Owl Decor

How to Make Owl Art with just Scissors and Pieces of Fabric

I am like so many moms in love with the new “owl” theme.  I got my daughter an owl backpack and toothbrush holder-then I realized that was probably all I could afford.  We’re a one income family and buying the latest “owl” fashion is beyond my budget.  Still, relentless to allow my budget get in the way of my ‘Hooty’ dream.  I found an innovated way to create the theme I want that ended up being very simple and very cheap-Fabric owls.  I’m a novice sewer and with my spooler to my sewing machine being broken, I’m probably less than that.  Here’s an easy way to use leftover fabric to create a theme of your choice:

1.)     Fabric:  I found strips of fabric from previous projects and even old clothes.  Don’t have any fabric or clothes you want to destroy?  Some Wal-Marts sell fabric swatches for $1!

2.)    Arrange:  I actually constructed the 3 separate owls without the use of a glue gun!  Then I arranged the pieces and used a flat iron to iron it all into place.  I started by cutting out and trimming the perfect owl outline then decorating the "inside" with different fabric pieces to include the circles around the eyes and wings.

3.)    Frame: The background is actually more fabric I had bought previously to use a play mat.  It made the perfect backdrop.  I carefully flipped the owl over into the palm of my hand and pressed it against the glass of the frame.  I put the back on and it all fell into place.  When I ironed the fabric finished, it allowed for the pieces to be heated into place-long enough for me to put it in a picture frame with little movement in the end.

Of course, it’s much easier with the pieces glued together but it can be done without! 

I’m not done with ‘Owling’ out my daughter’s bathroom but I am done with buying owls.  We will see how much more I can do to make this the theme I want.

Desk makeover: Before & After

Someone's trash CAN BE your treasure!

I recently purchased a $25 desk off craigslist.  I want to use it as a sewing desk but right now it's not in any condition to even come into the house.  The paint is black and red and the wood is splintering.
 I love it.

I bought new drawer knobs off Amazon for fairly cheap $11.51 for 8!

I got a quart of Pistacchio Ice Cream paint for $11.50

A quart of white primer paint for $7.50

Brushes/tape, etc, for $5.00

Here's the desk I'm redoing...

Here's some inspiration for that drab piece of furniture...

My top didn't turn out as polished:

Here's when I repainted the top to match better:

Feeling a little rushed on this project but I put in hardware, my final touches will be wallpapering the drawers (verses painting, it gives it more character and better design features)

So here's my before and after:

 

Total cost: $60.51

Compared to my inspiration desk at Joann Fabric...



Which is on sale for $449.00!



Nursery Chandelier

  How to Decorate your Nursery on a Budget

     Ever look through home magazines and see beautiful chandeliers in a beautiful nursery or living room then look on-line to buy the identical item?  More than likely the price for those chandeliers purchased at a store range for over $100.  DON'T DO IT! You can get the same chandelier for way cheaper.

Here's how:

Look on Craigslist for cheap chandeliers or your local thrift store.

                                Here's one I just found on Craigslist in my area for $25:

Here's what you can turn it into with paint, small shades, beads, and time:

Think about the money you could save by doing this project yourself.  Depending on the deal for the chandelier itself, the paint, beads, and lamp shades can all be purchased for less than $40 off Amazon.  That potentially saves you about $100 and it's personalized to your decor!

This chandelier sells for $199 at Pottery Barn Kids...

This can be done for under $60 depending on the cost for the chandelier.

So whenever your out check out your local thrift store, flea market or garage sell.  At home browse Craigslist.  You never know when you'll find that gem that you can recorate into a beautiful item.

My Little Red Chair

  I got together with an old friend over the weekend.  In the old days we would get together on weekends all dolled up to do the Pub run.  Its funny how we both hit a milestone in our lives, motherhood.  We went to the local flea market in search of anything old and corrupted so we could refurburish and transform our house into a Martha Stewart recreation.  We found a lot of neat things like an old Nikon camera she wanted to purchase but couldn't get the lens to open right.  Old photography is another upcoming obsession we are entering.  I came across a little blue chair that looked like it had been sitting in the back of a garage for quite sometime.  Honestly I could of talked the lady down to $5 since the chair barely looked like $2 was a good price but I decided to give that extra buck up and pay $6 for the cute little chair.  I already knew what I wanted to do with it.  I wanted to sand down the rough parts so little Kennedy wouldn't get raging splinters from the wooden seat and paint it what I was thinking in a light blue (my favorite color!) But my husband was thinking cherry red and was he right about the color!  It pops and looks so cute and vibrant! It's like I resurrected an old memory, an old thought that nobody gave attention to until a little TLC brought it back to mind.

I use Dual Paint and Premier Spray Paint since the chair is so small and only 2 cans were needed to completely cover it.

Voila! Easy to do.

All you need for small projects like this are:

-Spray paint

-Sandpaper

-Place to do it so you don't get it on the concrete...opps!