Newsletter Subscription

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

OH, THE THINGS I COULD ACCOMPLISH

Oh, the things I could accomplish if I’d get off of Pinterest.  I just see SO many good ideas on there.  I have to check in often, so I won’t miss anything.  Howevah, I’ve been pinning all of these ideas to my boards – you know, things I thought I might do in my house, but  I just couldn’t pull myself away from Pinterest long enough to try any of the ideas I was pinning!  The other day, I said, “That’s it Laurie! You are going to take action!  You are going to actually DO some of these things you’ve been pinning, and you’re going to do them NOW!”  Yep! That’s the way I have to talk to myself when myself gets engrossed in a new addiction. 

christmas-card-hanger-how-to-make-1024x768[1]

One of the things I had pinned was this piano from Make and Takes blog.  It was like a V8 moment.  Slap my head and, still talking to myself, “I have a piano. Why haven’t I ever thought to decorate it with a banner for a holiday?”  (I didn’t answer myself.  I’ve always heard that’s a sign you’re going crazy, and I can’t afford to get any crazier than I already am.)  So, I got out my supplies and made myself a little banner for my piano.

banner

I didn’t stop there!  Someone had pinned this next photo from The Savvy Shanty blog.  I’m working into this crafting phase very slowly, and this looked easy enough.  She bought the blocks at Target for $2.50.  I may not be much of a crafter, but I’m a great shopper, so I went to Target and bought some of those blocks.

I already had the clothes pins, so after gluing them onto the backs of the blocks (I covered my clothes pins with polka dot paper), I found a postcard graphic from The Graphics Fairy.  I added a little heart in the corner with Photoscape, and I clipped it to the clothes pins.  How easy was that?

blocks

Okay, now I was on a roll with this crafting business.  I think I had become a little too confident when I decided to tackle something similar to this cute sheet music ornament someone pinned from Katie Rose Cottage Designs Blog

Isn’t that pretty?  But I needed something bigger, and mine was for temporary use, so I only borrowed her idea of glitter on the sheet music (and I was in too big a hurry to even do a very good job with that. I needed to get this crafting bug out of my system, ‘cause I was probably missing some great ideas on Pinterest.)  So, I went to my trusty Photoscape, where I printed a shadow of a heart over a music sheet I found on line.  Then, I glued glitter around the edges. (“At Last” is a favorite of mine.  You may have noticed, in the picture of my blocks “craft”, that there is a photo behind the blocks of me and my sweetheart dancing at our daughter’s wedding reception.)

at last

Okay, after cleaning up red glitter EVERYWHERE, I knew I needed to move on to a less messy project.  I must be the only person in Blogville who had not discovered Mamie Jane’s blog.  I don’t recall what photo on Pinterest took me to this amazing blog, but I stayed there for days! What fabulous ideas!  She embellishes old keys, then puts them on a magnet to use for photo holders.

After my “embellishment” of the sheet music, I decided embellishing might not be my “thing”, so my magnet keys aren’t nearly as pretty as hers.  Prior to this “piano crafting spree”, the  top of our piano held a collection of framed photos (of grands, of course).  I stuck a Valentine image to one of the frames with an old key on a magnet.  Mamie Jane glues buttons to some of her keys, but not wanting to tackle the bottle of glue again, I found a metal button that could adhere to the magnet through the hole in the key.

key w button

I did break down and get out a little sticky dot to stick a paper heart onto a magnet, so this little Valentine girl could be supported by the lid on my covered (tarnished) butter server.  (I should be polishing silver instead of trying my hand at “crafting”.)

magnet w heart

Mamie Jane finds old padlocks to stand on tables with photos attached to them with decorated magnets.  I know my sweetheart misplaces keys to his padlocks frequently, so I was so excited to find a use for those old keyless padlocks.  Guess what I discovered (to my horror) --   That silly guy throws them away when he can’t find the keys!  I did find some hitch balls in his garage (at least I think that’s what they are), so they became my substitute for padlocks.

hitch ball

The next pin I had found on Pinterest was a copy of a Joan Walsh Anglund paper doll sheet from an old issue of Better Homes and Gardens.  That pin took me to This is Ann of Paper Doll Land.  I simply printed some of the Valentine paper doll sheets from the site to add to the top of the piano – I didn’t even have to pretend I was crafting.  I intended to distress the edges a little to make them look old, but by the time I got around to that, the crafting bug had flown my coop.

JWA W KEY

Oh look!  I didn’t embellish that key at all – just plopped it on top of the magnet!  I’m such a lazy “crafter”.

