felt craft hearts.

remember i talked about felt crafts back here when i decorated for Valentine's Day? well it is just so easy-peasey and affordable to work with FELT, you never know when another project will pop up! i recently made baby lela a pink heart doorknob hanger for her room and tried out stitching a monogram for the first time. not bad.

next FELT project up: baby booties & some felt frames (proj courtesy of Martha Stewart). here's the how-to on the heart from my projects page.

the junk fairy.

the next best thing to getting free JUNK alerts is having free JUNK show up on your doorstep. its the like the junk fairy came and dropped off a present, and it's way better than three dollars in quarters!

sondra stopped by with one of her drawers from an old letterpress. she must have known i was looking for one. casually looking of course, no need to be spending twenty bucks on one stinkin drawer.

these letterpress drawers were used way back when printing was done with good old fashion metal type. they held the letters, numbers and other symbols in 'em. fastforward a few decades and they are not in use with the computer surge... so many have been put out to pasture. making them VINTAGE, and a JUNK woman's collector item! they make perfect shadowboxes and can hold minitaures of any kind.

i am using my gifted drawer in the office as my rubber stamp holder for now. since i'm running out of storage room, i thought it'd be neat to hang on the wall above the crafting table.
thanks Sondra!!!

free icebox.

you know you're a junker when.....

you get two text messages in one day from friends asking you to haul away fun FREE junk. this latest one made me squeal:

Lanie: Any desire 4 a free icebox? I think its metal.
me: omg. i love you.

junk alerts via text messaging are not quite as fun as scoring junk via a roadside pile. it must be the lack of the hunt and the swerving that can be involved. this icebox practically landed on my doorstep! (which can also happen quite a bit to us junkers).

i can't say my other half was as excited about it as I was - but he'll get there! it has such POTENTIAL! I'm already looking forward to the project!

nice pair of legs.

remember that super old TV I bought last month that didn't work? well my JUNKHUNK gutted it and cleaned it up all nice for me.

as much as I liked the idea of turning it into a fishtank... i'm planning turning it into an end table. so now i'm on the hunt for a nice pair of LEGS. i'm thinking perhaps a metal base... maybe with casters so we can roll it around the living room. thoughts?! anyone know a welder!? i want the TV to be functional for storage so maybe we could turn the KNOBS into drawer handle to open the tv.

oh... there aren't enough hours in the day!

dover clipart.

here are some samples of Dover clipart that I swore I mentioned a long time ago but now i think i was dreaming. the gist is simple - if you sign up, dover sends you an email every Wed with links to download 'em.

they come in handy. i've printed them out, used them on cards & gift-tags, and even decoupaged them to *STUFF*. i'm sure there are a bazillion other uses too. here are some of favorite:

(i've used the black and white tags over and over and over)

if you want to sign up, go here. if you want to tell me i have too much time on my hands to be perusing FREE images, go here.

fabric binder clips.

i was so excited when i received this month's issue of country home magazine. there was a project idea for jazzing up your BORING binder clips with small scraps of fabric. I have ALL the materials for this one on hand so I made a set of FUNKY binder clips for my friend at work.

Materials: Fabric scraps, Interfacing, binder clips, spray adhesive, and mod-Podge. Overall the project was quick and easy-peasey - check out the steps and results on my Projects page!

paint splattered trim.

while priming the living room, we really noticed how BAD the previous paint job was. apparently the homeowner before us did NOT believe in any prep work for his paint jobs. our trim and outer edges of the hardwood floors were covered in teeney-tiny paint SPLATTERS. they have just been hard to see all these years with the LUCY hair that covers our floor!

evidence
i googled my little heart out to try and find a way to get latex paint off the wood trim without ruining it. i didn't want to strip it and re-stain.... waaaay to much work. i found a several websites and forums that suggested using Goof Off (or some equivalent) to lightly rub paint off the trim. i immediately thought it would take off the finish on the trim, but i tested it on an inconspicuous corner and voila! it worked magically!

