Playing With DIY

Before I became a watercolor artist, before I stopped being afraid that I wouldn't be good enough, I filled the void with Do It Yourself projects. This last ten days I've immersed myself back into DIY. Up until this last week I hadn't done anything DIY in about ten years. It's been totally FUN getting my hands dirty in something other than watercolors! Here's the list of things that have been accomplished lately...

1. Painted my grandmother's cedar chest (it's lined with cedar, I didn't paint the cedar, I promise !! LOL)
2. Spray painted all the lamps in the house silver
3. Replaced lampshades with black barrel shades (every room should have a touch of black, isn't that a rule?)
4. Sewed a bushel of cushions for sofa
5. Re-upholstered coffee table/bench
6. Made coffee table tray (30"x12" for fabric coffee table so you can put a cuppa on it)
7. Made matching tray for a passel of candlesticks (gotta coral those suckers! 18"x12")
8. Bought and repainted huge initials for living room shelf (one foot high)
9. Rearranged all shelves in kitchen and living room
10. Restaged my bedroom so I can now get to the window (holy COW the dust on that window ledge!)
11. Made papier mâché fruit
12. Bought several HUGE canvasses (two 24"x30", one 30"x40", several 18"x24" they'll all be painted in acrylic. My mom is FINALLY going to start painting again, YAY!!!)
13. Bought new plum towels for bathroom and lime green facecloths 
14. Bought new shower curtain (bright floral pattern, nothing boring here)
15. Painted living room frames white then distressed them (then filled them with my recent art. Yes, we are resplendent in fruit and veg art, got something to say about it?)
16. Painted frame in bathroom silver, filled with asparagus painting
17. Spray painted lid of mason jar to use as toothbrush holder, it now matches new soap dispenser that's a reworked mason jar, kinda cool, must say.)
18. Changed all the kitchen & bathroom knobs to brushed nickel knobs (I HATED those horrible gold ones!!!!!)
19. Bought a BIG clock, painted the little one black.

Would you believe that I'm kinda tired? (and sore and covered in paint, glue, tape, etc) It's been one wild week but HOLY COW does the house look great! Here's how the fruit looked...

Papier Mache before painting

After painting the Papier Mâché

I made the form using tissue paper & 20 gauge wire. I then covered it in masking tape. Then I covered the tape with papier mâché. After drying I gessoed them several times before painting them up. Here's a bunch of other pictures of some of the other projects mentioned above.

One foot tall Initials

Candle tray in Cobalt Teal

Painted frames, new art, painted clock

New towels in washroom, painted frame, new art & soap dispenser

New BIG clock

Painted lamp, new drum shade

Sewed pillows, re-upolstered bench, tray

So that's it. The last addition will be a delivery of the new black and white rug for under the coffee table. It's gonna bring it all together  Now I'm gonna go hunt down some chocolate (damn, I wish I had some chocolate!), ok, maybe just a cuppa hazelnut coffee. *Sigh*, I think I deserve the chocolate. 

Next week we'll be back to watercolor art. I've missed painting. Now though, I've gotta learn how to paint with acrylics. A little nervous about that. Anyone know about some good videos about how to's about acrylic painting? I could really use some help and comments!!!

Best,

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