A Little Texas Charm

It has been a long time since I've posted, and a visit with good friends over the weekend finally pushed me to make the time to sit down and write. Over the last couple of months I have tried out new recipes, created art and furniture for the new apartment from scraps, and started assembling a decent portfolio of preschool art projects. I have also been crossing more and more off the list of wedding plans, such as making and collecting my own decorations for the reception! I plan to share all of this here with you. Hopefully something will be useful, or at least amusing. For now, I'll start with my first art creation for the apartment.

Being from Texas, it's only natural that I feel the urge to display an over-sized reminder of my heritage in my home! Creating this piece was very simple. First I painted an old frame with acrylic paint. Instead of trashing the picture inside, I used it as the “bones” for the interior. I wrapped the picture in fabric scraps that I had leftover from another project, all solid gray. Next, I went online and printed out a simple outline of the state, cut it out, and used it as a stencil. I sponged a heart shape with acrylic paint over the stencil. The whole thing took about 10 minutes (not counting drying time) and all of $2, for the paint. It was a very easy way to add dimension and color to a bland bookshelf, and it drives Eric nuts that he has a giant Texas in his home! (To make up for it, everything else is OU.)

The second easy project was this gem.

I found a glittery frame on sale for $10 and just printed the caption on shimmery scrapbook paper on my printer. Every time I see it I feel a little more at home.

These projects pretty much capture the spirit of our home. We want color, we want personal, we want low-cost. More to come!