Monday, December 23, 2013

Merry Christmas

This is my favorite Christmas song. Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas!

Monday, December 2, 2013

On any order $15 or more, use discount code CYBER13 for free shipping from my Etsy shop! Offer expires at midnight tonight.



Saturday, November 30, 2013

Thanksgiving weekend discount code

I am offering a 15% discount on anything in my Etsy shop through 12/1. The code to use at check out is THXGVING13.

Thanks for looking!

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Holiday crafting frenzy!

This time of the year I am just a little bit crazier than normal. I have been in "sewing mode" for months. Yesterday someone asked me if I was sewing. Why, yes, I am. Every morning about 3:30 you will find me with a cup of coffee either standing in front of my cutting station, at the ironing board or sitting at one of the two sewing machines that I have set up at all times. I sew until about 6am and then get ready for my real job. I don't sew at night very often usually because I am bleary eyed not long after I return home in the evening. I crochet scarves at night. Right now I have lots of inventory in preparation for the Hazelnut deux (my small business) holiday boutique this weekend.


This is the first time I have joined forces with a lovely group of women who also craft and created locally. Too often I have found myself at "craft fairs" with vendors for large companies. I wanted to be part of a group that only featured real craftspeople and artists and I think we offer a great blend of creativity. If you live nearby, please stop in on Sunday afternoon!

On Monday, November 25th, I will be listing a significant number of items in my Etsy shop. Please check it out next week! If you sign up for my newletter (click HERE to take you to the blog site for Hazelnut deux) I am offering a 15% discount code in the Etsy shop on anything purchased after November 24th.

Now - back to the sewing machine!

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Crafty Sunday

I have had a big candle in my living room for several years. It is a plain, off white, fat pillar candle. It is boring and kinda ugly.  Now, you will have to use your imagination for a second because I neglected to take a picture of my boring candle.  So let's pretend that it looks like this


(except that this one is brand new, white and smaller!)

I used this napkin


since none of my "fall" napkins had an all over print.

Using this tutorial, a single ply of the napkin, a large piece of waxed paper and my blow dryer I ended up with this


It would have looked better in my fall "mini vignette" if I had the right napkin but now I can say that I have gotten a jump on holiday decorating!


Pretty cute for 15 minutes worth of crafting!

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Ugly Lampshade Make Over!

I have a lamp that I truly love but the shade was looking pretty ratty.


The black is crackled looking and there are big scratches. I could not find a replacement lampshade that I liked so I knew I would have to attempt to make something.  I have a lot of canvas drop cloth fabric so I started tearing long strips to wrap around the shade.


Every time I got to the end of a strip I hot glued it to the inside of the lamp and attached another. The fraying strings were a pain and the I burned myself repeatedly with the hot glue but I love the end result!


I used a product called "Fray Check" to stop the strips from further fraying.


Now I am actually toying with the idea of using a graphic from Graphics Fairy to "French" it up a bit. There may be more to this project than I originally thought!

Linking to Home{work} Wednesday on The Everyday Home

Thursday, August 1, 2013

I learned something new today!

Yes, this old dog learned a new trick! When I opened Chrome, a bunch of extra tabs kept appearing.  They were all weird search tabs. I had no idea where they came from (and, frankly, I still don't!) What I do know now is how to get rid of them!

If you have the same issue, right click on the three line icon on the top of the page (all the way to the right). Click on "Tools" and the "Extensions".  On the left side of the Extensions page is another little menu. Choose "Settings". Now, see the one that reads "On Startup"? I bet the bottom choice is selected which is NOT what you want. Choose instead "Open the new tab page". That's it. Go all the way out of Chrome and come back in. Ta da! Those extra tabs are no longer there - just a single New Tab that is not connected to any weird search engine.

I thought about adding screenshots so you could see what I am writing about but that exposed more of my personal info than I was comfortable sharing so I didn't. How I learned to fix irritating problem was by watching this You Tube video.

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Bloglovin? Not so much...

Is anyone else having issues with Bloglovin?  I am having difficulty getting on to check the blogs I read as well as getting random deliveries of blogs that I haven't seen in weeks.  I have not seen anyone else complaining about it on any of the blogs that I read so I am asking you!  If you use Bloglovin as your reader, please leave a comment (or send me an email) and tell me what you are experiencing.  If it is just my computer (which is about 6 years old and an antique in the technology world) I would like to know and then I will ditch this old horse. If it is because I use Chrome, I can always switch to another search engine.

Thanks!!

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Busy weekend

I have one too many irons in the fire this weekend!  I have been working in the basement, cleaning out and rearranging everything in my hutch and china closet, sewing and helping my sister a bit at her studio.  Oh, yeah - also painting.

Painting this very large spice cabinet.

Shown with all the accumulated dirt and crud as picked up at the Goodwill.



I have learned something really, really important.  It takes FOREVER to paint all the little shelves, dividers, edges, what have you. I should have spray painted the interior.  Next time I do something like this, I will definitely spray the interior and hand paint the outside.  I think I will finish it by using a wipe on poly in the interior which will allow for much easier clean up.  The exterior will be finished with regular and dark wax. Oh, the front panel is going to be a blackboard.

Back to basement...

Friday, July 19, 2013

Thrifting find


I don't know how old it is.  I only know that it is American ironstone, has the Red Cliff logo and is completely intact down to the perfect ladle.  It is about 13" high and the underplate is 13" wide from handle to handle.



