A Little Love in Your Life

Hello friends,

I hope you are all well. Thank you for stopping by today. I did this over a month ago, and thought I’d share it with you. Painted on board canvas with acrylic craft paints – a bit of a practice run.

May your day be filled with Love, peace, and pretty things, and…

Until next time, may happy days abound.

Marianne

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Buttons and Beads Fun

Hello Friends! Welcome to Leisure Lane today. I am so glad you came by to visit.  I’ve been creatively playing recently, as you know, with little projects here and there…painting and decorating mason jars, making jewelry and now I’ve been happily making some very sweet refrigerator magnets, which I promise to show in my next post.

For today, I’d like to share some of the earrings I’ve made. I’ve always had a ‘thing’ for buttons and it just seemed like a good time to do something creative and functional with them. And of course, who can’t resist a pretty beaded wearable?  I’ve sold a few, which made it even more fun and provided some more materials, and some I may keep for myself.

I worked with some wonderful summer colors.

Sand Dune Flower is so pretty when the sunlight hits it.

I think I’ll be wearing these for the Fall.

And these…

Okay, okay, I know…I promise to give some to friends, as well. That’s all for now. I’m off to make more magnets. Have a blessed day, my friends, and…

Until next time, may happy days abound!

Marianne

 

July – Independence Month

Well, I missed posting for July 4th, but since it’s still July – and I’m still celebrating – I thought I’d share my Independence Day decorated mason jar.

Hello, everyone, and thank you for strolling by Leisure Lane today. I hope you are all having a wonderful day full of life, liberty, and happiness. When I made this jar, I liked it so much, I decided to keep it for myself, as I don’t really have any 4th of July decor. I added some Dollar Tree floral delights (I really like the stars and stripes flowers ♥) and a flag for added patriotic flare.

I had prepped the jar with paint and crackle beforehand, then painted a branch with with some stars and stripes draped over it. I added a raffia bow around the top and filled it with a fun and patriotic arrangement.

That’s all for now. I’ve been making earrings the last couple of weeks, so I hope to show them soon. In the meantime, may the joy of God, where, after all, true Liberty begins,  fill your heart, and…

Until next time, may happy days abound!

Marianne

Country Hen’s New Look

Happy Tuesday, everyone! I hope you are all well.

Today, I’d like to share a sweet country hen thrift store find. It looks like an oil on panel painting and was in a very dark brown box-like frame. I became quite fond of the painting and felt it only needed a revised frame to brighten it up. So, I lovingly repainted and crackled it with a red. The original dark brown color underneath tones down the overcoat making it a wonderful country red and gives the original painting a whole new look.

I just love the way it looks so new, yet still retains that aged country charm.

Adding a couple of hooks on the bottom of the frame makes it more functional for hanging potholders, keys, a favorite teacup or two, etc.  The artist signed it “Kasper”. I did some internet research, but couldn’t find much. If anyone knows about this artist and his/her style, please let me know.  I originally re-purposed this to sell, but after it’s new look, I fell for it so much that if someone doesn’t claim it soon, I’ll just have to keep it 😉

Thank you for visiting today, and I hope you enjoyed this post. You can also follow me on Pinterest  Have a wonderful day, and…

Until next time, may happy days abound!

Marianne

Two Blah Items into One Pretty Piece

Good day everyone, and welcome to Leisure Lane. Grab your favorite cup o’ and relax as we stroll down another creative path.  About a month ago, I purchased a rather blah glass vase on sale at Tuesday Morning and glass dish at my local thrift store. The glass vase had wonderful potential with the swirling design, but it’s function needed a change. So, I primed it, painted it white, and distressed it.

I “blushed” the underside of the glass dish to bring out the design…light green on the leaves, pink for the flowers, and a light blue for the tiny center flowers. Then I attached the dish to the top of the vase. Now, it’s a perfect dish pedestal for any room and can hold jewelry, potpourri, fruit, cookies, finger sandwiches, or simply pretty on its own – you get the idea.

Well, that’s all for today. I hope you are all well, and you’re inspired to do something that brings some pretty into your life. And speaking of which…

A Little Something Extra

One of my LinkedIn Network friends, Kristen Marie Schmidt, has a mission to help others bring back pretty, and her book, 30 Ways To Bring Pretty Back, is her newest way of inspiring prettiness in everyone’s life. You can check it out on Amazon or check out her Bring Pretty Back website.

Until next time, may happy days abound!

