Brought to you today by the letter 'R'...

I got the itch to create the other day. That's what pinterest does to me. I'm obsessed. I truthfully didn't even see anything specifically that had me wanting to do a certain project... but my jigsaw was calling my name. I haven't used it in a while, and I KNEW we had scrap wood enough to do something fun! I absolutely LOVE the letter trend... but I HATE buying wooden/cardboard letters because they can be expensive.

I've made two homemade "monograms" (is that what you call them?) already, but they're just... eh.

This one I made using just a square piece of wood. I painted it brown then painted the white R... and then distressed it a bit. Nothin' too special...

I like this one a little better... and it took a little longer to make. I traced an 'R' onto a piece of cardboard and used an exacto knife to cut it out. I did that 3 more times and hot-glued all four pieces one on top of the other. I Mod Podged torn-up book pages all along the side of the 'R' to cover up the cardboard. Then, I painted a piece of cardstock with the design (which I just found online and copied... nothin' special..) and cut and Mod Podged it on top. That's all! And it was FREE. I had everything on hand already!

I wanted a bigger one though!

And obviously the bigger they get, the more expensive they are. Of course, I've wanted a big one for awhile to group together with empty pictures frames or even to hang on the front door in place of a wreath. I had a scrap piece of particle (or partical...) board that was about a foot tall, and I just knew it was meant to be. I free-handed an 'R' with a pencil (not sure what font you would call that... it's kinda wonky... so wonky font it is.), and I got to cutting with the jigsaw. I sanded down the edges to make the lines a little cleaner, sprayed a few coats of spray paint (the color is "Ivy Leaf", I think...), and...

There she is! I'm pretty proud. Obviously it would have been better if I printed out the letter and traced it on the particle board, but we don't have a printer... so I made do. I have big plans for my new letter. I hope to have it done later today! I'll keep you updated.

Lima Bean Wreath...?

I know...you think I'm crazy. I'll explain.

So...I "follow" a blog called Made. I LOVE it. It's definitely one of my faves. When I saw THIS I just knew I NEEDED one. But I didn't have any acorns!!!!! That's when I cried...just kidding, but I really wanted to make something like it! She (Dana from Made) suggests in her blog post about the wreath to use lima beans if you don't have acorns readily available! YES! Exactly what I needed to hear! I picked up a bag of dry limas for a dollar and some cents...and I already had an "empty" wreath. With a little bit of hot glue, a lot of burnt fingers, and a good coat of spray paint I ended up with this:

Mine is DEFINITELY not as pretty as Dana's, but I loved it! I strung it up on my old window (thanks, Rox!) with a scrap piece of ribbon, and voila! And lima beans aren't necessarily season specific like acorns are...so my wreath stays up all year round! (The spray paint is supposed to be grey...but it's blu-ish don't you think?? It's so hard to find a grey that is actually grey and NOT blu-ish grey...ok I'm done.)

P.S. I gave a shout-out to my sis Rox when mentioning the old window... that smart cookie can find the BEST deals ever. (Correct me if I'm wrong, Rox...) I think she got THREE old windows for FREE on Craigslist... do you know how much people charge for those things??? She also go the BEST deal on a stinkin' cute/awesome rug for her living room... which she was featured on the news as she was buying it...you can find it here. She's going to kill me...

A Goodwill find = INSPIRATION!!

I. Love. Thrifting.

My husband could tell you that... and he doesn't quite get it. BUT on my birthday, he agreed to come with me to our local Goodwill. I found a cute lacey Anthro-esque jacket for me, and Kyle found some brand-new-looking Polo slacks! Kyle also undercovered a decorating jewel...vintage-y looking KEYS! (I absolutely love keys right now and haven't been able to find any cool ones...these look like the "Secret Garden" keys!!!) And finally. The best find: this cute little wooden squirrel!

Isn't he awesome??? I immediately fell in love with this little guy and knew that Parker needed him in his room! The finish is TERRIBLE, but I knew I wanted to paint it anyway so my handy electric sander fixed him up for me! More on this guy another time....

I have the best hubbie ever. My sweetie-poo, Kyle gave me a jigsaw for my birthday this year! Now, I know what you're thinking, "That's one of gifts that you give because you are the one that really wants it..." Yes. But I have been DYING to try one out for some fun projects, and this little squirrel was JUST the inspiration I needed!

Before, I ventured on my jigsawing journey, I knew that I must practice "Safety First." So, here's proof. And I needed an excuse to put a goof-ball picture of me in the post...

Here's my AMAZING present! His name is Fred.

With a little (ok, a lot) of help from Kyle, I made my first ever...

Wooden squirrel!!! :) I needed to stay pretty safe with my first project and do something that I could pretty much just copy. I'm so excited with how squirrel #2 turned out!!

Here's a closer look... my sander helped me smooth out a few weird curves and round off the feet, nose, and ears. I'm planning on painting him green or grey... nothing too fancy. I'm a big fan of the simple, silhouette type look right now.

Next jigsaw adventure?? A Kara Paslay inspired bust/silhouette. I can't wait to try it!