There is some crazing on the underplate but other than that, it looks amazing.  I have seen these listed as high as $299.


I bought mine for $12 at a local thrift store.  It is the same one where I find most of the English ironstone I have been collecting for several years.  When I saw it on the shelf, I was stunned for just a second.  I quickly recovered, wrapped my arms around it and took it to the counter.




Giddy, I tell you.  Just giddy!!

Linking to these fabulous parties:  Open House Party and Home{work}Wednesday

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Who needs cable?

Well, I guess technically I still need cable so that I get internet service.  However, I am cutting part of the cord.  I just bought this.



It is very tiny.  We hooked it up last night in just a couple of minutes and were watching Hulu Plus in no time flat.  The screen looks perfect and the remote is very easy to use.  I bought one that I can use with an HD television though I am using it on my huge glass flat screen television which refuses to die.  (There is a very nice Sony HD monitor waiting in the wings.)  If I feel like I need to use a second television, I can pick up the very bottom of the line, simple Roku unit for about $50 from Amazon.

In the fall I plan to purchase an antenna to pull in local news reports.  Until then I can keep up just using the internet and my cell phone alerts me if there is any National Weather Service updates I need to know.

Removing the television portion of my cable will reduce my bill by about $65.  The unit I just purchased was on sale at Best Buy for $80.  The Roku box nearly "pays" for itself with my first billing reduction. Comcast has jacked up my cable television bill for the last time!

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Happy Independence Day!!


I am offering a discount coupon (code INDEPENDENCEDAY13) for free shipping on any domestic order $20 or greater in my Etsy shop today through July 7th.

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Sitting pretty

A couple of weeks ago my mother gave me a vanity bench for which she no longer had a use.  Since I don't have a chair for the small secretary in my bedroom, I thought I could paint and re-upholster the bench and use it there.


I mixed up a batch of my off white faux chalk paint and painted on two coats.  I waxed with Minwax paste wax and followed that with Annie Sloan dark wax.  Three layers of wax and some serious buffing and I called it "done".

The color in the fluting was a weird shade of green.


Looks better antique white, doesn't it?

I really love this fabric.


This morning I pulled the nasty, old fabric off the seat and then upholstered the bench.  I used a layer of muslin over the foam and batting and then finished with a piece of one of my favorite fabrics, Portobello Market.  Normally I would not use quilting cotton for the bench cover but because it will be used fairly infrequently and because I have a layer of muslin under the cotton, I think it will do.


All I have left to do is staple the burlap on the underside of the bench.  I would have done that today except that I ran out of staples.

I am really pleased with the bench.  It will look great with the secretary....as soon as I paint it!

(Linking to:  Tutorials and Tips Party, Home Stories A to Z; We Did it Wednesday on Sew Much Ado; Domestically Speaking Power of Paint Party; Lilyfield Life Paint Parade; Start at Home Paint Party

Monday, June 24, 2013

I am loving this color!

Here's the footstool that I painted up yesterday as a test piece prior to painting my grandmother's dresser.



The color is EXACTLY what I envisioned and a lighter, brighter blue than ASCP Duck Egg.  I think this color juxtaposed against the mahogany will be gorgeous.



Actually, before I paint the dresser I am going to repaint the table that I painted last year with ASCP Provence.  I thought about selling the table and buying something else for next to the bed but the table is exactly the right height for my crazy, tall bed.  (Though I did really want to go shopping for another piece of furniture!)


Sunday, June 23, 2013

Ms. Crafty Pants

For Labor Day my decorating consisted of a tea stained bunting and matching wreath.  I decided I wanted something a little different for Independence Day this year.

I picked up this at the Goodwill the other day


sprayed it with some spray paint


grabbed a bunch of silk flowers at Joann's today


and fired up the glue gun.  After wrestling with the ribbon (I hate bow making!) and the addition of some small flags I ended up with this


for my front door.

Now I have to scrape dried glue off the top of my washing machine.  I like the crafting process so much better than the clean up!




Next up...

When my aunt moved to Arizona, she gave me my grandmother's dresser.  Because the finish was horrible, I used Formby's refinishing solution to remove it.  The dresser has been in an "unfinished" state for years about 8 years.  I had every intention of re-staining it and putting on a couple of coats of wipe on poly.  Well, that never occurred.  Then I discovered chalk paint and thought I would paint it.  Well, I thought about that for a year.  I struggled with the idea of painting it until I realized that my grandmother would totally be in favor of me doing whatever I decided.

The dresser is mahogany and has a beautiful grain.

I love the little detail on the top.

I think these fluted details will be especially gorgeous after I apply dark wax.
I have seen dressers on the internet with both painted and stained features.  Because I do love the mahogany, I am going to leave the drawer fronts and the top in the natural wood.  The frame, sides and scroll piece on the top will be duck egg blue...or at least my version of duck egg!  (I picked up a quart of Behr's latex in flat and tinted to as close a match as I could get.  I will add plaster of Paris and make my own version of "chalk" paint.)

To test the paint color (and see if I really like it) I am going to paint this first.


My mom just gave me this old footstool to use to climb up into my bed.  It is obviously hand crafted and was probably made by my grandfather.

Off to mix up paint!