Make your own decorative letters

I had been wanting some stuff to put on the ledge created by my kitchen cabinets.  I came across a blog where the blogger had the word "EAT" sitting on top of hers and I thought it was really cute.  I tried to find the source, but since I originally saw this last Spring and didn't pin it or save it in my favorites, my search was fruitless.  Anyway, I really liked the idea of decorative letters over the cabinets rather than the typical baskets or platters, but I couldn't find them in any of our local stores.  One of the downfalls to living in the backwoods is limited shopping options.  Walmart had some wooden letters, but they were a childish font and not as large as I wanted.  Then I ran across this tutorial on Pinterest.  It was meant to make pinatas, but I figured I could make it work.  I gathered some old boxes and got started. 

Disclaimer:  Due to the length of time this project took, photos were taken at different times of day so the lighting and white balance are wonky.

I sketched out the letters on cardboard, using a ruler to make sure they were even and all the same size.  I cut out 2 of each, for front and back.  Then I cut strips for the sides.

I used packing tape to attach the strips to one side of the letter.

I  used the hot glue gun to attach the other side, then secure the taped side a bit better.

The corrugated cardboard left rough ugly edges, so I decided to paper mache the letters to smooth everything out.  Babe Jr helped, this was messy and took several coats, but it was fun.

If you look closely, you can see we used old math homework and study guides for the paper mache.  Who gets a newspaper anymore?  Once it was completely dry, I painted them black.

Here they are on top of my cabinet.  I obviously need more accessories up there and they hadn't been propped up well yet, but I'm happy with how they turned out.  I still haven't got this staged so that I'm satisfied, but I'm getting there.

New Lens!!

I finally got another lens for my camera.   A few months ago I did a maternity shoot for a friend and then the subsequent newborn photos.  My friends were really happy with them, so in exchange for doing more shoots for them, they are helping me acquire a bit of new equipment.  It works out great for everybody because they are getting pics they love and the benefit of the equipment, and I'm getting the equipment and have willing subjects to practice using it.  My first request was the 50mm 1.8. 

This was the first shot I snapped.  It's the side view mirror of my car.  I know, my car needs washed, sue me.  Its not the most interesting thing in the world, but I was waiting for Babe Jr to get out of cheer practice when I opened the package.  One of main reasons I wanted this lens is because it allows for a larger aperture which creates this great creamy blurred background.  I can take a portrait almost anywhere, as long as I'm far enough from anything in the background, and get this effect.

Here's another.  No, I don't smoke, but I did have a lighter in the console.  It's perched on my armrest here and you can't even make out all the bags piled in the passenger seat.  This lens also takes really crisp clear photos.  I can't wait to do some portraits and get some nice eyelash shots.

And here's a shot of my new apothecary jar I just bought from Homegoods.  I took this one once I got home and didn't even try to straighten the kitchen.  You can't really tell that there are power tools on the counter in the background.  Of course I'm in the middle of another project.  By the way, the runner and place mats are also from Homegoods - I love that place.  I picked up the moss rocks from Dollar Tree a few months back with no real plan for them, I just liked them and they were only 1.00 per bag.

The Middle School homecoming is tomorrow.  Babe Jr's first school dance is right after the game and its semi-formal so she's pumped.  Hopefully she'll cooperate for some photos.  She told me tonight she didn't want to spend money on the ones they take at school since I can just do it, so that's a good sign.  Fingers crossed that there's decent lighting somewhere because the dance doesn't start until 9:30.

Maybe after the dance things will slow down in the Backwoods household and I can get a project post done.  I have photos from a few I've already done but I'm not totally satisfied with them and I made a new wreath that my friend would like to have a copy, so I need do that document the process.  Yes, I just blatantly left you with a teaser so you'll check back, haha.  :)

A Touch of Sun

My entry for this week's photo challenge on iheartfaces.com.

Summer Recap

Since I was missing in action all summer, I bring you a quick recap.

My niece came to stay for a week. 

We had blackberries and raspberries growing everywhere.  The girls helped pick them.  I attempted a few times to make cobbler.

