Frames Made Better

Before stain

After stain

I had to get new frames for the wall where we have all our kids pictures because I didn't have one for each kid and I neede smaller ones so they would all fit. These frames I got were a really good deal but I thought they seemed a little dull. I added the stain to them and it really brought out the bead board details. I love them now.

Topiary #2

I love the look of topiaries and wanted to make another one only this time taller. You can see the first one I made here. I wanted to make it cheap and spend as little as possible. So instead of buying Styrofoam balls, I made my own balls wadding up newspaper until I got the sizes I wanted.

I gathered all my supplies, two pots (didn't know which one I liked better), newspaper balls, green paint, sticks, Deer Moss, glue gun and antiquing glaze (to antique the pot). Oh you will also need plant filler and a drill. :)

 

After forming the balls, I used a little tape just to secure the shape and then painted them green. This saves a lot of time of not having to worry about covering every little space because the white is showing through. You can also use black or brown-any dark color.

While these were drying I made my stick bundles. I already had sticks but you could even save more money and use them from the great outdoors. One for the middle of the balls and one long one for the pot. I used about 3 or 4 sticks for each bundle and hot glued them on both ends to keep them together.

Once the balls were dry, I took the drill and drilled holes where the sticks needed to go in. Once the hole is the size you need put a bunch of hot glue in the there and insert the sticks. You need to hold the sticks straight until the glue is set.

Now the fun part, gluing the moss on. I used the real deer moss and LOVED it, it is very soft and stays that way. Glue small pieces on at a time to avoid it looking too uniform. Once the balls were covered I put them in the pot.

Because again I didn't want to spend money, I jimmy rigged the pot. The ideal thing to use is probably styrofoam in the bottom of your pot and insert the sticks but I didn't have that. What I did have was baby food jars and a bunch of decor pebbles. So I filled a tall baby food jar with pebbles and inserted the sticks-surprisingly it worked. I put the jar in the bottom of the pot and then filled it with the rocks about half way and then covered it with the plant filler I had.

Kitchen Table Revealed

This project took two weeks to complete and many hours of painting, but the results are SO WORTH IT. I love how it turned it out. The painting probably would have gone quicker if I sprayed it but I wanted to use what I had and buy as little as possible. So I used the white primer and bright white paint I already had from the Laundry room project and brushed it on. I spent a total of $30 on stain, poly, and sand paper. 

The process started with this table and chairs and this inspiration.

I started first by sanding the top of  the table. I sanded and sanded for ever it seemed and still could not get to bare wood, so I finally decided to settle by just getting the glossy finish off and then stain it (dark mahogany.) If I had gotten to bare wood, the stain would have been a lot darker but I actually like the color it turned out. I put three coats of stain on it.

I primed the table base and chairs white and then applied two coats of white paint. The primer I used is Zinsser-no sanding required. I sanded and distressed the chairs and table base randomly, then wiped them all down with a damp cloth to remove any dust and then stained them using the same stain as the table.

Once the stain was dry I applied the first coat of poly. I loved working with the water based poly-very low smell and and the dry time was two hours before you could apply the next coat. Lowes told me I needed to apply it with a $5 brush they showed me, but Thrifty Decor Chick uses a foam brush and so I took her advice instead and it worked great-I already had the foam brush. I applied two coats of poly on everything and a third coat on the top of the table.

The most time consuming thing was painting the chairs-the slats were a pain, I didn't want any paint drips to dry so I was very careful. The second thing was just the dry time. I let each coat including the stain to dry a full day before the next one. Did I say how much I LOVE IT!!!?

Kitchen Table Redo: First Round

Damone and I have had this table since we got married (8 almost 9 years ago), I've loved it and it has served us well. However, I am ready for a change. I still have about four more steps to go. Tell me what you think. Stay tuned for the final reveal. :)

Baby Food Jars + Acorns = Free Fall Decor

Lets just say that I LOVE acorns. They are so cute and fallish, don't you think? After gymnastics the boys and I gathered up a ton of these. They had so much fun finding the "good" ones. We came home and hot glued the "toppings" on-according to Kyler. Then I got out a few of my many baby food jars :) and starting filling them up.

After I put them on the table, I decided to take it one step further. Look how amazing they look with tea lights. I just might have to have these on our dinner table Halloween night.

Faux Topiary

I got the idea to make this from one of my favorite blogs Thrifty Decor Chick. I tell you that once she posted how to make this and what she used, Hobby Lobby was sold out of all supplies. Finally on my last trip, they had the boxwood sprigs. Yay!

I started with a vase I already had and painted it in three steps (I didn't get a before picture but the vase was a shiny hunter green.)- First I painted with white primer, second I sponged it with a brown glaze I already had and third I applied the antique glaze to highlight the dimensions.

Now the fun part-this is a little tedious but so worth it.

I ended up using four of the boxwood sprigs- I made mine very full and attached them close together. Make sure if it's not tight and full, you paint your foam ball a dark color so it wont show through in the spaces.

No cutting is involved with these sprigs just pop off each segment. I found it went a lot quicker if I pre poked the holes with a wooden skewer. I put a dab of hot glue on each spring and then stuck them in-working in groups of threes. After I did three, I would turn the vase and do another three. Working in different sections all the way around and up until done.

Bedside Table Redo

I scored this end table at a neighbors garage sale for THREE BUCKS!!

I starting by priming it, and then gave it two coats of white paint. I let each coat cure for 24 hours. Then of course I added the antiquing glaze. I was suprised at how well the original hardware looked when I put it back on. For an extra girly touch I mod podged a sheet of scrapbook paper in the bottom of the drawer.

I love how it turned out and for three bucks you can't beat it!

Homemade Candy Jar

I had seen this candy jar made on another blog. After seeing how simple it was I wanted to make one.

Here are the supplies. The original jar I had seen used the plate that goes with the plant pot for the lid, but I thought it looked too big. So I opted for this wood one (not quite sure what it's supposed to be used for) turns out it fit PERFECTLY for the jar turned upside down.

Half way done. After paining them green (light avocado) I sanded them and applied the antiquing glaze-from lowes. Glued them all together and added some raffia for a bow.

SO CUTE AND SO EASY!

Here is a close up of the distressing.

Besides the glass globe which I got at goodwill for 50 cents, the rest came from hobby lobby. I already had the glaze and the glue. Total cost around 5 bucks. Use your coupon!

Thrifty Window Treatment-Living Room Before and After

You'll never believe what I made these curtains out of-A table cloth and 8 napkins! And the curtain rod is PVC pipe. I was going to get rid of the table linens and decided I had to be able to use them some other way, it's just so much fabric. I sewed four napkins to the short side of the table cloth. See the crease in the picture below, that is where I folded it over the rod-lengthwise. I spray painted the PVC pipe to match the wall sconces I got.

I needed a very long rod 116" to be exact. I was not going to pay the price to get one. Lowes had a 112" rod for $70, who knows what it was going to cost me to actually get the size I needed. Enter the PVC pipe at $3.40!!! This is the only way I am hanging curtains from now on. I splurged on the sconces they were $24 but still less than the rod would have cost me. After I got the rod hung I put the cloth on- folded lengthwise. I cut three pieces of ribbon and tied them to make the scallops and it worked perfectly-the side ribbons cover the seam of the napkins.

And there you have it a COMPLETE window treatment for under $30.