Peanut & Purls & Lisa Frank oil paints take 2

A couple of months back I started my Lisa Frank oil paint collage to hang somewhere in my new house. The first sticker to paint was the dolphin. I always loved that dolphin. Well since then I added a shark and some cats in a sneaker.

Make: Spray painted cockatoo

For whatever reason I have a couple large cockatoo ceramic statues. I love as is, the other I have never really taken a strong liking, and since I never shy away from painting some glazed ceramics I decided to take a shot and go for it once again. 

(Do you love the bottlebrush trees? They were a second Christmas gift from Christine--she bleached and dyed them herself. I think they're swell.)

Here is my adventure in spray painting another ceramic piece...

DIY: Trash into Treasure

I finished my little ombré trash necklace this week. Wait. What?  Yes, I said trash. Here's the scoop: I'm calling it a trash necklace because the ombré bits are actually made from trash. OK, that might not require the extensive explanation I had planned. Still, when I say trash, I'm not talking about trash I dug out of the dump pile exactly (though that'd be pretty excellent, too)...this is actually something I'd previously tossed without a thought. And then one fateful day, I started wondering if maybe I could find a use for this particular bit of refuse. Turns out, I could. Without further ado, I give you the secret of the ombré trash necklace...

paint-by-number love

nightstand

OK, I realize that paint-by-numbers now carry some hipster stigma, but I still love them. I have several paint-by-numbers on display in my apartment, and even though they contribute heftily to my kitschy, cluttered, Victorian-era spinster aunt vibe, I refuse to remove them from their places of honor. All that being said, these paint-by-numbers have been perfectly integrated into a clean and modern design. No spinster aunts here, just quirky and bright conversation pieces. 

Who is the architect of these fine paint-by-number transformations? Janet Lee, author of Living in a Nutshell. Her new book is dedicated entirely to occupying, decorating, and thriving in small spaces. Don't mind if I do, Ms. Lee. 

sconce

Golden corgi

Nicholas' birthday was towards the end of July and because he loves corgis so much, I decided to make a special topper for his birthday key lime pie. I didn't just stop at a corgi topper. I went ahead and made toppers out of the whole wild kingdom. Take a look and maybe you'll be inspired to make your own gilded toppers. If you are so inspired, I included an easy-to-follow tutorial.

Started with a corgi figure that I bought at Michael's

Amanita kaleidoscope

I found these bizarrely yellow and green mushroom kaleidoscopes at Target last Christmas. I do believe
they were a dollar. Monika was there, so she can vouch. Not too shabby, except the color is, like I said,
bizarre. I acknowledge that mushrooms come in all sorts of colors, but these just looked like barf to me.
No, thank you. So, I decided to get out my paints and make these mushrooms look a bit more appealing. 

More stamping!

These aren't as amazing as Christine's DIY eraser stamps, but they're only $1.50 at Michaels.

Beads + paint = necklace!

Beads and chain

Plus paint...

Equals cute little necklace.

Even better--Peanut approves!

Wolf on the Wall.

First and foremost, let me apologize for the blue tint to these first couple pictures. I didn't realize Ben had changed the settings on the camera. Whoops. 

This is my Wolf on the Wall project. The name came about when Ben and I walked up the street to where all the food trucks hang out in Burbank. As we waited in line, we peered into the antique shop behind us and saw a picture of a wolf on the wall. For some reason that turned in to the thing to say, and this project was born...

One was pink and the other gold.

I decided I was done with these gold "hecho in mexico" frames I'd purchased at estate sales over the years. They needed something new and fresh done to them, so I thought....spray paint. I have 2 different frames like this, but one is a little bit more ornate. They both worked out well. I also printed new pictures from last fall's vacation to Iceland/Copenhagen/Stockholm.

 The before shots.

One was pink, the other a blue/gray. 

 Best to do this part outside.

 Spray the shit out of the frame.

This is the first frame I did. After it was all dry (about 30 minutes), I brought it inside.

