Church Plates, a New Collection
Hey Guys! Hope everyone is having a great weekend, mine has been pretty awesome since I just got back from vacation! Ahhhh, relaxation at it’s best! Back to the real world and work tomorrow though.
I did have time to squeeze in a little project that has been hanging around for sometime. I have been collecting commemorative church plates since the Fall and finally have enough to hang.
I started seeing these church plates when I was out antiquing and I decided the next ones I found I would start a collection, then of course I could not find any! My sister in law found the first two for me and then everywhere I went I had to look for them. I tried to find mostly plates from NC and had pretty good luck with that but have some others mixed in as well. I wanted to hang these in one area to group them all together.
I hung the plates on the wall between our kitchen and living room. I didn’t really plan it when picking the plates but the colors work well with the décor I have and is very much the color palette I’d like for the living room’s future.
The plates are really neat and I have yet to find two alike, the edges are all different in some way. When I would ask store owners for these they would pull any plate that had a church on it, they didn’t really get it so I had to dig through a lot of junk.
I did a little research and it seems there were several companies that made commemorative church plates for churches to sell to raise money or as a keepsake for members. Some of mine have a little church history on the back, most all have the name of the church, city name, and a date of establishment. I would love to find one from my home town church but no luck so far, I have heard they had one many years ago. So if any of you reading see a Little Rock Church from Lucama, call me!!
I need one more on the right side so I will be on the look out for another. Otherwise I am pretty pleased with the way this looks. It is my first attempt at a plate wall and I am a little nervous about them falling but I have them up with wire plate hangers and Disc brand hangers. I laid them all out on a large piece of paper to arrange and traced them, then hung the paper on the wall and added the nail holes. This made it super easy to hang, took me about 30 minutes total.
I love it when a good collection comes together and Will doesn’t think I am so crazy anymore now that he sees my vision! He was really awesome at spotting these in antique stores, he is a little more focused than I am in those places.
Happy Sunday Friends!
April
I did have time to squeeze in a little project that has been hanging around for sometime. I have been collecting commemorative church plates since the Fall and finally have enough to hang.
I started seeing these church plates when I was out antiquing and I decided the next ones I found I would start a collection, then of course I could not find any! My sister in law found the first two for me and then everywhere I went I had to look for them. I tried to find mostly plates from NC and had pretty good luck with that but have some others mixed in as well. I wanted to hang these in one area to group them all together.
I hung the plates on the wall between our kitchen and living room. I didn’t really plan it when picking the plates but the colors work well with the décor I have and is very much the color palette I’d like for the living room’s future.
The plates are really neat and I have yet to find two alike, the edges are all different in some way. When I would ask store owners for these they would pull any plate that had a church on it, they didn’t really get it so I had to dig through a lot of junk.
I did a little research and it seems there were several companies that made commemorative church plates for churches to sell to raise money or as a keepsake for members. Some of mine have a little church history on the back, most all have the name of the church, city name, and a date of establishment. I would love to find one from my home town church but no luck so far, I have heard they had one many years ago. So if any of you reading see a Little Rock Church from Lucama, call me!!
I need one more on the right side so I will be on the look out for another. Otherwise I am pretty pleased with the way this looks. It is my first attempt at a plate wall and I am a little nervous about them falling but I have them up with wire plate hangers and Disc brand hangers. I laid them all out on a large piece of paper to arrange and traced them, then hung the paper on the wall and added the nail holes. This made it super easy to hang, took me about 30 minutes total.
I love it when a good collection comes together and Will doesn’t think I am so crazy anymore now that he sees my vision! He was really awesome at spotting these in antique stores, he is a little more focused than I am in those places.
Happy Sunday Friends!
April
I’m Going to Make a Light Out of It!
I was visiting my Dad a few weeks ago at the tobacco greenhouse and I saw a pile of fans. It went like this….
Me: “Hey, what are those fans for?” Dad: “Oh, those, they are junk…motors broke” Me: “What are you going to do with them?” Dad: “Nothing” Me: “I want the white one” Dad”: “What for?” Me: “I’m going to make a light out of it” Dad: “You are just like your Mama!”
And the truth of it was…Will was going to make a light out of it!
It was just the kind of junk I’d been hoping for, that piece that sparked instant inspiration and I knew it would make the perfect light. The one to replace the builder light that was not my style and the last part of the dining room that needed attention. The piece that makes me proud that Will is so handy and he can DIY with the best of them!
