Tea-Pot Bird House

Do you have a tea-pot that has a crack, chip or missing the lid?  Why not make a bird house !!  If you follow my blog, you know I am addicted to this drill bit by Hitachi, found at your local hardware store.  This drill bit works great on ceramics and glass and comes in many sizes, and it seems to never dull, my bits are about 3 years old.

Supplies needed:

• Teapot
• Drill Bit
• Water (optional)
• Moss

I drill ceramics and glass under water, keeps the bit cool and avoids cracks and breakage.  I also like to put a piece of packing tape on the area I am going to drill, so the bit doesn’t slip off my target.  I drilled a hole in the bottom of the tea-pot and added some nesting material, moss, and hung from a tree.  I had my binoculars ready, waiting for my new friends to move in and one moved in, but not what I expected.  How did he get in there?

Last August I posted another use for your tea-pots in the garden, I couldn’t wait to bring it back out this year.  http://www.aponytailkindofday.com/2012/08/13/garden-tea-party/

Have an ugly stump in your yard?  Why not use it for a planter?

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Random acts of Sharing

sharing – unselfishly willing to share with others; “a warm and sharing friend”

unselfish – disregarding your own advantages and welfare over those of others

 

Thanksgiving will be here before you know it, and I usually take pause and think about what I am thankful for.  Why am I writing about this now and not closer to Thanksgiving?  In the past month, I have experienced many random acts of sharing, and with the recent events, I decided today was a good day for sharing.

To start, Hurricane Sandy, where folks who were dramatically affected by the storm, as well as others across the nation, are offering time, food, clothes, money and lodging to storm victims who need help. Businesses have supplied disaster recovery areas with food and beverages, as well as pledged millions to help the affected towns rebuild.

I recently went to a friends wedding and at the beginning of their reception, they thanked everyone for coming and sharing their day with them, what a wonderful thing to do.

One of my favorite bloggers celebrated her 1 year anniversary of blogging.  She created a Good Neighbor Award and asked everyone to nominate a fellow blogger that they would like to live next door to, someone to cook/sew/craft/shop/write together, to learn to do something new, to be inspired, or to visit over a cup of tea.  I was incredibly honored to be among the nominees.

I have friends that share their recycling with me.  I know it’s easier to just to put it on the curb, but to save it and give it to me, knowing that I will be repurposed, I am thankful.

I met a woman the other day, a perfect strangers, in a parking lot.  We met so I could buy some vintage Christmas bulbs that she had for sale, and another woman was there, doing the same thing.  I don’t remember how the conversation began, but we started talking about decorating and silicone light bulbs and how expensive they were.  The other woman, shared with me, how to make them yourself, and explained what I needed to use and how to do it. This simple act of kindness is the main reason for my blog today.  If she only knew that she would open up my creative side and that is all I would think of for days.  Thank you Helen!

How to make silicone light bulbs

Things You’ll Need:

• Clear silicone caulk for outdoors, about 3 dollars
• Small disposable bowl
• night  light bulb, dollar store
• wire or paper clip
• metal hanger
• Caulk gun
• Scissors

Silicone bulbs usually cost about 3 dollars for 2, I made 12 for 6 dollars, and have enough silicone for many more.

Prepare the Silicone:

I placed my tube by the wood stove to warm it up.

Cut the tubing tip and squeeze the silicone into the disposable bowl,  I used an old sour cream container with a lid.

Do not stir the silicone, I tapped it on the counter to remove air bubbles and to settle the silicone.

Making the bulb:

Screw the bulb in the socket to test and make sure it works. Remove the bulb.

Wrap wire around the metal part of the bulb. Make sure the wire is holding the bulb securely.

Submerge the bulb in the center of the silicone until you have only the metal part of the bulb showing.

Pull the bulb out of the mixture,  simply pull straight out. Do not pull fast,  a slow pull will give you a long tip that is important to the look of your bulb.

Hang them by the wire on the hanger. Do not allow the bulbs to touch each other or anything else. Allow to dry three hours, and cure for 24 hours.

If you look closely, you will be able to see the difference between my first try and how they improved as I dipped more bulbs.  I added cinnamon to the silicone to add an aged look.

And the bulbs finished

In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.
Albert Schweitzer

Make your own cake plate

I have many wine glasses that have little chips on the rims, and anyone that knows me, knows that I repurpose everything.  This is a great way to repurpose those chipped glasses, just by adding a glass plate.  What I love the most about these cake plates is the simplicity of them.  If you use all clear glass, you can embellish them to match your table or for a holiday.

Supplies needed:

• Glasses, I prefer stemware
• plates, for today I used a simple plate
• glue, I usually use E-6000, but I also use a 2 part epoxy
• imagination

 

Glue the stemware to the plate and that is it !!  Instant cake plate

Undecorated, imagine a cake on it..

Decorated with candles and flowers

Flowers placed in the glass

Two smaller glasses and plates

 

I love to decorate my dessert table with multi-layered cake plates with a variety of cupcakes and cookies.  If you are entertaining in the evening, use a flameless tealight candle in the glass, it makes everything sparkle.

Next time you go to throw that chipped glass in the recycling, imagine what you can do with it.  Show me how you repurpose your stemware, I am always looking for new projects !!

