If you missed all the amazing projects of our first annual Creating with the Stars, be sure to check them out below!
Round 1 Projects &Winners Round 2 Projects & Winners Ro und 3 Projects & Winners Round 4 Projects & Winners -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sarah's unbelieveable bedroom transformation blew us away. The color combinations, details and style of the room were simply perfect and we fell in love immediately. She had a few awesome tutorials for her projects, so we decided to break them into two posts. Today, you'll see how she made that removeable accent wall that is a great solution for you renters out there, or those of you who have Design ADD like us!: ) When I heard that this week's theme was home decor I instantly knew that I wanted to do a bedroom feature wall and a dramatic headboard! With my amazing diy partner and husband, David, we got straight to work!
Living in a rental makes it nearly impossible to install classic wallpaper and nailhead, so we decided to build a separate feature wall! We wanted to incorporate two of my favorite materials, nailhead and grasscloth wallpaper. I love the texture of the wallpaper and the dimension of the nailhead! Want to know how we built the wall? Here we go!
We purchased three sheets of plywood from Home Depot and had them cut to 7' high. Since the feature wall is 12' long, it would need to be built inside of the room. We designed it so that it could easily be dismantled into three pieces to be removed. We tied the seams together with 1x3s and built a frame on the back with 1x3s so it was extra sturdy and straight. We then flipped it over and primed it so that they wall paper adhesive wouldn't soak in.
Once dry, we cut the wallpaper to the correct height, placed it to the side and rolled wallpaper adhesive over the primer. We then used a wallpaper smoothing tool to remove any bubbles. The steps were repeated with 4 rows across, lining up the seams. It was helpful to have two people so that it could be adjusted as needed!
For the design, I was inspired by this fantastic headboard by Annie Selke. We created the design in Illustrator, and calculated the distance between the nailhead and printed it on two sheets of 11x17 which were taped together. We then punched little holes through the dots and used a felt tip pen to lay it out on the wallpaper. Nailhead isn't the most fun thing to apply, but once you hit a rhythm you move pretty fast! Here are a few tips that I found helpful as I went. 1. To help protect my fingers from the hammer and to grab the nailhead more easily, I used rubber finger tips on my thumb and index finger (you know the ones that they sell in the office supply stores for sorting paper and such?) When I did hit my fingers, it hurt a lot less, and they weren't even sore when I was done! 2. If your wood is soft enough, push a few in with your finger first and then hammer. This saves time since you are putting the hammer up and down less frequently. Since our plywood was soft and hard in different spots, this wasn't always possible, but it helped when we could! 3. Lastly, this feature wall took about 2,250 nails. Wow, that's a lot of nails! So it was helpful to have two people or if you have the time, break it up over a few days. Total install time for the nailhead with two people was about 8 hrs.
It was helpful to install the trim (we painted first) before the nailhead reached the edge, so we knew exactly where to stop it. We used finish nails to secure the trim and then filled the holes with wood filler, sanded and painted once dry. Next, we decided that we wanted the wall to sit just above the trim, so we cut legs to height out of a 1x12 and secured it to the back frame. We then installed a few cabinet anchors through the trim into the wall to make sure that it was firmly attached. This wall was pretty massive! Almost the length of the room, but I LOVE the impact that it has on the space! Just because we are renting doesn't mean that without a little creative thinking we can't have a statement wall!
I mean, c'mon. That is genius, and we don't mind saying we wish we had done it first! Ha! Check out Sarah's fabulous blog, and then come back tomorrow to learn how to make that coral headboard! Oh yeah! One more thing! Have you linked up your favorite home decor project yet? You can do thathere for a chance to be featured on EC2 and win some great prizes.Fun for everyone!: )
We are so happy to have Janenifer from Dimples and Tangles here today sharing all the details on this stunning china cabinet transformation that she linked up last week in our final round of Creating with the Stars. Janenifer has great taste and impeccable style. We know that once you take a look at her blog, you won't be able to stop! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, here she is!
After almost two full weeks of work (off and on), it's finally done, and I'm going to make you scroll through way too many pictures. Let's remember the very sad before…
And the oh so fun after!
I wanted to create a glam, sophisticated look and lighten up the inside, so I used my wedding china, crystal, some other white dishes and thrifted milk glass I've collected to style the shelves.
I like symmetry.
Now for the details, I sanded, filled in gouges, sanded, wiped, and primed before painting three coats of color. Yes, I can confirm that dark colors are tricky and take more paint. The color I used was Behr's Pine Scent in semi-gloss. I used a good Purdy brush for the corners and a foam roller for the rest. Also, a huge trick I've learned when painting with latex paint is to use a coat or two of poly on the flat surfaces that will have something sitting on top of them. Latex paint can stay tacky for up to a month, but with a layer of poly it's ready to go after 24 hours or so…no tackiness!
. One of the knobs on the bottom doors was missing, and a few of the pulls on the top doors. I kept and cleaned up the brass backplates on the glass doors, and found these perfect glass knobs at Hobby Lobby. They are an oval shape rather than round so they fit nicely together where the doors meet.
I also gave you a sneak peak at the chunky hardware on the bottom. The oversize glass knobs were out of my stash. Did you guess what the backplate was? I knew I wanted something big and was coming up empty looking online, and then I remembered I had these…
They started their lives as…Christmas ornaments! I bought them and used them as hangers for an old window treatment (seen here). My handy husband drilled a hole in the middle and they were perfect! Along with the original drawer handles, they got a coat of Rustoleum's Metallic Brass spray paint, and then a coat of Rub-n-Buff in Gold Leaf.
I had planned to add height by adding an extending shelf in between the two pieces to house some cubbies for storage baskets, but I ended up just needing to get this piece d.o.n.e! I probably will still add that piece in the future.
With this project completed, I'm down to artwork and a new table for this room. I have the table but it needs some work so I am waiting for a streak of warm-enough days outside to work on it. That probably won't be happening until later in the spring. Artwork, though, coming up!
Isn't that gorgeous? We're totally digging the kelly green and gold together and how smart was it to use Christmas ornaments as part of the knobs??!! If you think that piece is awesome, you just have to see the Accent panel wall in Janenifer's office…it is to die for!
Thanks so much for sharing with us today, Janenifer! Check back tomorrow for an AWESOME Mother's Day giveaway that you don't want to miss!
P.S, We're the ones in a contest now and if we win, we get to give $5000 to the charity of our choice! We need your help, though- you can learn more about our project and the charity we chose here, or go vote for us every day for the next two weeks right here. Thank you!
Phew! We don't know about you, but we are exhausted after that month-long Creating with the Stars. But on the other hand, we really miss it! We could not be happier with the way our first ever contest went and hope you all enjoyed it and were inspired by it too! We are chomping at the bit to get back into the swing of our own projects,but before we do that, we thought we'd take a look back at the things we learned form Creating with the Stars 2013- David Letterman-style!
10. You get what you pay for. We learned this the hard way, for sure. We deicded to use a survey company that was very inexpensive to host each week's voting and we had major problems every week with it. You guys noticed it, too, and we promise that next year the voting will be sooo much easier! Putting out a little bit more money will be worth it if we can avoid all the hassles we dealt with!
9. Running the contest and trying to do each round's projects = Crazytown Even though we like the projects we came up with during the season trying to do them while hosting the contest, coordinating posts, emailing back and forth with stars and contestants, all while wrangling our kids and managing the rest of our lives and another HUGE project, we were on overload. Whoever thought of participating in each round (I'm pretty sure it was Monica,) is insane, and you WON'T be seeing that next season.: )
Week 1: Upcycled Door turned Desk, Week 2: Anthro Wood Cut Art Knockoff Week 3: Painted Piano, Week 4: Colorful and Fun Kid's Bathroom Makeover 8. You people are competitive! For real! We went into this season thinking it would be awesome and a whole lot of fun, not ever thinking people would be so into it! Even readers who weren't contestants got fired up about the littlest thing!. Honestly, we had no idea we would be dealing with so many Sherlock Holmes! Now we know you guys are in it to win it, and will back up your favorites no matter what! 7. Planning and preparation were key for these procrastinators! Posting seven days a week within a strict time frame is no joke. Usually, we decide the day before what we want to write about the next day, but not so with CWTS! We began seriously planning in October 2012- approaching sponsors and stars, writing emails, figuring out guidelines etc. We were super glad we did this because the contest went pretty smoothly. Thank goodness!
We finished our round 1 project last year at 1 AM. Procrastinate, much?6.The pressure is on when the world is watching, We absolutely hate it when something doesn't go quite as planned. We recognize there were a few glitches in the contest and because so many people were coming here every day, those mistakes were just that much more noticeable. Ick, we really don't like that. No more mistakes next year! 5. Go big or Go home! We always say we're not afraid to try or go after anything and it worked in our favor with this contest! We landed some amazing sponsors by just asking if they wanted to partcipate! Plus, we went out on a major limb (that involved pretty lame dancing and fake mustaches) to get our incredible stars on board! (PS. this video gets a little long, so feel free to skip the middle!)
4. It's pretty darn fun to help new bloggers get a step up! We were unbelievably grateful to Tam for giving us a platform to showcase our fun ideas when we won last year. It made people notice us, and we were so thrilled to do that for these 12 crazy-gifted girls. We hope that you'll continue to support your favorites and follow along as they grow bigger than us! 3. The Stars you all love really are that incredible! These ladies took time out of their very busy schedules to help better the contestants projects and photos. All of the contestants comments on how wonderful the stars were to work with. Thanks ladies!
2. It turns out we're not the only talented people in blogland. Ha! But seriously, the talent that the contestants showed, and the amazing projects you all linked up blew us away. We love that this blogging niche is so encouraging and open to sharing of ideas, and man, our list must-do project list grew by about a mile after all of the fabulous ideas we saw throughout the contest!
1. Creating with the Stars is the Most Epic Blog Contest on the Web! We already can't wait for next year's contest. It's definitely not too early for you to start creating awesome things because submissions open in February 2014!
What did YOU think of the contest? Will you get your game on next year?
Want to catch up on all the projects from Creating with the Stars 2013? Click below!
If you missed all the amazing projects of our first annual Creating with the Stars, be sure to check them out below!
Round 1 Projects &Winners Round 2 Projects & Winners Ro und 3 Projects & Winners Round 4 Projects & Winners -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sarah is back today with another awesome tutorial from the home decor project that won her the grand prize in Creating with the Stars. I love the way she built this headboard and broke it down for us- it makes any custom headboard within the realm of possibility!Plus, it looks unbelievable with that grasscloth and nailhead accent wall!
To complement the accent wall, we wanted to create a headboard that wouldn't compete yet wouldn't get lost against the nailhead and grasscloth. We made a plan and gathered our supplies. 1/2" plywood (1 sheet cut to width of bed frame, ours was 62.5") 2x8" (x2) 1x8 (x2) 1x3 (x4) coral curtain panels from Target heat n' bond batting I drew a few diagrams for the basic construction and dimensions of the headboard. See below for some the specifics on the upholstery. Measurements are for a queen bed frame. Note: make sure to measure your bed frame first, in case yours is different! You want to make sure that the frame will fit inside of the arms.
For the arms, we screwed a 1x8 and a 2x8 together, measured and drew the circle with a lid. We then followed the line with a jigsaw to cut it out (we did remove any screws that were in the way first!).
For the foam, we cut a 3" camping pad in half and attached to the plywood with spray adhesive. Next we upholstered the back piece by wrapping in batting and then fabric. To make sure that the top was pulled evenly, we attached a thin strip of scrap wood and pulled tight. This made it much easier to get an even look!
Next, we cut the fabric to wrap around the entire arm, starting at the inner part of the arm, we put a few staples in (on the inside so it stays in place while you attach the arm), we cut little holes in the fabric at the pilot holes (where arms attach to the frame). We then installed the arms with heavy duty screws (we used cabinet anchors) and attached it to the 1x3 frame. Then we finished upholstering! We pulled the fabric tight around the arm and stapled, leaving it loose at the top. We cut the angles, almost to the edge, but not close enough so that it frays to the side of the arm, pull tight and staple. It doesn't have to be pretty on the top because that will be covered next. We cut a band of fabric the total height of the arm (accounting for the bends) plus a few inches and the width (2.5") of the arm plus enough fabric to fold under (at least.5" on each side, so at least 3.5" total). We folded the raw edges under and pressed with a hot iron so that the edges were crisp and attached the band to the arm with no-sew adhesive (my preference is Heat n' Bond) and a hot iron, staple to secure the ends. That's it!
I finished the bed off with a few DIY pillows. The euro pillow shams are made from a white table cloth and a scarf from World Market. Since the scarf was translucent, I doubled it up with the white table cloth. The throw pillows are white shams from Ikea, I then painted a border using painters tape and latex paint with fabric medium. The bolster pillow is a kitchen towel from World Market and the left over headboard fabric.
I love how the grasscloth slightly shimmers depending on the lighting.
The nightstand is from World Market, the sphere from TJ Maxx and I picked up little letters (to spell his and hers) from a local antique store. Books were wrapped in paper from the Paper Source.
Hydrangeas and Ranunculus are two of my favorite flowers!
This week was sponsored by Home Goods, and if you've read my blog, you probably know that I'm pretty obsessed with the Home Goods/TJ Maxx/Marshalls brand! I love the thrill of the hunt, designer names and the affordable prices! I picked up a cute accent chair, fluffy white rug (my puppy love it too!) and the white sphere!
Finally, here's where we got everything! Headboard: Fabric Coral drapery panel from Target (x2), Batting,
3" camping foam from Home Depot only $20! Feature Wall: Grasscloth wallpaper,
Nailhead (we used about 2.25 boxes),
Trim- I found 2.5"wide synthetic trim from Home Depot on clearance for $4/8ft board Accessories: Night stand (World Market — not on website), decorative sphere (TJ Maxx), His and Her letters (local antique shop), Throw pillow on chair, chair (TJ Maxx), lamp and lamp shade, duvet cover I'm crazy about our new transformation and I hope you love it too!
We totally love it too! Well done, Sarah! We 're ready for you to make a trip to good ol' Bucks County to fix up our master bedrooms. Any time.: )
If you missed all the amazing projects in the first three weeks of CWTS, be sure to check them out below!
Round 1 Projects & Winners Round 2 Projects & Winners Ro und 3 Projects & Winners Round 4 Projects Before we do anything else, we want to say thank you to all of our sponsors! This fabulous contest was made possible by them and we are ever so grateful! Also, a HUGE shout out to Homes.com and HomeGoods for sponsoring the Grand Prize round this week! You guys are the best! The Grand Prize Winning Team will EACH receive: $500 from Homes.Com $500 Gift Card to HomeGoods Project featured by HomeTalk
We just can't keep you guys waiting in suspense any longer! Without further ado… The Grand Prize Winner of The 1st Annual Creating with the Stars Contest is…
1. Sarah { Sarah M. Dorsey Designs } & Brooke { All Things Thrifty }
(Sarah, her hubs, and cute pup!) Colorful, Texture-filled Bedroom Makeover
Congratulations Sarah and Brooke! Sarah has delivered such amazing projects throughout this contest. Let's take a look back, shall we? Round 1: Statement Light Fixture
Round 2: Custom Cornice, Drapes and Bench
Round 3: Painted Secretary Desk and Accent Wall
We have LOVED having Sarah in the contest and have been continually inspired by her. Well done, girl! Make sure you keep up with all of Sarah's DIY awesomeness- Follow her on Facebook!
Melissa and Amanda have been awesome competitors too! They worked hard, stretched their DIY limits and came up with some super fun and stylish projects. Thanks for being a part of the contest, ladies! We also want to thank Beckie and Sherry for being amazing blog stars! Their partners loved working with them, and we already love them (duh!)
2. Melissa { 5 foot 12 Creations } & Sherry { Young House Love } Guest Room Makeover
3. Amanda { Love and Renovations } and Beckie { Infarrantly Creative } Reading Room Makeover
Here's the official vote tally…
This contest has been absolutely amazing and we're so thankful to all of you for playing along! Tomorrow we'll share how Sarah put her room together and then Friday we have a fun wrap up post for ya… think David Letterman top ten meets Monica and Jess. We know… you can hardly wait right?!? We'll also be sharing our favorite home decor project from the link up party (you have until Friday at 10 PM EST to link up right here). The good stuff just keeps on coming!: )
If you haven't already done so, please GO VOTE for your favorite in the fourth and final round of CWTS! If you missed all the amazing projects in the first three weeks of CWTS, be sure to check them out below! Round 1 Projects & WinnersRound 2 Projects & WinnersRo und 3 Projects & Winners
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We can't believe we are already in the final week of Creating with the Stars! This contest has far exceeded our expecations and has opened our eyes to so many new blogs and talented people! This week's challenge was Home Decor, and I knew right away that I needed to tackle my kid's bathroom. It was in bad shape- boring, dingy and gross. It had ugly vinyl flooring, yellowed rubber trim and purplish walls (we bought a $5 can of"oops" paint when we first moved in- big mistake!)
We made a lot of easy and inexpensive upgrades like replacing the old flooring with vinyl peel & stick tile (it cost under $30!), adding chunky baseboard trims, painting the walls and the vanity, framing the mirror, hanging a new shower curtain and throwing a new bathmat down (both were from World Market). Not to mention, I accessorized with fun stuff from HomeGoods. Thanks, HG!
This adorable bird shelf coordinated so well with the shower curtain and was marked waaaaayyy down from $120 to $30, which made me super happy. I lined the back of the shelves with coordinating paper for a fun pop of color.
And just for fun, here's the before and after shot for you.
Now it's your turn to link up your favorite home decor projects from the past year. Anything home decor-related, room makeovers included, are fair game! We can't wait to see what you've got!
Don't forget to checkback tomorrow to find out the Winner of the first ever Creating with the Stars contest! We're biting our nails over here!
If you missed all the amazing projects in the first three weeks of CWTS, be sure to check them out below! Round 1 Projects & WinnersRound 2 Projects & WinnersRo und 3 Projects & Winners
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sarah really outdid herself this week with her amazing paint project. She's consistently delivered high quality, beautiful projects in the contest! We are in love with her sense of style and the way she mixes patterns!
When I first heard that they theme for week three was paint, I instantly knew that I wanted to transform this bookcase! It had great lines and details, and with the help of a little paint and power tools, it's issues could easily be turned around! We started with a bookcase from Goodwill. They were remodeling the back end of the building so we got it for 50% off, which ended up at $30. I'm thinking the drop panel was originally intended to be a dry bar, Goodwill even had it staged with an ice bucket and martini glasses! Turning it into a secretary was the perfect solution since it would fix the choppy layout and add more functionality! We also added little feet to help it look not as bottom heavy and swapped the hardware for something smaller.
Thanks for the help Home Depot!
We designed the stencils in the computer and cut them out on the silhouette. The big one is 9 — 12x12 sheets that were taped together! See those little lines? They were necessary to hold the stencil together, so I went back and filled them in with a little paint afterwards.
And a few pics of our process. We adjusted the layout so that it doors were together (on the bottom) and the shelves were together (at the top). I now love how the fold down door doesn't break up the shelving, and now acts as a desk! To paint, I followed the same principles I always do: sand, fill in holes/dents with wood filler, sand again, wipe down with a microfiber cloth, prime, lightly sand with a fine sandpaper, wipe with a microfiber cloth, and then apply the top coat (3 coats)! and a few behind the scenes shots … This stencil was pretty exhausting since it was so big, I had to hold down the stencil as I went since it didn't want to stay flat on the wall. We did photograph it in the garage, but there is concrete there! I picked up some cheap (about $1 a ft) laminate from Home Depot. Finally, when styling, I'm big on placing it and stepping back to see what it looks like, David was nice enough to move things around for me: )
I found these brass pieces at a local antique store, only a few dollars each!
Vase and pencil holder are votive containers from Target.
I was so excited to see ranunculus, my second favorite flower (favorite = peonies)
See how thick that door is!? The doors alone were super heavy!
I really love how a little paint can completely refresh a piece! Goodbye worn bookcase, hello new secretary desk! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Oh my word, not only does Sarah have amazing vision, she's a pro at making her vision come to life! We can't get enough of the way those stencils complement each other and the way she staged the shelves. Isn't it crazy that Sarah did this in her garage too? Lucky garages this week, for sure!: ) We can't wait to see what she's going to come up with this week! I just spent way too much time drooling over Sarah's house. Make sure you take a look at her home tour- it's fab!
