Okio B Designs: michael's

I always have a bunch of Dollar store prayer candles lying around. Each year, I try to do a new style for Xmas.

This year, I started by wrapping each candle in vintage sheet music. I picked up the glitter stars from Michael's. They are self-sticking so I added one to the front of each candle.

I added some rhinestone bling above the stars. If you remember, I picked up a French dictionary over the summer. I flipped through the pages and took out the ones that had joyeux and noel.

I photocopied the pages, cut them down and glued them to the front of each star. Just the right Frenchy touch for the season!

Jeanine

7 comments

Can you believe I'm still working on pieces that I picked up at AmVets a week ago?! This is the wood caddy that I got there that originally came from Michael's. It was pink and had the word spring on both sides. Here it is now:

I gave it a couple of coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Louis Blue. I popped over to The Graphics Fairy to pick some French text I could quickly add to the front of it.

Using graphite paper, I carefully traced it on. Then I sanded it down a bit so it looked a bit aged.

It's holding some faux cotton stalks I got from Decor Steals last week. I haven't found a place for her yet and I'm still figuring out what I'm going to display inside.

Jeanine

4 comments

Happy Saturday! Hope your weekend is off to a great start! The sun is shining, the birds are singing and I was able to get some painting done.

This little tool carrier is from Michael's. I bought it a couple of years ago. It originally said blossom. Sadly, it got a little dingy over the years so I gave it a fresh coat of paint yesterday.

Since I painted over the blossom, I added two chalkpaper tags - one on each side. I used my Cricut and a roll of chalkpaper. Quick and easy!

I added a painted book I did (more in the works!) with some vintage French poetry pages, some painted peat pots and an embellished bottle I've posted about before.

The sides were missing a little something, so I added this great grain image from The Graphics Fairy. It's one of my favorites. I've used it on tea towels and a few other projects.

I printed the image out onto waterslide decal paper and gave it a few coats of clear spray paint to seal the image. Within a few minutes, I dunked it in water and peeled off my labels to put on each side.

The best part about this project? I had everything I needed! Some of you have inquired about the decal paper. I bought mine off of eBay for about $9 for 10 sheets. Believe me, it's worth it!

Linking to: The Graphics Fairy: Brag Monday and Between Naps on the Porch: Met Monday.

Jeanine

8 comments

These pretty petite frames are from Michael's. I picked them up over the weekend not quite sure what I was going to do with them. I feel like they called for something Frenchy and that's just what I did with them!

Excuse the pictures - another horrible dark day here. First, I distressed some French poetry book pages. Then I hand-stamped the crown for one and a fleur de lis for the other.

I added a single rhinestone to the black one and then four for the silver one.

Yup, just what they needed!

Linking to Between Naps on the Porch: Met Monday.

Jeanine

2 comments

My five year old picked out these paper mache stars at Michael's last week. I was really hoping to decoupage them using the tissue paper method, but - sigh! - it was not meant to be. The tissue paper got stuck in my printer not once, not twice but three times. And you know what they say about three times. Plan B:

I used some old French book paper and pages from the Romeo and Juliet book I got a couple of weeks ago. I covered each star with Mod Podge. Then I glued on the ripped pages from each book randomly all over each star.

While the Mod Podge was still a little wet, I added some flat glitter pieces (Martha Stewart Crafts). Once that was dry, I popped over to The Graphics Fairy and grabbed these two Victorian lady images. I added them to the fronts using Glue Dots.

Now, I am not calling these Xmas ornaments, although they will likely end up on our tree. For now, I'm calling them my Victorian lady stars. ;)

Jeanine

3 comments

Remember this bottle carrier I picked up at Goodwill a few weeks ago?! I gave it a spooky twist earlier this week.

The creepy labels are actually from the Martha Stewart Living special edition Halloween issue. Just scan them to your printer and print out. I did mine on label paper, so I only had to cut, peel and stick.

The striped straws are from Etsy. I just love them! I picked up the pencils from Michael's last year and never got to use them for Halloween, so I added them to some of the bottles.

The cute little Trick or Treat pendant is also from Etsy.

I really love how it came out and it fits nicely on my counter top. I'm sure I'll add some ghoulish treats closer to Halloween.

Jeanine

3 comments

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend. I didn't have much crafting time this week due to some wholesale Etsy orders, but I did manage to pop into Michael's and pick up these incredibly cute mini chalkboards:

I added some magnet stickers to some of them so I could hang them on the fridge. I love the color! I even used some to hang these great old family photos my parents gave me this week.

The black and white one is of my grandfather and his family on my dad's side. The color one is my grandfather from my mom's side. I miss them both! =(

I didn't have time to paint this little guy. And of course I noticed the smudgy thing on the right after I altered it with some French poetry pages. Doh!

Here's a closer look. I just distressed the book page and mod podged them on the top and the bottom. I think the French perks it up a bit, don't you?

Both the mini chalkboard clips and the one on the stand were in the dollar bins at Michael's. Sweet!

Jeanine

No comments

I went to my local Michael's over the weekend and nearly died laughing when I saw what they were calling a redneck wine glass! They glued a mason jar to a candlestick:

They added some red paint and affectionately called it a redneck wine glass. As luck would have it, I had a dollar store candlestick and a mason jar available, so I made one.

I'm using mine to hold my hydrangeas - not wine.

So simple to make. You just need a candlestick, mason jar and E6000 or similar glue. And some wine...=)

Jeanine

4 comments

Look at these adorable plates I found at Michael's this morning:

So beachy and coastal chic!

And only $1 each.

Score!