When I was a newlywed, I bought these two little pictures of houses at a yard sale for twenty-five cents each.  I love that the prints are recessed, and I often use them kind of like shadow boxes (you may have seen them in one of my Christmas posts with Christmas figures in front of the houses).  For years, I have had some sheets of paper with cute little children printed on them.  (I must have had a crafting bug when I  bought these sheets, but by the time I got home, the crafting bug had disappeared).  I dug out those sheets (can you believe I knew where they were?) and cut out some of the children to stand inside the frames, so my house pictures could be part of the Valentine décor.  Doesn’t take much to make me feel crafty!

houses

At this point, I had reached my limit.  The crafting bug had finally crawled out of my system, and Pinterest was calling my name, so I put a few other, non-crafty, items on top of the piano, and took some pictures to prove that I did attempt “crafting” for a little while one day.  I stuck a sheet of crafting paper with a collage of old Valentine cards over the glass on a framed piece of sheet music that was already on my piano.

collage-wrdls

Oh wait!  That was crafting.  My definition of crafting includes making a Wordels sheet on line!  You know, that site where you just type in words, and it randomly places the words on a sheet!  (I told you, it doesn’t take much to make me feel like I’m crafting!)

snowman cmbnd

PIANO CHANGE

Just think what I could accomplish if Pinterest broke down for a week.  Heck, I might even get bored enough to clean up my house!

If I borrowed a photo from your blog, please feel free to take my “borrowed” button to display on your blog.  Thanks for the inspiration!

boy-tile 2 girl w heart-horz

Thanks for indulging me while I pretend to “craft”.  Is that “faux crafting”? Now I’ve gotta go see what I’ve missed on Pinterest.  laurie

29 comments:

xinex said...

Very cute, Lauurie. Love your copy cats. Pretty soon, we will be copying you....Christine

Lori @ Katies Rose Cottage Designs said...

Laurie ~
You are so cute!! I LOVE all of
your wonderful projects!!!
Thank you for sharing fun stuff with us :)

Paula Beller said...

I love all of your "crafting" Laurie. Thanks for sharing them. Happy Valentine's day!!!

Sonny G said...

wow, you're sure all decked out for valentines. Loved looking through the photos.

xoxo
Sonny

Glenda/MidSouth said...

You did good on all your crafty projects. :) My Valentine decor this year will probably only be some Valentine candy.
I have stayed away from Pinterest and facebook - I spend way to much time on the computer now.:(
Enjoy your evening.

shannon i olson said...

oh Laurie...Pinterest addicts anonymous will be meeting at my house this week. Please bring a project and dessert you made from Pinterest to celebrate. LOL!!

lvroftiques said...

Laurie I think you've been pretty darn crafty!! Sheesh girlfriend there's no way I could break away from pinterest that long! Lol!
I LOVE all of your projects! And your house looks holiday perfect! (as always) I swear (a lot sometimes...just sayin') that I practically have an IV line to pinterest...Yep I'm a mainline hard core addict! It's junk food without all the calories! *winks* Vanna

Kathleen said...

I am so impressed! It all came out great! Love Jean W Anglund, a bit like ME. We speak in codes here. :)
I don't belong to Pinterest, but I love seeing what people have pinned of mine. Lots of non bloggers do pinterest, so they are out there! Wave hello!

Sarah said...

Laurie, these are all cute ideas. I'm not on Pintrest, but it looks like a great idea. One more thing to do!
Looking forward to the party! ~ Sarah

Cindy J. said...

Laurie, I can't stop laughing! You are so funny! I have to admit when I first signed up for Pinterest.. I thought what is the big deal here? Well a couple of days ago I decide that it would be a great place to empty out my old computers picture files and organize everything. Well, it got me..I've seen more beautiful thing and have added so many new blogs, I'll never get anything done! Your crafting looks adorable and as always your home looks like the most special place I can imagine.

Cindy (Applestone Cottage) said...

You have such a great sense of humor Laurie and your creative to boot!
I love your crafty valentines! Your piano looks so charming!
Great post you clever gal you!
Hugs,
Cindy

Debbie said...

What great eye candy and inspiration for me this morning! You have also given me a little push of conviction. I'm thinking about it and trying to form a rule of sorts for me. Maybe something like, "If I don't at least try something that I pinned the previous week, I can't pin again until I do. "

That might actually work.

Maggie said...

Excellent post Laurie, you've been very crafty indeed.
Your piano looks great, all gussied up for Valentine's Day.

