 

And last but not least, the cake. I did not make the cake. I leave the cake making to my mother in law, who is practically an expert at fun shaped cakes. 

I certainly could not have done better that this. 

I am starting to plan a pink and turquoise cowgirl themed party for this year. It's over a month away, but I really want to get a jump start on it. Plus it involves things like making a pink and turquoise tutu and finding matching cowboy boots! I'll probably share some of those projects as I get them done. 

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

*Planning to share at: Metamorphosis Monday; Give Me the Goods Monday; Time To Sparkle Tuesday Linky Party;  Wildly Original Linky Party; Clever Chicks Blog Hop; Serenity Now Weekend Blog Hop; CSI Project

Wedding Gift Reprised

Remember this post where I took an old print and made a wedding gift? I have two more weddings coming up, so time for more projects!  I bought this print at a thrift store, complete with Kmart sticker still on the back.

I cut letters with my Cricut out of contact paper. This time before I put them on, I sprayed a light coat of clear sealer over the print. Last time I did this project, the print was glossy. This time it was a light paper and I wanted to be sure I could peel the letters off.

I painted the print, peeled off the letters, painted the frame, and put it all back together. Here's the final result:

I love how it turned out this time! Last time, the colors of the print were more subtle, this time they are bright and fun. Perfect for the couple I am planing on giving this to.

I have lots of projects I will be posting in the next week. We are planning on having a big family get together at my house in less than two weeks. I am sprucing up like a mad women before that happens.

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

*Planning to share at:
Metamorphasis Monday; Time To Sparkle Tuesday Linky Party; Trash to Treasure; The Power of Paint Party; Wildly Original Linky Party; Transformation Thursday; What have you redone?; Shabbilicious Friday; Start at Home Paint Party; Funky Junk Interiors' Party Junk. 

Last Minute Wedding Gift

I needed a last minute wedding gift last weekend (we were invited last minute because they weren't sure there would be enough room at their venue). I has seen this tutorial on Brassy Apple where she took letter stickers, put them on fabric, painted over them and then peeled them off to reveal the fabric underneath. I was in the thrift store and saw an ugly print in a frame, when it hit me. Why not use the same technique on a print you would never in a million years hang in your house?

I bought a print in a frame for $1. I cut letters out of clear contact paper using my Cricut and SCAL software (no sense in wasting vinyl on this).  I put the letters on the print like so:

Okay, I know it's hard to see clear contact paper, but if you look really closely, you can see a few of them toward the top.

Then I spray painted several thin layers over everything:

After it dried completely, I peeled off the letters to reveal this:

I love the result. The vintage tone of the print underneath is really neat. I did spray over the whole thing with a clear coat for a little extra protection. I probably would have put an extra something in vinyl on either side of the date (a heart perhaps?) but the couple I was giving this to is a little more minimalist than I. This project might be my go-to wedding gift from now on.

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

*Shared at:

     

Fridge Redo

I'm going to preface this post by saying, this is not a project I made myself. This is something my Mom did for her store, Country Road Treasures (info at bottom of post). That being said, I don't have any in progress pictures, but I know how she completed the process.

Mom needed a fridge for storing things at the store (pop, lunches, etc). They had a old Frigidaire from the 60's era. It was originally white, but the door had started rusting and was very stained. Mom also wanted a place to display the different fonts and things she could cut with her Cricut for custom orders. The fridge door was already divided into panels, so Mom just used those to make this:

She taped first spray painted the green color (not sure which colors she used.). When that was dry, she taped off the green part to spray the blue borders. Finally, she cut different words and silhouettes out of vinyl using her Cricut and applied them to the panels. Pretty simple!

I'm not sure if you would want to do this to a newer fridge in your house, particularly one that gets a lot of use. But who says that garage fridge has to stay ugly? I would be interested to see if anyone could transform a golden harvest colored fridge!

If you are interested in mom's store and live in South Dakota or Minnesota near the border (Big Stone City, SD) sent me an email (ehinders[at]gmail.com) and I can give you directions.

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

What Did I Do With It # 2

A couple of weeks ago I posted this tray for What Should I Do With It Wednesday? As much as I wanted to go crazy and do something radical with it, I just couldn't figure out what to do. Most of the suggestions on Twitter were not to hack it and paint it. So, based on the suggestions, that's what I did.

Here's the final result:

Black spray paint, gold acrylic paint on the corner details and white vinyl and I've got a Halloween tray that folds up for storage. Or remove the vinyl and change it out for the seasons.

What do you think? I'm not completely satisfied with it, but it works for now. I'm still trying to figure out how I can turn it into something crazy, but for now it will make a nice decoartion for Halloween.

Don't Settle for dull, live a refinished life!

*Shared at: