Older Craft Projects

Okay, so I know I promised that my next post would be super positive but this is as good as it's going to get.  At least it's not negative :)

So, money has been a little tight in the McCorkle house lately and I haven't been able to work on many projects.  I thought I'd post a couple of pictures of some projects I did earlier this year.

I love to paint!  Especially love painting trees.  I love whimsical, curly, off-beat trees.  I can't paint a "realistic" tree to save my life though.  My niece got married in November of last year and she really wanted me to paint her a tree to go in their new house.  I'm sure you've all heard of Pinterest....if you haven't, you are SOOOO behind the times!  I love browsing through there looking at the art.  I came across this tree and loved it!!!

From etsy http://www.etsy.com/listing/77751424/48x24-original-modern-abstract-heavy

This painting is beautiful, but it wasn't the right colors for my niece.  So I decided to do my own version of this painting.  I decided to do it on 2 canvases instead of 4.  My reason for this was because I wanted to represent TWO becoming ONE....I thought it was a neat idea.  So, here's my version.  It's not as pretty as the original, but I was still really proud of it. 

So, here's my version :) 







We rent an apartment and, as you know, decorating can be super tricky when renting.  We can't paint or permanently alter ANYTHING in our apartment.  The kitchen is super plain and quite honestly, it's boring.  I HAD to do something.  So I searched Pinterest (of course!) for temporary ways to update an apartment and I came across this "faux" kitchen back splash.

It's made of stainless steel contact paper!  Can you believe that!  http://mygoalissimple.com/2011/06/08/contact-paper-tiled-backsplash/

Here's the before picture.  The dark spots were from the cleaner I sprayed to wipe it down.

Here's the after!  I got the contact paper from Lowe's.  All I did was cut 4x4 inch squares (the back of the contact paper had a grid pattern, so it was REALLY easy to cut).  I started at the bottom and I alternated the grain of the stainless steel squares each time so that when the light hits it, it looks like a checker board pattern.  This is just my small counter top area.  I did my entire kitchen for less than $40. 

Our pantry doors were also pretty drab.  So I ordered some chalkboard contact paper from Amazon to give them a little character. 

Here's the before picture.  Pretty sad, right?!?!

Here's the after.  I just measured each section of the pantry doors and cut the paper to fit.  It really dresses them up and you can also get creative with the chalk and write down dinner menus, grocery lists, favorite quotes, personal messages to your loved ones....the possibilities are endless. 

I hope you enjoyed seeing my little projects.  I really enjoy doing this kind of stuff.  Hopefully, I can get back to some new crafty projects soon!