Bending Steel

Within the big pile 'o' treats I picked up at Goodwill the other day was a small shelf with a less than currently fashionable, rather large pink flower smack in the middle of it. To refresh your memory, take a gander below:

 

Well, as of this afternoon, said obnoxious flower no longer exists. See...

Dear hubby did the honors of sanding off the floral pattern while I pounded flat a couple of my new-to-me sterling silver spoons and bent their decorative handles to create hooks. Once his sanding job was complete, I burned in the design of my choosing. For this shelf, I selected a dainty horse-drawn carriage driven by a formally dressed lady. I think the final result is strangely sophisticated and rather eye-pleasing.

Once again, I'm waiting for a few consecutive warm and dry days so I can get outside to layer on a polycrylic sealant and protect the wood on these projects.

Buckled Down

Back in October, our mule had surgery to remove a skin tumor from his shoulder. To keep muck and insects and other general ickiness away from his sutures during recovery and stall rest, I bought him a bright red sleazy blanket so he'd feel like Superman and heal quickly. Being the rambunctious boy that he is, and being confined to a stall (which he does not take kindly to), I had a suspicion that the poor blanket wouldn't last long. It had a hole in it the first night. There was a rip by the third night when I washed it for the first time. By the end of the second week, he'd managed to rip off both straps so it couldn't be buckled under his belly anymore the way it was intended. We managed to rig it up to work until he no longer needed it, but it sure didn't look like the same Superman cape I put on him when he came home from the hospital.

I had washed it and tucked it away and not really given it another thought since Z's been turned back out on pasture, until dear daughter came up with the idea to replace the plastic rings that were originally on the blanket with little metal D rings we found while we were craft shopping last week. I doubled over some 2" trim, stitched it up and sewed it to the side of the sleazy blanket. Voila!

With all of the rips and holes also repaired, the Superman cape is ready for use once again - but hopefully never for the same reason as it was originally purchased.

Goodwill Hunting

I was in the market for something quite specific for a project and it was one of those things that you have to sort of be in the right place at the right time to find. So this morning I went Goodwill hunting - one of my favorite sports of all time - and at first I thought the trip might be a bust. Then I spotted the one thing that got the ball rolling until finally I found exactly what I was looking for. Here's what I came home with to start a whole series of new projects:

The only item I purchased that won't itself be altered is the grapevine wreath. The rest will be dismantled, sanded, pounded, remantled (remantled? What is that???), embellished and so on and so forth until they're each something new and wonderful.

Of course it may take some of these additional parts to actually get 'em to where they're going, but that is exactly what helps breathe new life into the old.

Speaking of...remember my first adventure into pyrography? Well here is the (nearly) finished project, with knobs and double hooks installed for hanging halters and bridles. It needs another coat of poly and a few holes drilled for easy installation, then it's ready to go out the door. I think it is gorgeous, functional and will make a great addition to any tack room!

 

Just Horsin' Around

Last night I went on a project completion planning spree to help get a few things moved from the "work in progress" stage to the "ready to sell" stage. I ended up making a fairly significant dent, too, which also makes more work space for me!

 4 oz. Treasure Jars (6 John Deere and 6 Horse Head)

Lariat Wreath with Burlap, Leather Ties,
Cleaned & Sealed Horseshoe
and Crocheted Flowers

Today I worked with more horseshoes to create these three fabulous little wall hangers from the stash of shoes I'd soaked in Coca-Cola previously, then cleaned and sealed with acrylic craft sealant.

 Turquoise and Black Leather

 Gold, Bronze and Wood

 Pink, Black and Black Leather

I loved the way they turned out so much that I had dear hubby pick up another 2-liter of Coca-Cola today to soak my remaining 15 rusty horseshoes overnight to clean tomorrow.

I am looking forward to incorporating them into some other nifty projects!

Lumbering Along

I love the smell of burning wood, especially when it's a controlled type of burn, like as in a pyrography project being carefully branded onto an unsuspecting piece of lumber. Today I finally grabbed the reins from the mister and tried my hand at this craft. I am so totally head-over-heels in love with this process!!! I mean, I have always had a complete appreciation for the beauty of what my husband creates, but WOW such power is derived from that flaming hot wand!

So let me tell you exactly what I did, which is actually phase one of a project I've had on the back burner for ummmmmmm 5 years. Yes, 5 years ago I purchased a little wall shelf at the local Goodwill for about $4 and we did nothing special to it but afix it to the wall in our house and use it as a shelf above our television set. But the longer it was there, the more I realized it always seemed very out of place. So when we moved to a bigger house, this shelf made it as far as a box that sat in the back of my closet. It's come out a few times and been considered for garage sales, but always got tucked back away. Over the course of the last month, I've even penciled in some designs of things I'd like to paint on it and kicked around the idea of some wild decoupage something or other. But none of those did this little shelf any justice. And then today I got one of those wild hairs up my you-know-where and finally did something useful with it.

