Book shelf with decoupaged maps

So this is the before...a $5 yard sale find with wall paper attached to each shelf.

 I used this handy little hand steamer to get the wallpaper off, really it worked so well!  It only took 5-10 minutes!!!

I painted it with an eggshell flat paint which I already had.

 

As you can see from the above two pics, I then distressed the shelf with a hand "mouse" sander.

 

 

I used state maps from a yard sale the type you get at AAA.  I measured the back of each shelf and cut each map portion to fit.

 

 

I then used decoupage and attached them to the back of each shelf by decoupaging the front and back of each map.  I then added multiple layers of decoupage to seal the project.

 

 

Final product...I love how it turned out!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I've been feeling extra crafty lately...after all it is Christmas & the first one in our new home!

We have decorated our home for Christmas in red for the past several years...our tree has always had red and white lights, and I'm naturally drawn to red decorations.

I had an empty frame on the wall by my entry way, so I decided to make it all Christmas-y using only what I had in the house.

Here is the previous color of this frame:

I had some old burlap laying around, so I cut a piece of cardboard and a piece of burlap.

Simple, right?  Luckily, my 13-year-old knits, so she had some red yarn. 

I loved that red yarn!   & "JOY" is one of my favorite words for the season, sooo...

 

I just whip-stitched it, took about 10 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Merry Christmas! Celebrating Jesus' birth here in Northern Ohio!