I love it!!!
I love the idea of having something repurposed for this space, It gives the room character and makes it feel relaxed. Here is what we had before at Halloween.
Isn’t it lovely?
Those peonies from my Mom are pretty swoon worthy too…
I’ll be back later in the week on how
Hope everyone has a great week!
Linking To: Inspire Me Please
April
Mirror Mirror
Happy Fall Y’all, it officially feels like cooler weather is going to stick around here. I’ve taken down all my Halloween decorations and I am kind of of excited about Christmas decorating. No grand plans but I am looking forward to decorating this year and setting it all up in our new house.
I wanted to share with you this really awesome mirror that I recently painted. It’s a bit different from my normal paint projects and it rocks! It kind of makes me happy every time I look at it.
I don’t know which picture to start with on this, #1 because mirrors are hard to photograph, #2 the details are the best on this one…so I’ll start there.
Before this mirror was gold and it was beautiful as is but the gold was flaking and there was this reddish hue left behind that cheapened it a little.
Once I started painting I wondered I started to regret it, the gold was very regal…the white was so bright next to the gold.
Little action shot for you…It must have still been warm out this night
Once I got all the white paint on I felt better, it really looked great. I used the new Amy Howard One Step Paint in Ballet White and then I applied a product from her line called Dust of Ages. I had seen a similar product to this a while back and was eager to try. A detailed piece like this one is perfect for this finish.
With the dust, you paint, wax then sprinkle the Dust of Ages on just before the wax dries and then buff to a beautiful finish. Since this was the first time I had used it, it took a little getting used to and the first try I think I let the wax dry to much and I applied too little dust. I tried again right over by applying a little more wax and then adding the dust liberally, then buffed.
Here is a shot of my first attempt. Dust on the left, none on the right. This looked good but I really wanted that aged antique look.
My final product.
I loved trying something new with this piece and that I was able to recreate the aged antique look of the original in a painted version.
What do you guys think? Is it a beauty or what!
Hope everyone has a great week! I’m fighting the urge to decorate for Christmas!!
April
I wanted to share with you this really awesome mirror that I recently painted. It’s a bit different from my normal paint projects and it rocks! It kind of makes me happy every time I look at it.
I don’t know which picture to start with on this, #1 because mirrors are hard to photograph, #2 the details are the best on this one…so I’ll start there.
Before this mirror was gold and it was beautiful as is but the gold was flaking and there was this reddish hue left behind that cheapened it a little.
Once I started painting I wondered I started to regret it, the gold was very regal…the white was so bright next to the gold.
Little action shot for you…It must have still been warm out this night
Once I got all the white paint on I felt better, it really looked great. I used the new Amy Howard One Step Paint in Ballet White and then I applied a product from her line called Dust of Ages. I had seen a similar product to this a while back and was eager to try. A detailed piece like this one is perfect for this finish.
With the dust, you paint, wax then sprinkle the Dust of Ages on just before the wax dries and then buff to a beautiful finish. Since this was the first time I had used it, it took a little getting used to and the first try I think I let the wax dry to much and I applied too little dust. I tried again right over by applying a little more wax and then adding the dust liberally, then buffed.
Here is a shot of my first attempt. Dust on the left, none on the right. This looked good but I really wanted that aged antique look.
My final product.
I loved trying something new with this piece and that I was able to recreate the aged antique look of the original in a painted version.
What do you guys think? Is it a beauty or what!
Hope everyone has a great week! I’m fighting the urge to decorate for Christmas!!
April
Mini Blind Roman Shades
Happy Sunday Guys! I am back today to show you my marvelous mini blind roman shades. Last week I showed you my very easy no sew shades for my workout room HERE and today I am going to show you a glimpse into my finally decorated office!
One of the major things I needed to do in here besides paint was figure out a solution for shades. We have a dedicated home office because Will and I both use it for work regularly. The room sits off the back of our house and gets tons of morning light which shines right on the computer screen. As I mentioned in my post last week our windows are an odd size so custom shades/blinds are the only option but I also wanted color so I got creative. I searched around on Pinterest for a solution and found a way to make roman shades using cheap mini blinds!
