Sunday, October 26, 2014

Wood Burned Bread Boards

I have an amazing giveaway going on now for a Paint-A-Pillow kit! Stop over HERE to enter!!!!!! 

For Christmas last year I asked my mom for a wood burner. I had big plans for it and was excited to get one. Fast forward to almost a year later and I only just now took it out of the package and got to work........I'm such a slacker.
I don't know what it is about bread boards, but I LOVE them and I usually grab them whenever I see them at thrift stores if they have a nice patina to them. I keep some and sell the rest in my booth. I love the rustic touch they add to a kitchen or vignette.

I brought home a few bread boards from my booth that had been sitting awhile so I could finally try out my wood burner. Here's what I did!!!

Wood burning definitely took some getting used to, but it was fun! The softer the wood, the easier it was to do the shading I noticed. And, I like how the cut marks and gouges from everyday use are really noticeable now. It adds great texture. 







I'm really looking forward to working with it again and trying out the other tips that came with it! What projects have you used a wood burner for?

I'm linking to the parties listed HERE and to:
Liz Marie Blog 
Common Ground
Thoughts from Alice
Fabulously Creative Friday at JenniferRizzo.com
Redoux Interiors 
From My Front Porch to Yours
Persia Lou
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Monday, October 20, 2014

Bring on the Stripes

It just hit me that when I decorate my home, I play it a little safe. I decorate with neutrals, paint my furniture white, or leave the wood tones alone. While I'm not afraid to go big and bold, it's just the look I prefer. I felt like I was living on the edge a bit when I decided to stamp a wall in my studio recently! ;)
 
My booth, on the other hand, is where I have a little more fun. I still stay pretty neutral, but I like to try different things with the furniture I sell.
 
I found this little table at Goodwill and decided to paint it using General Finishes Milk Paint in Lamp Black. My absolute favorite!!
 

Lately I've been really loving the look of black and gold together. And, I always love the look of a striped table top. I combined all three with a fun little twist on the stripes to make it look slightly more geometric.

 


I almost wish now that I had added one more horizontal stripe!


 
 
*Paint was supplied to me for this project, but all opinions are 100% my own .
 
Do you play it safe, or do you like to have fun with your home décor?
 
I'm linking to the parties listed HERE and to:
Liz Marie Blog 
Common Ground
Thoughts from Alice
Fabulously Creative Friday at JenniferRizzo.com
Redoux Interiors 
From My Front Porch to Yours
Persia Lou
 
 
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Thursday, October 9, 2014

Changing Things Up

Last year at this time we gave our living room a complete redo. We stripped wallpaper, painted the walls, added new baseboard trim, and repainted the huge floor-to-ceiling entertainment center! Not much has changed in the room over the year, except for the entertainment unit.
 
When the room was first finished, this is how I styled the shelves.
 
 
I tend to use this as a holding area for things destined for my booth. I put them here so I can enjoy them for awhile before I take them to my space. So, many of the things here have either been sold or have found other places to reside in my home.
 
I've been wanting to change things up for awhile now, but I was stuck in a rut. I couldn't decide on the "look" I wanted to go with and I didn't know what I wanted to permanently keep. For months, I would style a shelf, not really love it, become frustrated and walk away.
 
FINALLY, this past weekend I decided I was going to tackle the shelves once and for all!!! I went through everything I didn't want to keep and took it all to my booth. Then I worked until I filled all the shelves. I'm sure I'll tweak some later on, but overall I'm content! 







The porcelain door knobs and brushes have been tucked away, unseen, in the locker baskets, so I brought them out in the open to be enjoyed and admired!







These framed photos are of my husband's grandfather. I love having them on display!


 
What do you think of the new arrangement?
 
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Sunday, October 5, 2014

Woodland Animal Plaque Tutorial

Hey guys!!! I promised a tutorial on how to make the woodland animal heads that I shared in my post about my booth decorated for fall.

 
It has taken me long enough, but I was finally able to put one together for you today!!! Yay!

For this project you will need:
* Wood plaque to mount your animal head
* Piece of scrap wood
* Printed image of animal silhouette
* Graphite paper
* Scroll saw
* Sandpaper
* Screws
* Paint or stain
 
I found these plaques at thrift stores, but I believe I have seen the unfinished one below at craft stores like Michael's.
 


Once you have your plagues, find a piece of scrap wood in the thickness you want the animal head.


I found a silhouette of a moose head and deer heads online and printed them. You will also need a piece of graphite paper to trace your image.


With the graphite paper underneath your image, trace with a pen or pencil.....


So that you're left with your animal head transferred onto your piece of scrap wood.


Nate used his scroll saw to cut it out for me. If you do not have a scroll saw, some other type of hand saw may work with a design that's not quite so intricate.  





I gave everything a good sanding to smooth out all the rough edges.


After I determined where I wanted the heads placed on the plaque, we attached the two together by screwing through the back of the plaque.


The final step is to paint or stain in the color of your choice! Make sure to use a small artist's brush to get into all the nooks and crannies. Spray painting might even be the way to go for these too.




 
If you have any other questions please don't hesitate to email me!!
 
 
I'm linking to the parties listed HERE and to:
Liz Marie Blog 
Common Ground
Thoughts from Alice
Fabulously Creative Friday at JenniferRizzo.com
Redoux Interiors 
From My Front Porch to Yours
Persia Lou

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Sunday, September 28, 2014

Fall Mantle

I've been such a slacker lately with blogging! I fully expected to be posting much more regularly when we got internet hooked up at home a few months ago, but life has been crazy, and busy and stressful. From switching our son to a different daycare, doctor appointments, car trouble, and traveling, I think things are finally getting back to normal and I hope to be able to give my blog a little more attention.

This weekend I decided it was time to change up my mantle that I was totally in love with:

 To something geared a little more towards fall and Halloween:


With the wood boxes, I was kind of going for the look of a collection of fall/Halloween curiosities. But, since I don't have any of the usual things you find in curiosity collections like animals skulls, bug specimens, etc., I thought I would use things still nature inspired, but a little less creepy.


My son, Anderson, and I collected leaves from outside to use as part of the display. He collected some for himself too. :)



This was the only skull I could find and I'm totally ok with the fact that it's fake...and plastic....and did I mention not creepy?


I still haven't bought any fun washi tape, so had to use scotch tape again to hang my leaves on the mirror. :/



 Even my deer bust was adorned with a pretty leaf!







I'm linking to the parties listed HERE and to:
Liz Marie Blog 
Common Ground
Thoughts from Alice
Fabulously Creative Friday at JenniferRizzo.com
Redoux Interiors 
From My Front Porch to Yours
Persia Lou





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