T minus 8 hours-

Less than 8 hours until I am free.  Free! Well, for 2 weeks anyway.

Two weeks to unleash my craft bins that have been sitting quietly in the closet.

 

Two weeks to get paint splatters up, under and everywhere.

 

 

Two weeks to make a mess!

 

Then I have to clean it all up- so maybe I won't make a mess.

Trust me, there will be tons of laundry in the near future as well...and a mini trip to Pittsburgh. I've never been there so it should be fun.


I apologize if things are slow around here. I just downloaded Blogger to my Android.  Does anyone have any reviews on it?

I will update as much as I can, but in the meantime you can follow me on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram @the_sassy_penguin

Adios!

December the 25th- Hooray!

Anyone remember that song from Scrooge?
The 1970's version with Albert Finney?
No?
Didn't think so- not many people do. Oh, well you can see it here and have ear worm all day like me.

You're welcome! :)

Anyway, I have a Christmas in July event coming up and I figured I'd better get busy making some signs.

I came across a website to make your own subway art the other day and I'm in love.
It's called Wordle.  What are you waiting for? Head over and try it out!

Wait- not yet. Finish my post- leave me a comment on what you think of my sign and what kind of Christmas signs you'd like to see (or any sign for that matter) THEN you can go Wordle your heart out :)

It looked yellowed out thanks to the lovely lighting in my apartment, and the only post worthy pic of it was already instagramed last night. You can follow me @the_sassy_penguin

Till next time...

♫ Jingle bells....jingle bells....♫

Partying it up- Penguin style with these blogs:
Domestically Speaking - Power of Paint party
Sisters of the Wild West 
Lil' Luna  
House of Hepworths #106

Not gone and not forgotten!

Happy Tuesday all!

I realize my blog has been quite lonely lately. Wedding things and cleaning the house have taken over my life.  We also do not have internet at home at the moment.  We decided to cancel it to save money - and well....it kinda totally screwed my whole "I'm gonna start a blog" idea.

Quite a few things have gone on that I can't wait to blog about. I've had some great yard sale finds, Mr Fiance Penguin has had some great finds as well!

I've been making some signs still.  Here and there, sometimes.
Here is my most recent.

It's on my new mantel. :) So I guess you can say this is a sneak peek of the mantel decor. Well, it's only a sneak peak if I ever get around to posting about it.  Someone, make sure to remind me about this later.

I feel awful that I've neglected the blog but I have the first 2 weeks off of work in July. Hopefully I can get some painting done, try some new things and be able to post about them shortly thereafter.

I do tend to update my Facebook more than my blog lately so go ahead and give me "like"- stay up to date! 

So? What did I miss on my hiatus?

Linked with:
Sugar Bee Crafts

Instagram Friday!

I'm taking this idea from Nichelle over at Vintage Wanna Bee.  I hope she doesn't mind.  She has a fantastic blog so if you don't know who she is, head over and hang out! 

I love looking at her instagram weekly recaps!

I just downloaded instagram this week and I'm having so much fun with it already! (I know I know, I'm a bit behind in technology)

Follow me!  the_sassy_penguin 

Here is what I snapped this week.

Took a walk around the park after a sunshine rain.  It was beyond gorgeous and peaceful! I couldn't find a rainbow though. *sadface*

Some random photos here.  

Barns and buildings at the site I am getting married next year. So romantic!

Consumption sign from said park in photos above. What if I'm thirsty? Shucks.

Some drinks with friends...I don't even remember what it was, some fruity thingy from TGI Fridays.

Cuddle times with Fiance!

Thanks for sharing my week!

I have a busy Friday morning planned with my mom.  Going yard-sailing! Usually we hit up one if we pass them, or go to a flea market.  Not this Saturday.  We have planned out our route and have at least TEN on our list.  Woot! Hope to share some great finds on Monday!

Have a great weekend everyone!

*smooches*

Making use of leftovers

I hate to throw things out...like vinyl.
It's not cheap so I try to use as much of it as possible.

Remember my Monogrammed Door Mat from the other day?

When making this, I only needed to use it as a stencil.  I now have a perfectly good 'A' to use elsewhere!

I ran to my pile of picture frames and grabbed a cheap-o 8x10 plastic one.  I dry brushed some earthy tones on it- greens, browns, whites... then lightly sanded it.

