Please forgive my absence over the past couple of weeks but wedding planning has gotten a bit crazy but I’m back now so we can all enjoy the fruits of my labor!

Today’s post is all about antique chandeliers… and my current project.  I’ve been completely engrossed lately by all the projects on the internets of antique chandeliers with modern face-lifts and when I spotted a brass chandelier on kijiji I couldn’t help but snatch such a great find ($35)!

Now of course I’ve lost my before pictures but I’ll add a similar looking chandelier on so you can get an idea of what I was dealing with.  Here it is (please forgive the picture).

Almost immediately my fella was not impressed with the outdated, sure-to-not-hold-paint, brassy, brazen light but after showing him a few pictures of successful (and beautiful) revamped chandeliers he agreed it COULD have its benefits.  Off we went to the store for a few cans of paint!

Now, even though I’m not 100% completed the project, it seems to be going incredibly well.  Here she is so far.

Remember, the first picture is not an actual picture of the chandelier as I lost my “before” picture.

My first step was to remove the shades and toss them in the garbage since I don’t plan on having any shades on the chandelier after she has her makeover.

Step two was to clean all the dust off the chandelier and make sure it was completely dry.  Any parts I didn’t want painted were taped off including the sockets for the lightbulbs (is socket even the correct term?) and it then it was time to break out the primer.

I used Tremclad’s Rust Paint Primer in a basic grey because I’ve used it before on other projects and really liked the outcome.

I had to spray the chandelier once, let it dry and then turn it and spray it again to make sure I got all the nooks and crannies of the chandelier – a bit tedious but I think it will definitely be worth it in the end.  I’m completely in love with it already annnnnd even my fella is beginning to like it more now that she’s not so horribly brassy.

I don’t actually have an end for this post yet as the chandelier (I’m thinking about calling her “Marie”) is sitting in the garage waiting for her actual paint to be applied but I was so excited I had to write about it right away.  I also can’t wait to show you what color she’ll be and what other use she’ll have (besides replacing the “boob” light in our bedroom).  Stay tuned and I’ll be back later in the week to fill you in with Part 2!

Ashley

Linked to these parties:

I know its been a little while but I’m back! Didja miss me? I’ve been busy with wedding plans and I’ve been in the middle of making our guest book.  I’ve been collecting random bits of ‘trash’ that I could re-purpose here and there to make something as unique as possible.

Here are a few pictures so far.

I took some old tissue paper and used Mod Podge to adhere it to the page. Then I added some tags cut with my Cricut machine and dug through my buttons for a few that would match.

I stained the tags on this page with tea and let them dry overnight (all the tags are removable to write on and then just need to be added back into the envelope). Then embellished the page with the same fabric as my flowers (pictured here).

This page was made from burlap, a flower based on the ones made from my bouquet, pins, buttons and an old piece of jewelry I found while walking the dogs. Who doesn’t love garbage?

More tissue paper, dress material, buttons.

A work in progress.

I really love the pages so far but I’m a bit worried there might be something missing? Hopefully when they finally get written on they will look more complete. Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Ashley

This post has been linked to Creative Blog!

Well the Rainy Wednesday Giveaway is finally done.

The winner is….

Marilyn from 4 You with Love!

Congrats Marilyn!

You can send me an email at

intolerabledollhouse@gmail.com

Remember you have 48 hours to contact me to tell me what you’d like and how to send it to you.

Thanks everyone for participating and remember if you’ve seen my post from May 29 there is still a chance to win a piece of jewelry similar to the piece from this giveaway by sponsoring me in the Father’s Day walk/run for prostate cancer research!

Thanks

Ashley

Hello dolls!

We’ve decided to go for a run.  An 8K run, that is.  And while it was no big deal while we were seriously training, this brash decision has left us with 17… ok 19 days to train.  But I’m sure it will be fun.  Daren and I have decided to go register with a group from my work for the Safeway Father’s Day Walk/Run for prostate cancer research. I think it will be really fun and hopefully it’s not incredibly hot so I don’t get a migraine like the last time I ran a “race” over 5K.

But, dear readers, I need your help.  I’ve decided to raise at least $200.00 (Canadian) and I would absolutely LOVE it if you would help.  In fact, I would love it so much that on top of the Rainy Wednesday Giveaway, I would like to offer an entry in a draw to win a piece of my jewelry from my etsy shop that opens on June 1 (intolerable dollhouse). I’m not talking about hundreds of dollars. I’m talking about $5 or even $10… What’s that saying about little bits and helping? Well its true.

You can make a secure online donation right now by clicking on this link: http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?SID=3384730&langPref=en-CA .  A tax receipt will automatically be issued (for donations above $20) to you via email.

Thank you so much for visiting my page.

Oh, I realize this is not a craft post but I promise there won’t be a lot like this!

Ashley

How was everyone’s weekend? Is everyone in the USA enjoying their long weekend? Was everyone in Canada sad to have to go back to a full week of work?

I’ve got a half-finished repurposed mirror that I’d like to share with you today.  This mirror has been repurposed so many times but I just love the design so I just keep repainting it whenever I feel like it (sorry for the pictures I had to use my iPhone pictures). Here it is before the repurpose.

I’ll admit the last time I repurposed this mirror frame I didn’t remove the mistake smears I got around the edges of the actual mirror but those were easily removed with a razor blade.  Then I moved it out to the garage for a quick sanding.

