Canvas Gift Bags

Last week, some of the ladies and I participated in a Christmas cookie exchange.  Since there were only seven of us, I decided to make each of them a little canvas bag to deliver my cookies in instead of the usual box or tin.  Here are the finished bags...

As mentioned, I used canvas to sew and line the bags.  They measured approximately 8" square.  I attached canvas handles to the sides to make them look more like small buckets.  For the front, I cut burlap to fit and frayed the edges slightly.  I made a simple tree stencil and, using left over cream colored paint, I applied the tree to each piece of burlap.  I used "heat 'n bond" to attach the burlap to the front of the bags.  No sewing!

 

I cut 1/4" birch slices and drilled a 1/16 inch hole in the top of each slice.  I then inserted a small eye screw.  Pre-drilling prevents the wood from splitting.  I then made another stencil...the number "25" and stenciled it to the wood slice using burnt umber craft paint.  I used jute twine to attach the wood slice to the canvas bag.

This was a fun and simple project and I hope the recipients enjoyed their gift bags and the cookies!  

Chocolate Cherry Thumbprint cookies with white chocolate.

(Yes, I know, I am a terrible photographer.  Honestly, I hate taking pictures and I have zero patience for it.  I try to make things look presentable, but I just don't like to take the time..I simply want to share my projects.  Sorry!)

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and all the best in 2016!  

Lesa

A Faux Fireplace

My husband was kind enough to build me this fireplace last week before he headed back to work for two weeks. 

During his short and busy time at home he managed to build the fireplace and "plank" the wall in our small dining area. 

 I love the planked wall and I am absolutely thrilled with the fireplace.  He has a couple of finishing touches he needs to add to the firplace which includes adding crown moulding to the mantel and to planking where it meets the roof. He simply ran out of time so will finish it when he gets home.

But, in the meantime, I applied a couple of coats of paint from Home Depot called "Clean Canvas" and then decorated for Christmas.  Here are the finished results...

Here is the planked wall...

My entryway...

Livingroom...

Kitchen...

Thank you for stopping by and from my house to yours..

Lesa

Entryway Table and Mirror

I decided to repaint my entryway table and mirror.  I wanted something different and this is how it turned out...

I really had no plans on sharing this project so I didn't take any before pictures or step by step pictures, but if you are interested in knowing how I achieved this look, I will share my process.  

I mixed my own chalk paint using paint left over from previous projects.  I first applied three coats of white to both pieces.  Once completely dry, I applied one coat of Khaki Tan by Decoart to just the mirror and drawers.  Once dry I sanded the paint to reveal the white underneath.  Using a dark Minwax stain, I applied it to the painted surface and quickly removed it with a dry cloth as I didn't want it too dark.  Again, I only did this to the drawers and mirror.  Some areas were darker than I liked so I sanded a bit of the color away and dry brushed white over top just to lighted the area.  I continued in this manner until I was happy with the colors.  I used a clear Minwax paste wax to all surfaces to give the table and mirror a rich buffed sheen.

I was trying to achieve an old world look similar to Restoration Hardware.  Hmmmm...any thoughts???Some days I like it and other days I think I should repaint it.  It's only been a few days so I will live with it a bit longer.

Thank you for stopping by.  Have a great week!

Lesa

       

How I transformed two pieces of Pine.

This project started out as an experiment to see if I could transform a piece of pine to look like an aged piece of driftwood.  What do you think?

The picture below shows you what I started with...two pieces of pine that I used to make simple chalkboards for Christmas decor.

First thing I did was cut away the sides and edges of the wood with a skillsaw.  I just randomly cut away the wood.  I then used a chisel to make deep grooves and gouges in the wood.  Once I roughed up the wood, I sanded the entire piece with 100 grit sandpaper rounding and smoothing out the edges.  I used the back of the wood which had been previously stained with a dark walnut Minwax stain so I removed most of the stain and took it down to bare wood.  I simply used a primer paint mixed with plaster of paris and water and brushed the entire piece of wood with a whitewash.  Once dry, which took minutes, I used the same method but using craft paint by Decoart called Khaki Tan. Again, once dry I sanded it with 180 grit sandpaper exposing some of the bare wood and whitewashed wood.  I then applied espresso Minwax stain making sure to fill the deep grooves and gouges with the dark stain.  The last step was to apply a clear Minwax paste wax, buffing to a smooth, glossy finish.  

I liked the finished wood so much that I decided to hang a piece on each side of this mirror.  

Thank you for stopping by.  I hope you have a great week!

Lesa

Window Shadow Box

Here is a shadow box I created for storing and displaying my bread boards.

I started with this...

I removed the only pane of glass and gave the frame a good sanding and cleaning.  I then took the measurements of the frame and build a simple box with 1 x 4 pine with those measurements.

I then added another piece of pine to create a shelf.  I measured it to line up with the cross piece of the window frame.

I then attached the window frame to the box with wood screws.

I added a beadboard backing.

I stained the back with dark walnut Minwax stain and painted the frame with homemade chalk paint in a green color.  I sanded it and applied Minwax paste wax.  

Now I have storage and a display shelf for my bread boards.

Thank you for stopping by.  Have a great week!

Lesa

"More My Style" Weekend Project

I'd like to share my weekend project with you...

It used to look like this...

I bought the buffet from Jysk, cheap, and the hutch is a bookcase from Walmart.  The pieces went together somewhat but it was never the look I wanted.  It was just a "mish mash" that I put together to create some extra storage.  Honestly, I hated it but just didn't have the energy to do anything to it until this past weekend.  We don't have a woodworking shop so a lot of the process took place in my living/dining/kitchen space.  (It's a small house so it's all one room!)

 

First I built a new base for the buffet.  I wanted the buffet to have more height and I wanted it to look substantial, yet I needed to take into consideration of our small space.  I just used 1 x 6 pine to create the base.  The wood blocks were glued and screwed to the bottom of the buffet so I had something to attach the pine boards to making it sturdy.

I then added a one inch moulding to all of the drawers to give more interest to the buffet.  Again, I wanted the buffet to have some weight to it visually.

I filled the existing holes on the fronts of all the drawers as I decided to change the hardware to a single wood knob for each drawer.

That was it for the buffet.  Now for the hutch or should I say, bookshelf.  I had replaced the backing on the bookshelf with pine tongue and groove which I had stained dark.  I simple attached 1 x 3 pine to the bottom of the shelf to, again, have it visually look heavier.  Plus, it tied in with the base of the buffet making it look like both pieces belong together.

I filled and sanded all the holes and then it was time to paint.  I chose a paint color from Behr called "garden wall".  And, out of that paint I created my own chalk paint following the directions I have found on pinterest and many blogs.  I waxed it using Minwax paste wax.

I am very happy with the way it turned out.

Thank you for stopping by for a visit!  Have a great week.

Lesa