Melony's Whimsy Daisy!

Hodge Podge, Mod Podge, Cake Craft Collage

   Jenn(that's her below) over at Sweet Eye Candy Creations had an inspirational tutorial on making an adorable collage. She takes beautiful pictures and her entire blog is truly eye candy, so please give her a visit and treat yourself to sweetness. The project Jenn presented caught my eye and struck my fancy and I just had to put a "Melony" spin on it and see what happened. Thank you, Jenn for sharing your creativity. 

  

I have two sweet friends who have been blessed with grandbabies, and I wanted to do something special to share in that joy. There are so many sad times in life when we grieve with our friends...through sicknesses, funerals, kids that go astray...I just love when we get to share in the celebrations. 

I started off with Cake Circles as Jenn suggested, using my Michaels' 40% off coupon. They are a wonderful base and the price is right. I cannot imagine cutting out cardboard circles. Ick.    

  

For the first collage I used two cake rounds and covered it in two kinds of fabric on the front using Mod Podge. I then gathered up little bits and bobs from all around my Craft Cottage and using my beloved glue gun attached them to the fabric covered disc. Kennedy has a pink and brown polka dotted room, so I tried to stick to that theme the best I could.

 

 I attached a ribbon covered clothespin so a picture of baby Kennedy could be changed out as desired. (I used my now 24 year old, Molly's baby picture, to show how that works. I know you know how a clothespin works, but I wanted you to see it and I didn't have a picture of Kennedy.)

I covered the sides with cupcake ribbon since I used two cake rounds together. This was my first one, and I thought I would see how I liked putting two together. I only used one cake round on the second one. I covered the backs of both with scrapbooking paper and forgot to take pictures of that. I was tired by then, and I just sort of slopped it on there the best I could and added a gift tag label. I then put a coat or two of Mod Podge on the whole thing and let it dry overnight.  

 Some of the items I used in the collage are vintage buttons, broken jewelry, felt, ribbon, vintage greeting card images, Dollar Store doodads, feathers, flowers, bottle caps, and whatever I could scrounge up that might be cute!

The second collage was for my friend Anna's grandbaby. She has a ladybug room and I was glad to find the cute ladybug ribon to go around the circle. (My husband was kind enough to take a lighter and go around the edges of the ribbon to seal them while I was rushing around getting ready for church Sunday morning.)

 

It was so much fun to put these together. I only repeated a couple of things. Once again, my daughter, this time my youngest Daisy, is filling in for Raelynn on the clothespin picture holder. I enjoyed gluing the old wooden spool with rick-rack trim and some daisies to the collage.

 The little paper doll was a gift tag I have had forever and could not bear to put it on a gift just to have someone toss it away.

 

What fun it was to make these and I hope they are enjoyed by two little girls and their mamas! May God bless Anna and Joanna as become a wonderful part of their grandaughters' lives!

The Ugly Duckling Desk Makeover

Happy Pink Saturday, friends! Please visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound to enjoy all the other pink participants. 

A while back I blogged  about a heavy metal desk I got for free. I love free.

 

It needed a makeover and I sort of overdid it with the make-up, and it was left looking a little clownish. So, above is the BEFORE picture, but I couldn't bring myself to show the AFTER picture. The desk has set in its garish glory being ignored.

Below: that's the makeup

Yes, I do believe I used every color except the red. I was like a fifth grader turned loose with blue eye shadow! I couldn't stop myself from shaking and spraying. Shaking and spraying. Shaking and spraying...... 

 

 I wasn't about to re-paint the OVERpainted desk-of-many-colors, so I've decided to tone it down. I began the twelve step program with an artist canvas.

 

Then, I selected some of my favorite fabric. This is by Michael Miller, who is just about my favorite fabric designer of all time. 

***By the way, you can click on any of these pictures to make them bigger and see the dust on my floor.***

Do you hear the ladies below chatting?

"Yes, Mary Fran, I simply adore the way my new hair pomade holds my bob in place."