We'll probably be double-posting tomorrow (you know, we're crazy like that) so be sure to check to see which linked up project this week is our favorite! We hope you have a wonderful Easter. This holiday means so much to us and we're grateful for what God has done for us today and every day!
If you missed all the amazing projects in the first three weeks of CWTS, be sure to check them out below! Round 1 Projects & WinnersRound 2 Projects & WinnersRo und 3 Projects & Winners
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We love when someone takes a current trend and puts their own unique spin on it! This interactive wall by Melissa scores major points with us for creativity and major points with her kids for hours of fun! I don't even want to show my kids these pictures because I know for sure that they'd think Melissa is a much cooler mom than I am!
Our basement is better known as"the kid cave." When we arranged it, we set it up in"stations"--kitchen area, dress-up area, puppet theater, arts & craft studio and a"school room"for my future teacher. I love the way chalkboard paint looks and although it is not a new concept, I have always wanted to use it in our basement. The wall I chose for this project is approximately 21 feet long and I thought it would be neat to create an interactive chalkboard wall.
First, I painted the wall using Rustoleum Black Chalkboard Paint. While it recommends two coats of paint, I went ahead and gave it three coats, as the wall seemed to really soak in the first coat. In designing the chalkboard wall, I knew I wanted lots of space for the kids to draw and create, but I also wanted to put some things that would be permanent, instead of just having a 21 foot chalkboard. I decided to include a map of the U.S.A…I love the way it looks and will be fun to track the different states we go to as a family. I printed a map of the U.S. onto an overhead transparency and used an overhead projector to trace the map onto the wall. I used a permanent white paint sharpie marker to trace the map.
I also wanted to have some fun and whimsical frames on the wall as well. So using the same method as the U.S.A. map, I chose the following"hanging doodle frames" from PrintCandee.com:
Next, I designed a large interactive tic-tac-toe board. Similar to the map and frames, I traced the board onto the wall. Here is the board I used…you can download the template here.
I bought five"X's" and five"O's" from the craft store…you may have to go to a few craft stores--they have plenty of"O's" but don't stock many"X's"! Also at the craft store, I bought self-adhesive magnet strips. At Home Depot, I bought nine two-inch washers. After painting the"X's" and"O's", I super-glued the washers onto the letters, and fastened the magnet strips onto the wall.
For the title of the game and the map, I created stencils on my Cameo. Here is a great tip for stenciling… once you get the stencil arranged onto the wall (or wood, object, etc.), before stenciling with the color(s) you want the word/objects to be…first paint a light coat of the background color…in this case I used the black chalkboard paint. This creates a seal with the stencil and I have found that it prevents bleeding of the paint--making your stencil look very crisp.
(I forgot to take picture of painting on the red and blue! Sorry!)
Speaking of paint…it was a blast picking out all the fun paint colors at Home Depot! Because I was using so many colors and didn't need a gallon of each color…Home Depot made my day when they told me that they can mix any color in a small, 7.5 oz jar…perfect!!
I picked the step-stools up at IKEA and painted them in fun colors…
Not only are they great for setting the game pieces and chalk on, but they are extremely sturdy stools and perfect for giving little kids a boost for drawing and playing on the wall. I have always adored these giraffe and elephant hooks from Anthropologie…and I love the way they add a fun (and helpful!) detail to the chalkboard wall:
Finally I added some framed artwork courtesy of the kids…they were so excited to help with this project!
Mom of the year, folks!: ) If you haven't stopped over to say hello to Melissa, what are you waiting for? She's got a bunch of cute things going on over there on her blog including this adorable"Wizard of Oz" subway art she made for her daughter:
Don't forget to link up your favorite paint projects right here until 10 PM EST tonight! Also, Sarah will be here tomorrow sharing how she completely transformed that chunky bookshelf into an awesome functional and beautiful secretary desk- you won't want to miss it! Happy weekend!
We loved Amanda's project this round because they did some things we're totally into… Everyone knows I have a thing for yellow (check out my yellow dining room buffet here). We also use our projector any chance we get (check out Jess' gigantic shaped frame), and we just love that they were willing to stage their garage to get the PERFECT look! Well, it paid off, Amanda! Now, tell us how you made it happen… ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have to admit, I was pretty stumped with the paint round at first. I'm not super creative when it comes to thinking up wall art or paintings, and I didn't have a lot of ideas in mind for what I could do. But then, I remembered this little guy sitting out in my garage:
Corey and I have had this Bjursta sideboard from Ikea in our garage for a few weeks now — my sister was getting rid of it and asked if I wanted it, and I rarely turn down free furniture, so I said yes even though I didn't really have a plan for it. Corey and I figured it could live in our garage when we convert it into a family room (which we fully plan to do ASAP!), but that was the end of the plans we had for it. So, after a brainstorming session one night, Corey and I landed on a plan — we'd give this guy a makeover and set it up in a high-contrast room. The goal was punchy, modern, and fun. After some debate, we landed on this color palette, with paint from Home Depot.
(The colors are Sunny Side Up by Behr, Cordite by Home Decorators Collection and Totally Black by Home Decorators Collection) We started off with a black wall…
We just painted one of the walls in our garage for this particular project — down the road once we convert it, we'll probably do the rest of the walls black as well (or 1-2 black and the rest white), but I didn't want to go there yet. So, if you back up from our shot a little bit, you'd see…
Just Keeping it real, y'all. For contrast, we picked out a super rich, mustard yellow for the sideboard.
(Obviously this is not the finished sideboard — just with one coat on it! Just a reminder that things look crazy before they start to look good!) On the walls, we originally planned on just hanging a gallery wall, but when I got the idea to paint a world map on it, we knew it was the way to go. We pulled up a good map online and used our projector to get it up on the wall.
I was surprised by how quick it was to get the map painted — we just used some small paintbrushes and I outlined while Corey filled in. It took about an hour and a half from start to finish, which is way better than I expected.
(Yes, we do DIY projects in our pajamas. Don't you?)
Once everything was all finished and dry, we decided the sideboard needed a little something extra. So we grabbed some paint in the same color but a different finish (the main part is high gloss, the details are flat), and used the projector again to add some numbers. It's a super subtle detail, but we love that about it — when you're looking from straight on, the map is totally the star. But if you shift yourself a little to either side, the numbers suddenly jump out at you.
After the numbers were finished, it was just time to style! We added an Ikea rug to hide the concrete floor (and to add some pattern)…
.added a lamp for some height… .
. …and then we finished it off with a few accessories and books. And it looks a little something like this:
I'm pretty head over heels with this little set-up, and I'll admit — I'm sad it's in our garage because I can't gaze at it every day! But, hopefully we'll be able to tackle the rest of this room pretty soon and I can go stare at it anytime I want to! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Talk about dramatic! Amanda's garage is now the prettiest one we've ever seen! It has been so much fun to browse Amanda's blog. One thing that caught our eye is this China Cabinet makeover. The chalkboard paint is such a fun surprise at the back and we loooooove that hardware.
Plus, this little table-length succulent trough is too cute!
We have two more awesome tutorials from Melissa and Sarah tomorrow and Saturday, so be sure to come on back. Also, if you haven't linked up your favorite paint project, you can do that until tomorrow at 10 PM EST. We LOVE seeing all the incredible things you guys do in your homes! We'll pick our favorite and feature it here on EC2 on Sunday!
This is so exciting, isn't it? We're almost into the final round of our first ever Creating with the Stars contest which is crazy! We know that the contestants are putting in hours and hours of work on their projects each week so that they are the best they possibly can be, and we just have to say that the caliber of their projects is blog star-level!
This week was Sponsored by The Home Depot, and isn't it amazing what a huge impact a little paint can have? Ah-mazing! Here's a little reminder of the epic prizes our Round 3 winner will receive… $500 Gift Card to Home Depot (Contestant & Blog Star!!) $100 worth of Martha Stewart supplies from Plaid Crafts $125 Gift Card to Lucent Lampworks Project featured by HomeTalk
The votes were neck and neck again this week, with only a few votes separating the top two spots. Only three contestants move on to the finals, so the pressure is really on! Ok, enough of our chatting, let's get those results!
1. Amanda { Love and Renovations } and Beckie { Infarrantly Creative } Painted Wall Mural and Dresser
This is Amanda's second week in a row in the top spot…for good reason! You just can't ignore that yellow dresser (Monica has a similar painted dresser in her dining room!) and set against that black wall, it's just stunning! Congrats again, Amanda!
2. Melissa { 5 foot 12 Creations } & Sherry { Young House Love }
Painted Chalkboard with Map and Games
3. Sarah { Sarah M. Dorsey Designs } & Brooke { All Things Thrifty }
Painted Desk and Accent Wall using Custom Stencils
Ack, this is just so hard to do (does it ever get easier?!!), but we have to say goodbye to these three amazingly talented women. 4. Sarah { While They Snooze } & Sarah { Thrifty Decor Chick }
Painted Map Coffee Table
5. Nancy { Owen's Olivia } & Kari { Ucreate } Painted Couch featuring a Custom Horse Stencil
Seriously, we could cry about having to let Nancy, Sarah and Janel go! You guys are welcome back here anytime. And, now we know who to call when we need something awesome painted! Here's the voting break down… the first and second place projects were separated by under 50 votes!! Insane!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ok, it's the finals now, people- the last chance these bloggers have to show what they're made of!
The prizes are stinkin' awesome this round (and the Blog star gets them too!) The Grand Prize Winners (Contestant and Blog Star) will each receive: $500 from Homes.Com $500 Gift Card to HomeGoods Project featured by HomeTalk
Next week the challenge is Home Decor- so anything (even a room makeover) is fair game! Tomorrow we'll be sharing the tutorial for that amazing mural and yellow dresser! We'll be so sad when this contest is over and we don't have these incredible tutorials on our blog anymore!
