Window Pane to Picture Frame

The title has such a nice ring to it, don't you think!

Too bad I can't say the same about the rest of this project . . .

I spied this antique window pane in Canton back in my single lady 'daze' and knew it was just the piece my shabby chic little duplex in Cowtown needed!  Back  in my 'cabbage rose sofa' days (you know what I'm talkin' about!) it was used to display demitasse cups and saucers in my dining room.  When my job took me south on I-35, it hung above an antique pie safe and was adorned with paper roses.  Once Speed and I tied the knot and moved into our home, it decorated my kitchen and displayed antique linen hand towels (so stinkin' cute btw) Soon after though, it's presence was needed upstairs in our new little Sheep's bedroom, where my father's baby clothes would come to hang on satin hangers from it's panes.  This little 'Friday Find' has served me well over the years and it's a piece I have grown to love and cherish like part of my family!  So I knew that it needed to be incorporated into the JV squad's bedroom redo in some way, but how??

Sheep has long since outgrown the baby clothes on the window pane and was using it to hang tutus and fairy wings instead, but I have had my heart set on turning into a picture frame (even before Snacks came on the scene) so with the bedroom redo in progress, it was time to figure something out!

My idea was to cover pieces of tin cut to fit into the panes with fabric or paper so that I could use magnets to change the pictures.  Sounds easy enough, right??

Sooooo wrong!!!

My first trip to the big box hardware store (frown) got me back home with a roll of flashing - aluminum flashing - that WASN'T magnetic!  Too bad I didn't realize this until  I had already cut out the first piece so it couldn't be returned (frown).

On my trip back to attempt the return it hit me that we had a large piece of insulating foam core in the garage that I could use as my inserts instead!  My revised idea was to simply paint the pieces with 'magical' magnetic paint and then paper over them.  Even better right??  Because the foam core would just wedge into the panes without even needing top be tacked in somehow - yay!!

BOO!!

The Rustoleum Magnetic Paint was a complete bust in my opinion.  It doesn't work!  Let me repeat that - IT. DOESN'T. WORK!!  Too bad I didn't figure that out until I had already covered the pieces with scrapbook paper, which in itself was 2 trip ordeal!!

Despite my measuring and cutting out the foam core pieces the night before, it never dawned on me that the panes were larger than a 12 X 12 sheet of scrapbook paper . . . until I got home with them and tried to put them on - grrrr!

Back to the scrapbook store only to discover that not one, not two, but THREE of the papers I chose were the last sheet of that paper, which meant I had to come home and do some pretty crafty piecing together to even get my panes covered.  Sooooo disappointing when I tried to hang up my pictures with the cute little button and otherwise embellished magnets.  As you can see, the magnets stick, but they cannot hold up a photo.  Not even a sheet of notebook paper (insert sad face here)!!!

I even went surfing through blogland in an attempt to salvage this project somehow, some way and came across a bloggy sistah who had been thwarted by magnetic paint found ceramic magnets at Radio Shack that worked on job when regular magnets did not . . . But no, trip number FIVE for this project did not solve the problem.

With a soon-to-be-two year old sharing the room, I really don't want to use pushpins and they will make permanent holes in the paper (not to mention the pictures) anyway.  So, I am still searching for a solution.

I love the way the project looks, especially with the last minute addition of the door knobs across the bottom to add some always-needed storage in a shared space.  Too bad it can only hold one picture underneath the ribbon.

Any ideas?

I'd love to hear them!

Sharing this sassy project at Schoolhouse Scraps, Ladybird Ln., 

Coat Rack Reconfigured

I told you that we were busy little bees during Spring Break!   I had lots and lots on my "to do" list and my BFF drove into town with plenty of her own as well!  This coat rack redo was one of her 'Friday Finds' and I must say - it's BRILLIANT!!

Right now, my ribbon is stored in boxes and bins and none of it is easily accessible.  And that can be so frustrating when my creative juices are flowing!  It actually did spend 24 hours in organized heaven on this coat rack turned ribbon holder  (just long enough to shoot some pictures) but despite my begging and pleading, it headed back to Big D on Saturday (insert sad face here).

Oh well - it's given me something specific to shop for while I'm junkin' in jammies!  And if you have no idea what I'm talking about right now, you can see for yourself here!

My BFF is the original 'Damsel in Distressed' and will paint and sand anything that gets in comes her way!  For this project, she chose a bright pink paint from Sherwin Williams called Raspberry Parfait - isn't it yummy?!

Prior to sanding and painting, we bought inexpensive wooden dowel rods that would accommodate the spools of ribbon and cut them a couple inches longer than the width of the rack.  Oh, and don't forget to bring a spool with you when you go to pick out your dowel rods.  This step is important.  Don't ask me how I know - just trust me!  Then we used a level to mark where we wanted our rods to go on either side.  A few holes later, and we were ready to paint!

