Okio B Designs

I spied this cabinet on the curb back in April. Yes, April.

It sat and sat and sat in our garage. I was waiting on the weather and going back and forth on what color to paint it. Finally, I decided on gray, and this past weekend - with a little help from the hubby - I finally gave it the makeover I had been envisioning.

The girlfriend who helped load it in the car could not believe it was the same cabinet. I have to say I'm pretty pleased with it myself.

It took several coats (and cans!) of Krylon's Granite spray paint. Again, my hubby assisted quite a bit with the spraying.

The finishing touch was the Milk & Cream Co., which I stenciled on using black paint. The stencil is from the Knick of Time Etsy shop. I bought the stencil specifically for this project, although I have used it on tea towels as well.

Again, super happy with how this piece turned out. I was intimidated at first, but as I admire it on the porch, I know I chose the right color and stencil design.

Jeanine

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What do you do when you come home from a short vacay to Philadelphia?

You whip up some pretty jars using waterslide decal paper. Well, at least that is what I did. I saved these pretties a few weeks ago. One contained jar sauce and the other held jelly.

I gave each jar a few coats of white spray paint and some sanding. Then I printed out my images onto waterslide decal paper. If you're not familiar with the waterslide decal transfer method, it's super easy. Simply print your images onto the glossy side of the paper (no need to reverse or mirror-image). Give it 2-3 coats of clear spray paint to protect the image.

After the paint is dry, cut the image to the size you want and soak in a bowl of water. After a few minutes, the image will detach from the backing and you can easily affix it to your project. Easy peasy! P.S. The Union Jack image is from The Graphics Fairy and the French graphic I found online. I get my waterslide decal paper from eBay.

Jeanine

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My boys are officially off from school and you know what that means...

I won't have much time to craft or blog for the next 8 weeks. Still, I did find some time to make this easy July 4th banner. I simply used some vintage dictionary paper and Dafont's Ringmaster font.

I opened up a word document and typed each letter onto its own separate page. Then I took turns printing each one out on the dictionary paper. Punch some holes on each end of the paper, slide through some twine and voila! - instant July 4th banner.

This next project is a copycat. It came up in my Facebook feed and I believe the original poster was My Thrift Store Addiction. Hard to see but I used a wooden pants hanger. I glued strips of lace onto each end and hand-stamped the word herbs in the middle.

I snipped some fresh oregano from the garden and tied it with some twine to hang. For now I have it in our tea-room. Once I find a spot for it in our kitchen, it will be residing there.

In other news: I'm hoping to hit some garage sales this week. And BIG news: Hobby Lobby is finally coming to my neck of the woods!!!! Yes, Hobby Lobby is opening their first Long Island store next week. To say I'm excited would be an understatement.

Jeanine

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Our porch swing had definitely seen better days. It's one of our most favorite spots at home. We sit there at night, chatting and watching the cars drive by for hours.

We got it from Lowe's about 5 years ago (if not more!) and the white was dirty and dingy. No amount of scrubbing was making it sparkle. Even the pillows were looking a bit sad. So...

We gave it a makeover over the weekend. I say "we" because my husband actually did all of the work. He took it down, propped it up and worked the spray paint like magic. We kept the bottom cushion and I added the life preserver pillows (from Target).

It's like a brand new swing now! And it adds a nice pop of color to the porch. What do you think?

Jeanine

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Finally! Today the weather here finally cooperated. No more rain. No more 50 degrees. We had a solid day of warmth and it definitely put some pep into my step.

And since summer is right around the corner, I started adding some beachy touches to the house. This sweet little vignette on our tv table includes a blue Mason jar and Scrabble tiles. The starfish print is one I bought from Etsy a few years ago. I simply printed it out on some French script paper and added it to an Ikea frame.

Aren't these petite pillows the cutest? Another Etsy find. I believe the shop I purchased them from is called My Adobe Cottage. Sadly, I don't think she makes pillows anymore. I have them displayed in a vintage clam basket in the livingroom.

This one isn't quite beachy, but since it doesn't warrant its own post, I thought I'd include it. I whipped it up the other night. It felt good to break out the sewing machine and make a pillow. I used Osnaburg fabric and simply handstamped the numbers and London right onto the front. And, no, 1885 is not a significant date; I just liked the numbers. Hee hee hee.

Are you finally inspired for summer?

Jeanine

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Lately I feel like all of my projects are a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I'm still searching for something to get my creativity really flowing again.

I did find this cute bottle at the thrift store on Friday. It was pre-wired and ready to be hung. All I did was add the French label using some clear transfer paper.

Then I finally broke out this great stencil I purchased from Angie from Knick of Time's Etsy shop to make a new tea towel for my kitchen. I swear I am the world's worst stenciler. If someone has any tips on how to keep my hand steady and how to secure the stencil while painting it - I'm all ears! I tried tape but somehow it still moved.

These beauties I found at a garage sale over the weekend.

My boys will be off from school soon, so I'm in panic mode a little because once summer comes I will have even less time to craft.

Jeanine