Some More Mod Podge . . . Pleaseeee.

I found a paper mache "H" at JoAnn's and thought this would be a great addition to the House of Hulse. So I snatched it up. I first spray painted it black and had it sitting around for awhile.

You can see it on top of our pantry on St. Patty's Day.



I wanted to Mod Podge some scrapbook paper on it, but I had a hard time deciding what color or pattern I wanted. So I put it off until now.



I looked through my stack of pattern paper and found some very neutral tan with whimsical leaves on it. So I pulled out my Mod Podge and slapped it on.



It looked a little plain though, so I added some black ribbon and a paper flower. I like it so much better now than just plain black.



I liked the neutral color so I could move it around to either my kitchen or family room depending on where I wanted it. I ended up putting it in the family room for now. Happy H!!



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A Golden Oldie

I found these great looking frames at the thrift store for $1.00 each. Wahooo! They were a very lovely shinny gold with a hand painted landscape scene which had shinny gold leafing for the background. Some one's painting was about to get a face lift.

Here's what they looked like - you might need some sun glasses for all that shinny gold.



I decided to fist spray paint them black to cover up all that lovely gold.



Then I sprayed them white and rubbed off some of the white so the black would show through for a little aged look. I put a couple 5x7 black and white photos in them and hung'em in my youngest son's room. Aren't they so much better now?



Here's another view with my little helper.



He even sat on the stairs today and let me take a few shots of him. What a silly boy.

Tray Transformation

Well I made another stop the other day at the thrift store and found this lovely tray for only $1.00, who could beat that. It still had the Ross price tag on it half way peeled off. Isn't it lovely?



And here's another view so you can see the built in handles.



If you're into old fashion cars this would be a great little tray, but I had other plans for this little beauty. The black was a little scuffed on the edges so I went ahead and gave it another coat of black spray paint. I then had a picture of the Mt. Timpanogos Temple blown up that I got over at Lil' Luna - All Things Good and Mod Podged that in the bottom. Isn't it so pretty?



I decided to put it up on top of my kitchen cupboards for now. I just love these antique pictures.

Fat Quarter Pillow

Well I saw Shelley's darling Fat Quarter Pillow over at House of Smiths, so I attempted my own version.

I found a fat quarter at JoAnn's for only $.99. I picked up some batting at Walmart for $3.00. And there ya go for less than $4.00 you can make your own pillow. Plus I still have plenty of batting left to make a couple more.

I made the long skinny version and just sewed the 2 sides, stuffed it, then sewed the last side closed with my sewing machine too. No hand stuff for me. I kind of just winged these flowers as a first attempt and attached them to the pillow with a few stitches. So there ya go quick and easy fat quarter pillow. That's about the extent of my sewing skills these days.





So if I can make a pillow - anyone can. Happy sewing.

Temple Blocks

I saw this fun idea that Kristyn did over at Lil' Luna - All Things Good. I decided to made a few of my own with some of the wood I got from Home Depot.

I painted my wood black with some craft paint and sanded the edges. I had some of the antique temple pictures developed at Costco. I put a thin layer of Mod Podge on the wood to attach the picture. After that dried, I covered the whole thing with another coat of Mod Podge. Add a little ribbon and tulle and there ya go.



Just adorable, I think. I'm using these for some birthday gifts. They were so simple to make. I think I may just have to make a few more.

Here's a close up of the Salt Lake Temple Picture.



And one of the Washington D.C. Temple.

Wood - Wood - Wood

So on Saturday I needed a piece of wood for a project I had been thinking about. I ran to Home Depot just to see what they had in their scrap bin that I could use for cheap. [Just an FYI they charge $.51 for leftover cut wood.] So I always check there first. I found a piece that was just the width I needed. I had the Home Depot guy cut it up for me. I was so pleased to find a few other scraps laying around by the saw and he said I could take them as well and count that as one piece. So for $1.09 (including tax) I got this.



Now what to do with it. I got one project done right after I got home with the wood, which I'll show you tomorrow. But for the rest of it, I'm thinking of a few Halloween/Fall projects I could do.

I sure love a good find. Happy Monday.

Thrift Store Find - Little drawers

Okay so I didn't get this posted yesterday as planned. Too many other things going on. Anyway, I found this cute little drawer thing last week. I just love drawers. The only problem with it was the color. I don't know about you but I thought it was just a dreadful color. But color is an easy fix. So for $1.50 I put it in my cart with my other finds.



Another thing that I really liked about this little thing-a-ma-bopper was the cute little knobby legs.



So I gave it a coat of some Kilz spray primer to easily cover the nasty green color and then added a coat of white spray paint. Looks so much better now.



I decided to put it in my youngest sons room to go with the whole white and blue decor. So here it is sitting just lovely on his cupboard.





So that's all my finds for last week. Don't ya just love spray paint and the change it can make.

