~ DIY Decor

Our den isn’t totally finished yet (will it ever be?), but we’ve gotten to the point now where the den definitely feels like home, and like a reflection of us.

Bringing in bold turquoise and orange through placemat pillows and glass floats added splashes of my favorite thing – color!!  But what finally made the space feel like a real home was hanging our new art series on the far wall – a wall that was formerly sooooo blank and boring.

I whipped up those babies one night after getting a little inspiration from the chalkboard in this living room by Margot Austin.

Wanna make some for yourself?  Here’s how to do it:

1.  Round up the goods. You may already have most of the necessary supplies on hand, like I did.  Here’s what you need.

~ frames w/ mats, the number and color that you want (I used 3 of this frame from Ikea)

~ paint for your background color (I used my free paint)

~ a foam brush

~ a paint pen (I used a white one with a chisel tip)

~ a ruler

~ painter’s tape

2.  Do the prep work. Remove the mats and backing from the frames, and set the frames aside.  For this project, you’re going to use the smooth side of the particle board backing as your paint surface (you could cut down art paper or cardboard to use instead, but I think it makes more sense to just use what you already have on hand).  Use your foam brush and background paint to paint the smooth side of the particle board.  You will probably need several coats of paint (I needed 2), and let the boards dry between each coat.

3.  Bust out the ruler. I wanted each line of scribbles to look uniform, so I ran a line of painter’s tape around each side of the boards and then marked out the height of each of my scribbles and the space between each line of the scribbles.  To do this, I used the width of my ruler as the height of each scribble, and the width of the painter’s tape as the distance between each line of scribbles.  (Note: don’t put painter’s tape on the mat – it will tear away little pieces of the mat and look terrible.)

4.  The fun part! Here’s where you get to channel your inner child and start scribbling.  You might want to try out a few practice scribbles before you actually start painting on your “canvas” – you want to try to keep each scribble the same size and height so that everything looks very graphic instead of messy.

5.  Enjoy! This has to be the easiest art projects ever, but it’s also one of my favorites.  It was a lot of fun to do, and I think the finished product looks so awesome – fun and graphic and a bit whimsical.

So now that you’ve seen what we’re rockin’ out at our house, what’s hanging on your walls?  Are you photograph-type people, or do you prefer framed art?  Or maybe it’s a collection of your kid’s cutest doodles?  Spill the beans!

FYI – I hung these art panels on the wood paneling the same way I did here.

This post is shared with The DIY Show Off, Thrifty Decor Chick, Between Naps on the Porch, Cottage Instincts, Making the World Cuter, Twice Remembered, The Girl Creative, and A Soft Place to Land.

Before the football bonanza begins this weekend, how channeling your inner crafter and trying out some of these fun projects?

{Apartment Therapy}

1.  Make everything more festive with a dotty garland.

{Living With Lindsay}

2.  Add a touch of sparkle to a bare wall with framed button art.

{Little Green Notebook}

3.  Use a little twill tape to sass up a ho-hum photo mat.

{High-Heeled Foot in the Door}

4.  Get a little wild with zebra print vinyl decals.

{Three Men and a Lady}

5.  Leave everybody floored with your custom artwork.

{Pure Style Home}

6.  Do touch ups on the go with pre-labeled, portable paints.

{The Artful Abode}

7.  Dye a boring lamp shade the perfect color.

{Little Green Notebook}

8.  Turn your mini-blinds into a fab, custom roman shade.

{How About Orange}

9.  Make reading even more fun with adorable, printable bookmarks.

{Design*Sponge}

10.  Put your old wine bottles to good use with hanging wall vases.

Think you’ll give any of these projects a whirl this weekend?  Which one is your fave?

My grandmother had amazing collections from her travels, everything ranging from beautiful seashells to thousands of arrowheads.  She was a cool lady that had an eye for interesting and unique artifacts.

I’m lucky to now have bits and pieces of a few of her collections, including her assortment of antique glass floats.

These floats were tied into nets by fishermen in Japan and Norway to keep their nets afloat.

I tried to wipe them down before placing them in the vase, not realizing that the sand was ground into the glass after years of floating at sea.  Now that I’ve realized that, I’m really appreciating the journey these little guys have taken.

A few of the floats even have some seawater inside of them, trapped after seeping through microscopic holes in the glass!

I like that they give our guests a cheerful greeting at the front door.

I only wish that more of them would fit through the mouth of that vase!

This post is shared with Fireflies & Jellybeans, Tales from Bloggeritaville, Remodelahics, Poppies at Play, Finding Fabulous and My Romantic Home.

I bet you guys thought I forgot, right?

Without further adieu, here are our newly recovered dining room chairs!

As you can see, I went with the turquoise peacock and I am in love!  (And I bought the last yardage they had – yikes!!)

I think it’s a pretty good upgrade from the seat cushions that came along with the antique dining set (wink wink):

Weren’t those lovely?

I have to give a shout out to my new best friend, the PowerShot Pro – it doesn’t have the best reviews, but for under 30 buckeroos I’m not complaining!  It certainly made the job of stapling in the new fabric about ten thousand times faster than doing it by hand.

I’m really loving the combo of turquoise, chocolate brown and olive-y green.  I’m hoping to bring out a bit more of the turquoise through accessories like lamps and maybe some DIY artwork.  I’m excited to see how it (eventually) turns out!  (P.S.  Aren’t those candlesticks awesome?!?)

And I’m not the only one that’s loving the new chairs – here’s my fat kitty, Riley, giving the fabric a little snuggle before I recovered the chairs.

What do you guys think?  Did I pick the right fabric?  Got any suggestions for drawing in some new turquoise accents?

This post is shared with A Soft Place to Land, Reinvented, A Silly Little Sparrow, Today’s Creative Blog, Between Naps on the Porch, Cottage Instincts, Making the World Cuter, It’s So Very Cheri, Twice Remembered, The Girl Creative, Sumo’s Sweet Stuff, The Persimmon Perch, and The DIY Show Off.

“Doily” is my favorite word – is that weird?  Say it a few times and I think you’ll become a fan, too – doily, doily, doily, doily . . . or maybe it’s just me?

Anyhoo, when I first ran across this project I just knew I had to try it – anything that cute that involves a doily is right up my alley.

A few weeks before Christmas I assembled all the goodies I needed:

~ canvas totes (they range from $3 – $9 at Michaels, depending on how fancy you want to get – I went for the middle-of-the-road $6 ones)

~ fabric paint in the color(s) of your choice (use fabric paint instead of craft paint because it’s washable)

~ spray adhesive

~ doilies in the sizes and shapes of your choice (I found them in the cake decorating aisle at Michaels)

~ foam brush

~ exacto knife

~ self-healing mat or cutting board

~ typing paper & printer

My plan was to make 4 totes, one for each member of our fun family foursome – because of that, I grabbed 4 different colors of fabric paint, 4 totes and an array of doilies so that each chickie could have a slightly different tote.  Once all the goodies were gathered, I got to work!

1.  Wash & iron the totes. Some bags come pre-washed and shrunk, but I didn’t want to run the risk of my fabric paint peeling off because of some random residue on the totes.  The ironing was necessary because those babies get seriously wrinkled!

2.  Pick your poison. This is the part where you play with the doilies and arrange them on the totes in a variety of designs until you find the design that you like the best.  I ultimately used a 10″ doily on mine with an “L” in the center, a 10″ and 8″ doily with an “M” for my aunt, and 16″ rectangle doilies for my mom and sister (all in different arrangements).

3.  Spray and paint. You may be tempted to skip the spray adhesive, but let me warn you . . . don’t.  The detail in the doilies is so fine that the paint will definitely seep under the doily and ruin all your beautiful work if you don’t secure those puppies with a liberal dose of spray adhesive.  And the foam brush can also cause the paint to get a little, well, foamy, so keep an eye on how things are going.

4.  Peel and admire. Isn’t it crazy how a doily can wind up looking so cool?  And don’t fret if a little bit of the doily gets stuck to the tote – just grab a pair of tweezers and go to town.

