I love this thread! So many talented people. So many ways creativity has grown.

My3Dogs- Stunning pillow!!!! I'll let the exclamation marks do the talking!

Newhomebuilder- Repurposing is one of the most creative achievements, I think. Not only did you solve a problem, but you did it by puzzling out the solution with an itme with a completely different use. And gold! Ahh! To have gold drapes. :O)

Ljwrar- Okay, I've been trying to figure it out. Does it spin all day? Is the shelf part of it? I once had a kitchen with a tinie lil' window and too many plants so I am interested in how you solved the problem.

Deborah, You still designed it and now have something completely unique! That rich red is SO yummy. The stenciling gives it so my personality.

Leafy, after the fun of learning to make yo-yos wore off, I had a healthy stack, but not enough for a full project. What a resourceful solution! I love unusual things framed.

Lynn, you settings are beautiful! I saved the picture of the Indian dinner because I can never figure out how to set a half table without it looking empty. Your solution is perfect!

lynninnewmexico, I had to show my George Washington-loving daughter your Presidents' Day table. That is fabulous.

LaurenK88, I wish you luck. I am definitely a small-timer when it comes to the yo-yos--it took me months just to get those done. I would like to make a similar framed arrangement for over my front door, or in my dining room, but I do wonder how many yo-yo pictures I can have without seeming crazy. One yo-yo picture per room? Does the hall count? Using the Pug Apartment as my guide of how much is just right and how much is too much, I think I can fit in about 20 more!

Lauren and Leafy - a quilting store nearby has the most beautiful yo yo quilt, They sewed the yo yos to a black quilt. They used bright colors like the ones you used Leafy which really stood out against the black background. It was stunning.

Thanks Paint Chips! Our table is 9 1/2 feet long, which can definitely make just three place settings look lonely and out of proportion. Placing the centerpieces down like I do makes our meals much more cozy and intimate.
Lynn

paint chips,

The garden does not spin all day, although that would be pretty cool. It is on a lazy susan mechanism. The unit consists of two 36" rounds of plywood. I painted the bottom round and mounted it on the cabinet in front of the stair railing and on shelf brackets attached to the back of the railing. The second round is concealed by the gray edging. This is the part that turns. The lazy susan mechanism is between the two rounds. I waterproofed the top round and edging to catch any water from dripping down the stairs. The stairs are enclosed, so I'm treating it like an indoor herb garden.

I came up with the lazy susan idea because I am short and can't reach the pots closest to the window. So, I just turn it and have what I want right in front.

The shelf is on fold down brackets. If I want to move the pots around or set down a bowl for cuttings, I just flip up the shelf. It needs to fold down because it blocks stair access when it is up.

Lisa

Ljwrar, Wow! That is some ingenius setup. Now that I read your description, the photo makes complete sense. I see how you can water and access now.

You know, your idea on a much smaller scale sounds like something that could be marketed. I can see late night commercials with little spinning herb gardens for kitchen windows, the announcer saying, "With the Herb-A-Round you can have 5 times as many herbs."

Seriously, that is a good idea. Rotating little plant pots is such a pain.

OK...I'm feeling seriously motivated after seeing all these creations, so have to comment!

Mustangs, I loved seeing your menu sign--fantastic job on that! Such an old world look to it.

My3dogs, your pillow is just beautiful! That trim you just had laying around sets it off perfectly. I never cease to be amazed by your posts.

Lynn, I love your white tablecloth and would love to know what kind of fabric that is and where you found it. Cute napkins and napkin rings, too! Such a tricky idea!

Deborah & Eclectic, love both of your stenciling projects! I've just got to try that sometime. I especially love fleur-di-lis anyway.

All right now, off to tackle my unfinished projects!

Last thing I made specifically for the house? Probably these WT. Yeeps, honestly, they look better in person!

I mounted DH's vintage shotguns on them and decorated them with some of his 'cowboy room' collectibles & horse tack.

I didn't make these WT, but I DID make the cornice boards and rigged up the drapes to hang inside them. Naturally, DH doesn't pull them to the side. They replaced the wretched vertical blinds.
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I've done LOTS of DIY stuff, in fact, I've just found all my photos of befores & afters. Crazy! I'm hoping to make a throw for my bed soon, out of some gorgeous bosporus fabric, and if I EVER get around to it, make a slip cover for my office chair. Also need to make the new WT for my dining area windows.

I made a wreath out of lima beans this weekend. It sounds ridiculous, but it came out well...and I don't like things that look crafty.

