Silhouettes

My son came home and presented me with a silhouette he made in art class last year.  I was amazed how much of him I saw in that cut out of black construction paper!  I immediately framed it and placed it on my wall.  It is one of my most treasured art pieces!  I have been longing for a silhouette of my daughter, so on the last school break I got to work.  I took a picture of her profile standing against a plain wall.  Hint try to get the profile of their eyelashes.  Next step is to print out the picture on regular printer paper and color in the image with a black sharpie.  Place the now black image on your scanner and print on photo paper.  Cut out your image and display it to your hearts desire.  On a whim I decided I wanted to mount mine to a canvas.  Follow my crazy process below.

Here is the silhouette my son made for me at school.

This is the painting process

I glued the image on the canvas and then sprayed the whole thing with a high gloss poly.  

So it's not perfect.  Next time around I would take my black image to walgreens and blow it up big on one of their machines.  I should of used the smaller image in a small frame.  But you all can learn from my mistakes.

Spring is in the air!

The minute ash Wednesday comes around I go to the basement to start digging in the Easter bins.  This weekend I started doing my spring decorating.  I thought I would post a few pictures to get everyones creative juices flowing.  Maybe you will start bringing out some of your spring decorations today?

I nestled my chocolate look alike bunnies in paper grass.  I prefer the colors and the way the paper looks over the plastic grass.  You will find the paper grass in the same isle.  I bought this bag at Hobby Lobby.  The runner on my table is brown craft paper.  I bought a huge roll of it off the sale wall at Anthropology for $9.00  I can have many dinners and still have paper left over.  

My Mother in Law gave me this cloche for Christmas with a vintage santa inside.  I traded Santa for a bunny.  Everything looks special under a cloche.  Buy at least one for your home.  I have seen them everywhere now.  Hobby Lobby, T.J. Max, Marshals, and every other craft store.

Pile eggs together in whatever container you can find.  Maybe even something from your kitchen like a beautiful bowl.  I have been know to nestle little bird nests in tea cups or set them out on a saucer.  Be creative with items and use utilitarian items in unexpected ways. 

The chocolate Easter bunny is a long time tradition in my family.  Every year my Mom made sure we all had a chocolate bunny in our basket Easter morning.  This table scape is a nod to that tradition.  This is my little family depicted in bunnies.  The baby bunnies are $3.99 at Hobby Lobby and they have %40 off all Easter decor right now.  Go see if you can make your own family of bunnies.

I could not pass up this pillow at Pottery Barn last week.  I mean look at those colors.  They fit perfectly into my family room.  I love the way this bunny looks next to my brown ticking pillow.  The pillow was $29.50.

This guy has been in my collection for many years.  I love that he is not covered in pastel colors so he fits in anywhere.    Right now he is in my entryway.  

I normally keep my kitchen counters clean of decor but for some reason this bunny found his way onto my coveted counter space.  I love looking at him as I walk into my kitchen.

That is it for now.  There will be more to come from Jane & Mary as the Lenten season continues.  My sister Jill has given up her dinning room for a complete Jane & Mary transformation.  You won't believe your eyes when you see these before and after pictures!!  I might be moving in with Jill and sleeping in her dinning room.

Small space with a big personality

Take one step into my powder bath and you will see that I have done everything in my power to give my tiny little bathroom a little pizzaz!  This bathroom is a hot spot in my house.  It is the only bathroom on my main level so it has a revolving door for neighborhood kids and frequent visitors.  I wanted to make this room pop and hold up to heavy traffic at the same time.  So I went for it with a bold wallpaper!  My Mom tells me all the time that I'm brave in my decorating choices.  I know she really thinks I'm crazy.  She couldn't believe I was adding wallpaper to my new house, and in a pattern she would have never chosen. She tells me all the time how much she loves it now, and I couldn't agree more.  Do something brave (even crazy) in your home.  You will be so happy you did!

The small hallway to my powder bath

I found this little sign at pottery barn for under $10

The colors in this wallpaper speak to the family room just outside this door.

I love this mirror and glass shelf combo!  Both are from  Pottery Barn.

These are my doorknobs.  I love the little bit of shine they add.  The neighborhood kids say we have diamond doorknobs. (I wish!!!)

A Office for Mom!

My weekend project was to transform our front office into a inspirational space of my own.  The space was unused and was a horrible waste of square footage.  I'm so excited to have a place to store my sewing machine and ribbon and every other craft tool I own!  To start this transformation I needed a piece I could use for storage.  I found a china cabinet on craigslist for $40 that I thought would work perfectly!  Here is what it looked like Friday. 
                                    


In search of inspiration I found myself being drawn to a unexpected color.  I'm calling it citrine.  It is bright and bold and it just makes me happy.  I bought a set of spider back chairs from a hotel close out sale where they were getting rid of all their furniture about 10 years ago.  They were $20 and I remember thinking at the time I don't know this is a lot of money?!  I painted 2 of those chairs with a high gloss citrine and recovered the seats.  Here is one that I'm trimming out with silver nail head trim that I found in the damaged pile at Hancock for $4.

                                                                                                                                                                               

Here is the after picture of my new craft storage unit!

Here is my finished chair.

I had this fabric I made the pillow out of in my craft closet.  I cut it on the bias and I think the yellow in the plaid really pops next to the spider back chairs and china cabinet.

I can't help take advantage of the opportunity to add more light to my space.  These lamps and shades are from target.  They have been in the circulation at my house for the last couple of years.

I placed the chairs in my window, which is now screaming for a window treatment!

I love my unexpected pops of color!  When I'm flipping through my decorating magazines it is the unexpected that makes me stop and stare.  It might be a color, an unusual line in a piece of furniture, or a piece of art that stops me in my tracks.  Tell us about what unexpected things you are introducing to your decor!  We can't wait to hear about what inspires you.

Quick Fixes

Pardon the long pause in our blog postings.  We are back in the swing of things after a wonderful weekend with family and friends.  I got to meet my new niece Marie and enjoy some quality time with my  sister and brother in law Pam and John.  This Blog post is for my sister Jill.  She requested some quick fix ideas to use in her house.  So here you go Jill.  

If you have dark lamp shades (which I do during the winter months) try switching them out to a light shade.  You can also trim out your shade with a few strips of ribbon or fringe from the fabric store.  This small change will make a big impact in a matter of minutes.

Rearrange your furniture and take a trip to your local thrift store.  Don't be afraid to relocate furniture that does not fit into your new arrangement.  Don't worry it can always come back!  My hubby calls this shopping in the basement. (which I do regularly)  Check out my latest thrift find!  That little side table to the left of my couch was $6!!  I painted it white and painted the knob silver.  I love the way it looks in my family room.

Switch out your pillows.  It really is amazing what a quick change in your throw pillows can do for your room!  My color obsession for spring is kelly green.  It is the rage for fashion and for home decor.

It is amazing how many options we have for fabric now.  I remember saving up to be able to get a few yards of fabric that everyone had because there were limited choices.  Now you can go on line and your options are limitless!  You just need to be able to sew a straight line, then stuff your old pillows inside of the new one.  

Talk about a quick fix!!  This room came together with 1 quart of raspberry colored paint.  My daughter got her very own play room after my tween son took over the bonus room for his own retreat!  More on his room later.  The back accent wall is a stencil and the side matching tables are from Target.  They were $14.  Brynn is thrilled to have her own space to watch movies and play dolls with her friends.