:: how to - ombre books ::

I am so excited about the mini project I completed today. Particularly because I didn't see it on Pinterest first. Yessiree, this one's straight from my usually unimaginative head. I even 'googled' on Pinterest to see if anyone else had done it. And nope!

So what we have here are ombre books (if you're not familiar with the 'ombre' term, it's the look of something going from dark to light, in the same colour. A bit of a craze at the moment). I wanted something to add to the mantlepiece in the baby's room, and I wanted it grey. So I originally searched through our own book collection, but I couldn't find enough of the right size/colour. So the idea hit me to grab some old books from the op-shop and create my own.

Ombre Book Display

You will need:

5-6 books (old ones with non-glossy covers work best)

1 can of spray paint (colour of your choice)

1 tube acrylic paint (of the same colour as the spray)

1 tube white acrylic paint

face mask

gloves

I picked up these books for 50 cents each at an op-shop just up the road. Hope there's nobody's favourite novel here. Hehe.

Go outside and lay down some plastic or newspaper to give all your books a base colour.

Work out which order you want the books in, then make up some very light grey paint, and add a bit more black as you go along, for each book. I ended up putting too much black from the start and had to do it the other way around. So add less colour (in my case, black) than you think!

Just paint the spine of each book in your descending shade. I didn't think the whole book needed painting, as the spine is all you see.

Oh, and paint a couple of picture frames if you're a duffer like me, and have way too much paint left over.

Leave to dry, and arrange to your heart is content.

:: getting crafty ~ country kitchen project ::

Things are starting to get cozy and comfy in our little home, but I've been itching to spruce up the bare walls. I've got a few ideas in mind; some are fast and some are going to take a bit of brainstorming.

This weekend, however, I was able to complete a quick and easy one which turned out nicely. I originally saw the idea in a local framing shop and thought, "I can do that." They used a shadow box frame, and although I did find a nice tutorial on making a shadow box, I had a particular antique frame in mind which I wanted to use for the job. Hence the glass-less effect.

:: country kitchen frame::

you will need:

1 large antique frame

hot glue gun

pile of old cutlery & utensils (I went to a junk store and got the lot)

If your antique frame doesn't have a backing, do what I did and find a clever uncle to cut a piece of ply wood to size and secure it with tacks.

Mix & match your cutlery until you are happy with the arrangement. Then it's as easy as working out which points of the piece of cutlery will touch the frame, and generously applying hot glue to that area.

(a few of mine fell off because the ply wood I was gluing them too was slightly shiny. I fixed this by wiping the wood & the cutlery with metho to ensure a really clean surface)

Leave to dry for half an hour, then you're ready to hang!

Up above my kitchen sink :). And no, those stinky blinds aren't staying.

::get your valentine on::

I have more holiday posts to put up, but lets just take a break from that and indulge in a little valentine talk.

I'm going to be honest with you, I don't think I've ever given a Valentine. Mostly because I always figured it was silly growing up, and then when Jason and I got together, we were always giving each other love notes so I don't think Valentine's Day made much of an imprint! Valentine's Day was, however, the day we officially got together 2 years ago (is that ALL?!) so if we did do something special on that day, it was to celebrate our "getting-together-versay".

But I think that's all about to change. Especially since our wedding anniversary is a different day (a whole two days away from Valentine's Day!).

The other reason it's about to change is because I FEEL LIKE BEING STEROTYPICAL VALENTINEY now. Alright? Especially when it means getting down & crafty!

I've just been exposed to a dangerous list on Pinterest, which will keep the itchiest of crafty romantics out of trouble.

Here's just a pinch of them:

Some adorable shabby homemade rubber stamps made from erasers:

I love the idea of flying this love-note (printable) into Jase's head to get him out of bed that morning:

I do so enjoy sewing onto paper. This is a sweet, simple design which could be used for girl friends all year round:

Loads of oh-so-free printables like this one from "The Hands-On Housewife":

And THIS lightbulb, is just sweet genius. I'm sure I'd cut myself, but dear me it's so tempting to attempt:

So get yourself a lookin' at the 101 Valentine Ideas. I can't wait for it already.