Update for Week 19: decorated bird house

Yesterday afternoon around 4pm I finally got to finish my project. Breen drilled all the scrabble tiles for me and I strung them on to copper wire with faux pearls between each letter. The bottom portion of the cage has four sides so I selected four words carefully.
Freedom: Breen suggested that I string Freedom across the front of the cage above the little door that stays permanently open. I loved this idea. This is also the side of the cage that faces our porch. When I sit outside and look over to the bird cage it reminds me that I have freedom to make better choices about how to deal with my neighbor. It reminds me of the freedom I have to fly outside of my little self-imposed cage and experience the wonder of adventure.

Karma: this word is strung across the side of the cage that faces my neighbor. It serves as a reminder that karma has something to do with this living situation and the lessons to be learned from it. If I don't pay closer attention, we'll just keep being presented with other neighbors like her wherever we go.

Peace: this word faces the street. I like to think of peace spreading out to all of our neighbors and people who pass by.

Love: this word faces our front door and I think it's obvious that love lives inside.

I also tried a new cloth bird when I had a little more time and patience. While Breen drilled the tiles, I whipped up another little cloth bird and this time I think he turned out well. I've got him sitting on a branch half way up the cage. I found the bird project here and I'm sure you'll fall in love with these sweet little creatures too. You can download the free pattern.


I only wish that bird cages were easier to photograph because the shots here hardly do mine any justice. I think the cage looks better in person but maybe you'd have to come visit us to see :) Trust me though when I say that it's a nice sight to see on my front porch.

Week 12: Blooming Beer Cans

With Spring finally here, my beer cans are blooming! This week, I made big funky flower pins out of beer cans. My original idea for this project was found in a craft book that Breen bought me recently. In that book were dragonflies made out of beer cans that were poking out of flower pots. I was all set to make those dragonflies but somehow I stumbled across “soda can flower pins” and they made me smile so much that I just had to make a few of those instead. I had a bag of empty beer cans that Breen’s nephews saved for me when we saw them on Easter.

These flowers were so incredibly easy to make. I would give you the step by step instructions here but I think the easiest thing to do is to GO OVER HERE where the steps are clearly laid out with photos. I can tell you that aluminum is super light weight and cuts easily with regular scissors. I had fun using the beads and wire which added great details to my flowers. I read reviews where some people were concerned about the flowers being sharp but I can assure you that I haven’t found it to be a problem at all. However, I did buy an awesome can of green tea from the Japanese store but realized that it was made from steel and way too hard to cut and I do think that the steel would have been VERY sharp. When I make more of these flower pins, I’m going to use aluminum cans only. There could be so many possibilities for these flowers using all sorts of colorful soda and beer cans with different color beads. Do you remember the Adirondack Alcohol Inks that I used on a previous tile project? Well those inks work on aluminum too. What a great and stylish way to recycle!

Here were the flowers before they became flowers:

Here’s a peek at what the flower looks like before the beads and wire were added:

Here they are happily pinned to my jean jacket:



Check out the detail of the “pistons” made out of the wire:


Don't forget to go over to The Painted House to see what I did this week for The Farmers Market and the Find. You won't be disappointed!

Also our dear fellow participant, Carrie over at Kablooey, is on vacation this week but is going to try to get her project posted. Go over here to check :)

What did you do this week?

Week 10: Hand painted driftwood cityscape with candles

This week’s project was really special to me for several reasons. A few weeks ago while Breen and I were in New York City celebrating our first wedding anniversary, we were walking along the waterfront in Battery Park when Breen spotted an entire dock covered with driftwood that had washed up from all the heavy rain. We ran in to a nearby office building and grabbed a handful of umbrella bags which we then filled up with driftwood. It was one of those moments that I knew exactly what I wanted to make with my driftwood: a hand painted cityscape with carved out areas to place tea light candles. I wanted to honor both the special memory of our first wedding anniversary and the greatness of a city that lost so many on September 11th. We had to let the driftwood dry out pretty well for a few weeks before we could get this underway.

This project was also very special to me because Breen and I did this as a joint venture. He did all of the drilling and gluing and wood working; I painted the pieces of driftwood. Together we decided on how to place the pieces. Breen came up with the idea to put the Statue of Liberty on her own separate “island”. Every piece in our project is a piece of driftwood that we found that day in Battery Park. I made the crown on the Statue of Liberty with heavy card stock and Breen made a notch in the wood to secure it; I would have loved to make her crown out of tin. We worked on this together for hours last night and when we finished, we placed it on our fireplace mantel, lit the candles and smiled with satisfaction. Our driftwood creations hold wonderful memories we will never forget and there are no others exactly the same anywhere. I love getting creative with my husband. It really brings us together on all sorts of different levels. I’m so very grateful that Breen gets as excited as I do about these 52 Projects. I think this project made us both realize how nice it’s going to be to have our own space for woodworking one of these days.