Thrift Store Find - Family Sign

I found this really lovely Family sign last week for only $1.50. It looked just okay. I thought the colors were a little dark. The paper behind Family didn't make the words pop like I thought it should.



So what do you think, would you change anything?

Of course I decided to tear the thing apart, pull out my spray paint and give it a coat of white spray paint to lighten it up a bit. I sanded the edges a bit for a worn look. I then added a piece of green and white polka dot paper behind the family metal cutout. I glued it all back together. Here's the finished project.






Neither one of these pictures are very good, but you get the idea. I like it much better. I ended up giving it away as a prize, but you just can't beat $1.50 and a little touch up.

I have just one more thrift store item I'll be sharing with you tomorrow - until my next trip. Happy Thrifting!!

Thrift Store Find - Train

Another find from last week was this cool little wooden train. It was only $.50 and will be perfect for my boys to play with. No painting necessary either. What a great find!! My hubby has one from his childhood days so now we have another to add to the collection.

Fun Kids Craft - Piggy

We have an upcoming church activity to go along with the children's book This Little Piggy. So for our "poster" I decided to make some pigs and then attach a sign with all the info - time, date, place, etc. I found some pink paper plates at Walmart in the party section. I bought the large size as well as the dessert size to make these pigs. You could also use just white paper plates and paint them pink, but for the sake of time I just bought these. I also picked up some pink pipe cleaners, big wiggly eyes, and some pink card stock. Put it all together and made this.



I think it turned out pretty cute. I just used my circle cutter to cut the snout and then just free handed the feet and ears. Just use half a pipe cleaner for a tail and glue it all together. I made 6 of these and will use them as a table display for our activity.

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Beans, Beans, Beans

This year in my garden I planted 6 little rows of bush green beans. So Saturday morning I was finally able to get myself outside to pick them. This is what we had after picking, washing, stemming and snapping.



I like to bottle our green beans so we have some to eat during the winter. I was able to get 7 quarts processed and have 2 more quarts in the fridge that I will save for the next batch. We're on our way getting some reserve for winter.

Thrift Store Find - Ceramic Pedestal Bowl

Another great find this week was this ceramic bowl. I loved the shape of it, but wasn't exactly thrilled with the colors or design. So I snagged it up for $1.50 and figured I could spruce it up a bit.

Well my kitchen colors are blacks and creams so I thought it would be a great addition to the kitchen for fruit or even just to display some decorative balls or something. So first I gave it a coat of primer (Kilz) since it would probably take quite a few coats to cover the blue.



I probably used the wrong primer for a ceramic finish, but it did the trick. It was a little rough though not as smooth as it was to begin with. Then I added a couple coats of some ivory gloss spray paint to give it a bit of a shine.



I thought it turned out pretty good. Not quite sure what I will put in it, but I think it looks much better. Here is a picture of my little helper while I was painting outside.



Notice the spray painted plastic tarp in the background. It gets lots of use.

Thirft Store Find - Chair

One of my great finds this week was this chair.



Now to give you a little perspective of how big this chair really is here is another picture.



So as you can see it's pretty small. I just have a thing for these little chairs lately. Well I found this one for a mere $.50 so I couldn't pass it up. I thought it would look good with a coat of white paint. So I primed it and then spray painted it.



Right now it's sitting on my kitchen table. But I may move it into my sons room and put a stuffed animal on it. We'll see. But isn't it lovely?

Thrift Store Find - Picture Frame

So the other day I stopped by a couple thrift stores. At one store I found all sorts of treasures, the other I found only one picture frame that caught my eye. It was $5.00 so not as cheap as I would like, but I really liked the detail in the corners so I couldn't pass it up. Here it is.



Here is a close up of one of the corners. I thought it was a bunch of dirt in the corners but turns out it must of be some glaze or something.



Anyway I gave it a good scrubbing and then a coat of black satin spray paint.



A few weeks ago I took some pictures of flowers in my yard and had them blown up in black and white. I added one of those pictures and just love it. It's an easy way to get some "cheap art" for a wall in your home. So there you have it.



I'll be sharing another thrift find tomorrow.

Covered Notebook

Well since it's back to school time, now is the time to stock up on school supplies. So I did, including a couple composition notebooks from Walmart for only $.25 each, who can beat that. So I snagged a couple and figured I could always cover them with some cutesy scrapbook paper. One day I came across a fun way to cover a notebook here. So I decided to do something similar. I traced my notebook on a brown paper bag with handles.



Once I had it cut out to fit both sides, I attached it using double sided tape.


After it was covered, I used the scrapbook paper I had picked out and again attached with double sided tape.



I sanded the edges to even up the sides and give it a little distressed look. I also used some white card stock to cover the inside cover on the front and back as well. Then added some ribbon and "notes" to the cover and there ya go. Easy to carry covered notebook.



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