Lately I’ve been working a little outside of my home. I’ve been reluctant to do it because, #therona. But, when your BFF calls and asks you to help her paint a starry, starry night sky on her entryway ceiling, you say yes!

BFF Roxanne has been lucky enough to move into a house that she has been mooning over for over 20 years!

When you enter her house, you step right into  a library.

That’s her entryway!

To get an idea of how big the entry is, the table you see in the photo above will seat 4 comfortably.

And the ceilings are just over 12 foot high!

When Roxanne moved in, the ceiling had a beautiful painted map that spanned the barrel ceiling.

It was pretty, but in her mind the ceiling should be a night sky with stars!

Step 1:

Roxanne had her painters paint the ceiling a mid-tone blue for her night sky base coat.

Step 2:

We used a dark blue paint with glaze added to it to give it a faux finish that looked like a night sky.

This is what her entry way looked like after day 1.

We could have stopped right there, because it definitely had the highs and lows of a night sky, but we wanted more depth and color.

Step 3:

Fast forward a few weeks as her workers took over the space to put in new flooring.

This is where we started.

The plan was to make the center of ceiling darker, fanning out the paint toward the sides of the ceiling.

An added bonus was that the lights at the top of the book shelves already helped give it that illusion.

So we gave the center of the ceiling another pass with the dark blue paint and added glaze.

This is what the finished ceiling looked like finished.

Even though this photo of the ceiling is pretty, it is so much prettier in person!

It has the highs and lows as well as the depth and color that Roxanne was hoping for.

I just love when a project comes out better than you imagined!

Step 4:

Adding the stars.

Roxanne had found a stencil that she loved that had several different sizes of stars.

Using metallic gold paint, we (she) added stars all over the ceiling in a random design.

Tip: Using gold metallic paint to stencil the stars makes them look like as if they disappear and reappear as you walk around the room!

Because they tend to “disappear” it’s hard to get a good photo of them.

If you look closely, you can see them here!

This photo was one that I almost tossed out as it is so washed out.

However, I decided to share it as you can really see the depth and the stars.

It truly does look like a night sky!

We realize that this night sky isn’t for everyone, but that’s okay.

Roxanne is thrilled with her starry, starry night sky!

And I’m thrilled for her.

Once she finishes decorating this area, it’s going to be a show stopper!

Until next time…

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Don’t you love finding something on sale? Then adding one or two little tweaks to your find to make it look super cute? That’s what happen to me recently. I found these super cute beach bags for $4.00! Each bag came with the cutest tassel on it. Cute, but by adding one tiny thing I turned them into totes adorbs swag bags.

I know “totes adores” is so last year, but I just couldn’t help myself!

So what did I do that made the swag bags totally adorable?

I did what any southern girl would do, I monogramed them.

Here’s how you can monogram you beach bag too.

Step 1:

Cut out your monogram on a digital cutting machine.

Don’t have one?

No worries!

I wanted to use a single initial on my bags, so I didn’t need anything fancy.

You could use a stencil,  hand draw your letter or use a pre-cut scrapbook letter.

I sprayed the back of my card stock letter with spray adhesive to ensure that it would stick to my bag.

Step 2:

Next, simply place your letter on your bag.

Make sure to press down firmly to make sure that it adheres well.

Step 3:

Using a pencil, lightly trace around your letter.

This is what your design should look like after removing the card stock.

Honestly, you could skip the spray adhesive if you want, it just helps keep the letter in place.

Step 4:

Paint your letter.

I used an acrylic multi-surface paint and a small paintbrush.

I matched the color of paint that I used to the colors in the tassels for a more custom look.

You may find that you need a couple of coats of paint to achieve full coverage.

Once mine had fully dried, I added a few tiny white accents to give it a little dimension.

That’s it!

Your bag is done.

Such a small thing that creates a lot of bang for your buck!

I did four of these bags for my sisters and nieces, painting each one a different color.

Once the bags were done, I filled them with all sorts of fun goodies.

I do believe that these are totes adorbs swag bags!

Last time I say that…

Promise!

Until next time…

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My BFF Roxanne was kind enough to gift me her blue flower pots when she moved. When we went to pick them up she asked if I wanted to do a children’s lounge chair makeover? Actually, it was more like “here’s a child’s lounger, I know you can do something with it!” So we loaded it up and took it home.

My first thought was to just clean the cushions and umbrella top and paint them.

However, before I could paint, the cushions needed a good scrubbing.

As I scrubbed, I discovered a zipper.

Cool!

I could take the covers off of the cushions and wash them in the washing machine!

Umm, nope.

Not happening.

What I found inside the cushion cover convinced me that plan B was  a better option.

I took the foam out of the cushion cover and the umbrella top off of the umbrella.

My plan was to take them apart and sew new ones, using the old ones as a pattern.

Until I priced outdoor fabric.

It would cost me more than my BFF had originally paid for the lounger.

So not happening.

Plan C.

I power washed the lounger and umbrella.

Already they were looking much better!

I ordered enough outdoor material and a few embellishments to make a new umbrella top.

Using the old umbrella top as a pattern, I cut out pieces to make a new umbrella.

It was a challenge, but I’m happy to say that it came out better than I expected.

With the sewing done, I painted the umbrella skeleton a bright white.

Giving the lounger 2 good coats of white paint made it look like new!

This is coat one.

Once the painting was done it was time to put it all together.

And this is what it looks like painted with a new umbrella.

I had just enough material left over to make a swanky little pillow.

When Miss A came for a visit a few weeks ago, she took one look at it and said “look, it’s just my size!”

She’s right, it is.

I have to admit that this children’s lounger makeover took a lot more time and planning than I ever thought it would.

But if the rest of our littles enjoy it as much as Miss A did, then it was so worth it!

Until next time…

My sister is a minister in a small rural community in Oklahoma. Last week I recieved a call from her asking if I would do her a favor. She needed a few signs that would give a few people a gentle reminder, It doesn’t flush itself!

After I stopped laughing, I asked her why she needed those signs?

There are a few groups of people using the outreach building during the week.

Without fail, almost every week, the cleaning committee would come in on Saturday to clean before church on Sunday and they would find that the toilets hadn’t been flushed.

In days.

You get what I’m saying.

Ain’t nobody want to deal with that!

The outreach center’s decor theme is Cowboy Chic.

Keeping that in mind, I wanted to keep the sign’s design rustic with a little bit of glam.

Also, I was on a tight budget!

A quick trip to Hobby Lobby yielded a large 12 x 12 wooden frame for $9.99.

Using my 40% off coupon brought the frame’s total to just under $6.00.

So much cheaper than a pre-finished frame!

I also found ribbon and some wrapping paper to match.

The first thing I did on this project was to paint my frame black.

Once the paint was dry, I took the wrapping paper and cut out a square the exact size of my black frame.

I painted the frame with a generous coat of Mod Podge and then applied the wrapping paper.

