Stenciled Canvas Curtains & Giveaway...

One of my main goals this year is to re-do every room in my house. It is time for new decor and since I am on a budget then most of it will be done by my own two little hands. I have been working on the home office and have hit the point that I was ready for some new curtains. So, off to Hobby Lobby and JoAnn Fabrics I went to buy some material to make some great ones to match the rooms decor.

Time to switch gears real fast. I came home to find an e-mail from Cutting Edge Stencils, asking if I would be interested in doing a review for them. Well, HECK YA! I get a stencil and get to craft and write about it. Now that is perfection. There are so many wonderful stencils and the one I choose was Entwined Allover. 

I very well couldn't stencil on the material I bought to make curtains so I had to come up with a new game plan. I am getting ready to turn a bedroom into a guest room so I will just make some curtains for that room. 

Now, I've never painted curtains before so I had to do a little research. Thanks to some wonderful fellow bloggers, I got some questions answered. Off to Lowe's for some painter's canvas.

My materials list: Painter's Canvas, Drop cloth, Foam rollers and Tray, Paint, and Stencil.

First thing I did was lay my canvas cloth on the floor and cut it in half straight up the middle 

I used Stitch Witchery to hem the cut edges of the canvas and to make the pocket for the curtain rod. I also ironed out all the wrinkles. I would suggest washing them first before you do anything to soften them up a bit. I am just too darn impatient and went to town. 

Now the fun begins! Whatever you do, MAKE SURE YOU LAY DOWN PLASTIC OR SOMETHING TO PROTECT THE SERVICE YOU ARE WORKING ON. The paint will bleed through.

Tape your stencil to your canvas using either painter's tape or masking tape.And, then get ready to roll your paint. Make sure you do not have a lot of paint on your foam rollers. You don't want to soak your cloth with paint. Go ahead ask me how I know? LOL

Just follow your pattern and move on down your curtains. I chose to paint the curtains black with an Apple Green trim. 

Not perfect but not bad for my first time. But, it is a much needed improvement to a window with no curtain on it.

So much better, don't you think?

I'm not keeping the purple decor because I decided to do the room in Apple Green and Navy Blue. But, sometimes you just have to decorate with what you have for now, and these vase are from my office when it was Apple Green and Purple. 

ARE YOU READY FOR THE BEST PART???

Cutting Edge Stencils is offering one of my lucky friends any stencil {up to a $50 value} from their amazing collection.  The hardest part is going to be picking out a stencil, there are so many wonderful designs.

It really is amazing how much of an impact a stencil can make and it is probably one of the cheapest ways to decorate your space!  And, not too mention all the wonderful things you can do with a stencil and paint. Don't just limit yourself to a wall. Stencil a pillow or throw rugs, table runner, or add a design to some furniture. Be creative!!!

I will tell you that it requires some time and patience, but I think that the results were definitely worth it. Here's a quick "How to Stencil" video to show you how easy it is!

So who wants to win a stencil????

a Rafflecopter giveaway

                     

I am also guest posting over at The Taylor-House ...Make sure you stop on over and say, "Hi". Even stay awhile and check out Chrissy fantastic little place in blogland!!

"Good Luck"

and

Have a CRAZY BEAUTIFUL week!!

Dressed up bookshelves...

Now that it's the new year one of my goals is to finally get some projects done that I've had on the back burner. And, one of these projects was these bookshelves in my office.

I have been wanting to re-do them for awhile and since I just couldn't figure it out it became a catch all. I knew I didn't want to paint them...Love the black! The decision was to paint the back, wall paper, scrapbook paper, stencil...so many options.

The decision I made was to cover it with fabric. I didn't do the back of the shelves on all three bookcases I changed it up. That's how I roll. I like to be different. 

Since I'm always changing things around here I didn't want to do anything permanent. So I went to my favorite craft store....Big shout out to HOBBY LOBBY!! And, bought some foam board. I measured the shelves and the back of the shelves and sketched out the measurements on to the foam board.

Next step was to cut them out. Easy enough, right? NOT!! Do not use scissors they don't work well cutting foam boards.

The best thing to use is a utility knife. I had to enlist the help of hubby because I don't have much strength in my right arm and hand. And, for other reason's he doesn't like me to play with knives. 

And, this is why he doesn't let me play with knives. All I had to do was cut the corners out and if that knife would have slipped it would have been a bloody disaster.

 I'm a hair stylist and cut my hands all the time....I'm not scared!!!!

And, here's where me being different comes in. I'm covering the actual shelves on the two end units. And, the boards fit perfect.

Now that I have them all cut, it's time to add some fabric.

I use spray adhesive and I can tell you this is the best stuff, EVER!! Just don't be like me and spray it working on your floor. I now have tacky carpet. It's OK, we are moving AGAIN in a couple months.

I measured and cut the fabric.

Sprayed adhesive lightly on the foam board.

Laid the fabric over the foam board and smooth it out.

Then I flipped over the foam board and sprayed the edges and corners. Pretty perfect if I do say so myself.

