Granite Electrical Covers

I love the new addition of the granite counter tops in my kitchen... although, I wasn't loving the look of the stark white electrical covers that were smack dab in the middle of the new granite back-splash.  I immediately knew I could make them match the granite, so that is what I set out to do. 

 I scanned a piece of the granite. The only down side is my printer/scanner gave the image a tinge of pink... where as the color copy I had gotten at the copy center gave the image a tinge of blue. I think if I redo these electrical plates, I would place a dark piece of fabric over the opened lid in hopes of coping a truer color of the granite. I used black acrylic paint along the edges of the openings. Once everything was dry I coated everything with a layer of Mod Podge. Once the Mod Podge was dry, I sprayed an even coat of thick clear gloss over each switch plate.

 Here is the plate installed... I know, kinda pinkish... in this photo it shows up even pinker than in person. But you get the idea... much better than white!

These will do until I get a truer color copy of the granite. Who knew granite wouldn't copy well~
I've linked up to My Salvaged Treasures "Vintage Inspiration Party"
big hugs,
 

Remodeling

Recently I've had a little bit of remodeling done on my kitchen. Although the workmen are gone and all there is left to do is paint--- you'd think I'd be working at a feverish pace to get it done... But no... I've  been remodeling things out in my backyard instead.

I added a new fountain to the backyard. I love the sound of water spilling  from one pot to another. My cat Puss-puss loves water and she is doubly happy to have a new water feature too.
 
This pirate skeleton is sporting my grandson's first pirate outfit... This pirate is not only holding a sword but in his other hand he has a pistol as well... aarrrggghhhh~

 I remodeled the gate entrance for those brave enough to enter... I was lucky to find a store locally that sells sphagnum moss in bulk. I've been having fun stapling moss to things... I really like how it makes things look old and kinda scarey.

 I've also remodeled the smaller of the two pirate stores. I had bought six hard-plastic panels at our swap meet a few years ago for $3.00 thinking I'd use them someday... well someday finally came and I finally used them. I think this really finishes off this store perfectly.

 I added the Boutiki sign I had made two years ago above the counter...
This little area beside the store has always been empty until now. I took down some sheer curtains inside my house... and added them to the fence. I think they look like ships sails. I also reworked the pirate name generator too. I screwed it onto a stand and painted a sign that reads, "Spin to find your pirate name." I am going to purchase some "My name is" stickers and place them on the table next to the name generator along with a pen so that if the kids want they can wear their new name.

 This huge piece of drift wood had to be moved from its previous location. I added some moss and a large plastic skull and just set it in this spot... it is one of my favorite new display pieces.

 I am trying to go around the yard one area at a time and make some last finishing touches for this years pirate season.... The next area will be the pirate ship and the area between the ship and the second pirate store. Fun times... fun times~

aarrgggghhhh~
big hugs,

Homemade Invitations

I finally finished making some homemade invitations for my grand kids to pass out to their friends for their yearly pirate party that I host for them. Aaaaarrrrrgggghhhh~
While searching the web for idea inspirations, I came across a pop up card that had a ship in it! It was love at first sight. I decided to incorporate that into an invitation. I had a book of maps that I pulled sheet after sheet from to use as the base of each card. Here is the inside of each card. I think they turned out pretty cute!

I used the template from Robert Sabuda, he not only has the pop up ship, but a lot more to choose from too *free of charge* I printed out his template and cut the pieces out and then I made my own template to suit my needs a little better. For example, I traced as many sails as would fit on one sheet of paper and then I used Picmonkey to add text to the sails to create the invitation information. Then it was just a matter of printing and cutting out everything. Easy peasy.

I was at a loss as what to put on the front of each invitation. I didn't want it to be really grand as it would take away from the awesome pop up ship on the inside. So I kept it very basic. I used a large skull stamp my friend gave me and then just added some red glitter to the heart shaped eyes. (I am determined to use more glitter this year) I also crinkled up the paper and then added some ink to make it look old. I tore the edges and just glued each one in place....

Lastly, I tied each one up using some raffia. I added a beautiful bling-ring to each invitation along with hand written tags my grand kids wrote. Taaaaaaaaa- daaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Invitations finished -check!
Forty five more days... not that I'm counting.
big hugs,

Happy Easter~

I managed to spend a few hours actually making something in my studio yesterday. Easter is the time of miracles don't ya know *wink* I created two one of a kind Easter eggs for my two grand kids...
 I had two cardboard egg shaped containers previously filled with See's candy that I covered with some embossed metal tape to create the two eggs. For my grand daughter I used a fancy embossing folder to create her egg. For my grand son's egg I used a pattern wheel to create the look of rivets on the metal tape to make it look like it was made of riveted metal. Lastly, I added pink and black acrylic paint to bring out the detail of each egg.

 Surprisingly the two eggs hold quite a bit of candy---
as I was going to eat the left overs but they all fit. Nuts.
big hugs,