Tatertots and Jello

Weekend Wrap Up -- And Jewelry Giveaway!

>> 9.03.2010

Don't you just love Fridays? And especially a Friday with a long weekend? Whee!!

It's time for the Weekend Wrap Up Party!

I am excited to spotlight YOU and YOUR ideas!

The giveaway today is from Corie @ Red Letter Rising -- an amazing custom jewelry, coasters and gift shop.

Funky Green Medium Circle Necklace Handmade

{handmade necklaces}

{plexiglass coasters}

{I think this one might be my favorite}

Elegant Green Plexiglass Coasters - Set of 4

{LOVE these coasters}

Corie is giving away TWO Handmade Necklaces from her shop. So there will be TWO winners. You can pick out ANY necklace you like!

Here's How You Can Win:

Go over to the Red Letter Rising -- What is the name of your favorite item. one entry.

"Heart" Red Letter Rising's etsy shop. one entry.

"Fan" Red Letter Rising's Facebook Page. one entry.

"Like" Tatertots & Jello on facebook :) one entry.

Link up to the Weekend Wrap Up Party. one entry for each project you link up.

Leave me a separate comment for each thing you do so you can get an entry for each. Thanks!

A few other reminders:

Please link up the Wrap Up button --- so everyone can join in the fun!

Please comment on TWO posts above you and TWO posts below you -- in addition to any others that you want to visit.

That way everyone gets some comments -- we all love comments!!

Have fun!!!

I can't wait to see what you have been working on and feature YOU!

I'll be writing up a feature spotlight in the morning :)

XOXO

Guest Project -- DIY {Halloween} Candelabra

Hi all, I'm Sandra from Sawdust and Paper Scraps. I'm super excited to be here to share a little project with you. Thanks for having me Jen.

Halloween is a my daughter's favorite holiday and she wants to decorate as soon as she sees the stores all decked out with their Spooky goods (which pretty much happens in July these days.)

I tell her we have to wait until October 1st before we put up the Halloween decorations or we really would go from Bunny Rabbits to Ghosts and Goblins. We are working on some projects so we'll be ready when the time comes!

The other day we went to Home Goods and saw two sparkly Halloween candelabras.

(You can't tell from this picture but they were really beautiful! You'll just have to trust me.)

I was going splurge and buy them until I saw that they were $69 each!

And they didn't even hold any actual candles!

So, I decided a homemade candelabra would be a great project.

I bought:

2- old lamps (Goodwill - $3.99 and $1.99)

1- chandelier (Thrift store - $10.)

1- 10 ft piece of 1" PVC ($2.39)

1- 10 ft 3/8" threaded rod (electrical department at Home Depot for $5.97)

1- bag of 3/8" nuts ($0.98)

Now what?

I took apart the lamps by cutting the cords and removing the nuts and threaded rods.

The chandelier came apart in layers.

I removed these light bulb sockets but wanted to use the bottom plates for candles.

I needed this nut to hold the bottom plate in place. I just bent it back and forth until it broke off!

Then I started unscrewing and cutting wires...

until I had a table covered with parts I'd have to try to remember how to put back together again!

I cut the threaded rod in half with a hack saw and spray painted everything black.

I used the base from one of the lamps that had a really heavy weight in bottom.

I layered the lamps with the larger one on the bottom and then played with the length of the PVC in order to get it to just the right length.

Put another nut on top and tighten it down! More paint and it's starting to look like something.

Re-attached the candle plates.

I decided to add a larger "plate" in the middle. It was just sitting on that table of junk you saw earlier so I used it. I'll probably need it later for something else but whatever!

I just think it looks better that way.

Now, obviously, you could just leave it like this.

Throw some candles on there and be done with it.

I want to "bling" it up a bit!

I found these at the thrift store and yellow stickers happened to be half price so I got the whole bag for $1!

I hung them on a dowel and spray painted them with a gloss black.

I hung and draped and swagged them all over the candelabra. Some of them I cut and hot glued around the outside edges so the beads would be well dispursed.

