Fun projects!

Ahhh! FINALLY I got a chance to tackle some fun projects I've been wanting to do for a while. Okay, not all of them were a fun PROCESS, mind you, but I'm glad they're done!

First up - a quote I found in a Stampin' Up magazine. After our journey with Sweet K I just knew I needed those words on my wall somewhere. I'm not into spending a lot of money (and I think J would share a few words with me if I spent $50+ on wall words!!!) so I had to get a bit creative in how this was going to come together.

Sigh. This is how the project started out. A 12x16 Dollarama canvas, "homemade" brown paint (because my tube was all dried and crusty!!! and the initial cream base was just not workin' for me!), and printed letters on computer paper transferred to the canvas using carbon paper.

 

Lessons I learned....

Mistake #1 - Haste makes waste. It really does. I was completely imprecise in transferring the letters onto the canvas and once they were painted it was even worse. Not sure you can tell in these photos, but Round 1 looked like el crappo. I was not happy. Chuck it or fix it? A frantic phone call to my sis who paints gave me the umph to keep trying!!

Mistake #2 - Use a firm surface. Writing on a canvas is tricky. Writing on a canvas with a nice firm book underneath? Much much better!

Mistake #3 - A dull pencil. Oi. Come on Leah! Once I switched to a nice, precise ball-point pen, it was a lot easier going :).

The finished product, displayed in my dining room.

Project #2 - Some wall ... "art?" for the bathroom. Inspired by a link I found on One Pretty Thing, this is what I hung over the bathroom towel bar... that blank spot has been buggin' me for NINE YEARS! It was time to do .... something!

And a few other touches....
  

I needed some extra cabinet space in the washroom (for all those Dora's bandaids that have found their way into our home!). So I took a shelf we already had, added an insert (cardboard, covered in quilt batting, covered in coordinating material to the flower patch on the opposite wall :P) and voila. No money spent. Extra shelf space. Now I just need a 5x7 photo for that Dollarama photo frame :P.One more thing. I've wanted to do this for years....

We had an old mirror lying around. I bought the frame at MCC for a buck and repainted the mat. The left side candle holder is a $3 treasure from IKEA and the shelf is from my dad, who creates amazing things with wood and then gives them to us as gifts :P. I'm looking for a few flameless candles to stick into these candle holders because they are a bit safer than tea lights and from a distance, no one would know the difference anyway!!

I'm always on the search to make our bedroom a cozy place to be. And now that we are not presently sharing it with any children (and I even moved the playpen OUT for naptimes!!), it feels like it is MINE (well, OURS!!) again :P. I've been working on this for some time, and like how it's turning out....

My sister created this painting for me when I was pregnant with Sweet K. I've been looking for just the right place to hang it and found it! (Check out her online gallery for more gorgeous pics!!) The lovely desk is a christmas gift from my dad when I was but a teen (many many moons ago already!!).

These projects have been a lot of fun.

But now, I think it's time to clean up the carrots and beets that survived the gardening year before tackling the girls room and the living room and the lobby and the repainting touch ups here and there!!!