Updated Calendar

Welcome to the final day of Theme Week: Totally 80s!  The grand finale, the pièce de résistance.
When I found this perpetual calendar for 99 cents I was thrilled!  I knew it had potential.

I also thought it was funny.  

Especially the "Call Mom & Dad" reminder.

And ducks?  Ugh.

For some reason I found the 

"Happy New Year" tile to be wildly depressing.
(It's the one in the middle.)

The ducks were easy to remove since they were screwed on.  That little heart wasn't going without a fight.  It had to be chipped off with a screwdriver and hammer.  But what to put in their place?  Luckily I have a nice assortment of frames.  I chose this one.

(also 99 cents)

I painted it white...and then black.

I used some scrapbooking paper (of course) and painted the calendar and the tiles black.  Then I used a typewriter font to write the numbers and words.  

  

 I attached the frame with thin velcro strips so the pictures 

or quotes can be changed out.

(I wrote the "flow" by hand.  I was going to use a script 

font but they all ended up looking to me

 like they said "flaw" or "flour"!)

Days of the week

I especially like my new holiday tiles.  They are kind of generic...

...but that means you can use them more, right?

A note on perfection:  This project didn't turn out "perfectly".  The older I get, the less perfection matters to me.  If I had insisted on all the numbers and words being glued on perfectly straight (it's bothering some of you, I know!), the project never would have gotten off the ground and I think it's a marked improvement over the original.

;) 

There's still time to link up to Vintage Suitcase Friday, my relatively new link party.  Please join me!

Today I'm linking up here:

  

 

Vintage Suitcase Friday! (and The Boot!)

Welcome to Vintage Suitcase Friday and Day 4 of Theme Week: Totally 80s!
Here's what I'm working with today:

It has a good shape but that 

peach ribbon and lace has to go!

I wanted a bluish green wash and luckily I had this paper on hand from Basic Grey (which must be the most ironic name ever).  

Should I have left it like this?

It looks pretty good!

It was hard to decide what kind of "trim" to put at the top.  One of my favorite things about this piece is that curvy line at the top of the boot and I didn't want it masked like it had been with the lace.  In the end I decided on some flower paper, cutting out the petals along the bottom to make a sort of lacy edge.

 

Then I needed some blue paint to match the paper but I wanted it to be somewhat transparent so you could still see the washed look of the paper.  The glitter paint I used on my frame yesterday was the perfect solution!  I mixed it with Mod Podge and piled it on.

Much better!

Click here for the grand finale of Theme Week:Totally 80s!

See how I transformed this!

(You're gonna love it!)

Link up here!

From Mauve to Mahvelous, Part 3: The Beauty

It's Theme Week: Totally 80s!

Here was my idea of vintage when I was a teen in the 80s:

Very "Gibson Girl"!

How romantic.

This wasn't mine but it could have been.

I originally just bought this because it was a cheap frame and didn't intend to keep the pretty girl.  But instead I decided to give this Beauty an update by painting her frame a mix of white and glittery blue.

  

Just a hint of sparkle

Here is what I'm working on now:

I got it for 99 cents!

Stay tuned to see what I'm doing with it.
It's finished!  Click here!

(Those ducks didn't stand a chance!)

Linked to

Mauve to Mahvelous, Part 2: Chunky Hearts!

Welcome to day two of Theme Week: Totally 80s!
Today's victim:

Chunk heart city

My son loves that the middle of the hearts makes a star.

My first thought was to paint it...black.  Which I did.  Then I was going to Mod Podge some crazy colorful scrapbooking papers to the hearts.  I have a lot of scrapbooking paper for just such a task.  But you know what I really wanted?  A bright yellow with a cloverleaf pattern.  I did not have that.  But I did have...

 some radiator grill with a cloverleaf pattern 

and crayons.

I ended up using crayon rubbings of items around my house.  Talk about budget-friendly!

After I did the rubbings, I cut out heart shapes and Mod Podged them on.  Here is the result, which I am quite pleased with!

The drama of black and color!

Love!

Linking to:

From Mauve to Mahvelous, Part 1

Welcome to Theme Week: Totally 80s!

Back in the 80s, mauve was the hot color and we apparently didn't pronounce it correctly.  (It rhymes with "rove"...and I still think it feels weird to say it the right way.)  Thrift stores are rife with things that are obviously from the 1980s and well, really tired-looking:  hearts, ducks, mauve, sad "country" blue, peach.  It's kind of a challenge to re-imagine and update them.  That's what this week is all about.  (Though, seriously, I think I might have to draw the line at ducks.  The challenge may be too great.  Are you up for it?  I may have an Update a Duck link party...)

Here is my first victim.

Would you like a rocking horse with that raffia?

Babygirl needs a make-under.

News flash!  I like to paint things black.  I could have painted her red but that would have required a purchase and I'm stash-busting, folks.  I roughed up the edges with sandpaper to make her "shabby chic" et puis voilà!

Doesn't she look mahvelous?

Tomorrow: Mauve to Mahvelous, Part 2: Chunky Hearts!

Linked to:

The Gypsy's Corner