Valentine's Day Printables From MyVintageWindow.com

http://www.myvintagewindow.com/

Lindsey's My Vintage Window Blog  is doing a series of printables for Valentine's Day.
Her blog is great fun to look through, she has some terrific ideas! I have browsed through her 'On a Dime Decor' section several times for inexpensive ideas.

I though you might like her blog too, and am happy to link you to her fun, DIY Valentines.
So far she has three days of them! One, Two, Three!

Thanks to Lindsey!

Holiday Tree Ornaments

I wanted to have ornaments to sell in my decal ware shop, but couldn't think of what to do.
I found these porcelain ornaments online, and ordered some a couple months ago:

First I tried firing decals on them. Because they were already glazed, I held them off the kiln shelves with wadding.  The wadding worked, but the decals didn't. They were absorbed by the glaze and became invisible.

I was bummed.

But last night I was cleaning my office and came across them.  I had some Diamond Glaze (water based craft shiny coating) left over from another project, so I printed some Christmasy images from the Graphics Fairy and copied some from my own stash. I printed them onto tissue paper, and cut them out and tried to decoupage them on the rounds.
I made a terrible mess and the Diamond glaze reacted with the ink and the colors ran like crazy.

I was bummed.

  Then I tried adding my decals to the ornaments. That worked better! Even though they are all just black and white it still looked pretty good.

At first I used more holiday themed images. They looked good, but with the black and white they weren't that interesting.

Next I tried decals that would maybe not seem Holidayish at first glance, like cephalopods and bats.

I was pretty pleased with the octopus wreath, but I was downright proud of the flying bat Christmas Tree!

I let the decals dry on the ornaments, and then covered them with the Diamond Glaze to protect the delicate waterslide paper.

I let them dry overnight, and this morning they look pretty good!

I did have trouble getting the Diamond Glaze to be smooth. There are tiny surface bubble marks, and on the Weeping Angel there is a texture from getting the glaze on too thick.

I will enjoy these being on my tree this year.
Especially the skeleton one!

As a matter of fact, I think I will give one away!
If you would like one, just comment the one you like best, and I will pick one comment at random and send them the ornament of their choice.
Be sure to leave a way for me to contact you if you win, and if you like more than one, leave a comment for each one that you like. I don't care how many times you comment.
Here are a couple of pictures of all the ones I have finished.  I will assign a number to each of the comments and use a random number generator to pick.  I will pick tomorrow evening (Friday night).
Each of the ornaments also has an image on the back too.

 Oh, and please check out my shop and my other one or this one if you have a minute!
Thanks!
And Thanks also to  the Graphics Fairy and Theerin for some of the images!

This contest is now closed!

Mini Greenhouse or Hot Box

For weeks now I have been moving seedlings off my dining table and out into the sun every morning and then bringing them back in after dinner.  It was getting old! So, today I (with the help of husband Danny) made a mini greenhouse, or hot box out of some old windows,  two hinges, some screws and and old board. 

I bought the windows, hinges and even the board at our local Salvage shop.  (You could also check out at  a local ReStore for windows. ) I had the choice of double paned windows or these single paned ones. (I chose the less expensive single panes, though if I decide to make another one I will get double paned ones so it can work better as a cold frame too. )

They were selling the windows for $6.00 a pair or
for 5.00 a single.  I bought two pairs that all matched and one large single window. They have boards there, as well as old door hinges. The hinges were 1.50 each and the boards were 1.00.  I also bought some screws.

Windows .................17.00
Hinges.......................3.00
Board.........................1.00
Screws.......................3.00

_______________________
Total........................$24.00

Danny and I put the materials close to where were wanted it to finally be.  We took the hardware off the windows, and Danny drilled pilot holes for the screws.

We (mostly Danny) assembled the four matching windows into a square with screws, to make a bottomless and topless cube.
The fifth window was just as wide as the cube, but a bit short.

Danny cut the board to be as wide as the cube, then screwed it to the top on one side. He hinged the fifth window to the board, hanging out a bit on the front for a lip to lift it by.

The bottom was left open to the grass.
Now it is ready to use!

I put in some small pallets for my plants to sit on, and propped open the lid with a small plastic toy so the inside wouldn't overheat. I will shut it this evening. It can be opened all the way and the top window leans against the house for really warm days, or if it rains.

If I make another one with the double paned windows, Danny will cut a board for the sides to make the top window slope, so snow slides off.

So, there you have it!
A mini greenhouse for less than 25 dollars. It is light enough that two people could move it easily, and would be simple enough to take apart- Just remove the screws for storage.

Congratulations, Salutations and Movement

Moving!

Guess what I am doing for the Holidays? Moving! We are moving from our huge 8 bedroom house to a smaller (but still big) home a few blocks away. I can't wait. Well, I mean, I can't wait to be moved in, but I am not thrilled about packing and hefting and sorting...

But, still, it is all very exciting! The only downside is that I will need all new window treatments, as the windows in the new house are HUGE while the ones in this house are tall and skinny. So, any ideas for cheap but classy window treatments? I also am looking for gently used living room furniture, since I hadn't realized how shabby my couch had become over the last 15 (!) years of use. There is nothing like moving to bring out the materialist in me!



Winner!
The winner of last week's giveaway is Larrikin's lurch. She should be receiving her little bottle this week!

I will be posting photos of the house and interior all this week, and I would LOVE advice on decorating on a shoestring. Think, window treatments, (the view is pretty urban, but the light is terrific!) storage, room arrangement, and holiday decoration. I prefer DIY and recycled, since I really don't want my move to negatively impact the world!



and I am cheap!



Congrats to Larrikin's Lurch and to Me!

Oooh, look at the attic! :