Tip: When using Mod Podge make sure you have a nice even coat applied to your surface.

Once you have your paper laid on top of the glue, take a clean brush and gently remove any air pockets or wrinkles.

Once that is done, apply another even coat of Mod Podge to seal the paper.

While the Mod Podge was drying, using my Silhouette cutting machine, I cut out the vinyl lettering for my sign.

After cutting my black card stock to fit inside the frame, I applied the vinyl lettering to the card stock.

And just like that, my sister’s gentle reminder, “It doesn’t flush itself” was finished.

My sister is picking up the signs this weekend.

I sincerely hope that the signs work, as the cleaning committee is all in an uproar about the lack of hygiene!

Every time I see these signs I can’t help but laugh.

Of course, I’m not the one that has to clean the toilets either or I just might be tempted to give a not so gentle reminder, IT DOESN’T FLUSH ITSELF!

Until next time….

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After weeks and weeks of searching for the perfect material to recover my breakfast room chairs, I’m happy to say that I finally found one!

Just a quick recap in case you missed it.

A few months ago I started giving my dining room a quick makeover.

I refinished my breakfast room table.

Made new curtains and added a coffee bar.

As you can see from the picture, the material looks as if it has several shades of blues, greens and yellows.

However, when it came in it was actually several shades of teal, not blue.

Now, I had to figure out how to match up all of the blue in the room to the curtain material.

This material, Emperial Trellis, is from Ballards.

It is shown several times paired with my curtain fabric, however I worried that the green was brighter and a little too much on the mint side.

Also, it is an embroidered fabric and a little too pricey for me!

This is the Osaka Bamboo Trellis fabric from Spoonflower.

Not only is it similar to the Ballard’s fabric, it is a perfect match to my curtain fabric.

Winner, winner chicken dinner!

Step 1:

Remove the chair pad from the chair.

In all honesty, since there was no piping to deal with, I was hoping that I could simply cover the cushions with the new fabric.

However, as you can see, the old striped fabric could clearly be seen through the new fabric.

Step 2:

The old fabric had to come off.

Did I mention that I hate the tedious process of removing the staples?

When I remove staples from furniture there are always a few bloody knuckles before the project is over!

So much fun.

Once the staples and fabric were removed, I positioned the new fabric making sure that the pattern was centered.

Then using a staple gun, I attached the new fabric.

Seriously, if I could ignore the staple removal process, this is one of the easiest reupholstery projects to date.

( The fabric looks very lime here, but is really a grass green!)

It took me a long time to commit to this fabric, but I am so glad that I finally did.

Why did it take me so long?

Can you say white and green?

Don’t get me wrong, I love both colors.

But white on a dining chair?

It honestly made me a nervous wreck just thinking about it.

However, after much thought, I decided to go for it!

Did I mention that I bought lots and lots of Scotch Guard?

Seriously, I really do love the new fabric on my breakfast room chairs.

So much so that I wish I had done it a few months ago!

Now, if only I could make up my mind on the wall paint color…

Until next time.

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It’s 10 on the 10th! Every month on the 10th, a group of lifestyle bloggers get together and share ideas for under $10.00. This month’s theme is Summer Party! While there haven’t been a ton of parties going on here at the Castle, there have been a few small gatherings. And one thing that always makes me crazy is that the solo cups get knocked over and you can never find where someone left the Shapie marker. So I’m taking matters into my own hands and making a Solo cup holder!

Normally I would have The Hubs make a box for me, however I found this box at Hobby Lobby.

With my 40% off coupon it cost $4.79!

Before painting the box, I filled the staple holes with wood filler.

I added feet to the bottom of the box by gluing on 4 wooden beads.

Don’t you just love E6000 glue?

It works on almost everything!

Next, I attached a metal clip to the outside of the box to hold my Sharpie.

No more excuses as to where the elusive marker went!

Once the glue and the wood filler was dry, I gave it a light sanding.

Then it was time to paint.

At this point I could have called it good and been done.

However, I saw that there was room in the back of the box for straws.

I cut a dowel rod the width of the box interior.

Once the dowel rod was in place, I painted it white to match the box.

This solo cup holder is finished and ready to party!

I’m thrilled that the glasses have a home and hopefully we won’t be on a constant hunt for a marker!

Please join me in visiting the rest of this months bloggers!

Decorate And More With Tip

Pandora’s Box

French Ethereal

The Apple Street Cottage

Hello my friends! Today is the first Wednesday of July. Which means that today is the DIY Challenge. This month’s theme is Summer. Which is right up my alley ’cause summer is my favorite time of year! Today I’ll be sharing how to make a garden hose guide.

However, before I share that, I want to thank our hostess, Terrie from Decorate and More With Tip. Terrie is one of the sweetest, most talented gals I know, so if you haven’t visited her go there NOW! You can thank me later.

Also, if you are coming here from Jodi’s, The House House, welcome. I’m so glad that you stopped by. I always love to meet new friends.

We’ve been hand watering the flower beds since the pool dig started.

I gotta tell you that watering the flower beds and the flower pots on our wrap around front porch became quite the event.

Clearly it was time for some garden hose guides before I killed a few plants.

I went to order a few and quickly became discouraged, as all of the cute hose guides were quite pricey!

After doing a little research on making some of my own, I remembered that we had some left over finials from the new fence.

Add the finials to a copper pipe and Ta- daaaa !- new garden hose guides were born.

After picking up a copper pipe from the big box store, The Hubs was kind enough to cut me 18″ pieces of the copper pipe using a jigsaw.

Once he had them cut out, he used a rasp to sand down the rough ends of the pipe.

Now, it was my turn.

The left over finials were black.

Honestly, I almost left them that color and called it good.

However, I loved the look of the copper so much that I wanted the finials to be the same color.

I lightly sanded the finials, then gave them a few coats of Martha Stewarts Copper metallic paint.

After the paint dried, it was time to glue the finials to the pipe.

I used E6000 glue along with the double sided foam tape.

Because my finial was a little larger than my pipe, I wrapped some double sided foam tape around it.

Then liberally coated the tape with E6000 glue and inserted the pipe into the finial.

After letting the glue completely dry, I lightly sanded the finial to give it a worn and slightly distressed look.

The last step was to put a protective coating on the finals.

And my garden hose guide was done!

I have to say that I love the warm color of copper in the garden.

However, if you aren’t a copper fan you could use plain pipe and top it with just about anything.

Door knobs, drawer pulls and curtain rod finiasl are just a few that come to mind.

Now if you will please join me in visiting Pamela at DIY VIBES.

I can’t wait to see what she – and all of the other talented bloggers – is doing this summer!