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This is my favorite thread in a long time :). Everyone's amazing.

I'll post pics when we're done...I finished the adhesive/grout studies so it's just about getting the courage up to actually start thinsetting the real pieces. DD said her hair was standing on end when I showed her two pieces held up in the spaces the tilesetter left for them :)

Jeannine, that lima bean wreath is neat! Years ago I made one for the winter holidays that was just holly leaves, pinned down so they were smoothly overlapping each other. I won the family centerpiece contest with it, but I paid the price with sore fingers from pressing in thousands of pins.

Leafy, you have me laughing, I never thought about a room:yo-yo ratio!

If I ever get the coverlet done, it will be the ONLY yo-yo project I ever do!

DawnP: That quilt sounds so beautiful on the black background!

Sujafr- I'm feeling pretty motivated now myself! Last night I pulled out a couple old projects that have me stumped.

Pesky, There is a small collection of antique firearms passed through the generations in my family. If they fall to me, I was clueless as to what to do with them. Now I see how they could help to make a nice masculine office for DH.

Jeannine, you have me thinking about things that could need glued lima beans. LOL They have such a beautiful texture, almost scale-like. Is that your own idea? So creative!

The last thing I made for the house were the porch curtains, and outdoor cushions. Painted a cabinet this weekend. DIY stuff like that.

I saw the lima bean wreath on a blog and it was based on another blog that had done something similar with acorns!

Best use of lima beans evaaaah!

I was thinking of copying you jeannine but then I remembered watching squirrels run off the entire beribboned Indian corn decoration from my front door. Probably still up in a tree somewhere.

Sujafr: thanks for the comps on my tablescapes. I made the tablecloth out of an old matelasse bedspread. I love reusing things like that and often make pillow covers, seat cushions, dog bed covers, etc. out of old comforters, sheets, blankets and quilts.
Lynn

Lynn--what a great idea! I'll have to try that because I love the beautiful texture that presents. Thanks much!

cooper--great curtains! I'm in the process of pillows for my DD's wicker set. I love the fabric--it's black and white scroll print and she spray painted her wicker black. It'll look great in her mainly white sunroom with nutmeg floor...at least if I ever get it done.

Love the lima bean wreath--so serene looking, but I can't imagine having the patience to do that.

We've had such pretty sunshine, my projects have been interrupted by planting flowers in my outdoor pots. ok, slinking off back to work. Thanks everyone for showing their great projects.

I don't know if this really counts as "making" something but I did just reupholster these benches.

Whitdobe, you did a beautiful job on those benches . . .very professional looking! When I first saw your moniker on another thread here, my first thought was 'white dobie'. Now, after seeing the gorgeous dobie statue on your table there, I couldn't help but think that you ARE a dobie parent! Love the statue; it's the nicest one I've never seen. I don't mean to hijack this thread, but here's my sweet furkid, Ronin. We adopted him last year from the Doberman Rescue of New Mexico and he is such a sweetheart. He just turned five. We're crazy about dobies and Ronin is our third.
Lynn
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Lynn, I love your idea of the table decor going across center! I hate to do it (no I don't I'm just being polite) but I'm going to copy you. We also have a 9' table and it's rather daunting to work with when you have four for dinner!!!

OK I haven't "made" anything since DS was born (I used to sew quilts...I would never attempt to hand quilt them LOL I prefer crazy quilts because they're not quilted....shows the lazy girl in me LOL). Anyhoo, this is my first ever crazy quilt...probably six years ago??? (DS is 4 1/2...I've made more since this one but don't have pics on this computer):

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This is a closer shot of the detail:
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It was made with a pattern which I now don't use. I also used a crazy technique with this one that does not involve overlapping seams (each seam is butted up to the other and then a net is placed over it which you can't see when finished...then the decorative stitching is sewn over the net to fix the two pieces together).

Since those gorgeous stenciled walls count...this is my current project:

I'm removing the wallpaper and the 50 year old carpet and painting the floor (since the original floor is missing and only subfloor is left) as well as repairing the plaster walls and ceiling as necessary, then priming and painting both walls and ceiling. I did the ceiling in an olive metallic gold to make the ceiling tins blend in more as a texture verses their original look (from 1960) standing out too much (who has a partial tin ceiling??? goofy). The next step in the room will be to remove the tin and the ceiling and redo it in real plaster then take out a door, thennnnnnnn finally, redo the floors and do bradbury papers on the ceiling and walls, but I can't afford that now so this is it :) I just couldn't live with the carpet any longer! (it smelled)

The wall color is jasper green and the trim is done in a deep burgundy (both colors on the wallpaper so we can live with them). The floor is a very very very dark olive...so dark it appears black (historic color) and the ceiling an olive metallic gold (old gold or some such silly name).

