Re-purposed Ink Holder

My inks have always just been kind of all over. :) Awhile back, my friend Lora, told me about using an old tape cassette holder...got me to thinking!

Enter a trip to the Red Racks!

In case you don't know, Red Racks are trift stores ran for the financial benefit of the Disabled American Veterans. When we lived in Columbia, MO, a couple of times a year, they would pick up curb side and sell the stuff at their markets all across the Kansas City area. Now that we live in the KC area, I have developed an affinity for these shops.

The junk is good, the prices are good and so is the mission and purpose of the shops.

I think this thing was $2.95. Probably not as cheap as a yard sale but definitely do-able!

I started after it with several light coats of my favorite Heirloom White.

Just like the bird cage, it took FOREVER to get the insides covered!!!!!

SIDE NOTE:

When I turned this dude over on the back... it was manufactured in June of 1980! This crate is officially vintage...and officially older than me!

See what I mean? It's rough and narrow and just plain hard to paint.

But the final result was worth it and I don't think you can tell that I didn't get the inside painted well. :)

Stampin Up! and Close to My Heart inks both fit great! On top, I have Tim Holtz Distress inks.

To the right of this tape case turned ink holder, there's a book case that I got at a yard sale for $5 and painted too. It holds my stamp sets.

Do you have any great stories of junk you had from your kid-dom that you re-purposed into cool stuff? I'd love to hear the stories!

I linked up at Jennifer Rizzo's Thrift Store makeover party. Check it out {here}.

Reformed Big Ugly Mirror

Remember when I showed you that big ugly mirror I got at a yard sale for $10?? Click {here} to see that thing again...go ahead, I'll wait.

I know right?!?

Here's where we started. Sans beautiful tapestry and ready for some pretty.

I went to town with my favorite Heirloom White spray paint.

When I bought it originally, I had something like this in mind:

Source...as near as I know.

You can see the rest of my Master Suite inspiration photos {here}.

I have the giant ampersand but I haven't decided if I want it to say "you & me" or "mr & mrs) or if I want to use vinyl or cloth for the other letters...too many decisions.

BUT! I knew I wanted to use this frame, ASAP.

Enter our current Mantle decor:

I haven't had a great plan going on in here since I took the Christmas off there. This is ok at first glace but allow me to put this all in perspective for you...

Almost there:

I know. Where did my little vignette go????

So I started over with a bigger base: And I added some stuff from other places: Recognize that "Jones" sign from these pictures?? Click {here} to see the ones of which I speak.

I was trying to hold it up there to see what I thought...I got this great idea that I'd snap a picture and then I could "see" what it would look like. Note to self: Need longer arms. :)

I busted out my command hooks and it worked great!! I added a few accessories and here's what I came up with: And the whole effect, plus a Boxer.

I wasn't terribly in love with it but decided it would do just fine until I thought of something else.

Well, Jj didn't much care for the picture in a picture. He said, "that's weird. Do other people hang pictures inside frames that don't fit or did you just come up with something here?" I told him that I see it all over the internet and it's really quite normal. Alas, I agree with him...it's kind of akward.

So, I removed the "Jones" sign and put it back where it was.

Here's where we are now. I have a plan but I need a good coupon code to Mpix.com first. ;)

A little plain but like I said, I have a plan.

And about those cords that I tried to stuff in the basket...when we bought this house, we went ahead and had hook-ups for satellite TV added to this room. We have no idea if we want or exactly where we would put a TV in here. For now, I have the box and cords sort of piled into a basket...

Edited to include the following: Linked up to Jennifer Rizzo's Painted Project Party.

What's your go-to mantle decorating trick? I could use some assistance!

Big Ugly Frame, What??

This past weekend I went garage-saleing with my sister in law, Lara. (Side Note: She's my husband's bother's wife...so that makes us both La{u}ra Jones.)

Anyway, we went to Pleasant Hill, MO and found us a great little neighborhood and had a blast!!!

We walked up to a house...didn't look like much we were interested in until I saw this big Bertha leaning against the basketball goal!

I asked how much and the sale-keeper said $10. I didn't hesitate one single bit!!

100% better already without that stylish tapestry!

I'll show you what I did with it later. For now, I'm linking up with Rhoda at Southern Hospitality for her Thrifty Treasures Party.

Since you see my new frame lying on my drop cloth...you get the idea that I'm going to do some painting. What would you do with this Big Ugly?

A new 'Do.

I have to hand it to the next generation...

They sure have perfected the Mirror Self Portrait. I on the other hand, have not yet mastered the skill. Is that a skill? I guess so. We will leave it at that.

I showed you a couple of hair ideas I liked way back here. My how time does pass me by. That was over a month ago!!

Anyway, I wanted to take some pictures of my new 'Do but the strangest thing kept happening. Everytime I was wearing cute clothes, I had bad hair. Then when I was hanging out in yoga pants, I'd have some pretty great hair.

So, unfortunately for you, I snapped some shots of my sort of new 'Do for you to see. I think I had had the cut for about 2 weeks when I took these pictures.

There! I figured out where to look so that I don't look like I'm starring in glamour shots. :)

I really liked the lightness of the sides in the above picture.

And the back:

The back is ok. I'm not a huge fan of those cubbyholes through which you see my ears...I don't even have big ears and it's still odd.

Note to self: Omit ear holes.

