A Class-y Lady's Room Tour

Just before school started my friend, Faye, asked for my help with decorating her newly remodeled 5th grade classroom.

I could not have been more honored or excited!

These were NOT the first photos she sent to me.

These photos were after she had already done a significant amount of work un-packing boxes, organizing and putting things away.

The first photos looked more like this:

So let me give you a little background on my fabulous friend before we move along to the room tour.

I first met Faye 2 years ago at Meet the Teacher when my son was entering 5th grade.

No, I did not upload the wrong photos - this is actually her.
(Photos above courtesy of  Pixel and Grain photography.)

Faye with my son at 5th grade graduation. His bowtie unintentionally coordinated. 

Aside from her super model looks and incredible fashion sense (it's a family thing), Faye is also smart as a whip, funny, unbelievably kind and giving, always classy and so much fun to have wine and cheese with while talking decorating and projects.

Additionally, she's an avid DIYer and an award winning peach cobbler maker.

No joke, people.

But, most importantly, she loves Harry Potter.

Faye's newly DIYed lamp, painted with a Dumbledore quote.

The plan for her new room was to use the items she already had on hand and just sort of give them new life.
(You know I'm all about using what you have.)
And she certainly had LOTS of great decorative objects and teacher stuff from which to choose!

When I arrived,  one of her bulletin boards was already complete, which was great because then I had a starting point.
Faye also had a fantastic idea for another bulletin board that evolved into something sort of Kate Spade-esque.

Pretty much the only thing she lacked was sharp scissors.

The following day I brought my own scissors, along with a few 'donations' to add some final touches and her room was finished just in time for Meet The Teacher.

Welcome, everyone, to Mrs Middleton's 5th grade class!

Remember this???

Here's what it looks like now.

This harlequin adorned bulletin board was the room's starting point.

A sink will be installed in this area.

Fabric was added to the plain white wall above her desk to serve as a bulletin board.
Also, I just noticed she has an interrogation lamp.
Which is entirely necessary in 5th grade.

Peel-able and write-able labels.

How about this wall before???

And now...

The gold ribbon helped cover the rough edges of the cut paper and added a little sparkle.

Faye made that pouf in just a few minutes before I arrived so naturally I had to use it on this gallery wall.

A perfect reading corner.

Dry erase marker on glass in a frame backed with cute paper.

Faye painted the Superhero canvas herself - so cute!

I gave Faye this 'class-y' framed art because she is certainly classy but also loves a good (or bad) pun.

Paint chips in a jar???

Faye's brilliant idea for (free) bookmarks!

The early stages of this wall...

This ribbon garland that I had on hand was perfect here so I was happy to part with it!

Doesn't her Dumbledore lamp look great in this spot?

My 5th grade classroom certainly didn't look like this!

(classroom photos courtesy of Faye's and my cell phone cameras because we are professional like that!)

I love that her room is full of personal homey touches rather than a sea of cardboard cut outs and generic lamination.
It would be tough for me to pry myself out of that reading nook, though!

I'm so grateful to Faye for inviting me to come expend a little creative energy and trusting me with her 'second home.'

She is an absolute testament to her profession and I am fortunate to be able to call her my friend.

À la vie et à l'amour

-Cortney

Afghan Rescue

Contrary to what the post title suggests, this is not a post about rescuing people of Afghanistan.

Pair some rimmed glasses with that scarf and you've got a Hipster Afghan!

or about rescuing these dogs that are the perfect combination of a broom and a mop.

The afghans to which I refer are this type.

They remind me of hippies and grandmas.

And I have a very weird obsession with them right now.

(With the afghans, not the hippies and grandmas because that's weird even for me.)

I started rescuing them from Thrift Stores about 6 months ago.

I didn't consciously set out to find them, but when I happened across one I had this undeniable compulsion to buy it.

And then it was an unstoppable force.

 

 I think it all started when I stumbled across this Bohemian vintage style wedding photo from the 

100 Layer Cake website.

I'm still working on turning one of my daughters into a hippie so that one day I can plan a Bohemian wedding complete with a pile of afghans and a campfire.

The afghans I have found have been $5-$10 and in really excellent and non-smelly condition.

It's hard to comprehend how someone could spend hours and hours crocheting a beautiful blanket and then it ends up at a Thrift Store being sold for a fraction of its worth.

Not to mention the cost of the yarn.

If you're one of these afghan crocheting folks, please know that I appreciate you and your efforts and will cherish your pieces of useable art forever!

