Easy Canopy Crown

Today I thought I'd show you another project from my guest/craft room.
But first, I'll show you the inspiration behind it.
This photo is from an issue of Flea Market Style magazine - the one published by Better Homes and Gardens, not the one of the same name by Ki Nasseur (which I also love!)

This is from an old issue of Country Living, from a feature called, "Double Wide".

Here's how I merged the two ideas together to create a very inexpensive and easy canopy crown.

The actual base, or crown was a curved shelf that I purchased at Goodwill.

It originally came from Home Goods (still had the sticker attached), and looked a little bit too shiny and new for the look I had in mind. So I dry brushed it with a little white paint, still allowing much of the gold and dark highlights to show through.

To make the curtain rod, I took a simple wire hanger (one of the sturdy ones) and nipped the hook off.

Next I measured the length of the curved section and nipped the coat hanger wire about 1 1/2 inches longer. Then I took needle-nose pliers to make a curl at each end. Afterward, I shaped the metal into a gentle curve to roughly match up with the curve in the shelf.

There was a lip in my shelf which I used to secure the rod, so after shaping, I did a quick check to make sure it would fit.

I had some gorgeous old net lace curtains stashed and decided to use them for my canopy, so I just threaded them onto the wire "rod". If you don't have curtains that will work, you could just as easily use a length of fabric or lace hemmed to create a channel for the rod.

Then I slipped the shirred curtains and wire under the lip on my shelf.

After I hung it up, I decided it was just too dark for the room, so down it came.

I repainted it, this time using a somewhat heavier coat of paint. For the first coat I used the "Cafe au Lait" shade that I'd painted 3 of the walls of the room with, and afterward, dry brushed on a little more white.

Much better!

So I re-shirred the curtains onto the wire and hung the crown again.

As you can see, I hung a little gold tassel in the center for some added interest.

And there you have it.
Quick, easy and under $5.00!

Until next time,
Sheilla

I'm linking up with "White Wednesday" at Faded Charm. Come on over and check things out at Kathleen's fantastic blog!

Bargain Find Redos

This week has flown by! I can't believe it's already time for another Show and Tell Friday. Today I'd like to show you a couple of my bargain finds and how I dressed them up.


First up, a red chair that I recently nabbed at Goodwill for $3.00. This is how it looked when I bought it.


There were a few cracks in the seat, so I filled them in with wood putty.


Next, I gave the chair a thorough sanding.


It was during the sanding that I encountered a small problem. Once of the screw holes was almost completely stripped and would no longer hold a screw. Since this is a pretty common problem, I thought I'd share my solution with you. I simply took a toothpick and bent it in half as shown.


Next, I inserted it into the hole.


Once fully inserted, the screw went in quite securely.


Next, I painted the chair black.


Here it is after I painted it.


To jazz it up a little, I painted the shield-shaped grove with white.


Then, I made a stencil and added a fleur de lis to the back.


And now for what just might be my best bargain of all time...a vintage cardboard wardrobe that I picked up at a yard sale for the grand sum of $2.00! I've actually had this piece for a while...long before I started blogging so I don't have photos of it in it's original brown color. The photo below shows it after its first redo, with blue trim and floral wallpaper panels.


That look worked well for the room as it was decorated at the time.


But it was due for a bit of a facelift. To bring it more in step with my updated scheme, I painted the trim black and decoupaged pages from an old dictionary that I found in a freebie pile to the panels.


It was a very simple change, but I think it gives the wardrobe a completely different character.


Here are my two bargain pieces with a bookcase that I'm using in my currently-in-progress redesigned guest/craft room.

I love finding bargains like these and fixing them up as one of a kind accents. I hope you've enjoyed my little tale. Happy bargain hunting!

Until next time,
Sheilla

Be sure to check out "Show and Tell Friday" at Cindy's Romantic Home. Lots of great ideas to discover!

PROJECT: Framed Keys

I wish I could take credit for this idea, but it comes by way of my friend, Liz. I love old keys, and went nuts when I spotted a set of framed keys that she'd put together, so I decided to make one for myself.
The project just couldn't be easier! Take a piece of cardboard fitted to the back of a photo frame and cover it with the paper or fabric of your choice.

I used a piece of linen and some lace accents. Then place your covered cardboard in the frame behind the glass.
Place your old keys on top of the glass until you have a pleasing arrangement. When you're happy with the appearance, use a strong, clear glue to adhere the keys to the glass. I like Goop.
Voila! A new piece of art work...cheap, easy and fun!

Until next time,

This post is shared on "Show and Tell Friday" at Cindy's gorgeous blog, My Romantic Home. You should check it out....lots of great ideas to discover!

