Revamping

Pallet Letter Sign {tutorial}

September 24, 2012 7 Comments

Hanging on the wall in our den is this fun pallet letter sign:

The Hubs ~~took~~ beat the pallet apart and I lined up 4 boards and used two smaller pieces that Ross cut for me to hold it all together.

I flipped the sign over and got out my awesome DecoArt Designer Series White paint that my friends at DecoArt sent me a pencil, and a few paint brushes.

Next I drew a big ‘’P” on the sign with the pencil.
Can you see part of it?!

Then I took a smaller paint brush and painted over the pencil line.

I used the big paint brush to fill the “P” in.

Once the “P” was all painted, I let the paint dry well then sanded it down to give it a distressed look.

Now we have a fun Pallet Letter Sign hanging in our den!

The best part, it was FREE!

Gotta love a free piece of custom art hanging on the wall that most people assume cost a fortune!

Filed Under: Crafting, Crafts, Decorating, Distressing, Inspiration, Johnny In A Dress, KnockOff, Make Your Own..., My House, Revamping, Thrifty, Tutorial

The Desk.

October 3, 2011 24 Comments

The “new” desk that lives in our play/craft room is fun and functional and the best part….

it was FREE!

When I laid eyes on this desk, it screamed “Mad Men!”

…and I was in love!

After wiping it down really well, I got out my trusty Kilz and…

…got to sprayin.’

Once it was completely dry, I got out a can of Krylon Avocado (my favorite green at the moment) and three coats later the desk was green!

Then I taped off the top edge of the desk and protected the green paint with trash bags.

Like this:

I spray painted the top of the desk with Chalkboard Spray Paint following the directions on the back of the can.

Once the desk was totally dry, Ross moved it inside (gotta love the Hubs!), but something was just not right. Then my mom said “I think that leg needs some dots or something cute like that!”

So I grabbed some scrap Silhouette Vinyl and a hole punch…

Then stuck the little dots onto the leg of the desk!

Now I have the perfect place to sew and craft!

Gotta love a fabulous freebie!

I am linking this post here , here and to these awesome places!

Filed Under: Crafting, Decorating, Inspiration, JIAD, Make Your Own..., My Craft Room, My House, Revamping, Silhouette, Thrifty

60 Year Old New Filing Cabinent!

September 23, 2011 5 Comments

In my craftroom is this awesome filing cabinent that I got for… FREE!

We are not exactly sure how old it REALLY is, but if we HAD to guess it would be at least 60 years old! We found some very old photographs in it and some old catalogs from the 50′s!

It was SUPER ugly when we got it and SUPER heavy (thank goodness the hubs has big muscles!)!

I was drawn to the character this filing cabinent had and knew with a little TLC it could become a fantastic piece for my craftroom!

I began by wiping it down really well and making sure it was completely dry.

Then I got out the Kilz!

I started painting, painting and painting!

Then I got out my trusty old sand paper and roughed the edges of the cabinent up a little bit!

YES, you can sand metal!

I used my trusty old Silhouette and cut out labels for the outside of the drawers:

Now I have some seriously AWESOME storage!

Just because something is “old” doesn’t mean it can’t be “new” again!

What have you revamped lately?!

Filed Under: Crafting, Decorating, Distressing, Inspiration, JIAD, My Craft Room, My House, Revamping, Spray Paint, Thrifty, Tutorial

Let’s snoop!

September 22, 2011 12 Comments

Ok, now that you have seen our craft/playroom, I am opening the drawers and showing you how I store all of my goodies!

I found this wire rack thingy at the flea market for $5!
After a little spray paint, it was ready to hold my fabric scraps!
Love it!

This coat rack from the 90% off isle Hobby Lobby is perfect for displaying a few of my Ruffled Scarves!

And my ribbon and ruffle scraps live in these fun little buckets that I found at Hobby Lobby for less than $1! Fun and functional!

I found this at the local thrift store for $5! It was brown and super ugly until I attacked it with some paint and sand paper! Now it is one of my favorite pieces in our playroom!

