That darn cabinet.

Do you remember that horribly awkward cabinet I have dividing my living room and kitchen?
I am still on the mission to cover up the glass panes and hide all my dishes and food that fills these cabinets.
but I think the cabinet is winning.

This is our apartment on the day we moved in.
I can't believe how empty it looks.  Where did I get all of this stuff?!
oh yea. from the trash...

Halloween Party Last year
the cabinet looks slightly less cluttered because I was literally using all our dishes for the party.
and um like jello much?

Christmas snowflakes

so apparently the bottom looked so bad I just cropped it out.

And this is what it looks like today:

I only had 2 sheets of tissue paper left, and they're not even the same color, but it is more noticeable in this photo than it is in real life, and they aren't big enough to cover the entire glass, so I added the newspaper to tie into the newspaper roses I made and for more texture, but I still don't know about it.
I want it to look full and complete, but not cluttered, you know?

Glass panes aside, I love the top shelf. 

that wine bottle again! 
I don't even drink wine, I just like the bottle.  I picked some flowers and berries & bam fall decor!
That triangle is a piece of wood I found wrapped in twine & the basket really deserves a post all of its own... it is a Calabash.  A fruit  that I picked, carved out like a basket, and let dry.  They sell them in the markets here.  When I get home I'm probably going to paint it. or not. I like the color and texture.

remember when I made magazine roses? well newspaper roses are even better!
I love the texture and they are much easier to mold into shape.

love my sign from the ditch!

Do you have a problem area in your home that you're always trying to cover up or fix?
I'm open to suggestions for mine!  But remember that I don't have a Target or Goodwill to run to buy something...

beauty from the rubbish

You're going to think I'm crazier than ever... but last week when I went on my twig hunt {and came home with that sign} I also came home with a random piece of metal wire, kind of like that used for a cage or something.
When I first saw it I thought it would be great to hang my earrings on, I've seen similar DIYs all over the internet, but once I started looking at it, I got a different type of inspiration. 
I have been drying some different flowers and leaves for fall decorations and decided that the rusted wire and the dried flowers would be a great combination.

Putting the fear of tetanus aside I began flattening out the wire and trimmed it down to about a 10x10in square.  After cutting the wire I bent the sharp edges down.

Arranged the dried flowers and hot glued them to the wire.

Added a little lace across the top for a hanger.

And since my hanging options are limited... I temporarily hung it from the light switch.

side note: see that red switch? it's to turn the heat on for our shower! crazy!

This week I'll be sharing some more of the little bits of fall I'm bringing into our home! 
Who's to say that because it's still a tropical island outside it can't be autumn in inside? :)

Twig Stars

I saw this image on pinterest the other day and knew they'd be super easy to make.

Source: farm6.static.flickr.com via Kelsey on Pinterest

I didn't have much going on yesterday evening so I went for a walk down my street looking for sticks to make stars out of.  a normal thing to do right??

You need 5 sticks of the same length per star.
I laid them out and decided which order I liked them in best, then hot glued them in place with just a dab of glue on the ends.
I wrapped twine around the ends of some of them, but a couple of the stars I liked the way they looked just as they were.  I think the inspiration image might have had too much string and twine for my tastes.

These will be great Christmas or patriotic holiday decorations and were practically free to make and only took about 5 minutes!!

AND on my walk I discovered this old sign!  It had more words but I just broke off the Grenada portion.
I don't know what to do with it yet, but I love it!

7 things to recycle into art & craft projects

We all know I'm currently living in Grenada, but did you know that Grenada has NO form of recycling other than re-using glass beer bottles?  Sad but true.
I cringe every single time I throw something away.

I decided to compile a list of some easy, cheap, recyclable projects you can do with the stuff sitting in your trash can [in Grenada] right this very minute.

1. Paper - magazines, newspaper, medical school notes, etc

• Magazine Rosettes - my version
• Magazine Basket   - my version
• Magazine Beads
• Rolled Paper Frame 
• Newsprint Art
• Paper Ornaments  - see mine here & learn how to make them here 
• Paper Feathers 
• and you can always make a collage!

2.  Cardboard - cereal boxes, shoe boxes, packaging

• Shoe box shelves - my version
• Jute Ampersand (or any letter/symbol) my version
• Bunting / Banner - my version
• Toilet Paper Art - my version here & millions of more versions here 
• Toilet Paper Photo Trick - my version
• Cereal Box Shadow Box - my version
• Oatmeal Container Headband holder 
• Can also be used to press leaves & flowers!

3. Glass - pop bottles & jars

• Food Storage - much better than using plastic!  Use for leftovers in the fridge & to store candy or anything vulnerable to humidity
• Beach memory jars 
• Pop bottle halloween decor - my version
• Bottle vignette - my version
• painted glass jars 
• also use them to drink out of!

