Category Archives: DIY

Mailbox Facelift

January 11, 2013

Now that we have a new front door, I thought it was time our mailbox got a facelift. I couple years ago I decided to paint it red with a little bird on it. I’ve enjoyed having it that way, but I was in the mood for something new. So, I went with triangles. I’ve been liking triangles and geometric patterns more and more lately. If you remember, last year I painted metallic triangles on the desk I found on the side of the road.

This was a simple project, quite relaxing and just plain old good for the spirit. There’s something about painting that puts me in a good mood.

I simply sanded down the whole thing, and then painted the entire mailbox a dark charcoal grey. Then I used a little blue painters tape to map out where I wanted the triangle. I made columns that were 1 1/4″ wide and then, with sharpie, I marked every 1 1/4″ up the tape. This gave me 1 1/4″ squares to work in. I didn’t want the triangles to all be perfectly the same, I wanted a hand painted look to them. But, having the tape helped me keep them straight and even.

I painted my triangles white with just a random few metallic copper ones. I had to do 3 coats of paint on each triangle to get enough coverage.

Isn’t making a house a home all about the details? I might not have the nicest, biggest house, but it does reflect me and my family. I know a fun mailbox isn’t an essential, but it makes me happy and it shares a little of my personal style with the rest of the world. What details in your home tell about your uniqueness?

DIY / etc.

Orange Rosemary Salt Scrub

January 9, 2013

I’m hearing a lot of talk of snow, it’s definitely not here though. We are having a very mild Winter, whom am I kidding, it’s always a mild winter here. It might not be very cold but we definitely have dry Winter air. I’m feeling and seeing the effects of the dry air on my skin. I often look at my hands and am embarrassed by how old they look. I’ve got my Grandma’s hands, like her hands when she was in her 80’s. A couple years ago I made a Pumpkin Spice Sugar Scrub. I kept a jar of it by my kitchen sink and when I’d remember, I’d scrub my hands with it. It worked really well to exfoliate and moisturize my skin. So, I thought I’m try a salt scrub. I am loving this combination of crisp citrus with woodsy rosemary. It’s refreshing and energizing and after using it just twice, my hands and looking and feeling so much better.

I searched the web looking for salt and sugar scrub recipes, and most require essential oils. I really didn’t want to have to buy a $5 bottle of orange essential oil. The whole point of making my own scrub is to save a little money. Yes, I could easily go out and buy a $12 or even $20 jar of scrub. But, my little recipe fills a whole jar and it cost me less then $1. And I love that it came from my garden and pantry and it has nothing artificial or fake in it.

Orange Rosemary Salt Scrub
1 cup salt
zest of one orange
1tsp. rosemary leaves taken off the stem
1/3 cup olive oil

In a food processor, place the orange zest, rosemary and salt. Pulse a couple times until the rosemary is copped finely. Pour in the olive oil and pulse a couple times more. Store in a jar or airtight container. To use the scrub, wet your hands or entire body with warm water, then in gentle circular motions rub the salt scrub. Rinse completely with warm water. Pat skin dry.

I’m storing my scrub in my new Weck jar. My kids got me a set of 6 canning jars for Christmas (with their dad’s help of course). They’ll be great for jam making in the summer.

So, are you enjoying Winter or are you already longing for warmer weather?

DIY / etc.

How-to Paint Laminate Furniture

January 8, 2013

I couple months ago I posted this little dresser I found at my local Salvation Army. I finally refinished it earlier this month and now it’s my nightstand. It has really turned out to be one of my favorite thrift store finds now that it got a facelift. I had promised I would share more about the refinishing process. So, here’s the how-to.

This is the second piece of laminate furniture that I’ve painted. This summer I painted a little cabinet in our bathroom yellow. I was so pleased with how it turned out, and it’s really held up well (even with it being in a bathroom with moisture), I decided that I’d try again. This little dresser had a laminate top and the rest of the piece was wood. But, it seemed like a lot of work to remove the laminate and glue from the top, so I decided to paint the whole thing.

I’ll try to make this as simple and easy to follow as possible.

1. SAND – Remove all hardware and take apart the piece as much as possible. There is no substitute for sanding. Take a power sanding and run it over all the surfaces to smooth out any imperfections. You do not need to remove all the finish, just rough up the surface a bit so the primer has something to stick to.

