Vintage Book Page Christmas Card

Hi all! The month is quickly flying by and before we know it Christmas and the other winter holidays will be here. If you have been procrastinating making cards you still have time. In fact you may want to mail your cards for Epiphany so people can enjoy them.

When this angel image showed up in my inbox from Graphic Fairy I knew I had to create a card using it. I also knew it would be perfect for a card for  my sister who was the dark hair sibling.

People often ask where I get my inspiration from. The book page background comes from a Christmas ornament I saw where someone had mod podged torn book pages on. Hopefully I will have time to do that with some of my shabby ball ornaments. For those who are worried about tearing apart a book you can often get books for a few cents or even for free at your public library.  You can ask your librarian what they do with books which are damaged beyond repair.

I tore out a couple of pages and tore them in pieces. If you are stressed from holiday preparations this is a good way to get rid of some of that stress. I adhered the pieces on card stock and then edged my panel with Distress ink. I printed two images so I could cut the angels out of one and pop dot the wings and adhere the rest of the angels flat. Although it doesn't show in the photo this is a good way to give dimension.

Will try to do a post on some decorations you can quickly do. If I don't find my "Round To It" have happy Frugal Crafting and Happy holidays whatever holidays you may observe.

Entry Makeover & Holiday decorating

Hi all I haven't been crafting lately and if you saw my craft area you would understand plus it is an icebox. In fact I had to turn on the heater just so I could get out some Christmas decorations and do some sorting. I am still looking for a missing box of Christmas decorations. Since it has the ceramic Nativity set I am sure I probably tucked it away somewhere safe. My roommate said I probably placed it in his closet since he only hangs his clothes there.

In the meantime I have been working on my house. The biggest project has been the entryway.

Before tackling the entryway I started with this area which leads to the entry and is off the living room. For months I looked at green paint chips and couldn't make up my mind. I finally decided to give "Farmer Road" by Glidden a chance. The wall is textured and it took two coats and a good half gallon just to paint this small area. Since lighting is sparse and no overhead light I went in search of a swag light.  I will be redoing the electrical cord going down the living room wall to an outlet. I found this Swag light by Better Homes and Gardens. It must be popular because WalMart was always out of it in my local area. There was only two left in stock when I ordered it online. I splurged and got the vintage led bulb.  Right now I am working on a shelf which will go under the picture on the wall. My black metal decorative shelf brackets will finally come out of hiding since I can use anchor screws. One advantage to having your own place. No one cares what color you paint  or how big of holes you put in the walls.I have a piece of outer corner molding stained and ready to install. I am lazy and trying to patch the corner was more work than I wanted to tackle.

I have always wanted a crystal chandelier in my entry. I think they add a touch of class.  I found this mini chandelier and it is perfect. It took longer to shorten the chain and fight with the thick 12 gauge wires in the junction box than to put all the crystals on it. Luckily when it comes time to put thin sheet rock over the popcorn ceiling it will be easy to loosen the canopy. I love the shadows on the ceiling as well as the vertical stripes the fixture creates. 

Last year I had taken off the closet door and taken the long clothes rod out as my entry bench would not fit in the area and no room in the rest of the space for it.  I decided to use the left over green paint in that area.  I put a small rod in for coats. There is enough space on the rod for me to hang guests coats. The metal shelving unit fits perfectly angled and houses hats,gloves, knit scarves and of course a basket of dog treats and the dogs many sweaters. Not as many shelves as the bookcase I had in that area but not as heavy looking. Eventually I will sew a cover for the bench cushion and maybe make some pillows for when it is not holiday time. First though I need to un-bury the sewing machine. LOL!

This is the view as you enter the front door. Note to self do not be deceived by a small area. I spent hours taking two layers of vinyl flooring off and then many more scraping the old glue and sanding the floor before putting carpet tiles down. The carpet tiles are now both in the main area and the nook. Carpet has made a big difference in the temperature of the room and also a lot quieter. I have extra tiles in case I need to replace some in the future. 

Until I can find and afford draw drapes the two back to back panels hanging from a tension rod works. Not only does it help keep cold  or heat from entering the main area but it also provides a little bit of mystery. I felt putting a door back up would make the room claustrophobic looking.

This is the view from the nook area.  JR approves of the flooring as it is warmer while waiting for mom to come back home. I have the base molding to cut and stain but already there is a 100% improvement in the area.

I am trying to decide whether I want to paint the living room before the Holidays or after..I do want to get some organizing done in  the laundry/storage room as well as the sewing room and craft room.  It is long overdue.

Anyway it is beginning to look like Christmas around here. I have some decorations outside and the tree in the living room. But not decorated as the missing box has the tree decorations.

If for some reason I don't post before the coming Holidays wishing you and yours Happy Holidays. And Happy Frugal Crafting.

Easy Frame Makeover

Hi I am still alive and kicking. I have been busy cleaning, organizing and lots of other things. Unfortunately the blog has been placed on the back burner along with crafting. However, I have had a frame project photo on my camera for a few months which I haven't blogged about. This was a fun project to take a wooden frame and use paint, foil, hot glue and buttons to dress up a frame for a card my sister made for me. I love how this frame turned out and would love to do some more but I have too many other irons in the fire.

I started by drawing lines with a hot glue gun onto the frame. Then hot gluing different size buttons with some of the buttons with raised lips. The color of buttons doesn't matter as they will be covered with foil. I then wrapped the frame with strips of foil. gluing the edges of the foil  down. In this case you don't want to be a perfectionist as the foil crumpled adds to the effect. Paint the foil and let it dry. Then if you wish you can do like I did here and paint another color of top. While the paint is still wet wipe some of the paint off with a damp paper towel. Let dry and you have a one of a kind frame.

This is my newest project. I have had this wire waste basket for years and thought it was time to jazz it up. So now I'm weaving yarn through the holes. Not sure how it will turn out.. I hope it will add a pop of color in my living room.

Happy Frugal Crafting until we meet again!

Sew Sew Days

Hi everyone I've been busy playing with my embroidery/sewing machine. There is a lot to learn. Lol! Took me a few minutes to figure out how to wind the bobbin as well as how to import embroidery patterns. Anyway I thought I would share a couple of Christmas gifts I made.

I had fun cutting fabric into strips and making this quilted heart. I learned after I embroidered Love that I should have used fusible interfacing so the fabric underneath didn't show through when I adhered it to my quilted front. It has been a long time since I have done hand stitching with embroidery thread but felt like the heart applique needed something. I was going to hand sew beads around the heart but found this bead trim at WalMart. My dancing diva loves the pillow her grandmother made her. 

This is a sketchbook I covered with fabric. When you open it up there is pockets for putting pens, pencils, ect.  The butterfly was machine embroidered on a scrap of dotted fabric.  Now that I know how to make covers with inside pockets I can't wait to make some covers for composition notebooks for gifts.

This is my psychedelic butterfly. I had variegated thread  on the machine and decided to see how it would turn out. The fabric puckered even though I loosened the thread tension so after doing research I have a few things to try.

Wishing you  a Happy and Crafty 2019!