i painfully went around ALL the baseboards, crown molding, windows and doorways with a Q-TIP. i diluted the goof-off with 1/3 part water and used a LOT of elbow grease. in many cases, the paint just popped right off with light grazing of my finger nail! to give you an idea of how long it took, mcallister primed the entire room and i had only accomplished a 16 ft wall with a doorway!

bye-bye orange.

today we primed the living room. i can't WAIT to get a new lighter color on the wall. the previous orangey-yellowey-gold mixture was okay but we really want something that accents the trim a little more.

we primed it so that we could see all the IMPERFECTIONS that come with having 100 year old plaster walls. and there are LOTS so that will be our project for the next week. thoughts on the color?!! i'm leaning towards staying in the same color palette as our kitchen.

seeing stars.

for christmas each year, i try to make homemade gifts that people will enjoy. last month the main project was creating STARS out of sticks.


it all started when i saw them for sale at the rochester public market. i immediately fell in love with everything but the PRICE as one lonely star was going to cost nearly one hundred smackers. i thought i could make those easy-peasey for WAY less.

while visiting NOTL in early december, we got the entire king family involved in my crafting project! i hadn't done much research you see... so it was a day of trial and error. i'm happy to report the output of the day was magnificent!

Check out the pics on my Projects page!

make your own christmas ornaments.

this holiday season i've been on the JIT (just-in-time) gift-giving inventory plan. this means i'm running around (ok - so no real exercise is occurring) trying to get EVERYTHING done but I'm really so behind I don't get to anything until less than 24 hours before it's required to be 'gifted'.

recent problem: it's 9pm, Grey's Anatomy is on (which despite BOMBING this season, I can't let go b/c of all the time invested from previous seasons), I have an 8am mtg (boo) & a holiday happy hour event which I NEED to bring a little something-something to for all the ladies.

recent solution: glitter balls. spend your commercials creating quick ornaments filled with holiday CHEER. (yes, there are still people on this earth without DVR) i found this idea on hgtv's christmas crafts countdown. click on the Nov 23rd date from the calendar and watch the quick video... she has lots of good ideas for glittering glass balls.

a few basic supplies are needed: christmas ball ornaments (i got some cheap ones at kmart and the dollar store), glitter (i HEART martha stewart glitter), glue (w/clean spout so it's easy to 'write' with), a small paint brush and ribbon.

you can follow tutorial steps here on my projects page, but the basics are:
1. using glue, draw SOMETHING on the ornament. (i'm really into MONOGRAMMING lately)
2. shake glitter over the glue, making sure to cover all sides.
3. tap the ornament to remove the excess and repeat until it the glue has good coverage.
4. let the ornament dry. (i set them all in shot glasses to dry overnite)
5. when glue is completely dry, use a small dry paintbrush to brush off excess glitter.
6. string ribbon color of ur choice and HANG from tree!

diy magnet tutorial.

long-time readers must be thinking - where are all the project updates?! well, rest assured i'm busy-busy. it's just i'm TORN at whether i should talk about them PRE-Christmas at the risk of revealing the homemade treats that MAY be arriving in a stocking near you. but this christmas magnet project is one that won't be gifted to a blog reader. in fact i'm not sure this recipient even knows what a blog is. so here goes...

basic supplies: wooden doll heads (or dowel caps), acrylic paints, paint brushes, magnets, hot glue gun, paint pens (optional) and clear spray paint (optional).

you can get detailed steps here, but here are the basics:
1. paint 2 coats of acrylic paint on the wooden balls and let dry. i used a brick red americana paint.
2. paint 2-3 coats of acrylic of metallic green in different shapes. i did a square for a christmas present, a small tree, a circle for a wreath, and an oblong shape for an ornament.

