Little Tykes Picnic Table Redo

Maddy's Little Tykes picnic table was looking a little worse for wear lately. It was pretty sun faded.

Plus, I don't know who decided on color combos when they made these originally, but I'm not a fan.

I've seen multiple makeovers of these and other Little Tykes products over the years on Pinterest, so I decided to try my hand at it. I did clean it off with soap and water, but I did not sand this at all. I whipped out my trusy RustOleum spray paint and got to work.

I decided to do the top using my lace method. I think it turned out great! Now Maddy can sit with her snacks on the deck in style!

Pinspiration: Key and Sunglasses Drop Space

Hey y’all! I’m back!! I started a new full time job in December, and things have been crazy! I now have a daily commute, so time for projects has been limited. But, I do have a few new things to share and I’m hoping to post them all in a semi-timely manner!

I decided to start things off in this renewal of posting by starting with another Pinspiration for you. I saw this pin (a project by Gina over at Shabby Creek Cottage).

I thought it was a great idea since my hubby is forever looking for his keys. The instructions are pretty straight forward. I used a board from the Menards odds and ends bin ($1.79!) I bought the pipe straps and coat hooks there as well. I opted for 1 inch straps instead of the ½ inch Gina suggested, mostly because I like big sunglasses and I have many pairs. I liked the copper straps, but none of the coat hooks Menards had matched. Instead, I bought the cheapest nickel plated ones and spray painted them with metallic copper paint I had on hand. I think they match pretty well.

I ended up painting my board off white and then dry brushing it with gold chalk paint. I think it turned out pretty good. It's got just a hint of a metallic sheen. Here’s the final project all loaded up:
 

And here it is in the entryway next to another former Pinspiration project:

What do you think? I think it was a fast, easy and satisfying project. Don’t settle for dull, live a refinished life!

p.s. Sorry the pictures are a little dark and off-colored, I tried multiple ways to get these to turn out, but I've never been able to get decent pictures in my entryway! 

Pinspiration: Wax Paper Printing

I am now addicted to this new method of making signs! Let me start at the beginning. I saw this pin:


I decided to try the method for making signs.

The tutorial is quite detailed, so I won't rehash it all here. I will say it's a bit tricky to get the wax paper through the printer, or at least it was my particular printer. Ultimately, in order to get it to work I had to tape the wax paper to a piece of regular printer paper.

It took a lot of patience, but here's how they turned out:

I especially love how the anchor one turned out.

Even though the method requires some patience (and sometimes swearing) I love the results. I've made a total of four signs now and I can't see to stop! Have any of you tried this method?

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life! *Planning to share at: Metamorphosis Monday;  Made by You Monday; Wildly Original Linky Party; Clever Chicks Blog Hop; Serenity Now Weekend Blog Hop; 

Pinspiration: Gold Striped Wall Art

Yesterday, I posted a gold owl I recently redid. Today I thought I would share some fun artwork I made. I was inspired by several projects I've seen recently on Pinterest like this one:



and this one:



and maybe this one as well:




so I decided to make my own fun canvas art. Here's what I came up with:

I do enjoy the little things. Things such as this artwork.

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

Gold Owl

Gold everything is all over Pinterest these days, so for the next couple days I thought I would post some gold projects I've done recently. (I promise someday soon, I'll show my craft area all nice looking!)

I found this great owl at Goodwill the other day:

I love this guy! But, he needed a little updating in my mind, so I broke out my trusty Rust-oleum spray paint and gave him a shine!

What do you think? I think he turned out pretty handsome. Come back tomorrow to check out another small gold project.

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

Let it go!- The Crafter's Version

I have recently decided that maybe my husband's right. (Don't tell him I said that!) I have too much craft stuff. I know, I know, I just shocked you with that statement. There's probably a few of you saying there's no such thing. I used to feel that way too.

But after the flooding our basement endured earlier this summer, I was forced to throw out some supplies that were ruined. Then, I had to haul all my stuff upstairs to the garage. Which made my husband mad to see how much stuff was actually there. 

I'm now in the process of bringing stuff back down into the basement. *sigh* That's  the point when I realized I will never ever use all of this stuff. As much as I would love to, it's not all going to happen (unless for some reason we miraculously won the lottery and I can quit my day job and hire a nanny).

