Lesa Dailey has her project planned for Birdsong and boy, is it a cute one!
Little Miss Juniper June!
I just love all of the details.
Tomorrow is the last day to sign up for our classes. I could snuggle a couple more of you in if you want to come….
I've got a thing for old drawers covered in wallpaper and collect as many as I can for studio storage. But, they can be rare, or pricey. So, when I find a newer set for cheap, I give it a makeover. Like the one on the right. The left one is an original, old chest of drawers, the pink one is a 50 cent piece I got at a garage sale and recovered myself.
This one is old too, and it is covered in vinyl, not wallpaper like most are.
And I like this mini one too.
It is full of birds, eggs, and butterflies. These whitewashed birdies were an estate sale find that Beth passed on to me.
One thing I like about these, is that they can be tucked away into odd spots to create storage. Or sat up on top of other pieces.
When I saw this tossed away in Beth's trash can, I had to rescue it.
First step- remove the knobs. I had some glass ones to replace these plastic ones with. Which is what I also used on the previous set of drawers that I redid. That is probably not an accurate thing to do, most of these little chests sport wooden knobs.
But glass knobs are my fave and I stick them on anything I possibly can. The ones I selected for this project are vintage, but I've seen some nice ones at Hobby Lobby that go on sale for 50% off an a regular basis.
Second step- choose your paper. I have a few billion rolls of vintage wallpaper (a little addiction of mine), and knew this pink with roses would be ideal for these drawers. But the roll was not only old, it was near its end, so tore very easily. A bit of ironing helped smooth it out so I could work with it.
Too bad the existing pattern was sooooo 80s. And so shiny. It is printed cardboard.
But that could be fixed. I decided that since I was redoing this for myself, not to resale, that I would leave the interior as is. If I was passing this along to a client, I'd have either painted or covered all of the shiny, printed cardboard design.
Using Crafter's Pick The Ultimate glue, I covered the front of a drawer, getting right up to the edges, then pressed the pink paper down into the glue.
The sides were too big to try to do with a squeeze bottle, so I put a thinner glue on a plate and brushed it on. I still used the Ultimate on the very edges, though. They stick down better with a stronger glue.
I don't precut or measure. I eyeball the paper to get a size that is close, glue it down, then I crease the excess paper and use a sanding block to "cut" the wallpaper to fit. No scissors.
The sanding block should be used only in a downward motion away from the edge. It not only buffs and burnishes the paper's edge tightly to the surface, it cuts off the salvage.
When possible, I lined up the side of the paper to the edge of the drawer. Less waste of paper that way. But I still used the sanding block on it. The above photo shows why. The straight edge of the wallpaper is glued down, but doesn't look quite right.
A little buffing with the sanding block, and it looks much better.
I also discovered, that I could take the gloss off the printed cardboard on the bits like this between the drawers that didn't get covered in vintage paper.
This is the side of a drawer, with the printed cardboard left as is and the vintage wallpaper adhered to the front. One tell tale sign that these cardboard sets are not vintage, is well, that they are cardboard and it shows. The really old ones are on wooden frames.
Now, I could have wrapped my paper around the sides like I did on the one in the very first photo on this post.
But I didn't.
Lazy?
Hmm, maybe.
I squirted a lot of Ultimate glue into the crevice and weighted it down to dry, that lessened the gap and helped hide the fact that this was made of cardboard.
I'm afraid that this picture doesn't show that last step. This is the picture that made me want to do that last step, though. Those gaps bothered me.
At first it bothered me that this was a little wonky, then I looked at the old ones I was using around the room. Well, wonky seems to be the natural state of most of them.
A few years ago, I took Sugarwings to the Fairy Tale Village at Crown Center.
It's now back again, and I took her baby sister a couple weeks ago.
The themes at Crown Center change, last year we went a few times, and saw Dorothy, plus a few other things. (all free)
But this has to be my fave. It is interactive, with cute things for the kids, like pulling Pinocchio's strings to make him dance.
And slipping into a red riding hood to walk through the deep, dark, forest.
