Thursday, April 29, 2010

Like a beacon in the night...

Us crafter's we're a thrifty folk, and I don't know about you, but whenever I step foot in a store, I look for my beacon. It looks like this:

Not to be confused with this...this one is not NEARLY as useful for shoppers...

Unfortunately for me...stores are not the only place I see beacons...I also see them curbside, OFTEN. While driving down the road I spot a piece of furniture sitting by the curb...I IMMEDIATELY turn around...I'm not the only one right? I usually make my mom inspect it cuz I'm too embarrassed, but if its a treasure I quickly shove it into my truck, and by truck I mean my minivan that I have taken the back seats out of in order to cram stuff in there like its an F-150 :)

So, while driving around town one lovely day I spotted this......



Isn't she MAGNIFICENT?!?!?!??! I love her, tho I'm not sure what to do with her....

I'm looking for my lovely readers opinions...do I, make her back into a table, or how about a bench? Or, do I throw all caution to the wind, completely deconstruct her and use her for parts. Those spindles would make KILLER candlesticks!!!!!!!

So what would you do with her?

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

My first ever linky PAR-TAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

I am SOOOOO excited!!!!!! I hope to get lots of links, and loads of inspiration. And who knows...maybe even a few new friends ;)


My only "rule" (I've never been a fan of rules, so this is more of a pretty please with a cherry on top! ;) if you link up, please add my button to your blog, and please leave a comment. Also, please visit some of the other projects and spread some comment love :)





Let the par-tay begin!!!!!!!!

Monday, April 26, 2010

From Santa to Spring...

Looky what I found at my favvvvvvvvv dollar store:




How could I pass that up for $1? It stands about 8" high, and I knew I'd find SOMETHING to do with it.

Then, I found the cutest bird, nest, and eggs, and, SOLD... I knew what to do!!!!!


Spray paint, hot glue and accessories can bring you from Santa....






To SPRING!!!!!! (PS-why yes that is a burlap roof on my cute little birdhouse...and why....because everything's better in burlap ;)




OH, and don't forget, this Wednesday.......my very first LINKY PARTAYYYYYYY :)

Come join me, bring your friends, lets get down with our bad selves.....



Visit thecsiproject.com

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Wonder where I've been?

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry for my absense this week. I've spent the last few days like this:



NO FUN!!!!!!!!!!!! But this morning I woke up feeling human again, so hopefully I'll start cranking out the crafts again soon.

Please stay tuned :)

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

A NEW link party!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I'm sure it comes as no surprise to you all that I like to party, so I figured what better way than to host my own link party!!!!!!!

So, beginning next Wednesday, April 28th we'll be gettin' crafty on hump day!!!!!!!

Please join me, and share my button with all your friends, cuz I like to have BIG parties!

Here's a sneak peek at my button (its also already on my sidebar lol)



Tuesday, April 20, 2010

An incredibly simple & inexpensive housewarming gift...

Tho I'm a super crazy crafter at night, during the day I wear lots of other hats. One of those hats is that of a Realtor.

Real Estate is a new endeavor and last week I had the honor of closing on my very first sale :)

Back in the "old days" Realtors would get gifts for their customers, a good faith gesture to say "thanks for choosing me out of the 100's of Realtors in the phonebook."

But it seems that now-a-days, Realtors don't do that anymore. Its a shame. So I decided that I would find a way to do a little something for all my clients!

And this is what I came up with:



Seriously folks...its this simple....
Glass Block
Vinyl
Cricut
Ribbon
Bow

And you're done :)

Best of all, the new homeowners loved it, and I think I found my "go to" gift for all my clients!!!!

Monday, April 19, 2010

Guest Post from Keen Inspirations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey everyone, PLEASE give your warmest welcome to Sharon from Keen Inspirations. She has been one of my most faithful commenter's from the beginning and I love her for that! I'm so glad she gets to be my first guest poster!!!!!!! And I'm even happier that she chose an outdoor project for my blog. Cuz...when it comes to gardening and/or planting...it is a no go for me. I don't know if you know this, but there are bugs in gardens...spiders in particular. And spiders and I DON'T mix! ;)

So without further ado.....take it away Sharon......