So, what do you think of your last 'Do? Eyeing a new one? I'd love to hear!

Windshield photos

In the last year and a half, I have spent a lot of time driving. And with that comes witness to some funny stuff.

All is fair in moving so I say stack and strap however you can:


Reminded me of the Grinch's sleigh after he wiped out all of Who-Ville.

Buh-Bye Sassy Brassy!

Remember when I told you about my Stevie throwing dust rags in the fan?

Remember this fan?

Don't you just love that brass?
That's ok. Me either!!
Remember that I have been spray painting lately?

Did you guess what I have done??

Yep, I did it! Dad & Jj took down the fans...which was a Circus in itself!


Jj brought a 12' ladder home from work. They quickly decided that one on the balcony and one on the ladder wasn't going to cut it.

So, we had to rent a 16 foot ladder! HOLY COW!!!!! It was tight quarters maneuvering that baby around in our living room.



Removing the globes helped a ton with elbow room.



They took a few blades off for opening more space too.



Then they repeated the steps for the other fan.

Prior to beginning, they turned off the breakers and checked (however they do that...I am a bit scared of electricity) to make sure they did in fact have the juice off!

SIDE NOTE: I warned Jj that if he left me a young widow in a big house, tons of miles away from our family and friends...I'd be upset! Basically, I insisted they use the breaker as an off, rather than just the switch. Let's be smart about electricity.

**And now I'm off that soap box**

Once the fans were both down, I started to take them apart.


Basically, I wanted to separate the blades because they weren't getting painted. Then, I wanted to take the main part apart as much as I could. Which basically consisted of taking off the light kit (you just unscrew it) and the blade holders (above picture).

I could have sworn I took pictures of this next part...but I guess not. I ran a light sand paper across all the surfaces just to be sure. I was using something like 220 grit; not much at all.

I laid all the pieces out on my drop cloth and commenced to painting! I dusted them with a spray paint primer (Rustoleum) because I had it and then went to Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze. I did 2 coats, loosely. I say loosely because I didn't really do 2 complete coats but the second coat was more to hit the spots I missed.

After having completed the project, I would recommend priming. If nothing else, it changed all the surfaces to white so I could easily see where I needed to add a little paint.

We let them dry over night and put the fans back together. We left off 2 blades, the bulbs and globes off for ease of handling.





On to fan #2


And that's a finished project!

What do you think?







Thanks for stopping by.

What's your latest finished project? I'd love to hear all about it!
Leave me a link in the comments. I'd love to see all about it too. :)

Would you get a load of THIS!?!

I took this picture myself. I promise it has not been photo-shopped or otherwise had the content edited!



Get a closer look why don't you?



Yep, that's a compact car with a trunk FULL of scrap metal. I tried to get a closer picture but all I had was my iphone and I was driving. Eek!

Anyway, it made me laugh and I thought I'd share that with you. I guess as long as you are recycling, your methods are acceptable??

I am officially my High School Home Economics Teacher

I just spilled coffee on my charts. I would show you my mess but they are medical charts...and that iss confidential information so I leave you with this:

(Photo from Nocturnable)

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas...

Oh my goodness...this is just beautiful!!

Oh my, God is good. What a birthday present for his precious son!

Oops. There are my cake balls that I set outside to 'cool' last night. :)

SIDE NOTE: I took these from inside my house. JJ shoveled our drive and our neighbor lady's. He mysteriously asked if I needed anything from the store... I think he's off to purchase a sled. I have a vintage metal rung sled but this snow is very wet so we need a different type. I love sledding!!!!!!!

Fancy Fall Wreath

I found this fabulous wreath completed originally (at least the first time I saw it) by Sarah at Thrifty Decor Chick. As soon as I saw her gorg. wreath, I knew I had to make one of my very own...well, for my sister. We are going to her housewarming party mid-October; I can't wait!!!

So here's my finished product:

(I showed it to you first because I thought the "process pictures" weren't very interesting...and I was afraid you would stop reading. :)

Side Note: I hung the wreath on the banister because I was afraid I wouldn't take it down and actually give it to Sister once I had it on my door!!

Here's the dirt: Sarah (with an H just like my sister!! But this one isn't my sister but that would be cool!) made her wreath with a foam square. Go look at hers! Just don't forget to come back. I made mine with this wreath form that I got at Michael's for $3.99. It wasn't on sale but...

I covered the parts that I thought might scratch the door with scraps of an old bath towel. I just cut the towel and hot glued it on. I suppose any fabric glue would have worked but I got out hot glue for the leaves and decided that I wasn't going to go downstairs to get any other glue.

I got bags of fall leaves at Dollar Spot. There are 4 different colors (all the same color in one bag). I used all of 4 bags then part of 2 other bags... follow me? They were pretty pancake flat in the package so I wadded them up and threw them on the floor (not exactly the way the Thrifty Decor Chick recommended but it worked for me and wadding them up was pretty fun!)

I love that they almost look like actual leaves instead of fakes!! Also, notice that the leaves are void of stems. I cut them off using these bad boys!

They used to belong to JJ but now they are mine and they will cut anything!! Ok, so I don't know if they will really cut anything but my Fiskars would only cut one stem at a time. These cut all 10 at once!!

Best part! This whole project cost me only about $8.

(I had the glue and gun and snagged the snips from JJ.)