 

It was hard to cut into the fabric. Always a problem for me. I began to ponder:

I could make a cute skirt out of this fabric...if I were forty pounds thinner, I could actually wear the cute skirt after I made it.

I could make a tablecloth out of this fabric...if nobody would spill on it. Forget that.

Then, I asked myself these two questions.

1. Melony, are you the boss of this fabric? 2. Or is the fabric the boss of you?

I got out my scissors.

 

I cut out a rectangle of the newly submissive fabric a bit bigger than the canvas and began to staple it to the frame. As luck would have it, I ran out of staples immediately after I took this picture.

 

I love my glue gun. It is faithful and true. Sometimes love hurts. But, it eventually dries and I just pull it off along with some skin, which, so far, has always grown back.

This is just Step One in the Ugly Duckling Free Desk Makeover-Gone-Bad-Tone-Down Process. It's going to take some time to turn this puppy around. I'd be grateful if you'd ignore I cut all the poor ladies' heads off the top. Let's pretend none of us see that. Yes, I know I should have centered the fabric...thought it out more carefully...perhaps, yes, even measured. sigh.

  

Do you know about those nifty thingies you use to attach artist canvas to metal desks?

Neither did I.

Did I mention how much I love my glue gun? Squirt and press, press, press. We'll see if the ladies' are still standing in the morning.

So, overall, not bad if we ignore the decapitation. If I can't live with the headless heroines, I'll cut again and redo it...but, knowing me...I can probably live with it. sigh...being the perfectionist I am.

Happy Pink Saturday! Stay tuned for Step Two.

Oh, and if you please...do be so kind to check out my post below. It's pink too, and I would love you to meet my youngest daughter and a cause close to my heart.  

A little eye candy...

  It is just amazing to see the creativity of women. I wanted to do a quick post and just highlight a few creative spirits and their blogs that bring me weekly pleasure. These women have a great eye for color, fun, and sweetness. I MUST brag on them, or I will bust. I only "know" these creative spirits from blogland, but I think it is only right to give praise where praise is due. Today, I wanted to share these favorite ladies with you. I hope you will take the time to visit their shops or blogs and get to know them yourself.

The first one is Georgiapeachez! Oh my goodness. When I saw this picture yesterday, my heart skipped a beat. 

  

I love the way she has combined shape, function, and vintage pieces to make some beautiful purses. I am not a purse-aholic, but my goodness...who could not appreciate this?

or this...

 

Even the inside of the purses are worth a look-see. Check out her Etsy Shop to purchase one of these beauties, or keep up with this creative spirit at her blog, Georgiapeachez!

Before discovering Georgiapeachez, I met her BFF, Elizabeth...author and crafter extraordinaire. She has a great blog, Words and Whimsies, with all kinds of interesting things going on all the time. She makes fabulous one-of-a-kind pincushions, wonderful handbags out of vintage fabrics, and now... a MOST unique kind of store that intrigues me to no end. It reminds me of my trips to M.E. Moses, the local five and dime, as a kid. There are all kinds of kitschy delights to be found at Dime Store Chic! 

I can recall, as a child, looking at the store display of nice new coloring books and yearning for one. Remember the smell of a fresh box of crayons? Look at the art work on the front of this book in Elizabeth's store. Yummy sweet.

or how about this great kitschy vintage look  Christmas fabric? Wouldn't you expect to find something like this in a five and dime store?

  

And, last but not least...my favorite kindergarten teacher, PaintinPatti.  We both shared ideas on getting our crafting spaces together and painted them the same robin's egg blue color. Patti is a very creative personality and her sweet spirit shines through her blog. She has been a pleasure to get to know, and I love seeing her makeovers, like this one with a $2.00 overnight case.

Before:

and After...Cute, huh?

 

So much cuteness to see, so go check Patti's blog out.  Did I mention she likes Doris Day music (just like me) and cherries (just like me)?

 

I'm off to the Craft Cottage to get some work done. More posts later and hope you all are feeling inspired to create or enjoy someone else's creations!

tsqg3f9upv

I showed restraint on Pink Saturday!

