Okio B Designs

It all started with this frame.

And then this pin on Pinterest.

Put those two together and you get this:

I almost tossed the frame after it didn't sell at our last garage sale. Something told me to hang onto it. So glad I did!

For the DIY, first I used Annie Sloan chalk paint to add a shabby touch to my frame. I then added some vintage sheet music to the back piece of the frame. It took two sheets. I glued on the burlap pieces using fabric glue.

While the burlap was still drying, I added the hand-stamped bird's nest images to it. I did those on some coffee-dyed muslin. I added a piece of raffia and a button to the top nest and then a larger nest to the bottom using hot glue.

The Scrabble tiles spelling out "nest" was the finishing touch.

The best part about this entire project was the fact that I had everything I needed on hand. Even better? I have a duplicate frame in the garage. Think I'll add a Frenchy touch to that one!

Jeanine

3 comments

School is over for my boys and that means summer is in full swing in our household. Lookie at this adorable printable I found on Pinterest.

Love the color. Love the words. It screams summer to me!

Jeanine

1 comments

I've been playing around with the little vignette I have on a vintage school desk in our dining room.

I recently re-painted both of these frames to freshen them up.

I simply added vintage sheet music to this one.

More vintage sheet music and a beautiful religious image (from The Graphics Fairy) for this one. I love the soft touch the whites and pinks add to this space.

I also dressed up this cardboard letter B that I got from Walmart last week. I painted it white and then decoupaged French book paper on it. I still have to seal it with Modge Podge and fix the little bit of paint I missed on the top insert. Funny how I just noticed it as I was writing this post. Off to go fix it...

Jeanine

4 comments

I've been wanting to try Omni Gel after seeing a few pins about it on Pinterest and after reading about it in the blogosphere (Susan from Homeroad and Karen from The Graphics Fairy both have nice tutorials on using it). I found it at Walmart.com and decided to give it a go.

This is actually a re-do of a re-do. I used this little wood tray on my porch last summer. It had a lobster design on it but that peeled off. Doh! It made the perfect candidate for this trial run. I gave it a few coats of Annie Sloan chalk paint before starting.

I printed out the French image (from The Graphics Fairy) onto regular white paper. Because I have an inkjet printer, I made a copy of it using my fax machine. (Yes, fax machine. Remember those?!). I did NOT reverse the image.

I gave the image two coats of Omni Gel and let it dry overnight. Once it was dry, I added it to a bowl of water and just started peeling the paper away from the back - kind of like the Modge Podge method. With the paper removed, I added the image to both sides of my tray and put a coat of the gel over it.

Super easy! I like this much better than the Modge Podge method, which I just can't seem to master. Can't wait to use it for other projects!

Jeanine

4 comments

I hit a few garage sales this weekend. Sadly, I didn't score much.

Yup, that's pretty much it. The little pitcher was 50 cents. So was the prayer candle. I could not pass up the bag of vintage clothes pins.

These are my favorite: skull shot glasses. Now, I am not a big drinker but I do love Halloween and these are perfect for it! I got four of them and they are actually big enough to hold some creepy candles. Score!

Some of the vintage clothes pins are available in my Etsy shop!

Jeanine

2 comments

Remember these wood Easter blocks I picked up at our local thrift store back in April?

While they were super cute, they just weren't quite my cup of tea. I knew when I bought them, I'd be turning them into something a little Frenchy. Here they are now: