Bottle Cap Art

A few years ago, I saw this post on Chez Larsson, of Benita's craft corner, which includes framed collections of bottle caps organized by color. Here are a few more pictures on her Flickr Photo Stream. I have collected random bottle caps, not sure what I would do with them, until I saw these!

I continued collecting bottle caps over the years, until I had enough to use. I knew I probably had some frames to use, and as I cleaned the the garage this week, I found two that were perfect, and the right depth. I just wanted to paint them white. I used some left over paint, and transformed them.

Then I cut some mat board into two squares to fit the frames. They are a little larger, as they will attach to the back of the frame to create a shadox box effect. I laid out the caps and arranged them until I liked the way they look. Then I measured on the mat board where they would go, making dots to show where each cap would be, so they would line up and be spaced correctly.

To attach the caps, I used foam sticky pads from Hobby Lobby. They are about 1/4" thick, I stacked 3 to get the right depth, then attached the caps in the order I wanted.

After that, I just attached the mat board to the back of the frame, added a hanger, and installed them on the wall in my kitchen!! They turned out great!!!

Organization of Jewelry and Scarves

I have a small piece of wood with some decorative knobs that I made to hang necklaces in my closet. It seems I now have more necklaces than it will hold!! I thought of making an additional one, until I came across a photo online ( I would link, but can't find again), where someone used a utensil bar to sort jewelry and scarves.
Off I went to the garage, where I had one I purchased years before I bought my house, hoping to use it in my someday kitchen (only to find there was nowhere to mount it in my house!). I kept it, being the pack-rat that I am, knowing I would find some way to use it. Voila!

It was easy to hang, and works perfect for jewelry and scarves. I can add more hooks if needed (if I can find, I bought this one on clearance at The Home Depot, but I'm sure I can find something similar to use for hooks). Now I need to make more necklaces to fill it in...!!!

Garden Update

Wow!! I have remembered regular watering and feeding, and it shows!! Especially the container plants, they have turned into MONSTERS!! Beautiful!

No growth from the Peonies, thinking I must have done something wrong here. There should be at least some greenery coming up???

One of the dahlias didn't make it, not sure why, they are all in the same area, and have been nurtured the same. Of the 2 that are left, one is healthier than the other. Again, puzzled??

The gladiolus are looking good, great green shoots, I can't wait for flowers!! I might need to stake these if they get taller, but some are about at the height it describes on the package (Tiny Tot variety 20-24" height)

It is getting hotter, so they are requiring water every day (had been getting by with every other day). I think we have had less rain that usual so far, hopefully that it not a trend for the summer!!

April Photo A Day

Instagram is one of my favorite photo apps on iPhone. I came across the photoaday list when it appeared from another user on my newsfeed. There are many versions of photo a day/picture a day, but this one is by fatmumslim (visit her blog here)
I joined this project part way through the month, so it is not complete. Look for the whole month of May!

Here are the April prompts and my photos:

Day 12: stairs. attic
Day 13: something you found. ticket
Day 14: how you feel today. stylish
Day 15: sunset. sunset
Day 16: flower. lily
Day 17: something you don't like. working late
Day 18: hair. mine
Day 19: orange. table at restaurant
Day 20: something I drew. week in the life sketches
Day 21: bottle. housewarming gift for a friend
Day 22: the last thing you bought. skirt at Anthropologie
Day 23: vegetable. lunch
Day 24: something you are grateful for. spending time with a friend who now lives out of state
Day 25: looking down. stock build up order arrived
Day 26: black and white. sunset
Day 27: somewhere you went. lunch
Day 28: 1 PM. manager on duty, tracking credit participation
Day 29: circle. planter
Day 30: something that makes you sad. already depressed, this rain is NOT helping my mood!