Simple as Black and White

I seem to be on a black and white kick lately. While I've always loved lots of white in my house, lately I've been deviating a bit from my usual pastels and adding some graphic punch with a number of black and white accents. I thought I'd show you some of my recent finds today. I'll start with an old photo that I came across at Goodwill last week.
While searching for some picture frames to use in the photo wall in my office, I came across this old black and white photograph of a little dog. It was housed in the most diabolical picture frame imaginable and I started to pass on it for that reason, but I kept going back and looking at this little guy, just literally begging for attention. Perhaps he belonged to a person who recently passed on. At any rate somehow he wound up at the Goodwill store because someone didn't cherish his memory, and that made me feel a little sad. I felt even sadder when thinking that someone else might buy the garish frame he was housed in and just throw away the picture, so I decided that I had to "rescue" him. Although I didn't know this pup, he will become a part of my adopted family and find a new home on my photo wall. Now I feel better!
I picked up the black and white saucer at a yard sale last weekend. It is surrounded by a bunch of great postcards that I lucked into for a dime a piece at a local close-out store.

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with the saucer when I bought it. Goodness knows I have more china than I know what to do with, but it was calling out,

"buy me, buy me", so I did. This is what I came up with:
Didn't it make a nice little photo frame? All I did was trace out the circle in the middle of the saucer, cut a photograph to fit and glue in place. By the way, that's me as a little girl with my grandmother's dog, Rusty.
I love old letters and numbers but rarely come across them, so I was especially excited to find this letter "D", as it is the first letter of my last name. It started out as a coat hook, though. The "D" sat atop a small wooden platform that was attached to a large hook. I sawed the platform off and painted it black.

My final find was one of those unexpected, unplanned purchases that you just know was waiting for you when you see it.
Isn't this old car just too much fun!

It found a spot on my bookcase next to the pic of my parents old Studebaker. I think they look pretty cool together. This was a tight budget week, so I think I did pretty well

with my $5.00 "allowance". Gotta love a bargain!

Until next time,

This post is shared on "Show and Tell Friday" at Cindy's gorgeous blog, My Romantic Home. You should check it out....lots of great ideas to discover!

Sharpie Strikes Again

You've just gotta love those wonderful little permanent markers known as "Sharpies". The worlds most popular marker even has its own blog dedicated to

the creative use of Sharpie markers. Well, necessity being the mother of invention, I think I've discovered another one!

Before I tell you what, let me apologise in advance for the dark pictures...inspiration sometimes strikes at the wierdest times, like in the middle of the night when my lighting is at its worst. Now...with that out of the way...I'll show you my project.
If you're anything like me, you probably have some ugly metal picture frames lurking around your house. I've got a ton of them, and the other day when I was looking through my frame stash for a black 8 X 10 frame, there of course, was not a single one to be found. Then, I happened to look at my desk and spotted a Sharpie.....
Going on the assumption that the frame couldn't look much worse than it already did, I picked up the Sharpie and began to "paint" it with the marker.
It worked surprisingly well. In less than 15 minutes, I'd transformed the dated frame into a usable one. Of course, you could also do this with spray paint, but with a Sharpie, there's no drying time. And, of course, if you've missed a spot, touch-ups are a breeze!

Until next time,

We'll Always Have Paris

"We'll always have Paris". That's a favorite quote from a favorite movie, and also the inspiration for a decoupage project that I'd like to share with you today.
I picked this chair up at the local Goodwill for $3. It was partially painted purple and had a few loose joints but the lines were decent. At that price, I figured I could find something to do with it. And I decided on decoupage.
Aside from a few painted accents, the chair is completely covered in paper, mostly vintage. I used lots of old sheet music, some reproduced vintage French love letters and wall paper from the 1930's and 1940's as the foundation materials. Accents include a vintage heart shaped doily, a postcard from France, and some magazine cutouts.

One of the details that I most enjoyed doing was the back slats of the chair; each one tells a little Parisian story
This one shows a couple in parting surrounded by love letters, a photograph of the Eiffel Tower, and an old airplane.
The one beneath it highlights a dreamy looking starlet with more photos of the Eiffel Tower, another letter, and lots of roses.
This one depicts a young couple married in Paris, with a photo of the Cathedral of Notre Dame and of course, another Eiffel Tower shot.
This one features a photo of a lovely young woman gazing into the mirror, memories of Paris in her thoughts. Other images from this scene include a party photo, the Eiffel Tower, a love letter, and lots of roses.

This was a very time consuming, but fun project, and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.
It has found a home at the desk where I work on paper projects. Between the chair and my mood board there's plenty of inspiration close at hand.

Until next time,

This post is shared on "Show and Tell Friday" at Cindy's gorgeous blog, My Romantic Home. You should check it out....lots of great ideas to discover!