DECORATEANDMOREWITHTIP | PALLETANDPANTRY | CELBRATEANDDECORATE | CLOCHESANDLAVENDER

B4ANDAFTERS | AVINTAGEFLAREFARMHOUSE | BLESSINGSBYME | PAULASHANDMADESPACE

THEHOUSEHOUSE | PATINAANDPAINT | DIYVIBES | BLUESKYATHOME

It’s time for the June DIY Challenge and boy was this month different from months past! Our challenge this month was a surprise. Terrie from Decorate and More With Tip, asked each of us to send a surprise box filled with whatever we wanted to one of our fellow DIY participants.  I anxiously awaited my happy mail to arrive. The excitement was high, as it was like waiting to open a gift at Christmas! So you can imagine my excitement  when I got a package from Liberty from B4 and Afters, I couldn’t wait to open it. This is what I found in my surprise box! All I can say is – Bring on the Bling!

If you are coming here from Decorate and More With Tip I am so glad that you are here!

Now, let’s get this party started!

Let me backtrack for a minute. Have you ever started a project, thinking that you would make one thing and ended up making another? Well that’s what happened when I started this project. My first thought was that I was going to make the cutest little tray. So, I got two boards and glued them together. Then glued two left over blind slats across both boards.

To make sure that the strips were secured, I screwed them place.

Since I planned on painting the entire piece white, I glued on the pearl beads with hot glue.

Once I saw those beads, I knew that my project would never be a cute tray. Those beads reminded my of my great nieces, Miss A, aka Beep. This is her Easter picture. Her Granny curled her hair, dressed her up and because she had been so good Granny said she could choose her jewelry for her Easter pictures. I’m pretty sure Granny never thought she’d choose those beads!

Our girl loves her Bling!

Now I was coming at this project totally backwards! I painted the top portion of the board turquoise, being very careful to paint around the beads. Then I added the word “bling” to the board using letters I printed off from my computer. To transfer the letters, simply flip the letters over and using a pencil, color over the letters outline.

Then, flip them over, place them on the board and trace.

I painted the letters white, then drilled holes for my hooks that would hold all of Beep’s “joory”.

The hooks were made out of the drawer knobs from my surprise package. I spray painted them white as they were an oil rubbed bronze color to start with.

Beeps room is turquoise, white and lavender. To bring in the purple tones, I took the yarn from my surprise package and twisted it to create a trim. I glued it to the edge of the board. I did this twice around the board to make a bigger impact.

Once that was done, I painted the back a pretty lavender color. Yep, coming at it totally backwards – again!

Next, I added a cute white bow with all of the colors.

And a tiny bit of bling.

Bring on the Bling!

This sweet little sign is ready for all of Miss A’s joory!

This months surprise box challenge was so much fun. Now, I can’t wait to see who sent what to who! I’m headed over to Liberty’s site, B4 and Afters, and I hope  that you are too!

DECORATEANDMOREWITHTIP | PATINAANDPAINT | B4ANDAFTERS | SWEETSOUTHERNGRACE

CELEBRATEANDDECORATE | JESSICABSIMMONS | THE HOUSE HOUSE

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I’ve been sprucing up the front porch over the last month or so. Lots of projects to keep me busy for sure. I added some pretty black and white striped cushions to my bench and chairs. Almost immediately I knew that I wanted some hot pink throw pillows added to them for some color. Except I couldn’t find hot pink pillows that were the color, fabric, or price range I wanted. It quickly became apparent that I was going to be making them. So today I’m sharing how to make outdoor throw pillows on a budget!

Here’s what you will need:
Napkins  18 x18″ , 2 per pillow
Pillow form 16 x 16″
Sewing Machine
Thread
Pins
Scissors
Scotchgard

First of all, this project is so easy it’s almost ridiculous, and using the same steps below, you could make these a no sew project. Just use a heat n bond type tape or fabric glue! I found my napkins here.

They had a 12 pack of 18 x 18, 100% cotton napkins  for $17.81 Which would make each napkin $`1.48. You will need two napkins so we multiply the $1.48 x 2 = $2.96

Step 1:

Wash and iron your napkin. Once that is done, lay napkins right side out, one on top of the other. Pin all the way around leaving a 6 – 8 inch opening.

Step 2:

Sew along the previously sewn hem line all the way around the napkins, leaving a 6 to 8 inch opening for the pillow to be inserted through. If you miss sewing along the hem line perfectly, no worries. You won’t see it when it’s done.

Step 3:

Remove the pins. Stuff your pillow form into the opening. I found my pillow forms here, each cost me $4.74. The pillow forms cost Make sure the pillows forms corners fill the corners of the pillow cover and that the pillow form is evenly distributed.

Step 4:

Once you have your pillow form inserted into the pillow cover, at the 6 -8 inch opening put the outer edges of the pillow cover together and pin. Make sure that your pillow is not in the opening! Sew the opening shut.

Step 5:

Once I had made all of my pillows, it was time to Scotchgard them. Following the directions on the can, I gave each pillow a solid coat of Scotchgard on both sides.

Let completely dry.

I placed mine outside on a table to dry.  As my  young niece would say “ooohhhh, stinky!”

LOL

It will definitely fill your house with that chemical smell!

Step 6:

Put them outside! Total time to make? I have to say that the sewing part of my pillows took me around 1 hour. Not bad at all. Waiting for the Scotchgard to dry took the longest in this process. Probably a half of a day.

Cost? The napkins per pillow were $2.96. The pillow forms per pillow were $4.74. The Scotchgard I had on hand, however you can buy this at any grocery or big box store for around $6.00 per can. My can was almost new when I started and I would say I used about 1/2 of a can for all of my pillows. So estimated cost: $3.00. So .75 per pillow. Total cost per pillow: $8.18!

I can honestly say that’s how to make an outdoor throw pillow on a budget!

Until next time….

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Welcome to our Knock-Off Challenge. If you are coming from CD’s Country living, I am so glad that you are here! Every Month our fearless leader Terrie from Decorate and More With Tip gives us a  decorating challenge.

This month Terrie also asked if we would like to participate in a Knock Off challenge.

YES!

You know, when you see something you love, but it’s out of your budget or you think to yourself, “I could make that!” We’ve all been there. Well, that’s what happened to me.

Today I’m sharing how to make a HOME sign.

I saw this “HOME” sign at my local grocery store’s gift isle right before easter. And immediately fell in love with it. It’s part of The Round Top Collection, which is one of my favorite.

In the space where the O should be there is a small hook where you place a piece of art called a charm.

So cute!

However, the board itself was over $55.00. Not terribly priced, but I paint wooden signs a lot and knew I cold make this one for a few dollars, if not for  free.

Charms can be square pieces of art or wooden cut outs like the bunny you see here. They make just about every theme you can imagine. Bats, Christmas trees, candy corn, American flags, hearts, flowers, four leaf clovers….

If you can think of it, they probably have it. My favorite place to buy the charms is online from Miss Cayce’s Wonderland in Lubbock, TX.

You can also buy them here.

We had an old oak stair tread left over from our stair makeover at our last house.

The Hubs removed the bullnose portion and I had the exact size of board for my home sign.

Since my home sign was going to be on my covered front porch, I decided to paint my board with the same paint that I used on my front door.