3. in a contrasting color, decorate the shapes. i used a silver paint pen to add a bow to the wreath, a star to the tree, a hook to the ornament, and a bow/ribbon to the present.
4. optional step - spray with clear coat when dry.

5. using a hot glue gun, affix the magnet to the back.
6. enjoy them hard at WORK on your fridge! (or gift them to a friend)

all the steps (with photos) are on my kodak gallery project page.

wine cork placecard holders.

for turkey day, we used wine corks as place-card holders. i think they fit the table's harvest theme quite well. plus they're quick and inexpensive to whip up for a large party.

i used this placecard template from martha stewart's website. just download, print and wedge them into a teeney slit on the top of the cork.

here are a few more project pics. enjoy!

wine cork wreath.

i'm notorious for starting a craft project and then moving on to my next great idea before it's completely finished. case in point -> the wine cork wreath I started ages ago.

I had a legit excuse when I ran out of corks. i just couldn't drink as fast as my lush neighbor. I should have left a note in her recycling bin asking for a weekly donation. but then i scored 2 bags FULL of corks at a garage sale- so I had to finish it.

it's a delicate wreath, but i'm very pleased with it. project pics and instructions are up on my gallery page.

pottery barn & Junk Ladies.

i have starved myself from reading Pottery Barn catalogs ever since I gave up the habit of working there part-time. it's just too painful to see full price merchandise after having a GENEROUS discount.

this past weekend, I skimmed the catalog at Jenn's house. I may have had little Cameron climbing all over me at the time - but that didn't distract me from seeing a $39 'Wooden Photo Display' for sale.

Holy toledo!! Instantly my mind was FLOODED with unanswered questions:

• Do the Junk Ladies shop at Pottery Barn?
• Did the Pottery Barn Product Research Team read Decorating JunkMarket Style?
• Did the Pottery Barn Product Research team read my blog post about my drying rack project or see the pics on my project page?
• Do the Junk Ladies know about this? Did they sell their project concepts?t

pb's wooden display is not as authentic as my drying rack (below) which gets lots of use holding biz cards at Dirty Birdies sales. but that isn't the point. vintage must be hugely popular, because I noticed lots of 'new' vintage things for sale at Pottery Barn. They had a vintage Door, vintage ceiling tiles, and a vintage architectural display doo-hickie.

I read a rumor last year that the ladies were designing home accessory products for Target, but Pottery Barn? I need answers people. i may have to take my questions straight to the junk ladies. you may recall i'm a card-carrying member of the JUNK CLUB.

glitter pumpkins.

there has been a lot of hype in the craft world over martha stewart's new GLITTER. i glittered a bunch of pumpkins PURPLE last year for decorations - but used regular 'ole glitter that i had in the craft pile.

emily recently raved about the MS glitter, so I had to give it a whirl. i bought a 3 pack with glue b/c i could use the 40% off michael's coupon. i also bought paper mache pumpkins in hopes i could keep the finished products for more than one fall season.

the project was easy-peasey and came out very nicely. now i'm looking for smaller things to glitter, preferably pumpkin or gourds shapes.

Check out the pics!

E A T.

completely unrelated to my week of food themed posts, i finished a quick-n-easy (which is how i like 'em!) craft project today that i started last week. i purchased the LETTERS at joanne's and use the remaining supplies that i had at home. i'd say they were wooden but after lightly sanding them down (per their instructions) i think they were merely some kind of wood-looking fiberboard.

i had seen the word EAT hanging on a kitchen wall in a home decorating magazine some time ago, so I was inspired for our kitchen. we still have loads of BLACK paint left over from painting our kitchen cabinets. i think painting the letters the same color provides balance against the opposite wall of black cabinets.

although i'm not the biggest fan of the letter's TYPEFACE - i do think they look GREAT up over the swing door that leads to our dining room. they add just the right touch of vintage appeal. the letters are the perfect size, not too big for that space between the trim and the ceiling and not too small that they get lost.

what do you think?!