Felt Heart Garland

I wanted to change up my decorations a little from last year and decided to make some heart garland. It is an inexpensive and easy project that takes maybe 20 minutes. I freehand cut the hearts while watching TV. 

Happy Valentine's Day!!

DIY Chevron Wall

Chevron is EVERYWHERE and I'm jumping on the bandwagon. It has made its way on a wall in my house!  

I am in the process of switching my spare bedroom and craft room.  The spare bedroom was a little bland with all 4 walls being tan in color.  I livened the space up by painting chevron on the focal wall.

It is an easy process and I was able to complete the marking, taping, painting, and peeling in under 6 hours. 

The first step is determining what kind of zigzag you want. I knew I wanted a more spread out version instead of a very spiky zigzag.  Then its time to get your supplies and start going.

Chevron Wall

Supplies: Painters tape, level, pencil, paint & supplies (roller, brush, bucket, etc)

1. Mark the center of the wall at the baseboard. Mark every 12 inches going horizontally. Then from those spots mark every 6 inches vertically all the way to the ceiling. (like my drawing?!?)

2. Play connect the dots with your tape making the zigzag pattern. 

 

3. Start painting every other row. I did 3 coats of dark brown.

4. Once dry peel the tap off and make any necessary touch ups.

Check at this Lowe's idea library tutorial for another example of how to create a chevron wall.

  

Damaged Good Makeover

Always stop at the clearance aisle of whatever store you are in. You will never know what you find. There may be a bunch of crap and you should just continue walking by. There may be something fantastic that you MUST have and it is shocking its in the clearance aisle. Sometimes there are damaged goods FOR CHEAP that just need a little makeover.

I bring to you a cheap damaged good product makeover.

 A cute little shabby chic earring holder.

  

You wanna pink dinosaur?

A recent conversation between Dominic and his niece Ivy went a little something like this:

"Ivy, what do you want for your birthday?"

"I wanna pink dinosaur and a purple dinosaur."

"You wanna pink dinosaur?"

"Yes, and a purple one."

"Okay?!?!"

We have been on the hunt for pink and purple dinosaurs since then. I thought purple would be easy.There has to be a Barney stuffed animal out there, but that would make it too easy. She wants a really dinosaur not that goofy Barney character. I went to Toys R Us and I found Cera and Chomper from The Land Before Time neither of which are purple or pink.  So I found a way to add pink and purple to the dinosaurs and that was by making little capes.

Hey, It Is...

Summer is officially here. I don't do much decorating for summer in my house since I would rather spend my time outside. But I did make these simple blocks to sit on my mantel.  

Cut some blocks in varying sizes. Then spray paint them. Once dry free-hand paint letters. Finish them off by super gluing some shapes that can be found at Hobby Lobby for under a dollar. And there you have it, a cheap and easy decoration.

  

DIY Easter Egg Wreath

Another easy project. An Easter Egg Wreath. (Thank you Pinterest for the idea)

Supplies need: 2 spools of ribbon, plastic Easter eggs (4 dozen small eggs, 4 dozen medium eggs), cardboard circle (I cut mine 14 inch outer with 8 inch inner circle), hot glue & glue gun

Step 1: Cover the wreath in ribbon. (It took a little more than 1 spool)

Adhere with hot glue at beginning & end or as needed. 

Step 2: Begin attaching eggs with hot glue.

I did one layer 2 across of medium eggs. Then added small eggs around outside & middle.

Step 3: Attach ribbon & hang

DIY Door Hanger: Spring Theme

A very simple project that can be altered in color, shape, size & theme.  

These wood pieces were purchased from Hobby Lobby. The large wood piece was $1 and the smaller wood pieces were 2/$1.   Making this project a whopping $4 in wood. The other material used for this project that I already had on hand include: spray & acrylic paint, ribbon, hot glue sticks, hot glue gun & sanding block.

Step 1: Spray the wood pieces with spray paint.

Step 2: Cover in 1-2 coats of acrylic paint. 

