Yellow

Little Miss loves art. She has taken art lessons for years, which means we have piles canvases and other creations that need to be displayed. One of her more recent pieces is this.

It's an odd shape. Luckily, it's painted on this.

Which means with these simple tools, I can make it fit.

Priming a frame from my happy stash.

Adding yellow. First a coat of yellow from paint that was left in the house when we moved in. It was pretty, but too pale for the vibrant colours in the painting. In comes a touch of brighter yellow.

Much better!

Ready to hang.

Basement Apartment Tour

The house we live in has a basement apartment. It is not something we set out looking for, but something that came along with the house that we loved from the very foot through the door. Once we moved in, we immediately turned our attention to the basement apartment. The flooring was changed, the kitchen rearrange and the bathroom updated and the front hall overhauled (thanks, Dad!). Here's a little peek.
The kitchen.

The bathroom.

The bedroom.

All our hard work paid off. It was quickly renter out to a fab tenant.

Yarn Wreath Tutorial

My front door was in need of a little colour. The space between the storm door and front door is tiny. Miniscule, actually. After a little thought, I came up with this fab wreath that will fit in the shallowest of spaces. It was fun, inexpensive and is just the burst of texture and colour that my front door needed.

Want to make a yarn-wrapped egg wreath? Here's how.
First, I raided my recycling box for some cardboard to make the base.

Unfold the boxes, and lay the cardboard flat. I used this lovely bucket Andrew gave me for Christmas. I liked the proportions. Trace the top, then the bottom, making sure the smaller circle is centred in the larger circle. If you don't have a bucket, you could use two different sizes of plates or bowls. 

 Cut out the circle. You should end up with a ring that looks something like this:

Cut tissue paper into strips. I just used what I had on hand. Wrap the tissue paper around the ring.

Next, draw three different sizes of eggs. I drew them freehand on paper. You could trace cookie cutters or find a template on the internet.

Trace the egg templates onto cardboard. Then cut them out. I used 10 large eggs, 10 medium eggs and 10 small eggs. The number of eggs needed is dependent upon the size of the wreath.

Cheery yarn from a second-hand shop. 6 partly used balls for $2. Sold!

Begin by attaching the yarn to the back of the egg.

Then wrap the yarn around the middle of the egg, making sure the edges are covered.

Switch directions, and wrap diagonally.

Continue wrapping, changing direction when the yarn begins to slip.

Once all the eggs are wrapped, begin by attaching the large eggs around the wreath base.

Continue adding eggs until all the gaps are filled in.

Now to add some bunting. I used an old shirt and a flour bag.

On the fold of the flour bag, cut out a triangle. You'll end up with two layers. String the triangles over a lenght of yarn.

Cut out a triangle out of the fabric, just slightly smaller than the paper triangle. Using a sewing machine, sew the fabric triangle onto the paper. Write out your message using a disappearing marker.

Using embroidery thread, stitch on the letters.

Attach the bunting to the wreath.

Ready to hang.


Linking up here.

  

My Dining Room

Right at this moment, this sits in my dining room.

Along with this.

And this.

And this.

It's old. It's sturdy. It works! A kind gift from my dad. He repaired it, labeled it, disassembled it and loaded it into our van.

It's heavy. Way heavy. Too heavy. So, it's having a quick lay-over until it makes it down to the basement workshop, where it will be put to great use by Andrew. I can't wait for the cutting to begin. Hooray for table saws! And the projects that they bring.