Jeanine

2 comments

Yup, still rainy and chilly in our neck of the woods. Sigh! The upside is when you're trapped in the house all day, you get a jumpstart on some Mother's Day gifts:

I made these little wood silhouettes of my boys for their Grandma today. I bought the wood pieces at Michael's and gave them a few coats of aqua paint. Then I took some profile shots of the boys. I printed them out on plain paper and cut them out. Then I used the cut-out photo as a pattern for my black cardstock.

I simply glued them on and done! It's a small little gift, I'm sure my Mom will love! The boys had fun guessing who was who in the silhouettes. The 4 year old picked himself out immediately.

Jeanine

4 comments

I am in the process of giving this Home Goods' wood tote a makeover. I actually remembered to take some before photos for once:

Not loving the yucky brown. I bought it a couple of years ago and I don't quite remember why. She ain't pretty.

And after sitting in the tea room holding magazines and books for a couple of years, she was filled with cobwebs and other little creature remnants. Bleah!

Right now she's sitting in the garage after the first coat of paint. I want to do something spring-y so I'm thinking either white or pink. And I have the perfect little embellishments that I just picked up from Michael's.

Wish me luck!

Jeanine

4 comments

Last week I wrote a post on a French-y makeover I gave to a vintage-inspired bottle carrier here. I'm happy to report that I found the perfect bottles to fit inside it! Believe it or not - they are Starbucks Frappuccino bottles:

I simply peeled off the Starbucks labels (after enjoying the Vanilla Frappuccino, of course!). I replaced them with these great French images from The Graphics Fairy. I printed them onto to clear Avery label paper and cut them to size.

I added rhinestones to both bottles. For one, I tied a key from Michael's on and for the other, I added a keyhole with some twine.

I also added some vintage lace to make them look a little less beverage bottle and more chic. Nevermind those air bubbles you see, I flattened them out after snapping the pics.

Don't they fit perfectly?! I had to prop them up a little by wedging some tissue paper in the bottom of each slot.

I have two more that I need to makeover this week. I'm just so happy that I found the perfect sized bottles!

Linking to Between Naps on the Porch: Met Monday and The Graphics Fairy: Brag Monday.

Jeanine

8 comments

I never ever pass up the bargain aisle at our local Michael's. It's filled with treats usually starting at $1 up to no more than say $5. I scooped up a bunch of these pretty shabby frames with my store credit and gave each a French touch:

I love the shabby, chippy feel of it. I added the faux pearls and flower embellishment. It would not be complete without the fabulous French image from The Graphics Fairy.

Since Blogger is not letting me upload photos for some reason, I'll show the others in another post. Argh, Blogger!

Linking to The Graphics Fairy: Brag Monday, Between Naps on the Porch: Met Monday and Faded Charm: White Wednesday.

Jeanine

11 comments

**Don't forget to enter my giveaway here.**

I'm pretty much done with my Valentine's Day decorations. Mainly because I've run out of places to display them! Last night I did a peat pot in pink which I thought would be a nice departure from white, and make for a nice Valentine's Day touch:

I used my Cricut to print out the French script heart and then tied it on with some tea-stained seam binding. The little button was the finishing touch.

How about this lovely Cupid print (from Graphique.etsy.com)?

These little paper mache birdies don't quite scream Valentine's Day, but I still had money to use on my Michael's store credit so I picked them up yesterday. How can you resist a sheet music bird for $1? And like potato chips, you can't get just one!

They also had plain paper mache birdies. I fudged the first one (don't ask!) so last night I painted my last little birdie and will post it soon.

Jeanine

7 comments

Decided to treat myself to these sweets earlier this week. I had a store credit for Michael's and couldn't scoop up these little candle holders fast enough:

Aren't they adorable?!

They would even make for cute candy bowls.

So happy to be adding them to my crown collection!

Jeanine

3 comments

Paging the lost and found! While we were packing away our Christmas lights yesterday, I found this little tool caddy that I bought a while ago and totally forgot about. It was in pretty bad shape and needed a white spray paint makeover stat. Thanks to yesterday's warm weather, I was able to give it a few coats of paint in just a few hours.

Once it was dry, I broke out this graphite transfer paper that I bought last year. It sat and sat on one of our craft shelves so I was happy to actually use it. Basically you lay a sheet of it on your project and then add the image you want to transfer ontop. I used this great image from The Graphics Fairy. Tape both to your project. You can use either a pencil or pen to transfer. At first I used pencil but it came out very lightly. So I switched to a pen which gave me this:

I made a couple of oopsies - particularly on the 'S' in Paris but overall I found the paper easy to use. I was afraid it might smudge so I gave it a couple of coats of poly to seal it in once I was done stenciling it on. Once that was dry, I painted the wood fleur de lis and glued that to the front of the handle.

Here's a close up.

Once everything was dry and ready to roll, I added some faux Dollar Store moss to both bottoms. I was in a pink mood so I added some vintage pink thread, a bottle of pastel buttons and the cute butterfly (from Michael's). Adding to the French theme is the French book paper page tucked in the corner.

I would definitely use the graphite paper again as I have a few sheets left. Maybe next time I'll try a more intricate image/design.

Linking to The Graphics Fairy: Brag Monday.

Jeanine

15 comments

Older Posts

Okio B Designs

About Me

Shop the Post

Follow Me on LikeToKnow.It

Follow Me on Pinterest!

Follow Me on Instagram!

Follow Me on Twitter

PR/Advertising

My tool caddy in Romantic Homes

Good Housekeeping August 2011

Search This Blog

Blog Archive