Simple DIY Birdhouses

When DH and I were in England last June, I saw this birdhouse outside a little shop. I took a picture of it thinking it would be fun to make one like it when I got home.

Before I got started, DH cut out the birdhouse shapes for me on his table saw. 

Monday was a beautiful Spring day here (finally) so I invited a few of "the Girls" over to make the birdhouses.

These two ladies, Margaret and Jo, are sisters. They have lived in the same house in our little town their whole lives. I met them over coffee at Dunkin' Donuts and really enjoy their company, their stories . . . and their creativity. They got to work staining the birdhouses with exterior stain.

My sister-in-law, Lillian, and BFF, Mary Elizabeth kept busy using the drill press to drill a small hole in the bottom of each can. The cans need to be clean and dry. We used a metal file to make sure the open end was free of sharp metal edges that could hurt the birds (or us!).

I set up the spray paint area. Everyone brought half-full cans of spray paint they had on hand to contribute to the project.

Lillian and Mary Elizabeth got the brilliant idea of hammering paint sticks and tomato stakes into my lawn , putting a can on each one, and spraying them on there. Sure worked better that trying to hold each can up separately while painting our arms!

Does this look like fun or what?

The "Ladies" ended up with lots of great colors to choose from.

And I ended up with a polka-dotted front lawn!

A couple of the ladies decided to use acrylics to paint designs on their houses.

The last step is to use a washer and short wood screw to attach each pre-drilled can to the wooden back of the birdhouse. 

We also drilled a hole into the back of each house for hanging.

And Voila!

Eleven birdhouses completed, two bottles of wine consumed and a good time had by all!

 This was a perfect Spring project to share with friends!

This post is linked to:

Farmhouse Friday #54 at The Painted Hinge

A Tisket, A Tasket . . . and a Few Silly Eggs

This weekend we arrived back in Maine after our first month-long camping trip in the Casita. We visited friends in Florida and Georgia and explored the mountains and beaches of South Carolina, Tennessee and North Carolina. Such beautiful country. I came home dreaming of Spring!

Which may explain why yesterday, instead of unpacking and doing the laundry,  I spent the afternoon making Easter baskets . . .

Fifteen of them!

I love to make little baskets for everyone who will be at Easter dinner, which we have every year on a boat!

It's actually a restaurant which literally floats on Casco Bay. There will be 15 of us this Sunday. That's a lot of baskets! I finally came up with the idea of using square berry baskets as the base. Amazon has them in all colors and they are sturdy and inexpensive.

Amazon also has these chicks. They remind me of my childhood.

I started buying basket goodies as I saw them on our trip. These gummy eggs from Cracker Barrel "cracked me up".  They're actually lemon flavored; not bad!

And here are the finished products: 12 berry baskets, two blue buckets (the grandsons'), and my daughter's treasured "Hello Kitty" basket. Aside from the "Fried Eggs:, they each have the required Cadbury Egg, jelly beans, and a special treat or two (Do fake false teeth count as a treat? How about the rubber chicken that lays an egg when you squeeze its belly?)

As if it hasn't been busy enough, today was my turn to host our little craft group at my house. Needing to keep it simple, and inspired by this magazine cover, I decided we'd decorate eggs.

Actually, my friends decorated eggs; I was numb still from making all those Easter Baskets. 

So I "supervised" and kept everyone's wine glass full. We're much more creative with wine!

We used wooden eggs, also from Amazon,

and decorated them with paint, decoupage, beads, Sharpies, buttons, rick rack, googly eyes and whatever else I had on hand in the craft room.  These were created by my BFF, Mary Elizabeth.

I think they might be self-portraits.  If so, Miss Mary Elizabeth is clearly the "hot" pink one with the weird eyes.

And, fifteen baskets later, I'm the exhausted yellow one with the purple hair!

How many baskets are you making this year?
What do you use for baskets and treats?
Are you almost ready for Easter?

This post is linked to: 

 Amaze me Monday #258 at Dwellings
Craftastic Monday Link Party at Sew Can Do
Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On the Porch
Spring & Easter Blogger Party at Itsy Bits & Pieces

Ugly Chair Makeovers

This is the first time I've actually purchased a copy of HGTV Magazine. I think I was subconsciously protesting their new TV format which seems to feature much more house hunting than decorating. But, there's always a first time. I was attracted to the current issue (November 2015) because of the article on "Amazing Chair Makeovers". (OK, I'll admit it, the great colors on the cover caught my eye too!)

 

 

My friend, Anita, recovered this old chair for her home in Pemaquid Point, Maine. Last year, when she and her husband downsized, she gave it to me.

