Friday, June 18, 2010

Mason Jar lid wreath


When we moved into our house a little over a year ago, I discovered that the previous owners had a tremendous collection of Mason Jars. I think at one time, I counted over 100. Why they had all of these jars, I have NO idea but lucky for me, I LOVE mason jars. They have so many uses.

You can use them for your favorite fruit jam ....or you can use them for tea light holders like we recently did at the last two wedding receptions we had in our back yard,





Or you can use the lids to make a fun Fourth of July wreath.....




I started this project by looking through my stash of mason jar lids and washing them. I quickly realized that I was going to need more lids, so I went to Walmart and picked up a few more boxes of bands.


Spray paint is such a quick inexpensive way to add color to things....



Once all the lids were painted and dry, I sprayed them with a outdoor sealant to help them not fade in this blazing heat...YUCK!!

Then, it was time to hang them. This was a process that I thought would be easy! I thought wrong. I tried several different ways to make my wreath a "round" wreath. first I tried a hanger
Nope, that didn't work...it kept flipping inward and looked weird. I took a stroll through the hardware dept at Home Depot and still wasn't inspired by anything there. Then while I was at Goodwill on dollar day, I stumbled upon these....



They are the hoops used for embroidery. I was hoping one of these two sizes would work. And tah dah....It WORKED.

....



I think this wreath is the perfect addition to my front door 4Th of July display.




Thanks for stopping by,

Kris

To paint or NOT to paint

I wanted to start by saying "Thank You" to those of you who offered your opinion on whether or not I should paint anything more onto my table.


As of right now, I have decided to NOT paint anything else on it. But I have however decided to jazz up something else.

A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon another wonderful thrift store over in Chandler and found this table.



It was listed for $10, but I asked the guy working if he would take $5. He said, "Oh sure, you look like a nice lady"....wow, what a deal I thought. I must need to put make up on more often! :-) Anyway, I loaded her up and brought it home and added to my growing pile of furniture in the garage. Yes, yes Scott has told me that I cant buy anything else until some of it is gone, but when you find a "treasure" as I call them, you must jump on it....you wouldn't want someone else to get "your" find!!
I loved the curves on this table. I thought it was really unique, well maybe not unique, but different. Anyway, I had seen in a magazine recently a room that was painted a slate gray color and had some bright yellow accent pieces. I thought, hmmm...maybe I can decorate my craft room like that. So I bought some "Summer Squash" spray paint.....Oh my goodness! I guess I'm just not ready for that kind of a statement just yet. I will stick to the summer squash in my garden.



I went with my old stand by of Semi-gloss black.



But this time I DID decide to paint something else on it. I cut out a design on my cricut and laid it over the dry paint. Then I sprayed on a layer of Satin "heirloom white" and then once that was dry I took some "Burnt Umber" acrylic paint and watered it down a bit and then lightly ran a rag across the paint to add a little color. I rubbed off the excess. Once it was dry, I sanded it slightly to add a little extra "aged" look.




I love this table. I think the extra little detail of the paint adds a little touch of surprise. Maybe one of these days I will get up enough nerve to actually paint something "Summer Squash" but until then, I will continue to LOVE my semi-gloss black.



Thanks for stopping by,

Kris

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Closet doors get a new life

I am often asked, "Where do you get your ideas?" Well, sometimes I steal, oops I mean borrow them from other people and sometimes I just let the people, places and things around me inspire me. Take my closet doors for example.



I found these metal closet doors at a local salvage yard in Mesa, they were $10 a piece. I probably could have found them at Goodwill and waited until dollar day to get them, but at the time, I needed them quickly....anyway
I brought them home (I purchased three)and took off the nasty old hardware and washed them off and then sprayed them with "heirloom white"



Why do I need these you ask? Well, let me tell you! Recently we have had two different wedding receptions in our backyard. And me being the perfectionist I am needed something to cover a huge brick wall that was going to be the backdrop to the cake tables. I couldn't think of what to use....until I discovered the metal doors at the salvage yard. I went there thinking I could find something to make a divider screen, but the lattice and wood was too expensive. "Aah, ha" I said to Jackson while he looked up at me from his car seat,
"I can use these, I will make them into giant magnet photo boards." AWESOME!!! I'm sure Jackson was equally excited!! Anyway.....

So, after I painted them...I dashed up to Home Depot to find some new hardware for them. I needed something "fancy" this was for a wedding after all. And guess what I found in the clearance section? Three glass knobs! NICE, I was able to pick up some super nice, really heavy glass knobs for $6.00 a piece. I know this may seem like a lot, but really if you could see them and feel them you would understand. :-)

Onto the magnets....I needed to make "pretty" magnets to hold the pictures. I went to Michael's and searched through their clearance jewelry bins and found lots of pieces that I attached a magnet to the back of and....
Aren't they cute? I thought so.

