Projects, Projects, Projects......

My weekend checklist looked a little bit like this:

Paint Kitchen
Vacuum House
Mop Kitchen/Bathrooms
Wash Clothes

It feels good to have completed everything on my check-list! Well, almost everything...I am STILL washing clothes. I let that task get a little too far behind....

But, I thought you might like to get a sneak peak at the kitchen! Mitchell and I have been changing a lot in our kitchen, but I will tell you all about that another time.

TA-DA!

When it comes to decorating, I almost always know exactly what I want. But, for some reason choosing the paint color for the kitchen has taken some serious thought. I wanted a gray-turquoise-blue, but I didn't want it to be just gray, just baby blue, just turquoise, or just periwinkle. I ended up choosing Sherwin Williams, Rainwashed 6221. I am  a neutral person, so it is a big step for me to paint my kitchen a color.

Mitchell came home from work when I was in the middle of painting and his first question was, "Why are you painting the kitchen baby blue?" What? Are you kidding me?! That is what I DIDN'T want....but I am sure that my hubby isn't the only man who would call my perfect gray-turquoise-blue, baby blue. After the kitchen was finished he said he really liked it. 

I am not going to be able to do any around-the-house projects this week, but I do still have some fun things to show you later this week. I hope your week has been off to a wonderful start!

Happy Monday!

And the Winner is.....

E)!!!

I will eventually show you all of those items, but the one you chose is:

Burlap Upholstered Headboard

This is a past project so I'm going to try my best to show you how I made it!

Supplies you will need:

• 3 yds of burlap
• One piece of plywood 4' T x 5' W (Queen)
• Nail Heads
• Staple Gun
• Quilt Batting

*I got all of these items from Hobby Lobby, but the plywood came from my parents garage. =)


First of all, I LOVE burlap! I am all about texture and I think this texture gives off so much character. Plus, it is very friendly on your wallet! It is normally just $3.99 per yd and it goes on sale for even less!

The first step is to cut the plywood into the shape/style that you want. Once you have your plywood ready, the next step is wrapping the board in quilt batting. I just stretched it across and stapled it into place. I did the same thing with the burlap. Make sure you pull the burlap extra tight!

After I did the burlap, I started with the nail heads. I didn't measure the widths, but if I did I would have measured the distance and placed a permenant marker dot where I need to place a nailhead. I.hate.math. and on top of that "issue" I get really excited when I am making something new, so sometimes I scarifice "precisness". Ooops?

I started off by putting the nailhead trim around the perimiter of the headboard. Then I added them to the front to give it a tuffted look.

I love this headboard, but if I made another one I have learned some important "tips". Burlap is a loose woven fiber, so it already has some natural give to the fabric. I pulled mine tight when I stapled it, but over time the wrinkles have appeared. So, make sure you pull the burlap TIGHT. I also would have doubled-up on the quilt batting. I wish it was a little more "fluffy".

The bed is currently in our guest bedroom. I have a lot more plans for this room and I am excited to finish it. I found some great fabric for some throw pillows, so I will show you those soon!

So, for the price breakdown....I can't remember everything, but I will try my best! The wood was free and I already had the staple gun/staples. I always use coupons, so I'm sure I used a 40% off coupon for the quilt batting. I have no idea how much that cost. This headboard has had MANY transformations, so I actually wrapped it in the batting several years ago. I get the majority of my burlap from Hobby Lobby. They put it on sale for $2.77 per yd every couple of weeks. The burlap that I got to make this headboard was from the remnent bin at HL. It is always a good idea to take a little stroll past this section! I've found some awesome stuff for very discounted prices. It isn't "bad" fabric, it is just simply the last little bit left on a bolt. I know that I got the 3 yds for around $6. The nail heads are located in the upholstry section at HL. I used 4 boxes and they are .99 per box.

Total Cost: $9.96 + quilt batting. I know I spent less than $20, but I don't know exactly!

What item do you want to see next?! I am going to get started on more projects this weekend! Maybe paint the kitchen? Who knows!

I hope y'all have a GREAT weekend! The weather is beautiful! If you have any questions e-mail me and I would be glad to answer them!

It's in your hands!

I  have so many things to show you and I'm not sure where to start....so I'm going to let you choose! I am going to post an up-close picture of several of my projects and you pick which one you want to see first!

These are pictures of past, present, and future projects. All you have to do is become a follwer of my blog and then vote for the picture your most curious about by leaving a comment at the bottom.

A)

B)

C)

D)

E)

I can't wait to see which one you pick!

Happy Voting!

Moss Monogram

So I know I promised lots of good stuff this week, but my Internet has been out. I am so excited it is finally fixed so can I start showing you some fun stuff!

I have no idea why, but I feel like Pottery Barn can make the strangest things AMAZING! I could see the ugliest thing, but if I flipped it over and saw those two little words....It would be love at first second sight.

I also love anything to do with a monogram and I have might have a bit of an obsession with the letter "H".

Soo...With that being said, who would have thought a moss covered initial would be so wonderful?!

(Picture is from Pottery Barn.)

I think this picture says it all. It is so relaxing to look at. There is just something wonderful about having something "living" in your home. I feel like every house needs some kind of plant inside. It breaks up the stuffiness and makes it feel more down-to-earth. (Pun TOTALLY intended! ha!) The only thing that I don't like about that picture is the price tag! That big green beautiful moss-covered letter is a whopping $79.00! Yikes! I mean it is "alive", but not worth $79.

This weekend I decided to make my own moss-covered letter. Mine isn't living, but it still gives off the same vibe as a living plant.