I love Modern Masters front door paint because it doesn’t fade, dries quickly and goes on smoothly!

After my paint dried it was time to add the lettering.

I searched my fonts on my computer until I found a similar block lettering like the original.

Once I found it, I printed off the letters from my computer.

I used white transfer paper to put the lettering onto my board.

Simply lay out your letters that you printed off, then slid the transfer paper underneath.

I like to tape the top layer down so that there is no movement when tracing the letters.

Trace your letters with a stylus and this is the end result.

Once you have transferred your letters to the board it’s simply a matter of painting them!

Once your painted letters have completely dried, it’s time to distress your board.

I sanded over the entire board, letters included.

How distressed you make your board is up to you!

I like to use 220 grit sandpaper for this step.

After I distressed my sign, I gave it a good coat of poly to protect it.

I looked high and low for a simple black hook to hold my charms just like the original sign, but no luck.

So I decided to go in a different direction.

I had a bunch of old key hole covers in my stash and thought that they would be a pretty background to a simple cup hook.

Both of those together created a pretty hook for the charms.

I painted both of these gold.

Here’s my finished HOME sign.

I couldn’t be happier.

And guess what?

Since I already had everything that I used it cost me nothing.

My kind of project!

These signs were so easy to make and I loved them so much that I made a few for birthday gifts.

I made the signs and ordered the charms from Miss Cayce’s.

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Happy Mother’s Day and Welcome to $10 on the 10th!  Each month a few blogger friends and I get together on the 10th and share ideas for under $10. This month our theme is Upcycled or Recycled. Which is right up my alley!

I love it when I’m able to use bits and pieces of other left over projects to create something useful. Today I’m sharing my Recycled Pool Towel Rack.

We are in the process of putting in a pool here at the Castle. Which means that we’ve had to put in a new fence mandated by our HOA. The Hubs decided to build the fence himself, board by board. So we had quite a few 2 x 4  cedar wood scraps left over. They were perfect for what I had in mind. Which was to make a towel rack for the pool area!

Here was the plan. I knew I wanted to make a 40″ x 12″ rack, painted in blues and browns. Lots of distressing, but very colorful. But then I realize that it really wouldn’t match anything that I planned to do in the backyard. So, I went to plan 2.

The size was still going to be 40″ x 12″, however the colors changed. I pulled the spa tile sample and chose all of the blues in it to paint my towel rack.

Now, it made sense! 

So here’s how we made it. The boards were a little thick for what I wanted. The Hubs was kind enough to to cut them in half for me.

After The Hubs gave each board a good sanding, they were ready for paint!

Using the tile samples, I chose 5 different paint colors.

I painted the 9 boards 4 different colors of blue, then painted the cross braces navy.

Once the boards were all painted, I gave each several coats of clear poly spray paint.

I know that it may be over kill, however since this towel rack was going to be outside it needed a protective top coat.

Next, we put the towel rack together using waterproof wood glue and a nail gun.

I found these hooks and bought a set of 5 for $6.81 which includes the shipping and tax.

I attached the hooks to every other board. Since we had 9 boards, this allowed me to put one on each end, as well as a few in the middle, leaving plenty of room for towels. Each hook has two arms, so the rack will hold a total of ten towels.

Perfect for when we have the family over to swim.

Once we were finished putting the towel rack together, the holes for the nails really bothered me. Not the look I was going for. At. All. So I filled them with a little wood filler. Repainted each board and gave it a couple of coats of a  poly top coat.

Ta Daaaa!

My recycled pool towel rack is ready for the swimming to begin. Total cost was $6.81 as I  already had the paint, scrap lumber, poly, and wood filler.

Now, If only the pool and backyard were as easy to finish up as building the towel rack was!

Please join me in visiting my blogger friends and see what recycled or upcycled items they are sharing today!

Decorate and More With Tip

The Apple Street Cottage

Pandora’s Box

At Home With Jemma

The House House

Blue Sky At Home

French Ethereal

Let’s Add Sprinkles

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A few days ago I was sitting on the sofa contemplating repainting my fireplace mantle. I’ve put it off for awhile because my plan was to make it darker. To do that I had to strip the old varnish and stain it. One small  problem. The mantle is embedded into the stone on the fireplace, so striping it would have to be done in place. All I could think about was the mess. The more I thought about it, it occurred to me the reason I didn’t like the mantle was  that it looked a great big dark spot against all the white and nothing in the room had that finish. I finally came to the conclusion that the best thing to do was paint it white to match the rest of the fireplace and bookshelves. So Today, I’m sharing how to watch paint dry or how to paint a mantle.

Of course, I forgot to take a before picture.

Seems to be my M.O. lately!

So this is what the mantle looked like in February, right after I painted the fireplace shelves white.

Supply List:

(Luckily, the project took more time than supplies and I had everything I needed on hand.)

Here’s what you will need.
Paint Brush
Cabinet and Trim Paint
Liquid Sandpaper
Drop Cloth
Damp rag ( to clean up any spills etc.)
Paint key

Step 1:

Clean your mantle with warm water. Let dry. Your mantle should be super clean. Any spots or dust will result in paint chiping and flaking later. Tape off any areas that you don’t want paint on.

Step 2:

Using a rag, thoroughly wipe down your mantle with the liquid sandpaper. Don’t miss any spots! Work it into the creases and crevices.

Liquid sandpaper takes the place of sandpaper. It’s actually a deglosser that removes the shiny, slick surface of the poly so that the paint will adhere.

Read the directions.

Mine stated that I needed to paint within 30 minutes of dry time. Please note that Liquid Sandpaper can only be used on surfaces that don’t have any large chips or divets or rough areas on the surface. If you have any of those, you should sand and repair your mantle first.

Step 3.

Paint.

I used a water based semi-gloss cabinet and trim paint. Try to apply in long even coats, slightly overlapping for even coverage. Check occasionally for runs or drips.

As you can see, if you look closely, one coat was obviously not enough. After I painted the first coat, I sat around watching the paint completely dry before putting on the second coat.

This is why I titled the post Watching Paint Dry. Cause you do a little bit of painting and a lot of watching and waiting!

Step 4:

Apply the second coat of paint. Paint the second coat just like you did the first, making sure to check for runs or drips.

Watch paint dry.

I put 2 coats on in one day . One early in the morning, one late afternoon.

Step 5:

Early on day 2, I added coat three. And…you guessed it, watched paint dry!

On the third day I put my mantle back together.

I love the way the entire fireplace area looks. It’s so clean and now everything matches.

My OCD is happy!

I’ll probably style it a little differently soon, but for now I’m happy with it just the way it is. Aren’t you glad that I shared watching paint dry or how to paint a mantle with you?

It seriously takes an art in being patient that’s for sure!

Until next time…

If you liked it, be sure to Pin it!

Hi y’all! How’s your week going?