(don’t worry! – The full transformation will be shared soon)

Craft supplies can be used as decor if stored in a pretty way!
I just love the pops of color it adds to this room!

Here is a peek into Cliff’s Homeschool drawer!

…and this is my JIAD Shipping drawer!
(I need to restock my supplies – thanks to YOU!)

Inside the top drawer of my sewing desk lives a bunch of neatly folded fabric!
This makes me smile everytime I open it!

And in the second drawer are my ribbons!

I cut dow rods the width of the drawer so they would sit on the little lip and hold my spools of ribbon!
This can be done with any drawer!
If there is no “lip” inside the drawer then add a little piece of wood along the insides of the drawer for the dow rods to sit on!

And because I am sooo nice, I will even show you the inside of my desk drawer!

With a little imagination and work, anything can become a functional, but pretty storage option for your crafts!

You just gotta think outside the box!

Filed Under: Inspiration, JIAD, My Craft Room, My House, Revamping, Thrifty, Tutorial

Sitting Stools!

September 12, 2011 35 Comments

In our playroom are these fun sitting stools!

Ross brought them home from his Grandmother’s house for the littles to sit on.

They had SOOOO much potential, I couldn’t wait to work some magic on them!

I started by wiping them down really well then I separated the cushion from the stool.

Once they were all disassembled, I gave them a good coat of white spray paint:

After letting them dry REALLY well, I gave each stool a weathered look using a piece of sand paper.

Next I picked out three fabrics I wanted to use in the playroom and reupholstered the cushions.

(I pretty much did them this way.)

Now these cuties are neatly stacked in our playroom when they are not in use!

(Aren’t you dying to see the stuff in the background?! – insert evil laugh-)

I love the way these sitting stools turned out!

Now everyone has their own little place to sit!

A little paint, sanding and fabric goes a LONG way!

Happy Monday!

I am linking this post here , here and to these awesome places!

Filed Under: Decorating, Distressing, Make Your Own..., My Craft Room, My House, Revamping, Spray Paint, Thrifty

The End Chairs.

September 9, 2011 31 Comments

After months of searching, I FINALLY found the perfect end chairs for our dinning room table!

My favorite part – they were only $5 bucks a piece!

Ok, Ok, the thing that really sold me was the intricate detail carved on the back of each chair.

The before:

The After:

Even the backs of the chairs make me happy!

Isn’t it amazing what a little spray paint and sanding can do?!

Finally, our dinning room is complete!

Yay for end chairs!

The End.

(pun intended)

Filed Under: Decorating, Distressing, Inspiration, Make Your Own..., My House, Revamping, Spray Paint, Thrifty

Little Shelves!

September 2, 2011 10 Comments

Above my new desk are these little shelves:

(don’t worry! The reveal is coming… a little bit at a time!)

These hopped into my buggy one day while I was walking down the 90% off isle at Hobby Lobby!

Oh, Darn!
….Don’t you hate it when that happens?!

And just in case you need solid proof….

So, I grabbed a can of spray paint that I already had on hand and gave these bad boys a good coat of Krylon’s Catalina Mist:

Then I did some light sanding!

After hanging them on the wall, I grabbed some Mason Jars and filled them with fun things like: Glue sticks for my glue gun, bobbins, knobs, chalk.

One of the shelves was missing a drawer, so I grabbed some baby food jars and filled them with little things like: straight pens, beads, snaps, safety pens….

Of course one jar was dedicated to just being pretty:

I love the $5 shelves in the new Craft Room!

Today’s tip:

Just because it is missing a piece or a little roughed up, it can still be functional… and pretty too!

I am linking this post here , here and to these awesome places!

Filed Under: Decorating, Distressing, Hot Glue, Inspiration, My House, Revamping, Spray Paint, Thrifty, Tutorial

10 minute Lamp Shade revamp!

August 29, 2011 27 Comments

Want to spruce up a room without spending big bucks?!

Then this post is for you!

I needed a new lamp for my dinning room and wanted to use one that I already had.

There was one problem… the red shade that was on this lamp did NOT work in my dinning room….

