Saturday, April 17, 2010

I am IN Love!


No, no, no sillies. You have not missed something exciting with regard to my ongoing search for Mr. Right. Speaking of which, my best (guy) friend and I have hatched an idea for what is sure to be a Get-Me-On-Oprah bestseller: a he said/ she said guide to internet dating. Brilliant, no? Once again...I digress. The object of my affection for this evening is the tiered cake stand I made. I have seen these all over blogland and have been dying to make one for myself. I had the three plates and today I ran over to Salvation Army to find the candlesticks. I figured "Sally's" was about the only place I would dare to go with my fever blistered face. I lucked out as they were just stocking the shelves with new goodies from the back. Fresh pickins'! I found several pairs of brass candlesticks that I will use for other projects and was about to call it a day when I came across these colorful ceramic cuties...that just happened to match the plates I had set aside for the project. I LOVE the way they look with the whimsical trio. I'm going to follow the lead of other bloggers, I think, and use my new creation for holding jewelry!

Anthropologie Inspired T-Shirt



Who doesn't just drool over the clothing and accessories from Anthropologie? The price tags don't exactly fit into this single-mom's budget. With a little ingenuity and the right materials on hand, I did (in my humble opinion) a fair job of replicating one of their fun t-shirts. I took a plain black tee and added some ruffle down one side. Cute enough, thought I, but why not go a little further? I popped a few silver buttons on the ruffle and VOILA! Drab to fab in less than 15 minutes. Oh, for the ruffle I just cut strips (2" wide) off of one of my daughter's outgrown t-shirts, sewed them together to make one long strip (approx. 4' long). I handstitched down the center of the fabric, then gathered it up into soft ruffles. Easy shmeasy!

Magnet Board




This is a project I borrowed from a fellow blogger, but I can't recall who (my apologies!). The original was made with a piece of aluminum that was purchased at Lowe's. Being bedridden certainly didn't allow for a trip to the hardware store, but I happened to have a new cookie sheet that I just got from Dollar Tree. I wrapped the cookie sheet, in fabric and used my hot glue gun to secure the corners/ edges. Although the back will be facing the wall, I decided to glue a piece of coordinating fabric to it...just to give it a more finished appearance. I added a simple knot bow to the top and a ribbon hanger to the back. I already have a ton of magnets, but decided to make a few that would match the fabric I used. The total cost of this project is probably less than $3!

What to Do?




I've had this really odd double candlestick for years and it always looked slightly "off" when I tried to use it...kind of like Mickey Mouse ears with candles plopped on top. I realized I could easily transform it into a decorative vase using two glass cylinder containers and a bit of apoxy. Gotta say: I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out! After the glue set sufficiently, I tried it with some turquoise stones and some silk roses. Not liking it so much. I remembered I had some cream potpourri and dried pod thingys...much better!

My Saving Grace


For the last 36 hours, I have been (virtually) bed-ridden with a raging case of nastiness. Yup...that's my official diagnosis...according to my own professional opinion. It began Thursday evening with a suspicious tingling numbness on my lower lip, which quickly turned into a small bump in the same spot. By yesterday morning the tingling bump had morphed into a full-blown fever blister. I am SO tempted to be more graphic in my description (because I HATE this evil growth to the core of its nasty being), but I will refrain from crossing into that T.M.I. territory...for your sake. As if the cold sore isn't bad enough, I'm running an impressive fever and have a handful of swollen glands under my chin/ behind my ears that feel as if I've had marbles implanted under my skin. Okay, that should be enough whining to elicit an appropriate amount of sympathy. Ohhhh, let me just say this: if you've never experienced the discomfort of a fever blister, let me tell you...it HURTS!!!!! Aside from being absolutely hideously conspicuous, it just plain hurts! I made the near fatal mistake of checking WebMD for information and found, to my absolute horror, that I can expect this bad boy to linger for at least a week!!! Guess who's not venturing out, in public, anytime soon? Lord, forgive me for my vanity...but, c'mon!
My saving grace has been spending hours upon hours weaving in and out of my favorite blogs, collecting fabulous project ideas along the way. I have to apologize upfront: I did not keep track of where I gathered my inspiration from, therefore I am unable to give proper credit to the creative ladies who have kept me company on my sickbed. I am a firm believer in "giving credit where credit is due", so....I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!