Ok, guys, we are in the last two weeks of competition with Creating with the Stars and to say that the contestants exceeded our expectations would be the understatement of the century. We have six competitors still fighting for a spot in the final 3 and no one is going down without a major fight. If you missed the first two weeks of projects, check them out below: Round 1 Projects & Winners Round 2 Projects & Winners
This week some amazing prizes are at stake. The semi-finals winner will take home… $500 Gift Card to Home Depot (Contestant & Blog Star!!) $100 worth of Martha Stewart supplies from Plaid Crafts $125 Gift Card to Lucent Lampworks Project featured by HomeTalk
Now, we know you're all dying to see what amazing projects our contestants have come up with this week with paint! Let's go! 1. Painted Couch Featuring a Handmade Horse Stamp
We have all seen these couches before in someone's grandma's house. This vintage couch is not the good kind of vintage, but I may have some of you convinced that this traditional style can be made more modern. I painted the couch white, carved out a horse, and stamped the living daylights out of it with black paint from Home Depot. Enjoy!
2. Painted Map Coffee Table Painting! I'm not going to lie, I was pretty stoked about this week… and amazed I made it here. Painting is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to transform almost anything. And my table was in need of some transforming- big time. I picked it up at a flea market type place for $40… peeling, chipping, splinters, dirt and all.
I sanded and scraped (forever) until no more paint chips fell off when you walked by. Then I gave the entire table a coat of latex paint from Home Depot (mixed with a little plaster to make chalk paint), leaving some of the peeling paint texture on the legs. After that was dry, I taped off a large"X" pattern on the smaller shelf and added a painted stripe detail to IKEA storage boxes for the bottom.
On the top, I made my own basic map stencil by cutting away the continents on a large world map I printed out. I stuck the map to the table with painter's tape, then painted over top with blues and greens. Once that was"roughed in", I removed the paper map and spattered the rest of the painted detail free hand using mostly a plastic spoon and really watered down paint. The last step was to give the entire table a coat of protective finishing wax.
I kind of think the end result is out of this world… hehe, get it?
3. Painted Desk and Accent Wall Using Custom Stencils
I love paint! It sets the mood of a space and has the power to completely transform a piece. I found this large bookcase at Goodwill and loved the detail on the doors, arch at the top, and the drop panel but didn't like choppy layout, worn finish, and heavy bottom. Luckily, all of my dislikes were easy to fix with a little paint and reconfiguration of the layout.
With a little help from the Home Depot, I was well on my way to getting started. Thanks Chris!
Fix #1 — I moved the drop panel down to 30" so that it can now be used as a secretary desk. Goodbye choppy bookcase, hello new desk! Fix #2- Paint! The finish was worn and it had a few areas that needed to be filled with wood filler so painting was the perfect solution! I chose a classic ivory and paired it with a deep turquoise stenciled background. I created the stencil based on one of my favorite Farrow and Ball wallpapers. Fix #3-the thick base and doors made this piece look bottom heavy. To fix this, I added small feet to lift it off the ground and create a little visual space at the base. I also created a large stencil based on one of my favorite rugs. The large scale and contrast provides a lot of visual impact and adds variety from the small scale stencil used on the back.
With the help of paint and a few power tools, this bookcase has been given a new life and I love the way it looks in my new space! 4. Painted Chalkboard with Map and Games This week's theme was my favorite so far…I love the many many ways that paint can be used to make an instant change and impact on a space or an object. I also love chalkboard paint. This week's project is dedicated to my kiddos who surprise, surprise…love to get that their craft on too!; )
In designing the chalkboard wall, we decided to have a map of the U.S.A…I love the way it looks and it will be fun to track the different states we go to as a family. After coloring in the states my kids have been to, they commented"well that's not very many", so I let them each choose a state they would like to go to someday…which explains why Hawaii and Alaska are colored.: ) Lately my oldest child has loved playing tic-tac-toe, so I thought a large, interactive wall version would be super-fun! I also included many"frames" for the kiddos to draw their masterpieces in. I picked the step-stools up at IKEA and painted them in fun colors, and the animal hooks holding our chalk and erasers came from Anthropologie. It was a blast picking out all the fun paint colors at Home Depot! Because I was using so many colors and didn't need a gallon of each color…Home Depot made my day when they told me that they can mix any color in a small, 7.5 oz jar…perfect!!!
And after a super-busy week painting…I'll go to bed tonight and dream about being on a beach in…
;)
5. Aztec Wonder Painted Rug I have been in love with the Aztec inspired rugs that I have been seeing in catalogs and online lately. The drool kind of love. But alas, rugs can be expensive. They are not something I can change an a whim. So, when the paint round came about I decided that it was time for me to get my hands on my latest crush and do it in a budget-friendly way. In DIY style, of course.
Isn’t she beautiful?! This rug was a labor of love. And a lot and lot of sponges cut into stamps…applied one by one. Fabulous colors, a gentle application of paint from Home Depot, and lots of patience made this rug come together into something lovely.
My rug is more then happy living with me. And, I am so pleased to have my own version of this latest craze. And… you know what? I’m glad we’ve moved on from Chevron to Aztec. I’ve got my Aztec rug and I’m ready to go!
6. Painted Wall Mural and Dresser I have a thing for maps right now — doesn't everyone? So, when it came time for the"paint" challenge, I was pretty excited to hop right in and paint a giant world map on my wall. Because who doesn't need one of those?!
I used a projector to hand-paint the whole thing, and then for a bit of contrast (and fun!) I added an old Ikea sideboard we had laying around that I painted Sunny Side Up by Behr from Home Depot. For a couple more little touches, I added bicycle drawer pulls (because, why not?) and numbers to the door fronts — you can barely see them from straight on, but if you look at it from a different angle, they suddenly show up. It's a subtle touch, but I didn't want anything to compete with the map above it!
I love how the black and yellow work together, and I'm pretty excited to finally achieve my dream of covering a wall with the entire world. And, really, I find it hard to believe that this bright and sunny sideboard was once a plain, boring black Ikea piece — don't you love how big of a transformation paint can make?!
It's time to vote! You guys have a ridiculously hard job- we don't envy you a bit! You can only vote one time, but you can vote for your favorite 3 projects. **The voting glitch for Round 3 has been corrected and voting will be adjusted accordingly. Thanks! In order to vote, please LIKE EC2 on Facebook.
One of the most fun parts of the CWTS contest is getting to see the fun projects linked up in our weekly link party! The girls in this contest are seriously talented, but guess what?! So are YOU! If you want to get a burst of inspiration, check out the fab upcycle projects that were linked up right here.
We were immediately drawn to this end table when we saw it in the party since we're both HUGE fans of rustic industrial style furniture. Allison from The Golden Sycamore put some serious effort and time into this piece and it tells! It's absolutely gorgeous! Well done, girl.; )
As I mentioned a few weeks ago on my blog, I'm really into the industrial look right now. I seriously can't get enough of it! While I was playing around online one day, showing my husband all these cool industrial tables, he got an idea in his head: Why not build one ourselves? One thing led to another and now we have our own custom industrial end table for our living room! (You can see the reveal post {here}). This was our inspiration for the table …
My husband and I are really happy with how our table turned out and I'm excited to share this project with you, but I want to warn you, this particular DIY project is not for the faint of heart. This project is a bit of a process and can be dangerous if you don't know what you're doing and aren't careful. PLEASE do not attempt this unless you feel very confident in your abilities. Please be sure you take all safety precautions when using a power tool or dangerous chemicals or objects and read the instruction manuals before using them. I am not a trained professional. If you are uncertain, please consult an expert before attempting this or any projects on this blog. I will not be responsible for any injuries or damages caused by any attempts to recreate this or any projects posted on this blog.
Alright, now that that's out of the way, onto the tutorial. Aging Galvanized Metal
SUPPLIES: 8 — 3/4" x 10" galvanized pipe ($29.60) 16 — galvanized floor flanges ($116.16) 48 — 1/4" x 1" galvanized lag screws ($22.08) HCl / toilet bowl cleaner Plastic container Small map gas torch ($41.97) Heat safe gloves ($4.46) Vegetable oil Beeswax Metal pan Metal pliers PROCEDURE: Start by putting your galvanized metal plumbing supplies in a plastic container. Add enough HCl / toilet bowl cleaner to cover all the metal and let sit for 2-3 hours. This process will remove the zinc coating off the galvanized metal. **DO THIS PART OUTSIDE OR IN A VERY WELL VENTILATED AREA — YOU DON'T WANT TO BE BREATHING THESE CHEMICALS IN!! (This is a picture of the screws in toilet bowl cleaner. We did them separately, but you can just put everything together.)
After a few hours, rinse all your metal pieces off. Pour some vegetable oil in a metal container. Wearing heat safe gloves and holding your piece of metal with a pliers, heat metal with torch until it is hot enough that it turns orange. Once it is thoroughly heated, dip in vegetable oil. Then reheat the piece of metal to orange hot. Once it is hot enough, set in oil to cool for about 30 seconds. **AGAIN — USE CAUTION. DO THIS PART IN A SAFE AREA AND HAVE A FIRE EXTINGUISHER NEAR BY IN CASE OF FIRE!!
The metal will still be very hot, so take the piece of metal out of the oil with a pliers.
Cool the metal with water.
Once it's cool to the touch, scrub off burned oil residue with water and a wire brush.
Lightly heat metal again with torch (about 30 seconds) and coat with beeswax. Once coated, rub with cotton rag while still warm.
Let cool before handling. Metal will still be hot for a while.
And that's it! Haha! I know the process is intense, but if you really want the aged look, it's worth it! Here is what your finished product should look like. Repeat process for all your pieces of metal.
Now onto the wood shelves.
SUPPLIES: 1 — IKEA Numerar oak butcher block countertop ($129.00) — we used a little over half the length, so the cost of what was used was roughly $70 Tape measure and pencil Circular saw Straight edge clamp Router Orbital sander and sand paper Stain Silhouette Cameo and stencil Paint and paint brush Mineral oil PROCEDURE: Start by measuring your Numerar butcher block to the size you want your shelves and mark where to cut. Our shelves measure 19.5" wide x 24" deep.
Set up your straight edge clamp so that your saw will cut on your measured line. You'll probably have to set it to about a half inch over to allow for the width of the saw.
Cut butcher block with circular saw. Repeat this process for second shelf.
Run orbital sander along the edges to ensure a smooth finish. Then router the edges of each shelf — remember to do the top and bottom sides to keep the look cohesive.
With your orbital sander, sand the finish off the top and bottom of both shelves.
