Okio B Designs

I picked up a pack of these grain sack placemats at Home Goods yesterday. They were only $9.99. I knew immediately they'd be getting a quick Frenchy makeover.

I printed out this great French image from The Graphics Fairy onto iron-on transfer paper. And voila!

Instant French placemats. I would have liked to make the image a little bigger but I only had one sheet of transfer paper left so I had to use the 3"x4" setting.

Isn't the image perfect for them? It's like it was meant to be!

What's nice is they match my grainsack towels from Ikea, and a table runner I made using fabric from Fabrics.com.

Linking to: The Graphics Fairy: Brag Monday.

Jeanine

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Lookie what my Dad made for me! Another whale for my beachy porch!

Yesterday was his 76th birthday and I swear this man has not lost his craft mojo.

I can't wait to hang him up!

Jeanine

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Happy Monday everyone! The hubby should be home in a day or two and we're very excited. I haven't been able to do much crafting but I did make these sweet buggy lavender sachets last night.

I sell sachets in my Etsy shop in sets of three. I had these two leftover and not one to let things go to waste, I turned them into dryer sachets for our house.

I hand-stamped a dragonfly on one and bumble bees on the other. I'm not a huge fan of bugs in my outdoor life, but I do love them for home decor.

I can't wait to use these on our linens. I love the smell of lavender and it does promote a restful sleep - something I could use more of!

Jeanine

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Hope everyone has a lovely Mother's Day!

Jeanine

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I'm not one for dishing too much personal business on my blog. I prefer to keep things light and airy, and crafty! But the hubby is going in for surgery tomorrow, so I'll be taking a few days off to man the fort. If you have a chance, cross your fingers that all turns out well for Mr. Okio B!

Jeanine

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We've had these lanterns on our porch steps for years. I originally bought them at Home Goods. They were looking pretty beat up after being in the elements year after year.

I love the shape of them though so I didn't want to toss them. So I picked off some of the rust and gave them a quick makeover.

Keeping with my beachy/nautical theme for the porch, I gave them a couple of coats of white spray paint. Then I used some red acrylic paint for the stripe.

Finish up with a coat of clear spray paint, and they are good to go! Quick, easy and total cost: $0.

Jeanine

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Last Saturday, my husband and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary. We treated ourselves to a night out for Chinese and a little saki. The bottles were so cute that I tossed them in my handbag once they were finished.

I decided to use some rub-on transfers for them and thought these number signs would be cute.

I also added some tea-stained seam binding to the tops of each bottle. I rolled up some French poetry book paper for one. The other will likely be used as a little vase.

They are happily residing on our kitchen windowsill.

Jeanine

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I'm just about done with the finishing touches on our beachy porch theme. I have a few more things to add like Dollar Store sand buckets, candle holder jars (with sand), citronella candle buckets and the anchor plaques. Here we are as of today.

We spend a lot of time on our porch swing. I bought the cushion from The Christmas Tree Shops. It's not included in my $100 budget as I bought it before I set my budget/theme. It was $29.99. The pillows are from Pottery Barn outlet. We picked them up last year.

I've shown this table and some of these pieces before. Excuse my husband's beer cans in the FIRE bucket. Doh!

Here is the whale my Dad made. Pesky shadow in the photo doesn't do it justice. He did a great job and I love it! The hanging fish are from Gina at The Shabby Creek Cottage's Etsy shop. I bought them in watermelon and blue a couple of years ago. I love both colors but chose to use the watermelon ones for this theme.

Other side of the porch. My Target Threshold ottoman ($35.99 with 10 percent off) landed today. Yay! I love the pop of color it adds. The starfish pillows are also Threshold for Target. They were $14.99 each.

Another ottoman view.

I really love the color it adds to our porch. The green siding with the black LL Bean rocking chairs left it looking a bit dull but now it screams color! And I'm happy that I gave myself a budget and stuck to it.

Jeanine

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My beachy porch theme is slowly coming together. I'm just waiting on a few more items and then I'm pretty confident I've reached my $100 budget. Here a few new pieces that I added yesterday.

I originally had my starfish tucked in a little bucket with starfish decals. Didn't completely love it, so I added them to this urn instead which I'm loving much better now. It got a coat of paint to match the lanterns I did a few weeks ago. The urn was a Goodwill find.

I used this great anchor image from The Graphics Fairy for this twice upcycled watering can. It had some funky 70s design on it originally. Then I painted it pink and the other day I paint it white. So much better now. I added the anchor using waterslide decal paper.

