MY HARVEST SWAP GOODIES!!!!! From Char's Blog Harvest Swap

WHOOO HOOOO I got my fall swap goodies and boy oh boy did I get the mother load!!!!!

Lookie lookie at all that I got!!!!!!
But ya want to know what is even better than all of this????
The wonderful friend I have found thru this swap!!!
My now new bestest buddy Deb, from http://www.crowsonthecupola.blogspot.com/
I have been running all over my house setting out my new fall decorations. The Pumpkin Pie on my oak table, The HANDSTITCHED pillows Deb made are in my cupboard, The little hand painted trinklet box fits nicely on one of my shelfs, the candy corn,,, I LOVE the candy corn she made for me, they are in my kitchen, The Harvest Pumpkin is greeting my guests in the entry way, And look at the sign!!! What a HOOT!
"May all your pumpkins be PLUMP"! OMG!! How cute is THAT???
I LOVE all of it. Thank-you so very much Deb for all my goodies. I love every item I got,,and the work... the detail that went in to these pieces..wonderful.. lordy the time in them. Deb's workmanship is perfect!!! I should say Spellfully Purrfect! LOL!! ( That's a special thank you Deb,,You KNOW what I mean...giggles!)
Your's is on it's way Monday. I'm late but I hope it will be worth it.
Thank-you Char for hosting this swap!!!!

Shelf Tutorial Using Wall Paper Border Part 2

Ok Here we go again.. You'll have to read part 1 so this makes sense to ya. We are making a shelf using wallpaper border. OK ready???? Lets finish the shelf so you can see what you are making!!

Have the side boards even with the drawn line..remember the line is the traced line around your wall paper border..on the plywood. 3/4 of an inch away from the sides and the top. The bottm has a piece of trim even with the plywood edge. OKPlease drill some pilot holes so you don't crack the wood..We got this far ,,we don't want to ruin it now.......

Nail the sides to the trim piece.Now flip it over and nail the back.

Don't forget to glue under the sides and the top before nailing..it helps to hold it together better.

Next get a piece of wood . I used a piece 5 3/5 inches wide and 6 inches longer than the length of my wall paper border. It is also 3/4 thick.

From the top..... set the piece of wood on the space you drew on top of the wall paper in the begining. I measured 3 inches for the over hang on the each end of the shelf.. You might want a longer shelf that is fine ..add the inches here.

Here I have my top piece ready to be nailed to the sides. I am making the 3 holes that I will drill pilot holes for so my top won't crack. I have a 3 inch over hang on each side of my top side of my shelf.. And if you want, you can add some hooks or knobs to your trim piece as I did.. I will removed them when I paint my shelf but for now I have the holes ready to put them back into place after I am done painting and finishing my shelf.

MY 3 holes are drilled and I'm ready to put the nails in.
Flip it over and put your nails in the back. I put 7 nails across the top.

Here you can see the inside where the top meets the side in the corner...Nice clean edges for not many measurments Eh?

Here I am measuring for the knobs or hooks if you want some.. I put one in the middle then measured in 2 inches in from each side for the other 2 knobs. I drilled pilot holes and used black skrews to hold my knobs. I will remove them when I paint the shelf.

Wanna see what we have so far????????

WHOO HOO Here it is we are almost done!!! Now we can fit the wall paper border. You may have to trim a millimeter off the sides or top or bottom.. Don't take too much off..You just want the wall paper to lay flat on the plywood..no buckling of waveyness. DON'T GLUE IT IN YET!!!OK>>> Here the wallpaper it fits in and we are ready to paint the shelf.. I am doing my black.Paint the whole back black. Paint everything black on the front except all the middle where the wall paper will go. Plaint about a 1/2 inch edge on the plywood where the wallpaper will be glued..You are doing this in case when you trimmed the wall paper , if you took too much off , the black will make it not so noticable.And now we can sand our shelf..and stain it..sand it till the wood shows thru in places. When the black is dry, you can paint a second color like red or mustard and sand thru to the black in places and all the way thru to the wood also in places. I used minwax a dark walnut stain.. I rubbed it on with a rag and wiped it off. After it is dry..you can FINALLY glue your wall paper border in. I put white glue around the very edges where I painted the black in the plywood front.. Just so I was sure the wall paper didn't lift.. Other wise I just wet the back of the wall paper as I would if I were putting it on a real wall.