Using Minwax Dark Walnut stain, wipe on stain and immediately wipe off to get a slightly darker color, but not too much penetration. If you desire a darker stain color, either leave the stain on longer before wiping off or apply more layers of stain to darken it.
I don't have pictures of this part, but if you wish to add numbers to your top shelf, here's how to do it. Choose the style and size of numbers you want and cut them out using your Silhouette Cameo. If you don't have a Cameo, you can always print numbers out on your printer and then cut them out by hand. Once you have your numbers, arrange them on the shelf the way you want them and then trace around them using a white or black colored pencil. Once your numbers are traced, use craft paint and a small paint brush to paint inside the lines. Let paint dry and sand lightly with sand paper to desired distressed look.
Once you are done with your numbers (or if you skipped that step) wipe both shelves with mineral oil (or some other sealant like wax or polyurethane) to seal the shelves.
Now to put it all together. SUPPLIES: Drill Wrench or impact driver All your metal pieces Both shelves Level PROCEDURE: Drill pilot holes in each shelf. You'll drill four holes per flange. Drill holes in the bottom of the top shelf. The bottom shelf will get holes drilled in both sides — top and bottom. Make sure to stagger your holes on the bottom shelf so that they don't meet up with each other through the wood. Using your wrench or impact driver, on the bottom shelf, attach 4 flanges with your lag screws on the top side of the shelf. Screw pipe into the four flanges. Attach flanges to the bottom of the top shelf with lag screws. Screw those flanges to the pipe that is already attached to the bottom shelf. Attach flanges to the bottom side of the bottom shelf. Screw pipe into flanges and screw final flanges to the bottom of the pipe — these are the table's"feet". Check to make sure the table is level. If it isn't, screw or unscrew pipes until the table is level.
Alright, if you've made it to the end of this post, I applaud you! I told you it was intense! I definitely can see why our inspiration piece was almost $700! Not only are the materials relatively expensive, but it is also quite labor intensive! In the reveal post, I said that the table cost us about $300 to make. We had a lot of the tools on hand, but we had to purchase most of the supplies. In this post I've added up the supplies we bought and calculated our total cost (using about half the countertop cost since we can use the remainder of the countertop for another project). The total came to $284.27. If you add MI tax, it comes to $301 and some change. That's a pretty good estimate on our part, if you ask me!: ) If I didn't explain something well enough or you have any questions, PLEASE feel free to ask! I'll do my best to help you out! Thanks so much for reading my loooong tutorial!: ) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Isn't that incredible?! Seriously, so good. Thanks for linking up, Allison! Don't forget to check back at midnight tonight to see the Contestants Round 3 projects!
We're pulling a Young House Love and are double-posting today. It's kind of fitting since Melissa is Sherry's partner!. If you missed the Round 2 projects, you can see all of themright here. To see the bloggers you chose to move on to Round 3,. We're sure these girls are already working hard on their Paint challenge this week- ack! We're loving the suspense.: )
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If any knockoff was a bear to tackle, this one is it! All that detail-oriented stenciling makes us tired just looking at it. We love that Melissa took the design and changed it up so that it is unique and matches her home. Take it away, Melissa!
Anthropologie is my very favorite store. I love all the colors, the design, the textures, the ambience and inspiration that I always find there. When I saw this gorgeous ikat hand painted console, I knew it was the perfect piece of inspiration for CWTS Project #2: Knock Off. (and at $1698--it's a great piece to knock off; )
1. I bought a similar looking cabinet base from IKEA. In looking for the right piece of furniture to use for this project, the most important thing was to have flat doors with plenty of space for the ikat stencil design.
2. In order to achieve a wood-like look similar to the anthro console, I did some research on painting IKEA furniture. Leaving the cabinet in pieces, I spray-painted them with three coats of Zinsser BIN shellac-based primer. In between each coat of primer, I sanded very lightly. This stuff is amazing and allowed me to paint right over it with no problems. After letting the primer dry, I painted the cabinet pieces with two coats of paint which I had left over from other projects. I painted all pieces with BM Wheeling Neutral, with the exception of the cabinet doors, which I painted BM Linen White.
3. The next step included a bit of experimenting, but ended up turning out great. On top of the painted cabinet pieces, I used a soft dry cloth and applied a light layer of Annie Sloan Dark Wax. I wasn't sure how this wax would take to the paint, but it worked wonderfully and gave the piece a great look. In the second picture below, you can see the difference between the boards (before wax on the left and waxed on the right). After all the pieces of the cabinet were waxed and dry, I put the cabinet together, minus the front doors.
4. I ordered the ikat stencil ("ikat pattern #1 repeating stencil") online from Olive Leaf Stencils. Next up was choosing paint colors. I went to the paint store and pulled paint chips to match the anthropologie console. I knew their color palette worked well but I wanted to create a similar palette that would work better in my own home. I played around with paint chips in my hand to create my palette. Then I took the paint chips to the craft store and matched them to acrylic craft paint. (While at the craft store, I also purchased Elmer's Spray Adhesive to help keep the stencil in place while I painted.)
5. I put the cabinet doors on top of the kitchen counter and put the six different paint colors onto paper plates. I measured and marked the various spots where I would need to line up the stencil. Next, I sprayed the back of the stencil with the Elmer's Spray Adhesive and let it sit for about 2 minutes before placing it on the cabinet door. (Waiting the 1-2 minutes helps the spray to be more temporary, and easier to remove. I did not have any problems removing the stencil-and the paint on the doors did not peel off at all.)
6. After I had my stencil in place, I began painting. You really only need to use a small amount of paint for stenciling, this helps to prevent bleeding of the paint. I used a soft jabbing motion to get the effect I was wanting and found that a small firm paint brush worked well. I had sketched the stencil out on cardboard and planned which colors were going where…this was especially helpful. It took me about three hours to stencil the cabinet doors.
7. I let the doors dry overnight and in the morning I used a very small brush and linen white paint to touch up the few spots where little bits of paint had bled.
8. Last, I applied a layer of Annie Sloan Clear Wax over the top of each door, which darkened the colors very slightly and gave it a nice smooth finish.
9. After the wax was dry, I put the doors onto the cabinet base. I styled the console using some of my"real" anthropologie treasures: ) in addition to two old flea market wooden spools with candles, some favorite books and beautiful orange tulips.
It's such an amazing piece and it's going to be a conversation starter, for sure! We snooped around Melissa's blog and found this adorable Secretary makeover. Love that color blue!
You know we love us some reclaimed wood and this barnwood jewelry display is super cute!
Check back tomorrow for our favorite knockoff from the link party this week! There were some great entries, and you all are NOT making our jobs easy.: ) And don't forget that you can begin voting for Round 3 midnight on Monday!
If you missed the Round 2 projects, you can see all of them right here. To see the bloggers you chose to move on to Round 3, click here. We're sure these girls are already working hard on their Paint challenge this week- ack! We're loving the suspense.: )
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is Sarah's second week in the Top 3. She has shown incredible talent and this plate wall is no exception. Isn't it amazing that she recreated this Anthropologie favorite with just a sharpie and plates from the Dollar Store? Genius!
Week 2! Time to get our knockoff on. After the crazy, hectic, eating-cereal-for-dinner kind of week last week was I was hoping for a"knockoff" project I could knockout quickly. Apparently, I don't know how to do that. I chose to knockoff Lost Arcadia By Molly Hatch sold by Anthropologie for $7,500! Since that's about $7,450 over my budget, I decided to see if it could be done on the cheap. Yup. Here's what you do.
Supplies
30 plates — I got mine at Dollar Tree for a buck! (you might want to buy a couple extras just in case… trust me)
Something to hang the plates with — I used 30 medium Command Strips. You could use actual plate hangers but they were too expensive for me (around $3 each). I've also seen some people hot glue some sort of loop on the back to hang plates. Any method will do!
A Sharpie — I only used one
A projector — My husband was lucky enough to borrow one from work that hooked up to the computer, but I think you can rent/borrow them from libraries too. Also, there are lots of tutorials around the net on how to make a projector if you don't have access to one.
Step 1 Buy some plates! I don't think I need to explain shopping but I have this picture I took at Dollar Tree while buying them so I thought I'd share: )
Step 2 Stick Command Strips to all of your plates just inside the rim on the back and label your plates. A1, A2, A3… B1, B2, B3… etc. This way, when they come down, you'll know how to put them back up .
Step 3 Make a level line on your wall to align the first row of plates. I taped a scrap board to my wall to act as a ledge. I stuck the center plate up first and then stuck the next ones right beside almost touching.
Step 4 Continue sticking your plates. I put the center plate up first for each row and then worked my way out from there. Push hard. I just eyeballed to get it in the center of the plate below. Keep going until all of your plates are up.
Step 5 Take the plates down! I repeat. Take the plates down! (this is why you need to label them). The Command Strips clearly say to stick your item, then rip it off the wall leaving only the Command Strip on the wall to cure before hanging your piece permanently. I failed to do this, (my bad) and had a plate crash down like a giant game of Plinko… taking the plates below with it. I might also add that this happened at 2am. My husband thought we were being invaded. It was not a fun evening… not at all. Let's have a moment of silence for the 2 plates lost in the chaos. Step 6 After your strips cure and you stick the plates back up (this time it worked… they've been up over a week… no casualties), you're ready to trace. I chose to do a botanical print I found via Sarah's blog, Thrifty Decor Chick. It's from the NYC Digital Gallery and you can read Sarah's post about it here. Set up the projector so the image is fairly centered and go to town. The tracing part only took maybe an hour.
After I had it all traced, I went back over some parts to make them darker.
That's it, you're done! I think these would look really nice in color too but for the knockoff week, I wanted to stay as close to the inspiration as possible.
(PS… that dresser is from Goodwill! Who gives stuff like that away!?)
And did you notice how my wall is beige in some pics and blue in others? Yep, midway through I decided white plates on beige walls wasn't looking that great. So I hit up Home Depot and got a gallon of"oops paint" for $5! And then proceeded to paint a square around the Command Strips that were already on the wall. Yeahhh… landlord, if you're seeing this… don't worry! It will be beige again in no time!: |
Ha! Sarah is always keepin' it real and we love that! Plus, it's a serious competitor who will paint the wall just so the project looks good on it! You can check out the project that got Sarah in the top 3 in Round 1, right here. Check back later today to learn how Melissa made that fabulous Ikat console! Happy Saturday!
