home decor Archives - Spindles Designs by Mary and Mags

New Items in Our Etsy Store

August 23, 2018 by Mary Ellen Stringham Leave a Comment

We have been super busy shopping, that is never hard to do, and doing the things we love, sewing, designing, quilting, embroidering…the list goes on. Trying to make sure that we have enough great Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas seasonal items in our Etsy shop. So have a look at what the New Items in Our Etsy Store are.

[Read more…]

Please follow and like us:

Renew & Brighten Old Chairs

August 14, 2018 by Mary Ellen Stringham Leave a Comment

My husband and I love to visit garage sales, antique stores and the occasional auction. We love to renew, brighten and /or remake the old things that we find. Several years ago we, on a whim, attended a small local auction. There wasn’t a large crowd and that made it fun and easy to see and buy several items inexpensively. We purchased 4 old chairs for $20. This summer we decided to

“Renew & Brighten Old Chairs”.

[Read more…]

Please follow and like us:

Antique Door Quilt Shelf

July 18, 2014 by Margaret 9 Comments

I love antiques and I love quilting. Why not put them together and create beautiful home decor.

Our inspiration came from a shelf we saw at a Flea Market. I might have purchased it but it was the wrong color and too small. Suddenly we were shopping for an old door. No doors at the Flea Market but we did find and purchased a great reproduction door knob.

Several second hand and antiques stores later we found the perfect door.

And guess what? The door knob was perfect for it.

The door was in such good shape that all we did was sand off any roughness and put a

clear finish to protect the cracks and any bare wood.

John sawed it in half and made a

basic box using the doors pieces for the sides.

I was really picky about the moldings that were to be put on the top and bottom but we finally came up with a compromise. Some purchased and some home made, and the crown was left from our kitchen redo. We made shelves out of leftover plywood and faced each with small molding.

The hardest part was finding paint to match, which we didn’t. We found a paint that was close from the Heritage Collection at Lowe’s and then ruffed it up and antiqued it to help give it that aged look.

It wasn’t perfect but pretty close.

Home decor, quilt shelf, antique door shelf

The door knob came with 2 skeleton type keys and the grand kids think they are great to play with. (I tied them to the knob with a ribbon so they won’t get lost.)

Now I have a great place to store and display my quilts that are not being used elsewhere in the house.

I love it. Now I have to redecorate around it. That will be fun!

Mary Ellen

If you are new to Spindles Designs we would love for you to subscribe to our e-mail updates or follow us on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter.

USA Blocks

June 20, 2014 by Margaret 2 Comments

Every year when the 4th of July rolls around I see great decorations to make or purchase and I always wish I had made something or bought one. This year in my quest to use up thing laying around the house and the garage I made these “USA Blocks” for a little festive decor for the month of July.

I started my search in the garage. We have had several wood projects and have a lot of wood scraps laying around. The nice clear pieces that I found were only 3/4 inch thick I didn’t think they would stand up very good so glued scraps together making the blocks about an inch and a half thick.

I didn’t want them the same size so the U is 5″ X 7 1/2″, S-4 3/4 ” X 6″, and A- 5 3/4″ X 8″. I sanded them and used again, a partial can of Heirloom White spray paint. When dried, I sanded the edges just to take off that blunt edge. I purchased this great star striped scrap book paper at Hobby Lobby and cut along the stripe lines to make strips then cut them to the correct length for each side and mitered the corners. Using Mod Podge which I had in the cupboard, I glued the pre-cut strips in place then centered the letter on each block. The letters are in PDF form and can be printed and traced onto navy blue and red card stalk.

Coat again with Mod Podge to seal and protect the paper. Because the blocks are wood glued together there is a seam all the way around the block, I trimmed burlap ribbon and glued it all the way around to cover the seam. I thought they turned out fun.

Materials needed

Wood scraps

Striped Scrap book paper

2 color card stock

Mod Podge

Burlap ribbon

Hot glue and glue gun

See what fun things you can make from your leftovers.

Mary Ellen

If you are new to Spindles Designs we would love for you to subscribe to our e-mail updates or follow us on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter.

Show and Tell Saturday #7

March 15, 2014 by Margaret 2 Comments

Love of Fabric

My mother loves fabric. She belongs to one of

“Keepsake Quilting”

collections of the month. She says that she should quit, but that she is to nosy to stop.

She loves what comes every month and anxiously waits to

see what is in the package.

When I saw this pattern, it had her name all over it.

I knew I had to make it for her.

The love of this monthly collection helps the girls and I, too. Mom is always saying take

some fabric home with you. The unfortunate thing for our husbands is that this

“Love Of Fabric”

is highly contagious and we have all caught it.

Mary Ellen

If you are new to Spindles we would love for you to subscribe to our e-mail updates or follow us on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter.