Pinspiration #3: Mail Organizing Station

I was inspired by this lovely project from Beyond the Picket Fence:  

I needed a solution for my mail piling up all over the house. Here's my version:

I decided to put it right by the front door as otherwise the mail would just get left on the T.V. stand near there anyway.

FYI- my dad painted that painting for me and made the frame from old barn wood. Love it!

I already had all the supplies on hand for this project. I was digging around in the garage for a board when I found the piece of bead board already cut to the perfect width. Score! Did I mention it was already painted white? Double score! All I had to do to the backing was sand it a bit and antique it with a little stain.

I also had the books on hand from a previous auction buy. I just removed the covers, glued in fabric sides and screwed the cover right into the bead board.

Don't worry about the book insides, they will be put to good use! I thought the covers needed some extra hardware, so I glued some scrap-booking label parts I had lying around to the fronts.

Because I can't resist, here's an "action shot"

I love this thing! Hopefully, I can convince my husband to put the mail in here instead of laying it elsewhere.

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

*Planning to share at: Metamorphosis Monday;  Made by You Monday; Time To Sparkle Tuesday Linky Party;  Whatever Goes Wednesday; Wildly Original Linky Party; Clever Chicks Blog Hop; Serenity Now Weekend Blog Hop; 

Garden Mushrooms

I saw this idea somewhere (can't recall where exactly now) for making garden mushrooms out of upside bowls and vases. I thought it would be fun to add some to my garden.

I thought they added a fun bit of whimsy to the garden. They were super easy to make. I just found various bowls and vases at the thrift store and glued them together using E6000. I've had them outside through several rain showers so far and they've held up great. Have you used any ordinary objects to decorate your garden lately?

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

*Planning to share at: Metamorphosis Monday;  Made by You Monday; Time To Sparkle Tuesday Linky Party;  Whatever Goes Wednesday; Wildly Original Linky Party; Clever Chicks Blog Hop; Serenity Now Weekend Blog Hop; 

Coral Madness Project # 3

There will be several Coral Madness Projects coming this week. I'm really pushing to get some of these things done. I would like to finally finish the guest bedroom and move on to the living room.

I've actually had this project done for a long time, I just haven't shared it yet. I bought some bookshelves that were made out of old wooden crates from a friend's garage sale. They had been painted white at some point, but the paint was yellowed and dingy. Before:

Yucky! I spray painted the outside with Heirloom White, but the insides of these babies got color.

I'm not completely satisfied with the styling of these yet, but I've got a good start. I do need these to function as actual bookshelves as well as be cute (I have an addiction to paperbacks that must be stored somewhere). Most of the items I already had with the exception of the two chevron baskets, which I bought at Dollar General for $10.00.

See my other Guest Room Projects Here:
Coral Madness Project #1
Coral Madness Project #2

See my Inspiration Board.

Don't Settle for dull, live a refinished life!

*Planning to share at: Metamorphosis Monday;  Made by You Monday; Time To Sparkle Tuesday Linky Party;  Whatever Goes Wednesday; Wildly Original Linky Party; Clever Chicks Blog Hop; Serenity Now Weekend Blog Hop; 

Coral Madness Project #2

I'm trying to force myself to finish all the million little bits of my guest bedroom that I started doing a million years ago. One of the things on the list includes two end tables. So, I bring you Coral Madness Project #2 (see Coral Madness #1 here, or other projects for the room here and here.)

The first table is one of those 70's not really wood but not really plastic end tables. I liked this particular one because I hadn't run into one on a pedestal before. Here's the before: 

Here's the after: 

The color in that pic is a little washed out, It's a little darker than that. I think I used Dark Gray gloss from Rustoleum spray paint. Here's a closeup of the side: 

Here's the bottom: 

I'm thinking about doing a coral chevron pattern on the top. Or at the very least painting the medallions on the door with coral. 

Table number 2 was a straight blond end table:

Yes, that before picture was taken in the fall and no, I did not get to this project until spring. I wanted to try putting paper on the top similar to this idea I saw on Pinterest.

Here's how it ended up:

The paper is not quite as distressed as I would like it. When I tried to sand it, the colors started to bleed and I didn't care for that. I'm still pretty pleased with the overall effect.

Here it is in its new home:

I'm loving this room more and more as it comes together!

See my inspiration board for the room.

