Who is Ezekial ???

I have no idea who Ezekial is.  I found this cute little bench at the trift store (for $4.99 - what a bargain) and just knew that it needed a new home.  But of course I don't have a darling little boy named Ezekial so what was I going to do with it?  

Well, I knocked off the blue letters with a hammer and then completely tore it apart (forgot to take a picture) by then it was in 5 pieces.  It was only being held together with staples so I knew something better needed to be done.  After much sanding and alot more sanding, it was ready to be put back together.  My darling husband put it back together for me with nails this time (had to make it sturdier you know).  I then painted it and added some vinyl lettering.

Now it looks like this- and I love it.  So do the stuffed bears.

Bedroom Makover

Remember this Picture? This is what Sierra's room used to look like:



Now it looks like this:

We have a little ways to go yet. But you get the idea. After we got it painted, we just kind of gave up on it. I still have curtains to make and get on the window and we are hoping to put up a chair rail on the wall. It went from purple and lime green to beige and black with lime green accents.

Hopefully I can get back into the mood of working on it. We still want to get more stuff on the wall and get the headboard done.

Homemade birthday gifts

Sierra's friend Rachel (see previous post) recently had her 17th birthday. We wanted to do something special for her but wasn't quite sure what. We decided that we wanted to make her birthday gift this year. So we dug in the craft room for supplies I had on hand and came up with two separate gifts. The first was a keepsake box. We started with this:


And finished with this:

We did have to buy a few items: the tin and the flower on the front. Everything else I already had. Now Rachel has a box for all her "keepsakes" or "treasures".

Next it was on to this: I hate to admit it but this project cost exactly $.60 - don't call me cheap, just thrifty. I found the frame at a yard sale last fall for $.10 and just knew that it would come in handy for something - just didn't know what at the time. The letter was $.50 at Micheal's and the ribbon and the spray I already had on hand , so that cost doesn't count.

So this:

turned into this:

There is no back on the letter it just hangs there freely.

On to our next project

I thought we were done painting but no such luck. Sierra has decided that it is time to give her bedroom a face lift. After all she will be turning 16 pretty soon and thinks she needs a more "grown-up" room. So we emptied it out and are on our way to a makeover (I have ever mentioned that I love makeovers?)

This is what we have started with. Yes the walls used to be purple and white with lime green trim - don't ask.

Check back to see the results.

My favorite toy and a theme

Ok, can adults have a favorite toy... I sure hope so because I do. This is my favorite:

This is my Cricut machine or "my big bug" (I have a smaller version too aka "little bug") as it is so affectionately called. With this machine I can cut out shapes and letters on paper, material, vinyl and oh so much more. This machine and I spend a lot of time together. We have made scrapbook pages, cards, school projects and most recently, the theme for my hobby room.

I had some vinyl that I found at Lowes, and cut out this saying:

I think this says it all. I plan to make this my motto for this year.

Homemade art work

I'm still in the process of working on my hobby room. It really needs some things on the walls to make it look complete. I went looking through stuff that I already had to try and come up with something new. I found three artist canvases that I had bought sometime along the way but never did anything with them (don't even remember what they were for). I dusted the cobwebs off my "filing cabinet upstairs" and came up with this:

(I know they are crooked but they are acutally just laying on the counter)

I did have to go to the craft store and buy some wood cutouts to put on them - the other circles are just stamps that I had. Of course I already had the paint so this was actually a pretty inexpensive project. Total cost: (not including canvases) $3.00

These kind of match my new curtains. They are red with black and white polka dots. I told my kids that my room is starting to look like Mickey and Minnie Mouse. But that's ok because I love it.

Is it a junk room or a hobby room ???

My husband and kids called it the junk room, I called it my sewing/craft/work in progress room. But it just seemed to attract clutter. So three days after Christmas I decided something needed to be done about it. Plus, I was tired of the color and bored with everything in the room. So I took action. I got busy cleaning it out and put Carl to work. The cabinets came down and the paint went up. Same cabinets just repainted them. This is what it looked like before:

And now for the reveal.... Here is what it looks like now:

The walls went from a light blue to a nice creamy beige. The cabinets are now black - new curtains and I am loving it. We even moved the countertops around a bit and the setup works so much better.

Oh, and as for the shelf I found at the thrift store (see previous post)... here is what it looks like now:

I still need to add a few items to this shelf but you get the idea. Now if I could just get everything put back away.