I’m not going to lie. There was a time in my life when I wondered why in the world anybody would hang a plate on a wall. I mean, aren’t you supposed to eat off a plate or serve mini pigs in a blanket on it or use it as a candle holder? But hang on a wall…it always seemed a little strange to me. Until I started a blog.
Then I began to see lots of people, mostly women I think, hang plates. The installation, that’s what I’m calling it (sounds more artsy fartsy that way), often looks really nice. Whether its a symmetrical appealing installation, or a cloud-like mishmash or plates, I kinda like it. I’m feelin’ it now. Yeah. I like plates on walls. I’m a convert.
Exhibit A:
Guess what? I made the plate hangers myself! Martha taught me. You know, Stewart. I did it just like she said.
All you need is 18-gauge wire, wire cutters, and needle-nose pliers. Making them myself was much cheaper than buying ready-made plate hangers. Those brassy things retail for over $3! Each. I just spent a few bucks on wire and made six hangers. Plus I have a ton of wire left…for some other random project that I’ll nuture and care for and then send off to college.
Yes. That’s a flower petal waterfall, if you will, flowing down my shoulder. Cheri, from It’s So Very Cheri, twisted my arm and convinced me to make one. You may have seen something like this before. Say, J Crew maybe? Or on other blogs. This my my version.
I bought an organic cotton scoop neck tee from Wally World for $5. Then I found an old tee in my closet that would make perfectly aqua cascading prettiness on the plain black tee.
Next, I cut a bunch of roundish flower blob-like shapes out of the aqua tee. Cut through both layers to minimize cutting time.
Mix and match petals (I sewed two, stacked, at a time). Sew onto shirt. I placed them in a cascade starting on the left shoulder of the shirt. You can either hand sew or machine stich the petals onto the shirt. I did it by hand.
Then I asked Dameian how it looked.
Dameian: “I don’t know, is that what it’s supposed to look like?”
Me: loud dramatic sigh, “Yes.”
Dameian: “Yeah, it looks good.”
Hopefully the petals will stay on through a wash cycle. Once I run it through the drier, the petals should curl slightly and be a bit more fluffy.
This is my everyday look. Glasses, bangs clipped to the side, black tee, jeans, no makeup.
Here’s a quick and easy way to reuse an old jar.
Yes, I have a gazillion empty glass jars in my pantry. I’m basically like the “Cat Lady” of glass jars. I keep taking them in. Dameian finally put his foot down and said, “Enough already!” So now I’m trying to find other uses for them. Meet my new pen holder. Ain’t she cute.
All I did was take off the label of the formerly known as Tostitos Salsa jar, measure around, cut scrapbook paper to size, glued on. Simple!
There’s another photo of the jar in my last post about my new burlap-covered corkboard.
My craft project collection groweth to ginormous proportions and has taken over my dining table. Apparently, this has been causing Dameian much anxiety. Lucky for me, Dameian decided he wanted to eat dinner at the table again, so he bought me a folding table from Costco to place in my office. Now I just have to get organized. To start, I’m streamlining my desk space with some new accessories.
First is a new cork board. It used to be kind of sorry looking, but for only $1.99, I knew I could fancy it up.
Here it is after a coat of Heirloom White and covered with burlap. Everyone’s doing it you know. The burlap thing.
I printed out the word “treasure” (since I plan on tacking little bits of inspiration to the board) and placed it under the burlap. The burlap is loosely woven, so you can pretty much see through it. Then I traced the word and painted it with white acrylic paint.
*Note: Please do not use a pen to trace your word. The ink will seep right through the paint and you’ll have to apply way too many layers past the point of sanity.
Wrap the burlap around the cork board and staple it on the back. Throw, or gently place, it in your frame and admire.
You can even glue pretty shell beads onto thumb tacks just like I did. It’s easy.
Come back tomorrow for a recycled jar project.
Hummus Special
A generous portion of hummus drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled with cayenne pepper, with lightly toasted pita triangles and kalamata olives. Served with sliced apples and two cheeses, Gouda and Swiss.
I could eat this every day.
Foodie Friday