I've also come to the not so good realization that I've spent a lot of money on objects that are just sitting here in my basement (or garage). Dang, yo! I've got to do something about that. 

So, I'm sorting through things. Things I think are worth something but I don't think I'll use in the next 6 months are getting sold. Things not worth a lot that I don't think will get used in the next 6 months are getting donated (either to other crafters or to the thrift store). 

I need to do this both to lighten my load and possibly recoup some expenses. I also am trying to organize what I'm keeping as I go. That means finally trying to decorate my craft area while I'm at it. 

That part of this whole ordeal has got me excited! I painted my peg board yesterday and it is cute! Hopefully, I can share some in progress pics of that soon.  You can check out some of my ideas for redoing this space here. 

What about y'all? Do you feel the need to let stuff go? Or are you a keeper? (I'll admit, I'm finding it hard to part with some things!) If you want to check out the few things I've got selling right now, You can see them here.

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

Pinspiration #4: Sprucing up the Master Bedroom

I found a new duvet cover for our master bedroom a few weeks ago. That, combined with a cleaning spree convinced me that the room needed some sprucing up. So, I immediately started a Pinterest board for inspiration.

I decided to start with this idea:






I found some frames already in the perfect color at the thrift store. They were $3 a piece, but I figured it was worth it not to have to paint them.  I bought letters and an ampersand at Walmart. I spray painted them chevron using my shape tape Frog Tape. I used Heirloom White and Sunshine Yellow, both Rust-Oleum colors. I decided the white and yellow were hard to distinguish, so I outlined them with a Sharpie.

Here's the result:

Here you can see them over our headboard:

I love the result. I will be doing a few other things to spruce up this room over the next couple of weeks. I want to get the guest room finished first.

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

*I was not paid to endorse any of the products or stores mentioned above. I just happen to use those products and stores. 

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; 

I bit the bullet...

After years of looking longingly at the DSLR cameras online, I bit the bullet, sort of. I bought a used model from someone in town (a professional photographer actually). It's not super new model and not very many megapixels (8 to be exact). But it was fairly cheap and came with accessories including a lens, strap, battery charger and usb cable.

I just got it yesterday. I haven't even had that much time to play around with. I took a few pics, wasn't sure what I was doing with all the settings, etc. Then I read a short explanation of most of the features (thanks, Pinterest!). After doing so, I took this:

I am in love! I can already see this is going to become an obsession, from which I'm not sure I'll recover. I was looking for something to take better pictures for the blog, but now I'm scheming to see if I can get my four year old to slow down enough for me to take pictures of her. Hopefully, you will all see the improvement in blog pictures as well!

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

Pinspiration: Make it already! #1

I love Pinterest. It's a great place to save those awesome ideas for when you can actually get around to them later. However, my problem is I keep acquiring more and more pins and don't actually carry out any of them. So I decided it's time to actually start making some of the stuff on my boards. This week, I thought I start with this lovely pin on my Fall board:

The original came from I Heart Nap Time and can be found here. 

Here's what mine looks like:

So what do you think? I think it turned out super cute and will be a great addition to the fall/ Halloween decor.

I hope to have some more posts in the Pinspiration series soon!

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

*Planning to share at:
Metamorphasis Monday; Give Me the Goods Monday; Time To Sparkle Tuesday Linky Party; Trash to Treasure; The Power of Paint Party; Wildly Original Linky Party; Transformation Thursday; What have you redone?; Shabbilicious Friday; Start at Home Paint Party; Funky Junk Interiors' Party Junk; Clever Chicks Blog Hop

Coral Madness

I have a fever. And the only prescription is more....coral! The Outdoor Bar Cart I just did in coral and gray got me thinking. I really like that color. Then I started thinking some more. I like the coral and the gray together. Then I got on Pinterest (I know, dun, dun, dun!!!!). Then I was lost. I saw all this awesome stuff with coral, gray and turquoise. Now I need to have those colors in my house. My guest bedroom has been long neglected and boring. So I decided to make a Pinterest board dedicated to all the cool ideas with those colors. Then I went insane and created a Polyvore set dedicated to the idea.

