Goodbye Plain Wooden Sign, Hello Kitty!

Ah, the best laid plans of crafts and crafters sometimes go astray. That's what I was thinking this week, as I worked hard to complete the gift for my friend's baby shower to be held this very day-- only to discover that a sly, head-cold plague had other plans for me.

So I've been soldiering through it ,anyway. Though I imagine soldiers whine a lot less and also aren't so sloshy with hot tea.

And you may note also that I am here with you all today and not there, at the shower. The gift-giving will have to be held off for a day, until I see my friend at work...

I'd rather not contaminate the festivities. I also sound slightly like Harvey Fierstein today... not exactly the kind of impression a gal wants to make.

But on to the good stuff! The Hello Kitty room door project has gone, I think, not too badly. To recap, we'd started with a plain pine board from Pat Catans, and a load of craft paint...


Then I sketched out the design I wanted based on the pattern in the nursery room bedding...


It's a little light, so it might be easier to see here... Hello Kitty sporting a bee costume. That kitty gets up to all sorts of stuff these days...


Then I did the drawing in a woodburning pen, just to give it some definition...


Next came the painting-- also in the colors of the nursery room bedding...


I started with a soft lavender background, then worked in the spring green for the lettering.

Kitty got filled in with her stripey bee costume, and the butterflies got some color, too...


To tidy it up, I used a black permanent marker, to follow along the woodburning lines.


Then I touched up the rest of the paint, and added a little definition to the grass, and sprayed on a clear topcoat!...


Hopefully, my friend will be pleased with it. I guess I'll see for sure soon!

• If you missed last Wednesday's post with links to some of my fave posts from my humor blog, click here.

Otherwise, I hope you are all doing well, and are enjoying Daylight Savings Time so far.

Goodbye Plain Wooden Sign, Hello Kitty!

Ah, the best laid plans of crafts and crafters sometimes go astray. That's what I was thinking this week, as I worked hard to complete the gift for my friend's baby shower to be held this very day-- only to discover that a sly, head-cold plague had other plans for me.

So I've been soldiering through it ,anyway. Though I imagine soldiers whine a lot less and also aren't so sloshy with hot tea.

And you may note also that I am here with you all today and not there, at the shower. The gift-giving will have to be held off for a day, until I see my friend at work...

I'd rather not contaminate the festivities. I also sound slightly like Harvey Fierstein today... not exactly the kind of impression a gal wants to make.

But on to the good stuff! The Hello Kitty room door project has gone, I think, not too badly. To recap, we'd started with a plain pine board from Pat Catans, and a load of craft paint...


Then I sketched out the design I wanted based on the pattern in the nursery room bedding...


It's a little light, so it might be easier to see here... Hello Kitty sporting a bee costume. That kitty gets up to all sorts of stuff these days...


Then I did the drawing in a woodburning pen, just to give it some definition...


Next came the painting-- also in the colors of the nursery room bedding...


I started with a soft lavender background, then worked in the spring green for the lettering.

Kitty got filled in with her stripey bee costume, and the butterflies got some color, too...


To tidy it up, I used a black permanent marker, to follow along the woodburning lines.


Then I touched up the rest of the paint, and added a little definition to the grass, and sprayed on a clear topcoat!...


Hopefully, my friend will be pleased with it. I guess I'll see for sure soon!

• If you missed last Wednesday's post with links to some of my fave posts from my humor blog, click here.

Otherwise, I hope you are all doing well, and are enjoying Daylight Savings Time so far.

Crafty Projects for Now and Later

On the threshold of spring, but with Old Man Winter still tugging at our hands, I'm finding myself looking back, and ahead at the same time, with decorating projects.

For instance, Pat Catan's craft store yesterday yielded Valentine's items for a crazy 75% off. Meaning everything there was basically $1...


I snapped up sparkling hearts to plop into center piece bowls, shining ribbons to bedeck the halls, a string of red lights to trim the mantle, and some pre-made bows because I am personally bow-forming-deficient...


It was one of those moments where I went in basketless and realized my arms were so unexpectedly brimming with goodies, I probably needed to fetch one.

But then I needed to focus on a new craft project, for the more immediate time... And I'm going to let you all in on the secret!

My friend Kitty is about to have her first child-- a girl to be named Chloe. And so I thought it would be nice to do a little something for Chloe's nursery. I know what bedding theme Kitty has chosen, so I'm going to follow that, and woodburn and paint a sign for the door reading, "Chloe's Room."

Here are some of the supplies for that...


And this is the bedding Kitty had chosen...

(Yes, you probably guessed, the reason my friend has been dubbed "Kitty" for this purpose of this blog is because of an unusual Hello Kitty fixation.)

Hello Kitty, in the pattern, seems most often dressed as a bumblebee, so I'm hoping to follow that for the sign...



I did a similar thing for an online friend in a cottage gift swap, creating a sign for her door using a Wizard of Oz theme. You can see that here.

So wish me luck with this new project. I hope to be able to show it to you, complete, next weekend.

And that's really all I have for you today. I'd better get workin'!!

• If you missed last Sunday's post, on how some thrift stores have stopped selling toys to comply with new governmental lead testing regulations, click here.

Otherwise, I hope you have a chance to do the sort of projects you love-- or the pleasure and peace of doing nothing at all.

Crafty Projects for Now and Later

On the threshold of spring, but with Old Man Winter still tugging at our hands, I'm finding myself looking back, and ahead at the same time, with decorating projects.

For instance, Pat Catan's craft store yesterday yielded Valentine's items for a crazy 75% off. Meaning everything there was basically $1...


I snapped up sparkling hearts to plop into center piece bowls, shining ribbons to bedeck the halls, a string of red lights to trim the mantle, and some pre-made bows because I am personally bow-forming-deficient...


It was one of those moments where I went in basketless and realized my arms were so unexpectedly brimming with goodies, I probably needed to fetch one.

But then I needed to focus on a new craft project, for the more immediate time... And I'm going to let you all in on the secret!

My friend Kitty is about to have her first child-- a girl to be named Chloe. And so I thought it would be nice to do a little something for Chloe's nursery. I know what bedding theme Kitty has chosen, so I'm going to follow that, and woodburn and paint a sign for the door reading, "Chloe's Room."

Here are some of the supplies for that...


And this is the bedding Kitty had chosen...

(Yes, you probably guessed, the reason my friend has been dubbed "Kitty" for this purpose of this blog is because of an unusual Hello Kitty fixation.)

Hello Kitty, in the pattern, seems most often dressed as a bumblebee, so I'm hoping to follow that for the sign...



I did a similar thing for an online friend in a cottage gift swap, creating a sign for her door using a Wizard of Oz theme. You can see that here.

So wish me luck with this new project. I hope to be able to show it to you, complete, next weekend.

And that's really all I have for you today. I'd better get workin'!!

• If you missed last Sunday's post, on how some thrift stores have stopped selling toys to comply with new governmental lead testing regulations, click here.

Otherwise, I hope you have a chance to do the sort of projects you love-- or the pleasure and peace of doing nothing at all.