It was a quiet day at my house today. The 3 oldest kids were all at work, and my teenager left to stay with a friend, so it was just hubby and I at home.
I thought about going to the flea market, since I haven’t been there yet this year, but one look at the forecast convinced me that it wouldn’t be fun walking around during a downpour and thunderstorm.
So, since I don’t have any great finds to share with you, I thought I’d share how I spent my day instead.
I talked my husband into working on a new project with for me.
He was overjoyed (not).
When we remodeled our kitchen over 3 years ago, we did it on a mighty thin budget.
Supermodel thin.
The little money we did have to spend, we used installing new windows, so everything else I did needed to be either free or dirt cheap.
I wanted some kind of a shelf above the window, and the only piece of wood I had that was long enough came off the side of a super old door. I had used the rest of the door on other projects, and this piece was all that remained.
I patted myself on the back for using every last piece of that door.
But 3 years later, I’m really over the hinge holes in the side of the door shelf,
and I’m really, really, really over the dusty grime that can’t be cleaned off of the chippy paint on top of the shelf.
It sticks like a fly on a flytrap.
So, I took down the shelf and another salvaged wood piece that was behind it, and my hubby got busy cutting new trim to go around the window. I wanted really basic, farmhouse style window trim, and I’m sure he was glad I didn’t want something more elaborate and expensive.
It’s embarrassing how disgusting the wall has gotten behind the shelf, so I’ll be doing some wall repainting when I paint the trim.
I plan to install another shelf. I’m not sure what it will be,
I just know it won’t have chippy paint on it.
While he was working on that project, I stayed out of his way by working on another one.
I had some Ikea red stripe flour sack towels that I ordered online (here, (for those that don’t have an Ikea nearby)
They were very inexpensive, and have sort of a grain sack look, so I thought I’d try stenciling on them.
To keep the fabric from shifting while I stenciled, I used painter’s tape to hold the stencil on the towel, then I surrounded it with shipping tape, so I wouldn’t risk getting any paint on the rest of the towel.
Normally I use regular fabric paint from a craft store, but this time I decided to see how screen printing ink would work. It’s really thick, so it works great with stencils. It’s the consistency of body butter.
That’s a tip I’ve never shared about stenciling – thicker paint works better than thin paint.
It’s much less likely to bleed under the stencil, but you still need to have VERY little paint on your brush.
It worked great, and I love how it turned out. Wouldn’t this be cute wrapped around a fresh loaf of bread to give as a gift?
Milk & Cream Co. stencil available HERE.
And speaking of Ikea…
Two years ago, I went to Ikea for the first time when we went on a rafting trip in Minnesota.
I didn’t buy much, except an Frack extending mirror. I always feel like I’m swearing when I say that word!
Well, I brought it home, and set one of them on the small counter next to my bathroom sink, and there it’s sat ever since. I finally got around to hanging it today.
It took all of 45 seconds to screw it into the wall.
I feel like I could make all kinds of “frack” remarks about how easy it was, but I’ll resist the urge. 🙂
And last but not least, my teenager finished another Milk & Cream Co. bottle, so it’s available in my shop HERE.
That’s my day in a big nutshell!
How’s your weekend going?
Blessings,
You’ve had a great day. Between the heat and my allergies…I didn’t get much done, except on-line. Oh and my bedroom carpet cleaned. I guess that’s not bad for a sick day. lol
Hey, cleaning your carpets is nothing to sneeze at, Debbi! (pardon my allergies pun!)
Angie
I utterly adore that window shelf – although I totally get the need to tidy it up a bit.
I too am doing a kitchen reno on an invisible budget.
I’ll be taking some tips from you.
<3
Pia
I LOVE those tea towels! I just bought the exact ones you have and I have been contemplating what to do with them. And now I know! It’s ridiculously hot and humid here this weekend do I’m glad I have a project I can do in front of the air conditioner.
Thanks so much!
Angie, you must be camped out in my head! I bought 20 of these towels a few months ago to do the exact same thing with for a class!!!! How funny is that? I’m thrilled to see how well yours turned out
I love the stencil on the towels…and I have a lot of those towels already, too! Thanks for the inspiration!
Even though retired from the work world, I still feel guilty at the end of the day, if I can’t list at least a couple of accomplishments! I s’pose laundry doesn’t really count, but besides that, I styled the new shelf Hubs made for me, and I pushed mowed two small sections of the front lawn . . . with a long rest in between sessions! It’s helping me lose weight, although the only reason for the push mowing, is that our rider finally bit the dust. Oof!
Sounds like a rather idyllic day to me…I’m sure it felt good just to stay home and get a few things done that you had been wanting to do for a while, yes? And I am soooooooo in love with those tea-towels…I am soooooooo doing this!!! I had no idea that Amazon sold IKEA products until now…I wish the Canadian Amazon did, but I can always order from the U.S…that’s quite a deal for 5 tea-towels, so worth the duties and shipping I’d have to pay! Thank you soooooo very much for sharing this ultra-cute project with us! Oh, and I also think your new window frame is gorgeous so far!
I spent the entire weekend outside with the family and still trying to get rid of these darned weeds and unwanted grass…even if weeding for the gazillionth time was mighty frustrating, it was still good to be out in the sun with the people I love most, so I can’t complain! Hope your week starts off on a wonderful note, Angie! 🙂
Your project looks fun! Concerned how the paint stays on the towels without smearing etc. You can tell I don’t do much with fabric paint or screen printing ink.
Raylene, it’s the same type of ink used to print t-shirts, so I think it will be fine, but I still need to wash and dry mine to test it. I’ll update if there are any problems with it!
What is the brand of the screen printing ink? thank you! So CUTE! :o)