Yes, We are still here!

Bet you thought we'd disappeared; but no we are still here. Life just got unexpectedly very, very busy and time consuming. My husband's parents decided to downsize to a smaller home and things moved quickly. My in-laws are 88 and 85 years old. All the rest of their children and families either live out of town or were unable to help. So guess who had to pack them up! The toughest part was sorting thru everything and deciding what to keep, what to give away and what to pitch. Living 50 years in the same place causes you to acquire a lot of stuff! Anyway, the girls, Jasmine, Season and Alanna, were the best of helpers...couldn't have managed it without them. The really know what it means to be "family" and be there for each other! Love you, you're the best!

Hopefully we will now be able to get back together and try our hand at some of the wonderful things we find on Pinterest.

Today I would like to share with you a little project that I have wanted to do for years but just never got around to doing it. I have always loved the way our US neighbours decorate for the 4th of July, especially the American red, white & blue bunting. Like this one I found on Pinterest:

 

 

Well, after coming up with a pattern and a wonderful sale on fabric, Jasmine and I were able to make this Canadian version:

 

 

The pattern was quite easy. We cut 3 strips of fabric 8" wide by 87'' long: 1 strip of white and 2 strips of red for each section of bunting. [I needed 3 sections of bunting {pictured above}to cover my window ledge]. We sewed the strips together lengthwise, making sure the white strip was in the center. We hemmed the 2 long edges. On the short ends we sewed "rod pocket" edges, like you would for a curtain. Then starting with one of the short edges we folded it up like an accordion and pressed in the folds with an iron. Making sure the rod pocket openings are left free to open, we sewed the rest of the folds together on one end only. The other end was then free to "fan" open when you threaded the 2 rod pocket ends onto your rod.  I used 1 long piece of aluminum stripping [that my husband had hanging around] to thread my bunting onto. Jasmine used doweling, but thought that a simple, cheap, round curtain rod would have worked just as well for her since she was hanging each of her buntings separately, not in a grouping like mine.

So here is what my house looks like to celebrate "Canada Day" on July 1st.

 

 

Just so you know we didn't forget about Season and Alanna, we did make them some for their windows too!

See you soon with "Birdhouses"!

hugs,

Nancy

[on behalf of]

 

The Girls

 



A {Very} Pinteresting Day...

Due to some family obligations...we have been a bit delayed on our regular monthly post, so I have decided to post a couple of small projects to fill the void!

I have a slight problem at home - something is invading my house... on the nightstand, the bathroom counter... even the coffee tables. It's getting pretty bad, even the vacuum cleaner has started to grumble!

BOBBY PINS - you know how it is, you wear them, then late at night they ache, so you take them out and there they lie... never to be found again. SO, I saw a pin {from an extremely smart lady} about putting a magnetic strip in your bathroom to store you bobby pins on - I decided to do some form of this, only in a vintage sewing container I found while cleaning out my Grandparents house {this would be the family obligation I was talking about - WHAT FINDS!}

 I cut a magnetic sheet {walmart - kid's craft section} to fit inside the lid of the tin. It was sticky on the back, so that was pretty easy... 

I then went around the house and collected all of the bobby pins that were lying all over the place {makes my house sound really messy... but it really isn't... really}.  Now I have this cute little tin that houses all of my hair accessories... and no excuse for misplaced bobby pins!

BE BACK SOON WITH OUR NEXT PROJECT... BIRDHOUSES!

Jazz

Dessert Time!

Well, we've completed another Very, Very {P}interesting project and now we are ready to share it with you! This project was one of Jasmine's picks but since she is super busy right now she asked if I would do the post, {hey that's what Moms are for!}, so here we go.

This month we made Cake/Dessert Serving Plates using old vases, glasses, bowls and plates. Once again we found all of the items either in our own basements or at a Thrift Store. Some were made of glass, others from tin. {Season tried using a couple of rectangular plates that were made of plastic but they didn't work that well}. We washed all of the dishes and let them dry thoroughly. Then we glued the base {ie. an ice cream dish, wine glass, vase, etc.} to the top {ie. a torte tin, ceramic plate, salad plate, etc} using E6000 adhesive. By mistake we bought one that was black adhesive...next time we would make sure it was the white. We let the glue dry for the recommended. 24 hours. For painting we used both Krylon and Liquitex spray paints. We found that we liked the Liquitex better in that the colour was truer to the shade on the cap and it just seemed richer. It took about 3 thin coats to get the intensity of colour we wanted. After the pieces were completely dry we sprayed them with a clear coat. So without further ado here are some pics...