4. Tin Cans 

• Planters
• Pencil Cups 
• Luminaries 
• Hanging tin can decor

5. Plastic

• Empty Sunscreen bottle turned secret beach storage 
• Plastic spoon wreath 
• Plastic spoon rose
• Plastic bottle flowers
• Purses and jewelry from plastic food wrappers 
• I always use my iga bags as trash bags so I'm not purchasing additional plastic bags & always use my reusable bags when possible!

6. Wood

• Subway Sign Art - my version
• Sea Shell Art - my version
• Merry Christmas Sign - my version

7. Fabric

• Fabric scrap necklace 
• t-shirt re-design  - my version
• Yo-yos
• Dish rags 

Anyone have a good idea of how to reuse styrofoam for art or crafting?? Or do you have a another great recycling project to add to my list?

Source: etsy.com via Sandie on Pinterest

Wall Art on the cheap

 

This is the wall over our tiny little kitchen table (only big enough for 2 chairs)

and I thought I'd share with you what this array of random stuff is!

• The painting of the man and woman dancing is cut out of a magazine.  I just loved both the painting and the long vertical shape of it.  (free... not my magazine :)
• The silverware is drawn on black paper with white chalk.  don't touch it or it will smear. lol (cheap and easy!)
• The black square is electrical tape (cheap)
• The picture is my husband and I from our engagement pictures stuck inside of a card and taped to the wall. (cheap)
• The bird is cut out of a grey paint sample (free!)
• The chain of flowers is made out of toilet paper rolls!  (free!)
• The purple frame is also a cut up paint sample (free!)

Wall art for pennies!  

And.... it is all paper products and light weight because our walls are concrete so everything must be taped up.. or hot glued. which I have found works great! 

Hanging above is my $4 Ikea paper lantern light.  I brought this in my suitcase with me because I just knew the lighting in this apartment would be horrible.  and I was right. we basically have outdoor porch lights inside.
you can read about how I covered up one of those lights here.

My favorite thing about this wall is how it all came together from random scraps and the ascending flow.
note don't be afraid to play around with the placement of  your wall art.

sea glass seahorse

I think that's the start of a fun tongue twister.

Yesterday I saw this print on pinterest (see I'm not really over it.  there is still good to be found)

Source: printshop.urbanoutfitters.com via Angela on Pinterest

I absolutely fell in love with this seahorse.  Isn't it beautiful??
I knew I wanted to try to re-create the print, but wasn't feel in the drawing mood just yet, so I got my sea glass and some wire and went to work.

As per usual, I don't have an awesome how to tutorial.  I didn't know what I was doing.  I just shaped some 20gauge wire into a seahorse and then attached sea glass to the frame with 24gauge wire.  Which were the only two types of wire I have here in Grenada.  So you could use different sizes.  I however wouldn't go any smaller than 24 gauge, it might break easily.

The only problem is, I made this way too big to be used as a pendant for a necklace, it just kept growing!
My husband had the genius idea that the sea glass seahorse would be a great centerpiece for a sea glass wind chime! He is so useful to have around.

But I still wanted a necklace so I made another one, a beaded one.

and I'm not convinced I love this one for a necklace either.  but with limited bead supply this is what I came up with.  I think I'd like it better in gold. 
but I'm sure I'll find something to do with the little guy.

size comparison.

So... I have seriously decided to step up my sea glass finding capabilities.  I need more sea glass creatures!!

linking up with:
http://www.katiesnestingspot.com/
http://alliemakes.blogspot.com/
Somewhat Simple,
Paisly Passions. 
http://chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.com/
http://itsahodgepodgelife.blogspot.com/
http://justagirlblog.com/
http://www.bedifferentactnormal.com/2011/08/show-and-tell-saturday-080611.html

subway sign-ish art

I found this piece of wood literally on the side of the road.
and drug it home.

and it sat here for probably 2 months. until I brought some paints back to the island with me & got inspired to paint it like a subway sign.
well.... it's kinda hard to paint perfect letters you know. so I went for something a little easier.
Lee and I's song (kinda) is Firefly by Jimmy Needham.  we have like 5 songs. but this is one of the best I think.
It's fun and sweet.
so I used a line from it and wrote it out on the board and Lee loves it!
:) it makes me even happier when he approves of my antics.


before. I just washed it off and took the nails out.





so it's a little huge. I literally have no where else to put it.... and I think it kinda balances things out. just ignore that half of it is hanging off the edge of the desk.




linking up with:
http://iamalongfortheride.blogspot.com/
http://iamonly1woman.blogspot.com/

free find friday!!

While doing that photo shoot with the VW Van I spotted this in a trash heap nearby!
I obviously risked tetanus and rat sightings to save this awesome piece from the trash!