The Flowers and the French Bucket

Okay, I'm back as promised with instructions for a couple of projects.

First, the flower rosettes. I'm sure many of you have seen these before ~ I can't take credit for them. They are quite the addictive little project and oh so easy!

All you have to do is cut out little circles of polyester satin fabric in graduated sizes and then melt them {very carefully} over a candle flame.

I got so excited with this project that I forgot to take photos as I was going along...

I just kept cutting fabric and melting edges

However, you can go here for an excellent step by step tutorial with photos!
Plus, she has lots of other cool projects you can check out as well.

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Now, on to the French bucket!

I did take step by step pics for this one.

I saw this bucket at the Christmas Tree Shop and at $2.99, I couldn't resist. I knew right away what I was going to do with it.

I picked out a font that I liked {Times New Roman} and printed out No.1 {size 180}

Turn your printed number over and on the back of your paper rub a pencil over the area where your number shows through

Now, flip the paper back over and put it where you want it on your bucket. Tape it in place.

Take your pencil and carefully trace your design {it doesn't have to be perfect}

Remove your paper and voila, your image has transferred to your bucket!! Now just get a thin paintbrush and a bottle of black acrylic paint and fill in your design. When you're finished painting, let it dry completely. Then, with a fine grit sandpaper very lightly sand your number to give it a worn appearance. Wipe away the sanding dust and go over the whole bucket with a glaze made of the same black paint and a little bit of water. You can add as little or as much water as you want. I made mine to be the consistency of milk. I took a wet paper towel dipped in the glaze and wiped it over the entire bucket. Right away, I wiped it again with a dry paper towel until I got the look I wanted. The last step was to add a little of the paint{full strength - no water added} to the lip of the bucket and to the edges of the handles. This sort of gives it the appearance of worn enamel.

And there you have it. A new worn, old french bucket.

Enjoy!

Happy Saturday.

xo and God Bless,

Kathleen

A Winner, A French Bucket and Some Cool Rosettes!

Okay, finally I am posting the winner of my giveaway! Please accept my sincerest apology. My intentions were good I promise, I actually did the random number generator first thing this morning but never got around to actually announcing the winner.

All because of this!
Yep, almost a foot of the white stuff. School has been cancelled for the past two days and I haven't been able to get much of anything done.
However, better late than never I guess. Sorry to keep you all in suspense all day.

On to the winner...I used the random number generator to pick a winner and it chose lucky
#36

Yay~~ Kathleen from Faded Charm was the winner!!
Congrats Kathleen!!

Thank you all so much for playing the guessing game with me. It was fun and just about every one of you guessed it correctly. The mystery photo was a bunch of berry baskets all stacked up. I think I'll have to make it harder next time!!

Okay, so as you know, I kept the giveaway prize a secret as well.

Kathleen? You wanna know what you have won???

~ A {fabulously faux} grainsack pillow slipcover hand made by me~

It will fit any standard size pillow

~a couple of those berry baskets~
~a heart shaped, lavender filled rice pillow that can be popped in the microwave to warm it up~
{perfect for snuggling on the couch on these chilly winter nights}
and last but not least
~a cute ruffly bag with a fun handmade rosette~
{which you will see below}
oh, and there is also some yummy hand lotion packed inside a fun little Parisian themed box!
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I apologize that the additional items are not pictured. I will post them soon enough. It's just been a bit hectic and I haven't been able to get them photographed yet.
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Thanks so much everyone for playing! I enjoyed it.
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Kathleen, email me when you get a free minute with your contact info and I will get your goodies right out to you.

Okay, next on the list...the french bucket and the little flowers I had been working on.

Aren't they adorable? And so easy too. I'll add all the details in another post in the next day or two.

and here is the bucket . I will post a full tutorial in the next day or two so stay tuned!

Thanks again everyone for reading and visiting.

xo and God Bless,

Kathleen

Don't Forget!

I was going to show you a French bucket I've been working on, along with another little project I just finished today...but...the day quickly got away from me and it just didn't happen.

Tomorrow??

I think so!

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Don't forget to enter my giveaway here. It ends tomorrow at midnight. I will draw the winner on Thursday!

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xo and God Bless,

Kathleen

Sunday Blessings

" ...for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. Pray then like this:

Our Father who art in heaven,

Hallowed be Thy name.

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread;

And forgive us our debts,

As we have also forgiven our debtors;

And lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from evil."

Amen

Matthew 6:8-13

Color Me Red...

I have decorating issues and they're driving me NUTS!! While I simply love Nordic French/Swedish styles and desperately want that look, I just cannot seem to make it work in our home. It always seems slightly off to me. I keep trying~tweaking things here, rearranging there but it's just not workin' for me. I swoon over these images in magazines, blogs, and books but I can't get comfortable with it in my own house. What's up with that? The funny thing is, no matter how much I love it, I continue to be attracted to bold reds and soft blues! I know, crazy right? I don't get it. So I picked up my copy of French General the other day and loved everything in it so much that I decided to just go with it. Rather than fight my color urges to stay within an all white/grey color scheme throughout the whole house, I've decided to go more French Country/Provincial in the kitchen and adjoining family room. I'll stick with the grey/blue-grey/white color scheme in the bedroom and in my craft room {It works in those rooms and I love it there} I've just decided to mix it up a bit, throw all the decor rules out the window. I still love my grain sacks and my burlap and they look great with my splashes of red and {gasp} black!

So I've redone things a bit. Added some old clay pots in a basket by the french doors awaiting spring

added a red book to the mantel vignette

put some of my favorite books in a galvanized french tub

{notice French General front and center}

made some pillow covers with oversized red checks

black and white toile

and pom pom fringe {seriously fun}

except Abigail keeps trying to bite them off!

Then, I painted some of my frames black and threw them in for good measure!

It feels better in there now. Don't worry, I still love me some burlap and grain sacks and my new {old} bench is right there in the mix too. This is just working better for now.

Have a great day everyone.

xo and God Bless,

Kathleen

Sunday Blessings

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!

Psalm 133:1

The Tale of an Old Bench

My son comes home from school. " Oh no! I forgot my spelling book." He says.

"Okay everybody, into the car. We have to go back to school." I say.

This is how the story begins...

We're driving along and I spy this {pictured above} peeking out from under someone's trash (furniture trash, not smelly, stinky garbage trash)

Anyway, I tell everybody, "Hold on. We're stopping. I have to get this." I park and get out, and see a sign that says FREE. It's my lucky day. I know I can doing something good with this. As I'm pulling it out, school buses are passing with drivers I know. Neighbors drive by and they wave at me. Oh my goodness...they must think that I've officially lost my mind. I can hear the whispers....did you see her? She was pulling something out of the garbage!!

But this is cool...and besides...it's not really garbage is it?

I mean, look at these legs? It's perfect!!

I'm imagining a sweet little step-up bench to Abigail's big girl bed one day. That's a few years away I realize, but hey I'm thinking ahead.
Okay, back to the story. So I grab it and haul it to the car.

Husband sees it the next day and gives me the oh my...just what are you going to do with that look.

Just wait, I say...I've got great plans for this baby!

so I start sewing

and then I pay a visit to The Graphics Fairy


and suddenly, the perfect bench is born!
Oh, and husband said to me last night...
"You know, I really like that bench."
SMiLe.
LoVe.
End of story.
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Have a wonderful weekend everybody and thank you for entering my giveaway!
If you haven't entered yet, you may still do so by clicking here.
~~~~~
xo and God Bless,
Kathleen

I'm linking up with My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday

and Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday