Desk

For a long time I have been on the hunt for the perfect desk for me. I was really excited when I found this beauty in its rough form. I picked this desk up at the thrift store for $30, it looks like someone else wanted to refinish it but then gave up on it and I snatched it up. So I didn't need to do any sanding since some one already did that. I just had to put primer on it.

I don't know what what I did with more of the during pictures they just disappeared I guess. So I painted it is Aqua Blue and glazed it. Then I added silver pull handles.




I love how it turned out. It looks great with my Grandmothers Chair, to see how I refinished the chair check it out. I'm excited to work on many more projects on this desk.



Lisa

Summer Wreath

Now that is is summer I wanted to bring on the festivities with a fun fourth of July wreath. My friend Brieanna found a wreath she loved online. It was just a plain white but looked really elegant (sorry I don't have the link). But we wanted to try and use the same idea but make it festive for the summer holidays.
This is what you need. A total of 2 to 2 1/2 yards of felt. (depending on how tight you put your circles.) a floral wreath, and a lot of push pins.



We cut tons 3" circles from each color, about 55 per color so a total of 150 circles!
To fold them it is really simple. First fold the circle in half, then in half again so you have a quarter circle. You'll put the pin in the bottom corner, and then pin it in the wreath.


Just keep adding and building them as you go around. I redid this part about 20 time I swear. I didn't like it in rows. It is best to try to be random in placing them around.
This is the finished product!

I think it turned out awesome. So fun and just perfect for the summer months. Check out how I made the AMERICA sign here.


Lisa

Twins Nursery - Dr Suess Style

My cute sister had twins last fall and they are the cutest twins ever. I really have no idea how she handles them both, I helped babysit with my mom and Husband there and it was still a handful. For a while now, we have been planning how to decorate the Nursery. Since she has a boy and a girl we decided that a Dr. Seuss Nursery would be perfect. Don't you just love Dr. Seuss? The magical words to his books, the fun colors and characters, it makes for a very inspiring baby nursery.

It took us a while to get it all started, she changed rooms around and finally got them moved downstairs next to her room. This is the room before... Very plain white walls. We did put a fresh coat of white paint on the walls and ceiling since it had been years since it had been done.

If your going to do Dr. Seuss you have to go big. So we decided to do big stripes on the walls. I really think this idea freaked her husband out but luckily he let us see our vision and go with it. Nothing in Seussland is ever perfect or exact. So we made the stripes different sizes and planned for 3 colors. Luckily, we used a laser level so our lines were straight. This part can be very tricky and drive you crazy if you don't plan it out a head of time. After I struggled on paper for a good 2 hours, in a matter of minutes my sweet hubby, just took the perimeter of the room and divided it by how big we wanted the grouping of stripes. Then we knew how many sets of stripes will equally fit in the room. (sounds complicated huh!)
It took a few hours to get it all taped out and set just right. Now on to painting the stripes. She had the paint colors matched from the Cat in the Hat book at the hardware store. We used Red and Blue.
Then it was time to start decorating and placing everything in the room. She bought some Fabric for the draperies and some poster cut outs of the characters from all the different Dr. Seuss books. The dresser was previously painted a dark green, she repainted it the same blue as the walls and glazed over it with a little darker blue. I think it turned out awesome.
Since her walls are very textured, we made Vinyl sayings to go on the wall, but put them on a white board first. This is a small reading nook on one side of the room. She has a toy box/bench that will go in this corner but we are still working on getting it painted.
She is also making these cute blankets for each of them.
Being inspired by the trees in the Lorax. My sister came up with these cute decorations. She used Styrofoam balls and wrapped a feather boas around them. I think they are the cutest idea, it is my favorite part of the room.
It was so fun to work on this little room, it was easy to be creative and just think outside the norm as the true Dr. S. would do. What a fun room for these little ones to explore as they grow.

Lisa

Fun with Vinyl

As I have mentioned before I love my Silhouette Cutting machine. It is awesome. I use it all the time these days, mostly to cut vinyl lettering. Here are a few of my most recent projects that I have been cutting out.

America Sign
I am signed up for all those Group deal emails these days, because I love a deal. Recently, this was being offered as a deal to buy just the lettering for $6. I thought, I can totally make that. The deal actually appeared on my mother's birthday and she is a big- all things America kind of gal, so I thought it would make a perfect gift. I liked it so much, I just had to make one for me also.
I found 2 scrap pieces of wood out in the garage one was 7"x 13" and the other slightly larger 8" x 20". I liked that they weren't perfect and had a knot or two in them. I didn't even bother cutting them down I thought that it might be fun to have it big. Wood = Free


Then I just used a little white spray paint I had on hand. Since I was planning on sanding it down after I just did a light coat of the paint. Then sanded it down to make it look old and worn.
Paint = Free.
Last I cut out my saying and attached it. It says "America land of the free because of the brave" Vinyl = Free! A totally free and easy to make project.

I think that they turned out really cute. I gave my mom the bigger of the two and she loved it. It was so easy to make.

