Halloween Silhouettes

OK, so I'm a little late.  This should have been LAST Friday's post, but I threw a Halloween party for my kids last Saturday night, so Friday I was a little busy.  SO, here it is today!

I was looking through Halloween magazines at Lowes and came across this picture in one (Sorry, I don't remember which one it was).

I remembered I had 4 frames tucked away in my craft room which I had had FOREVER.  They were gold, and in desperate need of a paint job.  So I put my daughters to work with a can of spray paint, and we painted them glossy black.

While they were drying in the garage, I drew the patterns of the silhouettes I wanted on a plain piece of paper.

Then I cut out the pattern and traced it on to a piece of black paper.

I cut out the final picture, glued it to white cardstock, and inserted it in the frame.

Ta da!

I think they turned out pretty cute!

Happy belated Halloween!

Wine Barrel Table

My husband recently went up to his dad's barn and brought home some treasures.  This barn is every rusty junk-lover's dream.  It's 5,000sf packed full of 40 years of collecting.  A lot of it is truly junk, but there are some treasures to be found if you dig deep enough.  On this trip, my hubby found 2 wine barrels.  One was full size, and the other was half size.  I'm currently using the half size one for holding wood used in our outdoor firepit, and the full size one got a makeover yesterday!

Here is the before;

And here is the after!

I don't quite know where I'm putting my wine barrel table yet.  I'm happy with how it turned out!  You've gotta love Krylon.  Spray paint is my bff.

My next goal with this table is to decopauge wine labels under the glass on the top.  I guess I'd better get busy drinking wine so I can peel the labels off.  It's good to have goals :)

Cheers!

Magazine Holder Makeover!

I have a confession.  I think I am a closet hoarder.  I have unusual obsessions with things I just can't part with, and if it weren't for my other obsession to organize things, you just might find me on the show "Hoarders".  My addiction?     Magazines.  Especially home decorating or organizing magazines.  I just can't seem to get rid of them, (and don't even get me started with the holiday editions of Better Homes and Gardens!)  Even when I go through old magazines page by page, when I get to the end and realize there was nothing of interest to me in the magazine, I still can't seem to part with it.  I hang on to them for YEARS. 

My sister recently posted a blog about Martha Stewart magazines and it got me thinking about my old collection (and I do mean OLD).  I just went through my old stack and realized they were from
 1995!!.  I decided I needed to go through the magazines and tear out any recipe or crafty idea that looked interesting and THROW THE REST OF THE MAGAZINE AWAY.  So I did.  This, of course, brought on a new little project.  How can I organize my magazines to make them look prettier in my craft room??  Low and behold, I found some wrapping paper at Michaels which perfectly matched my curtains.  I decided to wrap the holders and love the way it's turning out!

 Much like wrapping a present, I cut the paper to size and started taping.

When all is said and done... ta da!! Pretty Magazine Holders!!

I found that 1 roll wrapped 4 holders, so I will need to go back to Michaels and get a couple more rolls.

I have seen similar magazine holders in the store for about $7 each - but considering my obsession with magazines, that could send me to the poor-house.  I will GLADLY wrap my old ones for the same general look at the cheaper price. 

 I'm so excited about this new project.  I have even begun to throw out the 16 year old magazines to make room for the more recent issues.  Baby steps!

It's a Happy Cloud

I often get told I live on a fluffy white cloud. I think it's the same one my Mom and Sister live on. I like to think of myself as a positive person - always seeing the best in people and things. One person compared it to the character "Kenneth" from 30 Rock, and how the world was viewed through his eyes ~everyone was a Muppett Character. It's a happy place here. Except when I look at the chaotic world around me and realize all I need to do. Dishes, laundry, dust, vacuum, toilets, did I mention laundry? All this coupled with working my Real Estate business, working my Scentsy business (which I LOVE by the way...), meeting an electrician at our apartment complex, getting softball gear ready for my youngest this afternoon, parent teacher conferences, posting rental vacancies on Craigslist, and now, blogging! What's one more thing to add to my day? We all have so many balls in the air - life is such a juggling act. I remember going to MOP's when my girls were little. We took a little time each meeting and did a craft. I was SO excited to do the craft, as it was a little block of time, just to have a creative outlet. I still have the ceramic white board with the pretty ribbon I made hanging in front of me. If nothing else, it's a reminder to take a little time in the crazy busy day and get creative. Make something pretty. Maybe this is what my blogging will be about - amidst all the chaos of life, finding a little bliss or a "Happy Cloud", even if it's just for a few minutes.