A helpful hint for those of you who like rustic pieces: if you’re looking to make something look a bit more rustic (let’s say a mirror frame) Put on a layer of brown paint, rub a candle around the prominent edges of the mirror frame, then put on a layer of whatever paint you like the actual color to be.  If you then sand around the mirror frame, the wax will heat up and then the brown will show through rather than going all the way down to the wood grain.  As our house is much more modern now I won’t be using this technique but I thought it would be fun to share.  See what I mean?

Anyway, in order to make the mirror as modern as possible I decided to paint it with a… well…. RED!  Keep in mind the pictures I’m showing you today are just the first coat so the white is definitely still showing through.  Here it is!

I expect to have the next couple of coats done tomorrow and hopefully on the wall by Tuesday.  I’m so excited!

So in the spirit of repurposed old favorites… Whats your favorite repurposed piece?  Comment below, I love to hear from you and it will gain you an entry in my giveaway!

Ashley

Added to linky party at:

The weather here has been particularly rainy for the past few days so I’ve decided to brighten my own spirits with a little giveaway!  I’ve been busy making jewelry over the past few days so I wanted to give someone to a chance to win a piece.  So, here is everything you need to know!

One lucky person will win:

1. $20 Starbucks or Tim Horton’s gift card (depending on what you like and where you live)
2. 1 necklace designed and made by me (see picture below)
3. $10 gift card to Plum District

There are two ways to enter:

1. Comment on this blog post
2. Follow @intolerabledoll on twitter

Two entries can This giveaway will close on Wednesday, May 30, 2012 at 8:00 pm MT.   Winners will be chosen through random draw.  The winner will have 48 hours to contact me to discuss details before I choose another winner.

Good luck!

What a productive weekend!  We were finally able to get our fence and deck built after letting the soil settle for a year after building our house.  What a job!  Then we were busy weeding the back lawn, adding more grass seed to fill in the patchy pieces and then it was time enjoy the fruits of our (his) labour.  Check out the pics (sorry they’re fuzzy, they were taken with his iPhone).

I was also very busy making jewelry and headbands this weekend which I’m thinking will include a piece very soon in a giveaway.

How did everyone spend their weekend?

Ashley

I’m very excited to tell you all that my fella and I have been engaged for four and a half months and that we will be getting married in August!  We’ve (ok, I’ve) been dreaming of a DIY wedding for as long as I can remember and I’ve been hand making as many things as possible for the past 4 months which includes today’s post: my handmade bridal bouquet.

My first step included learning how to make the rolled fabric flowers and making a few out of inexpensive fabric. I found a great tutorial here thanks to My Sparkle.  This was my first attempt.

My next step was to purchase a 7″ styrofoam ball, gardening stakes, pearl topped hat pins from walmart and silk the same color as my wedding gown.  After making enough silk flowers to cover the styrofoam ball – make sure you leave the plastic on the ball as the styrofoam creates less of a mess that way – I started attaching them with pearl topped hat pins.

Once the ball was 3/4 of the way covered I took 25 stakes and shoved them into the bottom of the ball and cut off the bottom of the stakes leaving just enough room for my hands to hold comfortably. I wrapped the stakes together in the same silk that the flowers were created from and filled the empty spaces with the last of the flowers.  I added random buttons and pearls where I thought looked the best.  This is the end result and I absolutely love it!

If anyone else is dreaming of a DIY wedding give it a try and send in some pictures. Stay tuned for a how-to of my bridesmaid’s bouquets.

Ashley 

This weekend in the intolerable dollhouse I finally tried making some of my future sister-in-law’s fantastic gluten-free, egg free, dairy free granola (lots of nuts).  This granola is so fantastic that I mixed up a huge batch so I could freeze some for a quick treat every now and then.

You’re able to pretty much change anything around as much as you’d like as the ingredients are interchangeable.  Normally I would give you more pictures throughout the process but this recipe is so easy that you basically can’t stop between.  Here it is.

Intolerant Granola

Ingredients

2 packages chopped or slivered almonds

2 packages chopped walnuts

2 c. pumpkin seeds

5 c. rolled oats (be careful that these are gluten-free)

1 package shredded coconut

1 jar Nuts to You natural peanut butter (500 g)

2 c. vegetable oil

2 c. maple syrup

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Mix seeds, oats, coconut and nuts in large roaster.
3. Pour peanut butter, vegetable oil and syrup over items in roaster and mix until everything is evenly coated.
4. Place cover on roaster (tin foil works as well) and cook for 1.5 hours, stopping every half hour to mix so mixture does not burn to the bottom.

And here it is!

Remember that with the bigger batch you can separate a portion and freeze it.

Hope you enjoy!

Ashley  

My name is Ashley and welcome to Intolerable Dollhouse.

I am so excited to finally be in a place in my life where I’m not constantly suffering from migraines (from the age of 10 all the way through 26) after just figuring out that I have a huge intolerance to gluten, dairy and whole eggs.  As a result I have so many more hours where I feel happy, healthy and all around at peace with the world around me.  What better way to spend it than completing as many DIY projects as possible?!

I absolutely love creating things with my own two hands, whether it includes DIY projects or trying out new recipes, and I hope you will enjoy everything that Intolerable Dollhouse has to offer!  Oh, and don’t worry, although some recipes will be gluten, dairy and egg free I promise at least some will include these little monsters!  I’m an avid runner and believe that exercise and laughter are the best medicine.  Period.

Ashley

P.S. I’m also completely in love with shoes… just look at these Apple Pie shoes by Poetic License!