Doodles & Stitches: October 2014

Hinged canvas

Seriously? This wall is RUINED by an OFF CENTERED thermostat! Sometimes I wonder what builders and contractors are thinking when they do stuff like this?!???

Very frustrated, I've been trying to come up with a solution and I found one. I bet you can never guess where I found this idea. PINTEREST. No big shock there, huh?

Here's a link to the site that gave me this lovely idea...

http://thechicsite.com/2014/09/16/hide-thermostat/

So, I attached these simple hinges to my canvas (pictured above).

Then, I attached the hinges to the wall.

I had to add a little Velcro to keep the canvas from floating off the wall on that right side! I rubbed a little burlap on the Velcro to make it less strong. I didn't want to pull the Velcro off each time I pulled back the canvas. That did the trick.

I took this photo in France in June. I turned a simple photo into canvas art. I'll share the DIY on that project soon.

Here's a shot of that wall from the living room. It looks soooo much better.

I am very pleased with this project.

Thanks to thechicsite.com for a great idea!

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Cranberry Orange Muffins

These are AMAZING and sooo super easy.

I made up this recipe & I'm quite proud of it.

Ingredients:

1 egg

1/2 c. orange juice

1/2 c. sugar

Zest of one small orange

1/3 c. dried cranberries, diced

1/3 c. melted butter

1 c. self-rising flour

Dump all the above ingredients into your mixing bowl and stir until just blended. Pour into 12 muffin cups and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

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Prayer List Printable - November

Prayer List Printable - November

Another free printable for the Resolution Notebook.

Simply click on the image and it will take you to the download page.

Here are all of the monthly prayer list printables...

Retro High Back

I found this piece at a garage sale for $35 but I got it for $25.

It's full of character. It makes me think of Frank Lloyd Wright.

I went with Duck Egg ASCP (Annie Sloan Chalk Paint) on this one.

It smelled RIPE inside, I'm talkin' get out the baking soda, vinegar, candles and then sit the thing outside to air out. Whew! It kinda made me wonder what was stored in that cabinet!

I used a foam roller on this because there are so many flat, straight areas - it was fast and easy to paint.

You can see (above) the paint is still wet.

This is Retro all finished. I'm happy with it. I don't really have anything else in this style. I had considered changing the legs and hardware to make it more french country but decided against it. I wanted to preserve the era and nothing screams late 50's - early 60's like those angled, metal prong legs.

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Mud Paint Giveaway

Click here to enter

Disclosure: I was compensated with free paint for this project and an additional can of paint for the GIVE AWAY by Mud Paint for my review on this post. The opinions expressed are my honest opinions and were not swayed by this free product.

You can read more about my Disclosure policy here.

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Mud Paint GIVE AWAY

Disclosure: I was compensated with free paint for this project and an additional can of paint for a GIVE AWAY by Mud Paint for my review on this post. The opinions expressed are my honest opinions and were not swayed by this free product.

You can read more about my Disclosure policy here.

Mud Paint.

I just used Mud Paint for the first time this week and I'm hooked!

This piece was in my studio and I've been considering ~~hauling it to the curb~~ rehabbing it for a while now.

I needed a piece of furniture for my foyer and this one fit perfectly.

I applied my first coat of "Manor White".

I painted it without sanding or prepping... I love that.

Sometimes you can get by with one coat of mud paint, isn't that amazing?

Because my furniture was such dark wood and I was using white paint, I needed two coats.

I left the paint to dry overnight and went searching for new drawer hardware.

I found these great pulls at Hobby Lobby.

I like to sand and distress before applying a protective coat of wax or oil. I didn't want this one extremely distressed, just alittle. I sanded the edges and raised detail to bring out the piece's best features.

I'm sorry that I don't have a photo of the next step. Sometimes I get so excited with my work that I forget to grab my camera. I used hemp oil as the protectant on this. I really like hemp oil. It's all natural and it's easy to apply. I applied it with a chip brush and then used an old white t-shirt to rub in the oil and work away the excess. I recommend allowing 24-36 hours for the hemp oil to dry before placing any objects on its surface.

I attached the new drawer hardware and then covered those ugly baskets with fabric. I will share the DIY tutorial on that project later.

On a side note, I found these old farmhouse windows at a garage sale last weekend for $5! I'm not even kidding. Isn't that awesome? I thought it would be perfect hanging over my new entry table. They needed a good scrub first!

Here it is...

This chair sits opposite of the entry table. It goes so well with the new piece. You may recall that I found this chair at an estate sale last year and recovered and painted it. That link is here.

Now, for the fun part...

Mud Paint was kind enough to send me two quarts of their paint.

So, it's give away time!

I'm giving away one quart of MANOR WHITE MUD PAINT.

All you have to do to enter is follow Mud Paint and Me on

Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.

Then leave a comment below letting me know you are entering the contest.

Here are the links... I made it easy for you.

Mud Paint Instagram

Mud Paint Facebook

Mud Paint Pinterest

Doodles & Stitches Instagram

Doodles & Stitches Facebook

Doodles & Stitches Pinterest

I'll announce the winner on 11/10 and I will contact you via email, if you are the winner. Good luck!

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Art Room Wall Mural

I just thought I'd share a recent project with you.

I painted a mural on the wall in our elementary art room at church.

The theme of this room is an outdoor park

so I decided to paint a flower garden on the walls and supply cabinets.

First, I got out my colored pencils and sketched a rough draft of what I wanted to paint.

I always like to have a picture to look at it when I'm painting, as a guide.

I used chalk to sketch my flowers on the wall.

Chalk sketching allows me to plan and layout the design before I start painting.

It ensures that everything is well proportioned and spaced out,

plus it's easy to wipe off and start over if I don't like something.

I paint all the color on flowers first and then come back with black and white accents and outlines.

Above, you can see the flowers on the left side without outline and highlights.

I had already started accents on the right side.

And then, below, you can see that wall as I finished it.

This photo was before we tore out the carpet and put in new baseboards.

Below, I painted the supply cabinets on the opposite wall, in hopes that they would blend in with the decor theme of the rest of the room.

Here's another photo of the completed room…

I will be posting tutorials on the window box valences and fabric kites in the next week or so.

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Poodle Skirt - Circle Skirt DIY

Remember when your math teacher used to say, "Listen and learn because you will NEED these math skills someday."

Someday = THE DAY I NEEDED TO MAKE A CIRCLE SKIRT

TIP: The best fabric for a poodle skirt is fleece or felt. It doesn't have to be hemmed or serged.

I found an awesome tutorial at Dana Made It

...and I used MATH!

The appliqué on the pink skirt is from Hancock Fabrics.

The other one is simply a graphic I found online and then traced onto black felt.

I cut it out and fabric hot glued it to the skirt.

Pin It Now!

Repurposed Plastic Shutters

Repurposed Old Shutters

I dry brushed ASCP (Annie Sloan Chalk Paint) in Florence color

all over these ugly old plastic shutters that I found at a garage sale.

We turned them into art displays, custom with chicken wire

for our Sunday School - Arts & Crafts classroom.

The kid's artwork is proudly displayed on the chicken wire using clothespins.

(I'll post a photo of the hanging artwork later - I don't have one on my computer at the moment)

Below is a (sorta) BEFORE and AFTER shot.

You can see the before shutter on the far right.

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