I hope that you are having a wonderful week.  It looks like we will be home for a little while longer. Seems like everyone has their own way of dealing with being at home more.

So, are you learning anything new? Or are you sitting on the sofa binge watching in your pajamas?

Me? I’m doing a little of this and that. What went on this week at the Castle? A lot!

It’s the second full week in April and feels like day 7000 of this Pandemic. But my goal this week was to be hopeful, upbeat and stay busy!

I started off the week on Easter Sunday by making honey bunnies. Not a bad way to start a week at all!

I was so grateful to find flour. I’d been looking for a few weeks and was fearful that we would not be enjoying them this year. After searching for what seemed like forever, I found a bag!

Honestly,  I will never take the ordinary things for granted ever again!

Monday found me taking all of the bunnies, nests and all things easter down. I found these two candlesticks and small vase at an estate sale my bff was having.

I’ve been waiting decor always makes me happy!

Tuesday found me making masks for friends and family. I’m no expert at making masks for sure…but with the shortage of masks it only made sense to make a few.

I think I’m up to about 30 now.

I’ve decided to learn a new art. Watercolor painting.

Of all the different types of art, this is one that I’ve never done a lot with.

Y’all, it’s hard!

Then I saw that Lucy from Craftberry Bush was giving free lessons on instagram and I couldn’t resist! Still practicing a lot and honestly I have nothing worth showing, but I will say that I am enjoying the process so far!

I did break out the acrylic paints to paint a super quick fun painting for my sister who loves pigs. It’s been one of those weeks for her and I thought that I’d send her some hi I’m thinking of you happy mail.

Wednesday was super exciting. 

We’ve been trying to get a pool built since we moved in. With the holidays, then the weather it’s been a slow process. Last week they dug a huge hole.

Monday the metal benders and the plumbers came and the mud hole became a hole with lots of pipe and wire in it. Then on Wednesday, out of the blue, a crew showed up in the afternoon and this is what our pool looks like.

Finally!

Its starting to look like a real pool! Our  builder is hoping to get the electrician out soon. Once he’s done, its time for rock, tile and decking. Bring on the decking!

Momma’s already tired of cleaning up the mud!

Thursday found us with the most beautiful weather, even if it was a little windy. 

We’ve been slowly, section by section, digging up the old overgrown shrubbery that came with the house. If you look at the very top of this picture you can see what I’m talking about.

I headed out front this morning with the intent of taking the old stone border and use it to lay out the shape of the new bed. However, the shrubs were so overgrown that I couldn’t even begin to do that. So, before we knew it we were tearing out all of the overgrown shrubs in this bed.

What a workout!

Today I’m off to pick up new shrubs that I ordered for this bed. Maybe a few new flowers to keep me busy over the weekend. Truly my happy place!

Oh, I did find time somewhere in the week to make some homemade bread.

So yummy!

Good thing we got a great workout gardening. I sure needed it!

So what projects are you working on? Learning anything new? Or maybe just enjoying an old hobby or being with your family. I’d love to hear what you’ve been up to! I need some ideas for next week.

Until next time….

I gotta tell ya, being at home has its benefits. It also has its downfalls. The downfalls?  I can’t just run to Hobby Lobby when I need to.  I will say that not being able to run to Hob Lob has made me way more creative. For instance, today I’m going to share how to frame art on a budget, which will prove that necessity is the mother of invention!

I use the term “art” loosely in this case. Last fall I bought this paint by numbers kit. I know that there are a ton of people out there that are fans of the PBNK’s. However, I am not one of those. First, I am not someone who likes to color between the lines. Second, this isn’t the PBNK you had as a child. I needed a magnifying glass to see the numbers they were so tiny! This endeavor took me almost 6 months to complete. NEVER. AGAIN!

However, since I spent so much time on it, I was determined to hang it somewhere in my home. I could have just hung it as it was, but I wanted to add a black frame. How to do that when you can’t go shopping? You make your own!

I wanted a simple black frame to go around my painting. My solution? Make a frame from lattice. At 69 cents a foot, it’s a bargain!

Step 1:

Measure the art.

Since I didn’t want to miter the corners – way too much math for this girl- I measured the top and bottom for exact measurements. For the sides, I wanted the side lattice strip to cover the canvas as well as the entire end of the lattice strips that were on the top and the bottom. This would make a solid frame with no gaps. To do this I measured the sides of the canvas, plus the width of the lattice strip, x 2.

Step 2:

Once I had my measurements, I cut the lattice strips using a small miter box and saw. This is perfect for cutting thin strips of wood! In fact, this is my new favorite tool. It’s small, compact and this small little saw is so easy to control. Definitely not like the one my Dad used to have!

Step 3:

After cutting the strips, I lightly sanded the edges to give them a clean, finished look!

Step 4:

Once I had the strips of lattice cut, I painted them black with multi- surface paint.

Step 5:

Normally, at this point, I would have simply nailed the lattice directly onto the canvas using small brads. However, I was out of small brads. So, I simply stapled the lattice to the canvas. I used 1/2 inch staples to insure that they would go thru the lattice as well as the canvas frame.

Step 6:

To help hide the staples, I painted them black, using the same paint that I used on the wood.

This is my finished frame. Not too shabby for my first attempt.

Honestly, not only was the frame budget friendly, it was also an amazingly easy project.

So easy that I couldn’t not share how to frame art on a budget with you!

Total cost: $4.14

Time: less than an hour.

Most of that time was spent watching the paint dry! Most important – I love the way my new piece of art looks in the powder room.

Until next time…

Hey there! Welcome to 10 on the 10th, where some really fun and talented bloggers get together on the 10th of the month to share their ideas for under $10. This months theme is tips while social distancing. My tip?  Keep your children busy! One theme I’m seeing a lot of on social media is Mom’s wondering how to keep their children from being bored. 

So today I’m sharing: How to build a busy box!

What is a busy box?

A busy box can be any container, a box, a duffle bag, a tote or as you will see today, a suitcase! The busy box can be plain jane or it can be decorated to the nines!

It’s up to you!

Once you have your container, you will fill it with things to keep your children busy! With Social distancing, my suggestion is to rotate out toys, games etc. that you already have in your home. Or, if you are going through shopping withdrawal, Amazon still delivers. The beauty of a busy box is that it can cost you nothing at all!

We all know that my busy box was not going to be plain Jane. Hey, don’t judge! I got nothing but time on my hands! My BFF Roxanne was selling this cute little suitcase at a garage sale. I picked it up for $5.00! It only measures about 15″ x 10.5″ x 6″. The perfect size for a busy box.

I could have left this cute little suitcase just like it was, however the insides had seen better days and there were a few tears on the outside. So I decided to spiff it up using only items I had on hand. My solution? To cover the insides with material. I measured the bottom, top and sides, added 1″ to all measurements and cut out the material.

Giving the suitcase a new lining was pretty easy. I used Spray mount to attach the material to the suitcase. For the bottom and top I simply sprayed the adhesive and added the material, making sure to smooth out any bubbles.