This was the way we purchased it:
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The ceiling and the insipid wallpaper were killing me, not to mention the smell of 40 to 50 year old sherry....

I should have proofread more thoroughly. I meant to say, "that's the nicest one (dobie statue) that I've EVER seen". Please insert one embarrassed face here.
Lynn ;^D

I designed, built and upholstered an ottoman for our living room (first time ever...whew).....here's the finished product.

I re-laminated our kitchen counters...again (does that count as making something?).

mrsmarv, as soon as I saw your photos, I thought...now we could be best friends. Those two projects look GREAT! Thats just the type of thing I love to do. Right up my alley!

I made these roman shades for my kitchen windows.

Lots of talented people here - can't wait to see the mosiacs. Ecletic, that is a wonderful stenciling job, I wouldn't paint over it. Of course Cliff and Joann practically built their whole house (at least everything in it!).

I haven't made anything yet, except a prototype porch cushion (yes, I'm getting on it, just posted asking about furniture arrangement so I know how many cushions/what furniture to make them for). But I'm in the process of finishing all the woodwork in the house. My cousin is the carpenter. Does that count?

Stair railing (still a work in progress)

Trimmed out vanity in the middle of my kitchen island

Added trim above and below the fridge cabinet (crown molding planned, I just haven't gotten it stained yet)

I designed the DR floor (wanted herringbone but installer wouldn't do it with prefinished flooring)

Oh, and my first project for the new house - the bathroom floor (DB and I laid this, it's the only tile in the house that's not coming loose). Not a good picture but you can barely see the tile in bottom left

Unfortunately, most of my projects involve finishing or fixing things in the new house, not making things to decorate it.

Besides the prototype cushion, I forgot the last thing before that I (we) made for the house was the stone walk. DH and my dad did the heavy lifting of the flagstones, but I did the design, a lot of the digging, and the filling in with peastone. That was October.

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I built the stone walls under the porch by myself last spring. Going to continue them around the front of the panting beds this year.

OK, Ajsmama, I guess you're not exactly idling away your time, are you! I'll wait as long as it takes to see the finished cushions - they'll be beautiful. First things first.

I'm amazed.

Sherry

I'm amazed at how talent and imaginitive the folks on here are! Designing floors, stonework, quilting....all kinds of stuff.

Lynninnewmexico, I don't want to sidetrack things either so I'll be quick. Your guy Ronin looks like a love! I have two Dobes, Whitney (and that's what my screen name comes from not white) and Mason.

Whitney is almost 15 now and Mason is 9 1/2. I usually post really "pretty pictures" of my kids but I think I'll share an oldie but funny one from when Mason was a pup and Whit was so tollerant of him.

Whitdobe: that is the cutest pic . . . I love it!!!!

I love seeing all these great projects. So many are very ambitious and huge (by my standards anyway).
EclecticMe's awesome stencilling job. Mrsmarv re-laminating her kitchen counters. AJsmama's total house project (wow!). But, Igloochic's major house reno makes my knees buckle just thinking about it! You're the first person I know, that isn't a professional painter, who has her own (major-looking) scaffold! I'm impressed!

Lynn - I was going to ask what material you used for the white tablecloth, I loved the texture.

Igloo - very ambitious indeed! But did you rent the scaffold LOL?

Sherry - gee, I have been kind of lazy all winter. I made a tiny pillow and painted a little pine table too this month, but Nov - March just did a little spackling, painting, Xmas decorating, oh and a tiny bit of outdoor painting (door jambs - most everything is vinyl). Now that the weather's getting nicer I've got planting (not panting!), painting (going to pull out top row of stone and paint pressure-treated behind it black), furniture finishing, and of course more trim finishing to do. Looks like 500sf of tile in mudroom/kitchen/foyer/powder room is going to have to come out so I won't be finishing baseboard, doors, or trim in those areas for a while, I'll have to wait til the dust settles (literally) to repaint the foyer, stairwell, upstairs hall, and then stain/install the trim in those areas and put the ceiling lights up in the foyer. Oh, we also have to finish the master bath this summer.

