So your kids are heading back to school sometime in the next two weeks, and they're probably pretty excited about seeing their friends and wearing their new threads. But I'm guessing that the thought of doing homework leaves them feeling a little something like this:
Source: flickr.com via Jessica on Pinterest Well, that's about to change! I've rounded up some pretty eye candy in the desk/homework station department that might just make them beg to do their homework. (Ok, that's a stretch, but it sure will make you happy to see them doing homework in those spaces…) Just click on the link below each pictures to be taken to the source or instructions.
Desk/Work Station Inspiration
Source: thecsiproject.com via Jessica on Pinterest I'll be honest with you. I want this desk space for my own. However, it's a perfect spot for two older kids to do their work. Plenty of storage and functionality but in such a pretty package. I say, well done!
Source: bhg.com via Jessica on Pinterest Ok, I kind of think this one is a genius idea- a workspace in the kitchen nook. If you have another place to eat, that is. I love the idea of having a space that is central in the house, where you can see the kids working while drooling over your favorite blogs making dinner, cleaning up,washing dishes etc. All that light from the windows makes this spot a pretty inspiring place to do your work. Love it!
Source: perrylakes.com via Jessica on Pinterest How adorable and fun is this one? Every preschooler or kindergartner I know would be drawn to this spot. Lots of color, chairs just their size, storage for art supplies and a place to hang their latest masterpiece.
Source: ohdeedoh.com via Jessica on Pinterest Low on space? This window seat/storage bench/desk is the perfect solution! Just slide the bench under the desk and out of the way when it's not in use.
Source: google.pt via Jessica on Pinterest Those kids have no idea how good they have it.
Source: housetohome.co.uk via Jessica on Pinterest This is another great space-saver desk area. My kid's bedrooms have wierd nooks from the dormer windows on our house, so this design is a good starting point for someone like me. Those shelves hanging bar with canisters for supplies and the chair are from Ikea
Source: google.com via Jessica on Pinterest Is anyone else in love with work stations inside of closets? It's just so smart, plus you can do a bold color and fun graphic designs that inspire you, and then close it away and no one would ever know!
Source: marthastewart.com via Jessica on Pinterest If you have absolutely no extra room for a work area, this is the ultimate space saving solution, the homework helper! It puts everything your kids might need while doing their homework right at their fingertips and helps to keep them on task. Monica actually made one of these for her oldest daughter, Kenzie, a few years ago, and it was so cute!
And just in case you need a little help keeping track of everyone's extracurricular activties and school schedules, I picked a few of my favorite home command centers to share. Home Command Centers
Source: magzmagz.com via Jessica on Pinterest This is perfect in my opinion. I'm fairly certain that all of those helpful and stylish boards are from Pottery Barn, but you could pretty easily make something similar at a much lesser price.
Source: bhg.com via Jessica on Pinterest This is definitely clever- a hanging file bin for each member of the household. Put important papers, permission slips, schedules, mail, (whatever!) and stay ahead of the game. Plus the chalkboard above is great for writing notes that the whole family can see.
Source: theyellowcapecod.com via Jessica on Pinterest Sorry this one is blurry, but hopefully you get the point. This features a hook and bag for each person in the family. You can put things that need to be taken to school in the bag, and all your kid has to do is pick it up and take it with him. The chalkboard below is used for reminders and to-do lists for each child.
Source: None via Jessica on Pinterest I love the baskets with the monograms on it. Same principle as the last few- personalize and you're good to go! And finally, because I love me some DIY projects, here are a few easy and inexpensive message boards! DIY Message Boards
Source: makeandtakes.com via Jessica on Pinterest You need just three things to make this pretty dry erase board: a frame with glass, scrapbook paper or fabric and a dry erase marker. I'm pretty sure you can figure it out from there.; )
Source: heythingschange.com via Jessica on Pinterest This is a dry-erase calendar made from a frame and paint chips. The best part of this is your can customize the colors to match your decor!
Source: bhg.com via Jessica on Pinterest Isn't this magnetic board super sweet? A cookie sheet, scrapbook paper and magnets make the magic happen. Feeling inspired? We'd love to see where your kids do homework- Feel free to post a picture on our facebook page. Let's share the creativity!
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I am pretty sure if Pinterest was around a few decades ago, that Julie Andrews would have changed her lyrics! I'm in full-blown summer mode. My days are filled with sunscreen, swimming, walks at the park, and BBQs, no major house projects are going on… Even in the midst of crazy summer activities, I still LOVE sitting down and perusing Pinterest each night, so I thought I'd just share a few random, cool things I found last night… These Are a Few of My Favorite Pins 7.11.11
Source: sunsurfer.tumblr.com via Teresa on Pinterest Outdoor living spaces are one of my favorite things. The hubs and I were just planning out our dream patio and pool layout last night. (Keyword: dream)
Source: skinnyfit-thebestyou.tumblr.com via Kelly on Pinterest Honestly, one of my favorite things on Pinterest, are all the funny posters and sayings. This one makes me laugh, because it's so true!
Source: papercakesfinds.blogspot.com via Sarah on Pinterest I love this SO much I can't even tell you! The color, the objects, the patterns…
Source: etsy.com via Martha on Pinterest I love Scrabble pillows- this is a little cheesy to me, but love the pillows.
Source: marthastewart.com via Sandra on Pinterest I'm ready to try DIY chalkboard paint… stay tuned for a tutorial!
Source: etsy.com via Marszu on Pinterest I love getting ideas and then tweaking them to fit me… I wouldn't hang this, but I'd love to make one, scan it, and create Thank You notecards to have on hand for the grandparents and family.
Source: houzz.com via Megan on Pinterest This space is sooo me. I love the b & w pics, the grey walls, the clean lines… Sigh… I think my kids will be all moved out before I can ever have white couches. So how's that for a random sampling of Favorite Pins? What are you liking on Pinterest?Leave us a comment with a link to your favorite Pin from today!
We hope you get lots of inspiration here on our blog, but did you know you can get CRAZY amounts of ideas from US through Pinterest? (Haven't joined Pinterest? Shame on you! lol. You can check out a video we made a while back letting you know what it's all about. Basically a virtual pinboard of awesomeness!) We use our Pinterest board to share all kinds of DIY ideas, crazy delicious recipes, and oodles of amazing rooms to drool over! It's time to start following us! (Just click below!)
But wait! We don't want the fun to end there. We want to follow you and see what things you LOVE. Leave us a comment letting us know your Pinterest page and we'd love to follow you back! Here's how to share your Pinterest Page link:
We have some HUGE news to share with you, so keep checking Facebook and the blog for our monster of an announcement. We just have to wait a little longer to tell you. The suspense is killing us! Ahhh! Only following on the blog? You're missing out. Use the buttons below to join in on all the fun!
Have an awesome weekend, but before you do, go grab your Pinterest Link so we can start being inspired by YOU!