For all side pieces of material, I folded the material under 1/2 ” and ironed it to stay in place. Once that was done, I sprayed the sides and added the material to the suitcase.

Once the material had been attached to the suitcase, I added some black gimp around the edges to give it a finished look. I simply hot glued it on!

As you can see the ends of the suitcase had seen better days!

I found some fun scrapbook paper in my stash.

Then using white glue, I glued it to the ends. For me it was a super cute and easy solution!

Now for the fun part! Filling it up. For me it was easier to decide what to put in my busy box by thinking of a theme. And once I started thinking I came up with a ton of ideas based on what I had on hand.

Here are just a few of the themes I came up with:

1. Dress Up
2. Tea Party
3. Legos
4. Games
5. Art
6. Cars and Trucks
7. Picnic
8. Train set
9. Outdoor games
10.Gardening
11. Beauty box
12. Scavenger Hunt.

Really the list is endless!

For older kids a game box would be fun. Just fill it with old favorites or with new games that they haven’t played before. I’m willing to bet we all have a ton of games that haven’t been played in a while!

What little wouldn’t enjoy a tea party? I added a few dress up items. A boa, tiara and some fancy jewelry. Throw in a tea set and a stuffed animal or two and your busy box is full!

Other than spending zero money on a busy box, the best part is that it’s easy clean up and store. When the littles are done playing, pack it up and return to mom. Who will hopefully fill it up for the next time the kids get bored!
So how much did I spend on my busy box?

$5.00.

Everything else was already here at The Castle!

Now I hope that you will join me and visit my fellow bloggers and see what wonderful tips they are sharing!

At Home With Jemma
Blue Sky at Home
Let’s Add Sprinkles
Pandora’s Box
Decorate and More with Tip
The House House
The Apple Street Cottage

 It’s time for April’s DIY Challenge. Can you believe that it is already April?  Our challenge this month is Grapevine Wreath Inspiration.

I want to give Terrie from Decorate and More with Tip a huge shout out for hosting the DIY Challenge. I love that each month she puts out a fun, creative challenge that makes me stretch my creativity.

Yay, Terrie!

If you are coming here from Through A Vintage Door, Welcome!!!

Now, on to the challenge!

The rules of this months challenge were simple. Take a grapevine wreath, any shape or size, and create something fabulous! No pressure there! lol!

The first thing I did was to determine my color palate. Since I recently painted my front doors black, I thought that I’d stay in the neutral zone. After checking out my craft closet, I came up with these pretty ribbons. Black and white check, a neutral ribbon with a gold beaded trim and raffia.

For greenery, I used some eucalyptus garland that I already had. I simply cut 6 inch sections off of the garland, then hot glued them to the wreath.

Next, I wanted to make a small welcome sign out of wood to put in the middle of my wreath.

One small problem, I didn’t have the correct size of wood. However, I did find several blind slats that we had removed from our living room blinds when we installed them.

 The blinds have these notches where the blind strings go. Fortunately for me the middle sections were the perfect size to make a small sign!

Using a small miter saw I cut the excess wood off, using the notches as a guide.

Now that I had my faux wooden sign for my wreath, I needed to put my wording on it. I could have just hand painted welcome on it, but thought that it would look better if I used vinyl. I designed and cut out my welcome using my Silhouette. If you don’t want to hand paint and don’t have a vinyl cutting machine, you could always use a stencil for this part of the project. 

Once my Welcome was cut out, I simply  applied it to my faux wooden board.

With my sign ready to go, I hot glued it to my grapevine wreath! After that was done, I made a bow from my ribbon and glued it to the wreath also. For the life of me, I thought I took a picture of this step. But, no! Serioysly? For the love!

This is what my wreath looks like finished.

I think its the perfect addition to newly painted front door!

I love how simple and clean it looks, as well as how easy it was to put together. I don’t think my wreath took more than an hour from start to finish to complete. And, while I didn’t intend to do this, I used everything I had on hand. So my wreath cost my nothing!

Next on the hop is Paula from Sew Sassy!  Please hop on over and check out her beautiful wreath and when you are done join me in visiting the other talented DIYers.

With all of the extra time on my hands lately I’ve been doing a lot of things I don’t normally have time to do. I’ve been cleaning, sorting, crafting, reading, and finishing a lot of unfinished projects. All are a good thing. I picked up a few things from the Dollar Tree awhile back with the intent of giving them a little makeover. Today I’m sharing a super easy Dollar Tree Easter Bunny Centerpiece!

I saw this really cute bunny door sign and thought it was so cute, except for one thing.

The paper spring banner.

While not ugly, I just felt like I could take it to another level.

So, I decided to make my own Easter banner! I’m not sure if you know it, but Dollar Tree has a lot of really great craft supplies. Like this burlap ribbon.

Step 1:

Remove the Spring paper banner and add jute string in its place. I glued the jute string on with hot glue.

Step 2:

Make a new banner.

I took the old Spring banner and traced one of the triangles on it. Using that as a pattern, I cut out 6 burlap triangles and 6 hot pink triangles. The hot pink came from some scrap material that I already had. Once I had my triangles cut out, I added glitter self stick letters to each one. Instead of my banner reading Spring, my new one will say Easter. Once your triangles are finished, hot glue them onto the jute string to make your banner.

Step 3:

Now, this cute bunny was made to hang. Initially my intent was to make a centerpiece with this bunny, however as I was putting him together I thought he might also look good hanging out in my entryway. One small tiny problem. How to put him in an arrangement? I took a BBQ skewer and glued it to the back. This worked great, but the back looked awful! So I traced the bunny shape onto some cute paper and glued it to the back, hiding the BBQ skewer..

Step 4:

The bunny had a hole in each ear with jute string attached that made it easy to hang. Since I was putting it in a centerpiece, I didn’t need the string and the holes needed to be covered. These paper flowers were the perfect size to cover those holes.

Step 5:

I had this cute metal container that I’ve been waiting to put something in. I added a brick of styrofoam, a glass vase and lots of pretty blue Easter grass. This is the base for the centerpiece.

Step 6:

Putting the centerpiece together. I stuck the BBQ stick with the bunny on it into the styrofoam. Then added some pink Easter grass on top of the blue. The blue grass was a little too bright blue for this arrangement, but it was perfect for filler.

Step7:

Embellish! Now, every Easter Bunny needs some Easter eggs. Maybe a few carrots? Add in a cute, bright bow and my Easter centerpiece is finished! All it needs is some pretty spring flowers to fill the vase.

I found the softest pink tulips at my local Market Street that were the perfect addition to my Dollar Tree Easter Bunny centerpiece. Even better – I don’t have to worry about changing flowers weekly or watering.

I recently found these cute felt flowers and thought that they needed to be a part of the arrangement. The bow found another home and the felt flowers finished the centerpiece.

Such a super easy and fun craft.