Here's the back of the piece:



Here are two shots of the city at night :))



Breen working with his wood :))



What did you do this week?

Week 9: painted tiles

6 out of 15 tiles


A while back I was totally inspired by some tiles that Aimee from Artsyville had painted. I knew these were going to be one of my 52 projects as soon as I saw them. The color on the tiles is actually produced by alcohol ink which is designed to be used on non-porous materials. I went to Michael's and purchased a three pack of Adirondack Inks in Nature (Wild Plum, Butterscotch and Stream). Along with the inks you need the blending solution. As luck would have it, there was a Home Depot right next door to Michael's where I purchased 15 plain white tiles for 16 cents a piece.

The process is so simple. The inks are very messy though so be sure to put down some paper towels or newspapers under the tiles. You start with a white tile and wipe it down to get any dust or little particles off of it. Next you add a thin layer of the blending solution all over the tile and start dropping colors on to it. The blending solution acts as a thinning agent. It's amazing to watch all the beautiful patterns begin to form. You'll get different results by blending the colors together while they're still wet or by letting each color dry before adding more color. The inks dry very quickly so you need to work fast. I played around with texture effects. Just look how many colors only 3 inks produced! The possibilities are really endless and the inks come in so many different colors. Here's the good part: if you don't like the result, you simply wipe the tile down with the blending solution and start all over again. The last step is to seal them. I tried several different things. Modge Podge does NOT work; as soon as I brushed it on, the ink started to lift. I ended up spraying several coats of Polyurethane and that seemed to do the trick.

I'm not sure how I'll use these tiles yet. I was thinking about building a frame for a mirror with these. I was also thinking that these tiles would make great coasters or even look good cut in to mosaic pieces for a table top. Did I mention that these inks work on glass and metal too? Imagine the "stained glass" you could make.

What did you do this week?

Week 7: hand painted dishes

I loved my project for this week. I stumbled upon it when my husband surprised me one day after work this week with an amazing craft book from Borders. With 300 projects offered, the book is sure to be a hit with me. There are so many awesome things to try from tin can dragonflies to copper wire mobiles to tiled serving trays.

You would be shocked at how inexpensive and easy this project actually is. We went to Ikea yesterday and purchased one coffee mug for .59 and one cereal bowl for $1.99. Right next door to Ikea was Michael's Arts and Crafts where I purchased two Porcelaine 150 paint pens made just for glass and ceramics for $3.99 each. Possibly the paint pens are the biggest investment but they come in a full range of colors and tips and you can use them on lots of projects in the future. Trust me, you'll be hooked when you see how easy this is. I'm already thinking ahead for unique hand painted gifts. I think this would be great fun for kids to try too and imagine the funky keepsake you'd have for years to come. Ikea is the mecca for inexpensive plates, cups and saucers. I happen to adore the clean look of white plates but you could probably choose just about any color you want. You might even have an old set in your closet right now that would be happy for a little lift. The paints are opaque and non-toxic.

One side of my mug:

The other side of my mug:

The OUTSIDE of my bowl has some of my favorite words:




This is the INSIDE of my bowl:


The possibilities are endless!


Here are the instructions:
1. wipe down your china and make sure it's nice and clean.
2. uncap your paint pen, get the flow of ink started and let the painting begin!
3. let the paints fully dry on your china for 24 hours
4. place the pieces in a preheated 300 degree oven for 30 minutes.
5. let the pieces cool in the oven and remove.
6. the paint is now baked on to your piece. Enjoy!

Week 2: Pin Cushions

Betsy Ross, I am not. Still, I love my old sewing machine that I inherited from my grandmother. I have bags filled with fabric scraps that I’ve been meaning to get around to playing with to see how I might repurpose them. Pin cushions jumped in to my mind in the beginning of the week. So I made one. I don’t know about you but I’m tired of the classic little red tomato that came with every sewing kit ever sold. Easiest sewing project ever done. It was so much fun that I couldn't stop there. One pin cushion turned in to many.








Just by the process of trying one pin cushion, it spread a fire through my brain. I suddenly had a vision of setting up my old vintage black Singer machine at the show I’ll be doing in the late Spring (more about that later). At a real live showing of the Painted House, I can use my old sewing machine as a prop with these pin cushions piled around it. I can sell them on Etsy. I can give them away. You get the idea. One of the best totally unexpected uses for the pin cushion was the discovery that they make wonderful pillows for napping sock monkeys.


When you start with a tiny spark, it has the potential to spread like wildfire and that, my friends, is one of the reasons behind 52 Projects. What have you tried this week?