Here are some I have rescued/collected so far 

(please forgive the horrible photo quality - I have no excuse and really hope I was drunk at the time I took them because oh-my-gosh these are terrible.)

This green, navy and white one is my most recent find.

Each of the white circle-looking things (technical term) is a flower - so cute!

And it was only $5.

It reminds of a sweet little grandma which is why I threw it over a rocking chair at the lake house.

This one in shades of brown, tan, rose, pink and peach was also a Thrift Store find.

The color combo makes me oh-so-happy!

 

Again, I am using it at the lake house for now.

Not to be a broken record but I do have one more at the lake house that is the first one I actually purchased.

Again with the broken record thing - it was a thrift store find for $10.

I fell in love with it because it's so colorful and happy and rainbowy.

 

My final show and tell afghan is this one:

 

It's the only one I did not purchase and it's here at my house.

It is the most special and my husband's favorite.

That's because it was made by his grandma whom he was very close to.

He spent many summers with her and, one summer when he was a bit bored, she taught him how to crochet.

Anyone who has met my husband, who is a rather muscular beefcake kind of guy, may find the idea of him crocheting really funny.

I agree entirely.

But I appreciate the hell out of his work and craftsmanship!

He has an afghan project started that has been unfinished since before we were married almost 17 years ago.

It's one of those projects that is much easier to work on in the winter since it rests on your lap while you work.

But there always seems to be so much going on that crocheting an afghan doesn't really get put very high on the priority list.

But, I'm thinking I may have to encourage him to finish it.

Not only would he have the personal satisfaction of finishing a project but it would be a perfect Christmas gift for his wife!

 

À la vie et à l'amour

-Cortney

 

 

Art for the Inept: A Jackson Pollock Inspired DIY Project

I am by no means an expert or even marginally close to being generally knowledgeable or even basically knowledgeable on the subject of art.

I simply know what I like and what I don't like.

I like abstract art.

I like Jackson Pollock.

Convergence

Number 3

(Images above via Daily Art Fixx and 1st Art Club, respectively.)

I realize that some people view abstract expressionist art as nothing more than a bunch of paint splattered on a canvas that any kindergartener or complete moron could replicate.

That may be true.

But I think of it this way...

If I'm an artist needing to make money to feed my family I don't want to spend to much time having to think about what to paint and trying to color in the lines and being all precise.

I'm going to throw some paint on a canvas, give it a cool name like Number 3 

(Seriously? Is that the best he could come up with?) 

and sell that sucker as soon as possible so I can buy prepackaged snack cakes upon which to feast!

***I am certain Mr Pollock spent a significant amount of time and thought on each of his works

(which are not all action paintings like the ones above) 

and I mean no disrespect to him whatsoever.  

I truly do love his paintings.

But let's call a spade a spade and admit that spatter paint is a simple technique.

Which is why I chose it for my project.

When I found this key holder at a Thrift Store for $2.00 a few weeks ago, I bought it immediately.

It was perfect for a small wall in my laundry room that leads to the garage for holding keys and notes that need to go out the door with various family members.

After a couple of weeks I finally decided that I would spatter paint it to give it a little oomph!

I also really love finding pieces that have great stories behind them.

I discovered that this key holder belonged to Bob and Bob had a T-bird.

Isn't that a great story?

I peeled off and lightly sanded the previous owners labels and remaining residue with some medium grit sandpaper, unscrewed the small key hooks, then painted the entire thing with glossy black spray paint and let it dry completely.

I like this Valspar brand spray paint from Lowe's because it's primer and paint in one and I'm notoriously impatient and lazy with my projects.

Then I hijacked some acrylic paint in various colors and a 1 inch wide paint brush from my daughter's art studio.

I wet the brush slightly so that when I dipped it into the paint it would be slightly oozy.

Then I just flung the paint on to my key holder like a poop-flinging zoo monkey!

It was really fun and that probably explains why monkeys do it.

I let it dry completely, screwed the hooks back in and hung it in my laundry room.

Of course I want to repaint my laundry room now!

But while you wait to see how that turns out, here are some other cool spatter paint projects you can do in the meantime:

My spot pillow - tutorial here

via Holtwood Hipster

via iSuwannee

And if you're really brave...

via Lonny

If you have a spatter paint project you've done or plan to do, I would LOVE to see photos of it!

À la vie et à l'amour

-Cortney