How many times can we say we were floored by the Round 2 projects? Not enough, apparently, because, people, those projects were incredible. If you missed the Round 2 projects, you can see all of themright here. To see the bloggers you chose to move on to Round 3,click here. We're sure these girls are already working hard on their Paint challenge this week- ack! We're loving the suspense.: )
We have been anxiously awaiting the tutorial for this wood-tiled dresser since we first laid eyes on it. I'm not sure you guys realize this, but the contestants get about 3-4 days to complete their projects, photograph them and submit them to us. That is a crazy turnaround, but you would never know it with this one! It was so well-executed and came out beautifully. Love it! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Is it awkward for me to admit that I knew I would be knocking off this dresser before I even got into this competition? I've been in love with it for a while now, and I remember a week or so before I even found out I was in the competition I stumbled on it again and my husband Corey and I decided right then and there that if we got in and if there was a knockoff round, we'd be doing this guy.
(The inspiration — via West Elm) Luckily, we did, and there was, so here we are! Like I said, this dresser has been on my mind for a while because it's just so beautiful, but if you know me at all you know I'm not the type to spend $900 on a piece of furniture. It's just not gonna happen. So, Corey and I set out to re-create this dresser as affordably as possible, all while putting our own little spin on it. What we used:
An antique dresser
Scrap 1x4 wood — we used maybe one board total
White paint and Gray paint
Gorilla glue (or any wood glue you like)
3/4" dowel rods (for drawer pulls)
1/2" dowel rod (for drawer pulls)
We started off with this beautiful antique dresser that we found at a local flea market. We loved the clean lines, the tall frame, and (of course!) those casters. Drool. Our style is a pretty good mix of modern and more traditional/vintage furniture, so we liked that this would lead to a slightly less sleek and modern look than the original, which fits right in with the rest of our house. It was basically perfect.
The first step for us was figuring out a way to inset the drawers a bit so that when we added the wood tiles they wouldn't stick out. We wanted the entire front of the dresser to be flush (the West Elm one has the drawers slightly inset, but we thought a flush look would be a bit more fitting for our dresser). Our original plan was to just move the drawer slides back a few inches in the dresser, which would hopefully make the drawers sit the way we wanted them, but thankfully it was an even easier fix than that with this particular dresser — there were little metal pieces on the inside of the drawers that stopped them from going all the way in. All we had to do was pull those out and make some new stoppers with some little dowel rods and we were good to go.
Next up was cutting all of our wood tiles. Let me warn you — this project isn't for the faint of heart…it took forever! But, I think the end result is totally worth it, so I won't complain. For the tiles we took a few 1x4 boards that we had already laying around and cut them down to 1/4" thick tiles. It was the quickest way we could think of to do it, and it also meant that the end-grain of the wood would be showing, which added some fun texture. It was a pretty quick job to cut the tiles — we just used a chop saw with a piece of wood clamped to it to make sure all of the tiles were the same size. Our stack quickly grew, and soon enough we had a giant pile of wood tiles.
One they were all cut, we gave them a quick whitewash. I wanted a bit of variety within the tiles, so we did a whitewash on some of them and a gray wash on others. It was a subtle difference, but it makes the end product look a bit more random and varied, which I like.
Once our tiles were all dried and ready to go, it was time to attach them to the drawers. We didn't want to nail them in because then we'd have a billion different nail holes to fill, so we just used some wood glue. We glued 'em on in a subway pattern and then clamped a board to the drawer while it dried to ensure they all stuck. As the tiles got wet with the glue, some of them started to bow, so clamping it down also kept that to a minimum. We let it all dry together for about 12 hours (just to be sure!) then removed the clamps, sanded down the edges, and that was all there was to it!
The last step was creating the drawer pulls — we knew we wanted ones similar to the inspiration piece, but we also knew that actually finding and buying those pulls would be challenging (not to mention expensive!) so, we decided to make our own! Corey bought a 3/4" dowel, drilled two holes in the back, and inserted a small, 1/2" dowel piece. We then spray painted the whole thing with some oil-rubbed bronze spray paint, and screwed 'em in!
Once we put it all together, it looked a little something like this:
And that, my friends, is how we created our own version of West Elm's wood-tiled dresser — and under $200, to boot! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Isn't that fabulous?! An amazing knock off that even West Elm would be impressed by.: ) We were peeking around at Amanda's blog and found these adorable DIY Animal Magnets. Another knockoff, and we are obsessed.
This Dresser turned Media Console isn't too shabby either, is it?
Check back tomorrow because we're pulling a Young House Love on ya, and posting TWICE!! We'll be sharing the tutorials for the super fun Anthro-inspired plate wall and the Anthro Ikat Console!! Also, do you want to be a part of Creating with the Stars yourself? You can link up your favorite knock off project right here until tonight at 10 PM EST for a chance to win a great prize package and be featured on EC2!
Ok, time for Round 2, and let's just say we're back and better than ever. Well, not us, but the contestants. Their knockoff projects are killer this week!
We can tell that they really want to win the awesome prizes from our fabulous sponsors this week! Let's just recap what they are, shall we?
1. $100 Gift Card toRoyal Design Studio. RDS is our go-to source for all of our stencil projects and our run on CWTS last year was where we were first introduced to them!
2. A pair of $120 Robert Allen pillows fromChic Decor Pillows These pillows are hand-made and absolutely gorgeous. We're sorta jealous that we don't get them.
3. Project featured byHomeTalk, which, come on, is kind of a big deal.
These are pretty fabulous prizes, but let's not forget that one contestant and their star partner will win the Grand Prize at the end of these four weeks! Woohoo!
$500 from Homes.Com $500 Gift Card to HomeGoods Project featured by HomeTalk
We are so impressed with how these ladies took these famous, really pricey items and put their own spin on them to make them unique and fabulous. Let's get this party started!
1. Anthro-inspired Wall Lamp
When I heard this week was knock-off week I knew immediately what I wanted to do. See, I've been seeing this lamp I wanted in the Anthropologie catalog. It makes my heart happy but…my budget doesn't allow for it. Well, could you afford $2800.00 for a lamp? I know, right?!? Ridiculous! So, I took it upon myself to figure out how to make this lamp accessible to mere peons. Or simply those that have a budget.
Granted, I had to change things up a bit. I used pipes more than wooden spindles. And Rub n Buff to achieve some of the finishes. I also wasn't about to do the whole thing in copper piping (have you seen the cost of copper pipes?) so I sprayed pvc pipe with copper paint and Rub n Buffed it to get a nice shiny look. All in all, I have to say that this ridiculously expensive lamp just got beat. Oh yeah Anthro…you hear me??…you are charging too much!
I'll agree that mine isn't exactly the same as Anthro's. True. But, let's see mine is…about 3% of the cost of their's. Okay, I'll make do with not exactly! Truthfully, I love this lamp. It's so quirky, fun, stylish, and feels like an art piece! I'm so glad this contest pushed me to create it, I'm in love with it!
2. Restoration Hardware-inspired Lighted Sign
When I think of knock off, I think copy cat (in a good way). I think of anything duplicated to the T, but is much less expensive. For this round, I chose not to duplicate, but rather I was inspired by this Restoration Hardware arrow and created something a little different. I'll tell ya… with the basic process, you can create just about anything you can imagine. A state, a letter, a number, a symbol, a phrase. It's totally up to you.
Perfect for outdoors.
Perfect for indoors.
3. Schumacher Zimba-inspired Drapes, Anthro-inspired bench and Cornice
I love designer fabric and furniture, but the high prices make it hard to justify (especially when I change my mind frequently!) I like to get a high end look at a fraction of the price by putting a little, time, effort, and creative thinking to work!
I've been obsessing over Schumacher Zimba fabric forever, it is absolute perfection for draperies! But, at about $100 a yard (that means about $300 just for ONE panel), it is definitely not in the budget. By creating my own stencil and buying pre-made white draperies from Ikea, I was able to get two panels for about $25!!
Ever since seeing one doubling as a window seat, I have been dying to build an upholstered bench ottoman. Inspired by Anthropologie's bench ottoman that costs $1,700, I built this ottoman for under $100. I cut costs by using an inexpensive comforter in lieu of foam, upholstry webbing as a top support, and a drapery panel for fabric. It's perfect for extra seating or a place to rest your feet.
Custom cornices can be very pricey especially when topping a large window. For this window, I wanted a 95" length which can cost over $850. I built this cornice using 1x12 and 1x6 to create the frame and a long tablecloth for fabric for under $25.
These three diy projects transformed this window area and cost me only $150. The time and effort was definitely worth it over paying over $3,000 for all of the originals! 4. Faux Chair Slipcover
It looks like a chair, but kinda like a slipcover too… Well, that's because it's a chair covered by a slipcover! Who knew this chair had such high ambitions? I did, that's who!
I saw this faux chair cover on this Danish website and I knew these covers would be perfect for my house. I drew a template and took it to a copy center to have it enlarged. Then I cut it out and appliqued each individual piece to a plain chair cover to create a faux chair on a slipcover.
It's a fun easy project that takes an afternoon. And now all my other chairs are a little jealous! I had fun making that plate wall, too. Just plates and a few vinyl birds. I think they're perfect with my"fancy, new" chairs!
5. Anthro-inspired Ikat Console
ANTHROPOLOGIE. I LOVE this store. I love the colors, the design, the textures, the ambiance, and inspiration that I always find there. When I saw this gorgeous ikat hand painted console, I knew it was the perfect piece of inspiration for my CWTS Knock off. (and at $1698--it's a great piece to knock off; )
Using a cabinet base from IKEA and an ikat stencil from Olive Leaf Stencils, I recreated the console, choosing a similar color palette, with some color adjustments to fit my own house and decor scheme.
They say"imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." Well, Anthro, you most certainly have mine. In honor of my love for this store, I styled the console using some Anthropologie treasures, in addition to some old wooden spools & candles, books and beautiful orange tulips. 6. Anthro-Inspired Sharpie Plate Art
Woo… week 2! After the crazy, hectic, eating-cereal-for-dinner kind of week last week was I was hoping for a"knockoff" project I could knockout quickly. Apparently, I don't know how to do that. I chose to knockoff Lost Arcadia By Molly Hatch sold by Anthropologie for $7,500! Since that's about $7,450 over my budget, I decided to see if it could be done on the cheap.
