All the colors of the Rainbow?

I was looking through a paint fan deck the other day and got to thinking- Seriously, who names these colors? Are they really trying in envoke some sort of emotional connection between you and the paint color? Or are they just names pulled out of the air randomly strung together.
I got to thinking more about it and did a little research online. It turns out I'm not the only one who wonders about this. I found some posts on this topic on Yahoo! Answers, most of the responses were jokes along the lines of "the Paint Color Namers all get together for a party, drink, then throw out names to their boss. Whoever has the craziest wins."


Some Examples:

Scanda (Short for Scandelous?)

Comical Coral (or yes, this is a hilarious color)










Lime Rickey (not sure what to say...)






Nuthatch (What?)




 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Butterscotch
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Dutch Cocoa
 

Banana Cream (Ok now I'm getting hungry!)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Orange seems to have the best though:



Determined Orange
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Rhumba Orange (party!)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Outgoing Orange (As opposed to his brother Introvert Orange)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I did find one article that was somewhat helpful, though it doesn't give the true answer as to how paint colors get their names.
 
http://www.namedevelopment.com/blog/archives/2007/08/paint_color_nam.html
 
What's the craziest paint color you've come across? I'd love to hear it! Happy painting!

Vintage Chair Rescue

Don't you love it when a project works out, especially when you weren't sure it would? That is the case with my project this week. I was hoping it would turn out alright...

Well lucky for me it did!

It seems that in our neighborhood you are not officially part of the hood until you have a cute little chair on your porch. Everyone has one; metal ones, woods ones you name it. So imagine my delight when I saw this little guy sitting on the side of the road waiting for the garbage man.

You may remember me posting about it during welding month . It was bent out of shape and rusted out on the bottom. 

Well I gave bending back into shape myself another shot and I was actually successful this time! No help needed from the hubs! 

Success!!! Unfortunately though while I was bending, pulling, and shaping, the rusted leg broke.

I was only upset for a moment because I realized this could be an opportunity to use my welder! I hadn't used it since my  curtain rod project and was itching to pull it out again. 

I started by using the grinding bit on my Dremel to get any old paint and rust off the area I was going to weld.

Now this is a part of the project that I wasn't sure would work or not since the leg was rusted pretty badly. Still I thought it was worth a shot.

Getting all set up!

And what do you know; it worked! I was able to weld the two pieces back together again!!!!

I decided to keep it red since it would go well with the paint on our house.

Making some progress! I applied 2 coats, hopefully this will help it from rusting out again.

All done looking fabulous on the front porch!!

I even made a  pillow to go with it.

So once again:

Before; rusted out, bent out of shape, sitting in the garbage pile.

After; shiny and good as new vintage chic!

Read more at http://diyshowoff.com/2013/08/15/before-and-after-diy-contest/#DlHqDqOhFOFmE5zd.99

Upholstery Pillows

First off this week I wanted to thank Kim at seven thirty three blog for featuring me during Creativity Week. I was so excited and honored!


In my last post I mentioned that I wanted to recover some pillows that came with my couch; well we had company in town again this week so unfortunately I didn't get around to it. But one of my readers, MalPal, was telling me about some pillows that she had recovered with fabric from a chair she got from the thrift store. So I thought I would invite her to be my first guest poster!

Hello Rachelle, 

 I have a simple easy craft that anyone with a sewing machine can make.  My daughter found a chair cover at the Good Will a few years ago.  It was in her car trunk while she was at college for about a year, then ended up at the bottom of her closet.   She recently got married and moved out leaving her closet for me to clean out.  I picked it up and was going to re-donate it back to the Good Will but had second thoughts.   I wasn’t sure why she picked it up, why she liked it or even what she wanted to do with it.   As I looked at it I realized what a pretty fabric it was.  

The texture is really a nice weight and the flowers have a beautiful stitch.   So I decided to make pillows for her hand me down couch to try and spruce it up.   I was quite surprised that the fabric as ugly as it looked as a huge piece when cut down to pillow size was quite nice.

I lay the fabric out on the floor to see what size pillows I could make with it.  I found that I could make the pillows 16 ½ “ with the fabric on the front and back.   I cut the pillows then stay stitched all around so that they would not fray.   

Then I put right sides together and sewed a ½ “ seem all around (I was trying to make them as large as I could).   I left one side of the pillow with an opening about 4” wide.   Just enough of an opening for my hand to go in and out with the stuffing.   I used 100% Polyester Fiberfill I got from Wal Mart (you can also use shredded foam).  I pulled the fabric through the opening and ironed the seams flat.  

I stuffed the pillow using a little poly fill at a time.  It is easier to adjust it so that it doesn’t clump and become lumpy.   I really stuffed the pillow full so that when you start sitting or leaning on it the pillow will keep its shape.  I used pins to close the opening so I could sew it shut on the machine.   You can also stitch it closed by hand if you like.   Pillows are so easy to make and don’t take up much time.  I liked the pillows so much I am going to see if there is enough fabric left to make me some.   I will most likely have to back the pillow with a matching fabric since there is not much left.   This is another way to stretch your fabric.

