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Fast & Fragant

12/23/2014

Rosemary Christmas Tree

Every year we try a new alternative Christmas tree idea. This year we ran out of time and our last minute decision was to use the herbal fragrance, simplicity, and convenient concept by bringing inside a rosemary plant.

This post will be just as simple with only two steps:

Clip the plant
Use a battery operated LED light string

If we place too many items on the branches we might damage the plant, and we want to be able to take it back outside where we use it as a natural bug repellent

M e r r y C h r i s t m a s

Something's Fishy

11/7/2014

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Floor Featuring Faux Fishpond

I am often asked about a floor painting from years ago. It was outside our studio, on the landing of cement steps, exposed to 3-digit hot temperatures, crazy rainy seasons, and heavy traffic. I will talk a little about it, but we need to keep in mind there are better methods and materials for having your creations last longer on different surfaces.

We let some very young students paint the floor just for fun. When the artwork began to fade we decided to keep painting over it. We changed the design constantly. When we painted some goldfish on it, nobody wanted for us to change it again. This is what we did:

1. Primed
2. Painted blue (outdoor house paint, latex-acrylic)
3. Added a coat of floor polyurethane (water-based, clear)
4. Painted orange & yellow fish (regular acrylic artist paint)
5. Sealed with 2 more coats of polyurethane (won't yellow)

photo @ my studio - open2art.com - by cmarieherrera

Many Years Later

The best angle to appreciate the illustrations was when looking from above as you crossed the landing. You had to see it, it really looked like water, and all those fish looking at you, no wonder the kids loved it. I liked it even more when the mural weathered and exposed more texture and interesting spots.

Post by Joe's Puppet Show/Storytime Thing.

As I've mentioned before, I've always been a maker and not so much a picture-taker so I'm glad we can share this fun floor decor thanks to the photos taken by Cristina & Joe.

photo @ my studio - open2art.com - by cmarieherrera

We have to talk later about what we did to the concrete stairs.

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Wood versus White

10/8/2014

Cabinet doors get a fresh look.

It is as simple as adding a coat of white paint and a black trim around the frame.

It would be so difficult to make the decision to alter the wood grain of these doors if we had not removed the cabinets from the kitchen. We stacked them together for better storage in a different area and the grouping turned out great.

before

after

We had so many ideas on how to decorate them in the new location but we decided on using classic, neutral colors for a more simple and cohesive look and it was a very noticeable change.

We are thinking about displaying the kids artwork on each panel just to take advantage of the space, the frames, and the joy of creative moments.

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Fast & Fragant

Rosemary Christmas Tree

M e r r y C h r i s t m a s

Something's Fishy

Floor Featuring Faux Fishpond

Wood versus White

Cabinet doors get a fresh look.

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Fast & Fragant

Rosemary Christmas Tree

M e r r y C h r i s t m a s

Something's Fishy

Floor Featuring Faux Fishpond

Wood versus White

Cabinet doors get a fresh look.

Thrifty-﻿T﻿alented Tutorials ﻿

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