Pinecone Centrepiece

Painfully easy but I love the look!

A few weeks ago we went on a hilarious family adventure with my in-laws. We got lost in the middle of a forest, then when we arrived we checked crab pots in a little old boat [I got to row!], had a feast for lunch before Monster and I both had a huge midday nap [heh]. Then we went fishing in ankle-deep mud and Monster and I decided t find cool pinecones.

I spray painted them with gloss black and gave them a few coats to make sure I was getting every little bit. Then I but them in a nice white ceramic bowl I had. It doesn't look like much now, but Tim is redoing our dining set to be black and the wall it is against is going to be painted yellow!

This is only half the pinecones we have. I want to paint the rest but I don't know what colour. White? Gold? And what should I do with them?

Try This Thursday #11 - Project Make a House a Home!

So I'm trying to turn the house we live in into more of a home for us. We've been here almost a year and a half and it still doesn't seem very 'us'. We think we'll do an adult like thing and buy a piece of furniture that is grown up, and then later we realise we have betrayed ourselves and we hate it!

The major change we are doing here, with the landlord's permission [lucky us we rent off my parents!], is to paint the main wall in our house a nice cheery yellow! It didn't take too long to convince my husband Tim, which is a change, because I told him yellow was happy and inspiring. He agreed. Our main living area is quite small, but I've gotten good at making it look spacious, There are lots of windows that let in quite a bit of light so a bright yellow is going to look so happy!

We're really excited, and we've already started a few projects to reflect what is Our Family. Our main motivation is when our friends from Brisbane come to visit, it doesn't seem like the kind of house that we live in at all. We want friends and family to walk in and go, "Wow. This is so the Greens!" [ps that's our real last name!]. Mostly Tim wants it to be an arty creative place for me, which is a bit cute don't you think? We also want it to be a place that reflects our super awesome nerd powers and also how important our friends and family are to us.

I'm so excited that Tim is on board with this, and that he is getting excited and actually starting some DIY projects on his own!

That was a long-winded introduction, but this week's Try This Thursday is going to be straight from my Pinterest [which I suspect they all will be now] of all the things we plan on doing to our house to make it a home!

Source: diylife.com via Adam on Pinterest

This is a headboard made up like the galaxy with fibre-optics! Tim said he wants to build this for our room! Follow the links to the Instructables tutorial

Source: Uploaded by user via Adam on Pinterest

More outdoor lighting ideas from recycled jars! This is soooo pretty

Source: Uploaded by user via Adam on Pinterest

We are going to just buy a whole heap of cutlery from the op-shop and spraypaint the handles in pretty bright happy colours! It may scratch off, but I'm going to spray clear acrylic over them too. I don't know how long it will last but hey, it's pretty!

Source: Uploaded by user via Adam on Pinterest

Love this idea for a framed art! I'm not sure what word I would choose, but I bet once I start thinking of some it will be hard to stop at just one!

Source: pureandnoble.blogspot.com via Adam on Pinterest

Use a glue-gun to write on a bottle or a jar then spray paint the whole thing!

Source: Uploaded by user via Adam on Pinterest

Fox lamp! I discovered this a year ago, but she has since uploaded the pattern for the fox!

Source: burdastyle.com via Adam on Pinterest

Hanging chair for a kid. Must teach Tim + Monster that it is NOT a swing...

Source: alphamom.com via Adam on Pinterest

Snowglobe soap!

Source: housetohome.co.uk via Adam on Pinterest

LOVE THIS. Glue toy animals to the lids of jars and then spray paint them!






PS if you want a Pinterest invite just leave a comment or send me an email! If you're confused who 'Adam' is, it's short for Adam West. Another name I answer to!

Dinosaur Planter Tutorial

I made this dinosaur planter yesterday after seeing something similar on Pinterest!

A few months back, we scored a big milk-crate of dinosaurs for $10 from a garage sale. Monster has loved them, I find dinosaurs everywhere and it makes me laugh as I wonder what he was imagining when he was playing with them.

