DIY Decor

Bathroom Redo

2011-10-26T14:28:00.003-05:00

One day we will gut this bathroom and have a larger vanity....until that day....I had to do something! Wallpaper, gold fixtures, and globe lights had to go!

I spray painted the light fixture, towel bars and mirror frame

replaced globe lights for about $4 each
new towels and some art work from pier 1

Here is the budget low down : gallon of paint $20

can of spray paint $1

towels, toothbrusher/soap holder $25

art work $19

new light shades $8

GRAND TOTAL: $73

Pumpkin Decor

2011-10-26T14:09:00.003-05:00

I had these great urns from my mini Christmas tree set...I was thrilled to find another season to use these urns. I may end up making the Welcome a little larger...I used black scrapbooking stickers for now.

Duct Tape Decor

2011-06-20T17:25:00.003-05:00

Who would of thought I be sticking Duct tape to things around my house because I like the way it looks. Have you seen the Duct tape prints that have come out? My dear friend brought me this roll and said "create" when she handed it to me (knowing it is my favorite print) Here are a few of my favorite items I have dressed up using it.......

candle and kitchen soap pump.....

the edge of a frame in my favorite photo grouping...

Gift bag using a sharpie marker

2011-06-20T17:13:00.003-05:00

I jazzed up a gift bag for my son's friends party with a sharpie marker :) Spiderman was the theme and I only spent .99 on the plain bag.

Brick fireplace makeover

2011-05-02T22:30:00.007-05:00

I finally addressed my ugly fireplace. After a long time of agonizing what to do, I chose the cheapest way possible to change the look. I dry brushed each brick with semi glass trim paint then blotted and wiped with a wet rag. I bought a few lumber pieces from Lowes ( I spent around $30 on wood) then attached it to the mantle for a surround to frame the fireplace. I think I might add a little molding here or there. It's a fun day when you get to break out the saw! I am really in love with my fireplace now! It has really brighten up the basement!

after.........

After....

during.....

before....

Valentines Door

2011-02-09T10:37:00.002-06:00

I wanted to jazz up my front door for Valentines day....It is amazing what a hot glue gun, left over quilt binding and some Damask duct tape can do!

Ebay drapes

2011-02-08T09:49:00.007-06:00

Here are a few pics of my dining room. Don't you love the view of the 18 inches of snow we got last week? The color is "Royal Red" from the Biltmore Estate collection at Lowes.

Shopping for a drape/curtain solution was a little stressful for this patio door. I wanted neutral, NON vertical blinds, something classy, insulated, but not too formal or fussy......

A patio panel drape is immediatly what I knew I wanted, but at the cost of $180.00, I didn't think it would happen. Until I checked out Ebay! I got these drapes for $11 (including shipping!!)

Oh, and here is my hutch in my red dining room now. You can read about this hutch makeover at http://diydecor.blogspot.com/2009/05/hutch-makeover.html

Meet my enemy...

2011-02-06T22:12:00.004-06:00

Meet my enemy....this dark, drab, basement brick fireplace....

picture this.....brick ripped out....mantle/molding in white added....bookcases flanking each side of the fireplace....SNAP...back to reality....

I am posting this hoping I will get some great advise on what to do that would be budget friendly. The wall color is a great smokey blue/green....the art on the mantle I got for $28 at Jcpenney that had been $180! It looks less blue in this photo, but trust me, it's lovely....

Help me! I am leaning toward this to address the dark brick issues I have....then adding a molding....

http://www.theoldwhitecottageblog.com/2010/11/whitewashing-brick.html

thoughts? thoughts?

Wall Tree

2010-09-22T12:18:00.001-05:00

I found a decal mural online that I liked for my daughters room, but decided to go with just painting it myself. I sketched it out on the wall, then used paint for the tree trunk/branches. I used scrapbooking paper for the leaves and flowers (with help from my Cricut) This project cost me about 2 dollars for paint and paper.

cakes

2010-09-12T14:50:00.001-05:00

Flip Album

2010-09-12T14:33:00.001-05:00

This mini flip album was so much fun to make! I used my snap shots from my sister-in-laws wedding and had it ready for them when they got back from their honeymoon.