2. DUST – remove all dust with a tack cloth. The paint won’t lay down and adhere well if their are particles on the surface.

3. PRIME – paint one coat of primer on, I use Zinsser Cover Stain Oil-Base Primer Primer (purchased at Home Depot). It’s the best! It is oil based and bonds fantastically and dries super fast.

4. SAND – sand super lightly with a piece of sand paper when the primer is good and dry (overnight is best).

5. DUST – tack cloth the entire piece again.

6. PAINT – I like Rustoleum’s Painter’s Touch (for this dresser I used Dark Grey and Heirloom White). It took two coats of to get good coverage. I learned from my dad to put on a light coat and then go back and do another coat. Putting it on thick to start with does not work as well, you can get yucky drips and bubbles.

So there it is, my fool proof method. I’ve done lot’s of research and trial and error, and this really is the easiest and cheapest way to turn a tacky piece of laminate furniture into something sleek and fabulous. I hope you find this helpful. Do you have a piece of laminate furniture, possibly bought while you were in college, that could use a facelift?

DIY / etc.

Large Black and White Print for less

January 5, 2013

For months I’ve been seeing on pinterest how you can enlarge a black and white photograph for just a couple bucks at Staples. Well, we don’t have Staples here, so I tried Kinkos. And I’m so pleased to tell you that I had this photo of my three cute kiddos enlarged to 20 x 30 for just $4.50. How great is that? For a photo enlargement anywhere else, you’re looking at paying anywhere from $23-$45.

Olivia is 15 months ago, and embarrassingly enough, I’ve had a picture of our family up in our entryway without her that whole time. I really like the family silhouette, but I just haven’t gotten the right picture of us to make a new one for our family of five. But, for $4.50, I can change the picture whenever I want!

Do you have a favorite photo of your loved ones and a special place that you’d love to see enlarge to poster size? Oh, and I need your opinion. I’m kind of getting tired of the Khaki walls in our living room. They’ve been this color for a LONG time (like 8 years). You probably can guess I’m thinking a grey color, probably a very light, almost white grey. What do you think?

DIY / Entertain

New Year’s Eve Ball Drop Cupcake Toppers

December 31, 2012

I’ve been planning some New Year’s treats and decorations for tomorrow night. To bring in the New Year, we’re celebrating with cupcakes topped with these mini Ball Drop toppers.

I think these turned out quite festive. I baked the cupcakes in gold foil papers and then topped them with a sparkly ball.

The supplies are really inexpensive. I used Wilton Lollipop Sticks and a $1 Christmas floral pick from Michael’s. I simply pulled off all the silver glittered foam balls from the pick and then just pushed them onto the lollipop sticks. I’m sure if you couldn’t find a floral pick like the one I did, you could easily glitter some 1″ foam balls.

I also came up with a new cupcake recipe. These buttery, sweet treats are Sparkling Cider Cupcakes (I’ll be posting the recipe right away). They’re my family friendly version of Champaign Cupcakes.

DIY

Deer Pillow

December 28, 2012

I hope you’ve had a wonderful Christmas. We definitely have. Lot’s of great time with family and definitely lots of eating – way too much eating. I can’t seem to stop eating actually. Do I really need to eat a piece of pie for breakfast and a two pieces of fudge at 2 pm just because? I’ve been eating pretty guilt free this week. How about you?

I’m not ready for this season to be over. I’m glad that I can keep the decorations up till New Years. And really many of my decorations are “wintery” not just for “Christmas”. So, I’ll leave lots of them up through January.

I made this reindeer pillow this year to add to my wintery decor. I used this freezer paper stencil method to paint on my little reindeer head. I like the crisp white on this grey chevron fabric.

You really can’t have too many pillows, can you? I love changing them up with the seasons too.

DIY / etc.

Winter Window Painting

December 24, 2012

This week I painted a winter scene on the front windows of my house. I had so much fun painting on them for Thanksgiving. And I was excited to try my hand at a little more window painting.

I kind of went a little crazy and should have probably kept it simple like I did with the “Give Thanks”. But, my kids were really excited about it. The winter village is definitely my favorite part.