It's basically 30 plates hung together with a painted scene going across all the plates. At $7,500, that's $250 per plate. Luckily Dollar Tree sells white plates for a buck. And, since I was pretty sure painting freehand on the plates wasn't going to look all that great, I used a Sharpie and a projector. All you have to do is trace… easy.
I chose to trace a botanical print on my plates since I felt it looked a little more modern, but tried to keep the style and overall feel the same–very loose and all black and white. The plates are hung using Command Strips. At 5 feet wide and 6 feet tall, it makes quite the impact on the wall, not the bank account.
7. Horchow-inspired Mirrors
So, here we are at round 2 (Did you see all of the awesome projects in round 1?). This week's theme is Knock-Off, which I love. I'm cheap frugal, and just can't spend the money that some of the big name websites want for their stuff. Plus, I'm sure my husband would think I'm certifiably insane if I bought a $300 vase or $100 throw pillow. But just because I'm designing on a budget doesn't mean that I can't have nice things, right?
I saw these mirrors over at Horchow, and loved them. I'm one of those ladies that thinks that you can never have enough mirrors in your house. Mirrors to make your room look bigger. Mirrors to reflect light and brighten up your space. Mirrors to make sure you don't have food in your teeth. The more, the merrier. But $1095 shipped? Yikes. No thank you. But looking at them, I figured I could make them. A quick stop at Hobby Lobby for the wooden plates and big mirror, a not so quick stop by Home Depot for the rope and other supplies, and a call and stop by the local mirror place for the smaller mirror size that I couldn't find pre-cut anywhere. Then it was time to go home to paint, sand and assemble.
I did have to get creative with the black caps that Horchow has on the ends of their ropes. My solution? PVC end caps, simply spray painted black. Some black BBQ & Stove spray paint on the metal (which is holding nicely as long as you don't bang around the metal) and voila! Drill a hole in the PVC, hot glue the hooks and rope, and BOOM.
Slightly smaller, slightly lighter in color, but perfectly me. 8. West Elm-inspired Wood Tile Dresser It didn't take long for me to figure out what I wanted to do for this week's challenge. I've been lusting after this wood-tiled dresser from West Elm for months and months, but at a whopping $900, it just wasn't going to happen. So, this challenge gave me the perfect excuse to try and re-create it on my own! And I think it turned out pretty awesome.
I found this gorgeous antique dresser at a local flea market and knew it would be the perfect piece for this project. It's not quite as modern as the original, but it has some nice clean lines and wooden casters, which make me a little weak in the knees. With a fresh coat of paint, some DIY-ed hardware, and a whole bunch of whitewashed, hand-cut wood tiles it looks pretty dang close to the original.
Really, if I'm being honest, I like my version just a little bit better.; -) 9. Anthro-inspired Duvet When I first saw the Corin Duvet from Anthropologie, I fell in love with its details. Hand stitching, gathered fabric, pure gorgeousness. But it also came with a price tag that was way out of my league.
I wanted this look for our room but didn't want to spend $400 (and I didn't want to sew anything) so I bought a white duvet cover and a bottle of puffy paint. PUFFY PAINT?! Yes, I said puffy paint.
I used a picture of the original and a steady hand to paint the details onto my duvet.
But don't worry, the look is nothing like those cheesy tee shirts you used to make!; )
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's time to vote! You guys have a ridiculously hard job- we don't envy you a bit! You can only vote one time, but you can vote for your favorite 3 projects. In order to vote, please LIKE EC2 on Facebook. Thanks! Thanks for voting! Check back tomorrow to see Monica's Knockoff that saved her over $1500! Did you miss the Round 1 projects? You can see them all here.Want to know the results of Round 1?Click here!
If you missed the announcement about which nine contestants made it through to Round 2 of Creating with the Stars,click here! We're dying to see what those ladies come up with for this week's Knockoff theme!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We didn't think it could get much cooler than Sarah's 80's Chandelier to Glass Mirror project, but man, were we wrong! This light fixture is a show-stopper and we were both completely in awe of Sarah's creative vision for old fluorescent light covers. I'm not sure I would have ever thought of this project, but I wish I did, because it's stinkin' awesome. Kudos to you, Sarah!
Walking through Habitat ReStore I spotted a few egg crate diffusers — you know those grates that cover fluorescent lights in basements across the country. It's the last lighting fixture I would consider for a project, but once I got around my thoughts of drop ceilings, I began thinking how neat it would be to use the grid to create any square geometric shape that I wanted. At $2 each, what could I lose?
Browsing Pinterest I found this amazing light, Lolita — Shine by SHO and fell in love with the arms. It's lines are simple, but make a big impact! Perfect for a statement piece!
Once we decided on the shape, we measured and marked the edges with a permanent marker. The egg crate diffuser was cut into the shape of the arms with small clippers (clipping as close to the edge as possible).
Next we taped the bottom with painters tape and filled with plaster of paris (mixing it on the thinner side so that it would level itself at the top). You want it as level as possible to reduce sanding. Any excess was leveled off with a spackle knife.
Once firm, they were placed in the sun to fully cure (I ended up letting it sit overnight) Then excess was sanded off. Some of the squares fell out during sanding, so I used a little craft glue to get them back in place. Then I patched the imperfections with drywall spackle and sanded again once dry. This part was pretty messy — so I was definitely glad to be done with sanding! We wanted a simple fixture so that it wouldn't compete with the arms. Looking through thrift shops, all we could find were ones with curves (very '80s) we needed something more mid-century modern. So we ended up building our own electrical housing out of old chandelier parts, PVC, and brass tubing. Here's how we did it:
Honestly, this wasn't the easiest task, but definitely doable. It required modifying (mostly cutting holes in the PVC) so that all the parts would fit snugly. To assemble all of the pieces we used Gorilla Glue Epoxy
We followed the directions by mixing equal parts of the resin and the hardener (in small batches so it wouldn't harden too fast). This stuff worked SO well! It set up fairly quickly and was SUPER strong!
All parts were lightly sanded to remove any gloss, and dust was removed with a microfiber cloth. Then it was primed, and painted with Sherwin William Rivulet (2 coats).
We finished it off with 2 coats of Krylon Lacquer to give it a super glossy finish. Turning off the electricity first, we installed the light and held our breath as we flipped the switch. Success! It works!
We also installed trim and painted 8" stripes on the ceiling to frame the fixture.
and a gallery wall with a few fun prints, paintings, and some fabric mixed in!
I love this fun addition to our office area!
Here's the price breakdown: (2) Fluorescent diffusers: $4 (Habitat ReStore) Plaster of Paris: $5 (with coupon at Michaels) Gorilla Glue Epoxy: $5 Chandelier: $5 (Habitat ReStore) PVC parts: ~$3 (Home Depot) Brass parts: ~$10 (Ace Hardware) Total = $32 Not bad for a statement piece! So next time you see a plastic diffuser don't just pass it by, think about what you can create with it! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You guys, Sarah has unbelievably good taste and mad DIY skills. I was browsing her blog and this Fabric-wrapped parsons table just jumped out at me! Would you believe that she made that with hollow-core doors??
and take a look at this tufted headboard with nailhead trim. She had to have bought that, right? Nope! she made the entire thing. Gorgeous!
Don't forget to check back tomorrow because one of YOU might be featured here on EC2! We've picked our favorite upcycle project from the link party and will share the tutorial for that project! Get excited, peeps! Also, start thinking about which project you want to link up for Round 2's link party theme: Knock Off! Beginning Tuesday, you can link up any knock-off project you've done in the last year for the chance to win more prizes and a feature here on our little ol' blog!
If you missed the announcement about which nine contestants made it through to Round 2 of Creating with the Stars, click here! We're dying to see what those ladies come up with for this week's Knockoff theme!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There are some nice end tables out there, but this one ranks way up there on the coolness scale (is there such a thing? If not, we just made one.) We love how Sarah, from While They Snooze, used something free to create something totally fabulous for her home. Booyah to pricey furniture everywhere. Let's take a look at how she made this bad boy…
On a run a week or so back, I passed a house in my neighborhood with 6, count 'em 6, old tires on the curb (Where you at HOA??). My slightly hoarderish brain immediately tried to think of projects I could use them for. Alas, as Beyonce blasted in my ears, I thought of nothing and ran past. Fast forward a few days to when the Creating with the Stars announcement was made and I learned theme one was Upcycle. In the midst of picking my jaw back up off the floor, I remember those grimy tires. Early Saturday morning, still bra-less and in my PJs, I drove to that house and hurled the one tire that was left into the back of my car. Let's hope the morning fog prevented most from seeing that. Don't be fooled, though the kids look excited, they are confused as to why mommy threw garbage in the car.
As the tire lay in my garage, it dawned on me that it was the perfect size/shape for a side table. 24" round. Just needed some legs and some (a boat load of) prettying up. Here's what I did. Supplies:
Old tire — Mine still had the rim… it will still work if it doesn't.
Plywood — One circle for the base and one for the top. My plywood is 1/2" thick.
Legs — Get creative! I used wood but you could use an upside down flower pot, metal, or buy pre-made legs from Ikea. This tutorial will show you how to make wood legs.
Rope — to disguise the tire. I used 350 feet (yikes!) of 1/4" sisal and manila rope sold in little bags at Home Depot.
Glue/Screws/hardware to attach the legs — This will vary depending on what legs you get.
Construction Adhesive — To glue the tire to the base and the rope to the tire. I used Liquid Nails.
Basic tools - This will vary depending on what your base is made from. I used a jig saw to cut the circles. A chop saw, table saw, and jig saw the cut the legs. Drill to attach the legs.
Step 1:Scrub your tire. Chances are it's going to be really grimy. Give it a scrub with some dish soap to cut the grease. This will also help your adhesive stick better. Let it dry.
Step 2:Cut out two plywood circles. First circle should fit in the center of your tire to make a flat surface to form the table top. I measured, then nailed a piece of string into the center of my plywood, attached a pencil, and drew the circle. I had to sand the edges of the circle here and there to make it fit in the tire. The second circle is the base that the tire will sit on. Trace your tire and cut the circle one or two inches smaller than that.