There is a mop for cleaning the 7 dwarves' cottage, but Dewdrop didn't like the looks of that witch and wouldn't go in there.
She had some timid moments, like when she was about to visit this cottage and a giant said "fee fie foe fum". She passed on this one too.
She made up for it by spending extra time tasting the 3 bears' porridge and baking with the little red hen.
It is such a cute thing to go to. I'd drop in to see it even if I didn't have a flock of fairies to share it with.
We also visited Kaleidoscope to do some art projects. Also free, and sponsored by Hallmark. Kansas City is so lucky to have these places available for the kids.
I wish every project involved silk or velvet ribbons…
The Birdsong journal for my class needed velvet ribbons. It is really hard to find affordable velvet ribbons anywhere!!! I found them in white at Dharma Trading, and while there, fell for the silk too. And the dye, and some scarves to dye, and well, more than I should've bought.
I've been a fan of this dye for years and use it a lot, for many things (including bottle brush trees, wool roving, and tie dye).
For ribbons, I didn't bother with instructions, or presoaks. These ribbons are meant for journals, not sewing on clothing that will be washed.
I've also used koolaide or food coloring to dye ribbon, and that works fine too.
Since I bought the ribbon in bulk, but didn't want it all the same color, I had to remove it from the spool. It needed to be re-rolled up to dip dye (like I did crepe paper here). A pencil worked great to roll it back up and I stored the rolls in a plastic tub so they wouldn't unroll again.
Each roll got dipped halfway into the dye.
Some I used one color on and left the other half white.
Others, I flipped over and dyed the other half a second color.
These small bundles were left to drain on paper towels for a couple days.
The pile of ribbons in the back? Those are nicely crumpled instead of rolled, and were left all smooshed up to dry with that wrinkly effect.
For this, I just dunked a bunch of ribbon, and squeezed out the moisture, and left it to dry still scrunched up.
This is some ecru silk that was done that way. If you don't want the solid color ribbons crinkled, hang them up to dry instead.
More tips:
You should wear gloves.
If you want the dye to bleed, dip the rolls in water first.
Mix your dye in small batches, it doesn't take much. And try the color very diluted first, it's easy to add more dye and re-dip the ribbon if the color is too pale. If it is too vivid, you can try dipping in clear water, or holding it under running water, but that might not take out enough of the color. Start light, work up to darker. You can dip a paper towel in the mix to see if you like the color, if you aren't happy with the shade, add more dye or more water before using the mixture for the ribbons or lace.
If you want a two color ribbon with white in the center, barely dip the edges in to the dye.
While I had the colors mixed, I might have dyed a few more things too. Newer white ribbon dipped in ecru dye sure looks nice and old afterwards.
And this fabric was a bit too gray for my purpose. I'm sewing it to these canvas bags, but I wasn't happy with the original color (right) so I dyed some in pink, some in ecru.
Both did a good job of taking out the cool tones of the gray. I knew some dye would be the solution to the cloth not matching the bag. But the cloth was such a good deal, I couldn't turn it down. I found a bunch of it for a dollar at the Victorian Trading Outlet center, they use it on their ironing board covers. And I love the roses.
Especially topped with robins!
I've been soaking up the grand fairy fun for the last few weeks before Dewdrop took her cross country adventure. Sleepovers, play dates, parties, and hikes.
One highlight was the Nutrition Festival at the library. There was a performance by the Last Carnival Circus School.
Two of my good friends were part of the show.
Impressive, huh?
There was an interactive show by the Hoop Mamas.
Which my fairies loved.
Some exercises, some jumping.
Well, lots of jumping…
And lots of booths with learning games.
With healthy treats. And all free. You might have noticed, if there is a free kid's event around, we are THERE. I've always done things like that with my own kids,and now with these babes. My boys were raised to love to attend a grand opening of any business to partake in free hot dogs and popcorn.
