So I got myself into another "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" adventure again today. I got to thinking about the 4th of July faux tile craft that I showed you yesterday and, for whatever miraculous reason, I actually remembered exactly where I put it. Actually, I put it right where I should have-for once. It was with all of my other 4th decor. I went and got it out today because it is the first new thing for this year.
Here's the "culprit that started my day.
I wanted to see if I could decide where I might use it when I remembered that this will also be my first time decorating the "new" living room shelf for the 4th and I will definitely need something for that. I have somehow gotten bogged down with the peat cup crafts for the two areas on the sides of the shelf-not sure why I'm stuck in that rut other than I know I want similar things in those two areas-you know I have a problem with symmetry and go crazy if things aren't balanced and I'm just not sure what else I could come up with to satisfy the needs for those spaces. And so, I decided to use today to do some crafting.
Of course, I first wanted to fill my new frame with a patriotic image. There are so many free images out there everywhere but, because the frame is arched, it takes a special kind of image to fit without having to cut off important details. Don't ask me why but I decided to try this:
Believe me, I even surprised myself because that is the last image I would have thought I would choose but, I just felt it would look vintage and go with the frame. It was a bit "flat" after I printed it so I went back and added some gold metallic paint to the crown points.
All of the other ones I did I didn't use the mat that came with the frame and made the image 5X7 but this image blurred quite badly when I expanded it so I went with the 4X6 and decided to use the mat although I didn't like the white mat with the vintage colored image. I started by using 5 different distress inks including red and blue in with the brown tones but, honestly, it reminded me of a tie-dye so I went back to my old standby "walnut" ink and I like the way it turned out.
And then I was off to the peat pots.
Since I am really not a red fan, I pulled out my blue chalk paint as well but the images just popped so much more against the red that I really had no choice. I painted the pots...
...then water ripped the edges of these images. I decided on them because I could use a boy and girl in the shelf facing each other and that satisfies my "balance" issue. Lol I just ModPodged on the images...
...and then added a border of vintage tinsel.
And this is where I am stuck. I went through all of my stash looking for some little vintage patriotic "people" that my grand daughters and I made years ago. I found the "heads" on some blog-wish I could remember where-and I couldn't find those little cuties anywhere! Of course, there is a story here-as usual with me. If you don't want to hear my "make a long story even longer" you might want to sign off.
So, you know that from the time my first grand daughter was old enough to hold a crayon or paint brush, my husband and I would have her-and then we added each new grand as they came along-to our house for a weekend BEFORE a big holiday. It gave their parents a nice long break and we absolutely loved having them with us. We would craft, bake, cook, play games, read stories, watch movies-just about any fun thing we could do. We always made gifts for all of the family, friends, teachers, scout leaders, etc.
I was always looking for new ideas and one year I happened upon some vintage looking decor made from bump chenille and a head printed from the blog site. The girls and my hubby and I made a bunch of them. I think we just used them to tie on their presents but I made extras to use to stick around my house for decoration. I used them in lots of places.
Here are the girls making them back in 2011. I guess back then I had several choices of heads.
See that sweet face-that's grand daughter #2. But, after the fact, I discovered the devil in that smile. Lol
The girls all really thought these things were "creepy" (and, as I look at them, I guess maybe they are) and wouldn't stop making fun of them-and me for liking them. LOL When they had left on Sunday afternoon after being there for the whole weekend, I discovered those little people stuck in all sorts of places and all sorts of positions. I fully suspect this one was the main culprit but I'm sure she had some partners in crime.
In any case, I WANTED some of those things right now because I thought they would look cute in the peat cups. I searched EVERYWHERE I could think of but I vaguely remember throwing away the ziploc full of them that I had kept for so many years the last time I was cleaning out things. That should teach me!
But, just as I was almost at the end of this blog, I thought about one more place to check-the 4th of July box with decor for the guest bath. I remember using those things in there and, jackpot! I guess because they don't take up much room, I never got rid of them. I'm so excited I'm practically giddy. Lol
And, in my search I also came upon some other goodies that I think I can use so I might be able to finish these things up tomorrow. Right now I have to go back and put away everything that Hurricane Dorine tossed out in her quest today. Lol Stay safe and stay tuned.
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