Another Art Project

Maybe you saw my previous post where I worked on an art project.

The full post and tutorial can be found here

Then last summer I bought this hot mess at a second hand store for $0.50

I've been ignoring it for ages, but then last weekend I had a moment of brilliance and it went from blah to fabulous in under an hour.

First, you'll need some electrical tape and tape your pattern on. I would have used the letters again on this ... but the oil paint was too thick and lumpy.

Then you have to spray paint it gold. I didn't go too heavy, but I like the pattern showing through. 

Lovely.

Now hanging in my dining room. Art work for $0.50

Oscar Movie Review

The Oscar Movie Reviews will simply be two to three sentences and feature the star system. Five Stars means it is the best of films, three stars means it was great - but I didn't like it, one star means I'm not sure why it was made (you get the picture). 

Stars: ****

For not being a "talkie" this movie was great fun! It combined cinematic brilliance with the thrill of having to pay attention to all of the details. I honestly loved it, but only four stars because I'm not sure I'd watch it again. 

Stars: *****

This film deserves five stars because: first, it is based on a brilliant work of fiction; second, because it was a masterpiece for the time (1939) and remains one now; and because Clark Gable utters the most amazing line, ever! I've seen this movie a dozen times and I'm sure I'll watch it a dozen more.

Stars: ****

The Lord of the Rings is a brilliant franchise that has such amazing cinematography that you cannot help but love (well, unless you aren't a nerd, if so, why are you even on my blog?). These movies brought to life a series of beloved books in a way I didn't think was even possible.

Stars: ***

Alright, so I see why it won the Oscar, but this movie held little interest for me. It is a mix of political and governmental plots that are not my favorite to watch. However, there was intrigue and the movie said something that needed saying - so with that I can see why it is the winner of best picture. 

Oscar Challenge 2013

As you've probably read, I've challenged myself to watch or rewatch every winner of the Oscar for Best Picture. That means I'll be watching 85 movies this year, which is two to three a week ... and I'm not sure it is possible. However, I'll make a good effort :)

Here is the list of films I'll be watching this year

(which were nicely formatted before I pasted them here)

Highlighted Films are the ones I've seen THIS YEAR

4 Films Seen

81 Films To Go

All About Eve                                                          1950

All Quiet on the Western Front                                  1929/30

All the King’s Men                                                1949

Amadeus                                                                  1984

American Beauty                                               1999

An American in Paris                                                1951

Annie Hall                                                             1977

The Apartment                                                        1960

Argo                                                                     2012

Around the World in 80 Days                        1956

The Artist                                                            2011

A Beautiful Mind                                                2001

Ben-Hur                                                            1959

The Best Years of Our Lives                                    1946

Braveheart                                                            1955

The Bridge on the River Kwal                        1957

The Broadway Melody                                    1928/29

Casablanca                                                            1943

Cavalcade                                                            1932/33

Chariots of Fire                                                1981

Chicago                                                            2002

Cimarron                                                            1930/31

Crash                                                                        2005

Dances with Wolves                                                1990

The Deer Hunter                                                1978

The Departed                                                            2006

Driving Miss Daisy                                                1989

The English Patient                                                1996

Forrest Gump                                                            1994

The French Connection                                    1971

From Here to Eternity                                    1953

Gandhi                                                            1982

Gentleman’s Agreement                                    1947

Gigi                                                                        1958

Gladiator                                                            2000

The Godfather                                                1972

The Godfather II                                                1974

Going My Way                                                1944

Gone with the Wind                                                1939

Grand Hotel                                                            1931/32

The Great Ziegfeld                                                1936

The Greatest Show on Earth                                    1952

Hamlet                                                            1948

How Green Was my Valley                                    1941

The Hurt Locker                                                2009

In the Heat of the Night                                    1967

It Happened One Night                                    1934

The King’s Speech                                                2010

Kramer vs. Kramer                                                1979

The Last Emperor                                                1987

Lawrence of Arabia                                                1962

The Life of Emile Zola                                    1937

The Lord of the Rings (Return of the King)            2003

The Lost Weekend                                                1945

A Man for All Seasons                                    1966

Marty                                                                        1955

Midnight Cowboy                                                1969

Million Dollar Baby                                                2004

Mrs. Miniver                                                            1942

Mutiny on the Bounty                                    1935

My Fair Lady                                                            1964

No Country For Old Men                                    2007

Oliver!                                                                        1968

On the Waterfront                                                1954

One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest                        1975

Ordinary People                                                1980

Out of Africa                                                            1985

Patton                                                                        1970

Platoon                                                            1986

Rain Man                                                            1988

Rebecca                                                            1940

Rocky                                                                        1976

Schindler’s List                                                1993

Shakespeare In Love                                                1998

The Silence of the Lambs                                    1991

Slumdog Millionaire                                                2008

The Sound of Music                                                1965

The Sting                                                            1973

Terms of Endearment                                    1983

Titanic                                                                        1997

Tom Jones                                                            1963

Unforgiven                                                            1992

West Side Story                                                1961

Wings                                                                        1927/28

You Can’t Take It With You                                    1938

Oscars Quest

First, here are some of my favorite moments from the Academy Awards 2013:

10. Adele winning an Oscar after a magical performance!

9. When Kirsten Stewart left the stage.

My favorite tweet after the fact was "has anyone told Kirsten Stewart she doesn't have to be a movie star?"

Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) was awesome though.

8. William Shatner/Captain Kirk giving advice.

7. Favorite dress number one: Amy Adams

6. Favorite dress number two: Jennifer Lawrence

5. The cast of the Avengers presenting.

4. The cast of Les Mis singing live gave me the chills.

3. Jennifer Lawrence winning the Oscar for Best Actress

2. Seth MacFarlane's hilarious job as Host. Who knew he had such a great voice!

1. Watching Joseph Gordon-Levitt (and those other two men) sing and dance. Those dimples ... anyway, moving on.

Now on to the point ... my challenge for myself (please participate if you'd like). I love the challenge of watching the movies that win Best Picture, so this year I'm going to watch them all. I've currently seen 26 of 85, but I'll be watching those over again.

That means two to three movies a week for the rest of this year. I'm not sure I have that much time ... but we shall see!

What Did You Do Today?

I really try and keep Saturdays open for things I want to do. I clean the house Fridays when I get home from work. I go grocery shopping and do laundry on Sunday afternoons. Saturdays are my days.

Since  my living room is back to normal, I decided I'd set up my new television (Merry Christmas from my cool parents) and sound bar (Merry Christmas to me, lol, I spoil myself) on my new television stand (thank-you Target). 

Hahaha, you know how people make fun of assembling things from Ikea? At least Ikea things come with instructions. I open the box, no instructions. I go online, no instructions. I call, at least two weeks to mail instructions. I told her to forget it - surely I could figure this out. It probably took me twice as long as it should have, but here is my lovely television stand. 

I was insistent on a stand with wheels because, when people come over, I don't want a television in front of my giant fireplace. Instead, I want to see the fireplace and not look like my living room is really a television room.

Now all I need is a blue ray player for this room. But things come in time.

The bigger project I worked on today were the chalkboards. Since they were still hanging out in their Christmas glory I thought I'd refresh them with some love quotes (hey, not all single girls are anti-Valentine's day. I love "love quotes"). 

Since it is in my hallway, it is SO hard to get a picture of the whole thing. This is the best I could do. I need a wide angle lens ... for my iPhone. 

This sonnet (#27) by Pablo Nurda is one of my favorites.

(lol, see my finger here - I didn't until I posted it)

Here is the other end ... and some chalkboard art tips

1. You know all those stencils and everything you can get? Forget about it - anything in your own hand is better! Don't like your handwriting? I don't think anyone does - I'm always getting compliments on mine and I think it looks so ... normal. 

2. Start with a really clean board - like wet the whole thing down and let it dry. If you make a mistake, use a damp paper towel to fix it. 

3. Want to emphasize a word? Use two colors (my favorite trick). It doesn't even look like two colors - it just looks awesome when to write one on top of another.

4. Mix up your fonts. I have three that I can use (regular printing, handwriting, and block letters) then mix them with caps and lower case. Once you add in your different colors and ways to fill them in you have a whole variety. 

Washi Tape Magnet Tutorial

You are either one of two people. Either you are one of the people who are obsessed with using washi tape everywhere and for everything ... or, you've never heard of it and only came here because the link from Pinterest looked cute. No matter - this is a super fun and easy cheesy project. 

Materials: Washi Tape, Glue Stick, Roll Magnet, Cardstock, Glue Gun

Start by tearing the washi tape into smallish strips and glue it to card stock.

Then cut out the strips - the more detailed you are, the better this will look. 

Easy-peasy, cut a magnetic strip and hot glue to the back.

Display everything you like on your fridge!!

Don't have a collection of washi tape? Don't have the time to make a project? Head over to my store and pick up sets of these magnets for $5.00 each. Great for everyone on your gift list (you can say you made them, I won't tell).

Pinterest Challenge

Instead of just pinning forever, I've decided to make a point of doing some of these things. So, I have a new Pinterest Board: Things I'm Going to Do (Reviews to Follow) - I know, the title could use some work.

So, this board has just one rule - I can only have five things on there at a time that I haven't tried yet. 

Right now I just have four "To Dos"

Pacifier Clips (these would be great baby gifts)

That quote about dreaming, I'm going to use it in one of these projects

(which was also a Pinterest Project)

Some Etsy Tips to review and use

Homemade Washing Detergent

Two other items on there I have tired and are excellent, you should check them out

Homemade Carmel Corn

Brownie Batter Dip

Now that you are feeling all excited about doing a Pinterest Challenge, check out my

Etsy Store: Curious Fabulizations!!

Discounts can be found on our Facebook Page