My science laboratory mantel

 

Here is where we start with this project. One naked mantle ready to be decorated. But first to remove the hello from the wall..

 

 

oh wait, what is this? a hole in the wall?? from the 3m tape that is not supposed to tear holes in the wall?!?!?!

 

 

so out comes the spakle. I am getting pretty good at using this stuff because I am me and often have accidents that cause holes in walls..

 

 

Back on project mantle after some spackle and painting because I couldn't find the right color to just do touch ups so I had to repaint the whole white square and mantle...uugh!

 

Anyway so I found these black cheese cloths at the Dollar Tree(.Not to be confused with the Dollar Store or the 99 cent store or any other dollar increment store ( why are there so many cant they all just get along and have the same name so I'm not confused!)) I love these cloths they are fabulous!

 

 

I hung up my BOO frames on the newly painted wall and yes I used the 3m tape again! I swear if It gets holes again I am going to write a strongly worded letter to 3m!

I made these a long long time ago but here is a quick summary of what they are made of

3 black frames from Michael's

Grey scrapbook paper for background

white scrapbook paper for letters to be glued to

I found a font that I like and printed the letters off individually @ a really large pt.

 I cut the letters out, used as a stencil on spooky scrapbook paper and then cut again...I didn't have my cricut back then!

then assemble..

 

 

Then I added some apothecary jars with eyeballs ( wooden balls from Michael's painted like eyes) and old knives  and sheep sheers. One of the spooky knives I found in a drawer in the kitchen when we bought this house. It is a creepy old knife!I saved it just because I don't know why but 12 years later it has a purpose. The others I have gotten cheap at antique shows here and there.

 

I found this mold of someones teeth at the Alameda antique show along with the silverware. I want to find some more of these!

 

 

I love these beakers, I bought these through NASCO. But since their is a chance that I might be a cooking up a batch of some good ole homemade drugs with these I was forced to order them online instead of being able to purchase them at the warehouse.. How lame ! Do I really look like I partake in the cooking of illegal substances..Moowah!!??

 

 

 

Omg I love this picture! The wooden box I got at my favorite picking hole for $5 I added the sticker from a pack of Martha Stewart stickers I got half off after Halloween last year. The hatchet was another find in Alameda and the sheers were a gift from a witchy friend.

The stomach I made in my ceramics class not because I wanted to but because the assignment was to make a body part! It finally found its home in the Halloween decorations. I kept the typewriter there?? It just seems to fit to have a typewriter in the fireplace along with a eye chart and a stomach..

 

Brooms for riding

 

Here is a picture of the whole thing pretty spooky. I love it and sometimes i have to edit my self on the amount of things I want to display on the mantle but I feel like this is the one time of the year I can be as crazy as I want!

 

 

Here is another little something I put together on the kitchen table.

 

What cha think? Did I scare you? LOL My 3yr old is so confused and thinks we should be going

trick or treating every day because its Halloween time!

 

Stay tuned I have a quick and easy spooktacular wreath project in the works.

 

 

 

 

 



I'm a Blue Turtle

Ive had this guy chilling in my back yard for ever. I'm pretty sure I bought him at a partylite party a bizillion years ago when I still lived in a apartment and only had one child ( ahhh the good ole'days!) Last summer I repainted all my plastic flower pots to add some pizazz to my back yard, but I never/didn't even think of painting this guy who obviously could use some love. 

So out came the spray paint. I always get a look from Mike when I break out the spray paint. Its the look of OMG what is she doing now! And what is going to get paint on it! I was a good girl this time, I got a big cardboard box to do my work in so that the table, concrete, grass, wall would not get painted also. 

Seee, no over spray all over the place. I have to tell you I am a big fan of spray paint! It is so easy even though I have not quite mastered the one light coat at a time technique. 

Here he is all dry and back in his spot ( well not so dry see the little blue spot on the concrete... I cleaned it up the best I could!) So as I was walking back along the side of the house to put the paint away I found some of blue turtles friends. 

Little turtle is missing a leg, but nothing a little paint job wont hide.

Funny thing , the paint totally bubbled a little but  a lot, but it only added to the hey i'm a horny toad look so I didn't mind. 

Here they are, all three homies chilling in the sun. Moral of my story is pretty much anything can look better  or be granted a new life with a little spray paint :-)

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Bianca

Chevron Purse

Happy Saturday all! Here's a project  I did with this little ditty of a purse I scored at a garage sale for $2 bucks. Hey that's the same price as the shirt I redid last month. CRAZY! This purse has good bones. I saw it as a beach bag at first , but since I only make it to the beach a few times a year I knew I was going to have to spruce this guy up.  

Supplies need for this spruce up if you wanted to try your own

Fabric paint in your choice of color I chose green, blue and white

 { i suspect that acrylic paint could work just as well}

Foam paint brush { one of those cheap guys from the craft store}

paint tray or just a piece of paper to hold your paint

Shhh, don't tell the hubs I did my project on the hard wood floors! I put some newspaper down!

See! I did! SO  for this chevron...i just went for it! I thought about trying to make a chevron stencil to make it "perfect", but my mind was in the " I don't care if its perfect" and " I only have 2 hours to finish this project' mode so go for it. The good thing about this is you can go in and make the lines thicker for make it look a little better if your chevrons aren't as you wish. 

I chose to do one green just a add a little bit more flair. 

The paint it wet here so it looks a little clumpy { does that describe it?!} I did the front and back and  thought I Yay I'm done! You see on this particular day I had started taking a morning class and a friend was watching my 3 yr old  and the other 2 were in school. As mentioned before I had 2 hours to finish before kids return and this took maybe 20 mins.YAY time to myself! Quiet time! All by myself time! 

But when it dried I just wasn't feeling it. It needed something more. So I added a white stripe down the middle of  the blue and green ...... Ta-da! I have been using this for my art class It holds everything! 

 Thanks for stopping by, What are you up to this weekend? 

~ Bianca

Eat Thrift Love

 

Modesto Area Friends!

Are you ready to get thrifty with it?

Announcing...

EAT THRIFT LOVE

Saturday, September 22, 2012

8:30 am - 1:00 pm

Brought to you by Just Bonkers and Bles-id.

$5.00 per person gets you breakfast, swag and prizes along the way.

We have 5 stores on our list!

To attend you must be a follower of just bonkeres and bles-id. Then simply give us your RSVP and email address... that's it!

If you don't follow bles-id , click here to follow!

Are you ready to EAT THRIFT LOVE?

xoxo Jules and Bianca

My $2 shirt re-do

I went to the Sacramento antique fair last weekend and scored this shirt for a whopping $2 bucks. I am normally not a digger, but I was feeling up to the challenge on this particular day. There are only certain things I am willing to dig for at an antique fair. Those piles of jewelry sitting out all tangled on a table... LOVE! I am always certain I am going to find a hidden treasure.  Piles and boxes of clothing not so much. But on this day I went for it. So I tried the shirt on over the one I had on and briefly looked in the mirror they had and decided that It was worth the $2 the lady was asking and if I got it home and didn't like it no big loss. I knew I was going to need to shorten it because maybe it was a dress to a shorter person??!! But not  a very flattering length sooo here I go, don't be scared it was only$2!

I the tools  for this endeavor out,

1. self healing cutting mat

2. Rotary cutters

3.Quilting ruler

I put the shirt on and measured where I thought it needed to be cut to and then added a inch or so for messing up and then placed a pin. If it were a different fabric I would have hemmed it, but this was a really light weight see through type of fabric and even with my amateurish skills I'm pretty sure there is no "nice" was to hem this fabric. I lined up the side hems so that I could get a nice straight cut...

I made my cut..

and this I what I got.. I thought lining up the side hems would insure a nice straight cut , but I got some sort of scallop in the front and back. So I just eyeballed it and cut the scallops to line up with the side hems.

 

Then I sewed up the side hems about 1/2 an inch to make the shirt a little less flowey is the term I'm gonna use.

and here ya go! I added a yellow belt that came with a dress I bought at target to brighten it up a bit. And I'm in love. Not bad for a $2 bucks  huh!

OK so now I need your help! I bought this other shirt against the wishes of one of my friends who I have known since the beginning of time! it may have just been spite, I like it but she hated it! So of course I bought it and I plan on wearing it the next time I see her for sure! 

My question to you is do I keep the ruffles or cut them off?!?! Here is what i thought in my head when I bought this shirt..

If you didn't know already I am a cardigan hoarder. this heat has been killing me, I cannot even think  about cardigan over my t-shirts without breaking into a sweat!! I hate it! So cute yes!?! do you agree?

 But in rummaging through my closet I found option #2 but it would require removal of the ruffles in the middle of the shirt ..take a look

Not a cardigan, but still very cute... So I'm putting it to a vote. Place your votes in the comments below and in 2 weeks from today I will tally and announce the winning look.. I am so excited for this, and hopefully in 2 weeks it will be cool enough to wear this outside! I know I'm a dreamer but one can hope!

Thanks for looking Remember to vote for which one looks better below!

~ Bianca

P.s I'm linking this up to some linking parties for the first time! Hope this works!

And Here  to the SO YOU THINK YOUR CRAFTY BLOG

Things I did this summer while I wasn't blogging..

Just a little photo history of what I did this summer. Sorry if you missed me. Believed me it weighed heavily on me that once again that I am a blogging slacker. But I did spend a lot of time away from home this summer. I promise I will try harder! ;-)

Camping trip #1 Pinecrest lake

I saw some dandelions ( very much like these) on my  walk to the restroom. Finally after the 100th trip to the restroom I remembered to take my camera with me and had a little 3yr old to accompany me. As we are walking out of the bathroom she says mommy look at these flowers and proceeds to pick my flowers I had been eyeballing for 2 days. Luckily  there wasn't a shortage of dandelions and  I found some new ones to use as my subject.

Wanted to try out the HDR on my camera for this one. I think it needs a little more contrast?!?

Camping Trip # 2 Lake Siskiyou fathers day weekend

These butterflies were just chillin on the beach. It was so fun watching them.

The Happy hubs

Nephew , brother in law and son

checking out Mt. Shasta

Swimming in the ice cold waters

Catching some fish

Building sandcastles

More butterflies

Camping trip # 3 lake Siskiyou again July and much warmer weather.

 My brother..That's the life a inter-tube and a refreshing beverage. 

Mom and Brother

Crying trees



Mount Shasta

Lily Getting ready to take a pic of me



Happy Lucy

Happy Hubs

Happy life

A rare shot of me, especially in a bathing suit! scandalous!

Chaser

here fishy fishy

Tarzan and the captain

and mini captain

My tent glowing, I love this pic.

Some more favorite pics, campfire fun!

If you haven't tried this ( I'm not an expert!) but all I did was slow down the shutter speed on my camera. Most of these were shot with a 15sec speed. I think the last one was 30secs.

Backpacking Yosemite!! 5 Mighty hikers entered the woods!

Another rare appearance by me!

6.3 miles to 10 lakes....Wowzers





 View from the peak, only1 mile down..You think it sounds good but it was a ruff mile down!



Going up



I keep telling him we could do it!











I caught 4 of those babies!  All by myself!



Hanging out









And now summer is over school has stared and back to routines schedules and trying to get my to-do list crossed off! How was your summer, I would love to hear what you did!!

Thanks for looking~Bianca