Paper Mache Step 4

I painted them with acrylic paint. The good thing about paper mache is that your painting does not have to be perfect. The texture makes it hard to be very precise. The next step will be to spray on a Polycrylic sealer. The final step will be to put on an antiquing glaze. The glaze disguises the flaws in the painting and gives it a vintage look. Then I'll add some ribbons with the glue gun. I know this seems like it is complex -with a lot of steps, but it is really simple. It takes time because each step must dry. Last year I did it with 52 5th graders - we did one step each Friday as a behavior incentive. They turned out cute! Each one was different - we did Bulldogs (the high school mascot) with red and black hats on. The kids decorated their Christmas tree in a dog theme and collected food for a dog rescue group as a service project!

Paper Mache Step 3

Here we are hanging out in the backyard. Today I sprayed them with Kilz primer. Now once again they have to dry! Tonight I will start to paint them.

Paper Mache - Step 2

Here are some of my ornaments drying out in the front yard. Notice the brown grass -due to lack of rain. I dipped Viva paper towels in wallpaper paste and covered each one in 3-4 layers of paper towel. Son#2 thought I was making snow cones when he saw them! After they dried I added more detail with mushed up paper towel soaked in the paste. It takes a while for them to dry-even when the temperature is in the 90's !

Paper Mache Projects

Step one: Use old light bulbs and tin foil to form the shapes. Can you see the vision yet? (hint- This is Halloween)

(hint: These are 4th of July!) Use your imagination! More to come.......

Big Pink

I consider grocery shopping to be one of my "jobs" in the household and I take it seriously! I make a game out of saving money with coupons and sales. Since it can be time consuming I have worked out a plan that works for me, saves time and lessens the stress of misplacing coupons. I would like to introduce you to "Big Pink" -my coupon system. It has many good qualities- a zipper to keep coupons from slipping out of place, many pockets, a cheerful color, and room to organize. Yes, my family does make fun of it......but, they like the snacks that I get for little $$$$.

It has many pages of photo organizers that make the coupons easy to find, labeled and arranged by the aisles in the grocery store.

Pockets for each store I use to keep ads , store specific coupons and lists I plan to buy that week.

Finally, there are more pockets for rebate information.

As I have become more organized I really spend less time working things out. Here are my steps each week:

1. Sunday -buy at least 2 newspapers, cut and organize coupons, plan purchases for CVS, Walgreens, Target, Kroger. Other stores I plan whenever I see the info.

2. Check coupon blogs twice a day, morning and before bed. Add deals to store lists and pull needed coupons.

3. Shop as many stores as I can on one trip. Combine shopping with any errands that I can to minimize gas usage.

4. I carry "Big Pink" in the car, but I only take it in for big grocery trips. I take out the pocket for the store, list and the coupons I have pulled for smaller trips.

5. Celebrate saving money when I get home!

Another benefit of "BigPink" is that I have eliminated the piles and piles of coupons I used to leave sitting around the house! To prove to myself that this is worth it I have kept good records for the month of June to compare money spent and money saved with coupons. I am planning to try to work out a new grocery budget after I see how well I did!

Taking the Plunge??

It's been really HOT in Alabama. Too hot to sit out on the front porch. I sure wish we had a pool! It seems like we have to start a new project before we finish the last one....and the new project is........A POOL IN THE BACKYARD! It seems like we have a million hoops to jump through to make it happen. So much red tape ....and rules....and permission to request... and type of fence allowed in the historic district....you get the idea. But, we have started the ball rolling. Luckily DH really wants this and he is willing to do the paper chasing!

Back on the parlor project - I have finished the valances and we are pleased. The fabric is deep red/burgundy silk like with a smocked texture.
This is not a good picture of the color, but I had to use a flash for the smocking to show. I have made long, pleated panels with this fabric for a customer and fell in love with it. It's not easy to sew on because the wrinkles are hard to cut and seam straight. Good thing the texture hides the mistakes!

Still another little project got started this week with these supplies. Can you guess? I'll show more in a few days. I haven't done much that is crafty lately so I got out the paper mache and I'm working on a Halloween project( got to give myself plenty of time) and a patriotic July 4th project (might not make that one in time! Believe it or not in 2 weeks I will be shifting into Christmas Mode. We start working on the Santas for the Victorian Porch Tour soon!

Finally -when I don't get to go junk shopping- I go couponing! Best deal last week -7 boxes of Mac and Cheese and 4 jars of peanuts for $1.36 and they gave me back $5 in register receipts to use on my next shopping trip! So when we are too poor to buy food I will be floating in the pool eating a bowl of Mac and Cheese with peanuts for dessert! And yes -the cat is on the kitchen table- she wanted to see what I was so excited about!

Wordless Wednesday