Painted Vases

Sorry for the late post - I was in an offsite meeting all day.  But I did get a free lunch out of it so no complaints from me.

One of my gluing stuff to other stuff projects involved vases.  I've been wanting to try this effect for a long time and spur-of-the-moment gave it a go.

All you need is a clear candle holder or vase of some kind, and acrylic paint. 

I poured some navy paint into the glass and swirled it

around to cover the entire inside surface. 

It looks kind of cool at this midpoint. Maybe I'll stop here next time.

Once the inside was covered, I poured the excess paint back into the bottle. 

Ta-da! A vase! 

I then repeated the same steps with a new glass and some slate green paint. 

I left them to dry for a few days.  If you're planning on putting water in the vase you'll want to spray the inside of the glass (once it's dry) with a sealer.

But I wasn't done. Oh no, there's more.  I then took my hot glue gun and glued a thick sisal rope onto the base. I started in the center of the bottom and spiraled the rope outwards, gluing as I went.

And up the sides about two inches. Make sure you end the rope at the same point as it left the bottom and started up the side so that your rope looks level.

We went grocery shopping the next day and I picked up some yellow tulips. 

I love tulips so much.  And the yellow is a striking contrast to the navy blue and slate green.  Plus the rope gives it a slightly nautical look.

It's spring y'all!

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I'm linking to these parties this week!

Benchwarming

This weekend was filled with lots of little craft projects - it was too cold out to start on some of the bigger ones I want to work on.  Basically I spent the weekend gluing stuff to other stuff.

One medium-sized project I did complete was recovering the bench at the foot of our bed with sturdier fabric. 

It's just a standard bench with faux leather. We have it because, when Little Dog really was a little dog she couldn't get up on the bed by herself.  She'd just hang there with her front paws on the bed, waiting to be lifted.  Even though she's big enough now, she forgets most of the time and still likes to climb up and down using the bench. It's probably better for her joints anyway. 

Usually the climbing down is done at a high rate of speed, the bench is top-heavy, and it gets flipped over all the time.  We now have it tied to the bed to keep it in place (in case anyone thought those cords were for something else - and why are you thinking those things?) 

Also, when the bench would start to flip, the dogs would dig their nails in resulting in tiny (or not so tiny) rips in the fabric.

So it's not that aesthetically pleasing.  No one is hollering to feature this guy in their magazine spreads.

I bought some heavy grey flannel - the kind used to make suits - a few months ago.  It's so distinguished and preppy and sleek looking.  Not to mention soft to the touch.  And it cost about $19/yard so you can bet that I measured at least 6 times and drew out my plans 3 times before I went at it with scissors.

I decided to cover the bench using three pieces - one for the top and long sides, and one each for the ends.  I sewed a hem along each of the edges that would be stapled to the underside - to give a nice finished look. 

I then pinned the center of the end piece to the center of the short side of the top piece and worked out from there.  (Does that make sense?)

It wasn't easy curving the top material around to meet up with the short sides of the end pieces.  Next time I think I'll use five separate pieces for top and sides.

I enlisted Tom's help to staple the edges down.  We started by stapling the middle of each side, then the ends, and then filled in between. 

See that finished edge? Smooooooth.

Here is the finished product. 

 

It's pretty simple, but we haven't done any work to the bedroom so I want to keep my options open when choosing colours.  Right now the walls are a pale yellow with a faux stucco effect on the top half that I despise.

Sasha (not so little, right?) tested out the new bench for me this morning. 

She seems pleased. 

We have another bench downstairs that I'll also be covering with the same material.  It has a lid that opens though so that'll be a bigger challenge.  So glad I had this one to practice on first!

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I'm linking up to these parties this week!

I Have A Button

I took some big, big steps in blogging today. 

I added a button. 

Yes, that's right, a button. (Cue the dramatic music.)

<div align="center"><a href="http://turtlesandtails.blogspot.ca/" title="Turtles and Tails"><img src="http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b288/bamarshall/th_button.jpg?t=1333068144" alt="Turtles and Tails" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

I know you're all just dying to add my button to your blog so that you and others can link directly here whenever you want. I can see it in your eyes.  No really, I can.  Don't look away, it's still there.

So yes, please, do add my button (grab the code above or over on the right) so that all of your readers will know about little ol' me. 

Now that I've mastered this I'll be looking around to add your buttons to my blog too.  I read so many of your blogs every day and I want to be able to find you quickly.  Not to mention letting my readers discover you!

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