striped-canvas-art

Hello from “She Sent Me What?” headquarters.

I’m participating in a fun challenge….where a group of bloggers all purchased thrift store finds and sent them to each other.  We were supposed to think outside the box and create a project and style it in our homes.

My project journey looked a little like this:

1.  Get item in mail.

2.  Exclaim with great joy when I spy the amazing tea towel with it’s intricate hand sewn stitchery.

3.  Come up with a one-of-a-kind totally over the top idea for the tea towel.

4.  Project crash and burn.

5. *sigh*

6.  Watch the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Reunion Part 1 to clear my head and search for inspiration.

7.  Realize the housewives all have more problems and make-up and sequins than I could ever dream of in my entire life.

8. Pour myself a cup of inspiration.

9.  Come up with nothing.

10.  Make this canvas.

Seriously.

I’ll go ahead and save you the trouble and say it for you…..

…this project is a total bless your heart.

striped-canvas-art-diy

*sigh*

And it’s not from want of trying.

If you could have seen the plans I had for this handmade tea towel that Mary sent me….

.…you would be giving me a standing ovation.

Instead of commiserating with me over a cup of coffee.

striped-canvas-art-project

Here’s what the tea towel looked like when it arrived.

Linen and faded and wonderful and hand stitched with tiny red detailing.

And I thought that I would make a roller shade out of it.  You know….I’d put it on a larger piece of material backed by canvas and create a pull-down-shade and hang it in front of the television upstairs and when the television wasn’t being used….

….you would just pull down the canvas to create artwork.

Brilliant….right?

Doesn’t that sound amazing?

But in reality?  The shade was lumpy and the mechanism didn’t work right and sometimes when you pulled it down….

….the material and the towel would limply fall half-way off and just lay there mocking me.

striped-canvas-art-diy-projects

Enter plan B.

I already had the canvas and the dowel rods and time was totally of the essence….

….and so I thought artwork?

And the question mark at the end of that sentence says it all.

Why did I think that bright yellow stripes on canvas were the answer?

Or hot glued dowel rods?

Or string?

And let’s be honest here….

….I totally jumped the shark with the daisy buttons.

striped-canvas-art-how-to-projectAnd then…..after the project was finished I vainly tried to disguise it with barn doors and fresh daffodils from the garden and antique metal fireplaces hoping against hope you wouldn’t notice….

….but the daisy buttons could not be denied.

So in an attempt to redeem myself and represent at the challenge…..

.…I thought up a fun idea to add to your mantel instead of the striped-tea-towel-leftover-dowel-rod artwork.

barnwood-and-flowers

Take a vintage spring…..add these vases to it….and fill them with fresh flowers.

The vases were only $1.97 at Wal-Mart.

Easy.  Simple.  Almost free.

Take that….daisy buttons. 🙂

nest-picture

PS  And really….who needs tea towel canvas art….

….when this amazing nest canvas showed up on my doorstep last week from my wonderful friend Cheryl.

Thank you so much sweet friend!

I love it!

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Comments

  1. Image for Heather {Woods of Bell Trees} Heather {Woods of Bell Trees}

    Oh honey, I did a bless your heart project the other night...I even woke hubby up to ask him if it was really that bad...it was. The daisy buttons, are, um, um. Yeah the daisy buttons. ;) I do love the spring and vase combo. My heart is loving the nest on canvas!

  2. Image for Marisa Franca Marisa Franca

    Bless your heart but you sure make me smile!! Think of it this way -- it has history and now it has a great story!! It is a wonderful conversation starter when you see people staring at it -- you can ask "Can't take your eyes off of it, huh?" Then smile and wait for their answer. I love the yellows in the picture makes me very, very happy!! :-)

  3. Image for baileywife baileywife

    Well call me crazy.....but I love it! Bless your heart for not realizing how beautiful it actually is! And the rest of the accessories are a great addition friend! ~Kim

  4. Image for Sheryll & Critters. Sheryll & Critters.

    I liked the tea towel wall hang you made. I would be very proud to have it myself. And the spring with vase too.

  5. Image for Lauren Lauren

    I daily read a couple of the other blogs that participated in this challenge, and so I've been systematically going through each of the 21 with mixed reviews. Then, I got to yours. It's obvious that you gave it your level best, but - man alive! - you really did struggle, didn't you? This project may not have been a win, but your *post* about it had me in stitches, and anyone who can be so hilariously relatable and self-deprecating over their own failure is okay in my book. You have earned yourself a new reader.

  6. Image for Becky Becky

    This is called blogging in real life! I actually love the artwork. The daisy buttons, well...:) I used to have a boss who always said "bless her heart" which just cracks me up to no end! Hugs to you!!

  7. Image for Donnamae Donnamae

    You wrote a post about...bless your heart. Now it's time to write a post about...jumping the shark? What? I digress. I think you did really give it the old college try...consider what you had to work with! And...I like the daisy buttons...they are just quirky enough to go with it all! Thumbs up! ;)

  8. Image for Cindy Barganier Cindy Barganier

    Bless you sweet friend. That is precisely why I am not a DIY blogger. I would totally bomb on a regular basis. Frankly, I think you should have just sent it straight to the housewives so they could either wipe their ridiculous tears or have a cat fight with it. :) You still rock. C

  9. Image for Barbara Barbara

    I think you did a great job! Love the daisy buttons:) And the daffodils make it even better! We are calling our new home "The Nest", so of course I love the nest art!!