So, I did this:

I grabbed some fabric that was left over from recovering the dinning room chairs (make sure your fabric is at least 2 inches wider than the shade and will wrap all the way around with a little but of fabric overlapping each other), the lampshade and some spray adhesive then made a mad dash for the door…

I attacked the shade with the spray adhesive…

Then “rolled” the shade across the fabric like this:

…Keep rolling…

And once the entire outside of the shade is covered, You should have at least an inch of fabric left over on both ends. Take the fabric, spray it with more adhesive spray and adhere it to the inside of the shade, making sure to “work out” any wrinkles as best as you can!

Now you have an entirely new lamp for your house!

Not too shabby for a 10 minute project!

I am linking this post here , here and to these awesome places!

Filed Under: Decorating, My House, Revamping, Thrifty, Tutorial

Spray Paint Your SOFA?!?!

August 22, 2011 112 Comments

In our playroom lives this fabulous sofa that I got for… FREE!

But that’s not the whole story…

It used to look like this (brace yourself)…

ok, ok it’s not THAT bad:

But THEN I discovered that Rust-oleum has VINYL spray paint!

OMG can we say I was (…and still am) FREAKING out?!?

(can you hear the choir of angels?!?)

Want Proof:

So, I snagged up 4 cans at $7 a pop and go to sprayin’

After three good coats I ended up with this:

Can you believe this once navy blue sofa was SPRAY PAINTED white?!?

I mean, does it get any better than that?!

I am completely in LOVE.

$28 for a super cutie, child friendly sofa to lounge around on is FABULOUS in my book!

What have you transformed lately?!

FAQ’s:

Is it crunchy?
NOPE! It feels just like leather or soft vinyl! Soft and smooth.

Does it crack?
Nope. We have used the tar out of it and it is holding up great so far!

What if something spills on it?
Wipe it off! Because it is in the playroom is has already had milk, juice, Popsicle, ice cream all over it. Harper also smeared a Strawberry NutriGrain bar all over it the other day…I just take a damp rag and wipe the mess up! No problem!

Is there fabric spray paint?
The can says “Fabric & Vinyl” so I guess it would also work on fabric too! I have not used it on fabric YET! If you do, please send me an email and let me know how it works!

Where did you find it?
The local Auto Parts store.

I am linking this post here , here and to these awesome places!

Filed Under: Decorating, My House, Revamping, Thrifty

A Basket & A Basket

August 12, 2011 3 Comments

These super cute baskets now sit on my cutting table in the playroom:

When I stumbled upon them at Hobby Lobby (What?! You aren’t surprised?!) they were on major clearance $1 and two of the just HAPPENED to hop in my basket!

They yellow one looked like this before I went all JIAD on it:

(note, I do not hate bees, but they just aren’t my “thing”ya know?! If you LOVE the basket in it’s original form, it’s ok, I will still think you are super cool!)

I grabbed some of my favorite ribbon and…

and my hot glue gun…

Then I glued that ribbon right around the top of the basket!

See?!

Now the blue basket in the first picture actually started out red. As you know, I love me some red, but red was just not right for this project…

So, I got out my handy dandy acrylic paint and got to paintin’…

Then I ruffled a coordinating ribbon and hot glued that bad boy right onto the top of the basket and…

I ended up with this!

Now I have two fabulous baskets sitting on my cutting table.

One for scraps and one for unfinished Bloomin’ blooms!

Next time you are out and about, scope out the clearance section with a creative eye. Imagine what something would look like after you took 5 minutes to “spruce” it up. Every revamp doesn’t have to be a difficult project that takes days, in fact, simple quick projects like these baskets are my favorites because I can actually complete a smaller project before the littles get into the candy cabinet and smear chocolate all over the floors or find a pen and “decorate” our ottoman or see how many matchbox cars it takes to fill up the potty (… not that MY little angels would EVER do any of those things). Projects like this one gives me a sense of accomplishment.

The moral of today’s post:

Just because something isn’t EXACTLY what you want, snag it off of that clearance isle and take a few minutes to turn it into EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT!

Be flexible, be creative, be fabulous!