Stay tuned for more birthday fun! Kyle made 25 the best birthday ever! :)

Inspired...

My sister recently introduced me to what is now one of my favorite blogs: Kara Paslay Designs. I LOVE her style, she's very talented, and she has quite a few tutorials for you to follow!

I saw her post about her DIY busts and silhouettes, and I fell. in. love. I have loved silhouettes and busts for awhile but haven't had enough inspiration to move forward in making anything...until now! My absolute favorite is her Metal Bust. I didn't have any scrap metal, but i had a wire hanger! I knew I wouldn't be able to manipulate the hanger very well, but it was worth a try. So...here it is:

It's not quite as elegant as hers, but I'm happy with it! I can't wait to paint the base (also inspired by another of Kara Paslay's projects...), and I think it (or she) will find its home on my bathroom counter...

P.S. The fabric flower is a new style of hair clip I'm working on to add to R+J Handmade... our shop is pretty empty right now, but we have plans to change that sometime soon! :)

A New Year...New Projects!

I have decided to document my Project List for 2011...I would LOVE input...but I also didn't want to forget all the plans I have for my home this year! I highly doubt all these projects will actually be done, but I would love to have a list to work from!

Master Bedroom:

-I have been wanting to paint horizontal stripes in my bedroom for a while now. I love the color of our walls NOW (which is pretty close to the darker color in the picture), but I think it would add a little more character with slightly lighter thick horizontal stripes.

-I recently found Kojo Designs through another blog I follow...and I'm so glad I did! I'm in love with this bedspread they made! Can you believe it?? It's an Anthro-inspired "quilt" (Check out the inspiration quilt from Anthropologie), and it's pretty dead-on. I can't stop dreaming about it being in my bedroom! This is one of the first projects I want to tackle

- I also love those stands on her bedside table with the initials on them. I'm going to try to make something similar...

-I need a curtain on my one measly little window...we'll see what I can do...

-I also need to figure out what to put on the wall above our bed. I thought possibly some silhouette pictures of Kyle and I... or art...what do you think?

Parker's Bedroom:

-I just realized how terrible this photo is...but that little bed is AWESOME! My talented husband made it! He used the plans from Ana White's website (she is pretty amazing). I need to paint and distress it...

-Here's another blog I follow! (The picture above is from her First Day of Fall post...) I really want to make a floating shelf to put above Parker's dresser. I need a place to display all of his little picture frames and knick-knacks. He is getting big enough to pull things down from his dresser, and I don't want to have to hide everything!

-I've decided Parker's room needs to be green! Maybe an olive-y green... not bright. I also want to paint cattail silhouettes coming up from behind the long side of Parker's bed on the wall...maybe a cream color.

-Many will probably think it's dumb, but I thought I would win some points with Kyle for this. I am going to attempt to make one to put above Parker's bed! We constantly have cardboard boxes building up in our garage so I thought I would make use out them!

-Parker also needs a curtain...

-Kyle is going to make me a framed chalkboard to hang in Parker's room.

Master Bath:

-Kyle is actually in the process of making this Spa Bench right now! I'm thinking I like it exactly how it looks in the picture so we will stain it when it's done! (Another Ana White

-I would also love to mount some hooks on the wall above my bench to continue the spa look!

-I found this blog and immediately fell in love with the mirror she created!! And it's pretty easy to do! This is another that I would love to tackle soon! (You should also check out her laundry room re-d0!)

- I love the ruffled and bustled shower curtains Anthropologie sells! I would LOVE this in my bathroom!

Living Room:

-Right now, this is what one of my walls looks like in the living room. Plain, brown, boring. I like have a mirror in there to expand it a little, but it needs to be fixed up a little! I'm thinking spray-painted a creamy color and distressed a little...what about the sconces?? I'm not sure what I think about them...

-I have a tiny little wall the the left when you walk inside my front door that I would like to make into a faux mini mudroom. Ana White has plans for the above photo, and Kyle said he would make it for me!!

-Another Ana White creation! I love this upholstered bench! I could use more sitting space in my living room...and I need to cover an ugly grate on a wall in my living room!

-I have a great bamboo Roman shade on my front door right now...but if the lights are on inside the house anyone can see right through them! I want to figure out how to attach some cute curtains to them to add a little more privacy. Anyone else have this problem with their bamboo shades?

Kitchen:

-My kitchen and I are on good terms right now...I'm content with most of that part of my house, but I'd like to make a little curtain like the curtain above from Urban Outfitters. (I realize that's a shower curtain...but I want it in my kitchen!!)

-I also want to paint my kitchen stools green and distress them! I need a little more color around my "kitchen table".

Laundry Room:

-Not sure where I got the idea for this, but I KNOW I was inspired by something I saw... I had some extra wood in the garage so I decided to make some little signs that say "wash", "dry", "fold" for my laundry room! Obviously I've not made it all the way through this project, but I love how the "wash" sign turned out! These are just in case I forget the order... :)

Well, there you have it. A project list for the new year! I'm not holding myself to these projects, but I need to document them so I don't forget what I'd like to do! Hopefully I can take pictures of the process, and I will share them with you!!