To protect the surrounding area we placed the items in a cardboard box while painting

For this one Season used a tin plate and tall vase

Here they are drying in the sunshine

Our finished Dessert Servers in all shapes, sizes and colours!

Jasmine made this dainty, lavender one using a brandy glass and tea cup saucer

I made this one using a salad plate and ice cream dish

This is a photo of 3 stacked on top of each other, which would be very pretty as a center piece.

Once again this was a fun and easy project. The only thing we would do different is the time of year. In order to spray paint you need to do it outdoors and we found it was just too cold the day we did this. Definitely a warm, sunny day project!

 So what's next you ask..... Birdhouses! 
{Hopefully something like this one on PINTEREST}





Supplies:

Something for the "Body" of your birdhouse {with the holes drilled}
Something for the "Roof" of your birdhouse
Lots of fun embellishments
and
A "Stand" for your birdhouse.

See you next month.


The Girls



Mid-Month Post

Hi all, Jazz here... and I am bored.  So, I was sorting through a closet and came across some RIVER ROCKS in an old mason jar, and thought, 'I can do something with these!' So, I broke out some {wall} primer and gave them a good TWO COATS and dried it with my drying tool.  Next, I picked out some fun colours and gave the rocks another TWO GOOD COATS of paint {any latex should do}.  While that was drying I picked out some fun {rubber} stamps, along with my black ink pad {STAZON - Jet Black}. When the paint was completely dry I gave it a quick sand with some 120grit sand-paper, stamped them and then gave them a quick spray with so clear coat {tremclad...or any other 'stays clear' exterior spray} ... they came out looking like this -

Aren't they fun!

Then I moved onto a larger ROCK, that I stole {shhh!} from my Grandparent's house... {same technique}

 

Threw them in the garden... and took a couple of shots {in the dark}!

Thanks for popping by!

Jazz

  {sorry for the lack of {non-existent} step by step photos}

We're Back; with Project #2

Hi there, Nancy here, aka mom or grandma. Since this project was one of my "picks" I get the privilege of sharing with you our attempt at it. So here we go.....

Our project this month was to make a "Spoon Bracelet" like this one we found on Pinterest.

 We scoured our local thrift stores for cutlery that had pretty patterns on the handles. Jasmine, (she is wonderful at thinking outside of the box) decided to try using the handle of  a Sterling Silver serving dish. She also already had some odd pieces of sterling silverware to work with.  The rest of us ended up using just ordinary Stainless Steel forks and spoons. Here is a close up of one of my finished bracelets.

 To cut the handles we used bolt cutters. They worked like a charm!

 The drilling of the holes was done with a drill using a small bit. We used both a metal file and a Dremel to smooth the rough edges.

 The hardest part of making these bracelets was SMOOTHLY bending the handle. We tried using vice grips and pliers but found it very hard not to end up with a real crink in it rather than a smooth bend. Using a propane torch to heat the handle first proved to be the best method.  The handle does get extremely hot so you must wear gloves and hold the handle with vice grips. Heat handle until it changes colour and then using another set of vice grips bend very slowly and with gentle pressure until you get the shape you desire. The discolouring was easily buffed off.

The rest is very simple, just add jump rings as needed, a closure at the back and if you want a charm, beads, etc. to to dress up the front.

Here are a few photos of our finished projects.

 

 {this one was made from a Silver Handled Dish - Jazz just cut off the handle and bent it around a rolling pin to create this cuff}

We all agreed that this was a fun project...so much so that we ended up making 4 or 5 bracelets each!

 For MAY'S PROJECT we will be making serving/cake plates like these ones! 

Supplies Needed:

1 old glass or metal plate (whatever size you want) for the top

1 old glass or metal vase, (glass, small bowl, etc.), for the bottom

Adhesive for glass /metal

Spray Paint

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out ALL of our UPCOMING PROJECTS on PINTEREST!

The Girls