I knew that I  needed one of these signs for my freshly de-80'd kitchen but between the price and the cost of shipping (almost $80.00) I knew I could make one much cheaper myself. So... I did. I mean WE did. I used a font I liked and printed it, made a pattern, and DH cut it out for me. I could have (I had many more woodworking tools when we met than he did) but he is darn good with a jig saw. I would have liked to make this out of pine, but we had a piece of MDF left after the kitchen reno, so we used that. I primed, painted it my island colour (actually not near as periwinkle as it looks here), then again with turquoise craft paint and sanded. Still not quite right so I dry brushed on ivory and white. Then sanded. My EAT sign; total cost: FREE! I'm still working on my nook. I've got finishing to do on the three pane window, still not sure about the placement of the hanging mason jar (the jar holder was my husband's great grandmother&#...
Miss M practicing piano last night in full witch regalia. Boo. ...
Crafting and decorating for Halloween has become Miss M and my most anticipated holiday fun of the year. The making of labels and collecting of jars and potion ingredients started in September. These labels are free to download at  Love Manor Labels   I spiced up Miss M's fall photo in  Picnik  and the frame came from one of my fav' thrift stores for $1.00, as did all of the black Halloween pic frames. I think the skull art frame may have been $1.99. I really went crazy there. :) Our mini schnauzer Max was only too happy to contribute to the wearwolf fur jar. We dried the huge mushrooms that sprouted in the back yard this rainy August for our Toadstool Clippings. We will add to these next year and I think I will pick a higher perch to display them so that they are easier to read. The skull and halloween bug graphics are from the wonderful and generous  Graphics Fairy . The brain specimen and jar came from the dollar store @ $1.00 CDN each.  The label i...
My 2010 version of Country Living's Paranormal Portraits is much sturdier than last year's attempt. I followed the instructions in the link (except I gave my family photos a sepia tint and printed on photo paper, skipping the black wash step). The frames are thrift store bargains sprayed black. Keeping everything together was interesting; I used 1/2 a roll of duct tape and you still had to tip toe when walking by them so the lights didn't pop out. For the NEW & IMPROVED method, put the frame backs on and take a pencil and carefully draw little circles through the holes you made for the eyes. Take care that your original holes are not too big, but just fit the lights. I used a scrapbooking punch to poke out perfectly round holes (no frayed edges). Anyway, draw through so that the frame back has the little circles on it. Find a drill bit a smidgen smaller than the light hole size and drill right through the frame back. You may have to take off the easel and then repla...
Thank you for peeking. I feel like I'm wading in ice cold water on slippery rocks! With so much amazing inspiration out in blogland I wanted to be able to share and take part in the fun so I've taken the blog plunge. I'm wearing one of those puffy old orange life preservers while scratching and clawing at buttons. The 2009 fall issue of Country Living featured instructions for these Paranormal Portraits . I've made some adjustments to the backs this year (which I will share later with more photos) and they are much sturdier. Not to mention fun, especially when each one of them is a family member!...