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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.