I made my kitchen over, dissembled, repaired, primed and painted all the cabinets, new hardware, hinges, etc. Built and installed a corner shelf on the end of the uppers, painted same as all. Refinished the table, bought new chairs and spruced up the bench and put up new window treatments. Still have to hang art, etc. After that not much time to make anything else right now. I called it my BST project......(Blood Sweat and tears!).

LOL Ajsmom, yes I rented it for a week...they never call and ask for it back, I'm going on week three now. Do you think I'm not the first person to take three times as long to finish a job? I'm buying my own for the parlor heh heh

I will say, I'm a scaffolding convert. Painting a ceiling on a tall ladder is for the birds!

Iggy, it might be less $$ to buy the scaffold LOL. How high are the ceilings? I did ceilings (8ft) in old house with the "paint stick" (like a big syringe pole you fill with paint, roller on end). I don't do ladders!

sistersunnie - where are the pictures? I get you - this whole house has been BST for me!

In the house they're between ten and twelve feet. Unfortunately since I fell off of a ladder and broke my wrist I am not able to paint with a long stick because I have only one fully working arm. It's a pain...I didn't realize how much I'd lost until I started working on this house...so many things that used to be easy for me are a challenge :( It sucks...so I make up for my bum arm with a cool set of scaffolding LOL

I don't think the dining room could have been done without being close to the ceiling because I have to paint around the medallion and then paint the tin which is a ROYAL PAIN!!! It's only possible to paint it with a combination of a brush and a roller (because the metallic paint needs a special roller). I will never paint a tin ceiling again (which is probably just fancy talk given I have two more of them so i'll probably have to LOL)

today I'm working on the other half of the room...I did one entire half then moved to the other because the furniture is too big to get out of the room easily heh heh What a pain!!!

I made this piece of art to hang on my wall. It is made from paint mixed with sand and the middle circle is lava rock. I love it!

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I can see igloo on her back on the scaffold, painting her ceiling like Michelangelo!

LOL that will eventually happen :) I"m going to restore the ceiling medallions some day...I wonder if they make a pillow for scaffolding...LOL

I made a little mosaic concrete table for the outdoors. It took forever to make because I am not good at cutting glass. It was much nicer when I made it four years ago. (It is not supposed to be wintered outside.)

Fun post!

That table looks pretty darn good to me! Love the frog :)

I finally got this thread to load and it has left me absolutely floored! Everyone is SO talented!

MrsMarv and Whitdobe, I'm thinking about making a couple of ottoman. Dealing with the bunching of fabric at the corners scares me a little so two might be getting some questions! Great projects!

Cloe, love the shades. They turned out really well.

AJ's, talk about whipping out the projects! I really need to get after things and cross stuff off my list. Your pictures are very inspiring.

Iggy- that photo of the three bolts against the wall is beautiful. Your house looks wonderful even empty.

Aktillery, I would hang that in my house in an instant! Do you do all of your art?
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LOL, I just noticed. Is this happening on everyone else's monitor? Above each post, the title of the thread isn't quite how I intended! :OD

Great projects!! I don't sew, so I especially like the lovely quilts and curtains.

Love the dog picture!! LOL

Here's a shelf hubby and I made from an old pediment that I found on Craigslist (it is about 4 ft. long), we flipped it upside down and then topped it with a pine board. Finished with a couple coats of black paint. I like the easy projects. :-)

LOL Lydia...that pediment is a twin to the top of one of our victorian beds upstairs :) I was looking for a pic of it on a bed and can't find one. It cracked me up :) I like it upside down heh heh

Wow! Thanks Igloochic! I thought it had maybe came off a dresser... now I know. :-)

I LOVE how creative and talented EVERYONE is here! This has been an amazing thread to follow. Such beautiful work.

Here are two other DIY projects. A headboard out of an old door...

No he is not naked. He is wearing shorts! ; )
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Headboard in its place
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and a vanity out of this sideboard.

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aktillery--Oh my goodness...I have an old sideboard that is very similar...but I'm using it as a hall table in my front hall.

LOVE the old door turned into a headboard.

Lydia it has a matching dresser as well :) and umm a head and foot board, so really, it could have come from any of the three pieces :) But it is basically the same thing. I love it the way you've changed it. I like it when you see someone figure out another use for something unused (since yours obviously lost it's original use somehow). I could easily see doing something similar to that someday if I find a piece as cool!

Thanks MJ! I am always impressed with people who can make quilts! Yours is fab. I bet it was super hard to part with.

Amy