I chose one of the dinosaurs and cut a hole in the back. Choose a toy that is rubbery, and not solid! I used a small hacksaw to cut across the dinosaur's back, then I could cut a rectangle.

I was just going to use a corkscrew, but my husband drilled holes in the bottom of the dinosaur. He got a bit carried away actually, haha.

 I gave it about 3 coats of spraypaint, letting it sit for a few hours inbetween so it wouldn't drip. I let it dry overnight and then this morning I put some gravel in the bottom, followed by potting mix + soil and then one of my smaller aloe vera plants!

I love the gloss-black look! Tim has told me to make two more.

And here's the original I found on Pinterest

Source: svpply.com via Adam on Pinterest

Monster's Punk Vest

Inspired by the punk jackets my friends in Brisbane wore, I decided my Monster needed his own.

For once it wasn't hard to get him to 'pose' for photos. He just kept his attitude...

It was very easy, I used the bottoms of a pair of Tim's jeans, so they were scuffed and frayed at the hems. I made a basic vest pattern like in this tutorial, but left it open instead of having buttons.

Then I studded it with studs from an old belt I had that had broken. Putting some bleach in a spray bottle I sprayed it and left it dry overnight so it has the faded and worn look. Using various patches I had around, you can buy patches on eBay or Etsy, I stitched them on to the vest! Some I ironed on, and as you can see in the pic I do need to stitch them, which is going to be irritating since they're so stiff and thick.

The back I made a banner patch from some leopard-print felt. I was going to stencil something over the top but I'm not sure what yet.

The one underneath is a Dead Kennedy's patch I made from an old t-shirt I owned

[Linked up to Creative Me Monday over at The Southern Institute]

Monday Morning Photo Dump #8

This week will be better. I will make it so!

[funny how photos only capture small moments]

 

I cut myself a fringe [bangs], did mermaid nails [I did clean them up I sear], dressed like a mum by wearing my mum's mustard cardigan, Tim's Tomar Re mask arrived, Betty found old photos on Myspace of us, my friend photoshopped a photo of Monster so he looked like Yoda, bought Arkham City the collector's edition and flipped out over the Batman statue, Monster got a new toy elephant he named Boba, Tim did Monster's hair like a rockabilly bebe, and they started ripping up our backyard [for backyard awesomeness]

Tin Can Luminaries Tutorial

Edited to Add more pictures of the step by step!

This took me literally 5 minutes to create [plus preparation time]!

We're getting our backard overhauled, and at the moment it's like an adventure to get to the wheelie bins, but we're getting a nice big entertaining area. And we're getting a trampoline. A big one.

Anyway we have a trillion and one ideas for decorating the new area, when it is completed, so I thought I would start making pretty things now!

I got a few cans from the recycling bin, one soup can and the two smaller ones are tuna cans! In this picture you can see I haven't painted them yet. I'm going to spray paint them black in the morning!

Super easy to make! I filled the cans with water this morning and put them in the freezer. We went and did things and when I came home tonight they were nice and frozen.

You will need a nail and a hammer, a permanent marker and a towel so you don't freeze your fingers {shush, I'm precious}

If the bottom of your can is out of shape, relax, mine all do this. We'll fix it up later.

Draw the symbol on with the marker.

Hammer the nail in just a little. Small holes don't let much light through, so I get the nail through past its point into its regular width.

Repeat along the line you drew

Soon it will look like this! Put it in the kitchen sink and run hot water over the ice on the inside to melt it all completely, shoudln't take too long at all.

Now let's fix the bulge at the bottom! Flip your can over.

Civer it with a towel and hammer it lightly over the bumpy bits. {that is not gold nailpolish. I was spraypainting. Again.}

Mostly flat + good enough!

I put the cans in the sun to dry completely, then hit them with a high gloss black spray paint.

Let them dry and tada! Here are the six I have made so far.

"Love". It's sappy I know but there has been a lot of Love lost between many people I know lately, and I wanted to remind myself that as long as there is Love in my family that is all that matters.

This is what we use to call Batman when there's no power and the Batsignal won't work.

Here is their home for the moment.

And a tea-light candle and voila!

 Pretty!