You'll notice that this frame has a natural border on the inside. This is made up of some weird canvas material. I thought it was the perfect place to put an accent color. I dug out my acrylic paints, and decided to mix white and orange and paint the border a light orange. Fact: It took a long time to paint the orange stripe and it was tedious!

I'll be honest, at first, I didn't love it, but it really has grown on me.
It adds a bright pop to the room and definitely updates the frame.

The colors seem to compliment the nice scene of one of the many harbor streets we saw in Copenhagen.

Monika vs. the Volcano

I was a Mountain for Halloween. I did a lot of ranting about pyroclastic flows and Plinian eruptions (while constructing my costume I was watching documentaries on Mt. Vesuvius...and the X-Files...and Doctor Who).

I will take you through how I created the look.

Green Meadow Skirt:

Basically I started with a white dress--this one was purchased at a local thrift store. With its fitted corset top and the pleating which created a bell, it made an ideal mountain-esque shape.

To get the background color for the lower altitude meadows I used a basic RIT dye powder pack. Because I only wanted the bottom of the dress dyed and the top to remain white (for the snow cap) I used the boiling water stove top method. I twisted the bottom of the dress and submerged it for a short period so it took a moderate amount of color, wringed out the excess water, and laid it on a dark towel to air dry.

Once it was dry, I used some basic fabric paints to create texture and give the impression that there were various flora scattered about. I just used a small and medium sized brush to dab on the different colors, overlapping and fading as desired.

Yarn from Paulanna at Pergolina. Thanks, Paulanna!

To give it some actual texture, I sewed feathery green yarn sporadically throughout the skirt,

creating patches of tall grass.

These patches were accompanied by small red and yellow flowers which I embroidered.

And after I added my flora I made sure to strategically place a little fauna.

 Sweet little stag.

Huzzah!

Icy Terrain:

For the base of my snow cap I used cornflower blue fabric paint and added contour coloring and texture. I also added some little silk flags for a tiny skier to have a fun downhill slalom. I hand sewed these with a little embroidery thread and used a black fine tipped marker to draw the flag posts.

Fun Fact: the peach silk flag (fabric purchased at a garage sale) was actually the same fabric used as the lining in Natalie Portman's dress from the tornado scene of Where the Heart Is.

I also made a bird necklace from miniature doves and wire. You always need to accessorize!

Snow Cap:

I was going to be more of a Mt. Saint Helens and have a cloud headpiece, but then I decided to go with an actual peak so that my costume was a little more discernible, more Mt. Rainier. Luckily, I had some household items to fashion it out of: a white microwavable leftover bag, thin black head band and cornflower blue paint (leftover from above).

I know the microwavable leftover bag seems a bit odd, but it just happened to be on my table. Free from any food stains, I figured it was worth a try to use it to construct the spire, and lucky for me the silver thermal lining gave the paper more memory when I molded it and it stayed in place without any adhesive or rigging. Basically, all I had to do was twist and shape. I used the paint to create some color and contour shading and fastened the head band underneath.

Brrr.

Not a super-long project, maybe a total of five hours all together. But I love it and will always keep my dream of finding a bunch of ladies to form a mountain range with me...

Me and Crisp (aka Olive)

Need a few other DIY costume ideas? Why not go as a snazzy skeleton, a fantastic fox, or Jon Snow and Ghost?

Yo-Yo, best check it out.

Okay so I was strolling around a craft store last month and found some lovely little wooden yo-yos.

 I was naturally drawn to them on account of the wood and the possibilities.

So I purchased three (for three sisters) and knew right away what I wanted to do.

all natural.

acrylic arsenal.

I wanted to use primary colors, I have really been attracted to them lately,
maybe because of their simplicity.

blood has been shed.

Even though I really probably shouldn't have, I painted a base of egg shell on two
of the three yo-yos. I left the third without to mix it up a bit.

the plan has been drawn out.

The designs I choose were also, like the colors, basic.

I went with a triangle, pentagon and some other quadrilateral.

reviewed and fortified.

 I used a flat angled brush to paint in the shapes, I put on several coats to get the colors extra rich.

victory!