Chalk Paint

I've had this antique armoire for about 20 years, six of it was spent at my daughters house. I had removed several layers of paint years and years ago and then just stopped working on it... It is a great storage cabinet, it once had a bar to hang clothing on, but it now has shelves~ Anywho....
I decided to take the plunge into chalk paint.... *gasp* I know I'm the last hold out! I could have easily purchased chalk paint at a store close by, but seeing how I am a big time "do it yourself-er" I googled "chalk paint recipe" and made my own.
It is very easy peasy.... 2/3 paint to 1/3 plaster of paris. You need to mix the plaster of paris with water before mixing it into the paint your going to be using. If not, you'll end up with paint that has big chunks of unmixed plaster of paris. I mixed up the plaster in a bowl with a fork, adding more water than I normally would for straight plaster of paris... it still had a few lumps, so I just stuck my hand in the mixture and smooshed them apart then just poured it into my paint can. Then I just mixed until the plaster of paris had dissolved into the pink paint.... it didn't take long. Here is the after photo of my antique armoire painted with my chalk paint..... If you were to rub your hand across the painted surface it would feel like tempra paint..... dry.
Here is my thoughts on chalk paint. Pros: 1.) I really liked how the paint seemed to glide on the surface and not show any brush strokes once it dried. 2.) It did seem to dry super fast.... 3.) It does have an old world look/feel to the paint. 4.) The added plaster of paris is a great way to use small amounts of paint in cans. There is only one "con" that I have come up with so far.... You need to seal the paint with wax or it will get scuffed up. Eh gawd... like I need more things to do. I waxed one side of the armoire and got bored.... I know, I know.... I think for me, I'll stick with semi gloss paint for my furniture. But... I do see myself adding plaster of paris to some of my acrylic paints to extend the paint and add a different patina to painted pieces.

Recent Jewelry

I've been busy making some new pieces to add to my etsy store. I got a little burnt out making and selling things for awhile...I really enjoy making religious shrines for people to wear, so I thought I'd start there....All of these are $10.00... except for this one below, it is $12.00. (only because I love it!)I love-love the blue on this shrine....I used to wear pearl jewelry every.single.day... This one has a celtic cross as the centerpiece....Here is another one of my favorites out of this lot....This cross has a faint hue of blue enamel on the cross...I love-love how the metal bow looks like flowing fabric on this spoon...Listing them to my etsy store is just as much work as making them!!

Fun Treasures

I was drawn to this dirty old box at a yard sale, it has been my experience those normally don't get opened and are ignored and... typically have something inside them that I will buy! Today was no exception. Can you feel it drawing you closer to it?Upon lifting the lid, I saw a book called "Plaster Casting and Finishes"... I was intrigued. I asked out loud to whomever was listening--- "How much is this box full of stuff?" A very old lady comes over and begins to tell me a very long and animated story about how a salesman talked her into buying this "lettering kit." Lettering kit? Do tell... do tell..... Long story short, the box contains rubber molds that you pour plaster into to create letters. *gasp*...... The box contained 3 different sized molds of letters and numbers. The box even had some pre-made letters & numbers ready to be used.How much did I pay for this fun treasure?*insert happy dance here* I also picked up this ab-fab statue of a fat cat. I do believe my cat "Charlie" sat as a model for this sculpture....to cute~

Sorting Season

I finally have some time to go through all of the jewelry I've been buying and stashing away..... Oh. My. Goodness. A smidgen overwhelming. Where to start?..... I try to sort similar things together into plastic drawers which makes it easy to grab what I'm looking for when I'm in full "jewelry making mode." But first, everything has to be looked at... pieces snipped off and sorted.... I already have a huge box filled with junk jewelry that I don't have any use for. I guess its never to early to start making bottles of "pirate treasure" for next year.
I have several MORE containers to pull out and go through besides all of this. I stuck them somewhere.... I must get organized!!!

2012 Pirate party...

Ahoy me hearties......
Look yonder at our pirate ships sails in full regalia....arrrgh...
Princess Chloe Rose was wearing this years latest pirate fashion designed by none other than the world renowned "Nana" (me) Here she is sitting on a comfy chair with an early gift to keep her motivated not to take a nap~ Quick, someone ply her with sugar!
I loaded up 3 fast moving slide shows for your viewing pleasure of this years pirate party. The guests this year looked fabulous all dressed like little pirates. This first bundle of photos is of the kids breaking open the pinata. I was impressed that my three year old grand daughter even wanted to hit the pinata... so of course, I just had to let her keep hitting it, 10 times in total--- it was to darn cute!! Of course, my grandson had to hit it 10 times too... then Lucas hit it a few times, then the last photos shows the little cherub who ended up cracking it open.

Here are a few more random photos of the little pirates playing some games and having a good time... I was blessed to have a super delightful young lady take charge and oversee all the games. At ten years of age, this little charmer had full command of every child. She encouraged, motivated and was super patient with all the hyper little pirates the whole morning... I was in awe!

Here are some photos of my grand kids opening up their presents. There was tissue paper was flying every which way.... it was hysterical. At one point my grand daughter pulled out a large piece of tissue paper out of a gift bag, focusing solely on the tissue paper, declared, "There is nothing in here".... she doesn't quite get the whole "decorative tissue paper" thing just yet.... good times...good times.

This years party was super fun and seemed to go by in a flash. I figure for each minute spent at the party in full swing... was equal to one full day of me busting my hinny getting things ready for this party. Oh well... keeps me out of trouble. *wink*

Hair clips

It has been awhile since I've sat down and poked around in my ever growing jewelry stash. Lately, I've just been buying pieces and tossing them in several large plastic bins. Its going to be like the best Christmas ever going through those bins once I get some free time! I recently got a request to decorate two hair clips with some bling, and to keep them both predominately silver. This one has a fun vintage feel with the addition of the pearls~Sweet little pink flowers really make this one a flirty fun piece to wear.Keeping in mind that these can't be very heavy so as not to pull your hair out, I glued on a double strip of fabric backed rhinestones to build upon to get the finished results.I like how they turned out, I hope the person I made them for likes them too.... if not, give them back. *wink*