As you know, we're chatting about Spring Things on the blog. One thing that bloggers and DIYers seem to get all jazzed up about is mantles. Decorating a seasonal mantle is a must, or so it seems. Well, I have a confession… I really struggle with the whole seasonal mantle thing. My darn TV gets in the way and stunts my creativity. So… rather than focusing on my mantle, I've scoured the web for the BEST Spring Mantles Around! If you want to see oodles more, check out the always fabulous Layla, who's hosting a link up right now!
Actually, let's get started with The Lettered Cottage's Spring 2012 Mantle:What I love:-It looks effortless, like"Oh my mantle just sort of did this fabulous arrangement on it's own, and it was so pretty that these butterflies came through the window and joined without me knowing." -I love the pop of green in the basket. It's really cool and you know I love me some kelly green! What I wish:-I wish that when I put things on my mantle with the desire for it to look natural and organically arranged, it didn't look like I let my kids help decorate.
Source: theletteredcottage.net via The Real Housewives on Pinterest
Two Thirty-Five Designs Spring 2012 Mantle:What I love:-I love, love, love (notice 3 loves means I REALLY love it) that it's non-traditional, but still has some tradtional elements. Notice, there are little robins egg-type vase filler, but it's not all"in your face over-the-top Easter Eggy" -I love that the colors and bright and make me feel like spring, but aren't pastel. What I Wish: I wish I could paint an awesome canvas like that. Yup, she actually painted it herself!
Source: twothirtyfivedesigns.blogspot.com via The Real Housewives on Pinterest Remodelando la Casa's Spring 2012 MantleWhat I love:-Again, loving that it's non-traditional… are you seeing a pattern here? _-Love that the simple, stark look of it totally reminds me of spring. I'm getting all English teacher-y on you here, but the empty frames and lots of negative space make me think about how during spring, I feel like my yard is empty and just waiting to be filled with all kinds of cool growing things. Then she was genius and put the branches again reminding me of what's to come. I have no clue what the G is for, but I'm going to go with Grow. Okay, enough lessons in symbolism. What I wish: -I wish my darn TV wasn't on the wall so I could do something just like this!
Source: remodelandolacasa.com via The Real Housewives on Pinterest
Four Generations One Roof's Spring 2012 MantleWhat I love:-I love the canvas panels! They are fabulous and want to know something awesome?? There are kids dump-truck artwork behind them! Yup! Talk about a good upcycle! -I also love the rope lamp bases. I know Jess would be diggin' them to! What I wish:I wish that I didn't have plans tonight so that I could do a quick, fabric wrap DIY project STAT! (Okay, I only semi-wish that, because I'm going on a big ole' group date out for dinner and to see The Hunger Games! I will have to DIY later!)
Source: fourgenerationsoneroof.com via The Real Housewives on Pinterest
Last, but so not least… Christina's Adventures' Spring 2012 MantleWhat I love:-I am so in love with the glazed, layered frames. If you want to glaze a frame, we wrote a great tutorial a while back. -I love that she just wrapped two books with fabric -Even though I'm not usually a tulip girl, or a fan of pink, the color combo here is just perfect. What I wish:-I really wish Christina would come here and do my mantle for me! -Oh and one more thing I love… look at that pitcher. The metal finish is so cool!
Source: christinasadventures.com via The Real Housewives on Pinterest
There's my wrap up… It almost makes me want to go decorate the dreaded TV mantle… hmm. And, we don't really do linky parties here at RHBC, but we'd love to see what your mantle or decorated shelf looks like. Leave us a link in the comments to your Spring Mantle!
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I know, I know, you haven't even stuffed yourself with turkey and stuffing, or gone Black Friday shopping yet, and here I am talking about beginning a Christmas countdown. But let's be honest, once Thanksgiving is over, December is pretty much here and it's time to bring out the ol' Advent calendar. Our family had an advent calendar growing up, and I remember running downstairs and arguing with my sisters about whose turn it was to move the mouse from it's current pocket to the next day's pocket. Ahhh memories.
Last year was the first year I thought about doing our own Advent calendar because my daughter was at the perfect age, but I literally pulled the whole thing together at midnight on November 30th, so it wasn't perfect by any means. We ended up stringing it up on the curtain rod above our slider door, which was SO not convenient since we open those curtains every day. I did love the numbers, (which I downloaded for free but can't remember where-sorry!) and the little bags, so I wanted to reuse them this year. You can easily create your own numbered circles on Picnik using this tutorial. So here's what I came up with for this year:
It love the simplicity of this Advent calendar, and how easy it was to make! DIY Advent Calendar I started with an empty frame, some jute twine, mini-clothespins, and my trusty hot-glue gun:
I laid out the bags in five rows in the frame to figure out the placement of the jute rope.
Next, I measured the opening of the frame so that I could space the rows evenly. For this frame, I placed the jute every 4:5 inches apart.
(Ignore the pen pointing to 7 inches! I wasn't thinking when I took this pic!) As usual, I used my hot glue gun to adhere the jute rope to the frame. You could also do this with a staple gun.
I clipped my cute little bags to the rope…
And added fun activities to do as a family and leftover Halloween candy to the bags!
Finally, I hung it in our entry hallway for a touch of Christmas! It will also be the one of the first things my kids see when they come downstairs and head into the kitchen.
I love that you can see our Advent calendar as soon as you open our front door! (And no, my house is not decorated for Christmas yet, I just have a winter wreath on my door from our last Nate Show project- more on that later this week!)
My daughter can hardly wait to get started counting down the days until Christmas! I also scoured Pinterest for other fun DIY Advent ideas and found these for your viewing pleasure (click on the link to go to the tutorial):
Source: blogs.babble.com via Jessica on Pinterest
Source: davidandcarolineparker.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest
Source: modpodgerocksblog.com via Jessica on Pinterest
Source: flickr.com via Jessica on Pinterest
Source: budgetwisehome.com via Jessica on Pinterest I'm totally doing that last one: wrap a Christmas book to open and read each day. However, I'm doing the 12 days of Christmas books so I don't have to spend a fortune on books! (Tip: Your local thrift store probably has LOADS of Christmas books for sale) What do you do to count down the days until Christmas?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to our newest sponsors, Scout & Nimble and CJS Eco Chic! Check out these fabulous ladies and tell them we sent you!
Did you ever have one of those"Ah-ha!" moments? I tend to have them in two places… the shower (one of the only places a mom of 4 is ever alone) and church. About a month ago during an"Ah-ha" moment, I came up with an idea that has turned into what we're calling Real Housewives: Design it Forward. We're pretty excited about it and we have a feeling you will be too! So daily we blog about cool finds, amazing projects, and what we're doing on our homes… sometimes we find ourselves pausing and wanting to look and do something outside of ourselves. We thank God each day for our families and that our needs are provided for. So what do we do from here? We design it forward…
We're committing to using our time, talents, and treasures to help someone else. We want to make someone feel extra special, cared-about, valued, and loved. Here's our vision… quarterly, we want to find a family, a single mom or dad, or just someone who could use a little TLC and do some surprise design for them. We're hoping you'll want to join in and help us and then we're going to challenge you to find someone in your area to Design it Forward for as well (think link party). We love this little old blog, but you know what?? We're called to love people even more, so here goes… Real Housewives: Design it Forward! Porch Perk Up Through the help of Calvary Church of Souderton, we found a single mom that could use a little extra TLC. Since we adore all things fall, we thought we should do a little porch perk up. How cool would it be to come home and have a porch all prettied up for Halloween and Thanksgiving?
http://www.bhg.com/
Shhh… don't tell, but here's our master plan…
So, how do I help? We'd love to have some hands-on help on the 25th as we perk up the porch, but we know our readers are from all over. So here's our Plan B… Since this is a single mom, we thought it would be cool to accept donations related to # of children. Either the ones you have or how many were in your family growing up. For example, I could donate $4.00 because I have four kids (still shocks me to type that) or $2.00 because I was one of two kids growing up. Your money will go directly towards perking up the porch, we promise not to go get pedicures or anything shady like that! If we collect enough money, we have a second and third family lined up and we'll just do more porch perking! Wouldn't that be awesome! And BTW… if anyone knows the Duggars, have them read this post, because that would be like a Twenty-something donation!: ) Just click the little donate button to donate… Thanks!
