Happy Valentines Day!

image via Vanity Fair

Julia and Paul Child really new how to keep the romance alive!  Cheers to all! 

photo credit

Just Clowning Around - I'll pass thanks!

Clown Art, creepy or awesome? I am fascinated by all the clown art I have been coming across.  But I really find most of it very creepy.  

And these were just a sampling of the best stuff I saw. Creepy Right?   Anyway onto better posts I promise.

LOVE me Some Pillow

I love me some crisp new pillows! Not as much as James Franco on 30 Rock does but I do get excited when I make a custom pillow for zero dollars and zero sewing. This project was so quick and easy!

The project was free to me because I had all the supplies on hand but here are the supplies you need to complete the project.

The Pillow Case is from ikea. I used AINA in white, $6.00 but there doesn't seem to be white online. The RITVA look similar and are a $1 more. I bought mine 2 or three 3 years ago for another project that never happened. I also used a FJADRAR pillow (20"x20") to fill the case which cost about $7.99.

The LOVE stencil comes from The Street Art Stencil Book from On Studio, and it was created by street artist Eine, Ben Flynn. The fabric markers I used were Sharpie's Stained collection and Tee Juice fabric makers. Both can be found at craft stores like Joanns or Michaels. I had these items as wells a pretty good supply of fabric paint left over from hosting 2 baby Shower where we did decorated onesies. I also used a bit of cardboard to prevent any bleed through to the other side of the pillow case.

I didn't take a picture of the stenciling but here is the process in a nutshell. Place the cardboard in side the pillow case under the area you wish to paint. The prevents bleed through to the other side. Then attach the stencil to the pillow case, I usually use tape. This is important because you don't want any movement once you start stenciling so you can get a crisp image. If you are nervous about this part I would do a practice run on a paper towel. Once your image is attached start filling in your stencil. What I like about the Tee Juice markers is that you can use a blotting technique which is really easy and effective. The Sharpies have some benefits too, they have little to no bleeding. So they are great for crisp lines but not as fast for filling in large areas. They both have uses. The L & V are in sharpie and the O&E are Tee Juice.

Once the paint is dry remove the stencil and cardboard. And marvel at your awesomeness! But you aren't done yet. Lastly you need to heat set the image so it will last.

Turn the pillowcase inside out and iron over the image. In my case the whole pillow case was pretty wrinkled from being in my fabric bin. So I went ahead and ironed both sides. But I did give the painted bits a little extra attention.

Once that is done put your insert in and you have your new custom pillow!

So crisp and Poppy! So Free! I have one more case to play with. So I am off to pick another stencil!

Goodwill Haul

So now that I have lots of Free Time (aka unemployed) I can actually go to Thrift Stores during the middle of the day. This is when the real finds are available. A couple of observations about Goodwill that I have gathered over the last couple weeks.

1. people will ram you with their shopping cart instead of using their words and saying "excuse me may I pass through". Every time it happens I am simply amazed.

2. When in doubt about an unique item, if its under $10 just buy it. You can always return it or donate it back if it doesn't work. Because if you think oh I will think about it and come back later... guaranty it is gone. If the item was good enough to give you pause at least 10 other people will want it that day too.

3. You know you have a good find when people start stalking your cart in Goodwill.

Which brings me to yesterday's haul. First of all i am helping my friend Stephanie with a decor project. She wants to make the entry wall of her house like this:

image via pinterest

So she has been on the hunt for empty gold frames. Or rather I have been hunting for her since I have the time to burn. (More on that project in other post if she lets me.) Here are the most recent frames I found for her wall:

Bonus 2 were already gold so only the one needed to be painted. They cost a total of $11. I also found this adorable little cross stitch for $1.

I am not sure where this well end up but see tip #2 above. I might give the frame to Steph for her chalk board wall, because it would make a great Tic Tac Toe grid for games at parties. Then reframe the cross stitch. Because cross stitch is HIP!

My third find was three 24x36 blank canvases, for $9 each. I grabbed them up because they would cost at least $20 each on sale at the art supply store and Stephanie (she has featured heavily in the post hasn't she) would probably take one off my hands and paint me up a gorgeous koi painting. I have a couple of her koi paintings already but I really want a large scale one.

In case anyone is reading this that I don't know personally here is one of her smaller koi paintings:

The minute I grabbed those canvases the Goodwillians descended upon me. One lady, who had bumped me with her cart earlier BTW, sidled up me and said "Good Find!! You better not leave your stuff unattended because I might swipe those." She was joking.... i hope. But I did take care to keep my stuff close at hand just in case. Seriously Goodwill shopping is cut throat. Another guy saw my cart full of canvases and asked where i got them. When I told him I grabbed them all he asked if he could have one of mine... which really is better than threatening to steal them. At this point I decided I better just go check out before I got jumped.

Ok lets try this again

Well a 3 + year break from blogging ends today. Why not I have the time to devote to this now that I am unemployed. So what to blog about ... I will be refocusing the blog on my day to day. Which will include recipes, DIY projects, Decorating, fashion etc. While I am putting together some posts feel free to follow me on Pinterest my current obsession.

http://pinterest.com/erika_mcclain2/

Off to craft!