Marianne

Paris in Summer Mason Jar

Welcome to Leisure Lane today. I’d like to thank everyone for stopping by, and your comments and “likes” are such an encouragement.

Today, I’d like to share a lovely Paris Mason Jar painted and crackled with a beautiful finish before decoupaging a Paris and floral theme. I added a sweet birdcage charm for some charm ;).

Side view

After priming the glass jar, I painted it a serene sea mist color.  After it dried, I added some crackle medium and painted it over with an ivory color.

Back view detail

I just love the weathered look. I don’t think I could have desired a more perfect finish. They all come out differently, which makes the process so much fun.

I hope you enjoyed this post and it inspired you in some way. May your day be blessed with good health and happiness. Look for more creations here soon, and don’t forget to follow me on Pinterest.

Until next time, may happy days abound!

Marianne

 

Pretty in Purple

Happy day, everyone and welcome to Leisure Lane.

My sister has loved purple since she was a child, and to this day her passion for the exquisite color is still going strong. For me, on the other hand, it was simply another pretty color. But, the older I get the more attracted I am to its subtle, yet bold invitation to succumb to its beauty – to allow it to adorn my soul with its strong, yet calm demeanor.  It’s truly a color one can lean on as the years progress – it compliments nearly every skin tone, perks up or quiets any room in the home (depending on the shade), and is just plain delightful in every way.  My mother loved its lavender shade, and it loved her, as well.

When I found the beautifully shaped silver butter tray (above) in my local thrift store, I knew it would make a perfect vanity or dresser tray. I painted it a lovely purple shade, adding its yellow companion as dots along the edges. Then I decoupaged a complimentary napkin along the bottom. Perfectly pretty, and hard to part with, but it sold in no time and now brightens the days of someone else, and that make me smile.

Do you like purple? If so, do you have a favorite shade, or are you like my sister and every shade of purple will make your day? I’d love to hear. Well, I hope you enjoyed your visit. I look forward to sharing more with you soon. May your day be filled with sunshine no matter the weather, and…

Until next time, may happy days abound!

Marianne

A Little Something Extra

As mentioned above, my sister has loved purple all of her life. So, a few birthdays ago, I decided to send her a birthday package of purple galore. If you’d like to see the post about it, click here.  ♥

Peachy Keen

Good day, everyone…welcome to Leisure Lane today. I hope you are all well and enjoying the summer. Oh, well, I guess it’s not technically summer, but it’s been in the high 90s here all month, so….

Today, I’d like to share a tealight candle holder that had for quite a while and wasn’t using. I spruced it up by crackling some white paint on it, then added a couple of peach roses . I had two, so I made a pair.

My apologies for the dim lighting, but it looked super sweet in the bathroom.

I added a battery tealight and turned out the lights…Oh, so nice.

It would also look pretty on an end table, kitchen table, countertop, etc…you get the idea.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the post today. I’ll be sharing more around Tuesday or Wednesday. Thank you for strolling by and visiting.

Until next time, may happy days abound!

Marianne

 

From Shabby to Chic

Hi, everyone…glad you could drop by today. I have a quick post to share. This jar came to me pre-painted – a very dark teal. Not very pretty, as it looked like it had been an experiment gone by the wayside. So, I decided to give it a coat of crackle, paint it a pretty ivory, decoupage some lovely flowers, and…

bits of cursive writing. Voila! A very pretty shabby chic style jar, perfect for a sweet bunch of flowers – real or faux – to brighten any room. This jar is no longer in my possession – it’s making someone very happy every day.

Thank you for strolling by the lane.  Be blessed today, and…

Until next time, may happy days abound!

Marianne ♥

Transforming a Cold Heart to a Warm Heart

Front

Hello Friends, and welcome to Leisure Lane! I hope you are all well and enjoying a lovely day.

A while back I found a very heavy gray metal heart at the local thrift store. It had a very dusty shear ribbon through the top hole for hanging.  I brought it home, and with a little paint, some decoupage, bits of odds and ends, and a lot of love, the plain cold metal heart was transformed into a warm and pretty one.  I painted and distressed a decorative key and added it with some ‘shabby’ ribbon. Then I replaced the shear ribbon hanger with a bit of jute cord, and it’s perfect for brightening up any room.

Back

Well, I hope you liked your visit here today. I’ll have more to share soon.  Thank you for strolling by; I always look forward to your visits.  So…

Until next time, may happy days abound!

Marianne