<p>Which would be no surprise if anyone saw behind my refrigerator ( or um inside it).:o
But I do like breaking out and being crafty ever once in a while.</p>
<p>My peak time, was probably when I was a very young mom * I did things like cover coffee cans with contact paper and stickers to make containers for legos- but I do still use furniture that I painted & I have some other pieces that I am planning to fix up- with some acrylic paint.</p>
<p>I kinda like the recession ( aside from the no money thing), cause now it is cool again to save money.</p>
<p>Aside from you people that have * floor looms and weave their own tapestries*- what are projects that normal klutzy people can do?</p>
<p>About 12 years ago- my mother moved out of her house & offered me our old upright Wegman piano ( which had come over from Italy around the turn of the last century, although it was made in NY)- it was a little worse for wear, so I decided to refinish it myself ( out of the mouths of babes)-
well it didn’t turn out horribly- if you don’t stop to think that I ruined its value as an antique, but at least I didn’t try and bleach out the tiger 1/4 sawn oak. While I was doing that, I decided to take advantage and use my dads darkroom as a work shop & painted several wood framed mirrors that I then donated to D school auction but to practice I did a few other pieces first.</p>
<p>I bought a plain pine treasure type box ( from Michaels? ) that I painted with jewel colored acrylic paints and decoupaged with Jane Ray cards- but my D2 appropriated it & has it in her college dorm!!!</p>
<p>( I also did the same thing to an old typing table that I think was my MILs, except I took a piece of Jane Ray wrapping paper and applied it to the top, used the acrylic paints to paint the legs and trim and to highlight features of the paper
( really * gorgeous* paper, Ray also illustrated my D2s favorite book growing up ,Magical Tales from Many Lands),
then I put about 3 thin coats of varathane over it.
[Jane</a> Ray Illustration](<a href=“http://www.janeray.com/]Jane”>http://www.janeray.com/)
She wanted that too- but I said no.</p>
<p>ok - I was BEYOND empty nest this summer - my dd was in the middle east so not much communication and dh was working long hours…</p>
<p>I bought a glass top tray at the goodwill, sanded down rattan edges and white paint, painted it cream and ragged it black and then sanded again …glued wine labels over all the tray part - I thought it adorable…offered to ds who said, um, no. dd said its adorable so its in her apt…</p>
<p>begged a wooden wine crate from the wine shop - tried staining to age it…not totalling successful but still cute - added an oversize wine jug (from TJ Maxx - $17.99 compared to Pottery Barn’s $250!!) and set them under a sofa table.</p>
<p>I do crafts all the time-- this summer I cut and polished gourds to make decorative bowls/containers. Embellished one with trinkets/found objects, trimmed another with frayed strips of colorful fabric, and kept the last one simple-- made a lidded bowl, with a handle created from a Chinese coin and a plastic bird that had once been a cupcake decoration.</p>
<p>Collage, mixed-media and simple print-making (monotypes) are good projects for people who don’t want to follow a lot of instructions. (that would be me).</p>
<p>Suzanne Simanaitis has a book called Kaleidoscope: Ideas and Projects to Spark Your Creativity. Her projects are fun to do with a group of friends.</p>
<p>Magazines like Cloth, Paper, Scissors are a good source of ideas-- and listings for classes and workshops.</p>
<p>Some years ago (before children, when I had some time), I bought an unfinished wooden storage trunk. It had three raised panels with arched tops on the front. I sanded and painted it off-white, several coats. I then stenciled a design, a stylized basket of tulips with a folk-art look, onto the raised panels. I used these great acrylic crayon things - you peeled off the outer layer to get to the paint - in blue, green, and rose, a little darker than pastel, for the design. Then I finished the whole thing in a couple of coats of clear finish. This was a gift for a young relative who loved it. It was so easy to do, even for talent-less me, and it came out beautifully.</p>
<p>*With my attention deficit and as a favor to my family, I have vowed not to start any crafty projects. *</p>
<p>Well I have ADD too- but D2 took half the stuff that was in her sisters basement bedroom to her college apartment- so now I have room! as long as it can be a project with a short time line- I can do it- but knitting an afghan, probably not.
( although my D1, who is a student teacher, and not only works long days, but has long staff meetings, found that her creative outlet of knitting is coming in very handy!)</p>
<p>I used to paint, but when the kids got too active with their extracurriculars, I gave up and started sewing. Now I get enjoyment from sewing various fabrics together (many times these don’t turn into anything), dyeing fabrics for garments, making custom garments designed by my daughter, etc. I’ve made quite a few things that were only worthy of the trash, but once in a while she actually wears what I make.</p>
<p>There was a queen size pine bed at our cabin with a head board and foot board. It drove me crazy to sleep (forget anything else!) on the bed because the slats and construction were just not that good so it always squeaked every time you moved.</p>
<p>So I took it apart- kept the headboard and attached it to a trusty Costco bed frame. Then took the foot board home and added 2 feet of a 4" square piece of stained wood to the bottom of it’s posts—and I was left with a NEW headboard for my Queen guestroom bed at home!!! So cute! And yes–good to have friends who have the right woodworking tools!</p>
<p>I currently have a set of old shutters waiting for inspiration----what to do , what to do? Wall art? Coffee table? Another headboard?? Ideas please!</p>
<p>I framed all the prints, pictures and diplomas. MUCH cheaper than having it done and we always had a wonderful framing section in the woodcraft shop on every installation.</p>
<p>My son and I just recently refinished a bureau that the previous owners had left. It was a “beautiful” shade of orange but it stained nicely to cherrywood color.</p>
<p>I LOVE to cross-stitch and embroider. I do bookmarks most, because they’re fast and all my friends love them. My mother taught me how when I was maybe 8 years old.</p>
<p>I find it very relaxing and my friends, like I said, are always astonished and beg me to teach them to do it too.</p>
<p>Someone mentioned Jane Ray - I love her illustrations but I haven’t made anything from them. </p>
<p>I have “Shoe a Day” calendars for the last three years (and I’m ordering a new one from Workman press). I have fantasies about cutting out the photos of the really great shoes, the ones that make me salivate, and making posters from them. Shoes of the 40’s, Shoes of the 50’s, etc. Maybe I’ll just wallpaper a room with all those shoes!</p>
<p>I used to cross-stitch alot and went through a period where I learned to weave baskets (yep, hence the name - don’t weave anymore but still like to collect baskets that I can use for storage purposes).</p>
<p>Otherwise, not really crafty. Have made some wreaths with dried flowers, can’t sew worth beans.</p>
<p>The one thing I’d like to try is mosaic tile pieces. In fact, in our garage is an old library table with a really bad top but decent legs that I bought for the purpose of SOMEDAY learning to mosaic and re-do the top that way. (love the mosaic broken tea cups, dishes type look too)</p>
<p>I’ve made jewelry- simple things using beads, wire, elastic and ribbon. Earrings are easy and fun.
You can start small and make the simple things, and then if you are inspired, buy one of the books that explains how to make the more elaborate pieces.</p>
<p>I took a workshop from the place I get my recycled glass tile and made an “art” mirror.
pretty fun and they also have the workshop open for you to use their tools to finish projects</p>
<p>( the art mirror was a mosaic- we started with large pieces and used ceramic & glass tile to make art on a backer board.
I want to make one for the garden too.</p>