Art Projects - You can do it!

When we last left you, I told you all about my Organize THIS! project which involved crafty thing such as creating my very own artwork. Here are the details, photos and instructions.

First up are the Quote Canvases I made; they went in the main wall in my living room.

Like this: (Digression: I apologize in advance for my truly poor photography skills. It's embarrassing, really.)

This was so simple - anyone can do it. I purchased three 16x20 pre-streched canvas and painted them in pretty colors with yummy names like Robins Egg Blue, Plum and Carmel Candy. I would suggest purchasing a whole bottle of paint for each canvas as the Robins Egg Blue and Plum took several coats of paint. After they were dry, I hand-painted some famous quotes by my favorite back-in-da-day celebrities. Since the canvas was painted a solid color, mistakes were easily fixed with a little bit of touching up.

Here's how they came out:

Usually, I am very particular about everything being perfect but there was something about the whimsy of my less-than-perfect cursive that gave this art it's charm. (Olivia has been dying to be a part of this blog so her contribution to this post is her peace sign in the first photo.)

The monogram pieces were so easy that I'm going to make mass amounts of them and give them away as Christmas gifts this year.

I purchased three 8x10 flat canvases and painted them a glossy green. It's sort of a cross between Lime Green and Green Apple. I chose a glossy paint because it reflects nicely without being over-dramatic. Then, in the largest size of my favorite fonts, I printed our initials - D, S and O to use as a template. I used scrapbooking paper that I purchased with the paint so all the colors would go and traced and cut out the templates. I simply used Elmer's school glue (because it's what I had on hand) to place the initials on the canvas. I would probably use better glue when I make them for loved ones, though.

This next part of the project was my favorite! It was so fun I hope my friends and family ask me to make one for them, too. Here's where I used this piece:

And here it is up close and proper:

I used a 4th 16x20 canvas and painted it in glossy black. This time I chose a glossy paint because of the contrast it provided against the flat paper. Next, I chose 3 different scrapbooking papers all in coordinating colors but different patterns. Using a cup as a template, I traced circles onto the paper. With the squares and leaves, I did not focus on a specific part of the paper but because the circles and dots paper was so unique, I chose a specific part to cut out. I played with the circles for a while before I glued them with more Elmer's.

This week at Michaels and A.C. Moore, the canvas is 40% off. I'm going to purchase a larger canvas for my bedroom and do something else crafty with scrapbooking paper. (Scrapbooking paper is 2 for $1 at Michaels, too.)

If you try any of these ideas or have another art project to share, please post in your blog and leave a comment here to share!

Organize THIS! Re-organizing Walls

Every Sunday I post a new organizing project that I've completed this week in hopes to not only force myself but to inspire you. If you post an Organize THIS! on your blog, please link back here and don't forget to leave a comment to share.

This week was a multi-tasking project; not only did I re-organize several walls and purge them of much needed clutter but I crafted my very own artwork, too.

This is the main wall in my living room opposite the entertainment center. As you can see, it was a shrine to Olivia and was in serious need of help.

All of these pictures were removed and relocated (more on that later). Unfortunately, because when we do it, we do it big; we had to spackle all of the existing holes (aprx. 7 million and four). And by we I mean me because I was too impatient to wait for Danny to help me.

As usual, I killed an ant hill with a stick of dynamite and the result was this:

I thought a couple of swipes with the sanding block would fix it up right good. Except what you cannot see in the picture is that each of those patches had about half an inch of spackle. And I was sanding by hand. For 5 hours. Not only did I break my arm (not really but still) but my entire home now looks like a construction site from all the white dust. Also, Danny is really mad at me. (Sorry, babe!)

Once we were done throwing things at each other (kidding - maybe), I could hang the new artwork I crafted myself.

I left Danny's head in the picture on purpose because I wanted to show the permanent fixtures in our living room. As you can see, the sanding job was not my best work. But that wall has to be re-painted soon anyway so I'm really, really trying not to let it bother me. (More details on this and the other craft projects I did will follow this week.)

But wait! Where did those pictures go of that gorgeous family, you ask. Not to worry, they've merely been re-located to the entry hallway.

Here's what that wall looked like before:

This is how I've kept this space since we moved here 6 years ago. It functioned but it was time for a change.

Here's what it looks like now:

Close - ups:

This, so far, has been the most creative project I've taken on in my home. It was a lot of fun but did you know that you have to wash your hair six times in order to remove all the drywall dust? I also predict that I will have white boogers for the next three years.

PS. This is my 93rd post. In celebration my upcoming 100th post, I'm asking all of my new blog friends to post a comment asking me a question. All questions will be answered honestly in my 100th post.

7 Bottles of BBQ Sauce and 14 Bottles of Salad Dressing Challenge - Week 1

In the 6 years we've lived in our (small) humble abode, I've done very little organizing and re-vamping. I don't exactly know why - perhaps due to lack of ideas, motivation or most likely, energy and desire. I'm pretty embarrassed to admit that I just never really noticed how small this place is and when we started re-doing the living room a few weeks ago, I noticed how poorly I've been utilizing what little space we've got. It started with the new TV and entertainment center which was configured completely different than the old one; forcing me to put away copious amounts of picture frames and giving away a lot of my treasured books. My biggest victory was getting Danny to throw out that dreaded coffee table.


There's lots more to be done, though and I plan on tracking it right here on Little Miss Bloggy. Every Sunday, I'll post a new organizing project I've taken on in my home. Friends, I challenge YOU to do the same. On your own blog, post pictures about your organizing project and come back here to leave a comment to share with the class. (Don't forget to link to this blog so your readers can participate.) Not convinced? It'll be fun, I swear!

With that said, I present to you: MY PANTRY! I've spent two days organizing this tiny space in my home and man, I'm tired.

Before:





After: (Feel free to oooh and ahh)



Because I'm brave, I'm going to give a shelf-by-shelf analysis of the pantry's contents. (See, I told you it would be fun.)


The top shelf contains appliances I never use - sandwich press, Magic Bullet and hand mixer and extra light bulbs and cooking oils. Through this process, I found that I've purchased a lot of unnecessary foods - such as four bottles of olive oil.


Here's what I call my "baking" shelf. It contains baking needs and Danny's U-Bet chocolate syrup straight from Brooklyn, Baby.


What's with all the tomato sauce and paste?


My favorite shelf - the snack shelf. The 3 bags of dried pineapple were purchased on purpose in hopes that I'd snack on those instead of M&M's.



I'm going to officially call this the "condiment & cans" shelf but what I really mean is: Holy Shit Why the Fruck Do We Have 7 Bottles of BBQ Sauce and 14 Bottles of Salad Dressing?


You can't see it because it's hidden behind the giant Costco size box of Ziploc bags but there is a small bucket for Danny's crap. This is where I require he leave his balls when he enters the house.


What's your project this week? Leave a comment and let me know!