  10. Image for Cheryl at Snaps of Ginger Cheryl at Snaps of Ginger

    First, thank you for sharing your bless your heart moment. I have so many of those that it's nice to not feel alone. Second, even though your first idea didn't pan out, I think you still made it work. Third, you gave me some inspiration and at least a general direction for some gorgeous antique linens I bought at an antique mall recently. ~Cheryl https://snaps-of-ginger.blogspot.com/

  11. Image for Marian@Gathering Branches Marian@Gathering Branches

    I think this is the funnest idea! I want to do it with my friends. And I like your little creation. I think it's fun and spring-y. Oh! Did you see what I did there? I was talking about the season that isn't here yet and you did your vase/spring thing...OK, I 'll just stop talking now. Have a jolly day, sweet lady. The Other Marian

  12. Image for Pattie @ Olla-Podrida Pattie @ Olla-Podrida

    You have me laughing out loud this morning. It's really not all that bad, and those Daisy buttons take me back to a dress that my mother made for me when I was about four, so I got very nostalgic seeing them. This is really a fun linky party, and if you want to feel better about your tea towel art, you need to take a look at some of the other projects. ;-)

  13. Image for Peggy Peggy

    You can think what you want but I completely and totally LOVE what you did with this tea towel!!! It has spunk and spark and personality! It is cute, quirky, bright cheerful, and it just makes me smile!! Simply adorable!

  14. Image for KimL KimL

    FU KariAnne! Oh wait, we aren't talking about the RH of BH are we? I love your idea of the shade and might try and make it work somewhere, maybe using a different technique. I have so many really pretty linens like that but have no idea what to do with them. Some are family pieces so I don't want to cut them. Can't wait to see what the others did!

  15. Image for Kimberly ~ SerendipityRefined Kimberly ~ SerendipityRefined

    Oh SURRREEE...find perfectly adorable daisy buttons and yellow and white striped fabric to make your backing to make your tea towel into a wall hanging! Dang it...I KNEW that I should have made mine into a cute wall hanging instead of an apron!!!! Thanks for sending me such beautiful stuff to work with. :)

  16. Image for Regina Regina

    May I just say, the daisy buttons were what I noticed FIRST? I think I had a dress with buttons like that when I was a little girl . . . At lease I would have definitely PICKED them! :) I think it's cute. Your creativity never ceases to amaze me! :) Snow? REALLY?

  17. Image for lynn cockrell lynn cockrell

    Having been up the "bless your heart" path more times than I care to admit, I can truly relate. I am my own worst critic, as nothing seems to look as pretty as when someone else creates it. The little towels embroidery is so pretty!

  18. Image for Karen Karen

    Well I think your spring vignette looks lovely! I sure wish something would start blooming around here. We are in for a little snow this evening :-(

  19. Image for SharK SharK

    Love it- I can totally see this, daisy buttons and all, in a little girl's room. There are these huge awesome fabric daisies I have seen in store windows here from time to time which would pair perfectly with it and you could throw in some butterflies too. You are hilarious!

  20. Image for Michelle Michelle

    I'll admit I don't like the daisy buttons, but I really LOVE the contrast of soft, faded colors/fabric on the bright, bold stripes! I find the whole vignette just beautiful! There *are* a couple "bless your heart" projects in the lineup (at least to me, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right?), but I really don't think this is one of them!

  21. Image for Jill Jill

    The thing about your "bless your heart" project is that you rose to the occasion of phenomenal staging, celebrating spring and reminding us that Yoda can be wrong. He says "Do or do not. There is no try." This was a good try. Thanks for reminding us all there is great fun in trying and finding humor in our less the fabulous moments. Thanks for being adventurous. Love the daisy buttons by the way! Have a wonderful day!

  22. Image for Angela @ Quarter Acre Cottage Angela @ Quarter Acre Cottage

    Ok.. so it's not my favorite project ever, but it is in the running as the best "oh no, how can I salvage this" to "hey, not so bad", especially with the beautiful backdrop and display you have it with! I do have a tender heart for daffodils so really you could have just sat your awesome spring vase on top of the tea towel and I would still swoon.

  23. Image for RDG RDG

    love the idea, I have several vintage linens with embroidery, and have wondered what to do with them. The tea towel, how did you attach it to the canvas? Glued or is it just attached with the daisy buttons, love those buttons. What a great way to reuse these linens that are just sitting in a container, and need to be displayed. Had thought of putting them in a frame but just don't like the look, love what you have done.

  24. Image for JaneEllen JaneEllen

    I love that tea towel. I have one very similar I turned into a pillow cover with a napkin for the back. You did super job making it prettier. Love what you did. Been fun seeing what all of you do with your "surprises.

  25. Image for melissa @ DaisyMaeBelle melissa @ DaisyMaeBelle

    Hilarious! My oldest is named Daisy...so needless to say when she was born I was given countless little outfits with those very buttons. So they hold a special place in my heart! Which makes me love this project! Life to the full! Melissa

  26. Image for Carollynn Carollynn

    Truly? The daisy buttons don't bother me as much as the yellow stripes, however, I don't know that I would have been able to half as well with your sent item. So while this may qualify as a "bless your heart' moment you were at least brave enough to own it.

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