Vintage Canned Goods Labels

Is there anything old that I don't love? No, there doesn't seem to be.

I searched for some vintage canned goods labels, resized them, printed them, and then Mod Podged them to tin cans.

They're just sitting there looking fabulous but I'll be using them for plants when I've found some that won't poison my cats, and which I won't kill easily.

If you'd like these prints, leave me a comment with your email address and I'll send you the files, which are Word documents.

Remove A Kitchen Cabinet Door, Get A Fresh Look

I decided to remove a cabinet door and display some pretty dishes my best friend gave me, and another set I recently splurged on. I needed new dishes like I needed a hole in the head.  Also, my obsession with little pitchers has to stop.

I painted inside the cabinet using the same mushroom colour I had used on the brick wall.

I wrapped some twigs in jute to add a little something tall in the top cabinet.  My son gave me the the miniature coffee pot which is a creamer.  I just love little gifts like this that are so thoughtful.

I had been admiring these gorgeous hydrangea dishes and when I showed my friend, she surprised me by having them sent to me completely out of the blue and for no other reason than we are each other's best friend.

Later on, I fell in love with the all white set and when I showed my best friend, she went out and bought a set too.  I used to be 'saving' these two sets for I don't know what, but I recently decided that every day is a good day to use pretty dishes, so they're not being 'saved' for some undefined special day anymore.

Backyard Transformation

It all started with a new fence. That inspired me to transform the backyard and give it some love for a change. It has been a neglected mess for years on end and I haven't cared. Every day for the past two weeks minus the weekends, I got out there at about 6:30 am and did stuff and things for six to eight hours without a break which caused me to collapse onto the couch with four Tylenol with codeine and a screaming back.

I put in brick trim around the above garden, dug out the tired soil and added fresh black earth mixed with peat moss and then I trimmed the periwinkle with scissors stem by stem and planted portulaca. 

 I ripped apart the circular rock garden from the front yard, hauled a metric ton of rocks to the back yard, reassembled the garden, filled it with fresh earth and planted a bleeding heart, flocks and some stuff I don't know the name of which is a perennial.




 

 

I edged this garden with brick and hauled a butt load of rocks to cover the ground under the cedar to the right of the shed which I trimmed and tied up because the winter had flattened it. I planted a bunch of pots with lobelia, begonia, marigold and some basil in the larger pot. I planted nasturtium in the window box

I'll be repainting the deck and I replaced some of these flipping heavy flagstones on the walkway which had started to crumble.

  I edged this garden with brick, threw down fresh black soil and sowed wild flower seed, trimmed back the lilac a lot, and planted more nasturtium in the cement urn thingum. I got down on my hands and knees and dug out a butt load of weeds on the lawn. Butt. Load. Then I reseeded the lawn.

Not shown is an area where the hose is wound up and I put down and leveled some flagstones that had to have weighed thirty pounds each at the very least. Mud be gone under that damn hose, praise the Lord.

 

I planted cherry tomatoes in the pot behind the rock garden and scrubbed the bird bath and transplanted a hosta beside it.

On Friday I went to my ex's house and dug a new garden and transplanted my son Justin's raspberry bushes and confiscated an antique phone for payment.

Stay tuned for the front yard transformation!

Summer Potting Wreath

This is what I started with. I ended up changing the flowers and adding a birdhouse.

I made this backyard garden wreath using all dollar store items at a cost of $8.00.

I started off with a pool noodle and duct taped it together then wrapped it in taupe fabric.  Since this was going to be large, I knew it would take a lot of work and materials to fill in, so I decided to wander around the dollar store and find larger items and came up with a potting theme.

The pots were three for a dollar and were attached with jute, and the garden tools were three for a dollar twenty-five and were attached in the same way.  The bird was two dollars and hot glued and then wrapped with raffia to resemble a nest.

I put the Gerbera daisies on stems and hot glued them in the pots and stuffed them with raffia.

There are five or six types of greenery which I had on hand.

I ended up adding the birdhouse which I had purchased last summer for $2 at the dollar store and had stained and changed the roof.  I drilled two holes at the back and attached it with wire.

I am in complete love with this one!

Spray Painted Headboard

 I spray painted my headboard today as the finish was rubbing off, exposing the chrome which was not a good look.  I wanted to change the headboard because I'm really tired of it but I'm not in a position to do that just yet, however, I am loving it a lot more now that it's white.

I was at my ex-husband's house transplanting raspberry bushes yesterday and I confiscated the phone that sits on the bedside table.  I said to him, 'You got rid of your landline, right?' and he said yes.  I said, 'I am taking this phone then.'  and he said 'What do you mean? That was a gift from our son!'  So I said, 'Well, you just regifted it to me then, and our son has great taste.  Consider this my payment for the back breaking labour I just did for you.' 

Anyway, I used Krylon spray paint with primer added, and this paint covers more area than the same paint that doesn't have the primer in it.  I needed three cans for this queen sized bed.

Here is the before, taken soon after I had painted all my bedroom furniture black:

 

Garden Wreath

I made a garden wreath using dollar store greenery and some silk hydrangea, a lutin, and an unidentified purple thingum I had in my stash.  

I recycled the straw wreath form, ripping off the horrid arrangement I put together a decade ago when I wasn't very good at doing this sort of thing.

Lilacs On Display

It's such a travesty that lilacs last such a short time; but I'm exceedingly happy that I'm able to enjoy them while they bloom.  

I have enormous amounts of them in every room and the house smells like Heaven must.

Catfish Pencil Case With Zipped Lip

I was asked to make a catfish case for a little boy, so I adapted the pattern which you can find in this tutorial.  After doing some research, I changed the fins to resemble those of a catfish and added some whiskers using double fishing wire that I wrapped in heavy duty nylon thread.

 For this fish, I cut some thin foam to insert into the fins to give them bit of stiffness.

 

Ruffled Lamp Shade Makeover With Tutorial

I wanted to change these lamp shades to the more up to date drum shape, but I can't find any that are cheap enough. 

I decided to revamp them to tide me over until I find a sale, so I spent a few hours making them look ruffled.

Here's the before:

You can see how I did it after the cut.

Label Your Toiletries To Match

I care a little bit more about packaging than I should. I will buy something mediocre if the packaging is fabulous.  I should work in the packaging industry.

Anyway, I have been wanting to label my toiletries to match ever since I saw a medicine cabinet organization post on Martha Stewart's website. Yes, I am in awe of Martha's attention to detail, I admit it.

So I designed some pretty labels and printed them out on white tissue paper. I simply wrapped a regular sheet of copier paper in tissue, carefully taped it down and fed it through the ink jet printer.  

I removed the labels from white plastic bottles that I washed out and have been saving for this day, then cut out the new labels and carefully glued them down with Mod Podge, and coated the surface with another application of the Mod Podge so that they are water resistant.

All my bottles match! Heaven!