Thanks Mal Pal    



Wow! Those turned out great! What a good idea to reuse old fabric. Anyone else score some GoodWill deals lately? I'd love to hear about great ideas from other readers as well!

Quick and Easy Way to Hang Pictures

I was hanging some pictures in Con-Man's room and thought it might be a good technique to share. I learned this back in the day when I worked at the furniture store. We changed up the displays often; so we needed a quick way to hang the pictures that went with the furniture.


Do you hate those picture frames that have the 2 hooks on each end for the nails? I do, I never have picture wire and if I didn't know about this way to hang pictures, mine would come out crooked every time. So, try this next time instead:

Lay the picture you are hanging face down. Take some masking tape or painters tape (anything that is not very tacky so it won't peel the paint off the wall) and lay it over the hooks where the nails will go. Then use a pen to mark where the hooks are.

Close up shot of pen mark. Make the mark at the very upper point of the hook. Most are a triangle shape, you will want your nail to go at the most upper point.

Next peel the tape off the picture frame and tape it on the wall at the height you want your picture to hang. Use a level to make sure it is straight. 

Now just hammer 2 nails in at the points you marked on the tape. After you are finished peel the tape off the wall. You are left with 2 nails in the perfect position on which to hang your picture.

See, quick and easy!

I've worked a lot of different design-type places throughout school and so forth; so I've picked up a lot of little tips like this. I'll post them periodlically as I think of them. Or if you have a question about something let me know! I'll answer it the best I can.

Don't forget that it's Creativity Week at Seven Thirty Three Blog! I'm being featured today!!!

Creativity Week!

Don't forget that it's Creativity Week at Seven Thirty Three Blog ! I'm being featured tomorrow!!!

End Table Redo

In our house we have a sunroom. It used to be just a place for me to fold laundry and watch TV. But since Con-Man was born, we have been using the sunroom for our guest room. Most of the furniture in there is a mix of leftovers that didn't fit else where in our house. Like these end tables I found on the curb:

(Sorry about the bad picture quality! I lost the charger for my new camera and have been using my old one...)

I like the style of the tables, kind of retro modern. But the finish on each is pretty bad, Cheap wood laminate. I never thought anyone would really see them but me, but we've been having a lot of company over lately and have some more coming this weekend. So I decided it's time for a little sprucing up. 

I thought a pattern on top of the tables would be a nice look. This technique didn't take me very long, just 2-3 hours for the whole project.

I really liked the pattern on this image I found on the internet. 

I enlarged it on Photoshop.

Then cut the shapes out with an Exacto Knife. This took me the longest. I knew choosing a complicated pattern would take more time but I liked it. (Ugh my camera is horrible!)

I did then a light sanding so the paint would adhere better.

Next I painted the tops of the tables with some leftover paint I had. 

I matched up the templates and taped them down to the table. For a really clean look contact paper would have worked better, but then I would have had to cut the shapes out twice since my printer won't print on contact paper. 

Then I went to work with the spray paint! I used Rustoleum Heirloom White.

I think they turned out pretty cute! Not bad for finding them on the street, all this project cost me was $4 for spray paint!

Here they are in the sunroom.

Next project has to be recovering those pillows that came with the couch. Can you see them in the corner of the pic? They're pretty blah.

Linking here

Giveaway Winner

Wow what a week this has been! Thank you to everyone who entered the Necklace Giveaway, and thank you to all the new followers. I've had a great time perusing all you wonderful blogs and meeting new blog friends.

Now the moment you've all been waiting for; the drawing for the winner of the Glass Tile Necklace. Remember that you had to become a follower and leave a comment, or if you were already a follwer to leave a comment to be entered.


So without further adieu the winner is


The Craft Barn!
The Craft Barn is a new follower and their blog has lots of cute unique handmade items to sell. Check it out.
http://www.thecraftbarn-ny.blogspot.com/





Congratulations! Please email me your address (found on my contact page) and I'll send it right away.


Thanks again everyone! I had such a good time doing the giveaway I may do another one in a month or so.


I also want to bring attention to the fact that it's Creativity Week Seven Thirty Three . She is featuring lots of different projects everyday. I'm being featured on Friday! So excited!!


And for my next project I'll be fixing up these little beauties I found on the curbside. Can you believe someone threw these away?

Birthday Follow Up

Success! I can bake. I made Connor's Birthday Cupcakes and people actually ate them. Hooray! Here are some of the highlights:

Yum! 

The Birthday Boy in his Birthday Shirt I made him.

He actually refused to eat his cake in front of everyone. He chose to eat it on the floor when he thought no one was looking.

Putting some of my other creations to work.

So that was the party in a nutshell. Now I'm trying to decide what my next project should be; I have a few on the list. A desk for Connor, paint some end tables I found on the curbside, or a sewing project. 

Anyone have a preference?

And don't forget about the giveaway end soon! Leave a comment to get your name entered into the drawing.