Procrastination

Happy New Year from Maine! I haven't posted for almost two months and I apologize to my few, but loyal, blog friends. I love to write, take photos, decorate, or go on adventures and blog about them and I've missed doing it. I promise to do better in 2019!

Winter has arrived here in coastal Maine but it has been mild so far. This is our street; across from it is beautiful Casco Bay, which leads to the Atlantic Ocean near Portland (the "other" Portland!)

With my stair project done, you'd think I would have taken a break but . . . you'd be wrong. The stairs came out so good sans wall-to-wall carpet that I plowed right ahead and started on the second floor, which houses my craft room, our master suite, and a second-floor laundry.

Which required squeezing every bit of furniture, clothing, and decor into the laundry room and bathroom while we worked on the floors. What a mess!

Here is a "before"picture of our master before the icky old aqua carpet was removed. 

We replaced it with red oak flooring. It was quite a learning process for me as there are so many new flooring products on the market today. I had no idea about the virtues of vinyl planks vs. engineered hardwood vs. laminate and so on.  After lots of research and speaking with helpful professionals,  we chose red oak engineered hardwood to compliment the floors downstairs.

We did have the flooring professionally installed and it looks beautiful. What a change!

 Here it is in my craft room, one side . . . 

And the other.

When  the floors were done, I decided to add some curtains to the craft room. I love how "boho" and unexpected these are, with their mix of colors and textures.

And since I've been reading at my craft table (and I LOVE to read), I treated myself to my very own reading corner in the newly-floored craft room. I had the lamp, bought a little C-table at Home Goods for my books, and ordered the chaise from Wayfair.  FYI: This was my first purchase from Wayfair and I couldn't be more pleased; they sent free fabric samples when I was deciding on the fabric and shipping was free and fast. If you've never seen my craft room, here's a link to a post I did about it. I spend most of my time in this room!

By the time the second floor was back together, it was Thanksgiving. Literally. I love these little bottle-brush turkey place card holders I found at Home Goods. Only $1.99 each. I gave them to my sister as a hostess gift on Thanksgiving Day. Heck, she was doing the cooking this year!

We  had barely finished all the Thanksgiving leftovers when the Christmas season got started. The first two weekends in December are "Christmas Prelude" in Kennebunkport , a great time for Christmas shopping, fireworks, and catching up with old friends.

Speaking of Kennebunkport, I have to acknowledge the passing of President Bush #41. He will be missed by all of us who he considered his neighbors. I am a liberal Democrat but knew him to be an exceptionally honest and caring man. He will be missed.

And then it was Christmas . . . .

I spent all my time making Christmas gifts and not enough of it working on my blog. 

I love this stamp. I had it made at Staples and use it to make my own gift tags, gift bags, gift wrap and Christmas cards on plain brown paper. Simple to wrap or embellish with plain old garden twine.

I found these vintage Bingo cards at an antique shop in North Carolina last March. 

With some cut and paste and a little ribbon, they made tree ornaments, a holiday banner for our fireplace, and Christmas cards for special friends.

I posted Tips for Stenciling Flour Sack Towels in August and, between then and December 25th, completed 46 (OMG!) of them to give as Christmas gifts. I found images I liked on the Internet and cut my own stencils on Mylar using an Exacto knife. 

                    The Kitchenaide mixer stencil took awhile to cut out but it's my favorite.

                                      Whew! No wonder I didn't have time left to blog!

             And then there were the driftwood Christmas trees to finish . . . 

Homemade Maine Christmas folk art with driftwood collected in Searsport, Maine.

But on Christmas morning, all of the preparation was worth it.

After Christmas Day, a walk on Wells Beach was exactly what was needed to center myself again.

For the New Year, I decided to go crazy and cut off all my hair. Really!

Here we are before; halfway before anyway . . . 

And after. 

Short, sassy, and oh so easy!

And, ever the optimist, I rejoined Weight Watchers AND Planet Fitness for 2019. 

Hope springs eternal!

Last weekend, we had a great day outdoors at the farm of our friends Survivor Bob and Peg Crowley in nearby Durham, Maine.  

The occasion was the Crowley's annual "Christmas Tree Burning Party".

So much fun and so nice to be outdoors on a mild winter's day .

Which brings me to today.

I think we're actually caught up.

I promise to be less of a blog-procrastinator in 2019.

Happy New Year!

Tips for Stenciling Flour Sack Towels

I haven't picked up a stencil brush in about 25 years . . . since about the time that country geese, ceilings covered with dusty baskets, and stenciled walls became overused died.

