hanging copper planters

Okay, I lied last post. I did work on a home project, but only because it was a very inspiring anniversary gift.

Jeremy and I celebrated 7 years last month (woot!), and we always do a spin on the traditional gift for each other, partly because it helps spur our creativity and partly because it's just fun. The seven year traditional anniversary gift is copper.

So, I might have convinced him to purchase some 3.5" copper half spheres for me to make into air plant planters. (I've really wanted air plants for awhile, so perfect timing.) THEN Inspiration struck. It struck like it hasn't in quite a while. Remember the far-off-and-away post explaining my living room dilemma?

(like from 2 years ago? okay, maybe only one. Still, I'm sure you remember. *eye roll* Or not.)

Where I couldn't decide what to put here? In that annoying space left from my off-center living room shelves? AHHH! A year later my creative brain has pulled through, thankyouverymuch.

I was limiting my imaginings to something I could hang on the wall - instead I came up with something to hang from the upper shelf. YES! And voilà. 

While copper isn't cheap, the rest of the items to complete the project were pretty simple:

- 3 copper half spheres
- suede lace
- cup hooks
- air plants (found here) 

Super simple process: I knotted 3 pieces of suede lace - all approximately the same size for one planter - at the top and bottom. Each one I made slightly different lengths on purpose. Install cup hooks, slide in half spheres and hang! And that's that! 

(I know my shelves need some summer styling love. Anyone want to come help? I'm so out of it.) 

Don't expect too much more in this realm, but I did have to share.

Interested in air plants? Check out this tutorial from the girls at A Beautiful Mess to find out more! They are pretty cool!

virtually madeover >> front door

My parents have a new house (retirement!!) in Arkansas, and I've been attempting to use my love for decor to come up with ideas for their new home.

I've often thought that virtual makeovers would eliminate lots of DIY mistakes, but how to do them is the kicker. Layla is awesome at this, but me? I know a few Photoshop tricks, but that's just about it.

Insert this tutorial!! I was able to view all of the videos for free and learned how to do a virtual room makeover! So, without further ado...


... a virtual front door makeover! 

Currently the door is a light aubergine/mauvish color. No offense to the previous owners, but YUCK.

Using my fancy new *skillz* I've madeover the door in several new colors - keeping in mind the client, wink, wink. This was the easiest one to do, and thus the first reveal.

(Oh, and the chartreuse is a joke.)

I'm liking the blue (top left) and the green (middle right) the best. What's your fav?

You'll be seeing more of this as a fun little series as I take the time to virtually makeover several rooms in their new home - mostly so they can get an idea of the things they like, don't like, etc. and so I can have a visual with some of my ideas. Ya know, because some ideas are better left in my head. ;-)

Cheers!

DIY rustic phone cabinet

Kitchen update is complete!! (See previous posts here, here, here and here.)

My last project in the kitchen is complete. After several weeks of "in progress" because of my lack of a table saw, I finished my rustic phone cabinet.

This idea was the answer to a clutter problem.

Do you have a spot where stuff always seems to accumulate without a second thought? Ugh. Our microwave is a magnet for clutter and I hate looking at it. With our tiny kitchen layout, every time we need to move the dishwasher to hook it up to the sink, we have to move the phone off and on and off ...

So, I thought, why not build a small cupboard to house the phone, cover the ugly phone jack (see the pic below) and clear up some of the visible clutter?

I had a source for rustic 1x4s, so I figured they would work perfectly as the phone base is right around 4" wide. So when my Dad brought his miter saw to help with a couple of projects, I got several weathered boards, and we went to work.

Very quickly, I realized that said 1x4s were indeed NOT 1" or 4" wide. I should've known this, but wasn't thinking...

My dad did some math and said he would have to rip some boards length wise in order to make the depth of the cabinet wide enough to house the phone. But the table saw is at his house, so it would be a few weeks before I got to work on the cabinet again.

Once I obtained my newly cut pieces, I started putting them together.

I used all of the free items items I could:
3 - 1"x4" fence boards
2 old hinges and screws from this project
reused turquoise knob
1" finish nails and 1" wood screws that I had on hand


I purchased:
1 magnetic hinge kit
4-pack L-shaped brackets
2" screws and 1/2" screws (for attaching brackets)

= about $6-7

 Here is a view from the inside.