 

 

I had loved this sweet little chair in Anita's home and am now loving it in mine. It was exactly what I needed to complete this conversation grouping at one end of our (very long) living room. Every time I see it I think of good times we've had traveling with Anita and her husband, Fred.

 

 

This chair inspired my sister, Joanne, and I to re-do an old chair from our Mom's house last winter.

 

 

The inspiration chair cost $1199.00; we did ours for under $50.00. Here's our chair "Before". Or maybe I should say "During" as we'd already painted the wood and rattan frame.  You can read more about this project here.

 

 

And here's our finished chair. We were pretty happy with the results since we really didn't know what we were doing when we started!

 

 

I did quite a few posts  about the work Joanne and I did to update our Mom's condo. Now Joanne and her husband own the condo and are doing even more renovations. They're currently having new flooring installed in the guest room/study. Since the condo is on Casco Bay, the flooring they chose is a driftwood color.

View of Portland from the condo

Last weekend, Joanne and I were brainstorming color schemes for this room. (Well, mostly me . . . wait until she sees the inspiration swatches I taped al over her wall while she's been at work!)

 

One idea she had was to use neutral gray walls with bright yellow accessories.

That's where the HGTV chair article comes in. Mom had a wing chair very similar to the "before" chair below and Joanne saved it . . . temporarily camouflaged by a simple beige Sure Fit slipcover.

When I saw this photo I got excited to try my hand at amateur re-upholstery again. I could see this "after" chair in a gray and white fabric with the bright yellow legs and piping in Joanne's soon-to-be-painted guest room/office.

 

Here's another "ugly chair makeover" from the HGTV Magazine article that would also work well in a gray room.

 

I love how this chair came out too. It would add lots of color to a boring room.

 

This chair wouldn't work in Joanne's room but I'd love to see six of these around a dining room table!

 

I think I'm probably referred to by my sisters as their "ADD older sister", always coming up with projects for them to do. Now all I have to do is sell Joanne on my latest crazy idea. Maybe we'll soon be re-doing Mom's old wing chair for her new room

             

Get out the yellow paint and upholstery tacks, Joanne

Here I come!

Partying with:
Flaunt It Friday at Chic On a Shoestring
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home
Party Junk at Funky Junk Interiors

7 Things That Make Your Home Look Dated?

I was browsing through the Huffington Post online when this article caught my eye: 7 Things That Make Your Home Look Dated. The article is written by Erin Gates who recently wrote a book on decorating called The Elements of Style. The article promises to help us avoid those "What Was I Thinking?" moments in the future.  I have LOTS of those, don't you?



Here's the list and my take on how my own home measures up.

What Can I Make with 5 Hooks?

My latest DIY project was inspired by an unexpected gift.

 

These wrought iron hooks, numbered "one" to "five", were a surprise from my friend, Mary Elizabeth. She had purchased a set at Home Depot for her craft room re-do and knew how much I liked them. (Hearing me scream, "OMG, I love these!" when I walked into her craft room over the weekend may have given her the hint!).  So, being the thoughtful friend she is, she went back another day and got a set for me!

I decided that I wanted to mount the hooks on a board rather than directly into my craft room wall. So, after checking the ReStore, it was off to Goodwill, where I found this sign marked down to practically nothing now that Christmas is over. The size was right so I grabbed it.

 

You should have seen the look DH gave me when I dragged my junk supplies into the house. After 26 years, I'm sure he could tell I was deep into another DIY project and that there would be no point in even attempting to interrupt me until it was done. (I could still hear his laughter, though, as I stealthily carried the "Happy Holidays" sign up the stairs to my craft room.)

I turned my vertical sign horizontally and erased all memories of Christmas-past by applying three coats of acrylic paint in "Ivory". I sanded it for a distressed finish and sprayed it with a light coat of Krylon Matte Finish to protect it and add a low-gloss sheen.

The hooks were screwed to the board . . .

 

And "teeth" added to the back for hanging.

Then, all that was left to do was hang it over my sewing machine.

 

I'll use it to hang my good sewing scissors  (not to be confused with the many pairs of dull scissors I seem to have collected over the years)  . . .
 

and whatever else is cluttering my sewing table at the moment.

 

There are lots of memories in just this little corner of my craft room. The "Sugar" jar is from an antique mall in Brunswick, Maine where DH and I once had a booth. The tin stencil of the letter "U" was purchased in Connecticut many years ago when my girlfriend, Barbara, and I were newlyweds and would go antiquing on very limited budgets.

 

   I can't wait to show the finished project to my friend . . .

or maybe I just did!

 

 

This post is being shared at:
Home Sweet Home party at The Charm of Home

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home
Flaunt It Friday at Chic On A Shoestring
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home
Tweak It Tuesday at Cozy Little House