 I sanded it nice and smooth.

I burned in my awesome design.

Now remember, this is only phase one of this project. I burned the design on the bottom of the actual shelf so I could add some heavy duty hooks and turn this into a rather nice-looking (if I do say so myself) halter/bridle rack for someone's tack room. What was originally the decorative lower portion will now serve as a narrow shelf and may have smaller hooks before the project is complete. Nevertheless, I am thrilled to have finally given this shelf a new purpose!

While we were playing in the wood pile, so to speak, dear hubby also helped by sanding my old milk house window frame, adding the sawtooth hangers and hanging it for me. When we have a few clear, warm days in a row, I'll get it outside to put a finish on it and start adding hardware so this can be a sellable piece, too.

Keep checking back for updates!

On A Beading Frenzy

I went on an extreme beading frenzy today. Once I started in on the necklace making, I couldn't stop myself. Usually I'm good for one or two at a time, but today I didn't quit until there were six brand spankin' new necklaces adorning my craft table. That, my friends, is a lot of beading for this lady. Of course it also helped me put a big dent in the ginormous amount of excess beads I have that are just taking up space, so I simply must declare today an all around success!

 

This little beading session also allowed me to put to good use those super cutesy "Hope is the Key" charms I'd made a while back. I could have easily beaded an assortment of pink necklaces to go with these particular charms for breast cancer awareness, but there are so many other illnesses for folks to stay hopeful throughout. All of this led me to decide that my next bead purchase needs to include purple and red so I can design a hope necklace for migraine awareness, something very important to me, as those who know me well are quite aware. I may just have to work on an incredibly special plan for that project.

As Promised

As I promised yesterday, here are the delectable pictures of Z sporting his new fleece cooler and tail bag. He makes such a nice model, albeit a furry little boy this winter, and his bundled-up handler does a fine job herself.

    

I am so pleased with how this set turned out and can't wait to get another one underway.  

Since we're winding down and nearing the weekend, I thought I'd also update you on my horizontal surface cleaning. We've accomplished so much this week I can't even believe it. I have 1 counter space and 1 bench in the downstairs that remain uncluttered. Everything else has been tackled and it feels phenomenal! I am chomping at the bit to start on the upstairs and see what I can send out the door. It is so refreshing to get things out of the house that have been taking up valuable space for so long. 

And, in closing, I want to thank everyone who stops by to peruse my lowly blog each day. It is quite humbling to see the post view numbers increase day after day and I am flattered to have had over 200 page views in less than a month's time. It may not seem like much to others, but that is far beyond what I anticipated when I started this little adventure and I sincerely appreciate you all spending a few minutes with me each day that I post. Until next time...

On The Road Again

My first very large, special request, 100% custom made horse (excuse me, technically this one's for a mule) project should be on the road and headed to Denver, Colorado to the National Western Stock Show. It was picked up first thing this morning, so I did not have a chance to fit it and see how it looked but am oh-so-anxious for them to arrive in Denver safely and snap some photos after a pre-show bath to see how my fleece cooler works out. I have to admit, I am a bit nervous after yesterday's fugtional fiasco, but in retrospect, I feel like I really rushed myself through those projects... especially by creating them without any sort of pattern. For this cooler, though, I did use an existing one as a guide to build my own pattern based on what we were looking for in a final result. This wasn't thrown together in an afternoon like some of my other less successful projects - this one has been several weeks in the making. So aside from my off-kilter stitching, I need to remain confident that my friend will love it. Right?

Despite all of my worries, dear daughter loved the neon polka dot cooler I made for our friend so much that she requested a green and white tie-dyed cooler for her mule, which I had hoped to have shown below on our exquisitely handsome model, MIB Agent Zed (fondly known by his barn name, Z), but unfortunately the lighting in the barn was not conducive to great photo opportunities tonight. We'll try again tomorrow so you can see how great it looks on him. Until then, though, here's a close-up of the buckle closures and the matching fleece drawstring tail bag.

 

I opted not to us the heavy-duty 2" trim around the edges of Z's cooler like I did on my friend's, primarily because Z is not quite the show mule that hers is. We really only take him to a handful of shows - if that many - per season and only one that requires bathing on-site after an overnight stay. I am contemplating whether or not to add a belly strap. I may need to kick that idea around a bit and get some feedback from my friend after she has a chance to try hers on for size. Until then, I guess I'll find something else to work on. :)

We've Been Committed!!!

