Nursery Decor

I thought I'd share some of Gavin's "Grandma-made" nursery décor.  'Cause for sure, he needs his name as the above-the-crib-nursery centerpiece.  As a reminder, his nursery/bedding is a jungle-theme.  (You might also remember seeing these same letter as shower décor doing double-duty.)

I'm not gonna lie, these took me a few days to finish.  I bought unfinished, light-weight letters, because after all, they do hang above the crib.  This project would have been so much easier & faster if I had splurged on white wooden letters, but where would the fun be in that?  I decoupaged them and WOW! did they turn out great.

How To Make Them:

• Paint the edges of the letters any color you like.  I spray-painted mine white.  I also painted the backs for a more finished look. 
• Place letter backwards on back side of paper and trace outline.
• Cut letter shape out of paper.
• Apply thin coat of Mod Podge to letter and align paper letter on top, smoothing down. Let dry.
• If there is excess paper hanging off the edges of letter, either trim with scalpel (or scissors) or you can smooth edges down with a fine grit sandpaper.
• Apply at least two thin coats of Mod Podge, allowing each one to dry completely before applying the next. Make sure to seal the edges. I brushed the coats in two opposite directions to get a "cross-hatched" finish.
• Hot glue animal accents.
• Add decorative ribbon for hanging.  Tie bow/knot at top.

What You Need:

• Craft Paper Letters (I got mine @ JoAnn's)
• Patterned Paper (I downloaded 5 digital animal paper(s) and printed on the colored printer 11" x 17")
• Mod Podge
• Tools:  Scalpel, Scissors, Pencil, stapler
• Foam Brush
• Animal décor (also from JoAnn's)
• Glue gun
• Gross grain ribbon

One more last look:

My dear daughter, April, and I had such a fun time with the nursery décor.  I give it about 7 months.  Then it will become a disaster zone.

Custom Subway Art!

I am always looking for the perfect gift.  I stumbled upon subway art (they are all the rage in blogland.)  Hmmm...I can so do that!  Put my computer skills to work and created personalized, one-of-a-kind art pieces for my friends. After having given these two as gifts, let me just say that they evoke lots of emotion and seem to touch the recipient rather deeply.

Ta da!

These are (computer-generated in Photoshop) 8" x 10" customized works of art, printed on 90# white index-weight cardstock. I have framed them both; one without glass and one under glass (just can't decide what look I like best).

These could be customized for an engagement, a proposal, or a wedding. I could also see them as baby gifts or grandma gifts. Of course, they could just be "your story" as well.

Contact me if interested. I can email .png formats for you to print as you like, or I can mail the print as well.

The sky's the limit!

Deck Love (part 1)

Thanks to blogland, I stumbled upon a post written about reclaiming & redesigning your deck space...so, I wondered...could that work for us?  Yes it can!  We've been working hard on getting our deck all gussied up and beautified (is that a word?) and taking it back (literally) from the birds.  The history is that when we built the house, we had the option (added expense of course) to extend our deck...and because there were not many additional options that we didn't take, we had it enlarged.  I did not know at the time, how the neighborhood would lay out and how the slope of the lot would come into play.  (Hard to envision, when you're looking at dirt.)  Although I don't regret the larger deck or the corner lot, I have always felt like we are on display for the whole neighborhood to see every time we go outside to the deck.  Also, because of our south-facing home, we get the hot, blaring sun as it sets every single day which makes for very uncomfortably bright and hot patio time. I have always wanted to add a roof, but would've settled for a motorized awning.  Could never get Bill to come over to the dark side and spend a few dolores.

But, this year, while I was out shopping for my annual flowering plants, I stumbled across this pergola.  I loved it.  Wondered...could it fit?  I hurried home to measure and happened to see it on sale in the Sunday paper.  Karma?