I gave this little clipboard a chalk paint makeover. I originally had it in the kitchen.

Last up is this little starfish tea towel. I used a Dollar Store flour sack and some transfer paper.

My Dad is bringing the whale over today and I can't wait to see it! I also have to add my little anchor plaques that my sister, Kathy sent. And I have an outdoor ottoman scheduled to land today from Target.

Jeanine

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I'm a firm believer that if life hands you lemons, you make lemonade. Case in point, my broken dress form peat pot.

I bought some rub-on transfers from Joann's a couple of weeks ago. Now, I'm no expert on rub-ons. I've only used them a handful of times. After rubbing for what seemed like forever, this transfer just didn't seem to be happening. So I kept at it.

I must have moved it while rubbing because it didn't exactly come out intact. As you can see, it looks, well, broken. Rather than toss the whole thing and move on to plan B, I decided it still had personality and potential. So I added some French book paper, a little flower bling and some shredded sheet music. To me, she's perfect now!

And these are a few more I did with a little less drama. They are in my Etsy shop.

I wouldn't say I've mastered rub-ons but I have it down to an inexact science.

Linking to Knick of Time Tuesday.

Jeanine

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We had such a crazy busy weekend that I wasn't able to take in any garage sales. Boy, am I itching! I did pop into our local church thrift store and found these two goodies.

Not sure how old the jewelry piece is but I found it to be interesting and unique. Thinking about painting it white.

The old compact doesn't have too many markings but it's in great condition for an old piece. I love the fabric and embroidery on the top. It says Elgin American. I'll have to look that up so I can find out a bit more about it.

Not bad for $2!

Jeanine

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I used to love playing with paper dolls when I was little. I used to make my own by cutting the models out of my Mom's Spiegel catalog (remember Spiegel?????). This one I found on Pinterest and couldn't resist!

I printed the template out onto cardstock and cut each part out. Then I used some brads so her arms and legs would be moveable. I hand-stamped the Paris on, and added a little bling.

She's really sweet and I would have loved to play with her when I was little. For now, she's just kind of hanging out.

Jeanine

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I'm doing my little Friday happy dance. The weather is gorgeous, the birds are singing and it's the end of what seemed like a long, long week! We have a busy weekend planned so wanted to share some random pieces that I've been working on.

This candlestick I found at Goodwill earlier this week. I gave it a few coats of ASCP in Old White. It's kind of hard to tell but there is a French graphic on there.

How about now? It's a great Paris address image from The Graphics Fairy printed onto decal paper.

In addition to the paint and decal, I added a little crown charm with some twine, and one of my French script candles. And ladies, hang on to your old veggie cans...

With some chalk paint and decal paper you can transform them into these. I'm using the taller one as a vase and the smaller as a candleholder.

I gave each can a coat of chalk paint and then added my images.

The one on the smaller can is the same one on the candlestick. And a big thank you to my sister Kathy from Creative Home Expressions.

She found these nautical goodies at her local Goodwill and sent them to me for my porch's beachy theme! I'll be working on them this weekend! Isn't she sweet?!

Jeanine

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Remember the little hand mirror I picked up at Goodwill that was missing the mirror? Well, here it is now.

I wanted to use a Victorian image for it and found this perfect one from The Graphics Fairy.

I printed it out onto cardstock and then carefully measured it so it would fit into the mirror. I used some silver glitter around the inside edges and added some rhinestones and faux pearls to each lady for a little bling.

I think the image fits perfectly as it adds just a touch of color.

Jeanine

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I picked up this little crate from Goodwill yesterday. I was going back and forth on whether to keep the natural color or paint it. So I did a little of both.

I gave it a "white-wash" instead - basically spreading on some paint and then wiping it off to get just a hint of color. I left some of the natural wood showing too. I notice a couple of little paint oopsies but those are going to come right off with some sandpaper.

I loooooove this rooster image from The Graphics Fairy so I knew that was the first thing going on both sides of the crate. I printed it off in the smallest size possible onto decal paper and placed it on both sides.

I used some leftover Scrabble tiles to spell out NEST. Then I added some faux green moss and two little eggs for a finishing touch.

Super cheap and easy as I had everything I needed!

Jeanine

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Super excited by this morning's Goodwill finds. The last few times I've gone, I've come out empty-handed. Not today!

Excuse the photos. It's a dark, dreary, COLD day here yet again. Anywho, how cute is the little lantern? It was half price so it was 85 cents. The beeswax candle is getting tossed; I just wanted the little crate. The metal urn will be first up in the makeover department.