All done...

Now let's see how they look...

I am jumping up and down doing the happy dance...I love them...love, love, love!!

I did the same thing to the center shelf, I just made boards for the back instead of the actual shelves. I did not have to tack anything down. The fit was nice and snug. 

Here's some before and afters of my finished bookshelves...

The shelves are in my office and I'm doing the room with French Vintage, Burgundy and Aqua accents. So I do have a few things to still do but I SOOOOO love my book shelves.

Sorry for the long post. But, I hope you enjoyed it as my as I enjoyed this transformation.

{sorry for blurry photo...I'm working on my photography skills -promise}

Oh yeah...I almost forgot a big one...I'm a new, regular guest contributor over at The Taylor-House . I'm really excited about it and want to give a big "THANK YOU" to Chrissy for having me. 

Hop on over and read about the Dresser that I Dressed Up!!

~Have a CRAZY BEAUTIFUL week~

Greeting Card Decor

WARNING!! 

This may be a lengthy post but with lots of photos. But, I do promise you won't be bored!

If you are anything like me you keep things that are very important to you. For me some of those important things are greeting cards I have received over several years. 

Sometimes it's such a shame for them to sit in boxes on a shelf. Like things I enjoy to look at I want to display them. Well, how in the heck do you display greeting cards? I could put them in photo albums. 

Nah!!! Not fancy enough.

I want to display them in such a way that it is part of my decor. So, I racked my brain to come up with a simple solution that was within my budget.

I pulled out my hole punch, paper cutter, scrapbook paper and ran to...You guessed it HOBBY LOBBY!!

I picked up a couple packages of album rings. 

And, this cute little shelf and the best part I only paid $7 for it...JACKPOT! (I love that store...lol)

I divided the cards up between Christmas, Valentines, Family, Birthday, Warm Wishes and Love & Marriage. 

I used my "heart" paper punch and punched 3 wholes in each card.

I even recruited my hubby in helping with the paper punching process. 

This was a lazy day project for me...I didn't even get out of my PJ's ;-)

After I got all of the cards punched I clipped them together with binder rings.

They look great just the way they are but I wanted to add covers to each group of cards. I plan on hanging them in my office/art room and I am re-doing that room in a "French Vintage" decor. I gave each set of cards a "French vintage" look.

I took scrapbook paper and cut them to the size of each group of cards. Then I either printed a title and quote to each set or glued a Vintage photo I found online.

Here is my Christmas "book"...

ANOTHER WARNING: 

My husband is very mushy so don't say I didn't warn you...LOL

My cards have a lot of sentimental meaning to me. They are full of love and personal messages to me from loved ones. And, it warms my heart to know that I can now look at them like a book and read all of the thoughtfulness and love that has been sent my way.

Here's a sneak peek of the Christmas love I have received...

Valentine Love: A canvas furnished by nature and embroidered by imagination!

Warm Wishes: Someone remembers someone cares, Your name is whispered in someones prayers!

I know some of the wording is hard to read but I wanted that old time vintage feel to the covers.

The cards in this "book" are either get well, thinking of you, thank-you, just because and sympathy cards. I can look at one and remember when my Grandmother passed away and the next one will make me laugh because that's what a dear friend of mine likes to make me do.

Birthday Cards: Once a year we celebrate the gift of life the Lord has given us!

Here's a glimpse of the "funny" girls in my life. Brenna is one of my best friends and Danyelle is my funny haha daughter. The joys these cards have brought me.

The "Family" album is full of Mother's day cards or cards I have received from family. 

When I can look back at cards from my husband, daughters and son it brings a smile to my face and warmth to my heart. I know that each and every card was picked out for me with love and sincere meaning.

I saved the best one for last. All the "loving" cards from my husband while we were dating, cards from loved ones when we got married and cards for each and every anniversary or just because cards he gives me. 

Love & Marriage: "This is my beloved and This is my friend" - Song of Soloman 5:16

The card on the bottom left was the first card my husband ever gave me. And, the card from the florist was with a bouquet of flowers that was waiting for me when we arrived at the condo we stayed in on the island we got married on. We got married exactly 2 yrs from the day we met.

Now to share where I put this fabulous "Greeting Card Decor". When I bought this shelf from Hobby Lobby I knew the hooks where going to be perfect to hang my greeting card books.

And, while I was browsing Hobby Lobby I found this adorable, perfect Fleur de lis bowl (50% off) that I knew would sit perfect on this shelf.

 (Pssttt...It may not stay there, you know how I love to move things around)

Now that the shelf is hung....

It's time to decorate this little corner with my greeting cards.

After moving a few things around I finally have my greeting cards displayed in a decorative fashion.

I hope you found some inspiration in displaying those cards that mean so much. 

Here's every one's favorite...Before & After

I'm winded and I'm sure you are after reading this long post! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoy displaying my greeting cards.

WHAT DO YOU HOLD DEAR THAT YOU DISPLAY???

Christmas Countdowns at WiddlyTinks.com