 This morning I created a couple of pieces that, after stepping back and really looking at them in the grand scheme of things, I call "fugtional". While each of them is perfectly functional, each is also freakishly poorly pieced together. It's as if I am totally incapable of getting my measurements and cuts and stitches where I want them to be at this phase in my sewing voyage. I will get there with time, practice and (most importantly) patience.

The Fugtional Toaster Cover

The Fugtional Stand Mixer Cover

And now, on to better news. One of my all-time favorites, My Repurposed Life, posted a link to 31 Days To Get Organized with Peter Walsh on Facebook the other day. What an awesome challenge!!! We've committed ourselves to doing this as well, starting with our dining room table. This single piece of furniture seems to be the catch-all for everything that comes into our house. And then it just stays there, which isn't just a clutter problem, it's a sign that we're not eating enough meals together at the dinner table as a family.

No more "later".  Remember "when in doubt, throw it out". Day 1, dining room table tackled. BAM!!! That led to decluttering the kitchen and the front porch as well. 7 bags of donation-worthy goods and 6 full garbage bags later made me feel quite accomplished for the day. And now to relax with my thoughts...

Readjusting

We took yesterday to make some deliveries and visit with friends and family. It was quite a refreshing break from some of the recent chaos and gave us time to reflect on a bit of news we as a family received earlier in the week that deserved a little processing. While it was a beautiful day to be out enjoying the scenery as my new learner's permit holder drove me around, I was sad to find out upon visiting them that my parents had been under the weather most of this week. I hope they are both feeling better very soon.

Dear daughter was able to deliver her special request needle felted cardinal and frog, and her customer liked them very much. She will be gifting them to others for Valentine's Day, so we hope those two recipients enjoy them just as much! I also delivered one of my John Deere pillows and a John Deere patterned Little Bucker to a very special little boy. They were a huge hit and later in the day I received a text message containing a picture of him sacked out on his pillow. His mom said it must be comfy because he zonked out on it last night at bedtime as well. That is absolutely precious to me.

Aside from mending more horse sleazy blankets and tail bags, which is quickly becoming my favorite form of puzzle solving to figure out which piece gets sewn to what, the only other crafting we did yesterday was recipe crafting! Darling daughter and I are striving to create a healthier menu for ourselves and have decided to work some of our bucket list foods into that menu. This weekend alone we incorporated tofu, which we marinated in steak sauce, and asparagus sprinkled with lemon butter into our lives and will probably find a way to keep them both, surprisingly. I also took her under my wing in the kitchen, now that she's shown a real interest in learning how to cook and follow recipes, and introduced her to my secret homemade salsa recipe. We went one step further and made fresh guacamole to mix with the salsa as well. Let me say this, we whipped up one heck of a tasty meal together!!!

So that brings us to today. Writing comes before crafting because I have editorial deadlines to meet, but once my assignments are complete, believe me, I will be tackling quite a few of those unfinished projects from earlier in the week. Tomorrow we'll be restocking on a few supplies we need to complete another large custom project that I'm extremely excited about, so be on the lookout for pictures!!!

Feel Like A Nut...

Today was a major cleaning day, which resulted in no actual project completion. Instead we washed drapes, dusted, vacuumed, reorganized and did some other general cleaning before going out to do barn work and return to the cozy, warm craft room.

Once we got back I took inventory of what we'd achieved earlier in the day while enjoying a favorite snack - yummy pistachios in the shell. I had a wine bottle, several plastic bottles and a handful of jars washed, bleached, dried with the labels removed so they are ready when I need them. Darling daughter took down drapes to be washed and relocated to another room in the house, which opens up a plethora of possibilities for another rather large window in the craft room.

I had also somehow found time to:

Clean and seal some of the horseshoes that I'd previously soaked in Coca Cola.

 Crochet three new flowers after working on my niece's hat/scarf/mitten piece.

 Soak, shampoo, condition and dry two roping lariats.

We also picked up two more horse sleazy blankets and several tail bags to repair before the end of the day tomorrow so they can be returned on Sunday. Now, as I sit here reflecting back on the day, I feel rather scatterbrained, but it's comforting that I'm able to stay so busy. And as I realize precisely how many projects I have going at once, I can't help but think how beautiful these pistachio shells are and what a waste it would be to throw them away instead of upcycle them and create something magnificent! The ideas are starting to roll around in my head like crazy already. :) Oh my.