Just have to sand it and glue the wall paper in it and stain it........YEA!!! WHOO HOO Here it is all finished.. This one I didn't not put knobs on it. It has the dark walnut stain finish..Now all ya have to do is put some hanging hooks on the back and figger out where you want to hang it in your home.... I made 3 shelfs during this tutorial..so that is why some had knobs and some didn't. I hope you were able to follow me here.. I wanted to show you that you can make a shelf using ANY size of wall paper border that you want. By starting with the wallpaper itself and going from there by drawing a line around it on plywood.. You can just built it right up from almost nothing.

Hugs Rene

Shelf Tutorial Using Wall Paper Borders Part 1

OK this is going to be a long drawn out tut but I think it will be easy. I have like 31 pictures to walk you thru this. SO Ever seen a piece of wall paper border you thought would make a really cool....SOMETHING?? But what??? Here is what you can do with it.....Find an old piece of plywood..or if your lucky enough to have a new piece use that. This is the back side that you never see.. It's normally nailed to the wall!Here is the front side of the plywood I am going to use...Nasty ain't it..ok..not for long!!Take your wall paper border and select the part you want to use.. Wall paper border repetes so look for a place to cut where you have the whole picture with out over lapping the picture on the ends. I got this at Menards and it cut real nice between the houses. Cept I think it's printed at an angle?? Whatever..OK get your piece of wall paper border cut..Size does not matter. Any size border will work for this project.Now lay the wallpaper down on the BACK side of the plywood DON'T GLUE IT!!! just set it down..... We will be using new boards for the frame so.... find a nice board.. I used a piece of trim I had laying around here.. it does not matter how wide it is only that it is exactly the same length as your wall paper picture. You can now measure the trim so it is the same length as the wall paper is long, mark a line and cut the trim. Lay the trim down EVEN with the bottom edge of the plywood, leaving a space on all 3 remaining sides. Lay the wall paper above it so it is touching the trim but not under it. Draw a line around the wall paper. Ok new boards are 3/4 of an inch thick sooo measure 3/4 of an inch from the wall paper line and trim draw a line 3/4 away up the sides and across the top.. Draw a 3/4 space.

See in the pictures a line drawn 3/4 of an inch all around the wall paper and the trim . You don't have to draw a line under the trim.. The trim IS the bottom.
oK go ahead and cut out the plywood piece. You should have now. A piece of plywood 3/4 of an inch bigger on the sides and the top than your wallpaper border and the width of your trim on the bottom.

Bottom rim is even and 3/4 on the sides and top. You can sand the edges of the plywood to get rid of any splinters.
Put some white glue under the trim and press down.. Hold it and flip the plywood and trim over so the finished side is up.
Put a few nails thru the finished side into the trim..Make sure the nails are shorter than the thickness of your trim so they don't go all the way thru the trim. Make sure the bottom edge stays even and the side and top still have a 3/4 space.
Flip your plywood back over and it should look like this now.. The trim is glued and nailed. You are now ready for the sides of the shelf. Get your new wood. I used 2....3/4 x 3 1/2 x 15 inch long piece as that is what I had. You need 2 pieces. One for each side of the shelf.

OK Here I lined up the top of my new board EVEN with the top of the wall paper. The new board is laying on it's edge and on the 3/4 inch space you left on the sides and top.

Here you have to decide how much you want to hang down below your trim. I went about 3 inches...AND I want a curve not a blunt straight cut.... so ..............

Make a piece of paper the same size as your new wood..side.....

And draw a curve that you like on the end..This will be your pattern for the bottom side of your shelf. Draw it on the wood and cut it out..Sand the edges smooth.

Draw on the wood.Cut it out on your scroll saw.Sand the sides and bang the edges on the end of the belt sander.. You can also sand it by hand..

Now make another one exactly the same for the other side of the shelf!

Hand sand too if you don't have a belt sander.Now lay the sides on the plywood in the 3/4 spaces you left on the sides of the wall paper. Measure so the side board is EVEN......... with the top of the wallpaper NOT THE TOP OF THE PLYWOOD. You need a 3/4 space at the top.. Draw a straight line and cut the board. Now sand the edges at the top.. And get your glue ready.Put some glue on the ends of the trim.Put the side piece on the plywood on the 3/4 space you left on the sides of the wall paper. And even with the top of the wallpaper. I'm gonna post this so I don't loose it and finish the shelf in part 2.