No… I'm not getting all creepo on you… this is a PG blog-Our moms read it! What I'm talking about it this adorable ball of fur that's now a part of the Mangin family…
I'm seriously head-over-heels in love with her! She's a Bernese Mountain Dog that will be eight weeks old today and she has the sweetest disposition ever! Jess came over to meet her the other day and was surprised at how smitten I am, so she said,"I didn't think you were a dog person?" to which I replied,"I'm not! I just like my dog!" Ha! What can I say? It's true! So in honor of Miss Pennlyn (AKA Penn) I'm sharing some Doggy Style projects… Four Post Bed… Puppy Luxury! I first saw this bed a few years ago in a Lowe's Creative Ideas magazine, and immediately loved it. I don't think the size will work for Penn, but I love the look and idea of it.
Source: lowescreativeideas.com via The Real Housewives on Pinterest You could also just find a coffee or end table, flip it over and get your DIY on, turning it into a bed. And of course, I'm loving the yellow! Crate Bed Since Pennlyn will be a pretty big dog, I'm thinking this style bed is a bit more her speed. I'm loving this DIY bed made by Home Frosting and I can't wait to make one. She used leftover 1x4s, but I think I might use some free pallets. The finish she created is fabulous!
Source: home-frosting.blogspot.com via The Real Housewives on Pinterest DIY Pet Tags Leave it to Martha to come up with these adorable tags.
Source: marthastewart.com via The Real Housewives on Pinterest I was about to order a generic tag from the pet store, but I plan to try this DIY this week before going the generic route. I just need to make sure it's heavy duty enough. I'll let you know how it goes! Pet Art I'm not really a huge fan of having pet pics all over the place (remember… not a"dog person") but I do think some pet art might be cool in the kids' playroom.
This took me about 30 seconds to create on Picnik. I used the"Posterize" effect and voila… Pet Art! I think I'll order it as a canvas this week. Hungry Puppy? Since we've only had Penn for 5 days, her food is just in the bag, but I do have ambitious plans to create some kind of cool looking container. The hubs thinks I'm insane and wants to know why the dog food container needs to be cute, but he knows who he's married to, so he's cool with it. Here's one fun idea…
Source: tidymom.net via The Real Housewives on Pinterest The style isn't mine, but I think I could add some of my own modern flair to it. I sorta had something wooden and rustic in mind, so we'll see… Custom Stuffies These are the funniest things ever! I think they'd make such an awesome gift! This seller on etsy makes custom stuffies for your pet. Just send a picture of your pooch and you'll get a look-a-like stuffie in a few weeks! I've contacted the seller, because she doesn't have this as an active listing right now, but I'm hoping she'll be back at it soon! Pennlyn definitely needs a mini-me stuffie! WAIT! Hold the press! Shevon contacted me and you can now buy a custom stuffie! Here's the link: Custom Stuffies (Soooo stinkin' Cool!)
Source: etsy.com via The Real Housewives on Pinterest
So, it looks like I have a lot of projects to get working on! Although, before I get working on my puppy projects I think I need to get Penn house-broken and doing fancy tricks (can I teach her how to go get my laptop for me?) I'll keep you posted on Miss Pennlyn and any cool projects we make for her! Oh, one last thing… She WILL NOT be owning one of these… Thundervest…No Comment!
Source: thundershirt.com via The Real Housewives on Pinterest Thanks for letting me introduce my little lady to you!
WAIT! Don't stop reading! The voting for Crafting with the Stars is now open! We've entered our first project and we need your votes. We obviously can't tell you which project is ours, but we can give you a hint… look for the coolest one… that'll be ours! Nah, we really do have some stiff competition, so head over and vote for your favorite 3 projects. The winners will be announced Wednesday. Thanks! ClickHERE to see the entries and vote!
You guys have been so good to us lately! You've dealt with all the blog switcheroo craziness and we thought we should thank you for it! Well, technically Canvas People are the ones doing the generous giving, but we're sharing the love with you! They run this deal from time to time, and this time around we get to share it with you!
Canvas People are offering a Free 8x10 to every EC2 reader!(or if you're more the large print type you can get $40 off of your order)
To get your free canvas, click HERE One of my very first blog posts ever was about a canvas gallery I ordered through Canvas People. Remember this?
So the question now is What to Print?? Pictures or a Printable? Don't worry, we've rounded up an awesome collection of free, legit prints that you can use on your canvas. How's that for exciting? . To download them, follow them using the links provided to their source sites, save the image to your computer and upload it to Canvas People using the link above. This would look great in a master bedroom or bath.Download the I love us printable.
Source: eighteen25.blogspot.com via East Coast Creative on Pinterest The school year is almost over, make one of these on canvas for one of your kiddo's teachers Download the Teacher Appreciation printable 16x20
Source: eighteen25.blogspot.com via East Coast Creative on Pinterest We love the colors in this one!Download the Room in Our Hearts printable
Source: simpleasthatblog.com via East Coast Creative on Pinterest
Love isn't just for the month of February! Download the fairytale printable
Source: simpleasthatblog.com via East Coast Creative on Pinterest Jess has an obsession with coral, so this would be perfect. Comes in tons of colors!Download the What I Love printable
Source: eighteen25.blogspot.com via East Coast Creative on Pinterest And my personal favorite is one I made from a quote I saw. Download Straight Gangsta printable
You know by now that our favorite online paper store is Moo & Puppy. I made this monogram printable to put on a canvas, but I was thinking of making one for each of my kids' teachers. All you need to do is 1-visit moo and puppy2- choose your paper pack- you get like 8 papers for $3.00 (what a deal!) 3- Use picmonkey.com to add a background shape and letter4. Use this link to get your free canvas!
Ooh, and we just found a few more adorable printables (comes in lots of colors!) from Paper Coterie that are perfect for Mother's Day, and every other day for that matter! Download Love printables
We hope you have a great weekend and have fun choosing what to print! Aren't FREE things awesome? We sure think so! Enjoy!