My Ratty Old Window

I got this idea after reading the incredibly detailed instructions from The Borrowed Abode and went out into the world seeking an old window frame. You know how they say that what you're looking for is usually right in front of your face... whoever they are? Well, it's absolutely true, because one day I was hanging out in the barn with my mule in our favorite spot by the water trough (where we meet up darn near every night) and, for whatever reason, we both looked up at the same time and that's when I noticed this gorgeously weathered old window frame. It was just sitting there, waiting for a new purpose, all this time right in front of my eyes. So naturally I snatched it up and brought it into the craft room. It was eyecatching before my whole reformation process even started... see:

The plan is to finish sanding it down, now that I've scrubbed it clean, pair it up with that old window screen seen in the picture, splash on a coat of paint or two and some poly, insert a few pieces of hardware and see how it looks.

To continue this gritty old barn theme, I dug out a few of my all time favorites to find use for along with my new-to-me window frame. I see a couple of awesomely rustic wreaths and in my near future!

Brown Baggin' It

I stumbled upon a fantabulous tutorial at Cool 2 Craft and thought, hey why not?! Except I don't have a die cutter and am not a big fan of those little adhesive dots or spray adhesive the crafty lady in the video uses... so I adapted it a little bit to better suit my work style. Oh yeah, I also don't have a heart shaped frame on hand, but I was able to find a stack of nicely cut down 1x6x6 boards to make some good sized wall hangings.

For this project I gathered my aforementioned piece of wood, of course, my trusty Mod Podge, a sponge brush, some pretty scrapbook paper, a few brown paper bags and went to town.

I mixed water with my white paint to make a whitewash...

...and whitewashed all of the brown paper bag pieces.

Then I picked a shade of green to apply in streaks as a subtle accent.

 While my paper dried, I drilled holes in the wood for a 16 gauge 

wire hanger, then used Mod Podge to apply the scrapbook paper.

Since I don't have a die cutter, I cut out my flowers by hand,

hot-glued them in layers, crumpled them up to "age" them
a bit and embellished them with pearl beads.

And here you see the final result.

 

Suddenly that pile of wood in the garage looks less like a big ole mess and more like a bundle of viable crafting material to me. Hmmmmmm. On to the next project!!!

Treasure Tuesday

Today's dilemma....where to keep all those pesky safety pins so they're close by when I need them, but  not scattered all around in a mess???

I've had this one particular Ball canning jar that's smaller than the rest in my cabinet and I'm not exactly sure where it came from, especially since a canner I am not. Well, never you mind because it turns out this jar was perfect for this little project. I remembered seeing this one day while perusing sewing room design ideas and thinking it was a pretty nifty craft project.

After deciding what I'd be doing with my jar, I dug out the instructions here, picked out some really cute floral print fabric from my stockpile and started the project by cutting a circle about 1 inch greater in diameter than the jar lid from the fabric.

Then I traced the lid onto some beautifully bold and bright pink card stock and cut that out as well.

Next I started gluing the fabric around the lid perimeter onto the sealing compound. Once I had three sides of the fabric secured, I started stuffing fiberfill between the fabric and jar lid. Cotton balls would work well here, too, but I opted for fiberfill and packed it in fairly tight.

Once I finished hot gluing on the stuffed fabric, I glued the card stock backer on and inserted it all into the metal screw band, threw my safety pins inside the jar and fastened on the lid. My safety pin dilemma has been quickly solved with this handy little treasure jar.

Reclaimed Rags

I set out today with a goal of recycling something and I managed to accomplish exactly that. Thanks to a trusty little email from FaveCrafts, I found the inspiration to finally put some of my old t-shirts to new work. Using the Knotted T-Shirt Scarf pattern by Shwin and Shwin, I made, well, a knotted t-shirt scarf! :)

I love the pattern of this shirt, but it just never fit quite right. The first thing I did was cut off the hem, which I opted not to use in my scarf, but decided to set it aside for another something special. Then I cut the body of the shirt into 1-inch strips and wrapped them around my wrist 4 times each like so...

I cut 2 inch long strips from the remaining portion of the shirt to use as ties and connected all of the rings I'd made. For my scarf, I decided to make a complete circle, but it would be cute to make a longer one and leave it open-ended. To make it look nice and neat, I snipped off the ends of the ties and sat back to admire my handiwork.

This completed scarf was embellished with antique wire-stemmed white roses. The shirt hem was tied into a bracelet and finished off with another antique white rose.

I'll be digging deep into that box of old t-shirts to see what other designs I can come up with, working from this pattern.