VINTAGE DECAL JARS

Yesterday I shared some old bird decals that I recently thrifted. While tidying up the apartment, I found these vintage-style jars that I got at Target, and I though hey were perfect for this. It's always a little daunting to use something, like these decals, that you might completely ruin and have no way of getting more of. But I went for it. And luckily they weren't that hard to put on. love how they came out. 

I have this one cardinal left - any ideas what I should put him on?

BEFORE AND AFTER: SHOE SHINE BOX

This old wooden shoe shine box caught my eye at a thrift store because it said "Rise and Shine" in those stylin black letters. Good lettering always gets me. The box was kind of dirty and a little beat up. With a good clean, sanding, paint, and Mod Podge love, it's now my new favorite little bit of craft storage! So here's the gritty before:

Not the worst. The shape and style were so cool, so I knew it could really pop.

I used some golden yellow craft paint, a touch of black paint for the knob, snippets of text from an old Life magazine, and lots of Mod Podge. I love it!

And in action:

Making over things I find while thrifting is one of my favorite crafty things to do. There's so much potential everywhere if you think about how you can change something. Have you made-over any thrifty find recently?

MY ETCHED DRINKING GLASSES

I recently went to a craft meet up and etched two small drinking glasses. I was so excited to find a new process that's overall pretty quick and painless - and with such neat and polished results. Since that, I've etched the other two small glasses in the set (a perfect little gift!) and found three tumblers that were perfect for some retro-inspired etching. Take a look!

I had so much fun making these! All I used was blue painter's tape, a paintbrush, and my little jar of etching cream. The designs were simple - just thin strips of tape placed in different arrangements. I love the simple, geometric style these had in the end. 

A personalized set of little glasses make such a sweet little gift for someone. I made this set for Douglas.  I used stencils I made out of adhesive vinyl and some vinyl letter stickers I had. 

Glass etching has so much potential for making some really cool stuff. Think of all the glassware in thrift stores! All of the glasses I used here came from Goodwill. So many good tips and tutorials for etching glass can be found  around the web and through Pinterest - a perfect way to perfect your method. I cant wait to do more. If anyone has any experience with etching glass, let me know what you've done!

BLESS OUR HOUSE

I have so many ideas for projects that I never end up doing. They just pile up on list after list. This year I want to try to complete a project a week, something just for fun that will decorate our home, turn into something useful, or help me develop a skill or two. The first project I chose is one I wanted to do ever since I first heard the song Sadie by Joanna Newsom. It's one of my favorite songs, and I love this lyric. So this past weekend I sketched a design and finally embroidered it! To finish it, I painted the hoop blue with small pink and green dots.

I'm so happy with how it turned out. I've always loved anything to do with arrows. Be on the lookout for my weekly projects!