If you're anything like me at all (lazy super efficient), then you'll be thrilled with these tips on how to make your DIY experiences hassle-free. Let's get right to it, shall we? (Be sure to click on the link below each picture for more information on exactly what to do.) 1. Save those old, stiff paintbrushes you thought were goners. Just soak those bad boys in hot vinegar for 30 minutes and they'll be as good as new.
Source: thisoldhouse.com via Jessica on Pinterest
2. Make those free paint stir sticks work. Use them to help recall your household paint colors. Dip the stick into your paint and write the name of the paint color and it's number on the other end. Tie together with some ribbon or twine and voila! This trick was totally made for me and my impulsive, forgetful self.
Source: marthastewart.com via Jessica on Pinterest
3. Make yourself a fun holiday wreath on the cheap. Instead of buying an expensive foam wreath from a craft store, get a 6 foot long piece of foam tubing from Home Depot or Lowe's. Cut the length you want, and duct tape the ends together. For approximately $.97, you've got yourself a naked wreath, ready to be all dolled up!
Source: thepennyparlor.com via Jessica on Pinterest
4. Use paint thinner to transfer a black & white picture or text onto almost anything . Monica and I just used this method for one of our joint projects (which you'll soon hear about. I know you're already on the edge of your seats with anticipation), and it made us squeal with excitement. Hi, we're Monica and Jess and we get really excited about crafting. Anyway, simply print your text or picture with a laser printerbackwards, and lay it on your fabric or wood, or whatever you're working on. Rub paint thinner over the whole thing with a cue tip.There you have it! So much easier than making a stencil and then tracing it. (Please read the whole tutorial before attempting this! Just click here for all the details.)
Source: mademoisellechaos.blogspot.com via The Real Housewives on Pinterest
5. Channel your inner Martha and create ah-mazingflower arrangements. Seriously, she isn't a millionaire for nothing. This simple trick makes all the difference! Make a grid using clear cellophane tape across the opening of your bowl. Cut your stems short, and place one or two blooms in each opening of the grid. Apparently, this helps support the heavier blooms so they don't automatically fall to the outside of the bowl. Add your greens (ie: baby's breath, ferns etc) in last.
Source: marthastewart.com via The Real Housewives on Pinterest So, there you have it! 5 easy ways to make DIY-ing a whole lot simpler. Go forth and create! ______________________________________________________________________________ And, finally, just to get your juices flowing, this is one of the submissions we've received for the Nate Show Ticket giveaway contest:
Isn't it awesome, and highly-unflattering? Oh well, all in the name of the Nate Berkus Show. There's still time to enter the contest, so hurry up and click here here for all the details. Do you have any fail-safe DIY tips? Please share!
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!
We all love Pinterest… there are so many ideas and cool people to be inspired by. I wish I took the time to do more of the projects I see, but honestly this lil' old blog takes a lot of time, so I don't do as many as I'd like to (sounds weird that a DIY blog would take time away from DIYing, but it's true!)
Today I'm excited to introduce you to two people I adore. Meet my adorable sister-in-law Kelly and my awesome brother-in-law Bryan. This cute couple lives in Ohio, so we miss them 24-7, but we have a blast when we're together.
I also have to introduce you to their little stud Jax. He's our one and only nephew and we think he's the best!
Okay, so why are we having this Mangin Family blog reunion?? Well, Kelly is not just a Pinterest addict, she actually does what she pins! {Gasp!} On our recent visit to Ohio, I felt like I was walking through a Pinterest Museum. It was too awesome not to share. Kelly has some creative friends and family, and between them all they have done so many fun projects for her home. So without further ado… Welcome to Kelly's Pinteresting Home!State Artwork Kel is from OH and Bry is from PA.
Aqua Painted Pedestal Table Kel got her table and chairs at goodwill for $75 total. Add aqua and white paint and you have an awesome statement piece!
Funky Pendant Light This was one of the first changes Kelly made to her kitchen when she moved in!
Crossword Names Takes 2 seconds, but is so cute as an accessory. It's just a frame turned chalkboard.
Kitchen Office Space She removed the wall cabinets, added open shelving, and did some adorable accessorizing. Kelly claims she can't decorate, but I'm pretty sure you'd all beg to differ!
Spray Painted Faux Antlers Kel is super lucky to have a Hobby Lobby right around the corner. These beauties came from there and got a coral spraypaint treatment.
Simple Printables She doesn't just PIN free printables, she actually uses them… imagine that! A simple piece of twine, some clothespins, and voila!
Modern Painted Chandelier Bye Bye Brass, hello funky green. The circle bulbs are just right and add a cute modern flare.
Window Frame Kel found this awesome salvage shop in Springfield, OH. They have windows galore!
Family Rules and More Printables Kelly and Jess both have the Be Happy print. You can get it at Sprik Space.
Magazine Paper Frame & Vase These two were purchases, but I liked them too much not to include them. If you're patient enough you can make your own!
House Numbers and Hooks There are so many things you can do with frames, and digital paper. Our favorite site is Moo & Puppy!
Yarn Wreath You know I'm the"anti-wreath," but this one is really cute! I love the homemade pompoms
Paper Flowers Kelly's friend Amy made these for her and they match her aqua table so well. Jones Design Company has tons of paper flower tutorials!
Clip Hooks Are you seeing a clothes pin trend? They're affordable, easy to use, and cute!
Fabric Lined Shelves Kel took plain bookshelves from drab to fab with this blue fabric. Her shelves always look so cute! Her sister gave her the frame with the subway art and has it loaded up with a print for every season/holiday.
Unique Gallery Wall These cool rounded frames are from Ikea and the doorknob is from Hobby Lobby.
Growth Chart I love this growth chart that Kelly's sister made for her. It's exactly like this one from Miss Natalie. No time to make one? You can buy one on Etsy for $56.00.
Last but not least, check out this fabulous fabric choice for a DIY headboard!
What do you think? Are you inspired to go look at your pin boards and actually do a project? I know I have a list a mile long that I want to do now! I also have to tell you that Kel had no idea I was snooping around her house taking pictures, so none of this was staged or cleaned… this is real-deal, everyday life and I think it's great! Have you turned a pin into a project? Share the link, we'd love to see!
Only following on the blog? You're missing out. Use the buttons below to join in on all the fun!
Tonight was the very first night we used our dining room table! I have been super excited to host our first big dinner and this rainy Wednesday night was the perfect opportunity! If you haven't heard about our massive table, check it out here. So, as you know, Eric and I put a big emphasis on being intentional with our friends and we believe big time in authentic relationships. So, tonight was dinner at our place for 27 people (kids and adults). Here's our pretty lil' table before dinner…
And let me tell you it looked nothing like that tonight. The table hasn't been fully sealed yet, so we needed to protect the wood. We covered it in thick plastic and then got a tablecloth… or 3! Umm… guess we're going to need some custom sized tablecloths! We had a Christmas one, a country one, and a fall one. The good thing is that our friends are no frills and they loved it!
We had 14 adult seats and put all the kids in the breakfast room. It was awesome to all be together and all fit so easily. It made me one happy girl! I wanted a few"first supper" pictures, and apparently my husband did too… UGH
Well, at least I have some fun memories of our"first supper" and Eric has a nice bruise on his arm because I may or may not have punched him when I saw these pics! We've been super excited to have had our table post featured on some super cool blogs, and tonight I'm linking up to this cool challenge.