At a local antique store I discovered a homemade little chest or caddy that was supposedly made by a young son for his mother. The price was right and the story was appealing and I brought it home. Oh, how I longed to paint it pink. But, I wrestled myself and gave myself a talking to about trying to show some restraint and challenge myself to do something a little different with a touch of the pink I loved, but no so blatantly pink.

My goal is to have a cozy little guest room for a visitor. I want to offer a room that has the feel of comfort, sweetness, times-gone-by, and offers not necessarily entertainment...but hospitality. (Entertaining and offering hospitality are two totally different matters.) So, this little chest is going to be a Hospitality Chest to fill up with nice little treats and comforts for those who I might have the privilege of hostessing. It is the first step to providing a bit of a cozy retreat in a guest room. Visit The Inspired Room to read about other ways to enjoy a Beautiful Life.  

Here is what I started out with. Homely but with good bones. Even the photo is sort of sad looking.

 

I left the paint "as is". I still can't believe I was able to leave it alone. I got out my vintage cards and made some copies of my favorites. I cut out bits of the card and made little scenes that were pleasing to my eye. Using some Mod Podge I glued them to the piece.

 

 

and a little rose in the corner...

 

I added a Cath Kidston napkin to the bottom shelf and another kitty image from a vintage greeting card. I also hot glued some rick-rick for added charm, which will show up in a later photo.  

I did add a little pop of green...can you BELIEVE...green???? I really like it, especially with a Cath Kidston stationary sticker added to the center and a little pink rick-rack added through the latch. I take that back. I adde a Cath Kidston sticker to the center, but it just didn't go, so then I glued an image of a little boquet off another old card over the sticker and Mod-Podged over that.

 

I've been hoarding back some sweet perfumed drawer liner paper. I lined the inside of the piece with it, which was sort of tricky and isn't very neat. Oh well...I am not a perfectionist and I plan on filling this little chest!

  I just love this little wienie dog.He is a copy of an image on a vintage greeting card. I added some vintage buttons to the rick-rack frame. I think it's my favorite part of the little chest.

 

Using the drawer liner...I cut out hundreds of little roses and glued them to the chest. I still was fighting myself from stopping the whole process and painting the whole thing pink. Here is the finished chest empty. I plan on using it in a guest bedroom as a Hospitality Chest. The last picture will show it full of stuff that might welcome a guest and say, "I'm glad you're here. May your stay be blessed."

I threw this stuff in to give you the right idea. I think I will have to put some chocolate and other goodies in when guests come.

 

So, there it is Pink Saturday...restrained! Thanks for stopping by. Please go and pay a visit to all the other creative girls who love a splash or two of pink in their life at

Beverly's How Sweet the Sound! 

 

 

Happy Pink Saturday is running late...

I've got to go to bed girls. I want to get my Pink Saturday post up, but it is nearly one in the morning and so I'm giving up for the evening...morning...you know what I mean! I just finished putting the last little finishing touches on my project, but need to take pictures. Won't you please come back later today and see what I've done? I think it turned out pretty cute and I'm excited to show you. My project involved:

small piece of furniture

Cath Kiston paper tissue

vintage greeting cards

lots of glue

rickrack

roses

drawer liner

vintage buttons

paint

PINK!

Yawn....

A Dresser Makeover in Pink Saturday Style!

Happy Pink Saturday!  I have been busy getting my Craft Cottage together and wanted to show you a few projects I've completed. The biggest re-do was a freebie hand-me-down unattractive brown dresser. I found some paint on the Oops shelf at Ace Hardware for $6.00 and kept adding leftover white paint until it was the shade of pink I wanted.

 

I don't know what happened to my before pictures. That is is so aggravating (sigh) but you can imagine a brown and not so pretty beat up dresser. I spray painted the handles white and this is the end pink result.

 

Then, I added my pretty bits and bobs as well as stuff that I will use in art projects to come...paint brushes, buttons, pom poms and such. It is so nice to see what I have actually OUT and not stuffed in a plastic bin. Thank you to my husband for making all this happen!

