Favorite Spots Friday and an Award

Old books...........inspired my my friend Protege, who recently told the compelling story of a favorite book from her childhood.

Ever since reading her post the other day my eyes have been drawn again and again up to this little spot in our home office. When my husband designed and built our office, he made me built in bookshelves. Just above my desk he left some open shelves and wall papered them with hand made paper he found at a local design store. (I know, he spoils me!) I wanted to put something special on the open shelves to be seen. I have been collecting very old books over the years. They are beautiful,...they speak to me. Their tattered bindings and browned, aged paper tells a story beyond what is written in their pages. Today's favorite spot is this little top shelf in the corner of the office that holds some of my oldest treasures.

My two favorites out of the collection are this old photo album that was a gift from a dear friend, and an old L.D.S. Hymn book. The photo album is on it's last legs. The binding has fallen off and it is missing a clasp. The pages are worn and ripped, and it is just beautiful.

It probably belongs in a museum. There are even some old photos in it. I truly wish I knew who they belonged to. What a priceless piece of some body's family history.The Hymn book is dear to me because it is of my same faith. It was published in 1840, it is missing pages, and I would no more toss it out then a family heirloom or a precious gem.The pages are soo yellowed with age and I think that just adds to its ambiance.I think that antique books can make some of the best accent decor in a home.

An Award from Julie!!! Thankyou Julie!!!

I am supposed to list six things that I love and then pass the award on to some others. This is going to be a frivolous list of guilty pleasures. ( Just let it be a given that I love my family, my religion, and my country.)

1. I LOVE "Greys Anatomy", a little too much.

2. I Love, Love, Love hot fudge sundaes. (especially after midnight)

3. Beautiful images, and to surround my self with art and lovely home decor.

4. Going out to dinner, especially with my husband.

5. The feel of clean sheets.

6. Diet Coke!!! :):):)

I Tag Meg, Ms. Tee, and Valarie.

Just "felt" like it!!

Last night my 4 year old and I couldn't sleep. So at 11:00 pm we decided to go downstairs and 'craft'. I will not be receiving a "responsible parent of the year" award any time soon. (Especially seeing as how today we are both tired and grumpy.) But,...hearing her squeals of delight last night as I brought out the felt and scissors made it all worth it!!

Felt is my new best friend. It's inexpensive, it's colorful, and it doesn't fray. I think I am going to see how many felt projects I can pull off before the holidays just for the fun of it. So while my daughter made an adorable felt hot dog and 'funny man', I made these.... felt flower pins and barrettes. They were so simple. I free handed them all. Just cut and stack, and stack some more, and if you don't like it,...try again. Think of the cute projects that you could make if you actually used some templates, or a pattern and put some effort into it! :)

I secured a few with a big cris-cross stitch in the middle, and the others with a giant cloth scrap- booking brad. On the back I hot glued either a clip, or a large safety pin. Sooo fun!

They look too cute on my purse,..........

on my daughter (this is her favorite one, huge surprise),............

In my hair,..................

and on my other daughter!!! HAPPY CRAFTING!!!

Shiny Baubles........

It has been a jewelry making Monday!!

Actually, it has been many days of jewelry making to be much more accurate.

I love having a blog to vent my creative energies,...but one can only vent so much before their home becomes a warehouse for an overload of creative clutter. So, my question to all of my bloggy friends out there is....Just how much work is an Etsy shop??

Favorite Spots Friday

"0 Gravity"...Acrylic and Sharpie on canvas.

My youngest son painted this when he was 8 years old and I fell in love with it. I don't know whether it was his use of colors and shapes, or his movement and expression, or the entire composition. I just love it! Well, we finally got it framed and mounted on the 'kids wall if art' in our home office. So,...as I am sure you can guess.........the wall of art is today's favorite spot.

Kids art speaks to me because it is so uninhibited, free, and fresh. I think that it makes some of the best decor in a home.

Thanksgiving Decor

I really love Thanksgiving! I love what the holiday stands for, the fall colors of the decor, and the feel of this time of year. I love everything about it, but I think it gets ignored in the commercial scheme of things. I am partially pleased by that because all that Thanksgiving embodies is about love and hope, blessings and gratitude, family and spirituality, soo not commercial. But,...the nesting part of me likes to decorate for every holiday, and lets face it , cute Thanksgiving decor can be hard to come by. I stumbled upon this fantastic blog the Graphics Fairy. She has all kinds of free vintage images that you can download, printout, and stare at all day. Shaazam!!! I found this particularly fabulous little gem. What great Thanksgiving sheet music.

I used it for a project that was virtually free. Dug up an old frame that had lost it's glass and painted it white. (Love white frames because they make the color of the piece, and the wall color behind it pop.) Now I am thinking this one would have been better suited in a dark mahogany frame. I may have to repaint, but you get the idea. Used a couple sheets of scrapbook paper that I already had lying around to mat the music, tore and pasted the music, and THAT WAS IT!! I love a happy ending.

Cork/ Magnet Board

I needed idea storage. Most people are probably thinking "Isn't that what your brain is for?'! Well, not mine. I don't know whether it was having 4 kids, or drinking too much diet Coke, but my brain doesn't work that way. Sure I can put the ideas in there, but retrieving them is a whole other story. :) I wanted a cork board,....and I wanted a magnet board,....but I didn't want two separate items. So I decided to create one. This was such a simple and fun project.

I bought a frame at Michaels for 50% off. I actually prefer to find frames at thrift stores or garage sales and paint them, but this one wanted to come home with me, so it worked out well. I bought some sheet metal at Home Depot and cut it with wire snips to fit my 16x20 frame. I bought a four pack of 12x12 cork pieces at Walmart for about $5.- (who knew??) I found one of my favorite pieces of scrap paper (just to spice it up), and got busy.

I used Tacky Glue to adhere the scrap paper to the sheet metal. I like to use a paint brush to smooth the glue out for a better finished product.

I trimmed the cork board about an inch all of the way around with a straight edge and a utility knife, so that the paper would provide a border. Then I used Tacky Glue to adhere the cork board to the paper.

I weighed it down and gave it a while to dry. (No mystery what my favorite magazine is, eh?)

When the husbands away the wife will play.:) I hunted down the hubby's hammer and used my super cute, tiny nails to fasten the sheet metal into the frame. Tip...if you can't hold the tiny nail and not hit your finger with the hammer then use some pliers to hold the nail.

I hung it in my favorite spot in the office and pinned up some of my crafty ideas. I am so excited that I won't have to dig my ideas out of a box any more. Or even scarier,... try to find them in the file folders of my brain. ;)

HAPPY CRAFTING!!!

 

I am going to link this to Frugal Friday at the Shabby Nest.

 

xoxox -Holls