Now, if you will excuse me, I’m off to read, or clean, or paint, or…..

Until next time….

With staying at home as much as possible being the foremost thing on our minds, I am trying to put a positiver spin on this thing by trying to get a few projects done.

One of those things was to work on the front porch. As you can see, our front porch was a little blah. In fact, painting the entire house is on our must do list.

With all of the crazy rain we’ve been having painting the house was an obvious no, however there were a few dry days recently that found us painting the front doors.

Some day I plan on replacing the front doors, however since that is not in our budget right now, paint it is!

At our last house I found the perfect front door paint. It’s made by Modern Masters.

I love it because not only is it water based and dries in 2 hours (You can literally shut the door in 2 hours!), but it also comes in some of the prettiest colors in a satin finish.

It goes on smooth and is super easy to clean up. Need I say more?

In our last house we painted the front door a beautiful navy called Peaceful. It was the perfect dark blue. Not too dark, not too light.

AND It only took one coat of blue – with a few touch ups – to cover.

I had so much left over that I think I painted everything in our backyard! Adirondack chairs, flower pots, signs, the back door…it really went a LONG way.

This time I decided I wanted to paint this house something a little more classic that featured black and white.I chose to go with MM Satin Elegant.Which is a deep true black.

I love it.

However, with this color it took almost 3 coats to cover the door. Still, a little over 6 hours, for 3 coats, from start to finish, is not too shabby! It looks fabulous.

This house has a wrap around front porch. Which means we have a side door that leads to my office. This door also faces the same direction as the front door, so you see both doors from the street. Since I was already painting the front door, it just made sense to go ahead and paint the side door too.

And I am so glad that I did. The difference just painting the front doors made was HUGE!

I told The Hubs that now I can’t wait to paint the rest of the house!

Patience is not always a virtue for me…

The weather is still not co-operating so I think I’ll just focus on not only painting the front doors, but also sprucing up the front porch.

But that’s for another day.
Until next time….

I don’t know about you, but here at the castle we are taking social distancing seriously.

We are only leaving the house for groceries, doctor and dental appointments and other necessary items. Since I am home for the most part, I decided to tackle a room makeover that I have been putting off.

Today I am happy to share our laundry room makeover part 1!

When we moved into our new castle this was what the laundry room looked like.

Lots of beige. Antiqued cabinets and walls that no matter how much you cleaned them, they looked dirty. A 80’s style boarder trim. And faux brown stone linoleum floors.

The day after we took possession we had every floor replaced. The laundry room received one of my very favorite tiles ever! This black and white encaustic tile. We put it in the guest bathroom at the old house and I loved it so much I had to use it in our new home.

The floors were done in one week and I kid you not this wall paper border and towel bar came down 2 days later! And then I got side tracked with things like unpacking and the holidays. So the laundry room sat just like that until the middle of January.

The laundry room had this HUGE industrial florescent light fixture that I hated from minute one. Besides not being the prettiest light fixture, it also gave off a weird yellow light that flickered. I had brought this fixture with me from our previous laundry room, so when The Hubs asked if I wanted to change the florescent light out I couldn’t get this pretty one unboxed fast enough.

The light fixture exchange was back in January. This sad little room sat just like that until three days ago. With  social distancing, I thought that if I couldn’t be productive out and about, at least I’d be constructive at home.

I can’t believe I didn’t get a better picture of this. Oh, who am I kidding? I do it all the time. Do you ever get so excited about a project that you loose your mind? You do? Oh, good. I’d hate to be alone! I started by painting the ceiling a clean, crisp white.

See arrow…

Next, I painted the walls this beautiful soft color. Sherwin Williams Tradewind. So calming. It reminds me of birds eggs!

Pardon my mess! Once the walls were painted, it was time to paint the dated antiqued cabinets. I removed the doors and painted everything with two coats of Sherwin Williams Pure White in semi gloss cabinet and trim paint.

I gave a few decor pieces, like the paper towel holder and the bird house a little face lift.

Made a new curtain for the window and added a bit of spring decor.

My laundry room makeover part 1 is in the books! But there is still more to come!

The counter top will be replaced. The Hubs is going to build a countertop out of some old barn wood of my Dad’s.

I want to put a shelf between the washer and dryer and the cabinets, but not until next month.

I have drawer handles ordered.

And… the part that I can’t wait for – I’m tiling the sink wall from the counter top to the ceiling in bright white subway tile!

Stay tuned for Part 2, coming soon!

Until next time….

I can’t believe it’s almost the middle of March! Which means two things. 

One, it’s almost March 20. Which is the first day of Spring and just so happens to be my birthday. 

And Two, it’s time to get out all of the fun Spring decor. Woo Hoo! Let the fun begin!

I want to apologize up front for this post being so long. But, it’s really not my fault that I happened to be shopping at Market Street and they had so many beautiful Spring things that I couldn’t decide what to share with you.Like this carrot kitchen towel. So many beautiful details…

Or this appliquéd egg kitchen towel. I’m really loving the turquoise that I’m seeing in a lot of Easter decor this year.

Have you seen the Round Top Collection?If you haven’t pull it up on your computer.You’re welcome!I love all of it.One of my favorites are these “charms”.Small paintings that are displayed on boards.There are so many to choose from, it’s almost overwhelming.

This is their Gallery Art Display Board. Normally the charm would hang from the hook at the top of the board.Isn’t this just the cutest? They have “charms” for every season and occasion!

This is their vertical HOME display board.Which is my favorite. I can see this on my front porch, or in my entry.So cute!

Turquoise and glass? So speaking my love language!

Of course, I couldn’t leave without checking out the the Mud Pie section. This sweet bunny can hang out at my house anytime!

I have to admit that this duck made me smile! In fact, there isn’t anything in this picture that I wouldn’t love to have here at the Castle!

And last, Mr. and Mrs. E. Bunny. Just too cute!!! If this isn’t the epitome of fun spring decor, I don’t know what is. I wanted to take all of it home, but I didn’t. So what did make it home?

Before I share my haul, I want to show you one more thing. This amazing easter egg carrier from Michaels. It definitely came home with me!

A little raffia, some soft blue eggs and this sweet kitchen towel make me happy every time I look at it! Yes, this towel was part of my Market Street haul.

I also couldn’t resist this Bunny Head Charm.

And as I was walking to the check out, I spied these faux tulips. I knew that they would be perfect in my Dollar Tree Bunny arrangement.

Not a bad haul, if I do say so myself! Although, I have to admit that I’m already thinking of heading back for a few more things. Nope, I am not addicted to shopping at all!

Until next time…

Woo Hoo! It’s Ten on the 10th. If you’re new here, each month on the 10th a group of talented bloggers get together and share ideas that cost under $10!

This months theme was Spring/textiles. At first I wasn’t sure how I was going to share something that fell under the category of textiles and if I did what would it be? Most of the ideas that popped into my mind were well over $10.

Then I found the perfect felt flowers for Spring!

