Birthday Week Crafts...

In preparation for my birthday party, which was a week ago, I of course wanted to make the house look extra festive. While walking a dog in Arlington about 2 weeks ago, I spotted a large discarded painting on the curb. Looking at it, it was no wonder why it was discarded. It was a farm scene in the fall, cheekily painted.

I picked it up and put it in my car, having something in mind for this gigantic frame. I stopped by Target and bought a long and thin poster of James Dean, then went home to prep the frame. I taped off the appropriate ares and painted the frame green apple, then the matte a baby blue. I mounted the poster and sealed it.










I then moved it to my entertainment center, and put four votive holders under each picture. Matty and I can never find anything large enough to dwell on top of the entertainment center and be a sort of focal point, and I think I have succeeded with this curb transformation.
















Also, knowing that I did not have enough room in the fridge for food and beer, etc, I dusted off my old college refrigerator from the storage closet and found a way to make it look a little more festive. I wallpapered it with my old Garbage Pail Kids cards. It took on a fun, if not gaudy retro 80's look that I find fun. I moved it outside for the festivities.

















I then turned my eye to my bathroom and wanted to tart it up a bit. Taking a point of view of the painting that rest on the back of the toilet, which is of a playing card Joker, I took a deck of cards and pulled the appropriate ones and attached them to the tiles with putty. Sean came up from the bathroom later that evening laughing, saying that I was brilliant. (He got the joke; the cards on the tiles worked out to a royal flush.)











I added a few other subtle touches....a nice down spot on the Marilyn Monroe picture in the living room that kind of makes it look like she is stepping into the light of a street lamp...















I added all red lights to the hanging paper lanterns in the living room...












Also, Matty got me a lovely bunch of flowers for the dining room table...














I also picked and arranged these myself...



Now that I had tarted my house up sufficiently, the party was ready to begin...