5.  Be exacting. Now that your doily has been perfectly transferred onto the tote, it’s time to paint on the initial, name, monogram, or whatever you’ve chosen.  I just printed out the names in different fonts on regular typing paper, then followed the lines of the letters with an exacto knife.

Be sure to hold onto any closed letters (like the a, o and e above) so that you can use them as a guide to fill in the gaps.

6.  Behold your awesome creation. These totes are really just too cute, don’t you think?  I gave the totes to my mom, aunt and sister for Christmas and the plan is for us to use them on our future jaunts.  I can’t wait!

In the meantime, my tote is great for holding my library books and for trips to the grocery store.

So what do you think of these totes?  Too cute for words, or maybe you’re allergic to all things doily-related?

This project was inspired by and adapted from here.

Can you believe Thanksgiving is right around the corner?  I love this time of year, chock full of festiveness.

One thing that is especially cool about Thanksgiving is that it causes everyone to set aside some time, if even just a few moments, to reflect upon all of their blessings and be thankful for them.  In that spirit of giving thanks, I whipped up these little place cards for our Thanksgiving table:

The idea is that once everyone finds their seat, they will fill in the card with what they are most thankful for.  I think it would be fun for everyone to switch pumpkins and then read them aloud, to share with one another what they are each thankful for.

Except for 10 cents worth of raffia, this project was totally free (using my polished pumpkins from Halloween) and it really adds a personal touch to the table.

How about you guys – how do you like to personalize your Thanksgiving festivities?

This post is shared with DIY Day on A Soft Place to Land.

A blank wall in my office was staring at me for months.  Taunting me.  And begging for something to snazz it up a bit.

After awhile, I got tired of all that taunting and begging, so I whipped up a little freebie DIY wall art to add some personalized personality to that blank wall.

I found an old puzzle of a map of Dallas (woohoo!) in my “closet of random things” and mounted it on teal scrapbook paper in an Ikea frame that I had on hand.

Gotta love a free shout out to your hometown!

This post is shared with Between Naps on the Porch, Cottage Instincts, Making the World Cuter, It’s So Very Cheri, Twice Remembered, The Girl Creative, Sumo’s Sweet Stuff, The Persimmon Perch, A Soft Place to Land, A Silly Little Sparrow, Today’s Creative Blog, Blue Cricket Design, The Thrifty Home,  and We Are THAT Family.

There’s just no place for funky-looking pumpkins in an awesome fall display.  So, after receiving a few questions about Tessa’s fabulously shiny pumpkins I decided it was time to spill the beans on how you can gloss-ify your own pumpkins – and keep them looking great all the way to Thanksgiving.  Sounds pretty great, right?

The key to flawless, long-lasting pumpkins (or any gourd) is coating them with an acrylic floor sealer – the sealer not only helps preserve the pumpkins way past their normal life but it also makes them all shiny and gorgeous.

All you need are a few simple supplies:

~ pumpkins or gourds of your choice

~ foam brush

~ Future acrylic floor finish (although any brand will do)

~ towel (to protect your countertops)

Once you’ve assembled your supplies, just go to town painting those puppies!  I like to turn them on their heads and paint the bottoms first – after I give them time to try (about 30 minutes), I just flip them over and paint the tops.  And don’t worry if the sealer gets a little foamy when you apply it – once it’s dry you will have a perfect finish.

See?  All shiny and happy:

I’m really pleased with how this display turned out – all it took was my fancy pumpkins, a hurricane from Ikea, 3 bags of river rocks, votives, and a silver tray.  The best part is that I already had all of these things in my cabinets (except for the pumpkins).

Hope you all get lots of enjoyment out of your pumpkins!!

Psst!!  Did you notice our new rug?!?  I’m in love!!!  More about that later . . .

This post is shared with DIY Day on A Soft Place to Land.

It’s not often that you can incorporate the Pottery Barn look into your own home without breaking the bank.

Well, never say never – the latest Pottery Barn catalogue is chock full of natural DIY touches that are absolutely F-R-E-E.  That’s right – zip, zero, zilch, nada.

Here are my two favorite looks from PB – can you spot the free, DIY element?