Recently though, I've been exploring different media for stenciling.

Flour Sack Towels make are a perfect material for stenciling and fit well with today's farmhouse decor.  They're simple, organic, and inexpensive.

My little "craft group" is planning to get together and make some of these soon, but I wanted to try the process first before attempting to teach it to others.

So . . . I've been stenciling like a crazy woman for the past three days . . . and really enjoying it!

I've learned a lot too. I actually read the directions on the back of one of my stencils and tried using fine grit sandpaper under the towel to hold it in place while I stencil . Works so well!

I also learned that the cost of repositional spray adhesive is well worth it. It holds the stencil flat so that no paint "bleeds" into the fabric and leaves absolutely no mark on the fabric when removed.

This is really fun!

I've purchased a few stencils (with 50% off coupons, of course) but have cut most of them myself  after printing templates from the Internet.

I just enlarge or reduce the printable as needed, outline it in Sharpie, place Mylar over it, and cut with an Exacto knife.  That's how this Maine lobster was born!

It's important to use good textile paint (I got mine at Amazon). After stenciling, allow the towels to dry for 24 hours before ironing for 30 seconds on the reverse side to set the colors. Now they are machine washable!

  Old craft, new use. 

I can't wait to stencil more towels to use for for fall and Christmas gifts

I've think I'm getting addicted to stenciling again!

This Post Is Linked To:

Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Through Life
Amaze Me Monday #276 at Dwellings
Happiness Is Homemade #234 at Bluesky at Home
Sundays at Home at Little Farmstead
Amaze Me Monday #277 at Dwellings

Look What Kathleen Made!

I recently blogged about wanting to paint and stencil Flour Sack Towels.  For two weeks I've been meticulously drawing designs and hoarding supplies for the "big project".

Meanwhile,  my artsy friend Kathleen Gerdes, went to Target, bought a few towels, and  and actually completed them! (Obviously we work from opposite sides of our brains).

I love what Kathleen did!

For $1.00 plus the cost of a little fabric paint, wouldn't these make great gifts?

I've used 50% off coupons on a few stencils at Michael's and A.C. Moore but they can get pricey, even with coupons, so . . . 

I purchased some Mylar sheets and am having fun downloading simple shapes from the internet and cutting my own stencils.

 

Between Kathleen and I, our Target is now out of the towels, but, if you'd like to try this craft with us, they're still available at Target Online - $4.00 for a simple ribbon-wrapped package of four. To save on shipping, they'll "Ship to Store"; you can order online and pick them up at your local Target store.

Two friends and I plan to get together in my craft room later this week to trace and cut stencils. Since I've already squirreled away 8 packages of towels, we'll have to work fast.  At least I've got all the supplies we'll need:  Sharpies, Xacto knives, a bottle of wine, and . . . band aides!

Yours in Mylar,

This post is linked to:

Inspire Me Tuesday #432 at A Stroll Through Life
Craftastic Monday Link Party at Sew Can Do
Style Showcase #39 at Savvy Southern Style
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Flour Sack Towels

I've been looking for affordable 100% cotton Flour Sack towels to use with my craft group. We'd like to "play" with them using dye, fabric paint and/or stencils. Since we're experimenting with this craft for the first time, we don't want to invest a huge amount of money.

  (Maybe when we get really good!)

I've checked out flour sack towels at a local quilt shop, on Amazon, and with friends who own a screen-print shop. Until now, I've only found the 30" towels at $3.00 to $6.00 each.

Imagine my surprise to find these at Target on Saturday!

Four for $4.00!

They are good quality, 30" square and 100% cotton. I thought they must have been mismarked but they did ring up at $4.00 for 4, all neatly wrapped in a grosgrain ribbon. I bought two packages . . .  and went back the next day for two more!

 They were located in the new Target section of products called "Made By Design".

Now I'm looking forward to having my crafty friends over to see what we can create with them.

I have a few ideas from last year's Fiber College of Maine. These ladies used a combination of fabric paints . . .

 and stencils.

Another technique I'd like to try is shibori.

This shibori towel was a gift from a friend.

There is a good tutorial on the Japanese tie-dye technique here. Thanks to Tammy at her blog, Honestly WTF, for her great fiber art ideas!

The finished towels could be used as curtains for a small window, a table cloth for a small table, fabric for a sewing project, or as, well . . . dish towels!

Yours in flour sacks,

This post is linked to:

Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Through Life
Talk of the Town #131 at Knick of Time