Searched endlessly through my piles of scrapbook paper for the right design.

I debated on putting the 'A' on the glass or the paper, and ultimately the 'A' on the paper won.

Once the 'A' had a new home and the frame was assembled, it was missing something.

It needed to be etched!!

I've never etched anything in my life- even though I had a small beginner kit for months.
I was finally ready to give a try.

It was also my first time trying the collage section of picmonkey.  I kinda like it :)

What projects have you made with "leftovers"? I'd love to see them!

Monogrammed Door Mat

I've seen a few of these around here and there in blogland and decided I must do one.

If you haven't realized from my incessant posting about it, I'm getting married next June.  Eek.  Officially less than a year.  I've decided to get a head start on decorating with my new last name :)

Here is the one that sparked my interest into making my own:

Source

So awesome right?

And so I began.

What you need:

A rug.  -  My rug was probably one from the dollar store- if it wasn't it's pretty cheap.

I have two. One outside my apartment door, and one inside in front of my sliding glass door leading to my balcony. 

The balcony rug is the one I played with.

A Stencil of some sort-  I used my Silhouette SD to cut out my Monogram.  You can use vinyl or contact paper and an Xacto knife.  You do not need a cutting machine to make this.

Paint

Foam paint brush

That's it.

I took my vinyl letter and peeled away the letter and left the negative. 

Arrange your "Stencil" onto the rug.  I used transfer paper to ensure a smooth, well...transfer. haha.

Here comes the fun part.  I started out with a foam roller to apply my paint.  The roller soaked way more paint and was too wide of a surface area. I was wasting paint, covering the vinyl way more than I was the open space.

You may have to blot a few different coats in order to get the color saturation you want.

I think I blotted 3 times on this one.

Once you are done, peel back the vinyl.  I peel it while the paint was still wet.  I'm impatient like that.

 

You can see in this one that I slightly got some paint on the outside of the circle.  I just scratched it off with my nail.

I love it.  It adds so much to something so little.

Mr. Fiance Penguin loves it too.  He noticed it immediately when he got home.

Hmmm....

What else can I monogram?  

Do you love monograms as much as I do now?  What is your favorite monogrammed "thing"?

Partying with these cool blogs!
52 Mantels
House of Hepworths

Be vewy vewy quiet...

We're hunting mantels.

Fireplace mantels that is.

I, once again, blame pinterest for this insane disease.  I see something and I want it.
The plethora of gorgeous, mind blowing mantel decorations is never ending.

I even made a pinterest board just for mantels that you can see here.  So many options, right?

Take this Halloween mantel.  Um, Halloween is my favorite holiday.  Geez, I wish I had a mantel to decorate it like this.

 Source

Or how about this inviting Christmas mantel?  How warm and fuzzy does this make you feel?  Wow, I wish I had a mantel to decorate it like this.

Source

I am in love with this Junk Mantel from Funky Junk Interiors, one of my favorite blogs to follow.  I love junk!  Golly, I wish I had a mantel to decorate like this.

 Source

Here is where Craigslist comes in handy.

I have my settings on my Craigslist app to alert me whenever mantels are for sale.

Only problem is they are so expensive!
$950?  Not in my lifetime
$700?  Yeah right.
Not even $150 was in my budget - *headdesk*

Months went by and still I couldn't find anything.

This is gonna be harder than I thought.  That empty bare wall in my living room is just gonna have to wait...

Or so I thought.

Ain't she a beaut??

I found her on Craigslist... It has glowing logs, a metal crate for the logs AND the fireplace screen!  *SQUEAL*

To make the situation better.  It was Free.  You read right...F-R-E-E!

Oh, but she's heavy. The woman who owned her first lived on the second floor apartment. IN MY COMPLEX.  How funny is that?  I had to go literally down the road for it.

Doooown the stairs. Ouch.

*I* live on a second floor apartment.

Uuuuup the stairs. Ouch.

Sit back and admire.  YESSS!

Immediately, I started grabbing some knick knacks off my entertainment center.  I didn't care what I grabbed, I just wanted to decorate it.

Ok. Ok. It's not much, it looks downright pitiful compared to the ones I showcased earlier.
Guess I have some learning to do.

Geez, wow, golly- I have a mantel to decorate now!

What is your favorite way to decorate your mantels?