Some of our favorite bloggers challenged readers not to just look on Pinterest, but to actually do something! I spent oodles of time on Pinterest searching and planning before making our table, so I'm linking us up. If you've worked on something link it up, or get busy and make something in the next five days! To join in on the fun, check out the Pinterest Challenge Link Up details. Ok, now I need to go do some dishes… 27 people are wonderful, but not mess-free that's for sure! Don't forget to start thinking of how you could enter to win tickets to The Nate Show with us. We have such a fun day planned in the Big Apple!
We know our posts have been off and on lately, but we hope you're still enjoying all the fun Knock It Off projects. We thought it was about time to do a fun giveaway, so we've teamed up with KILZ brand and some DIY bloggers to bring you this fun $300 Home Depot giveaway!! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The wonderful people at KILZ know what a hectic time of year this can be and they want to give you a jump-start in the right direction by helping you"Get Primed For Fall".
Who's gearing up for the back to school routine? Calendars already filled to the max with sporting schedules and instrument lessons and dance classes? And we all know our own to-do lists are never complete so KILZ is here to remind us all to take some time for ourselves this fall. They've reached out to us and some of our favorite DIY bloggers so we can combine our love of priming and pinning. By following KILZ and these 7 bloggers on Pinterest you can keep up with all of the great DIY inspiration and learn invaluable priming and painting tips. By simply clicking the Pinterest buttons below and clicking"Follow All", and then confirming that you did in the easy entry Rafflecopter form below, you will be entered to win the $300 Home Depot gift card!! Woot Woot! It really couldn't be any easier. Thank you, thank you to KILZ for sponsoring this great giveaway and good luck everyone … We're already dreaming about the projects you could make with that $300!
KILZ Primers & Paints | East Coast Creative | Country Chic Cottage | Uncommon Designs
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The DIY Village | Sew Woodsy | Remodelando la Casa | the space between
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Click this link once you've followed each blogger! a Rafflecopter giveaway
So, follow each of these awesome bloggers & KILZ on Pinterest- then use the Rafflecopter to let us know you're done! Isn't this a great way to start the weekend??!! Good Luck!! We hope an EC2 reader wins!!
Hey y'all… How funny does that sound coming from me? Well, today we're taking some time to show you some amazing projects that some of our blogger buddies have been working on and one of them happens to have the sweetest southern accent, so I though I'd give the old y'all a try. I'm thinking it should never come out of the mouth of a Boston raised, Philly transplant (and yes, I had to Google it to even see how y'all was spelled! Ha!) Anyhow, onto business. We want to introduce you to some crazy talented ladies that we're lucky enough to have met through blogging. If you don't already follow their blogs, you're missing out, but here are some of our favorite projects we've seen recently. Kim @ Sand and Sisal Kim's posts are so dang pretty. Her pictures are amazing and this project is no exception. These glass vases can be made from paint and nail polish remover?!? I know right? I was amazed at the tutorial and will be going to the dollar store for vases STAT! Check out her tutorial! Painted Glass Vases
Shaunna @ Perfectly Imperfect This is the lady that says y'all and it sounds just lovely! Shaunna (in my opinion) knows her style and how to achieve it better than anyone in blogland (and yes, I know that's a BIG statement). If her rooms don't make you a tad jealous, than you're a better woman than I am! It might not even be my style, but the ability to take a room and pull it together so well is something to strive for. You have to check out all of her home before and afters. And funny side note… we were both on Nate the same day and didn't even know it! Jess and I were working like crazy on the 24hr backstage challenge! Home Tour Before and Afters
And I had to include this picture, because it's Jess' personal favorite of Shaunna's.
Brook @ Being Brook I think Brook is the next Ana White! Seriously, she has built so many awesome projects and this picnic table was just one of her recent masterpieces. Doesn't this whole set-up make you want to be invited over for a picnic? She also just made super cool wooden planters that would have cost big bucks from a store. Check out her blog for other DIY projects and to see all the details of this amazing table!
DIY Picnik Table
Allison @ House of Hepworths I've been following Allison's blog for ages now. It's awesome that I've actually gotten to know her! This project is really simple, but looks like something she bought at a high end store. I love Allison's ability to take something average and make it awesome. Check out how she added the awesome pop of color to these bowls and then turned them into art! (Allison also has a great link party each week it you're looking for a good one to join!)Color Backed Decor Bowls
Janena @ SAS Interiors Do any of you have"real designer" friends? Janena is my"real designer" friend and when she says a room I've done looks good, it's like a compliment x10! If you want to learn about styling bookshelves, or arranging a room, she is your girl, but she also does some great DIYs and this one spread like wildfire in blogland. Shower curtains are crazy expensive for cool ones, so Janena figured out how to use any curtain as one! Her steps are simple and will make it last, so check it out! Turn Any Curtain into a Shower Curtain
Now why do I want you to meet our blog pals?? I thought I'd introduce you to them # 1 because I think they're awesome and #2 because we've started a combined Pinterest Board called"Creative Minds" where you can keep up with some awesome DIY and decor projects. The 6 of us will all be pinning to it, to bring you one very awesome inspiration board! Make sure you're following on Pinterest and get ready to see some awesome projects coming your way over the next few days!
Are you looking for the link party for your Creating with the Stars submission? Yay! We're thrilled to have you! Click here or use the button below to link up. Submissions are now open until February 21st. If you want to read more about the contest and all that it entails, click here.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We've had some just for adults Valentine's Day ideas on the blog (here and here), but today we're keeping it PG! (I always give Jess a heart attack when I venture into PG-13 land! lol) With 4 kids this year I had 79 valentines to prepare. Thanks to Pinterest, I spent some 1:1 time with each kiddo, browsing for ideas, and then making each of their cards. I gave them each the option to buy, but they were feeling crafty I guess. Kira went with Arrows and Pencils with kind of a Brave theme. We got the free printables here.
Callen wanted Superheros…and again we found a Free Printable! (noticing a trend here?!?)
Little Bit Funky blog has an awesome tutorial using felt with these printables. Did you notice that I didn't perfectly coordinate paper or add extra fancy ribbon? I've made it a goal that kid projects (even if being blogged) don't get bogged down by mommy details. It's all about the fun and that boy sure looks like he's having fun! hahah! He actually said,"Mom, look how happy I am… {INSERT CHEESY SMILE}. See, that happy!" My kids kill me.
Kaden is 8 and it's one of those ages where you have to decide if Valentines are cool or lame. Thanks to Minecraft, he decided they were cool!
We just made them together using Google Images and two Minecraft Fonts (find them here and here). Sweet"Cool", Simple, & fun for me and my guy to make together!