I bribed the hubs with lunch so he would cut them out for me.: )
Step 3:Cut out some legs. Since this table will be replacing another (ugly) table in my living room, I measured the height of that existing table. It was 20". The tire is 9" high, so I needed 11" legs. Side tables vary in height though. They should work well with the seating they will be next to. So measure your tire and then figure out how high you need your legs. I must confess, my husband came up with the idea of using the rocker slats from our rocking octopus, cut in half, for the legs.
Since I didn't want to destroy the octopus (poor Ollie!), we took them off, traced them onto some scrap pine from the garage, and cut them out. If you don't have rocking octopus legs to trace: ) rectangles would be fine! Trace.
Cut out.
Cut in half and sand smooth.
Step 4:Assemble the legs. Take your larger base circle and arrange the legs equally spaced around the perimeter. To make the table a little more sturdy, I cut some small blocks from the scrap pine to use as supports for the legs. I glued the blocks to the legs with wood glue and clamped overnight. Once they were dry, I glued them to the wood circle, attached L brackets, and put a screw in through the top of the wood.
At this point I stained the legs and the rim of the base circle. However, they didn't turn out that great. I'll fix that in a minute.
Step 5:Glue tire to base. Once the legs are secure and dry, flip the base over, apply generous blobs of construction adhesive, and set your tire in the center.
Step 6.:Glue smaller circle to top of tire. The smaller circle should fit slightly inside the inner curve of the tire so when it's in place, the whole surface is flat… or close to flat. Since my tire has the rim, I just glued to that.
Step 7:Glue rope to tire. Attention: hot glue does not stick to tires just incase you were considering it.: ) I tried… no go. Stick with the liquid nails. Bonus: Liquid nails is the same color as rope. Some of it bled through. You can't even tell. Turn the table over, start around the base, and work your way to the top of the table.
Keep going! Once you get around the lip it's e asier if you flip it back over. I used a combination of sisal rope (the lighter color) and natural manila rope (the dark color). Both are sold in 50' sections at Home Depot.
Once you get to the top rim it gets tricky. The rope kept wanting to pop off so I had to keep it taped down with painter's tape as I went until the adhesive dried.
Then, when I hit the plywood, I switched to hot glue. Much easier! (Does anyone else have toys mixed in with their projects?)
Step 8:Paint the legs. Remember how the stain on the legs came out kind of meh? Sarah from Thrifty Decor Chick had the great idea to"dip" them. Basically, I painted the bottom half of the legs bright citrus yellow. Not meh anymore!
And that's it. You can put the rope down. You're done. I can't wait to have people over and see if anyone knows it's an upcycled tire!
My staging assistant.; )
And so you know last week was one CRAZY week… here's a lovely shot I took of myself, gluing rope to a tire at midnight while the rest of the family snoozed. Enjoy.
Ahhh, so fun! You guys have to see the behind the scenes look at Sarah's round 1 project. You know we love it when people keep it real! Sarah is super talented with a sewing machine, but we totally dig these fun DIY Chevron Curtains she made from Ikea curtains.
Be sure to check back tomorrow to see how Sarah created that who-would-have-ever-thought-you-could-do-that-with-egg-crate-insulation light fixture. Omw. Soooo creative. Also, do you want to be a part of Creating with the Stars yourself? You can link up your favorite upcycle project right here until tonight at 10 PM EST for a chance to win a great prize package and be featured on EC2! Happy Friday, friends!
If you missed the announcement about which nine contestants made it through to Round 2 of Creating with the Stars, click here! We're dying to see what those ladies come up with for this week's Knockoff theme!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We fell in love with Karianne's clock the moment we laid eyes on it. It's so orignal and creative, not to mention perfectly placed on that chalkboard wall. *Swoon* I'm already brainstorming how I can use this idea somewhere-anywhere- in my house. Because Karianne took the number one spot, this project is going to be featured on Hometalk and Homes.com. Woohoo! Take it away, Karianne!
There are clocks. And then…there areclocks. There are clocks that tick and tock and ring and jingle and tell time underwater and sound an alarm. And then there are clocks made from a bicycle wheel with yardstick ruler hands perched on a chalkboard surrounded by roman numerals above a table strategically styled with a bicycle seat. That is one fine clock.And the best part?
I got the bicycle wheel for free. Can you even believe it? I walked into a bicycle shop and randomly explained to the resident bike expert that I wanted to make a clock and I needed a cute bike wheel that had preferably been around the block a time or two. Wordlessly he stared at me. I don't really know why. I'm sure they get that request all the time. And then he went to the back where they keep all the spare wheels for people who come in with clock requests and he handed me this bicycle wheel. I totally wish he could see his wheel now. He'd probably charge me for it.: )
Bicycle Wheel Clock with Yardstick Hands
Supplies:Bicycle wheelPaint stickCan lidWeightsClock kit specifically designed for large handsYardstick
Step 1: Purchase a kit from any craft store specifically designed to power big hands. Remove torque, insert a AA battery and attach to center of bicycle wheel using wire or adhesive tape.
Step 2: Drill a hole in the center of a paint can lid. The hole should be large enough to fit over the center mechanism of the torque. Place over center spoke of torque.
When you are done it should look something like this.
Step 3: Cut out yardstick hands I used a vintage yardstick. Cut longer hand 16" and shorter hand 8" long. You may need to adjust length depending on size of bike wheel. Notch out the end of each hand to resemble and arrow and cut small triangles of yardstick and attach to the other end of the yardstick hand to form an arrow.
Step 4: Drill holes in yardstick and attach parts of clock hands Drill a hole 5 1/2 inches from the notched end of the longer hand. Drill a hole 1 inch from the notched end of the shorter hand. Cut circles from the hands of the clock kit and hot glue around the holes that you just drilled.
Step 5: Attach yardstick hands to the center spoke of torque The center spoke on the torque is designed to have a space between the two hands. This is critical to make sure the hands turn properly. Make sure there is a space as shown in the picture. Attach the washer from the kit to the very top of the center spoke of the torque. Tighten the washer until hands are fastened securely. Depending on the thickness of your yardstick, you may have to countersink the washer to ensure everything fits properly on the center spoke.
Step 6: Attach weights to the back of the longer hand Hot glue washers to the back of the longer hand until the hand is balanced properly on the center spoke. We attached four washers, but you may need more or less depending on the weight of your clock hands.
Step 7: Adjust your hands to the right time using the tiny dial on the torque. Hang on a chalkboard and chalk in some roman numerals. Telling time has never been so fun! PS Monica and Jess…thank you so much for hosting such a fun contest and a big shout out to the amazing creativity of all the contestants! If you have any questions about this project be sure and e-mail me at thistlewoodfarms@yahoo.com! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Isn't that awesome?! And that bike tire was FREE! That makes this project even better, in our humble opinions. Have you seen Karianne's blog? If not, you definitely should. It's chock full of awesome projects like this Herringbone Paint Stick Table…
And this Butler's Pantry. We're sorry, but we can't stop drooling over it. We are embarassed about the drool, but we just can't stop.
Thanks so much for sharing with us today, Karianne! Don't forget to check back tomorrow to see how Sarah made that awesome trendy tire table. Also, do you want to be a part of Creating with the Stars yourself? You can link up your favorite upcycle project right here until Friday evening for a chance to win a great prize package and be featured on EC2!
Phew! The contestants and their Star partners really set the bar high this week with their Round 1 projects. Almost every one of you commented about how hard it was to choose only three favorites and we felt that pain right along with you! We know that you're not really here to read lots of mumbo jumbo from us, so let's get to those results, shall we? And the Winner of Round 1 is…
We loved this project and think it was executed so well! Nice work Karianne!! Can't wait to see what you'll come up with for Round 2. Let's see who else made it to Round 2… 2. Sarah {While They Snooze} & Sarah {Thrifty Decor Chick} Trash Pile Made Trendy Table
3. Sarah {Sarah M. Dorsey Designs} & Brooke {All Things Thrifty} Statement Piece Light Fixture
4. Amanda {Love and Renovations} and Beckie {Infarrantly Creative} Televison Stand Upcycled to a Bar
5. Jane {Life, Crafts & Whatever} & Jamielyn {I Heart Naptime} Tin Tile Mirror
6. Melissa {5 foot 12 Creations} & Sherry {Young House Love} Lab Station Turned Dining Room Buffet
7. Nancy {Owen's Olivia} & Kari {Ucreate} Dresser Turned Modern Sandbox
8. Ann Marie {White House, Black Shutters} & Shaunna {Perfectly Imperfect} Floor Board Kitchen Island
9. Janel {Nellie Bellie} & Brittany {Pretty Handy Girl} Frumpy to On Fire, Fireplace
We're so sorry to say goodbye to the following three contestants! Boo, we hate this part. Thanks for all your hard work and excellent projects this week, girls! 10. Jourdan and Ashley {Little Yellow Barn} & Beth {Home Stories A to Z} Man Chairs
12. Nat and Holly {My Sisters Suitcase} and Jane {Tatertots & Jello} Little League Lounger
To keep things legit, here are the official results!
I'm sure she doesn't need a reminder, but here's what Karianne won this week! Round 1 Prize Package: $50 worth of 31 Gifts products $60 worth of Twysted Yarn products $70 of Henle Headbands products $100 Blog Re-design from 733 Design (who designed all the CWTS logos!) Project featured by HomeTalk We also want to thank Homes.com for being the Official Grand Sponsor of Creating with the Stars!
Congratulations to the nine moving on! You have your work cut out for you, for sure! Next week's theme is KNOCKOFF!
The winner of Round 2 will win the following AWESOME prizes: (to see the entire prize package, click here) The Week 2 Winner will receive: $100 Gift Card to Royal Design Studio A pair of $120 Robert Allen pillows from Chic Decor Pillows Project featured by HomeTalk
Voting for Round 2 will begin on Monday, March 18th at 12 AM EST. Don't forget that you can link up your favorite upcycle through this Friday at 10 PM EST right here for the chance to win prizes and be featured here on EC2! Finally, we're super excited because: 1. Tomorrow we'll be sharing Karianne's tutorial for her awesome bike clock. 2. On Friday you'll get to see how Sarah put together that amazing trendy tire table and, 3. Saturday, Sarah will be giving us the step-by-step process behind that insane light fixture! Be sure to come on back for loads of inspiration starting tomorrow!!
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