Hi! I'm Sharon from Keen Inspirations and I am excited to be Nikki’s guest here today. Her blog is one of the first blogs that I found and quickly became one of my favorites! She has inspired me to see Dollar Store items in a whole new light. I’ve always shopped the Dollar Tree, but bought and used things to use as they were. I never thought to look at them as “how could I use this as a part of something else or give it a makeover to transform it?” Nikki has taught me how to do just that!


So, I am honored that she has entrusted her blog to me today. I’d like to tell you a little bit about myself. I am a SAHM and a MOM (mom of many). I have ten children, three of whom are married and blessed me with 3 grandsons! They are my treasures and a source of joy in my life!



Easter we were all together, minus one son-in-law who’s job had him on the road.



I’ve been a spray painter/re-purposer/thrift store addict for many years out of necessity. :) But blog land has given me a new perspective on creating for fun as well as function. Here a couple of my favorite projects:





After I discovered Rustoleum’s Oil Rubbed Bronze Spray Paint it instantly became my favorite! I used it on my Coffee Corner Makeover. But now I think I have found a new best friend, at least for the summer! It’s Rustoleum’s Multi-color, textured spray paint! Great for out door projects! I used Desert Bisque for my “Faux Stone Planter”.



There are many other colors available check them out here at Rustoleum’s site or go to your local Home Depot! My new love though is Caribbean Sand and I’ve used it on the project that I want to share with you today…My “Faux Stone” Birdbath Planter:


With the warm weather here to stay, I’ve been turning my attention outside to my garden. I love to grow vegetables and flowers and decorate my outside areas. Outside decor is soooo expensive though! Spray paint and thrift stores to the rescue! I started out with the idea of a birdbath. My eleven year old son is an avid bird watcher and I am trying to create a bird and butterfly garden area for him. At the thrift store I found a large pasta bowl and a chunky candle holder.




Then I grabbed my “tools”:



I started out giving everything a coat of Rustoleum’s 2x white primer. Two things that I have learned about painting ceramic and glass is to spray it very,very lightly with primer giving it about two coats and doesn’t have to have the coverage that a final coat does. It just needs to give the paint something to grab on to.


After everything was nice and dry, I went over it with the Caribbean Sand….I love the texture and the color…I’ve run my hands over it more than once!




I’ve also found that with this texture paint that it goes on better and covers better if it has a primer under it no matter what surface you are painting.


Then I put the bowl on the pedestal and had a small birdbath, but it seemed to need something…it seemed empty.




I had an old plastic birdbath with a small pedestal in the middle, so I went for that look. I had on hand a part of a wooden candle holder leftover from another project (never throw anything away…you never know when you might “need it” LOL) and a small china saucer.




I dressed them up in Caribbean sand and put them in the middle of the birdbath.




Better, but the top still seemed like it needed something…I tried a bird but didn’t like it, I knew a fountain was out of the question (that’s another project) and I started thinking a plant, might work…so I called my daughter outside for her opinion and she helped me decide to turn the whole thing into a planter!




I went and found an old clay pot and gave it a quick spray of primer and paint. I put everything together and held it in place with, what else?, Gorilla Glue!


Finally, I made a quick trip to Walmart (the only place open with plants at that time) and grabbed some spring color to fill it up!






My finished product:






As the petunias grow, they will fill the bowl and cascade down over the sides...




In the words of an old computer game that my kids played “ I like it…I like it a lot!”


I apologize for the quality of the pictures...that is something I'm still working on!


So go search your garage, attic, barn and see what you can transform for outside with some texture and glue! If you do a project, I’d love to see it! You can find me at Keen Inspirations or out in my garden! :)


I’ve enjoyed sharing with you today! Thank you Nikki for the opportunity!




Auction furniture redux take 2....

My hubby and I have been using these HORRIFIC garage cabinet thingies (yes, that's the technical term) for our clothing storage for years, and I'm just plain sick of it!!!!

So, when I went to that auction a couple weeks ago I was completely delighted to see the multitude of dressers being auctioned off. I picked up 3 (2 for me, 1 for a friend), and I paid $2.50 for this beauty...