 

The paint shelf I purchased at Michael's with one of their 40% coupons. It still doesn't hold all my paints, but it's a good start and I like the ribbon storage and the other little shelves for knick-knacks.

 

 Here is a garage sale icky gold frame.

 

It was sporting my kind of price tag.

  Shake, shake, shake that can of white spray paint and s-p-r-a-y! I created my inspiration board by adding some wire to the back and attaching a little of this and that with tiny clothespins. I saw something similar on a blog somewhere, but for the life of me cannot remember which one or where. Feel free to post if you know who the creative mind was behind this. I will probably add some rick-rack or something to the frame as it is not froofy- fied up as much as I would like, but that can wait.

 

I think vintage cards are precious and will probably interchange some of my collection for inspiration on my little "bulletin" board.

 

You can read about my vintage handkerchief dress form in my previous blog post. I had a lot of fun putting it together. My great grandmother's old lace and tatting are displayed and my great grandfather's old glasses rest in their original case. 

Peeking behind it is a white spray painted old mailbox that started out like this:

 

I find it pert near impossible to pass these old treasure up at garage sales and actually like the worn look of this one. Nevertheless, I got out the spray paint and, yes, painted it white. It looks so fresh now. I added some vintage children's books with beautiful art work. I find the colors so inspirational on days that are kind of blah and I need a little sumpin' sumpin' to get the creativity going!

 

Here is a yummy pink and chocolate rose sundae made with Dollar Store craft roses. I'm sure I'll use them in a future project, but will enjoy them in "ice cream" form for now with the vintage pink and pearl pin for the cherry on top.

 

One ringy dingy! Two ringy dingies! Is this the party to whom I am speaking?

 

My kids didn't understand why I would say "dial" a phone number. This old black phone says it all, doesn't it? Would you like fries with those scissors? I liked the color of the aqua plastic basket which looked like it belonged in a fifties diner. I drink Diet Sweet Lipton Tea by the gallon, so I've saved the jars and used them for storage. A ribbon and an orphaned old clip-on earring spices it up a bit.

Hope you enjoyed another little peek into my ongoing Craft Cottage project. Happy Pink Saturday to you! Please be sure to visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound to meet all the other girls who enjoy a lovely shade of pink!

No Sew Curtains, with No Curtain Rods

Still working on getting the Craft Cottage put together. Today I decided to ignore the tubs and boxes of stuff begging to be put away and do something creative instead of organizational. Too much organizing makes Melony a very dull girl.

Curtains were the fun of the day, but I did have some criteria.

* I wanted to use fabric I already had.
* The sewing machine has still not been found, so NO sewing!
* No curtain rods.

These giant clothespins were in my stash, and I'm using up spray paint. I gave them several coats of paint.

 

I used the glue gun, rick-rick, and hot glued them to the wall to hold my curtain. I also painted some small clothespins in white and added vintage buttons.

 

Baby pom-pom trim was hot glued to my fabric. Don't you just love hot glue? Although, I must admit, hot gluing on a stretch knit was a little tricky as the fabric wants to curl up and results in burnt fingers. 

 

So, here are two windows finished. Nothing fancy, but I like it and think it's cheerful. I also added scrapbook paper to the little nooks above the windows for some extra color. I'm not sure what little doo-dads I'll put up there yet.

 

 

Happy Wednesday to you!

I am MOVING on UP to the Craft Cottage!

It is finally happening and so overwhelming and fun! Wonderful husband has finished the Craft Cottage except for the underpinning on the outside and some gingerbread-ish trim I am dreaming of for around the porch. I am feeling so blessed to have a dream come true...a place to create!

Part of me wanted to wait until everything was the picture of perfection to post, but I can already tell I will move things around and change things up before  perfection is found...if it ever is found, so I am planning on trying to show you a little each day what I'm up to around here. I've been so inspired by other bloggers creative spaces, and I hope some of you will enjoy my hit and miss process.

The kids and I put some Wal-Mart metal shelves together. The box said thirty minutes and no tools required...four hours and every-tool -known-to-man and we birthed three shelves!

 

Daughter Daisy could not resist adding some fabric to start making the place feel like home.

