Latest Trash to Treasure Transformation...

Isn't he cute?

 Well, I saw his potential at Lifeline. Once I added a few coats of this...

(Yes - you can now get Rustoleum in Australia! *happy dance*)

He looked like this...

And now has pride of place here...

Ca-ute! 

While I am not usually into dust collectors grandma ornaments items that have no other use, I am going to make the most of owls being in fashion and try the look out for a while.

What do you think?

P.S. “The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Guess who's a year older?

To D - my husband and best friend - Happy Birthday! xxx

More Trash to Flash...

The latest transformation is finished! 

I showed you a little peek here of the 1970's timber and brass light fitting I found at Lifeline for $4. Here it is in all it's gory glory... It would have once had glass shades over each of the bulbs, but they were long gone.

 Niiiiiiiice! Not.

But it will be. First I had to find out  how it came apart so I could paint it.

Then I had to strip out all of the electrical bits. There were quite a lot! These all went in the bin.

I gave all the nasty brassy bits a coat of silver spray paint...

and all the wooden parts got a coat of red craft paint (because that's what I had on hand).

Once the red was dry, I added a coat of clear spray sealer, 'cause it will hang outdoors. I put it back together, but did need to find a few small nuts in the shed to use where the electrical bits used to be. (It could also be done with hot glue.)

The finishing touch was to buy 3 tea light candle holders from Prices Plus (they were .50c each) and pop them into the spots where the bulbs used to be. I added a small length of chain (from Bunnings) and D drilled a hole in the ceiling of our outdoor area for a hook.

Ta Da!

And it looks even better at night...

P.S. "Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness."  ~Chinese Proverb

*I am linking up with Made By You Mondays @ Skip To My Lou*

*and DIY Day @ A Soft Place to Land*

*Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays @ Coastal Charm*

*Trash to Treasure Tuesday @ Reinvented* 

*Look What I Made Day @ Creations by Kara*

*Show and Share Day @ Just A Girl*

Go and see some of the other cool projects out in Blogland!

Keep Calm...

Remember the lovely picture I mentioned here? Thought you might like to see what I did with it. (No, I didn't just clean the $2 price label off and hang it up, like these.)

The frame was in pretty good nick, so I fixed that! After taking out the old print out and cleaning the glass, I gave it a rough up with some sandpaper and a coat of clear sealer. Then I cut a piece of kraft card to fit the frame.

What I mounted on the card was this...

Have you seen this poster around? It has a fascinating history (which you can read on Wikipedia here), but the best thing about it is that it is in the public domain. This means that you can copy and print it, copyright free. (My favourite kind!) So I did...

I love it, and it's in a really appropriate place...

right near the front door where we pack the school bags, get shoes on and and get ready to leave the house in the morning. Not sure that it's helping me with the 'calm' part, but it does make make me smile.

I count that as a win.

P.S. “Be like a duck. Calm on the surface, but always paddling like the dickens underneath.” Michael Caine

Happy Easter!

Hope your Easter day has been full of joy... and chocolate.  And some easy Easter decorations, like the egg tree and grass nests above. 

This is the first time I have ever decorated for Easter. I had no idea that people even did it! Blogland has been such an inspiration.

To make a tree, take a trip to the park (6-year-old apprentice optional) and choose a suitable branch (or the closest you can find before it gets too dark) .

Paint with whatever craft or spray paint you have on hand (though spray is quicker). I used this...

Once the branch is dry, use some sand or pebbles to stand it in a container - I used a ceramic vase.

I was lucky enough to find some paper mache eggs with hanging ribbons for only a few dollars at the local discount place. Even the colours weren't too bad, though I did repaint the pink ones scarlet.

Once I hung the eggs on each branch, I tied a few white feathers onto each branch end with a ribbon to finish them off.

Pretty, no? 

(Though if you want to see a truly spectacular example, check our Eddie Ross's here.  If I'd seen his first, I might not have bothered!) 

The nests are just twisted wreaths of long grass (also from the park), popped on top of my white candle holders, with another paper egg in the centre.

 They make a very easy and cheap table centrepiece!

I also put a few other small Easter touches around the place, like these candy eggs and little bird...

and a new feather wreath, just like the aqua one from Christmas, but in white.

Hope you had a wonderful day with family and friends.

P.S.  "Easter is not a time for groping through dusty, musty tomes or tombs to disprove spontaneous generation or even to prove life eternal.  It is a day to fan the ashes of dead hope, a day to banish doubts and seek the slopes where the sun is rising, to revel in the faith which transports us out of ourselves and the dead past into the vast and inviting unknown."  

~Author unknown, as quoted in the Lewiston Tribune