"Cherish" Room - Day Five!

Today was the first of two big moving days!  I took lots of furniture and wall decor I had been working on into the store and started setting it up in the room, after I finished painting one more wall the blue-gray color.

This antique shabby dresser was the first to be placed and was a temporary home for some accent trees until I can get all the furniture in place.

The little white rocking chair will end up in this grouping shown in front of the newly painted wall.  I didn't hang the large frame, choosing to set it on the little dresser until I have the other furniture in the room placed - I may need to move it a few inches depending on how much room I need!

Next up was this vintage desk.  The top of this desk had some scratches on it so I decided to sand and repaint the top before bringing it into my space.

 I repainted the top with 'Emperor's Silk' red.

 Next, I added a coat of clear wax -

followed by a final coat of dark wax to add depth to the desk top.  The original wood seemed a bit dry, so I added a light layer of dark wax to the rest of the desk as well and it really brought out the cabin details on the front panel!

  I placed the desk under the black metal items and rustic frames so it became the anchor of my 'cabin' wall.  I hung the hand forged iron cross above it and placed the 'Welcome to the Cabin' sign on the desk with a little tinsel tree.

I found this gorgeous chalkboard at the Sacramento Antique Fair at Restore and Rework's booth.  I gave it a fresh coat of chalkboard paint filling in the 'swirls' at each end to make them really stand out, added a fresh coat of white paint and then sanded the dentil molding across the top to make it stand out a little more.

This was just the piece I needed to grab customer's attention when they entered my room the first time.  I wrote one of my favorite sayings on it "Each heart is whispering - Home, home at last!"  Very appropriate for both Thanksgiving and Christmas - it reminds me of being away at college and traveling home for the holidays!

I put my 5 foot round shabby pedestal table in front of the super chalkboard and added a plaid tablecloth.  The red star to the left of the chalkboard repeats the red of the little rocking chair and I left some of my table top decor on the table - tomorrow all the table tops will get decorated.

Next, I hung this fun wire cubby shelf with four hooks - perfect for stockings!  The 'joy' banner and the 3-D metal letter 'm' may not end up here but for now they found a place to settle.

By the end of the day, the view from the doorway into the room changed quite a bit!  I'm bringing in another table tomorrow so depending on how it fits in the space I left for it, I may need to move things around again. The stage will be set for all the Christmas decor.  I can't wait to add ornaments to the tree, banners, twinkling lights, and do all the tablescapes!

How-To: Easy "Paris" Banner

Happy Bastille Day!!  I love everything French and today is a day the French celebrate!  I made a "Paris" banner to celebrate - I could have done it in Red, White and Blue since those colors are France's national colors, but I already have one of those for Fourth of July!

 So I decided to go with the more popular pink, white and black 

colors for a Parisian Theme. 

Banners or garlands make everyday occasions extra special.

Here's an easy way to create a banner.

                                                                   

 

First, cut out a basic shape out of card stock for each letter that your banner is going to spell out.  I am going to make a banner that spells "Paris" so I needed five shapes.  You can use a Cricut machine to cut these out if you have one.  The shape can be a square, diamond, rectangle, circle - whatever you like that will fit the theme of your banner!  I like to use cereal boxes - the thickness of the cardboard is perfect and I always have a box with just a little left in it I can dump into another cereal!  You can cover the cardboard with scrapbook paper or just spray paint all the shapes at once when you get them cut out!

Punch two holes with a standard hole punch in each shape about two inches apart.

Grab some glue - I used this kind for this project  because the tip allowed for a tiny stream of glue to come out at one time.

Squeeze a narrow stream of glue along about half the edge at one time and . . .

 . . . dip the glued edge into your choice of glitter.  Tap lightly the glittered edge with your finger to make sure the glitter sticks to the glue. Repeat to adhere glitter to the second half of the shape and then do the rest of them.  

 I used Recollections Tinsel Glitter here so it looks a little more vintage.  German glass glitter is also good to use as it will tarnish with time if you want that authentic 'vintage' look!

Next, grab some scrap scrapbook paper in a pattern you like and cut a small diamond shape out of it.  I used this paper because it already had perfect diamond-shape clusters all over it and it was pink which fit the look I wanted. I also cut it out using a wavy shape scissor instead of plain scissors so the cut would be more interesting.  You can cut out any shape for this step - I just wanted little diamonds!

Glue the diamond shape scrapbook paper pieces to the middle of each shape.

Find some glittered letters at your local craft store.  These come in lots of sizes and colors.  I am using black glittered letters for this project.  I have seen them in pastel colors, white glittered, red glittered, black glittered, etc.  

 You can print letters from your computer, like the letters on this banner,  and cut them out individually if you can't get to the craft store.  If you have a Cricut machine you can cut them out yourself or another option is to used rub-on letters but I suggest you rub on each letter before you add the glitter to the edges!

Glue one letter to each glittered edge shape - center it on the diamond and between the two holes you punched in the top to be sure it reads right when you string the letters together.

Finally, string the letters together in order to make your word.  I used black tulle to string these letters together.  You can use ribbon, jute, fabric scraps, shoelaces, just about anything to string your letters together to add character to your banner.  

My theme was Oooh La La "Paris" for this banner so frou-frou tulle was perfect! 

Make sure you cut a long enough piece to tie the ends to whatever you are hanging your banner on and enough to add bows if you like!  

I love making these banners and have several for sale at Melange. 

I have also made them for gifts and it is a gift the receiver seems to cherish!

I am linking up to these parties so check them out!

Fireflies and Jellybeans: Show Off Your Stuff Party

Somewhat Simple: Thursday Do It Yourself Party