 

In the spirit of organization I printed out the signs below to guide in placement of all my stuff. I basically ignored each sign and dumped things wherever they landed.

 I am headed out to the Craft Cottage today, and will take some more pictures of projects I have going. So, I hope you will check back in. I am looking forward to getting my Etsy shop back up and running and maybe even doing some clothes designing again. I got my paint set up yesterday too. My mind whirls with the possibility of once again doing the things I enjoy so much.

Lucy and Ethel Hit the Jackpot!

Bob said, "Let there be light, " and there was light in the Craft Cottage. It is getting closer and closer to completion.

 

I set out on a mission for a fabulous and CHEAP work table or desk for my new space. I had no luck whatsoever at garage sales, and decided to move up the thrift-food chain and hit some Goodwill and charity stores. I completely bombed out, and decided to move up another rung on the thrift-food chain to new and used office furniture stores.

The first store I went into I was overwhelmed by a sea of mahogany conference room tables with ultra modern chairs. A very nice young salesman approached and asked if he could help. Although I had my doubts that he could, I explained I wanted a big desk that was  inexpensive and had personality. It needed to be sturdy and inexpensive. Cute and inexpensive.

Surprisingly, he didn't seem phased and led me to a really nice desk that had some interesting gingerbread-ish trim which would have looked really pretty painted white or chippy pink. It was marked $199. but he was willing to take $150. That was really out of my price range, and so I thanked him kindly but again stated I needed something really inexpensive!

He said, " I don't know how you'd feel about this, and I sort of hate to mention it, but we have a desk out behind the store we are carrying to the dumpster after work. You could have it for free if you want it and can haul it off." 

He couldn't show it to me fast enough, and although I tried to act very dignified, I'm sure I squealed with delight when I saw the old metal desk in two pieces leaning up on its side out amongst the trash. JACKPOT!

Now, the problem. My husband has the truck, but if I were to call and explain I had found a desk that was three hours away from being hauled to the dumpster, he just wouldn't have seen the positive in the situation. Thus, therefore and thence, I called my friend, Jennifer and asked, "Do you feel like being Ethel to my Lucy?" She was game and before I knew it, we (and three furniture store men) had loaded the ginormous monstrosity of a desk (with all of its inexpensive personality) into her Suburban.

So, here she is in all her BEFORE beauty. Keep in mind she was free.

 

She is a heavy metal beauty with all kinds of nooks and crannies and drawer dividers. When she is repaired she will form an "L".

 

Now, wouldn't it be wonderful if I told you I had found a treasure hidden in the drawers of this Longview National Bank relic? Perhaps like an interesting ledger book, or love letters to the bank president's wife? Take a look at what I discovered!

 

Okay, so maybe not THAT much of a treasure, but did I mention the desk was free? The next step was to give the ol' girl a beauty makeover. Here are my cosmetics of choice.

 

I went to work getting her all spruced up. The end results: not good. She looks a little like a circus clown. I didn't have enough paint in any one color to really do what needed to be done. Let's just say I was a little over-jubilant with my trigger finger and the spray paint nozzle.

Anyhoooooo.....no AFTER picture for you to oooh and aaah over...yet! I need to do some fast thinking and get the situation fixed. Stay tuned. Did I mention this desk was free?

The Male Version of Pink Saturday!

My husband has been working long and hard on getting my craft cottage up and running. It is so close to being finished I am silly with excitement. I cannot wait to do a complete show and tell of the entire thing soon. I am giddy!!!!

In the meantime...Happy Pink Saturday! I had to give you a sneak peak of the action taking place for my pink post and I think I was successful. Here is my man installing flooring into a very Robin's Egg Blue room.

 

Have you spotted the pink? Here is my Craft Cottage Contractor taking a much needed break!

 

I was so happy to see how absolutely gorgeous the color pink looks next to this color of blue. It pops! Check back soon for updates on my studio's progress. Be sure to check out all the other Pink Saturday  participants. It is so much fun to spend some time visiting other blogs and meeting others that enjoy a splash of pink in their life.