Hand made gifts are a great choice, especially gifting to those who aren’t crafty! And, the craft doesn’t need to be expensive or time-consuming! I had scrap wood on hand from a toy box I made for my great nephew. I cut these scraps to size; used Restore a Finish for a light coat of base stain; and, then, white washed (small amount of diluted paint on brush) over the stain. I used the Cricut to cut sparkly letters! This was a learning for me! This is what I learned! I used a bit of trial and error to adhere...
Decor
Vintage Rolling Pins Turned Decor
My sister and I picked up these rolling pins at an estate sale – 7 pins for $25 – and, thought these pins could be fashioned into something special! I gave these pins a good wash; a coat of primer and a white base coat! I had SW Emerald Urethane in Snowbound on hand. I added black stripes to the flat portion of the handle. I worked my way down the handle adding red, green, checks, etc! I cut sparkly vinyl letters on the Cricut! I sprayed the pins with poly! And, added some pretty ribbon with beads! These turned...
Baby Shower Welcome Sign
Baby shower decor! It’s so fun to create! This welcome sign was my DIY contribution to my niece’s baby shower. I was so sorry to miss it, but happy to add to the decor! The sign stand was originally made for my son’s wedding shower a couple of weeks earlier. This blogpost has the details on how that was made. Acrylic I purchased the 24 x 36 frosted acrylic at Menards for ~ $40. It was $7 less than the piece I got at Home Depot for the last sign. I am still looking for a better source for the...
MacKenzie Childs Inspired Courtly Check |Upcycled Spice Rack
I found this vintage spice rack at an estate sale and the size was perfect for a small space in my kitchen to hold essential oils. So, if you are looking for something vintage for your oils, the spice rack was perfect! I added some decorative trim to the shelves for interest and to prevent the oils from falling from the shelf. I primed and painted the spice rack in SW Alabaster. (My go-to white.) I really wanted to try the new MacKenzie Childs Courtly Check pattern on something (see below) and thought this was a great project to give...
Wedding Shower Balloon Arch
What’s a wedding shower without balloons? To be honest, this is something I wanted to try and knew my son’s wedding shower would be the perfect occasion. Balloon Arch Stand The balloon arch would be freestanding in the wedding shower event space. Meaning, there would be no good place to attach the balloons, apart from a “stand”. I did a test run on the arch and stand and discovered it would be best to build a stand with two sides and one top pole. I used PVC pipe for the sides and top; 90 degree elbow fitting to attach the...
Spiderman and Frozen inspired gumball machines!
I am a big fan of Tracey’s Fancy and there have been a few of her projects that made me say “I want to make that!” These gumball machines are one of those projects. And, I thought they would make a great Easter gift for some young ones! We have all seen these red gumball machines. They are easy enough to purchase from Amazon, but, in my case, I found two on Facebook Marketplace and saved a bit of money. I disassembled the gumball machine (taking pictures along the way), scuff sanded and primed it with primer I had on...
Furnishing with Previously Owned Items | Living Room
If you have been with me for awhile, you know I renovated a villa in Florida which I intended to flip. The more I was there, the more I enjoyed being there and decided to keep it. Along the way, I collected some items intended for staging, but, later became items to furnish a winter home. I had a lot of fun finding pieces that would work together. In many cases, I refinished some pieces. In other cases, the pieces were already in good shape and worked well in the room. In this picture below, only the drapes and area...
Christmas Tree Canvas
Handmade gifts are so fun to give and make! I saw this simple Christmas card (below) and thought it would be lovely painted on a canvas. My daughter has lots of navy in her decor so this would be perfect gift for her. One of the advantages of DIY, is that it can be customized to whatever size to you need. I purchased a yard of navy fabric from Hobby Lobby and washed and ironed it. I decided on the size of the canvas and tree. I used whited paint I had on hand and painted basic brush strokes to...
Anthropologie Tassle Curtain DIY
In my latest flip, I brought together disparate decor items to create a cohesive and cozy look in master bedroom. In this case, I got inspiration from these adorable tassle curtains below from Anthro. These tassles made all the difference in bringing together the various colors (blue, yellow, cream and grey) from the staging pieces I collected along with texture! I found these curtain panels on Facebook Marketplace (originally from World Market) that work well with the light gray wall color. The blue from the adjoining master bath vanity and storage cabinet needed to be carried into the master bedroom...
Interior Doors as a Design Feature!
Paint color, door design and hardware can transform the look of a plain door into something really eye catching. In a recent investment property renovation, I needed to replace the wood grain, brown interior doors with brass door knobs. And, there were a lot — 6 handicap assessable, 2 bi-pass and 4 bifold. I haven’t had to do replace doors before, so I decided to have a little fun with it. DOORS I really liked the two panel door with a straight top edge. I checked Menards, Lowe’s and Home Depot and this style and the door sizes I needed...
Photo Stands | Great for any occasion
Adding photos to the decor of any celebration is so fun and makes the event so personal. This weekend, my family hosted a bridal shower for my niece. As part of the shower decor, we displayed photos of the future bride and groom. The event was in a restaurant, so I needed to be creative about how to display about 25 photos! FRAMES I wanted the photos to have a finished look, but didn’t want to spend a lot on frames. I found inexpensive frames at the dollar store. The frames held 4×6 photos, but the frames themselves were different...
Color and Dimension mean Big Impact
As part of the master bath update, I added a small feature wall that was very simple and affordable AND added huge impact through color and dimension. This master bath has both classic and on-trend design features. The traditional lines of the vanity and a classic style of the light fixture pair well with the polished chrome faucet, drawer pulls and towel bars. I loved the look of the board and batten I recently added board and batten to a kitchen and decided to add some batten and a bold color to create a feature wall in this master bath....
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