She preps and distresses with an electric hand sander.  It gives all of her projects a rough and rustic sort of feel - very shabby chic!  She also uses flat paint on her projects, though I personally prefer a finish that has a little more sheen to it - either satin or eggshell.  I have also been reading all over blogland about Annie Sloan chalk paints, but haven't seen them anywhere to try them yet.  What do you prefer?  And if you've used Annie Sloan's paint and/or wax, I'd love for you to leave me a comment or send me an email about why you like them so much - or don't for that matter!

In the mean time,  I cannot wait to find a coat rack of my own!!

Happy Hunting Y'all!

Sharing this Sassy Redo at The Rooster and The Hen, Savvy Southern Style, DebbieDoo's, Skip to My Lou, Nifty, Thrifty Things, School House Scraps, The Gunny Sack, Flour Me with Love, The Sweet Talk Shop, Candace Creations, I Heart Naptime, It's Overflowing and The Southern Institute, Tatertots & Jello

Gimme a (Spring) Break!

Well bloggy friends, it's been a cr-A-zy, fun, BUSY week off!  I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE having both my babies home - it's such a treat to get to spend time with Sheep and makes me (and Snacks) excited for summer!  I can't wait!

And this week was extra special because my BFF and her beautiful daughter decided to spend their week off with us too!  She is so special to me!  We met back in 5th grade while I was visiting a mutual friend of ours for the summer and the rest, as they say, is history!!

As usual, we had more ideas than time for our week-long 'staycation' but we actually got quite a bit accomplished and I am quite proud of us!  She has as much paint in her hair and hot glue in her veins as I do, so when we get together, nothing is safe!  Seriously, sit still too long around us and you're likely to get 'repurposed' yourself!  In fact, we spent the better part of the week repurposing the tools in Speed's garage for our own craft-errific projects and they are so stinkin' cute!!!

Here's a sneak peek at one of them!  Can you guess what it was/is?!

We also managed to shop for a prom dress, squeeze in a trip to the World's largest Livestock Show and Rodeo, spend a day at the beach and hit a few garage sales for some FABULOUS Friday Finds!!  About the only thing I didn't have time for was blogging!

{grin}

But I have no regrets!!  In fact, my sincere prayer for each of you is that you give yourself a (Spring) break too and have as much fun as we did!  After all, these days are precious and I don't want to miss a minute of them!  Before the end of the month, my baby will be two and Sheep will be in BRACES!!  And come August my best friend's beautiful baby girl that I held in my arms on the day she was born will be graduating from high school (a year early I might add)!!  These days are precious indeed.

My Friday Find

With Spring in the air around these parts, garage sale signs have started popping up like wildflowers!  I imagine that I am not unlike many of you, because when I see a yard full of someone else's 'junk,' I just can't resist pulling over to take a look-see!  Maybe it's the voyeur in me, but I just love to see what other people are throwing away.

I'm serious!

You know you do too {grin}.

It was raining this morning so I talked myself out of junking around town as planned.  And so I departed to drop Sheep off at school in my favorite Christmas jj's.  (Don't judge!)  But instead of heading straight home afterward, I remembered that there was actually an advertised garage sale close by and there's some pretty swanky spreads in the neighborhood it was listed in.  Now most people don't seem to bother with advertising these days, so I figured they must have LOTS to unload . . . and all I would be doing is driving by.

You can already tell where this is going, can't you??  So I'm not going to bother you with the details of my adventure 'junkin' in jammies,' but let's just say it was almost worth it - ha!  You'll have to wait to see what I found!

In the mean time, this 'Friday Find' began life a certificate or diploma frame, complete with a blue suede mat (Go Mustangs!).  The price was right and I have been itching to try some distressing techniques I learned about from Leanne over at Because I Think I Can.  So I swiped it up along with some of it's orphaned brothers and sisters (in case my first attempt went haywire) and got to work!

This project also gave me a chance to try my hand at Picasa as a more advanced photo editing option than what I've been using and in just a few minutes, I had a cute little snapshot to add to my frame turned forget-me-not!

I think it turned out Ggggreat!!  And I love the springy colors in this retro fabric find from Joanne's.  Best of all, sticking to the white frame means I can easily change fabrics with the seasons!  It's fits perfectly on the little wall next to the door and will hopefully help me keep this crazy,busy life of ours in some kind of order!

If you noticed the note scrawled on the board, it's a shameless plug for our upcoming crafty playdate in Houston!!  You can get all the details here or just shoot me an e-mail - I'd love to meet you face-to-face!

Happy Friday Y'all!

Sharing my sass at Polkadots on Parade, Ladybird Ln. and Savvy Southern Style