----------------------------------------

Another project I recently made was for the end of the school year teacher gifts. I got this idea in a magazine but changed it up a little. I bought some hand soap from the store for a couple of dollars. Then my husband burned the front sticker off for me. I guess he just heated up the sticker and then it was able to be pulled off easily. I use Goof-off to get off any remaining residue. Then I just selected an apple and wrote A+ Teacher, and had my Silhouette cut it out. it was that simple. I thought it was s cute and fun gift for the teacher. Something they can definitely use but it is was still inexpensive and personal.

Lisa

Nightstand for .W.

My friend Becca asked me to help her with some of her furniture that she just wanted to change up. After, talking back and forth for a while we finally got it started. She has some really great wood furniture that just needs some little TLC. The first thing she wanted to change was this cute little nightstand. She hated the red color, it just didn't go with anything in her bedroom.


I like how this night stand is just little but has some good detail to it. It is also a very sturdy piece. First, I used Rust-Oleum Primer and coated it really good.


I was so ecstatic when she said that she wanted to paint it in a light blue color. I have been dying to paint some thing in a Turquoise color. Turquoise is everywhere right now, it was the color of the year last year but it is still going strong! We picked the Rust-Oleum spray paint in Aqua. I was so happy with how it looked.


Of course I couldn't resist glazing it. Have I mentioned it is my favorite thing ever! I used Ralph Lauren Faux Glaze. Just painted it on very generously and then wiped off with a damp rag. I just wiped off until I got the look I wanted, or added more as needed. I love how it just give the details a little definition.

I also replaced the drawer pull, I found this great round pull at home Depot for about $3. It just updates the whole thing.

I totally love it and Becca did too. So exciting. I am on the search for the next thing I can paint this color!

Lisa

Spring Wreath

According to the calendar Spring should be here. But we only get a small glimpse of it every few days. So I wanted to make something that would really bring some fun bright colors in to my home. I found a zillion ideas for ribbon wreaths back in December when I was looking for my Christmas wreath. So I filed this idea away for the future. I thought this would be a prefect ways to bring all things Spring inside and just in time for Easter.

My friend Brie loved the idea too and wanted to make one also. We started with a 12 inch floral hoop from JoAnn's $4.99 (used a 40% off coupon) = $3! And then I bought tons of ribbon. You honestly need about 24 to 25 YARDS of ribbon to to make sure you cover it well. I also used up any old ribbon I had around the house, So I spent about $15 in ribbon. Buy it in bulk if possible. I bought most of it at Walmart and searched for the rolls with the most yardage for the same price. My friend also got about the same amount of ribbon and we mixed the colors for more variety.


We cut the ribbon into about 18" strips, nothing scientific just depending on the thickness of the ribbon as to how it would tie around . Then we started to tie the ribbon on the hoop. Starting with the thicker pieces to cover the whole loop, then moving on to thinner ribbon to go on top. It took a couple of hours all together but it was sure fun to do with a friend. Doesn't it look so festive and fun.

It really did take a lot of ribbon but if you are like me and hang on to a zillion of little scraps, this is a fun way to use them up. I think the Ric Rac and the cute flower ribbon really add a fun punch.

How are you welcoming in Spring?

Lisa

Bathroom Sign

Last summer, I painted and redecorated my bathroom. For a really long time I have been looking for some wall art for it to finish the look. I just hadn't found the right thing. So my sister was telling me about this metal sign she found at Hobby Lobby. She wanted me to make her some vinyl lettering to go on hers. And I thought that it would work perfect in my bathroom too. I have a saying that I have wanted to make for some time and this was perfect.

This is the original sign bought for $15 (after 50% off) at Hobby Lobby. I loved the details along the edges. After I got it home, I realized it is the exact same color as the walls. Since that wouldn't work I decided to paint it green, since I have other elements of green in the room.

After I primed it with Krylon Primer, I used Ivy Leaf Kylon spray paint that I already had on hand.

I like the green but thought it was too bright for the room, and I love the detail, yet it seemed to disappear along the edges. So I had to glaze it - which honestly is my favorite thing.


I covered it very heavily using a brush to make sure I got it in all the little nooks and crannies.

Then using a damp cloth, I wiped off all the Glaze. Being careful not to wipe too much back off. I was very pleased with how it really made it stand out.

I love the saying "In a world where you can be anything... BE YOURSELF!" I don't know who said it but I really love it and have wanted to make a sign for a while. I cut my vinyl letters out with my new Silhouette SD machine. I love this machine! Unlike it's competitors, you use your computer to design what ever you want and are not limited to buying the cartridges. It is awesome. And my Hubby has actually used it even more then me!

Here is the finished project


Awesome, Huh! I am so excited to have it done, it turned out just how I wanted. Total cost was just $15 for the sign, everything else I had here on hand. I love quick and thrifty projects like this. Remember, if you find something you like at the store but it's not the right color you can change it up for pretty inexpensive and make it a custom item for your home.

Lisa