You guessed it – aren’t those branches stunning?!?  I can’t decide which photograph I love more – the first picture screams “fall” and demands snuggling up with a good book at a cabin in the woods, and the second photo is wintery and glamorous with chunky knit pillows and mercury glass vases.  Swoon.

The moral of this story is that with nothing more than a quick walk around the block you can grab oodles of free goodies to adorn your home – and it’s guaranteed to look totally chic.

Here are the natural arrangements that I whipped up for our home with nothing more than clippings from our front yard:

Are you rockin’ the natural vibe in your home?

First two images courtesy of Pottery Barn.

On Monday, I teased you guys with a little sneak peek of our den which has undergone a bit of a transformation.  While I’m not quite ready for the big reveal (whew, there are still a lot of things to do!), I thought I’d show you guys how I jazzed up the sofas and added lots of color to the room.

I knew that I wanted new throw pillows on our sofas – the old Pottery Barn ones were fine, but I’d tired of the tan and red color scheme and started craving something a little more exciting.

See?  Nice, but nothing to write home about.  But I knew that I didn’t want to buy 7 brand new pillows, which could easily have run at least $200 – ouch!  So, I got a little creative.

I was at Crate & Barrel the other day picking up a wedding gift for a friend when I spied these funky napkins and matching placemat.  It was instant love, and I knew they could be transformed into some awesome pillows for our den.  I stopped by the fabric store on the way home and snagged some gorgeous teal linen, and then I got to work!

I spread the project out over a couple of nights and made 4 20 x 20 pillows and a long 12 x 36 lumbar pillow for the oversized chair.  I’m thrilled with how they turned out!

Here’s how you can whip up a brand new look for your space with just a few napkins and placemats:

1.  Take stock of what you already have. I priced out new pillow forms for my pillows and they ran about $10 a pop!  I did find a better deal at Ikea ($2.99), but I didn’t want to make the 45 minute trek to our local Ikea.  So, I just reused the old pillows and covered right over them!  They look just the same as new pillow forms, and it saved me some dough.  And when it comes to fabric, look through your stash of napkins, placemats, and leftover fabric to see if you have anything that you could turn into a pillow cover – not only will it make you feel awesome to find a use for your old fabric, but it can keep some extra coin in your pocket.

2.  Snag your fabric. In my case, I didn’t have any fabric or napkins on hand that struck my fancy so I bought some new goods.  When I bought the napkins and placemat, I already knew that my pillows needed to be 20 x 20, so I was able to make sure (before I bought them) that the new napkins were the right size to cover my pillows.  And have a little fun while you’re at it – pillows are a great place to take chances since you can make them so affordably, so play around with pattern, color and texture!

3.  Put it all out there. In the case of the lumbar pillow, I knew that I was going to use both the placemat and some of the teal fabric to create the pillow cover.  After I split the two sides of the placemat apart using a seam ripper, I laid one piece of the placemat across the middle of the original pillow cover – that way I could measure how much of the teal fabric I would need for each side.

4.  Pin and sew. Once all the pieces were cut, I just pinned the teal fabric to each side of the placemat – at that point, I had two long strips, each constructed out of teal fabric then the placemat and then more teal fabric.  Then I used my sewing machine to create the seams and connect the teal fabric to the placemat.  The next step was to sew the two long strips together to create the pillow cover – you’ll want to pin the pieces together with the finished side of the fabric facing in:

5.  Flip it. I sewed each of the 3 sides of the pillow and about a third of the way across on each corner of the fourth side – when I flipped the pillow cover right side out it looked like this:

The whole reasoning behind leaving part of the fourth side open is that it lets you put your pillow into the pillow cover without having to sew in a zipper.  Alternatively, you could create an envelope enclosure, tie the unfinished side closed with ribbons, or close it with buttons.

6.  Finish it off. Now you can go ahead and shove your pillow into the pillow cover!  The last step is to hand sew the rest of the fourth side closed – and now you’re done!!  Go enjoy your fabulous new pillow.

So there’s my quick tip on how to DIY your way into a spiffed up new space.  Got any tips for us?

This post is shared with DIY Day on A Soft Place to Land.