Moss Covered Letter Tutorial

These are the supplies you will need:

• Moss Roll
• Floral Moss
• Wooden Letter
• Hot Glue Gun & Glue Sticks
• Newspaper (It gets a little messy!)
• Two picture hangers

***WARNING: You will have battle scars from this project! The hotglue is not very forgiving......

The first thing I did was cut the moss role to fit the straight parts of the letter and then hot glued it. Like this:

After I did that, I flipped the letter over and trimmed the access off of the edges. Once that was finished, I started to run a hot glue line across the edge of the letter and pile the loose floral moss onto it. (*This is where you will might get burnt!) Like this:

Once I went around the edges of the letter, I started to pile the loose floral moss onto the front to cover up the seams from the moss roll. I didn't have a method, I kind of did it sporadically so it looked more natural. I just dotted hot glue and then sprinkled the moss on top.

After I was finished, I attached the picture hangers. I just simply hot glued one on each side of the top.

Once the hot glue was dry, it was ready to hang!

I decided to hang it in the guest bathroom for now. I'm not so sure I like it there, so I may end up moving it! But, still I like it! It is a lot more green in person. Whatcha think?

Are you ready for the price break down?!

I had everything on had, but the moss and the letter.I got the letter from Hobby Lobby. It was $1.99 and I used a 40% off coupon. It ended up being $1.19. I got both of the moss things from the Dollar Tree.

Total Cost: $3.19

I think that price is much better than $79!

I hope you enjoy!

From Trash to Treasure

One of my main goals for this blog is to show you that is is possible to decorate on a budget. It is nice to splurge sometimes, but it isn't always ideal. I love finding things that someone else considered "trash" and turning it into my "treasure". This weekend I did some thrift shopping and found some great pieces, but I can't reveal all the goods in one post!  I have so many fun things to show you, but I am going to start off with my favorite........

I have this old TV box-table-stand-thing that was my Grandma's and I have been wanting to refinish it for a while. The table used to house a TV inside of it, but the TV was removed a log time ago. We now use it for our stereo. It was a dark avocado green, which actually wasn't that bad, but it wasn't what I wanted. This weekend the hubby was out of town, so I decided to get down-n-dirty. Down on the garage floor, dirty with sawdust and paint.

Tutorial #1
How to Distress Furniture

These are the materials you will need:

• Bulls Eye Primer (I chose this because it was cheap. It worked well, too.)
• Paint Brush
• Paint for your base color
• Glaze (I will talk more about this later.)
• Sander/ Sandpaper
• Screwdriver (For the hardware removal.)
• Spray Paint in Hammered Bronze (To paint hardware.)

*I never used the wood putty in the picture.

This table is actually plastic! Yes, plastic! The top and base is made out of particle board, but the rest is good 'ol plastic. Since it is such a dark color, I have to start out with primer. Primer is great idea for any paint project if you are trying to hide a dark undercoat. I ended up having to do 3 coats of primer in order to cover the dark green! After the primer it looked like this:

When the primer was dry, I was able to paint it with the base color. I wanted a pale gray-blue, so I chose Eddie Bauer's Shale EB32-4. I knew I didn't need very much, so in the interest of saving money I bought a sample can. I didn't coat the blue on thick. Since I was already planning on distressing the table, I didn't mind if the white showed through the blue in some places. This is what it looked like after I applied the base color:

When the blue was dry, I started sanding. I began with my little trusty sanding block, but that ended quickly. I switched over to this small detail sander:

This made the process go a lot faster. Although this is a "detail" sander, you still need the good 'ol fashioned piece of sandpaper for the "details." This is what the table looked liked after the sanding process:

I actually really liked the table at this stage, but I was too excited about my glaze to skip that step!  I used a damp paint brush to apply it and wiped the access off as I went. The glaze I got is from Home Depot and is by Ralph Lauren. I had them tint it to Tobacco. This is what it looks like:

Sooooo are you ready to see the table?!?!?! Can I get a drum roll please.....

TA DA!!!!

  

Now a side-by-side:

The table has a lot more blue in-person. But, I love it! The best part is that it is truly a one-of-a-kind piece! Who would have thought that it once housed a 1970's TV?! I love, love, love the way it turned out! 

So are you ready for the price breakdown?

I had all the materials on hand, except for the primer, blue paint, and the glaze.

The primer was $5.98, the blue paint was $2.94,and the glaze was on clearance for $10.00 a gallon. I will use that gallon of glaze on a million other things, you actually can't even tell I used it and I painted two pieces of furniture with it this weekend!!! I really don't feel like I should even list those full amounts in the total because I still have a lot left. But, for logistics I will! Those items will just be considered as "on-hand" when it comes to tallying up my next total! =)

So, the grand total is:  $18.92

Not too bad, huh?

Keep checking back this week, I just might have a new surprise for you everyday!

A New Day.....

It is always exciting to start a new day. I believe a new day is a blessing for you to start something new or fix a mistake you made yesterday. So, on this new day, I decided to finally start a blog. I love writing and I love decorating, so what better way to express myself than through a blog.

For those of you who know me well, you also know that I tend to change my house frequently occasionally. Mitchell, my sweet hubby, always jokes around and says that I'm not allowed to bring another paint can home. He also knows that everytime he comes home there is most likely a new project I am working on. I love using things that I already have and giving them a "fresh" look. I tend to re-arrange furniture and pictures, paint walls, re-finish furniture, and create "knock-off" versions of my most favorite place: Pottery Barn. Lately, my new hobbies have been thrift store shoppin' and antiquin'. Another man's junk, really is someone else's treasure!

God blessed me with the ablitiy to be creative and I love seeing where my hands and imagination take me. I get so excited over new creations and new ideas, so I am thrilled to be able to finally share them. I  started this blog to have a journal of all things creative. I plan on doing some post in the form of a tutorial so that you can also enjoy my hobby. I am nervous, but excited about starting this "new day" and I would love for you to join me!