tutorial - hand painted windows!

I have a little Etsy store called Edith Kelly Kate.

I used to sell vintage windows with hand-painted graphics on them.

But, that got to be a little hard/time-consuming.  I loved doing it, but the shipping was a monster.  The boxes we had to use were HUGE.  And these were windows, with GLASS shipping all over the U.S.  I have shipped to Georgia, a lot to Louisiana, the state of Washington and even... CHINA!  I couldn't believe it, and it got there without breaking!  But that was the hard part.  In order for these old 100 yr old windows not to break during the treacherous process of  shipping I had to practically create a mini UPS store in our house/garage.  I had bulk stock of packing peanuts, styrofoam stiffener blocks, and bubble wrap.  My husband David was SO helpful every Sunday at 10pm helping me get these things ready for a trip to UPS/FedEx the next morning.  But it got old, and there were more important things in my life.

So, I took all my window listings off of my Etsy store, and instead created new items that were more along the lines of what I really love to do.  Graphic design with text/typography.

However, I still receive SO many requests for the windows, that its overwhelming and I feel HORRIBLE that I don't make them anymore.  But they are SO easy to do.  So I created a tutorial on how to make them.  It gets a little wordy... (as my dear friends know I can do well) but I just want to make sure it makes sense!

So, click the link below and share for anyone looking for a great, DIY project and personal piece of art!

CLICK HERE

necessities, kitty door.

David and I have cats.  I grew up with cats, so did David.  When we first moved in together, this was one of the first things we did.  We half-rescued two little calicos.  We got them at 4 weeks old, which looking back was a bad thing.  But the owner of the momma cat said it would be fine.  So, we nursed them with a bottle for the first few days.  Reba ate the nipple off of one of the bottles, I thought she would die that night because it was going to get lodged in her intestine, etc. This is what they looked like when they were babies. 

first day home.

first day home.  babies.

reba

dolly

Sorry, just had to share.  You're welcome.

The downside to cats is the wonderful thing called the litter box.  Moving into the new house has allowed us to create some really great, custom spaces for how our specific life works.  To deal with this detail, we made a kitty door.

one an only picture I'll show of the litter box.  Our current set up.  Not ideal.

the solution.

location.  This wall adjoins the utility room with the garage.  The idea is that we can eventually put the box and the foo out there... and they can come and go as they please so its not in my business.

husband cutting the drywall.

cutting the insulation

water pipes. problem.

done. (david eventually move the door down the ground level, to avoid the pipes
and to make it easier for them to get in and out.

For the past two weeks we've had the magnetic flap doors taped open.  They know its there, they can see the connection of the next space and they use it.  Yesterday I took the tape down and they don't get it anymore.  It will take some training.  But we'll get there.  Until then.  Utility room is still cat room.

the Birthday Tree gallery of frames.

This project has been about 3 years in the making.  It goes something like this.

When I bought my first house in February of 2009, David and I had just started dating, but we were super smitten with each other and he was so excited to help me remodel our first beautiful space together.  That summer for my birthday instead of the awkward first-dating-gift, David did something completely different, something completely David, and something completely me.  He bought me a tree to put in the front yard of my very first house.  A pretty big tree.  A Chinquapin Oak to be exact.

{Pretty big tree}

Jim and Jess are both standing in the hole they dug as they place it in.

{Birthday tree on the left.  Huge hackberry in the center of the house that will sadly eventually need to be cut down.  So, us planting the birthday tree was a move in the direction to help the house in the long run.)

So for the past 3 years of living in that house, I was thinking about this project.  I knew we would eventually move, and we wouldn't have that special gift anymore to look at every day.  I know its a tree and all, but its the Birthday tree!  It was special to us then, and still is. So, I nabbed a leaf off of the tree every month, to document its growth through the year.  I saved/pressed them and stashed them away until the perfect time.  And now is the perfect time.  

I bought the frames (12) last winter at Joanne's for super cheap at one of their huge 60% off sales.  I've kept them safe through the move and finally started painting them.  I chose, of course, a grey color that I tested/looked at in our hallway with our funky LED lights.  

I threw out all the matting that came with the frames and used some really nice paper I had (I love stationary/graphics/paper btw.) And cut it to the 8x10 size of the overall glass opening.  I love my paper cutter.

Then I wrote the month with pencil at the same spot on every sheet.  And placed the leaves.

I used 2 different frames, 8 of a more ornate kind, 4 of a more straight kind.  Which is why there is a little difference in the frames, but I think it creates interest and some movement. 

Thats it!  I love it in our hallway and its one more thing that is meaningful and makes our house a home!

drumroll... backsplash.

And here it is.  The backsplash.  Installed Thursday, finally grouted today.  Our kitchen is almost complete.  (I need a wood panel above my sink so that maple color doesn't show...)

[daltile white subway with grey grout and accents of

oceanside glass tile in tessera shadow, irridedscent 1x1 offset]

Long awaited, but worth it.  Also... one thing that is HYSTERICAL that we didn't realize with all the new renovation goings on...  When you order an induction stove top.  It means you need to have INDUCTION COOKWARE.  1/2 of our cookware we had to give to my brother b/c they didn't have a stainless steel bottom.  We finally found some non-stick induction cookware yesterday at target because we were desperate.  But it boils water in 30 seconds, so I'm good with that.  

More fun stuff to come now that we are home on the weekends again after some amazing weddings!  Shout out to my sweet friends and their amazing nuptials!

Heather + Ben

september 15, 2011

austin, texas

Kathy + Ross

september 22, 2011

breckenridge, colorado

We have been so blessed to be apart of our dear friends weddings!