Pat@Back Porch Musings said...

Very cute Laurie! I see you over at Pinterest quite a bit. I am beginning to get more into it. Xanti set it up for me and told me at Drew's party a couple of weeks ago, how happy she is that I am finally getting around to Pinning!:-)

Tricia said...

LOL! Thanks for starting my day with a smile! I like your crafting style -- and now I'm off to check out some of those blogs you mentioned!

Debby@Just Breathe said...

So many cute items. Pinterest is my slice of happy each day. I will never ever make, bake or accomplish all that I have pinned!

Jane said...

Hi Laurie,
Thanks for featuring some of my little projects on your post today!! It made my day! I love that header photo with all of the vintage Valentines!! It's a gorgeous display.
Jane

Happy To Be/ Gl♥ria said...

Good day my dear friend..Now I have an account but have yet to use it or even look around..I think I'm afraid it's another thing I'll get hooked on and Len would not be so happy with me girl ha ha!!
Girl I couldn't even move my arms at the hospital and wanted my daughter to bring me my laptop ha ha!! She just said "Mom really!!" like I was kidding ha ha!!
I pray all is well in your world my dear friend..Love all your Valentine you got going on there..still say your grands must love going to your house..Give the BOSS a hug from me..Hugs and smiles Gloria

Unknown said...

I'm like you Laurie..pinning and not doing anything with it.but I plan too one day! Oh yes, I did craft something but it wasn't a pin project. I want everything on pinterest I see..it's as addicting as collecting Valentine's..
Yikes..the party is almost here and I dont know what I'm bringing..
love your banner..it's so sweet..
~Shirley

DaCraftyLady said...

Wow you went from pinning to making what a fun transition and how cute are all your chosec projects! I love them all the swag over the piano and the sheet music heartsa are adorable. :) I like Pinterest too but I get way too involved in pinning them and then forget what I pinned, duh??? great post!!

Sue said...

Oh to be a crafty person- I definitely do not have that talent!! I admire everyone else's projects and curse myself for not having the great ideas or the ability to implement the ones I want to copy. LOL. but I'll keep trying ....
The entire Pinterest thing could easily become another time zapper! I try to limit myself to pinning only what I see when I'm visiting during parties. Otherwise, I'd never get off the darn chair in front of the laptop!!!

Curtains in My Tree said...

Love the header of all the valentines and i will be here for the par tay

what's up witht hat Boycott American women??? I guess that's why i'm single LOL

I really need to get busy and make some valentines today thanks for the encourgement and I have never got into pinterest but have to check it out when I have time

Sweet European Dreams said...

hi Laurie!
Congrats on tackling some of your "pins"! I did my daughter's birthday party entirely off of Pinterest and everything was great. I love that my new addiction actually motivates me to try new things - unlike Facebook! -diane

Anonymous said...

Oh my when you decided to tackle pins you decided to tackle them all!! Lol! I have the same problem as you I pin so much I never have the time to try them out. I am not sure I can be as ambitious as you but I am definitely going to take initiative and craft something from my pins and share it. I do plan to share my pinned craft I did for an xmas gift on weds!

fiberdoodles said...

I know exactly how you feel! I too am a Pin addict ;0)

So many pins, so little time
These are wonderful ideas!!

Celestina Marie said...

Laurie you are amazing. Everything is awesome as you are one talented girly!! Thank you for the inspiration. I have been so busy that Valentines are slow in creations. I have not started with pinterest because I would get nothing done at all and a time drain I do not need at the moment. LOL!!
Wonderful to visit you and be inspired.
Have a beautiful Sunday.
Blessings, Celestina Marie XO

Jenny said...

Wow, Laurie! Arent' you the creative one! I hope you're still writing. But I suspect Pinning is taking up a lot of time. I'm avoiding it for just that reason...it seems so cool...I'm afraid I'll get sucked in!

Happy January!

Savannah Granny said...

I am loving the keys again. Great idea for the metal button on the key, looks great. I am going to visit Mamie.

Do you remember the Betsy McCall paperdolls in each issue of McCalls magazine. I looked forward to each copy of mom's magazine.

Hugs, Ginger

Amber Lyon Ferguson said...

I believe I already commented a while back, but I just revisited this post and I am blown away! I am so in LOVE with this Valentine party and I can't wait! Thanks for creating such a beautiful post! I just openend my antiques booth and I borrowed your idea of putting the vintage Valentines in the little wire picture holders. Check out that post if you get a chance.

See you at the party!