I went out a few times and got some nice nature shots.  Until I saw a huge rattlesnake, then I didn't go poking around in the weeds anymore.

This is the Drake.  My Dad calls him the luckiest dog in the world.

He was a stray my sister picked up on the side of the road.

Now she has gone away to college but he still sleeps on the porch and gets to run all over the property between their house and ours.  He also has their Jack Russel and my brother's coon dogs to hang out with.  The Terrible Terrier doesn't care much for him though.

Babe Jr. made the middle school cheer squad and went to camp, but I can't post pics of other peoples kids online, so you'll have to use your imagination there.

I've been helping a friend plan her wedding and bridal shower.  I'm sure I'll have a future post about both as the shower is in 2 weeks and the wedding is a month away.

And finally, another shot of the wild horses at the top of the mountain.

I'm back!!

I didn't give up on blogging, my computer just broke down. The trusty old laptop had been through a lot these past few years and finally choked out the near the beginning of summer. Since we had sunk all our savings into our new house and the setting up of said new house, I had to wait a while to allocate funds for replacement. Now I'm officially back up and running. Here's a few cool photos from this summer just so my come back post isn't totally boring.

This is Babe Jr with a sparkler.  I shot this using a long shutter speed and a tripod in case your wondering how I did it. It was a lot of fun taking these but you have to keep really tight patterns to make out the shape.  Only a few of them I took are obvious, its best to keep with something simple.

And here's a nice shot of Mr. Backwoods in his natural habitat.  This was taken the same day as my new header pic.  I'd begged him for a few weeks to get me back up to the top of the mountain in the evening so I could get some sunset pics.

And speaking of the new header, you may have noticed my little remodel.  I decided it would be more logical to have my blog title actually match the web address.  My posts have gravitated more towards projects I've done (which are often things I've made because I can't find them in stores in our super small town) or anecdotes about living in the backwoods, moving away from philosophical ramblings.  So the new title just made more sense all together.

I documented a few of my projects over the summer and still have tons of them in the works, so more crafty stuff will be coming soon.  And if you're reading this, thanks for not giving up on me.

Easy Improvised Roman Shade

As promised, here are the directions of how I made the shade in my kitchen.  I ran across this Centsational Girl Tutorial a few weeks ago and decided that was the look I wanted.  She does a much more professional job than me, using a black out lining and a real sewing machine.  I chose to wing it.

While trying to choose the fabric for this shade, I noticed there was only 3/4 yard of this mixer fabric left in stock, so I went on and ordered it.  I thought it was really cute, so even if I didn't make the curtain, I would find a use for it.  The first thing I did was lay it out and cut it the width I wanted it to be plus 3 inches.  Normally you would add 4, 2 inches for seam allowance on each side, but I was going to work with the selvage edge and only turn under once on that side.   Because it was a remnant, I didn't trim any length off other than to square up the cut.

Then I trimmed off the corners.  This makes them much neater when you fold the seams under becuase there is less fabric to bunch.

Then I broke out the iron.  Well, my Step-mom's iron.  I still haven't found mine through unpacking, but her's is much nicer.  When you press the little steam burst button, steam actually came out!  Mine works like a really dangerous super hot squirt gun.  Anyway, you iron it all flat, then fold over one side and iron a nice crease.  I started on the selvage edge since that one was the straightest.  Then I measured and cut the amount of seam tape I would need.

The cats are my ironing board cover, not fabric for an oddly themed feline room or anything.  It came that way.  Once I had the piece of seaming tape cut, I carefully placed it under the fold making sure it was completely covered.  This is important, if you iron directly over seaming tape it gunks up the iron and makes your Step-mom really mad, or ruins a dress shirt later unexpectedly.  I leaned this lesson with a shirt early on, so my Step-mom was happy when I returned her iron.  Anywho, its vital that you use the steam setting.  If the the seam tape doesn't get that moisture it won't adhere properly.  I once even improvised by placing a damp wash cloth between my iron and the project fabric when my steam setting wasn't working.  For the opposite non-selvage edge, I folded under and pressed, then folded under and pressed again before using the seaming tape so the raw edge would be turned under.  Once I started the top and bottom seams I made sure to be careful to line the corners up nicely while folding and pressing.  This is where the earlier trimming pays off.

Once all four corners are done, how you finish the top depends on how you are hanging the shade.  I already had a curtain rod in place, so I made a rod pocket.  I used the same process as making the seams, I just folded under about 2 more inches to make room for the rod and placed the seam tape right at the edge of that fold.  Often, the fabric is just stapled to a piece of wood then mounted above the window, so nothing additional is necessary.

Now I was ready to add the ribbon.  I didn't actually cut it until I had it completely attached, I just rolled along the spool as I ironed.

I measured 2 inches from the edge and stuck a few stick pins in right through to my ironing board to hold the ribbon in place.   I started on the top edge leaving an inch or 2 or ribbon hanging over so I could turn it under and attach nicely on the back.  I measured out 2 equal pieces of seam tape and had to sort of overlap them so they would stick out under the ribbon.  I had put pins on both sides of where the ribbon would sit, so that helped corral the seam tape into place.  Then I just ironed it on the same way I did the seams.  Once I got near the edge, I made sure to stop so that I would have a nice 2 inch border on the bottom as well, and carefully folded and pressed the ribbon into a nice corner and used a few small pieces of seam tape to stick it in place properly.  Then I used the same process across the bottom, carefully folded and pressed the other corner, and ran the ribbon right back up the other side to the top.  I should have taken more photos of this process, but I couldn't hold the iron, pins, ribbon, seam tape, and my camera.  Once I had the ribbon secured to the front, I trimmed it off the spool leaving and inch or so extra at the top, pressed both ends down, and attached them to the back of the shade.

Now its time to make your pleats.  This was pretty easy.  You could get really mathy and decide how many pleats you want then divide the total length by the size of the pleat plus and inch for the fold, but I just sort of laid it out and folded until it looked pretty good, then checked quickly with my little ruler to make sure they were roughly the same size between folds.  Then you press it all nicely.

Now comes the only bit of real sewing I did.  I hand stitched the edge where the folds are so that it would stay folded.  I hadn't planned to place anything in it to weight it down, but it wanted to hang kind of funny without it.  Centsational girl used narrow wooden dowels.  I didn't have any of those, but the finish guy from the mobile home company left lots of extra paneling trim in case we might need it.  Its so thin I was able to cut it with scissors or snap it in half easily, so it worked perfect.  There are 2 pieces laying right on the little pockets the folds make in the back.  Since I hadn't lined it, it still sagged a little in the middle, so I put one or 2 small stitches in the middle of the shade right above each piece of paneling trim.

Ta Daa!!  All done in about an hour without a sewing machine in sight.  Easy peasy.

Getting the house together

I've been busy this week with unpacking and catching up on laundry and dishes since everything was dirty from being in storage.  Here's a sneak peak of some of the fun things I've got done.

The living room.  The drapes are staying for now.  A few of my throw pillows have a bit of the coppery color in them, so it works until I can afford new ones.  Nothing I already owned looked better here.

This is the Terrible Terrier's preferred spot to bark at things outside.  The deer was a gift from Babe Jr. to Mr. Backwoods.  I contemplated spray painting him gloss white so he would be more modern, but he has round glass eyes rather than sculpted ones so I was afraid it would look like some creepy albino demon deer.  He'll probably find a less prominent location later on.

The wardrobe our friend was going to throw out.   Its sitting by the front door and currently used as a coat closet and place to corral shoes as they are shed upon entering.

It still needs a little work.  You can tell I haven't refinished the drawers.  I'll post the whole process once its complete.  I also don't normally decorate in a lodge/hunting theme.  Mr. Backwoods hasn't even actually been hunting in several years.  But, somehow the only set of antlers he has along with a ceramic deer both ended up in the same room.  Go figure.  I really do like the looks of them sitting on top of this piece of furniture though.  They will probably stay there since they are safe from harm (the Mr. is overprotective of them) and are in a spot where no one can get impaled on them.

And the kitchen window.

As you can see I went with the mixer fabric.  I took pics of the process of making this shade, I'll try to get that posted this week.  There's still a lot to do, I'll keep you updated throughout.