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Showing posts with label clothespins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label clothespins. Show all posts

Friday, October 19, 2012

Framed in Chicken Wire & Burlap

While recently stumbling onto a yard sale, I picked up a beat-up, lonely picture frame [sans glass or artwork].  It was in bad shape.  I think it was going to be tossed into the nearby dumpster as it was sitting on the side of the yard and it was already the end of the day.  I offered to trade a crisp one dollar bill for the poor chap.  SOLD! 
I decided to take the frame out of its misery with a coat of the aqua "oops" paint I had previously used on my step stool.   One light coat made the decorative frame look distressed, so I didn't even have to sand it.

I've had an affinity for everything burlap lately, so I incorporated a recently acquired coffee bean burlap sack.  This one has a turquoise stripe down the center of the sack, complementing the frame's new hue.
 
I remembered that I also had some chicken wire hiding in my stash.  So why not use both the chicken wire AND the burlap?  [Double the effort?  Yes, indeed!]

For this project, I took out the "big girl" tools. 
[Usually, my tool kit is a bottle of decoupage and a foam brush.]
After CAREFULLY snipping the wire to fit the frame, I stapled the wire to the back, hammering the staples flat. 

OK, that was easy [just kidding].

After a quick coffee break, I measured and cut the burlap to size, trying my best to position the turquoise stripe to land in the center of the frame.

I folded painter's tape over the burlap edges, making it much easier to staple the burlap to the frame, and avoid frayed edges.
 
Voila!   
I could've stopped right there, but my "altered" state took over. 

From the leftover burlap, I cut five banners, stamped them with large alphabet letters [spelling "notes"], and then stitched them along the edges to minimize fraying.  Then I stitched the banners to a long piece of linen ribbon. Then sewed on a few vintage Parisian buttons (which I actually bought in a Paris flea market!)
 

Then hot glued the rest of my embellishments:

A few handcrafted burlap flowers

Wooden buttons tied onto the chicken wire with twine.



A few vintage [circa 1950's] clothespins
 

And now the frame has a new life combining function and fun.


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Sunday, March 25, 2012

Spring is for the Birds!

Spring has sprung.  The flowers are a bloomin', the days are getting longer (YEA!), the outdoor cafes are busy with coffee klatches and tea totallers, and allergies have set in. You could say that spring is for the birds! So let's welcome our tweety friends with an altered birdhouse. 

Several years ago, I saw large wooden birdhouses on clearance and snapped up as many as I could hold.  I pulled one out of my stash with a paper pack, paint and a few embellishments, and went to work.

I had two shades of red that would complement the paper,
ultimately deciding on "Barn Red." [Duh]

Using a foam brush, I painted all the edges and the eaves of the birdhouse.


Next, came the tricky part:  making a template to fit the pointed front and back of the house.  I couldn't trace it because the eaves jut out.  So digging deep into the left side of my brain, I tapped into my algebra skills; and after a few tries, came up with the perfect template with just the correct angles. [Insert happy face.]

The sides and roof were easy to measure with a ruler, as they are all right angles--just measure twice and cut once. Actually, I cut twice, as there are two sides of each!   I also used Chestnut Roan liquid chalk to edge the paper.

On the template, I again carefully measured exactly where the circles should be to fit over the 1" hole and tiny perch.  Folding the paper in half lengthwise, I punched out both circles and then replicated that on the printed paper.

And now the fun begins:  Mod-podging the paper to the bird house.

To add some interest to the roof, I cut out a border from one paper, and adhered it to corrugated cardboard before podging it to both sides of the roof lines.  Then more podge all over the birdhouse.  If it sits outdoors, it is a good idea to use Outdoor Mod Podge.  

More fun:  The Embellishments! 
A wooden bird, a rhinestone crown, flowers, brads, an embossed sticker
with a 1" opening [fitting perfectly around the hole], and raffia.
I printed out a sign reading "Early Bird Special" and hung it on twine with two altered mini clothespins. [I hot glued the twine and brads in place.]
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Added more twine and a little wooden tag that reads "open."
Lastly, I glued the bird house to a distressed candle holder
(found for $2 at the thrift store).
And we are open for business!
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Later in the week, two friends came over to alter birdhouses, choosing their own fun paper and embellishments.  Here are their results:

Aren't they great?
Happy Spring!

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