And that's how you can make a Halloween Candelabra for $26.32.

Alright, so it's not a $5 project but it's better than $69.00!

Plus, I have another 5' piece of threaded rod and PVC to make another something or other.

I've got something in mind

I'm sure I'll get to it, eventually!

Thanks for letting me come and share with you today. The deadline motivated me to finish one of the 10 projects I have going on. It's crazy around these parts. Stop by and visit me sometime if you can handle the mess! Happy Haunting!

Sandra!!

That. Is. Amazing!!

Now I'm going to be on the lookout for some old lamps and a chandelier to make one of those. I love the beads too.

Sandra has INCREDIBLE DIY skills.
You really must see her projects.

Sandra built this entertainment center in her basement. Yes ---- I know!! Incredible.

This is her Before and After Kitchen. Not only did she refinish the cabinets, but she built new cabinets to match the originals, and installed beadboard and new corbels to the island. Sandra - will you come help me tackle my kitchen next?? I'll pay you in wreaths and quatrefoil crafts!

Here she is all suited up to build!

Ummm, yeah - she built these cabinets in her Office too! Wow!

And this is the project I saw when I first discovered Sandra's blog. Amazing Playhouse. Amazing!

Sawdust and Paper Scraps is chock full of DIY goodness!!

XOXO

PS - It's Friday and that means tonight we kick off the weekend with a party! Come over for some dip, chips and pineapple drinks. LOL But seriously, I can't wait to see your projects at the Weekend Wrap Up Party! With an awesome jewelry giveaway and TWO winners this week. Come stop by and join in the fun. I say it starts at 7, but I've been starting it at about 6 lately. So be there or be square :)

Laundry Room Quick Peek

>> 9.02.2010

As you have probably seen on the blog or Twitter, I have been hard at work redoing my laundry room. It is coming along. I am almost done painting the cabinets. I just thought I would share a little quick peek on what it's looking like so far!!

http://www.cuttingedgestencils.com/images/super/Damask_stencil_low.jpg

Have you ever heard of Cutting Edge Stencils? They make the coolest, big stencils. They sent me their Designer Stencil "Damask".

For this room, I copied the same Board and Batten wall treatment that I did in my Beachy Bathroom. {**Tip -- I used Gorilla Glue Wood Glue underneath the boards on the wall when I nailed them in for an extra secure fit.}

I spaced the wall panels out so that the Damask stencil would fit in the middle. And actually the wall panel is long enough that I was able to fit two stencils on each panel.

I was a little nervous about doing the stencil. I was afraid that the paint would soak underneath and there would not be a clean enough line. Cutting Edge Stencils sent me a little roller and a foam attachment and if you use these stencils you definitely want to use something like this.

http://www.cuttingedgestencils.com/images/super/Stencil-Roller.jpg

I could not find any repositionable mounting spray, so I taped it up with blue painters tape. And it was just amazing!! I just rolled it over and took the stencil off and it looks great!! I used DecoArt's Stencil Paint and mixed a little Americana green craft paint in so I could get a bluish-green color to match the Mythic Paint on the walls. The color is called Aquarium Water. If you don't like paint fumes, you should check out Mythic Paint. It has no fumes and is non-toxic so if you have small children or pets it's a great product to use! And -- I couldn't smell the paint at all!!

It took me awhile to figure out how dark I wanted the paint to look and by the time I got to the end I had it perfect. So I would recommend playing with the stencil on a big piece of paper or cardboard first to really see how the paint color looks and the effect that you want to achieve.

I am painting the upper cabinets a really pretty off white {actually it matches Heirloom White perfectly}, but the lower cabinets I painted a greenish-blue and LOVE it! Then I installed these sparkly knobs from Rockler!!! SQUEAL -- Aren't they pretty? And they look very expensive, but are actually very affordable.

I still need to install the lighting. I found a vintage chandelier from New Hampshire on Craigslist and had them ship it to me. I LOVE it! And -- it was $30!!! So excited! And just in case you want to see a messy "before" picture, here it is....