Coral, Turquoise and Gray Room by erica-hinders-allex on Polyvore

My only hope is that if I start making projects for this room, it will cure the sickness... (must reupholster chair with coral and white chevron!).I do have the right color spray paint to begin...now I just need to find an ugly peacock to paint. :) 

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

Last Minute Wedding Gift

I needed a last minute wedding gift last weekend (we were invited last minute because they weren't sure there would be enough room at their venue). I has seen this tutorial on Brassy Apple where she took letter stickers, put them on fabric, painted over them and then peeled them off to reveal the fabric underneath. I was in the thrift store and saw an ugly print in a frame, when it hit me. Why not use the same technique on a print you would never in a million years hang in your house?

I bought a print in a frame for $1. I cut letters out of clear contact paper using my Cricut and SCAL software (no sense in wasting vinyl on this).  I put the letters on the print like so:

Okay, I know it's hard to see clear contact paper, but if you look really closely, you can see a few of them toward the top.

Then I spray painted several thin layers over everything:

After it dried completely, I peeled off the letters to reveal this:

I love the result. The vintage tone of the print underneath is really neat. I did spray over the whole thing with a clear coat for a little extra protection. I probably would have put an extra something in vinyl on either side of the date (a heart perhaps?) but the couple I was giving this to is a little more minimalist than I. This project might be my go-to wedding gift from now on.

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

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What I've Been Working On Lately

It's been awhile since I've posted anything. I've been quite busy at work and with some community obligations, but I have managed to get a few projects done lately. I just completed a swap for Craftster (go check this out if you haven't yet. It's a great site where you can view lots of crafts by medium. Okay, short commercial break over! :) )

 I sewed two applique pillow covers. I haven't done much applique, but these turned out pretty good (minus the crooked sewing lines!).

These were based off of some Pins on one of my partner's boards. I think they turned out pretty good. Here's a closer look at the bunting one:

I also crocheted some fingerless mitts (a mini tutorial coming soon on this) using cotton yarn.

Here's one on:

That's mainly what I've been up to lately. This next couple of weeks, I am planning on a full tutorial post, a couple of mini tutorials, sewing my daughter a Halloween costume and hopefully a continuing series of organizing all my craft supplies in my basement.

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

Rake Wine Glass Holder

I've been seeing this everywhere on Pinterest and in the blogosphere. Taking this:

and making it into this:

Here's a few tips for making your own. First, figure out how you're going to hang it. My rake head was pretty bent, so if I wanted to put the nail in the middle of the handle on top, I had to bend it. Remember that this will get pretty heavy with glasses on it, so either make sure you hit a stud, or put an anchor in the wall. I actually ended up putting three nails in, two in studs on either end and one in the middle. Before you put glasses on it, it's best to seal it in some way. You could either spray paint it a fun color, or leave it rusty (like I did) and just spray it with a matte clear spray paint.

Now you have a fun, fairly inexpensive way to display your wine glasses. You can make a bar anywhere in your house, just by hanging one of these on the wall above a buffet, countertop or table.

I had the perfect spot for it in my kitchen. I had this music cabinet in this weird corner already and it seemed like the perfect spot for a wine bar.

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

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Fabulously Creative Friday: Jennifer Rizzo

Gypsy Skirt Turned Dress

Awhile back I saw this tutorial from Martha Stewart on Pinterest. I thought it looked pretty easy and decided to give it a try. It took awhile for me to find a skirt that I thought was long enough from the thrift store. Finally, I scored this one:

It's a cute layered gypsy skirt with lace and tulle. (Ignore the fact that I already cut the waistband off. I get eager to start sometimes before I realize I forgot to take a picture.) So, I followed the video instructions above for cutting and sewing. Here's what it looked like when I was done:

The only problem with it is, it's white. I decided to try ombre dip dying the skirt. (Don't worry, that ric rac is not going to be the actual ties.) I used a Rit dye color called Scarlet. I thought that would give me a nice deep red up to a pink shade. This is what I got instead:

Pink, pink, and more pink! It's not bad, just not what I expected. I obviously didn't put enough dye in the bucket. (So much for the dump method of measuring!). It's hard to tell in the pictures, but it is ombre. The effect is pretty subtle.

Here's an example of what it could look like tied with a belt:

It's very gypsy, cowgirl-esque. It would look great with boots! I will be updating this post with an actual pic of me in the dress later. I didn't have anyone to take one of me earlier. Word to the wise, if you attempt this, try to find a super long skirt. The longer the better. This one is a little shorter than I'd like. I might add some extra lace or ruffles at the bottom for more coverage.

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

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