- I used the small pieces of wood (extra from the ripping job) to piece together the corners and then two of the longer extras to put the door slats together.
- The left set of L-brackets are screwed into studs and the other two are just screwed into the drywall for a little stabilization. I was going to put them in with plastic anchors, but ran into some sort of duct that made it impossible to screw anything into. (de ga je!)
- The door hinges and magnetic closure are pretty self explanatory. :-)

Aren't the weathered variations so pretty?

I know my dishwasher/microwave combo isn't much to look at, but the pic gives some perspective on the cabinet. Doesn't this little nook look so much cleaner?

I have to admit - even with this "fix" the microwave is still a magnet for stuff, but at least it's not home to those things anymore.

Woot for a finished room!

bedroom decor update

So, I've done a little bedroom updating and haven't completed it -- but I decided to show you the "in progress" view anyway. Because, who knows how long it would take me to finish!? As always, feel free to offer any suggestions you have.

Here we are a few months ago ... my snowflake banner was still up, so it must've been wintry out. Our bedspread is looking a little faded (weird lighter spots - from the sun?) and when I painted the walls brown, all of a sudden it was like ...

EVERYTHING. DROWNING. IN. BROWN.

Not good.

My sweet friend visiting from California gave me a few moments of our precious time together to give me some suggestions on the room. We flipped the bedspread over and rearranged the pillows a bit.

Last week I scored a cream tailored bedskirt at a discount store, and reupholstered the headboard in dropcloth fabric.

The headboard definitely pops against the darker wall and I like that I can play a little bit more with the pillow colors - now I'm not limited to gold, tan, brown and blue.

I would love to eventually get a new bedspread and totally change up the colors, but this is what I chose (curtains + bedspread were wedding gifts) and I am determined to make the best of it for now.

Next on my list is making some hanging pendant lights to free up bedside stand space...


Maybe something industrial like these?

link

Or upcycling something vintage and turn it into a pendant light? I'll let you know when I come up with it. It may be a couple of years, but it will be done.

;-)

$10 Kitchen Update

There is a reason I've not shown you my kitchen before.

Well, at least this side of my kitchen. (Here's the other side.)

It's UGLY, honeys. And hardly has any counter space. And we're not allowed to touch it ... even thought it would look about a million times better with a nice coat of white paint and new hardware. 

So, I've been working on living well in my space, brainstorming ideas of how I can better enjoy my space. (On a very limited budget, mind you.) Last week I came across some DIYs of rented kitchens and started to look up different cupboard transformation ideas. Contact paper comes up a lot, but it supposedly leaves residue. Yuck.

There are $99 rolls of removeable vinyl/contact paper stuff, $50 rolls of Sherwin Williams removeable wallpaper ... or ...

wait for it (!)...



The ever baffling $3 washi tape. I still don't have the slightest clue why it's so popular, but I have found a use for washi tape after all!!

 Mindblowing, right?

Okay, not so much, but for $10 and 3 rolls of green faux woodgrain washi tape, my kitchen feels fresher and more fun.

You'll see that I left it off the lower cupboards. I have a 3 year old who just decimated the $40 wall vinyl I quite lovingly stood at 38 weeks pregnant and hung after 11 weeks of bedrest ...

That's why.

Our cupboards are flat, so I just outlined them with four pieces of tape. They aren't perfect (and neither are the cupboards - case in point above!) but you can't tell from a distance. I considered measuring and putting the squares in a little bit, but yeah right!? How's a 20 minute project compared to a 2-3 hour one? The first, please!

Last question - should I twine the hardware or not? Vote in the comments - please! I need your opinion. :-) 

:-)

project(s) update: wreath with candy-striped plaque

Upcycled, recycled and reused.

This one is fun!

project(s) update: piano key sunburst mirror

Remember my sneak peeks of projects in the works? (CLICK HERE if you've forgotten.) That pile of 60+ year old piano keys ....


... a sunburst mirror!

 I hemmed and hawed for months about how to attach the keys and finally just tried to glue (wood glue) them. And ... it didn't work so well, so I ended up just nailing them straight through with 1-1/4" nails. I may go back and add a third nail to each key, but I was finished for the day and wanted to see how it would look.

 Kind of amazing! At least this one (if not two) will be for sale at the Market - coming up October 25 + 26th. And if they don't sell, I'm putting it right back up on the wall here. It's sorta retro, sorta artsy. I love it!