Last, but not least was Kenzie… at almost 11, valentines are almost a thing of the past, but since school still does them, they had to be Epic (at least in her mind). Eric and I don't let the kids have Facebook accounts or anything, but we did let Kenz get an Instagram account (set to private). You might see her commenting on my pictures 24-7: ) Anyhow, Instagram is very cool in her class this year, so we made Instagram Valentine's… but wait, there's more… we also added a scratch off element! Booyah! (Haha, sorry, I got a tad excited)
I'll warn you… all these pics were taken with my phone, that's another part of kid crafting,"No annoying Mom pictures"… Here's how we made them… We started off with a picture Kenzie took on Instagram (Fried Egg A-la-Kenzie). Using my I phone, I took a screen shot.
We saved the picture and pulled it into Picmonkey where we covered the eggs with a little Valentine's note. We put a few different comments in the area below the picture…
We printed our design out on plain computer paper. Kenz liked the scratch off idea we saw on Pinterest, so… we added that too! First, take a clear (or white if you don't have clear- we didn't) crayon and color over the area to scratch off.
Then we mixed together silver paint and dish washing soap. We used about 2 parts paint to one part soap. Then you just paint it over the colored area. (Let it dry a full 24 hours before moving them around. They need to really cure, so they don't wipe off too easily)
Blogger mommy might have suggested we make the scratch off area in a fun shape or something, but plain old mommy bit her tongue: ) We attached the Instagram print onto cardstock- and of course, we did it in happy face fashion…
And then it occurred to me that most 5th graders don't carry coins, so we used a little washi to attach a penny on the back of each card. Kenz and I both liked this little touch!
It took us about an hour to make all 27 pretty awesome Instagram-Scratch-Off Valentines. It might be the last year we get to make them together (who knows what middle school will bring), so it was an hour very well spent!
So, 79 Valentines later, I had one really fun afternoon of crafting with my kids and 4 sets of pretty cool Valentines. What kind of cards are your kids giving this year?
I can't believe Father's Day is next weekend. I have nothing planned yet (ugh! Slacker wife!) so, I thought I'd share some Father's Day Gift ideas that I found throughout blog land. Now, I have to warn you that my hubs isn't into ties, golf, or the TV remote and I found SO MANY project ideas like that, so if you want that stuff look on Pinterest. These are just ones that I thought were really cool and that I'd actually try myself. Free Printable Props from Paper Coteriefind them HEREI know my kids would have a blast taking pictures with these props! Even if we didn't print them out, we could show dad a silly slideshow!
Wall of Surprises from Oh Happy Day find the tutorial HERE This idea is my favorite and I think that we'll be trying it out next weekend. I was thinking that each of the kids could pick one activity they'd like to do with Daddy and we'll do them throughout the day. We might even include a few clues leading to our big present!
Personalized Book from Paper Coterie Use this link and the code DADSDAY to get 60% off!
I love how this book can combine pictures, printed words, and kids drawings & writing. My hubs isn't a big fan of crafts (I mean he likes the ones my kids make) but he LOVES photo books and things written from our kids. This is on my to do list tonight.
Scrabble Frame from Just Another Day in Paradise find the tutorial HERE This project has been on Pinterest since it started and I still love it just as much. I love the simplicity, but how it instantly grabs your attention.
Father's Day Photo Collage from Positively Splendidfind the tutorial and downloads HEREThis is really creative and cute. If I have time before next weekend we might give it a whirl!
The font wasn't totally my style, so I threw together another image that I'll use for the writing. Feel free to save as and use it too! Amy's tutorial uses Picasa, but I'm loving PicMonkey's collage tool and will probably use that for mine.
I hope this little Round-up got your wheels turning. What do you have planned for the fathers in your life?
What's the one room that every single person that comes to my house will go in at least once? The powder room. Guess what? It's ugly. ugly. ugly. Like really awful. You seriously would think I need to go to Design 101 if you ever saw this room. People might actually send me a bill for the damage the paint color has done to their eyes. It's pathetic. Wait? Is she just whining and complaining on a public blog? Yup I am. The worst part is that I honestly have NO INSPIRATION for this room. Okay, okay, I'll just show you how bad it is…
I do adore these pics… but the scale of this frame is all wrong. Also, the paint is a weird color, but not the color in these pics… I think it was called Pear something… (and yes, my amazing hubs was willing to be a pumpkin for halloween at the request of the kids!)
Grrr for cracked pedestal sinks that aren't even a year old!
We definitely need some kind of magazine and t.p. storage…
See… told ya it was gross… Ok, here's the problem… I need some inspiration… From you… from your Great Aunt… from someone… I don't care who! Powder rooms are weird, let's admit it… Mine is like an octagon, or is it a pentagon? Well, one of those weird shapes. The only thing it has going for it are floors and a high ceiling. After that it's all downhill. I was going to Pin some rooms, but I didn't even like the ones I saw. Geesh. Ok, so enough blog complaining. I'm going to end this post with a simple PLEA… help! @ mention us on Pinterest if you find anything cool and get me out of this potty funk.
P.S. Have you read our Design it Forward post? How about sharing the link? We've gotten some volunteers and donations and we want to keep it going! P.S.S. Sorry for no post yesterday! We were doing some work in NYC… more to come on that in a few weeks!: )
I finally made the switch and got myself a sweet iPhone a few weeks ago. I'm loving it… I will never go back to the world of Blackberry. So of course I'm search of all the greatest apps (leave me a comment with your must-haves), but the app I was most excited to get was Instagram! I love it! I'll warn you, my Instagram feed isn't just blog stuff. You'll see plenty of goofy pics of me and the fam as well. Follow at your own risk! If you want to follow along on my Instagram fun my username is RHBC. Today, I thought I'd give you a peek via Instagram into my house and some things you might not see all the time on the blog. Crystal light… I drink it 24-7.
Spoiler alert… Hello beautiful
Can you even believe I'm a DIY blogger? Yup, that's my master bedroom. Remember how I stole Eric's dresser for our Anthro Knockoff? He's still living out of bins 7 months later. I will get to this room someday…
Jess framed this for me on our first Nate Show. It's our version of family rules… we're not really the hugging type.
Chalkboard back splash. Love this rocket! (I also LOVE my knives!)
Chase and Polly, we're really dumb, so we agreed to get my daughter 2 ducks.
Spray paint makes everything better. This project coming to you soon!
And last, but not least. I love my memo board… even if it has December's calendar still. Go me.
Also, one of our good friends (and actually our guest poster Staci's husband) is kind of a big deal on Instagram (like 35K followers). He takes amazing pictures and I'm always amazed that his incredible pics are taken with a phone!! His username is Curious2119
So, now that I'm on Instagram, come follow along (RHBC) I think I currently have 9 followers. Ha! Maybe you can be the big number 10! Have an awesome day- it's going to be almost 90 here in Bucks County!
** Wait! One more thing! Want to turn an Instagram pic into a canvas? I just got this deal in my inbox. 57% off from Canvaspop. Use this google link to get the deal.
Happy Friday to our favorite readers ever! I've been really excited to share this tutorial with you! I wanted to hang canvas prints of my kiddos in a unique way. Add some wire, screws, and clamps, and I think I came up with something pretty cool!
