Hoop Wall Art with Fabric Remnants

I’ve been working on this project for almost a year…collecting the hoops from auctions, thrift stores and flea markets. I still think this wall needs some of the smallest hoops, maybe 2-3 more.

But other than that I am calling it done!  Some of the fabric is vintage, some is new, the patchwork one is made from scraps from this bunting I made for my great nephew’s first birthday party.

Some of the fabric is vintage, most of it is new…some of the hoops are vintage.  The oval one hanging above the bed is a quilting hoop, it was cruddy when I bought it at an auction for $2, but it cleaned right up with Murphy’s Oil Soap. 

The chevron fabric is leftover from the stool cushion I recovered.

All these fabrics are vintage. I thought they looked great grouped together.

I’m loving how homey (not homely!) the splashes of different color make this corner feel. 

OK, so now be honest with me…what do you think?  Is it too much?

I will be linking to some of these great parties…Thanks for stopping by today!

The guest bedroom is now open for business!

I have a guest bedroom now!  I got to make over my son’s bedroom since he moved into his own apartment. He is a sophomore now and lives close so I still get to see him.  The room was a bit of a disaster, I deep cleaned and shampooed the carpet and touched up the paint and spackled, and well you get the idea!

I’ve always loved the morning sun this room gets…

This little desk was mine as a child…built by my grandfather in 1965.  I think all five of us girls got one like this and the boys got a more business like desk.  The original stool is long gone but I found this little vanity stool at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore for $1.  I recovered it with some chevron fabric and it was ready to use. I am still looking for the perfect lamp here.

I moved a little bookcase into the corner of the room and added some bright colors in a beachy/ocean theme.

The ombre basket that I painted goes well here!

So does the dictionary page saying in a thrifted frame…

The walls in this room are grey, I didn’t care for it at first, but it goes great with the blue, yellow, cream and red that I used. I bought very little for this room makeover, much of it I had accumulated over time.

I did make the headboard for the bed.  And the quilt on the bottom of the bed.

And these two quilts which I tucked into a thrift store painted basket.

I love this coat rack; I made it from hardware store faucets and actually cost very little.

The little red glass lamp came out of my closet and the embroidery hoops were collected and I used scraps to put in them.  I made the dust ruffle from a thrifted fitted mattress pad and some muslin that was 70% off at JoAnns.

Mom got me the beach sign for my birthday and you can see how I made the wreath here.

You can see the little pine chest here…it is called a “shoe chest” in my family.  Again, my grandfather made it in 1965 and I think all of us had one at one time.  The square pouf I got at Target for $11 (Wal-Mart had them for $20 even)!  It was on clearance and recovering it is on my to do list.

I might be linking to these great parties!  Thanks for stopping by!

Epic Fail…Mosaic Bird Bath

I make things that don’t go well all the time.  Usually they are little projects, but this one is really a good one.  And I have been working on it for months!

This is a bird bath, all concrete, weighing approximately 4000 pounds. I bought it for $10 at an auction.

It was a standard garden variety (pun intended) concrete bird bath with chippy white paint and some old mosaic squares falling off the bowl.

I scraped off all those mosaic tiles and all the loose paint, then used two colors spray paint and randomly painted the inside of the bowl.

I added some flat marbles to the center and then just started doing circles around the center area in a pattern of sorts.  I was determined I would only use marbles I had on hand but ended up buying one package of shades of blue marbles.

And the bonus is that I used up a big Ziploc bag full of marbles.

I used E6000 to attach the marbles. 

E6000 is a really strong glue that will hold almost anything…

Here’s the nearly finished product…

I thought about grouting the bowl, but decided to try my hand at a resin to keep it waterproof and to help it survive the winter freezes.

It was going to be wonderful…but when the resin was poured on, it hardened almost immediately.  So, I was left with this…

I guess I should have skipped the resin…bummer!

The resin is no longer clear because the bubbles and ridges let water underneath…Anyone have any ideas on how to make this better?  I am thinking a chisel and hours of work or offering it free on Craigslist!

I may be linking to these great parties!

What I have been doing lately…

Gardening…

Playing with this pooch!

Enjoying taking pics in the mornings!

Love how the light plays in my yard…

The first moonflower vine bloom of the summer…

Working on my new guest bedroom…

Making lots of new things…

Learning how to work with resin and making all sorts of pretties!

Love these pendants!

Creating so much that I’ve had no time for blogging!

Recycled glass and driftwood mobile

Don’t you just love driftwood?  I made this mobile from a great piece of twisty river driftwood, straight out of the Missouri River, and a collection of glass pieces from old broken mobiles.  Three old mobiles to be exact…plus some oval and rectangular chunks of colored glass and a few flat marbles. 

The mobile was my first official project in my new garage work space.

I used fishing line to hang the glass pieces and made double knots to keep the pieces secure.  Then to make sure that the knots didn’t loosen up I used a drop of super glue on each knot. 

The glass makes a very nice tinkling when the wind blows…

The colors are mostly blues, with some clear and some frosted glass…

I drilled seven holes in the driftwood and tied knots around the ovalish shapes to keep the knots from pulling back through the wood.

The mobile isn’t entirely symmetrical but I like that part of it.  It balances well and hangs nicely. 

The mobile got two paws up from Baby Kitty…so I guess it’s OK!

I might be linking up to these great parties!