Before and Afters...

I just wanted to share some thrift store items I redid over the last few months...I think you'll agree that the "Befores" are a little scary!

Letter Sorter: BEFORE

I knew this metal letter sorter had potential~ but man, was it rough!

AFTER:
I sanded and painted and distressed this thing until I could no more!

Now I love it! (And it's for sale...)

The next specimens are these adorable owls. Ok, so they're stuck in the 70's, but not for long!

BEFORE:

(Still BEFORE!)

AFTER: Whooooo you calling stuck in the 70's?

I just love how these all turned out!

I was tempted to keep them & add them to my daughter's woodland/owl themed room...but I put them in the local shop where I consign some stuff & they're for sale! (A few of them in these photos are sold.)

That's all for now! I had fun turning trash into treasure.

Owl-Themed Birthday Table & Food

This is the last post about my daughter's owl-themed 1st birthday party...I've shared lots of little projects that I made to set the theme, but I wanted to show the table decor, cake, food, and even a few of the birthday girl!

The table~I covered it with a pink disposable plastic tablecloth and then put chocolate brown burlap scrunched up on top. I spray painted the pine cones pink. The party was in early September and I was going for a full-on Fall feeling!

The cake turned out great! I didn't make it--I bought it!

Pink punch: Raspberry sherbet, ginger ale, & pineapple juice. Simple & yummy.

Happy Birthday!

I made a big crockpot of chili and a baked potato bar. I must say, the food was good!

One last little trick I learned on Pinterest...I wrapped the water bottles with patterned Duck (duct) Tape! They looked so cute!

Outside Arrangement for Birthday Party

Before my daughter's birthday party, I already had the wall bucket with the "grass" (it's actually plastic-and admittedly a little out of control!) hung by my front door. I simply made a few things to embellish it to welcome our guests to the party...
The first was a letter "M" that I bought at Hobby Lobby. I painted it with polka dots and later came back & added glitter around the polka dots...because, like I always say, everything's better with glitter!

Before glitter:

After glitter:


Then, I tied a bow & hot glued it onto this little premade wooden owl from HobLob. I painted a kabob stick (found in my kitchen drawer!) and glued it to the back of the owl to make a pick.


I added ribbon to the "M" to hang it...

...and made a big bow out of deco mesh. I think it added a nice touch to the entryway.

Semi-Homemade Party Decorations

For my daughter's owl-themed first birthday party last month, I bought some inexpensive party decorations & modified them to fit the theme of the party. I found this set of 3 paper lanterns at Hobby Lobby and cut scrapbook paper into wings, a brow, a beak, and circles around large googly eyes to make the largest one an owl. I used removable adhesive so that after the party, I simply removed the owl parts & I can reuse the lanterns for other occasions.






I found the table centerpiece (in the top picture) in the clearance section for $1. The colors were right but it had a toile scene on it, so I covered the scene with some scrapbook paper and owls that I cut out from an extra party invitation.


Here it is on one of the guest tables:

These decorations turned out much cheaper--but just as cute--as if I had bought them pre-made!

Easy DIY Felt Owls

I made these 2 owls as a decoration for my daughter's first birthday party. (The next few posts will all be about things I made for her party, so stay tuned!) They're super easy to make...

Supplies:
2 Styrofoam balls (I made 1 big & 1 little)
Sheets of felt--in however many colors you want for the feathers
Large googly eyes
Hot glue
Scissors

I started by cutting out a feather shape & then used it as a template for all the other feathers. You can trace them onto the felt before you cut, if you wish. I just cut several of each color until I felt it was about enough. (Sorry, I didn't count them.)


I cut out 2 slightly larger pieces to be the wings. I used a patterned felt so they would stand out a little more. I also cut one end straight, not pointed.

Then, I cut out the weird shape to go around the eyes (the chocolate brown pieces in the pics below) and then some circles for the googly eyes to be glued onto.

Finally, I folded one of the "feathers" in half to be the beak.


I started gluing the "feathers" from top to bottom on the ball, alternating colors.


Large owl


Small owl


Then I glued on the wings, eye pieces, googly eyes and beaks...



Tah-da! 2 little felt owls, just sitting around enjoying the party. These would be super cute in Fall colors, sitting around pumpkins & such!

Mini Framed "Button Owl" Project

I really struggled at what to call this object that I made! It's a redo, a frame, an owl made of buttons, a hair-bow-organizer-topper thing! You'll see...

First, my mom's friend gave her this little metal frame with this red velvet fabric in it that had formerly held a brooch pin. Then my mom gave it to me! (Yea!!!)



I immediately saw the potential & went to work. I keep all of my daughter's hair bows clipped on a french memo board behind her door in her room. They're accessable but out of the way. Well, she has recently been wearing smaller clip-style bows in her fine baby hair & I really needed a way to organize them as well where I could see them all & easily get one. (but alas, the memo board was pretty full already!)

So, I decided to alter the mini frame & use it as a topper for a ribbon that would hold all the little bows. Of course I broke out the Krylon "Watermelon" that I've used to spray many other things in my daughter's room...

Then I cut some chocolate brown knit fabric from an old onesie to cover the red velvet. I thought about removing it, but thought I might like it to just stay under there! I saw that the velvet had just been taped on, so I did the same. If I ever want to change it out, this way it will be easy.

Here's what the back & front looked like at this point:


I then decided to try to make an owl (to match the room's woodland animal theme that happens to be heavy on owls) with buttons. This took a little tweaking to get it to look right. When I was finally happy with it, I hot glued the buttons on. (I don't sew & this was super fast & easy)I then used wide clear tape (classy, I know) to tape a long, wide ribbon onto the back. (Can also be easily changed in the future, if needed.)

I squeezed it in on the wall right next to the French memo board & clipped all the little bows on!
I even sprayed the nail head with paint since it was showing...
Finished!