Ever since I did my snake coffee table I've been on the lookout for another piece of furniture to make over.

More after the jump...

Today is the last day of my staycation. I spent a blissful week and a half making things, seeing friends, and sleeping in. I got to crack open beers before noon and play Mike Tyson's Punch-Out on my NES (which, in retrospect, was a preeety racist game - observe Piston Honda's dialogue screen).
Perhaps the most satisfying part of my time off was spending the first few days repainting, moving things around, and generally nesting.

More after the jump...

I know it's been a minute since my last post, but I have been a busy little bee. I've spent my summer thrifting, making things, and dealing with the odd anomaly. I had a case of furnace birds, for instance.

I came home from work a few weeks ago to find Stella and Grayson going to seizures on and around my dining room table. The source of all the excitement was a sparrow who had, somehow, made his way into my apartment and who was chilling out on my ceiling fan. I packed the cats away in a bedroom, turned all the lights off, turned the porch light on, opened the front door, and hit the deck. The bird was clearly stressed out and spent some time flying into walls and dive-bombing me before eventually flying out the front door (then flying back in, then leaving for good).

After giving the apartment a good scrub-down I went to bed, only to be awoken by scratching noises coming from my utility closet. 

Oh, no. 

In my half-awake haze I imagined it to be some sort of R.O.U.S. or similarly scary and fictional animal. It took a good amount of time to psych myself up enough to put my feet on the ground. As I got closer to the closet (in my snow boots) I heard a frenzied chirping. 

Way less scary, but still disconcerting.

Again, I packed the cats away, turned of the lights, opened the front door, and slowly opened the utility closet.

Nothing happened.

I waited.

Eventually the scratching resumed and a terrified and (probably) sweaty sparrow clawed its way out of my furnace vent. He eventually settled under my dining room table, where I let him collect himself before coaxing him out the front door. 

If you don't believe me, see for yourself:

I guess they were trying to make a nest in my furnace spout and fell in. 

Anyway, I haven't come home to any furnace birds in a while, and I promise to post more than once a month from now on.

On to the tutorial!!

More after the jump...

Just a few nice pics from Mother's day:

More after the jump...

Today is lazy. 
Here are a few things to look at whenever you wake up:

Wall sconce. 

I made those pillows. 

Best. Chandelier. Ever.

This is a chandelier in the shape of a ship. I am certain that this is the best chandelier known to man. A while ago I went bananas collecting chandelier crystals to use in necklaces and I have ziploc bags full of extras. I am considering trying to make a version of this myself. 

I figure I would need the following:

- chandelier crystals (check)

- 12 gauge galvanized steel wire (check)

- some sort of electrical tubing

- Rubber mallet for shaping tubing (check)

- soldering gun

- candelabra bulbs (check)

- hanging light kit

I am not usually a proponent of directly copying something like this, but I'd make an exception here because a) I am not intending to make several copies to sell for profit, b) this lamp was mass-produced, so by making this I am not refusing my support to an artist who needs it, and c) I am not about to drop $600 on a chandelier, however awesome it may be.

Stay tuned. I am pretty jazzed about this idea.

Your Sister in Craft,

LB

Sometimes I find things I know I like but have no apparent use for. I found a fancy bottle one day while thrifting and I decided I must have more fancy bottles. After accumulating a number of fancy bottles I realized I had no use for or place to put them so they sat on an end table for a while, getting in the way. Then Autumn struck and I decided I must have bubble bath.

Stella getting in the way of my fancy bubble bath bottles:

Bottles in my very yellow bathroom:

Have any of you ever taken something pointless and made it useful? 

Tell me about it or send me photos and I may just post them.

Your Sister in Craft,

LB

I moved out of a shoebox-sized apartment a few weeks ago. I got the keys to the new place on a Wednesday and my brother and a friend were set to come the following Saturday morning to move all the big stuff.

What LB should have done: Boxed up and moved all small items including, but not limited to, clothing, shoes, kitchenware, linens, end tables, bathroom stuff, art stuff, hanging frames, lamps, and books.

What LB did: Spent three days painting rooms, getting her studio squared away, and getting all clothing on wooden hangers.

I guess I didn't realize the miscellany one person could pack into a 400-some square foot space - I am sure Brian and Dan wish I had. Consider this my formal apology, guys. I guess I was just too excited to move to a place I could paint and arrange and otherwise decorate to focus on any rational packing schedule. 

Anyway, observe the breakfast area as it was when I moved in:

Pretty standard. A few weeks prior I had ordered a birch wall stencil from an awesome fellow Etsian, Cutting Edge Stencils (go visit her, here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/CuttingEdgeStencils). Here's a photo of it from her store: 

 

It took some time, but it was worth it. Here is Stella Artois hanging out in front of my freshly-birched wall:

Q: What hangs out in trees?

A: Birds, of course!

I've wanted an antique birdcage ever since I saw one that was turned into a light fixture, but they're popular right now and, consequently, overpriced. I looked around on Craigslist one day and found what is possibly the best find ever: an affordable antique birdcage in the shape of a painted lady. Here it is at my parents' house in the process of getting de-pooped:

 

Bonus:  It reminds me of the Holiday House from The Thief of Always:

Once that was all cleaned off and disinfected, we moved my kitchen table in and I had someplace to have breakfast!

I know I shouldn't let them on the table, but Dick Grayson is a *skoach* too chubby to to make it to the window ledge. 
I thrift pretty often and found a portfolio of bird prints at Goodwill. I framed and gridded some of them to go with the cage:

 Finally, a house that grand shouldn't be left unoccupied:

Al in all, I am pleased.

I welcome any of you who are itching to tell me about your redecorating to leave a link!

Your Sister in Craft,

LB