American Swap With Kris from Simply Prim

Ok I am SOO far behind with everything here.. I am late with my swap with Kris.. I am so sorry. The item I made for you ,,when I took it to the P.O. it would have cost over $29.00 to ship!! SO I have to start all over.. I was thinking like $15 to ship, boy was I wrong.. So bare with me I am making some new stuff and I will get it out this wek yet. I thought I had to the 24th and it was the 15th so now I am really really late..

Ok I had Kris from Simply Prim as my swap buddy. I got some wonderful items.. My life is never slow and I am alway running..and I was really running out my front door when I had to jump over a box my postman had left on my door step. It was my goodies from the Americana swap off Char's blog. I told my pit crew they were going to wait till I opened this box..and wait they did.

I got a wonderful prim candle holder that Kris made and then she made up the prim candle to go with it.. They do smell wonderful. Next Kris made me a super cute Uncle Sam!! I just LOVE this little guy.. I love prim. I Love cute country. This little guy fits right in. Then I got a wonderful basket with America painted on it.. How did you know Kris, that I was collecting baskets to start hanging them in my dining room ceiling beams?? Course this one is special and it will go right here in my computer room so I can keep my camera and anything I use alot during the day close to me. THEN I got a wonderful little book to keep all my notes in and it came with an American pencil too that was tucked inside.

SO Thank-you so Very much Kris.. I am working on your stuff today yet.. I want it to be perfect. You all can go can see Kris's blog as she makes wonderful primitive items AND she shows us how to do them too!! WHOO HOO! www.simplyprim.blogspot.com

Well they are Gone

When we got home late yesterday afternoon, the 2 baby robins were out of the nest and sitting on the lawn. I just walked over and picked them up. It was like they were so used to me they didn't try to fly away. I had the hubbie take one last pic of them, this time in my hands. I took them in the house for the picture and then I cropped it so ya didn't have to look at my mug! I put them back in the nest. At 7 am I could still hear the parents chirping to them.

This afternoon, they are gone. I can't even hear the mom and dad chirping to them. All I hear is the cardinals and they have a nest in the back yard...Soon they will bring their babies to the feeder.. Something to look for soon!

Birds Are Mean

I looked in the nest 2 days ago and can only see 3 babies...today I can only find 2 babies..... Then I started to look on the ground...where I found the 2 babies that were the smaller ones and got pushed out of the nest... I feel so bad... I wonder how many times I walked passed these babies on the ground and didn't see them? I wonder if I could have fed them if I had found them earlier? If they would have taken a worm from me. I suppose this is nature...but such a mean nature...

The 2 big shelfish babies that are left in the nest.... the boogers!

WHOO HOO MY GOODIES ARRIVED TODAY FROM THE PORCH SWAP!!

YEA!! My goodies arrived today from Char's Porch Swap. My buddy was Kim, her blog is The Prim Schoolmarm. I got a really cool chickfeeder lamp filled to the brim with fantastic smelling rose hips and cinnamon sticks and tiny wax tarts, and it has a ring of pip berries around the canning jar too. Next I got a really cool wood light box with a prim heart cut out on the front and a wonderful cinnamon candle with a great old looking metal cap and handle, and thennnnnn I got a really wonderful stenciled Welcome Friends with a red star in the middle . ( I love stars) And I'm not done yet!!! This is the best ( you'll see why in the last picture!!!!!) WHOO HOO I got an old prim stitchery of a black cat standing on a step stool looking in an old crock!! And the crock has a star on it!! WHOO HOO!!! Take a look at how wonderful it all looks on my table in my entryway!!! It fits in so WELL don't ya think???? And that stitchery!! LOOK at the LAST Picture... That's my Binky for sure!!! Digging my my old crock where I keep my "Roots" in my kitchen... KIM! How did ya know Binky digs in the root crock all the time?? SO much so,, I have taken his picture doing it!!! THANK-YOU FOR BEING A WONDERFUL SWAP PARTNER!!! THANK-YOU CHAR FOR HAVING THE SWAP!!!!