Industrial Faux Canvas Collage
Everyone loves gallery-wrapped canvases these days, and why wouldn't you? They're fabulous! Although, we don't know about you, but sometimes $60.00+ for one print is a wee bit hard for us to swallow. We were super excited to hear that WalMart came out with a faux canvas:
Now what, you ask, is a faux canvas? Well, we were wondering the same thing, so of course we tried it out. What they do is print your photo on heavy, dimpled paper (canvas look-alike) and then wrap it around a cardboard box. Sounds glamorous, huh? Let me tell you that for the price, we were thrilled!
And, of course, we didn't pay full price… and neither should you! We used a coupon that brought the total down to $9.96 each but… it's expired. BOO! Have no fear, we've got your back! Canvas People will give you a FREE 8x10 canvas and it's not even cardboard! lol. Just use this link to get the deal.
So, you should know by now that I have 4 kids, yup FOUR, and so we got prints of each of the kiddos. We thought it would be fun to add a little boys vs. girls flare, so, inspired by Mandi's Epic Room Makeover we made two graphic canvases as well. We just used some images we found online and Picnik to create them. Sadly, Picnik is actually closing (today in fact!) but PicMonkey is the perfect replacement!
The first step was to add the screw eyes to each canvas. Just measure to the center and screw them in. Since they're made of cardboard it was crazy simple to do. (Umm, please ignore my creepy monster looking hands)
Add screw eyes to the top and bottom of each canvas except for the one which will be at the bottom of your display. The bottom canvas will only get top screw eyes.
Next, add screw eyes to the ceiling. This will require a little measuring, but you'll want them to be even. My vaulted ceiling required some additional math, but we made it work.
Here's where it got a bit tricky. The nice man at Lowe's gave us these clamps to lock the wire in place. Have you ever felt like your hands were made of stone? It's very clear that we're not surgeons. It took about 30 minutes to clamp the first side. Ugh! The hubs finally got home and it took him 30 seconds. We were just happy to have it done!
Now for the fun part! Weave the wire through the screw eyes on the top, behind the back and out the bottom. Repeat for the remaining canvases. Ok, we're all about keeping it Real on our blog, so we'll be honest here too… This is a two person job and preferably with a person you really like, because it's a tad frustrating. The canvases tend to slip down a bit and did we mention our stone hands? We promise it's all worth it in the end.
Once your canvases are threaded through, you'll want to secure the bottom one first. We used a staple gun to hold the wire in place and then added some hot glue (because they were slipping and because Jess is slightly obsessed with the stuff!)
Determine how far apart you want your canvases and adjust them accordingly. The tension of the taut wire should keep the upper canvases in place, but if you want extra support you can add some glue to each one.
The end result is a unique, industrial-looking display that we love!
I couldn't be happier with this project and the unique way to share pictures of my kids! I have to give a shout out to our photographer and friend at Salvatori Photography. These pictures are SO my kids! This was just the first project in my breakfast room makeover, we have lots more planned. I've switched out the light fixture (thankfully!) and this weekend I'm adding avocado chairs, stenciling my table top, and more! I hope to have more to reveal next week!
So, what do you think? Is the wire style workin' for you?
Voting is closed! To see the winners of Round 1,click here. Check back next Monday, March 18th for Round 2 projects and voting! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to Creating with the Stars 2013! Let the contest officially begin! This season of CWTS is going to be Epic and these Round 1 projects are a clear indication of the insane talent of these contestants! Just a few reminders before we get to the voting… Round 1 Challenge:
Round 1 Prize Package: We have the Best Sponsors for CWTS2013 and here's a reminder of what our Contestants are playing for this week… $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!
Without Further Ado… In No Particular Order, Here are the Round 1 Projects…#1- Dresser Turned Modern Sandbox This dresser had no hope. It was in extremely poor shape. I mostly bought it for the legs, but after learning I was in CWTS, I thought I could do something with it. I decided to turn it into a sandbox filled with sand and dirt. What kid does not like sand or dirt?! The issue I have with sand tables is how much of an eye sore they can be. After cutting off an entire level of drawers that brought it down to kid/side table height, I placed sand and dirt inside the top two drawers. When guests come over, I simply place the dresser's top back on covering up the dirt and sand. It is an easy solution that is modern and stylish. Using a friendly exterior paint protects the furniture from the elements. Placing the dresser top on when not in use protects the sand and dirt. The two bottom drawers are functional and can be used for outdoor storage like small plant pots, garden tools, and kid toys. I used a couple of rabbit knobs for fun and green paint for a punch of color.
#2- Little League Lounger I love taking old, crappy stuff and turning it into something that I will actually use! I found an ugly outdoor folding chair at my local thrift store, and knew it would be perfect for my upcycle project. Now, I have a completely re-done"little league lounger" to use at all my boys' baseball games this summer!
Here's what the chair looked like before I worked my magic:
I added all new cream-colored webbing {with a navy pin stripe}, updated the arm rests by re-purposing an old wooden baseball bat, and made a baseball stitch pillow from an old table runner. I love how it all came together!
I can't wait for baseball season to get started so I can use my new chair!
#3- Floor Board Kitchen Island
I love our kitchen, but I've always wanted a big kitchen island where we could hang out. I wanted to take this unused space in our family room and add a table or counter. I had no idea what to use, but all of a sudden, a light bulb went off in my head. I remembered some old floor boards hidden in the basement rafters. They were dusty and worn and perfect. BAM — perfect for an old rustic island! We washed and sanded the boards, and got to work building our new favorite spot.
Add in some painted stools and we now have a space just off the kitchen that is perfect for parties, eating, hanging out, or working on crafts.
#4- Man Chairs Often the"dreaming up" of a new project can be done in my sleep, literally. But execution can feel like a trip to the dentist, one in which I go in for a routine cleaning and find I need a double root canal. The trick to any DIY project is COMMITMENT. Commit to your goal and don't let up no matter how many coats of paint are applied in vain. These previously drab, brown, faux-leather club chairs were purchased on sale for $12 each at a local thrift shop.
A bit of auto upholstery paint, steal tacks, metal coating paint, a couple patinas for good measure and some tough new casters and this thrift store find is ready for"the man".
#5- Tin Tile Mirror So, I'm still totally in shock that I was chosen to be a part of Creating with the Stars. With the first theme being"Upcycle", I wanted to do something a little different. I hit up a local flea market, hoping to find something that screamed my name, and when I saw these vintage tin ceiling tiles, I knew these were it. The fun color that looks so much like patina, the rust, the texture, the scuffed parts revealing the silvery color underneath. LOVE! They were marked $6 a piece, but I offered her $5, and she accepted. So $40 for all 8. Score!
The next stop was Home Depot for wood, and I built a simple frame. Each tile was approx 12x12, so the finished size is 36x36. Not all of the tile sides matched up when I nailed them in, so I'm going to blame the tiles and say that they're wonky, rather than my measuring (which is probably more true). A little paint matching, painting in the gaps, building a frame for a mirror that I picked up at Michaels, attaching the mirror and frame with some glue, and we're almost done.
I had the perfect spot in my hallway that was just begging for some oomph. For under $60, it's a huge statement piece that fits perfectly. I'm thrilled with how it turned out.
