For the Love of Creativity: Lost & Found Treasures

This post is a little late, but its been a fun day full of projects here at the house.

However, I can't talk about crafty friends without mentioning my friend and co-worker at TEAinTEXAS/Texas Tea & Travel. 

Brenda and I talk creative stuff all the time, share crafting ideas, and she spends a lot of time making stuff for the magazine and tea business. She had her sister also make a sell decorative wall hangings online and at crafts fairs. They have some of the cutest letters, hearts and crosses.

She is quite to collector of broken china, lonely buttons, ribbon scraps and more. I am amazed at how she can take simple little items and turn them into such beautiful creations. She is always showing photos of new projects that she is working one, but don't take my word for it, check out her website at D&B Designs. 

Until our next cup of tea ... 

History Has A Way of Repeating Itself ...

Have you even done a project and look at it later, thinking that you'd like to try it again? 

In 2009, I was working as a Family Representative for a military unit. When we hosted our annual Volunteer of the Year Ceremony, the commander wanted to give something unique to the so I decided to turn terra cotta pots into "baskets" for some of the items we had special ordered for the recipients. 

Earlier, I was looking through some of my old posts from my previous blog, looking for ideas for Valentine's presents for Lil Monkey's teachers and found this post. Here is what I did ...

Step 1: Chose the pieces you want. I used medium-sized terra cotta planters with saucers.

Step 2: Sand them to remove any ridges or rough spots, then wipe with a damp cloth to clean.

Step 3: Let them dry completely. Be sure to flip over so the interior drys as well. I let them dry for more than 24-hours.

Step 4: Paint them. I used 3 coats for the base, letting each dry at least and hour or two before adding the next one. Depending on the paint you can get creative and drag a dry-brush over the top coat while wet to get striping. 
Creative Tip: After drying, do secondary color. Try sponging a complementing over the top.

Step 5: After the pieces are completely dried, add accessories. I glued ribbon of the complementing color to the rim and then added ribbons.

It was a very easy project, but does take time for the drying. I'd recommend you add a clear coat once the paint dries for a shiny look and to protext from scratches. I did the pink one later in 2009 ... for me and used it to ho;d utensils on my kitchen counter before Army movers broke it in a move. I used an ordinary stamp to add the designs.  

Until our next cup of tea ...