One thing you should know about me is I love, I repeat LOVE roadside treasures. Which is just a pleasant way of saying I break for trash. My husband just knows if I come home with a smile on my face on trash day, that means there is something in the back of my car. My husband is just happy I don't drive a truck because honestly that is the only reason there isn't a mess of things in the barn. Anyways this project all started with a trip to the local box store. As any trash day morning when I am out and about, I keep an eye out for anything good out at the side of the road. I lived in an area with many old homes. As it just so happens one of those homes was replacing their windows. So as I pasted by I saw a treasure trove of old worn widows. I also noticed the garbage truck in my rearview mirror as well. Determine to beat them to the house, I immediately turn around in the neighbors drive and parked in front of the trash can. I proceed to fill my car with as many of the windows as I could as the garbage man drew ever nearer. I had to reconfigured them a few times, careful not to break any glass. I took about 8 windows in all. I said goodbye to the confused garbage man as I loaded the final window in, and drove away happy as a clam. My husband just shook his head as I unloaded my windows into the barn.
I knew immediately what I wanted to do with two of the widows. They had no paint on weathered wood. They were rustic but elegant. As much as I wanted to keep the glass in the windows, they were just too heavy. Having two children under six, I was just asking for broken glass everywhere if I keep them in. I removed the glass and clean them up. I hung them up in my dining room. As much I loved how they looked, I felt like they were missing something. I've always liked the coffee filter wreaths I've seen on pinterest. I decided that I would put one on each window. After reading quite a few blog posts on making a coffee filter wreaths, I went on making my own.
Rather than buying wreath forms, I just used two round cardboard cake boards. I always have them on hand because I consider making cakes one of my hobbies. I used a protractor to make a circle in the middle and cut it out using an x-acto knife for a clean cut. Then I placed it on top of the other cake board. Traced that circle and cut it out to be the same size.
I dyed the coffee filters by just dipping them in water with food coloring in them. I dried them in the oven at 250 and checked on them every 5 minutes, removing the dried ones from the oven until they were all dry. I found the easiest way to make rosettes by placing the coffee filter over my hand as I formed a circle and pushing it gently down with a capped marker. Then I would pinch the middle and twisted it to form the rosette.
Then I would hot glue the end to the cardboard. Its best to do the outside and inside of the wreath before you work on the middle. The closer you place the rosettes together, the fuller and tighter your wreath with be. I found it easier to apply the glue to the twisted tip of the rosette and attach it to wreath than put the glue on the wreath its self and attach the rosette.
Once I added as many rosettes as I needed to achieve the desired look and fullness I wanted, I glued ribbon to the back of the wreath and hung it on with a tack on the window.
With an added burlap bow, I'm really enjoying my rustic chic windows.. Now what to do with my other 6 windows :)
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I should probably come clean about the fact my house is a double wide. At first it was hard for me to say it and I rarely told people because of the stigma around it. But as I as I make my house my home, I've embraced it. It's actually starting to become fun telling people because it really surprises them. It is a newer model, 2007, and most people just think it a modular home because it is on a full basement. Honestly I wouldn't know either if I didn't own it. The one thing that does give it away although, is the strips on the wall. With every room I do they all come down. All of the corners are covered in strips as well and are unfinished drywall when I remove them. Giving the corners that added fancy bonus will give my home the shabby chic look I want.
I must have collected 40 (maybe more) or so paint samples in search for the right color. I ended up just falling in love with a soft pink color from Martha Stewart called Gloaming (http://www.homedepot.com/p/Glidden-DUO-8-oz-MSL170-Martha-Stewart-Living-Gloaming-Interior-Paint-Sample-GLD-MSL170/203448273). It was the perfect color, very soft and not too pink. Even my husband liked it (which says a lot). 
Now I had to decide whether to build one or paint it. I knew my husband wasn't going to like having a messy paper mache tree built in the basement. As much as I wanted the challenge, and I really did, I knew it wasn't going to happen. How would I even get it up the stairs. Would it ruin her carpet? So the next best thing was paint. But I didn't want a cartoony one. Some thing very pretty, simple and elegant.
First I drew out a rough sample on paper as a guide. Then I drew two trees free-hand on the wall in chalk. That way it would be easy to remove later unlike pencil. Plus it's very easy to erase anything you are unhappy with. Once I was pleased with the layout, I painted it in a white semi gloss. I paint it without painters tape because I wanted a softer more natural line. Plus I could change it if I preferred. After the first coat completely dried, I took a damp cloth and wiped away the chalk. That way I could see if it needed any touch ups. I only did 2 coats because I wanted to see the brush strokes to give it some texture so it wouldn't look like a big sticker. I painted from side to side rather than up and down to make it more natural and give it a rounded appearance. I'm very happy with the results. And as much as I wanted to build a tree, I'm glad I went with the paint. Its beautiful without over taking the room. 
For the hand I shape the hand and fingers out of one large ball of fondant. I did insert a toothpick into each of the fingers. For the foot I shaped it out of one ball of yellowish fondant. I use 2 dowel for support and left it to dry. She asked for Mickey and Minnie cupcakes with ears like she saw here http://spoonful.com/recipes/mickey-mouse-cupcakes. But I wanted them to look more realistic. 
With a new house comes a new room.. Since I never got to finish his old bedroom, I decided to stick with the Super hero theme. My son still hasn't out grown his love of all things Super heroes. As a matter of fact it seem to be the his favorite topic of discussion. I painted his walls in a darker seal gray. I figured it was the best color to go with the majority of reds, blacks, and blues throughout the room. I painted the trim a high gloss white. I recycled his comic action words I had made from his old room http://pitty-pat.blogspot.com/2014/03/super-hero-room-from-old-house.html as well as, the Spiderman spider for his window. I wanted something else for window. It seemed too bare. I cut out a city scape from poster board for the window but it looked too plain. I wanted it to seem like when he looked out the window he be right in the city. So I added another city scape out of foam board. I put a small strand of Christmas lights in between the two. At night it looks like the glow of city lights.....