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

*Planning to share at: Metamorphosis Monday;  Made by You Monday; Time To Sparkle Tuesday Linky Party;  Whatever Goes Wednesday; Wildly Original Linky Party; Clever Chicks Blog Hop; Serenity Now Weekend Blog Hop; 

Mini Fairy Garden

I've been drooling over fairy gardens on Pinterest. In fact, I have a whole board dedicated to ideas. I've started one in the backyard under a tree, but I'm not satisfied with how that looks yet.

I also planted an enameled pan with a small fairy garden. Here's what it looked like shortly after planting:

Here's what it looks like now:

I bought the bench online. I made the mushrooms from buttons and floral picks with wire.

The fence I made from wire and mini popsicle sticks.

It's been so wet and rained so much here that today I found out I have a real mushroom growing.

Maybe the fairies planted it.

I love how this little garden turned out! I'm hoping to get my tree fairy garden in better order to show you soon.

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

*Planning to share at: Metamorphosis Monday;  Made by You Monday; Time To Sparkle Tuesday Linky Party;  Whatever Goes Wednesday; Wildly Original Linky Party; Clever Chicks Blog Hop; Serenity Now Weekend Blog Hop; 

Phonograph Player Stand into Coffee Bar

A year or two ago, hubby and I got to pick a farm place. Most of the stuff when to my Mom's store, but we did keep a few things. One of those pieces was an old phonograph (or maybe record player) stand. The top was missing, but the rest of it was in great shape. Here's a few before pics:

The inside has two drawers that pull out. I almost left the paint as is, but thought I might want to go a bit darker. I had a color all picked out, but in the store, I was starting to think it was too dark, so I went a shade lighter. When I got home, my hubby made fun of me because the color I came home with was almost the same color it already was!

I still decided to paint it, not knowing what kind of paint was on the outside. I painted, distressed and antiqued the piece with stain.

My hubby cut a new top from a board and routered the edge. I decided to stain the top. Here's the finished results:

Sorry, the color's a little washed out in that one. The hardware had been painted over, but I cleaned it in a bath of vinegar. It's brass and gorgeous!

The drawers were in great shape, so I just cleaned them up a little and left them as is. Hubby cut a couple of thin plywood sheets to put in the bottom, as there was an open slot in them for records to fit.

I love how this piece turned out! I was originally going to use this piece as a rolling mini island in the kitchen, but Hubby had the great idea of putting my Keurig and coffee stuff on it, and now I have a coffee bar with storage.

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

*Planning to share at: Metamorphosis Monday;  Made by You Monday; Time To Sparkle Tuesday Linky Party;  Whatever Goes Wednesday; Wildly Original Linky Party; Clever Chicks Blog Hop; Serenity Now Weekend Blog Hop; 

Happy 4th of July!

Hey all! Don't worry, I'm not posting from the lake (I scheduled this post before I left). I thought I would share some pictures I took this spring at my grandparent's farm that seemed to scream "American" to me.

Obviously I had some fun editing these pictures. Have a safe and happy Independence Day everyone!

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

Jewelry Organization

Whew! Summer has flown by so far with not enough hours in the day. I've gotten a few projects done that I just haven't been able to share. Better late than never I guess!

I recently decided to get rid of the large jewelry armoire that I had in our bedroom and put as much of the jewelry on the wall as possible. I made two pieces to help accomplish this.

The first was a wooden drying rack that I just lightly spray painted sunshine yellow by Rustoleum. I wanted the wood to show through a little and luckily, it worked out perfectly.

I've hung all my necklaces on this and it works great. It's a lot easier to see what I have instead of digging in a drawer.

Then I took an empty frame and spray painted it brilliant blue by Rustoleum. Next I used a staple gun to attach chicken wire to the back.

I use this to hang all my earrings. I haven't figured out how I'm going to store stud earrings yet, but luckily I don't have that many of those. 

This new jewelry method had freed up so much space in the bedroom! That jewelry armoire was seriously the size of a narrow desk, so it's nice to get that out of our relatively small room! What about you? Have you come up with some creative way to store and/or display your jewelry?

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life! 

*Planning to share at: Metamorphosis Monday;  Made by You Monday; Time To Sparkle Tuesday Linky Party;  Whatever Goes Wednesday; Wildly Original Linky Party; Clever Chicks Blog Hop; Serenity Now Weekend Blog Hop