For me it wasn't just the free stuff, it was the party attitude. We were very poor when the boys were tiny and free was all I could afford. I'll never forget the joy on my young son's face when he spun the wheel of fortune at a grocery store opening and won a giant jug of ketchup. It didn't matter that his prize was ketchup, it was a PRIZE and it was fun to win it. Sounds weird, but it sure was a good day for us.
But I've learned over the years that it isn't the price that matters, it is getting out there and doing something festive with your family. And with the right attitude even hot dogs in a parking lot for a used car lot grand opening can be exciting.
PS- thank you for your concerns and worries about me missing my little Dewdrop. Heck, I miss her when I don't see her daily, but I know how lucky I am to have my grand fairies on a regular basis, and how most grandparents don't have that luxury. Also, I know that it is going to be very hard for her parents to be away from her, but have to say I am quite proud of the way they are handling it and making it work. That little girl gets to spend time with all the people who love her and that is what is important.
She is going to be one happy little miniature gypsy!
My littlest fairy is in for some changes. Her mommy and some of the other siblings have moved 13 hours away. She has been here with us and her daddy til her family gets settled out there, and then we will be doing a long distance switch off every few weeks.
Between breaking out in tears at random moments at the thought of her going (but never in front of her), I get plenty of hugs and snuggles. And I have a mantra that I say to her and to myself.
"I'll be so sad to have you away from me, but I'll be glad that you are with your mommy that you love. And I'll be sooooo happy when you come back to see me again soon. I love you."
Saying that to her a lot, is what is keeping me together.
My friend, Angie, and I had been trying to get together to exchange Christmas gifts, and finally got around to it in February.
Since we were so late, I added a Valentine and a Shamrock to her gift box, then wrapped it up in an old editorial cartoon featuring Grover Cleveland (for President's Day) I was a bit surprised how easy it was for me to come up with the old president picture. My studio has about anything I might need, no matter how obscure.
Beth was coming in town for craft day, what good timing, for her to meet us for lunch. (I'm not really a foot taller than these two, it's the angle)
I'm still dribbling drool over the pretty gift Angie made for me. She foofed up this great, old celluloid box, with some of my favorite things.
Inside and outside!
Plus filled it up with even more faves.
And as much as I loved the gifts, the company was even better. We ate at one of our favorite restaurants, and took our time, catching up, telling stories, and laughing.
By the way, Angie is a new dealer at Bottom's Up, as well as at Mission Road Antique Mall, near Beth's booth there.
Angie is just getting hers going, she has this one plus a case.
This one is Beth's. We recently had a play date to redo and rearrange. I miss doing that, it was my favorite part of having my own spot. So, I'm always happy when I get to mess with her booth.
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PS- I've got 50% off the Boutique right now. But you MUST use this link:
http://www.karlascottage.com/?code=Fling
to get to the sale site. If you go through the regular link, the 50% off won't register. If you can't click on it to get to the page, you might want to try cutting and pasting it to your browser. Thanks for helping me spring clean!
Happy St Paddy's Day!
This picture is from a display at Victorian Trading Company's outlet store in KC, KS.
They have all the holidays covered there, year round.
If you ever need a Santa fix about mid summer, this is the place to go. Of course, you can always wait a couple days and most stores will be hawking their Christmas goods about then….
But year round Halloween is harder to come by. They have lots of it here!
As well as stock up goods, like apothecary jars.
And pretty things, just to treat yourself.
It is my number one favorite place to buy a new coat. And many of my clothes are from the clearance rack here.
You never know what will be in stock, but I've discovered that if there aren't many clothes to look through that day, there might be a whole, huge selection of some other things that I had no idea I needed, but fell in love with when I saw them.
There is always free hot tea, sometimes with cookies. I keep thinking I'll try the different flavors, but each time, I have a cup of maple tea.
The catalog is something I've drooled over for years, before discovering that the one and only outlet store is right here in my area.
It is a very unassuming place, in a warehouse district.
Much more exciting on the inside than what you'd think from the outside!
The manager has offered a special gift, of this pretty, soy candle to all the Birdsong Peeps in town for our party June 5-6th. And a nice discount coupon too! How generous of her.
