Fireplace Screen

Just before Christmas my cat decided it would be fun to play in the soot in the fireplace.  Twice.

The first time she was covered and so was the house all the way upstairs to my bed.  I not only had to wash rugs and the bedspread, I had to bathe the cat.  Not a fun project.

That is when I decided we needed a fireplace screen to stand in front of the fireplace.  We can't install one in the fireplace because of it's odd curved top shape.  I had had it blocked off but she managed to push that cover out of her way.  We don't use the fireplace anymore, too many restrictions on days it can be lit.  So I new I could put something there that was fairly heavy.

I found a very large picture frame at the thrift store for a couple of dollars.  Order a couple of shelf brackets and a ceiling tile online.

picture frame and shelf brackets

Ceiling tile

I measured and cut a piece of thick cardboard to fit the opening where the glass was installed and covered the edges with some large paper I had in  my stash

 Next I hot glued the ceiling panel to the cardboard and dry brushed it with white paint.

During the holidays I always check out Costco to see what kind of ribbons and trims they are selling in their holiday displays.  One year I found a couple of these spools of glitter trim.  I have been using them ever since to trim and to decorate projects.

Using hot glue I mitered the corners and added the trim around the ceiling tile to give a finished edge.

The next thing I did was to make a black paint wash with black acrylic paint and water.  I washed over the bright gold frame, the paper, glitter trim and areas of the ceiling tile.

And finally I hot glued the shelf brackets to the bottom front edges of the frames to act as legs so my fireplace cover will stand in place.  Here is a picture before I placed it in front of the fireplace.  I still think I want to do something with the space between the frame and the ceiling tile.  But I will have to think on that for awhile.  At least for now I won't be having another sooty cat running around the house.

Oh the joys of being a pet owner.  Of course, I wouldn't want it to be any other way.

Happy Crafting!

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French Inspired Picture Frame

At the end of last year I found this black picture frame for $1.00 at a thrift sale because it was missing the cardboard that goes behind the glass.  The glass was taped to the frame and I still need to remove the sticky tape residue from that glass.

I instantly thought it would be so pretty painted in a French gold and white style.

I wanted the details of the scroll work to make a better showing on the frame.  All black it doesn't show it's beautiful details.

Plus there were a lot of chips and dings in the black paint.

I gave the entire piece a coat of off-white chalk paint leaving the recessed areas black to give the piece more dimension.

Again I brush over the raised areas on the frame but this time with a gray color.

Next I hit a few areas with aqua colored paint.

Then I brushed a few areas with pink.  And distressed the edges lightly around the frame.

My final coat of paint was a brilliant white.  Again just hitting a few raised areas on the front of the frame just to tone down the aqua and the pink a bit.

The last thing I applied was a liquid gold leaf to some of the scrolls on the frame.

I just wasn't getting the effect of the gold on the frame in these shots.  I was lucky because today the sun was shining brilliantly and outside I went.

Here you can see a better overall view of the finish.  It appears to be white with only a hint of the aqua and  pink.

A very shabby chic finish.  I think I will add this to the downstairs half bath as soon as I have time and energy to repaint that room.  It will coordinate perfectly with the small oval bisque plaque I bought last time I went to the Vintage Market.

Right now that bath is painted a dark color and since it has no windows the room seems even smaller.  

Can't wait to change it up with a new coat of light paint and add some light accessories to that room including this frame.  Now I just need to decide which picture to add to the frame.

Happy Crafting!

Week in Review

Monday

What a Day Trip

Tuesday

Brightening the Eiffel Tower

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Been Under the Weather

Happy Weekend!

Been Under the Weather

Our weather has finally dried out and the sun is shining for awhile.

Not too creative this week, suffering from sciatic nerve pain in my back.  Wow, that really knocks me off my feet. I have no idea what started the pain, just glad it is calming down.

My sweet cat has been by my side.  She knows I don't feel right.

Hoping to get back on my feet in the next couple of days and back to working on my long list of projects.  I keep looking at all the things I want to work on and can't wait to get back at it.

Happy Day!

Brightening the Eiffel Tower

This was a quick little update to a Thrift Store find.

I bought this little cast iron Eiffel Tower to hold my bracelets on my vanity.

Here is how it started out.  A little drab for me.

I pulled out my sampler pack of Rub N Buff and hit the high areas with the Colonial gold shade.  (Shade at the far left.)

Using this stuff is a fun way to make a quick change to a lot of items.  Just like it's name you just rub it on and buff to a shine.

Now this little piece shows off all of its detail.

Happy Crafting!

What a Day Trip

So, we decided to take a short trip into the mountains even though the the wind was howling and the rain was coming down in buckets at home.

Once we got off the freeway and we were driving along tree lined country roads we were sheltered from the strong winds and heavy rains.

We went to a favorite spot for lunch and I looked around town a bit but the rains were just too heavy for sightseeing out in the elements.

We slowed the car and I took a picture of the raging waters of the Bear River,  it was so churned and 

muddy and spilling over it's banks.

California definitely has water this year.

Everything is so green once again.  Good news for our poor suffering forest.  Experts say the drought has killed almost 1/3 of the trees.  It is so sad to look out over the forest and see so many dead trees.  They are such a hazard to the remaining forest, attracting rot and insect infestation that can infect the remaining healthy trees.

I snapped a picture of this tree as we were driving past.  Love the snarled shape of its branches.

Here is a shot from a different angle.  I think I might have to paint a picture with this tree as the subject.  You can see the rain drops as I shot the picture through the car window.

Another interesting picture of a moss and lichen covered rock.  I liked the different colors and textures on the rock.

On the way home I caught a glimpse of these bushes.  They were filled with dozens of tiny birds hopping from branch to branch.  They were so small you can barley see the one a caught in this picture.

There were only a few patches of snow left from the previous storm in shady spots along the road.

But the next day brought in new snow.  What a difference a day makes.  This photo was taken at about the same elevation one day later.  Glad we drove up there the day before.

The real fun, not, began on the way home.

Our tire check warning came on once we were back on the freeway heading home and before we knew what happened our rear tire was completely flat and smoking.  I was afraid it was going to catch on fire there was so much smoke and burning rubber smell.  We quickly pulled to the side of the freeway and called for help.  Luckily by this time we were down the mountain enough to be near a town.

About an hour later, sitting on the side of the road, with our lights flashing,  a very nice Highway Patrolman stopped to make sure we were alright.  He waited behind us until the tow truck had our car loaded and ready to go to the shop. 

  It was almost dark by the time we arrived at the tire shop.  Unfortunately, the tire shop was out of our size tire but they were nice enough to put on our spare at no charge and called and made an appointment at a shop near our home for us to get a new tire installed the next day.

Our nice drive into the mountains ended up being quite the adventure.

One good thing did happen.  We are going paint our house this Spring.  I saw this building and loved the paint colors.  I had already decided to use a similar body color for our house.  I just couldn't decide on trim colors.  I really like this color combination.   Our house also has the dark roof and is two stories.  I would have never thought to paint the trim black but I really love the look of tan, cream and black.

Happy Adventures!

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