For instructions to make this go to:

http://www.making-mini-scrapbooks.com/flipalbum.html

Painting Furniture Black

2010-09-10T18:37:00.003-05:00

In July we moved into our new home. The livingroom furniture has been on my mind for years. It was light pine, that was supposed to be "American Cherry" when we stained it...that's another story..... Here are the before/after photos. I primed and painted 5 pieces, changed hardware and am love with it now! The next step is adding wainscoting. I can't wait for the final vision of this room to be complete.

before......(house in Cali)

after.....(back in Missouri)

Changing Table to Kitchen

2010-04-28T14:49:00.001-05:00

I have been wanting to make my daughter a play kitchen for a while. I love the look of the wooden ones, but not the price. I found this changing table on the curb down the street, check out what I did! I spent about $20 on cream spraypaint, fabric, drawer knobs, 9x9 baking pan used for sink and a plumbing pipe used for faucet.

upside down to make my "cutting marks"

I think I use my husbands saw more than he does...

Put back together, I used the side rails as a shelf, and used white hooks for tea cups

All I have left are the burners, I traced a DVD with a sharpie, but I need to work on it a little more. My daughter picked out the fabric. We love it!

It's mine!!

2009-12-29T20:45:00.000-06:00

I spotted this advent house at Kohls earlier this month and decided it would be mine after Christmas when everything went on sale! So here is my advent house that I got for 75% off the day after Christmas.

I am so excited to use it next year. Our church gave us this AWESOME advent list to do. We barely got any of it done this year. I had my tonsils in mid December...so yeah...not really up to doing ANYTHING before Christmas.

Here are some of the things listed for advent I was given. So much better than candy...

Day5- birthday candle -- for Jesus' birthday

Day6- a key --- Jesus is the key to life

Day7- a crouton -- These croutons would not go very far if you were hungry! But Jesus can make much out of little. Read John 6:1-15

Isn't that awesome?! Each day has a bible passage to read your children...So I may add some candy to some doors WITH the items suggested on this list.

Photgraphy Name Art

2009-12-21T23:38:00.002-06:00

I saw this idea on a website that actually spammed a post I did.

http://www.alphabetpix.com/

Of course I am all about DIY, so why would I pay them to do

this for me? My sister in-laws last name is POPP, I made this

for their Christmas present. I struggled with coming up with

3 different "P"s So I reused one...It is amazing how many

letters I find in iron work now when I am out and about!

I bought the frame at Kmart on clearance for $6, it this was a

fairly inexpensive gift, but personal and I had a blast doing it!

I hope they like it!

My daughter, the party planner

2009-09-25T01:28:00.000-05:00

I love to make anything into a "lesson"...My daughter wanted to throw a tea party with her BFF Milla. I told her she may as long as she planned it all. I explained she needed to make a menu and shopping list. She was actually thrilled to do these things! She made the shopping list (cookies and pudding, hey it's a start), decorated the deck/playhouse area and even created a sign to direct her guest to the bathroom (which she lost, but we found it after the party)

I think little things like this will make her a better mother! Now personally I hate making menu plans and shopping lists (anyone who knows me is laughing right now) I love that she is learning what it takes to "throw a party"...

Milla and my daughter Allison (on the right)

Wall art transformation

2009-09-23T20:08:00.002-05:00

Oh, the Home Interior Party days.....Ever have one of these? I received a print like this for a wedding gift. I was able to transform this print for $10 and now it can actually hang on my wall.

I first tore it apart to see what I could and couldn't use.

I was able to reuse the frame and matte. I purchased a new print at Michaels for around $7 then bought craft paint in brown and then a metallic bronze color. I painted the matte brown, then painted over the gold frame with the metallic color.

Letters on a wall

2009-09-23T19:45:00.001-05:00

Here are a few pics of how I have used our last name "W" initial around our home. My newest one was a find for $5 at Ross last night. (oh, how I love Ross) I like the way it looks with my newly painted hutch (see other posts)

We moved out here with such short notice that had to rent. We are planning on buying a house next spring...so wait until you see all this with some wall color!

Here is a "W" in a photo grouping. This was found at home depot in the house letters section on clearance by my in laws. They knew I would figure out something to do with it. They know me so well.