We bought cheap mini blinds from Lowes for less than $5 bucks each in 27” and trimmed them down with the dremmel to 26”. Once I found my fabric I got to work. The tutorial I used HERE is excellent! Simply Mrs. Edwards did a fantastic job and I am grateful I found the “pin”. Please check it out HERE to see her shades. Here are the steps from my point of view.
Cut fabric 2” wider than window in width and 6” longer. Cut muslin to exact window size.
**If using a fabric with no repeat, this is much easier. I had to lay my fabric out and really concentrate on where I cut top/bottom and side to side so that all shades matched. This step took the most time and I wasted more fabric.
Step Two:
Lay muslin over fabric leaving 3” on top/bottom and 1” on each side. Then use the iron on tape to iron the edges, I secured the bottom as well.
Step 3:
Roll out the mini blinds and start to disassemble leaving only the parts needed.
You want to cut the cord that holds the slats, the one that looks like a ladder. Do not cut the cord that controls the blind.
Take the weighted bar at the bottom off temporarily. You simple pop out the little circular plugs at the bottom and untie the cord. Slide the bar off.
This allows you to remove the slats. You want to leave enough slats for the folds in the shade. I left 7, the weighted bar acts as a fold as well.
Step 4:
Adhere the fabric to the mini blind. Here you want to lay out your fabric and mark the sides where you want the slats to go. I measured for a slat every 7.5” inches.
Next you lay the mini blind over the fabric and arrange each slate in the center of the marking (I marked both sides of fabric)
I had to make sure I set my top bar the same for each one because of the fabric pattern. You want to glue the top on first. This is where the Fabri-Tac glue comes in to secure the fabric. You add the glue to the front of the mini blind and flip over and press into fabric. Through this make sure not to get glue on your cord.
Arrange the slats in the center of the mark and glue the front of each one and press down to secure. (dog hair and all)
Then you work on the bottom slate, gluing to the front first, flip over to secure.
Tie the string back and slide into bottom and put the plugs back in the weighted bar. Leave just a little slack in the cord, not to tight, not really loose. The add glue to the bottom and sides to secure. Cut a small slit in fabric to go around the cord. Trim excess fabric.
At this point you should let them sit for a while to dry and set up. I waited about 2 hours and then you just hang them up like you would a regular mini blind. Mine had the brackets secured to inside of window so I just slid these in. It took a minute to pull them up and get the folds to cooperate the first time but they are pretty easy to operate and they look great!! I am really happy with the way they have turned out.
Here is a look at the back with them hanging.
This project took me about 6-7 hours to complete for 3 shades. Right now I have more time than money so it was worth it. Plus I am pretty proud of them. As for the cost here is the breakdown.
April
One of the major things I needed to do in here besides paint was figure out a solution for shades. We have a dedicated home office because Will and I both use it for work regularly. The room sits off the back of our house and gets tons of morning light which shines right on the computer screen. As I mentioned in my post last week our windows are an odd size so custom shades/blinds are the only option but I also wanted color so I got creative. I searched around on Pinterest for a solution and found a way to make roman shades using cheap mini blinds!
We bought cheap mini blinds from Lowes for less than $5 bucks each in 27” and trimmed them down with the dremmel to 26”. Once I found my fabric I got to work. The tutorial I used HERE is excellent! Simply Mrs. Edwards did a fantastic job and I am grateful I found the “pin”. Please check it out HERE to see her shades. Here are the steps from my point of view.
Materials Needed
- Fabric (I needed 2 yards per window)
- Muslin fabric
- Fabri-tac glue
- Heat n Bond no sew tape (iron on)
- Tape measure
- Pencil
- Cheap mini blinds
- Iron/Ironing board
Cut fabric 2” wider than window in width and 6” longer. Cut muslin to exact window size.
**If using a fabric with no repeat, this is much easier. I had to lay my fabric out and really concentrate on where I cut top/bottom and side to side so that all shades matched. This step took the most time and I wasted more fabric.
Step Two:
Lay muslin over fabric leaving 3” on top/bottom and 1” on each side. Then use the iron on tape to iron the edges, I secured the bottom as well.
Step 3:
Roll out the mini blinds and start to disassemble leaving only the parts needed.
You want to cut the cord that holds the slats, the one that looks like a ladder. Do not cut the cord that controls the blind.