I think they were a perfect addition to the wedding reception. It allowed the bride and groom to display some candid pictures of themselves and also created a unique backdrop to the cake table.


I love to walk up and down the isles at stores. Especially thrift stores. I love to take something weird, odd, "unknown" and see what I can do with it. That's the best part about thrifting and re-furbishing...seeing beyond what something looks like now, but what it COULD look like later.

Happy Thrifting,

Kris

Balloon Wreath

I don't know about your house, but at my house birthdays are a HUGE deal. We celebrate from the minute we wake up to the minute we go to bed. It starts with a yummy breakfast favorite of chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream, sprinkles and a cherry on top. Served on the "special plate" and then I take the birthday kid out for lunch at their favorite place and for dinner that night, they get to pick what I make.

I'm not exactly sure how this tradition got started, but I am always trying to come up with new ways to make each birthday fun. I obviously LOVE to decorate and so when I stumbled onto a really fun website with all kinds of birthday ideas, I was immediately inspired to put all the extra balloons laying around the house to use.
>
I created this birthday wreath. Isn't it too cute? I had seen something similar on a few different websites and magazines, but wasn't thrilled with their final product. So, after several attempts...this is what I came up with. Below are the steps to put together your own birthday wreath.


First...find one of these
FloraCraft Straw Wreath 12" Clear Wrap Product Detail
I found mine at Goodwill on dollar day, but you can also find them at Michael's, Joann's and Hobby Lobby. But I can almost guarantee that you will find one at the thrift store.

Second...Get some floral pins at the craft store. Actually I think even Wal-mart carries them. Depending on the size of the wreath you are making, you will need approx #150 pins.

Third...balloons, you needs lots and lots of balloons. I used three bags of #72 (I think) not totally sure of the exact amount, but it seemed like a million, you will want to use the 12" balloons. I got mine at Party City, but Wal-Mart has balloons as well.



Fourth....Start sticking the balloons on the wreath. You will want to put the pin around the balloon, NOT thru it. Just keep going around the wreath until you are happy with the way it looks. Have fun, be creative...you CANT mess this up. Once you are happy with the way it looks, wrap a piece of ribbon around the top and tie a bow and you now have a wonderful new addition to your birthday parties.


Thanks for stopping by,
Happy Birthday

Kris

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

New Blog Name and Table Re-do

OK, well you might have noticed that I have changed the name of my blog. Apparently there is another "Kris's Korner" out in blogland and it was becoming a bit confusing, so...WELCOME to "Urban Barnyard", my little farm in the city. Isn't it cute?? I thought so, my little Bro Andrew actually came up with it...Thanks Googie. So, it should be easier to become a follower if you ha vent already.

OK, enough of the boring stuff, lets get on with the fun things....my new love (sorry honey..)

I must say that I have been a little busy and haven't had as much time to work on my furniture re-do's that I LOVE so much. Scott has cut me off from buying anything new until I get some projects finished.

I am happy to report that over the weekend, I finished several and actually SOLD a few pieces on Craig's List. SCORE, more $ to buy treasures and now more room to store them...YEAH!!!

OK, this table is causing me MAJOR stress. I loved it when I found it at Goodwill. I bought it at 50% off, so it cost me $30. WAY MORE than I would usually pay, but I loved how cute and round it was. (hee hee) Of course like every other thing I buy, I had BIG plans for it and my trusty can of spray paint. But...there is something about this table that I just cant leave alone. Hmmm.....
While I try and figure it out, I'll show you pics of what I've done to it so far.


Of course, I sanded it, tightened all the loose bolts and then....you guessed it, painted it with semi-gloss black. Then I sanded it again, painted it AGAIN....and sprayed a coat of sealer on it.
I had thought I would be done with it, and post it on Craig's List. Actually I did post it on Craig's List, but I am having this overwhelming desire to do MORE. I feel like something is missing.

Take a look and tell me what you think?? I think I am going to do a little bit more painting and maybe add a decorative touch to the top. Hmmm? (I'm sitting with my finger on my chin, like one of those thinker guys)
Well, for now it sits and waits for inspiration to hit me....hopefully it will be sooner than later.
Hope you have a great day and thanks for stopping by,

Kris

Monday, June 7, 2010

Starting this CRAZY thing!

OK, so many of my friends have suggested that I start a daily blog. I'm really not sure yet if they understand that by doing so,they have unleashed a MONSTER!!! Just kidding. Seriously though, I enjoy writing and I plan to journal my crazy life, my adventures at the thrift store and the many treasures I find at yard sales. I also plan to keep you up to date on my latest home improvement projects and post pictures of the "before" and "after". I'm not sure how often I will get around to posting, but I hope you will enjoy reading!