(and did you know? each piano key is numbered ... I used numbers 1-22 on this one)

autumn ready: faux leaf fall banner

boy howdy honey, fall better get here! it's been 100 degrees and i have about had it. the bugs and humidity and heat all need to melt away into gorgeous, breezy days full of autumn color.

i've been readying myself for fall. a friend (thanks Val!) gave me some apples like last year - an almost overflowing copy paper boxful! - and I've been peeling, slicing, mashing and inhaling heavenly scents these days.

there were only two in the whole box that were supermarket-worthy and I loved that! they were oddly-shaped, but organic, healthy and free! besides, why does fruit need to be uniform? i think the variations are gorgeous. but, I digress.

I've also put out - all four of - my fall decorations to let the world and weather know that I. Am. Ready. (I'd also love a good, spicy fall candle. Any recommendations?) I came across some faux fall leaves from last year and decided to autumn-ify my living room shelf - it's kind of like my mantle, you know, changing with the seasons.

And this was an excellent project for {Ladybug} to be involved in! She did great and took it so seriously. Can you tell?

supplies needed: faux leaves, twine, tapestry (blunt) needle, hole punch, scissors and thumb tacks. 

Just punch, thread and hang! I punched several leaves at a time because they were so thin - it worked much better that way.

(Someone was excited!) I hung the twine on the back of my barnwood frame between thumb tacks. Fluff leaves until you're happy.

And voila! Fall. What do you think?

A perfect toddler activity! (As long as she is careful with the needle, of course.)

"EAT" sign - DIY distressed kitchen sign

I had a hankering for a new little sign in the kitchen - and it came to me one day. So I used a piece of scrap wood (leftover from THIS project) - then stained it, painted it with Annie Sloan chalk paint and distressed using sand paper and the vaseline distressing trick (see it HERE). I used graphite paper to trace a really simple font and painted it with black acrylic.

it is now perched over my kitchen sick (where there is little else to look at) flanked by two happy green/red/yellow vintage potholders.

My first Pinterest project - done!

After Christmas decorations come down, the house always seems a little empty. I was thinking about this before I even took things down (we celebrated the 12 days of Christmas this year and I was SO ready to get our house back to its previously less cluttered state, not to mention my sweet 2-year old had ransacked our tree and, alone, it was looking pretty sad). Then I read this post and immediately agreed.

How about something winter that isn't so holiday? Winter wreaths! I was drawn to this one and loved (and pinned!) the idea.

source

I've been going room to room MAJORLY decluttering/simplifying and came across my really soft, really long skinny knit scarf. I debated back and forth and decided that I really did like it, but I didn't really wear it. But, it was one of the few things I put back to decide on later. And boy am I glad I did!

I finally was able to fulfill my *goal* of doing a Pinterest project. Ha! (Good job, Lisa!)

It's not nearly as elegant and chunky and cushy as the white scarf used for the wreath above, but it totally worked for my purposes. It also isn't white (obviously) which would've been more wintry and versatile, but I'm reusing what a can, yes?! It will last through Valentine's day as a pink something and maybe beyond 'til spring - I like color.

I already had a wreath form and had to cover some pokey ends with tape so they didn't snag but while Ladybug was splashing around in the tub, I put this baby together in 5 minutes (yes, seriously, just like the tutorial says). I made a few adjustments, and tied the ends with a clear hair tie.

(Can you see it here?)

And there you have it. 

I asked Jeremy what he thought and he was less impressed than I was. I guess he's not a fan of yarn decorations, so I'll give him that.
Don't worry, love, it won't last forever. :-)

a grey and yellow nursery (girl version)

While Asa's nursery was dark and boy, Ella's nursery is soft and whimsical. It's amazing that two nurseries of the same color scheme can be so different!

(Ella's room is on the side of the house without much light and I didn't have our tripod, so excuse the slightly yellow photos, please!)

The walls are a very soft gray. The curtain, a bright canary yellow.

Isn't the rocking chair sweet?

Custom art pieces fill E's house, and the nursery is no exception. Here is a dreamy painting of a tree (which has now been accompanied by several gorgeous paper flowers surrounding it! I wish I would've snapped another picture.)

However, in my opinion, the curtain is by far the show stopper of the room - handmade by E. Isn't the smocking gorgeous?!

Her crib linens are technically "mismatched" but they still go together so well! Mixing patterns is something I love but have a difficult time achieving.

Another art piece - this one upcycled and bunting-like streamers criss-cross the air. Something for sweet Ella to stare at in her crib... 

E included some vintage (chair, stool) and more whimsical decor. Recognize this?

E! Thanks for letting me feature Ella's nursery!

I love the contrast between both of the gray and yellow nurseries. Soft vs. bold, matching vs. mixing, dark vs. light, whimsical girl vs. graphic boy.

What fun decorating is!