My suitcases are packed…….just kidding

I have this addiction for suitcases, usually leather ones, but I saw these for sale and I couldn’t resist.  3 out of 4 of the suitcases were Laundry Pack Boxes, which I have never seen, they even have the mailing labels on them.  These were used in the 1920’s and 1930’s by college kids to send clothes back home to be washed, made of heavy fiber board with metal corners and rivets.  How cool are these?

 

 

Now my dilemma, what to do with them?

This tutorial was inspired by Pottery Barn striped suitcases, or paint one or two white?

 

Make a foot stool or end table?

 

 

 

They are still hiding in my truck, I don’t know if “D” could handle 4 more suitcases coming through the door, I will just bring them in tomorrow, after he goes to work.

I know what I am going to be dreaming about tonight !!

What do you think I should do with the suitcases?

Printing on Old Book Pages

I am certainly not the first person to come up with this idea, it is all over Pinterest, but this is my first try at it.

I was at a craft fair a few weeks ago, and saw a booth with graphics on old book pages.  I have never had an up-close look, and instantly fell in love with all of them, and she had dozens of different ones.   I purchased one, so I could go home and analyze it……don’t we all do that?

I used old dictionary pages, bought at Goodwill for 99 cents and fired up Photoshop.  I always look for a reason to pull out my postcard collection and scanned a few Harrison Fisher postcards.  Harrison Fisher is one of my favorite illustrators, I have several magazine covers framed from the early 1900’s.  I also searched though the Graphic Fairy’s huge collection of free vintage clip art, and found a few to play with.

The trickiest part was adjusting my printers.  I am fortunate to have a business where printers are a necessity, so I had 5 to choose from.  I played with the inkjet and the colors were too deep, and I couldn’t see the text through the design.  I changed the opacity and it still wasn’t what I wanted.  I printed on the laser printers and I really liked the difference they made.  I wasn’t happy with making one, or two, or three, lol……I just kept making them.  This could be my new addiction!

fabric-tied wreath

My blogging friend Pillows A-La-Mode posted a fabric-tied wreath on her blog, she has made one for every season and they are just too cute!  After I made my fabric-tied lampshade, I decided to make a wreath to match.

I followed her directions,  and it was simple to make.

Supplies needed:

• fabric, I used old sheets
• scissors
• metal hanger
• measuring tape or ruler

I picked  5 different sheets and cut a piece of cardboard 3 in wide.  I wrapped the fabric around the cardboard and cut one side.  You can use a ruler and cut strips 1×3, but I thought the cardboard would be easier for me.  I bent the hanger in a circle and used a big pot bottom as a gauge to form the circle.  I wrapped the handle with fabric and then tied the fabric on the wreath.  The wreath took 25 strips of 5 different fabrics to make a full wreath.

 

This wreath was fun and I look forward to making more, thank you Pillows 🙂

 

 

Rag Shabby Country Lampshade

I found the cutest pair of lamps at Goodwill, they were two different sizes, marble base and pink glass.  I purchased them for a super cheap price, 4 dollars a pair!  The minute I saw them, I knew what I wanted to do with them, a rag shabby country lampshade.

I have never made a rag shade, so I documented with pictures how I made them.

Supplies needed:

• rag sheet yarn or fabric strips
• lampshade
• lamps
• scissors
• ruler or yardstick

I removed the fabric from the lampshade, exposing the lamp frame.  Make sure your lampshade has a top and bottom ring, attached by sides.  I cut a strip of fabric and tied it on the top frame and on the bottom frame and measured the strip for a template.  I chose 4 different fabric colors and cut strips.

That’s it !  The fabric is bright and happy and the rag edges are relaxed and carefree, giving it a very shabby country feel.  I can’t wait to get started on the second shade, the only problem is, where should I put them, lol….

mission accomplished !

I have been on a mission to find a great pattern for a heart rug, I posted the other day with my failed attempts, all 5, and I attempted again yesterday morning and failed.  I found a pattern last night and it looked perfect, so attempt number 7 began !  I bought the pattern on etsy, which I swore I would never do, but it was the best 5.99 I have ever spent.  Kelli wrote the pattern for beginners, and it was very easy to understand.

Since this is my first time doing the pattern, the rug is a little irregular, but I am excited to begin another one.  I picked up 4 sets of beautiful sheets at Goodwill yesterday for 2.25 a set, so I know what my nights are going to be spent doing, lol, making sheet yarn.

Thank you to all of my blogging friends who sent me links for heart rugs, you really are the best !

on a mission…….

I have been on a mission for several day, I want to make a heart rag rug ! During my mission, I have only found a few patterns that were free, all the great patterns are for sale on etsy or ebay. I tried a few of the patterns and something wasn’t right…….. probably an error on my part. I don’t have any yarn in the house, just rag yarn, ropes, twine and polycord, and I only have huge crochet hooks, I am sure that played a part in the errors.

Before this week, I knew 2 crochet stitches, single crochet and slip stitch, but this mission has expanded my knowledge. who knew there were so many? Double, half double, triple and the mother of all stitches, the quadruple stitch……seriously? I did finish 6 tutorials, thank goodness I have dual monitors. I followed the pattern on one, and looked up the terms on the other, sometimes watching a video to learn instruction.

I have enjoyed this mission, even though it is incomplete. I have a new admiration for people that crochet, anyone in my neck of the woods want to give me some private lessons?