Take the weighted bar at the bottom off temporarily. You simple pop out the little circular plugs at the bottom and untie the cord. Slide the bar off.
This allows you to remove the slats. You want to leave enough slats for the folds in the shade. I left 7, the weighted bar acts as a fold as well.
Step 4:
Adhere the fabric to the mini blind. Here you want to lay out your fabric and mark the sides where you want the slats to go. I measured for a slat every 7.5” inches.
Next you lay the mini blind over the fabric and arrange each slate in the center of the marking (I marked both sides of fabric)
I had to make sure I set my top bar the same for each one because of the fabric pattern. You want to glue the top on first. This is where the Fabri-Tac glue comes in to secure the fabric. You add the glue to the front of the mini blind and flip over and press into fabric. Through this make sure not to get glue on your cord.
Arrange the slats in the center of the mark and glue the front of each one and press down to secure. (dog hair and all)
Then you work on the bottom slate, gluing to the front first, flip over to secure.
Tie the string back and slide into bottom and put the plugs back in the weighted bar. Leave just a little slack in the cord, not to tight, not really loose. The add glue to the bottom and sides to secure. Cut a small slit in fabric to go around the cord. Trim excess fabric.
At this point you should let them sit for a while to dry and set up. I waited about 2 hours and then you just hang them up like you would a regular mini blind. Mine had the brackets secured to inside of window so I just slid these in. It took a minute to pull them up and get the folds to cooperate the first time but they are pretty easy to operate and they look great!! I am really happy with the way they have turned out.
Here is a look at the back with them hanging.
This project took me about 6-7 hours to complete for 3 shades. Right now I have more time than money so it was worth it. Plus I am pretty proud of them. As for the cost here is the breakdown.
- Fabric $76.86
- Muslin $19.80
- Mini Blinds $12.43 (for 3)
- No Sew Tape $4.98 (2 rolls)
- Total cost: $114.07
April
Homeade Artwork
Worked on a little project this weekend. I saw on Pinterest a sign from Lemonade Makin Mama where she purchased BAKE letters from Ballard Designs and hung them in her kitchen. Well I loved this idea because I love baking and thought this much more appropriate than the EAT letters for our house.
I started with the wooden white letters from Michael's Craft Store.
And an old cookbook that I never use.
A little Mod Podge
I just tore the dessert recipes out of the book with wavy edges and stuck them down on the letters.
Once that was done I flipped them over on a mat and cut the edges off up next to the letter.
They finished up nicely and I love the result. I used the Satin finish Mod Podge and this gave a nice finish. I also love the recipe’s, this was an old home extension agency cookbook and my Mom had a few recipes in the book and I have one with her name on one of the letters :)
I wanted to hang these on a skinny wall vertically in my kitchen but since we have the house on the market I thought it best not to add any additional holes to the walls. So, here’s hoping I will find a perfect spot for these in our new home.
On that note…I’m going to take the month of August off from blogging. I hope you all will stay tuned for more projects and ideas come September and this Fall. I have a busy August a head while having to work the next two weekends and with the house being on the market it is hard to start big projects and decorate around here but I have lots of plans for the next home and we are hoping we get an offer soon! I also want to soak up as much of this summer as is left, I just love warm weather and I’m looking forward to long lazy days ahead :)
April
I started with the wooden white letters from Michael's Craft Store.
And an old cookbook that I never use.
A little Mod Podge
I just tore the dessert recipes out of the book with wavy edges and stuck them down on the letters.
Once that was done I flipped them over on a mat and cut the edges off up next to the letter.
They finished up nicely and I love the result. I used the Satin finish Mod Podge and this gave a nice finish. I also love the recipe’s, this was an old home extension agency cookbook and my Mom had a few recipes in the book and I have one with her name on one of the letters :)
I wanted to hang these on a skinny wall vertically in my kitchen but since we have the house on the market I thought it best not to add any additional holes to the walls. So, here’s hoping I will find a perfect spot for these in our new home.On that note…I’m going to take the month of August off from blogging. I hope you all will stay tuned for more projects and ideas come September and this Fall. I have a busy August a head while having to work the next two weekends and with the house being on the market it is hard to start big projects and decorate around here but I have lots of plans for the next home and we are hoping we get an offer soon! I also want to soak up as much of this summer as is left, I just love warm weather and I’m looking forward to long lazy days ahead :)
April