I hope you are enjoying working on the last minute preparations for Christmas. I hope you aren’t having to brave the malls and that all your gift buying is done. I’m done! And it’s a relief to have that part of Christmas finished. I’m enjoying time with my family, as crazy as it is with 7 kiddos, 5 of which are under the age of 3.

DIY

Modern Glitter Dipped Trees

December 21, 2012

I will admit it. Sometimes I leave things to the very last moment possible. It’s not really that I am intentionally procrastinating, it’s just I’m really busy and the fun stuff has to be pushed aside to make room for all the have to things of life. So, even though this is just days before Christmas, I’m sharing a little DIY that I made this week. The truth is, I bought these cardboard cones last year with the intention to make them into trees for Christmas decor and it never happened. So that I didn’t store them unfinished for another year, I made the time to transform them into Modern Glitter Dipped Trees. I know there are just a couple days left to enjoy them, but next year when I unpack my Christmas stuff, I’ll be so pleased that I made these.

I know I sound like a broken record, but I’m loving clean, modern design so much right now. These trees really appeal to me.

Here’s how I made them. I simply bought two cardboard cone forms at Michaels. They were just a couple dollars each. I painted them each white all over for a base coat. Then using blue painters tape, I taped off the top half of each cone on a diagonal. Then I brushed on white glue and sprinkle glitter generously (I used Martha’s glitter in Smoky Quartz and Hematite) Let them dry completely and then tap them a couple times to remove any extra glitter. These are sitting up on my buffet in my dining room. They are a great last minute addition to my holiday decor.

What do you think? Can you really have too much Christmas decor? Do you put out EVERYTHING, every year or do you pick a chose for year to year what you display.

Oh, and I came across these lovely Color Block Trees Nicole from Making it Lovely made this week. You should check out her cute pastel and metallic trees. Our trees are quite similar, so all I can say is “Great Minds Think Alike!”

DIY / etc.

Potted Succulent Gifts

It’s that time of year – time to give the wonderful teachers in your child’s life something special. As a teacher myself, (well, I’m not teaching now but have in the past and will again someday) I want to give something that they can actually use and enjoy. Really, I didn’t need another apple themed calendar, #1 Teacher Mug or desk plaque. Even though, plants are temporary, they bring a lot of enjoyment. That’s why I’m giving the teachers in our lives, succulents this year. Succulents are so popular right now, and really I see why. They require very little effort to maintain. I water mine once every 2 weeks (that’s what my local nursery suggested) and it seems to work well.

I decided since it was the holidays, I would add a little sparkle to the terra cotta pots. I kept it simple and easy with polka dots, because they’re always happy and playful.

Here’s what you’ll need:
Mini terra cotta pots (I got mine at Michaels for 99 cents each)
Glitter (I used Martha’s in Florentine Gold, Smoky Quartz, and Yellow Barite)
White craft glue
A sponge stencil brush
A small succulent

Simply apply the glue in polka dots using the stencil brush. Then sprinkle glitter on the glue dots (do this over a paper plate or container so you can collect and reuse the extra glitter). Tap the pot a couple times to remove any excess glitter. Let the glue dry completely. Then transplant the succulent into your glittered polka dot pot.

I’m a fan of flowers for teachers as well. Remember my Back to School Bouquets that I gave to the teachers at of beginning of the year? What are you giving to teachers this year? I’d love to hear you great ideas.

Oh, and I wanted you to check out another really great way to give succulents. A Golden Afternoon, potted her succulents in tea cups and saucers – how darling?

DIY / Entertain

Wrapping Paper Placemats

December 20, 2012

I recently helped my mom decorate 3 themed tables for a Christmas banquet. My favorite one was the wintery woodland themed table. In order to add some depth and interest to this table, I decided placemats were needed. But, on a small budget, I needed to find something reasonably priced. So, wrapping paper did the trick. I found this great woodgrain wrapping paper at Target.

I simply cut 12″ x 18″ rectangles of the paper (this was easy because the back of this paper has been marked off in 1″ squares). Then to make them look a little more finished, I rounded the corners. I have this nifty Martha Stewart corner cutter, but this could easily be done with scissors as well.

With so many fantastic choices of wrapping paper, these placemats could be made for any party. Can’t you see this being fun for a themed birthday party or just a family dinner that you want to feel festive or special? To make placemats for a table of 8, I used a yard and a half of wrapping paper. I’m sure that cost less then a dollar.

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