Last year, many of the ladies stopped by to shop, so I thought I'd ask if the store would like to do something for them this year. And Diane, the manager, was happy to help out. She even remembered some of the ladies by name and is looking forward to seeing them again.
You can find out more about Birdsong here. Or click on the button on my sidebar to go to the sign up post if you'd like to join us.
Or, maybe you'd like to be a sponsor too? If so, please email me at:
karlanathan@sbcglobal.net
Deb Mitchell, a friendly blog reader has sent a package of birdie charms for the tweet bags. It's my first package to arrive for the event and I was so excited to open it. Over the years, the BEST stuff has come in the mail for our Peeps to share. And it gets to be like Christmas as the packages start rolling in! Thanks Deb!
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PS- I've got 50% off the Boutique right now. But you MUST use this link:
http://www.karlascottage.com/?code=Fling
to get to the sale site. If you go through the regular link, the 50% off won't register. If you can't click on it to get to the page, you might want to try cutting and pasting it to your browser. Thanks for helping me spring clean!
As I was sorting through old greeting cards to slip into kits for the Birdsong journal class, I came across a birthday card with pretty shamrocks. Since it was so timely (for St Pat's, not for any birthdays around here), I scanned it, erased the birthday message, and thought it would be handy to have to print.
And I thought maybe you might want to use it too.
click on the image, open in a larger window, save that to your computer, and print from there
Here is another incarnation of the card, this time with a leprechaun fairy and pot of gold framed in the wreath of clovers.
I think she is much cuter than a bearded short guy with a black pot, don't you? I snagged her off of a Christmas card. But in this context, she looks ready for the current holiday. Of course, I think fairies are right for any occasion.
PS- I've got 50% off the Boutique right now. But you MUST use this link:
http://www.karlascottage.com/?code=Fling
to get to the sale site. If you go through the regular link, the 50% off won't register. Thanks for helping me spring clean!
While redoing the guest room (like I said, it never ends, a redo steam rolls!), I gathered up some old family photos and drawings that had hung in there and moved them to make a display in my stairway.
This is a drawing I did of my grandma about 30 years ago, from a photo of her as a young girl. The frame had broken, so while it was out, I gave it a little revamp with some color pencils and I've done a bit of digital editing to it, by cropping and adding a background of text from a handwritten note by her mother. I'm going to reframe it to go with the rest of the pictures on the wall.
This is how it looked before I added to it.
Of course, the original doesn't have the text, that is just in the digital copy. But I did add color by hand to the original, not digitally.
This sketch is of my dad's mom, that I did at 16.
This is a watercolor of her husband, my grandfather Harry, done a couple years later.
And a quick sketch of Ryan as a little boy. (with his Kevin Bacon hairstyle, he LOVED Footloose as a kid)
This one is a watercolor that I did of a photo of my husband's grandmother, Gladys. The photo sits on a quilt that she had made.
The collage of my sisters and I is a more recent work, but not all that recent. 7 years ago, maybe? Before I discovered photo editing, that photo I used of us is kind of dark. We are standing by a road sign for Downey street, our maiden name.
As I was hanging the pictures in the stairway, I knew that not a single art piece was a good example of work, and that none of the frames went together well. It is a hodge podge grouping, of some cool, some cheap frames, some really nice antique frames, old photos, and some so-so drawings, that don't really have a cohesive look together.
But all are meaningful to me. And a home can't have all perfectly groomed decor, or it becomes a showhouse, not a home. My house will always have a place for so-so artwork, family mementos, and sentimental items. Even if they aren't the prettiest items around. Maybe someday, I'll reframe them all in a better way, but for now, I just enjoy walking by them and seeing them as is.
PS- I've got 50% off the Boutique right now. But you MUST use this link:
http://www.karlascottage.com/?code=Fling
to get to the sale site. If you go through the regular link, the 50% off won't register. If you can't click on it to get to the page, you might want to try cutting and pasting it to your browser. Thanks for helping me spring clean!