Step 3: Sand around the edges exposing the base paint to your liking. 

Step 4:  Paint letters and add decorative design.

Step 4: Attach blocks to one another using hot glue and ribbon. I then tied ribbon into a bow on each connector.

Happy Spring!

Project Distressed Shelves

Since purchasing my home just over two years ago I've struggled with decorating an area that is connected to the living room. I didn't have the furniture for the area and and wasn't sure what to do with it. Based on the Before picture you can see the space needed some TLC.

• Overcrowded table with pictures (I have two sisters and each had a baby in 2011 and one of them also got married. As you can expect my pictures doubled throughout the year)
• Photo books under the table.
• A basket full of newspapers
• Over sized and unused elliptical machine
• No wall hangings

I went to Lowe's and checked out some other stores for shelves I could hang on the wall. I didn't find anything I liked and they seemed pricey. I then decided to make the shelves myself and get the distressed look I like and goes with the rest of my house.

1. Purchased 3 1x10x4 pieces of wood.

2. Created stain by mixing apple cider vinegar and steel wool in an old jar and let it sit for a couple of days.

3. Painted all sides of the wood planks with white paint I had on hand from painting my kitchen cabinets. I basically slapped on one coat of paint since I was going to be sanding and staining in later steps.

4. Once the paint was dry I started beating the boards with s a hammer and screw driver on the edges and throughout the board. I even took some nails and staples and hammered their imprints in the board.

5. Once that is done sand the board. I sanded the edges down to no paint. Make sure to sand the entire board so the stain will stick.

6. Wipe the boards clean of any dust using a rag or old shirt. Then apply stain with a different rag or old shirt. Make sure and wear gloves you don't want the stain or the smell on your hands. Notice the white sticking out, it is because I didn't sand it good enough. When the stain was dry I re-sanded areas and wiped off any dust.

7. When dry maybe 30 minutes apply another coat of stain and repeat until desired color is achieved. I think I applied 3-4 coats. (picture below is after two coats of stain)

7. I then applied two coats of clear shellac. Wait until shellac is dry before applying additional coats, approximately 30 minutes. Notice all the dings that appear. I love the distressed look.

8. It was then time to hang the shelves. I couldn't decide how I want to hang them and then realized I need to arrange so the brackets would be attached to studs since I didn't have any anchors and I wanted to hang that night. I was too excited to wait! Tip: Cut painters tape the length of the wall and arrange on wall to see what boards will look like before drilling any holes in the wall.

Shelves are hung and decorated for Valentines Day. I am in LOVE with the shelves, but something is missing. The area is still to cluttered and the table and elliptical just aren't working for me.

Then the light bulb turned on, I MUST FIND a buffet table. So to Craigslist I went. I found a couple of different options, but still wasn't happy with the choices and heights of the buffets listed. I started looking at dressers. I found one listed and made the phone call it it was still available. The length was perfect. The depth was perfect. The height was perfect. Oh and the price...at $100 it was perfect too. I had planned on staining and distressing the dresser the same way I did the shelves, but the color works and I don't need to make any changes except for the hardware. Not sure what I'll do with the large matching mirror that came with it.

Project Cost:

3 Boards: $16

6 Arc Brackets: $32

White Paint: Free

Homemade Stain: $3

Shellac: $10

Dresser/Buffet: $100

What happened to the elliptical? I sold it on Craigslist within 24 hours of posting.

Painted Wood Blocks

Another quick and easy project that can easily be modified with the materials you may have on hand is painted wood blocks.

1. Start with scrap pieces of wood. I used 2x4 blocks in varying lengths. Sand any rough edges and wipe off dust with rag.

2. Apply a couple of coats of spray paint over entire block. I found that rustoleum spray works best.

3. Then apply stickers and apply one coat of spray paint in a different color. (Sorry I don't have picture)

4. Once paint is dry peal of stickers and roughly sand around edges and all over block until you get the desired look.

5. Finished product. Cute, fast, and easy homemade holiday blocks.