#6- Television Stand Upcycled to a Bar When I saw this ugly, 80’s style television stand at our local Goodwill for a whopping $30, my mind immediately started churning with ideas. I’ve been wanting to set up a bar area in our house, and I knew this would be the perfect piece to turn into a bar. It just needed a little (or, um, a LOT) of love!
I added legs and a little stand at the bottom to make it a bit taller, and gave it a few coats of navy paint (and, of course, a stencil to add some fun). I turned the drawers on either side that used to be used for VHS storage into the perfect place to stash a few bottles. And, since most alcohol bottles are all different sizes and shapes, I poured our frequently used ones into uniform glass bottles that I etched with the name – that way I can be sure the bottles fit and they look pretty to boot!
Finally, for a last little touch, I dipped some of our glasses in gold paint to make things a little more sparkly and fun. I’m so happy with how it turned out and I’m loving the extra storage! I can’t wait to put this thing to good use!
#7- Trash Pile Tire Made Trendy Table Early Saturday morning, still bra-less and in my PJs, I drove to a neighbor's house and hurled an old tire from their curb-side trash pile into the back of my car. My plan for the filthy tire was still foggy… as was my pre-coffee brain, but I was determined to turn it into something cool. After a day of deliberation, trial, and error, I determined side table was to be its fate. Let's get upcycling.
I started by giving the tire a scrub with some dish soap. Next, I tried to figure out what to use for legs. Since this tire still has the (very!) heavy rim attached, I needed something sturdy. After contemplating many possibilities, I decided to cut them out of a piece of pine left in my garage from another project. The legs were stained and attached to a plywood circle I cut for the base. Then, I glued the tire on top of that with construction adhesive, and added a smaller circle to the top of the tire to act as the table top.
I covered the entire tire in rope using Liquid Nails and"dipped" the legs in a bright citrus-ey yellow paint. I'm pretty jazzed with how it came out and can't wait to tell people I have an old tire in my living room. Ha!
#8- Vertical Blinds Headboard Why is it that bedrooms are always the last rooms to get decorated? This room had no artwork, no matching furniture, and a mattress sadly sitting on a cheap bed frame. The only good thing about it was that it was prime for a makeover!
When my parents upgraded their patio doors from vertical blinds to curtains, my mom saved the blinds for me thinking I could “make something with them.” Does this happen to all creative types? But Mom was right, those old vertical blinds were the perfect material to make an over sized woven headboard for the bedroom.
A sleek wooden frame hangs so that the headboard almost reaches our 8 foot ceilings, and two spray painted clamp lights provide adjustable lighting for bedtime reading.
Similar, but smaller, woven headboards can cost over $700, but since I re-purposed my materials, this statement-making headboard cost less than 1/10th that much. No more sad, bland bedroom for us! #9- Bicycle Wheel Clock
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.: )
#10 Statement Piece Light Fixture
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 cornered geometric shape that I wanted. At $2 each, what could I lose?
Browsing Pinterest I found this amazing light and fell in love with the arms. It's lines are simple, but make a big impact! Perfect for a statement piece! The egg crate diffuser was cut into the shape of the arms, filled with plaster of paris, sanded and painted. So that the wiring and housing wouldn't compete with the outer arms, I made a simple fixture out of metal tubing, PVC plumbing parts, and a few parts from an existing chandelier. After wiring it (and being elated that it worked!) I installed trim on the ceiling to frame the chandelier, and added a little more interest by painting alternating stripes in ivory and a light gray. Finally, I installed a gallery wall with a few fun pieces!
From a designer's nightmare to an energetic statement piece, this diffuser has come a long way! #11- Lab Station Turned Dining Room Buffet
servin' it up old school… The story of how a lonely old science lab station gained new life as an industrial-style dining room buffet. Once upon a time…on an unusually warm and sunny spring day, I was leisurely browsing a flea market when I spotted this piece and was immediately drawn to it…the color, the rust & patina, it's industrial style, and the fact that it was old and had great visual evidence of it's previous life--lots of it. As I looked closely at the butcher-block top complete with bunsen burner stains, student-carvings (i.e."jennie-loves-alex") and distress-marks galore, I knew that I had to have it--for something, but what that something was, wasn't clear to me at the time. We just had"chemistry"--I could feel it.; ) Luckily, the kind gentleman who I was buying this (very heavy) treasure from was willing to help me get it into my truck…and let me tell you: it. weighs. a. ton. Chapter Two: Fast forward to Project One CWTS: Upcycle. I knew instantly that this sad science lab station was about to have a major career change. I tossed around a few ideas, but pretty quickly decided it would be a fabulous, industrial-style dining room buffet. The hardest part was this: while I love the"vintage-industrial-rusty-patina" look and eagerly welcome it into my house, this was looking a bit too"raw" for my dining room. Well, try googling"how to tone down rust on metal, yet keep just the right amount of color and patina". If there is a tutorial for this…I didn't find it!
Chapter Three: So, I did a little DIY-science-experimenting and discovered a technique to get just the look I was hoping for. After this process I added the casters, the door knobs, stenciled on the quote and stained the butcher-block top. Add some wine, grapes, cheese…and this"new" buffet is all ready to help you eat, drink and be merry.; )
…and she lived happily ever after in my dining room.
#12-From Frumpy to On Fire, Fireplace! When I was told that the first week of Creating With the Stars theme was upcycle I was over the moon excited. Upcycling is my thing. It’s where I get my groove on. And so, it wasn’t a matter of finding something to upcycle; it was a matter of deciding which thing to upcycle. So, I took a tour of my house and gazed at all of the items that needed some good loving. And then, I sat and thought about what I wanted in my home. And, it came to me. Hmm… could I? Would it be possible? Yes… yes, it could!!
I’ve wanted a fireplace forever and ever. Okay, that’s an exaggeration. But, you get the gist. And, while this fireplace/bookcase might not be the real thing it fits the bill quite nicely. I was able to create my “fireplace” from an old bookcase that was sitting in my laundry room, a mirror frame that was on it’s way to the trash, and an antique footboard that had lost it’s headboard (poor thing). The bookcase is the most important element; the mirror and footboard helped create awesome and turn the bookcase/fireplace into something spectacular.
I cut the footboard down to size and used it as the “mantel” as well as give the fireplace/bookcase a skirt at the bottom. Scrapbooking chipboard embellishments gilded, painted, and antiqued look like beautiful wood cutouts on the mantel. The trim on the sides of the fireplace/bookcase are pieces of the mirror cut down to size. A chimney that runs the length of my 12 foot wall was created with a simple frame covered in tin. The back of the bookcase was covered in that same tin for added charm. I must say this project exceeded my expectations and far surpassed the image of awesome I had for this project when I started out. I love walking into my home and seeing this and am so pleased waiting forever and ever is over!
Can You Believe That Talent? It's Time to Vote!You can only vote one time, but you can vote for your favorite 3 projects.Before voting, please LIKE EC2 on Facebook. Thanks! If you're having trouble viewing the voting box, click HERE to vote. Don't forget that tomorrow it's your turn to link up your own upcycle project!Thanks for playing along!!