Want to make it more personal? You can buy the cardboard letters at Michaels/Hobby Lobby and cover them with scrapbook paper. I had been considering doing this with a black and white damask pattern for my dining area, but this larger black letter will do for now.

Pirate Cake

2009-09-12T01:34:00.000-05:00

I got this idea from www.familyfun.go.com for a pirate ship cake. Here is my attempt... I suggest not making it the day before because it fell apart the next morning, so I had to bake another cake. So this idea is great, but save the assembly part for the day of the party....oh lessons learned :)

Homeschooling!

2009-09-11T23:43:00.000-05:00

I am thinking this blog is going to turn into something else...I started homeschooling my daughter last week. Never say never, because years ago I said I would never do this. God can do works! :) Here are a few pics of our first week that I wanted to share! I can't believe I was so scared to homeschool.

A little history of my homeschooling experience....My parents decided right after Christmas break of my freshman year of high school that they should homeschool me...yeah, that went over REAL well...I hated them for it. I cried every morning I heard my bus drive by. What was this social butterfly to do?!? Ahh yes..do her school work, then slip into her room to "study" (which was really turning on my TV to watch The View and other soap operas) So of course I said I would never homeschool.....

I have been such an emotional wreck these days with the fact that I moved 2000 miles away from everything I ever knew and am now in Southern California as a "nobody"....

Having school time has been such a blessing. I feel so organized and focused (for now, hee hee) I mean I totally love life out here (hello?! we have Disneyland passes!!!), but I miss my friends so much, and I find myself longing for them daily, hourly, minutely (is that a word?) I also signed up for MOPS and am very excited to meet other mothers in my area.

Reading....we are using the McGuffy series (old school)

Mud painting for art...we used cotton balls and Qtips...this was their favorite this week!

A visit to the new Library! (our new fav place)

The beginning of our own ABC book. We do a letter each day, then cut pictures out of magazines that begin with that letter.

Shabby Chic Photo Display

2009-06-22T17:46:00.002-05:00

This has been one of my favorite projects lately. I have had this idea for a while now, but finally found some cheap enough crystal knobs to get started! I would of done this in cream (to match my daughters furniture), but with us renting right and NO wall color, I went with a light pink.

Here are steps to create this photo display (or coat rack)

I purchase crystal knobs on ebay for $1.25 each and FREE shipping! Frames are from dollar tree and the wood was FREE from my garage. Of course you will need some pink spray paint.

I sprayed the frames and piece of wood.

I then measured, marked and drilled the holes to attach the crystal knobs. After this, I attached the knobs to the board, placed photos in frames, hot glued ribbon to use as hangers!

Give it a try!

Memory Board

2009-06-17T01:06:00.001-05:00

My daughter has been wanting to display photos of her family and friends in her bedroom, who can blame her? We just moved 2000 miles away from everyone she ever knew! So I decided to make this cork board a little more "girly" for her.

This is a cute, fun, and inexpensive project that you could customize for any room in your home.

Here are my step by step instructions....

After ironing the fabric, wrap it tightly and staple around the edges. I also used the stapler for the ribbon.

I bought these white push pins to put at the intersections...

final project! I can't wait to hang it up in her room, but it is 11:30 and she is sleeping :)

Hutch Makeover

2009-05-23T00:18:00.002-05:00

My mother purchased this hutch used in 1992. I have had it for 7 years now and decided it needed a little updating. Everytime I see black dining room furniture I have heart palpitations :)

The hutch was sanded, primed, painted, and sealed. New hardware was purchased at Lowes. I wanted to add "pop" to the back, so I cut cardboard to fit as the backing of the hutch then wrapped it in toile fabric. Grand total for update?? Under $30.

placemat pillows

2009-04-21T16:50:00.000-05:00

I found them! The pillows I had been searching for...EXCEPT they were $30 each.

I decided it was time to put my sewing machine to work. I found placements at Pier 1 that were the perfect print for $5 each. I then found square pillows on clearance for $3 at Target to use for filler. I cut the end of the placemat off, stuffed the pillow in, then trimmed and sewed up the end.

Total cost per pillow was $8