Yeah...not so purdy huh?


But, adding some lovely brilliant white paint, and updating the hardware and I LUVVVVVVVVVVVV the crisp clean lines of it!!!!!


And the hardware?!?!??! Don't even GET me started!!!!! Typically, I'd buy new hardware, but I just loved the look of this stuff...so, a couple of coats of hammered bronze....perfecto.....


Thursday, April 15, 2010

Looking for guest posters for this coming up week...

Looking for some guest posters for next week. I have a VERY crazy week ahead of me and I don't wanna neglect my readers. So if you're interested in doing a craft related guest post next week, please let me know.

Send me an e-mail at Itiznikki@yahoo.com

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

My $1 Armillary.......

I know what you're thinking..."how did you get an armillary for $1??!?!?!?!??!" Either that or your thinking "What the heck is an armillary?!?!?!??!?!"

Either way...I know I've been slacking in the craft department this past week so I wanted to come back with a vengeance!

I've been oogling over these lovelies for awhile:
Ballard Designs, for a measly $99 HA!


My personal fav, from Restoration Hardware for $199 DOUBLE HA!

And mine for $1.

How on earth is that possible, right?!?!?!??!

Well, it started with this kids decoration I got at the dollar store for $1:

Then, I got this out of the dumpster at my local hardware store. This is called metal banding, it is used to hold pallets of wood and other things together while shipping:

So, to make the armillary, I cut each strip of metal down to roughly the same size and then one by one I clamped them into a circle and drilled through both ends, like so...


After I had all my holes drilled, I took the screw I was planning to use to screw it into the base and I put the circles on one at a time. At the end it looked like this:



Then, it was just a matter of screwing in the screw. I taped off the base and gave the metal banding a nice coat of black gloss spray paint. And then I decided to top it off with a finial. This was not in my original plan, but while looking through the drawers of the dressers I got at an auction last week, I found this floating all alone in one of the drawers. Fate I tell ya...


So, with some liquid nails, I attached the finial, and I ended up with my $1 version of this FAB architectural decor.....



I am in LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE....best dollar I ever spent..... :)

Visit thecsiproject.com

Friday, April 9, 2010

my STEALS of the week!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With garage sale-ing upon us, I think I'm going to start showing off my fav buys of the week. If you do the same, PLEASE leave a link in your comment so I can check yours out too!!!!!! :)

So, lets start off with these things I got from Goodwill...
A BRAND NEW still in the package Isis Dei macbook cover for..... $1.99
And a BRAND NEW with the tags still on them pair of converse for my little guy....$4.99

And as for my garage sales/fav dollar store trip I got...
An UH-MAZING glass pedestal cake stand....$4
Several yards of this gorgeous b&w fabric....10 CENTS!!!!
But my PERSONAL favorite...the grapevine decor balls...found them at THE DOLLAR STORE FOR $1!!!!!!!!!!!! (I bought 5 ;)

So what did you find this week?!?!?!?!??!!??!?!?!?

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Don't pay out the butt for b&w photography!!!!!!!

Black & White photography has been all the rage in decorating for a while now, and I don't know about you, but I think its here to STAY!!!! I LOVE b&w photography, and am constantly ooing and ahhing over it at stores.

BUT-I've never bought a single piece, and why? Because its MUCH cheaper to go take it yourself!!!!! I learned this lesson last year when I contacted a local photographer about an image he had taken, and I wanted to order it in black and white. He got all diva on me and told me he couldn't just "make" the image black and white without compromising the blah blah blah blah blah.

I thought, well forget you buddy, I'll go take the same dang pic myself! And I did...and I was THRILLED with it!!!!!!!! The house that I am decorating currently is on a beautiful lake with the most UH-MAZING willow tree in the back yard...GOR-GEOUS. So I decided to photograph that for some decor, and I may throw in some of my favs from our local park too!

So anyway, next time you're oodling over some b&w prints, think to yourself "could I do this on my own?" And TRY IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here is some of my FAV b&w landscapes that I've shot. Oh, and PS, only ONE of the following images was taken with an SLR camera...the rest were all point and shoot. Can you guess which one? :)