I found these cute felt flowers on a recent shopping trip. I wasn’t even sure what I was going to do with them, but I knew that I loved them enough to take them home and find out.

Turns out that I found a lot of places to tuck these little gems. Such pretty shades and the tiny bits of clear glitter just remind me of dew on flowers early in the mornings of Spring and Summer.

On the back of each flower is this convenient clip that lets you attach these flowers to just about anything!

I plan on using them as a part of my Children’s Easter table centerpiece. They are the perfect size and color!

They were the perfect addition for my dollar tree rabbit vignette that sits in my entry.

They were also just the absolutely perfect touch to the ends of my Easter banner on my fireplace.

And my sweet little rabbit looks so cute sitting next to this pink blossom! I am so glad that I listened to that tiny voice that said “Yes! Take them home!”

Not only are these felt flowers pretty, but the price is pretty awesome too. They are priced at $2.97 each. These beautiful blossoms come in multiple colors: Pink, Hot Pink, Lavender, Red, Yellow and a pale Turquoise. I tried to find you a link, however they are in-store purchase only at WalMart. (not an affiliate)

Felt Flowers for Spring Y’all! Now I hope that you will join me in visiting my fellow bloggers and see their fabulous ideas!

Decorate and More With Tip

Let’s Add Sprinkles

Pandoras Box

I’m so excited to be sharing my new rug in my breakfast room with you today. Slowly, but surely, I’ve been adding little bits of decor here and there in our home. I’m not very good at decorating a room all at one time.

In fact, I’ve only decorated a complete room, all at once, one time. When I did my art studio for the $100 Room Challenge. I loved having it completed in one month, but it was stressful to have to make a ton of decisions all at one time. I’d rather take my time and decorate a room by finding the perfect pieces as I go along. Sometimes this works really well, sometimes it doesn’t!

This is what our breakfast room looked like on the day we moved in. The next day all of the tile was removed and in the week that followed, all new hardwood was put in.

Over the past few months tiny changes have happened in the dining room. We added a new old table. We hung the antique chandelier that I brought from our old house. A coffee bar was added in the past few weeks.

And I made new curtains.

Choosing a color scheme for the breakfast room has proven to be harder than I would have thought. I kept leaning toward a black, white and light blue color palette. However, I had that in our last home and really wanted something different. Then I saw a photo on Pinterest of the most beautiful white and beige dining room and fell in love.

Not long after I saw the photo, I found this fabric at Hobby Lobby. I loved the linen textured look and the color was perfect.

I quickly went to work sewing new lined curtains. But guess what? The minute I hung those curtains, I hated the room. It still felt like the same great big beige box that was here when we moved in. Even though I hated them, I decided to live with them awhile. And I am so glad that I did!

Having the white and beige color scheme lets everything I put in there seasonally pop! In some ways it’s the perfect color scheme.

While I was learning to love my new breakfast room color scheme, I started looking at indoor/outdoor rugs for my patio.

I came across this super cute rug in turquoise that I feel in love with. One big problem. I’m not using turquoise in my color palette on the patio. BUT, it did come in this beige! Sold!

In all honesty, I love an indoor/outdoor carpet in the kitchen and dining room areas. So easy to clean and they’ve come so far in appearance sometimes it’s hard to tell that they aren’t indoor carpets.

The best part? It was on sale for under $100 and it came in the perfect size for my room!

I LOVE it.

There are still a few more things I want to add to this room, but it’s starting to feel like it’s not a great big beige box.

Woo Hoo!

Until next time…

It’s the first Wednesday of the month and you know what that means? It’s the DIY Challenge and this months theme is Easter Egg inspiration.
 
Thanks to Terrie from Decorate and More with Tip for being our  egg-straspecial hostess! 

If you are coming here from Danya’s Barnhouse Mess, Welcome! I always love to meet new friends.

Can you believe that it’s March already? I couldn’t be happier about it. I am so ready for Spring!! Sorry Winter, but it’s time for you to go.

With Spring on the horizon, I’m already thinking about Spring and Easter decor. One of my favorite things to do is set a cute children’s Easter table for all of the littles in our family. With the DIY Challenge being easter egg inspo, I thought it might be cute to make the children’s table place cards out of eggs.

No boring little white cards for this table!

Supply List:

*Small clay pots
*Acrylic paint
*BBQ Skewers
*Plastic Easter Eggs
* Hot glue gun and hot glue
*Easter grass
*Alphabet stickers
*scissors
*ribbon

Step 1:

Take your clay pots and paint them the color of your choice. I didn’t worry too much about complete coverage since I was going for a rustic look. Once I had painted them with one coat of paint, I used white acrylic paint to dry brush over the base coat.

Step 2:

Next, grab some plastic Easter eggs of your choice and some BBQ Skewers.

Using your hot glue gun, put some glue into the hole that is at the bottom of your Easter Egg.

Quickly insert the skewer into the hole before the glue dries. I added a little glue to the outside of the egg and the skewer to make sure the skewer was firmly in place.

Don’t worry about a little glue on the outside, as we will hide that later.

Next, since the skewer was a little too long for my craft, I cut off a couple of inches of the skewer.

I used wire cutters, but heavy duty scissors would work also.

Step4:

I didn’t care for the natural wood color of the skewers, so I painted the skewer a soft grass green. Be sure to paint the glue at the top also.

Step 5:

After your green paint has dried, it’s time to attach the egg to the pot.
Normally, I would put a piece of styrofoam into the bottom of the clay pot and just stick the egg in. However, I didn’t have any styrofoam and I was too lazy to go get some, so I improvised.

I put a big dollop of hot glue into the bottom of the clay pot. Then stuck the end of the skewer into the glue. Hold the egg upright for a few seconds until the glue dries enough for the egg to stand up on its own.

A friend asked me why I used glue? Wouldn’t it ruin the pot if I ever wanted to use if for another project? No, it won’t. A little heat from a hair dryer and the glue will pop right out! In all honesty, either way works just fine.

Once the glue was dry enough, I took a half sheet of paper towel and wrapped it around the stick to help keep the egg in place and to fill up my pot.

Step 6:

I let the glue dry for a few hours, just to make sure that my egg was firmly attached to the pot. Once this was done, I tied a bow at the bottom of my egg around the skewer.This adds a little fun color and helps hide the glue.

To fill up the inside of the pot, I added shredded Easter grass. I also think that filling the pot up with jelly beans or M&M’s would be cute too. I just love all of the fun bright color.

Step 7:

I added a colorful  alphabet sticker  that was the first letter of each child’s name to one of Easter eggs. 

For a little extra, I also thought these cute tiny carrots finished my place cards off nicely.

Honestly, these Easter egg place cards are one of my top two favorite things on my children’s Easter table. I love that these cute, colorful and sweet  place cards remind me that Spring is just around the corner.

BRING ON SPRING!

Next up, Michelle from Blessings By Me!

Also, I hope that you will join me in checking out all of the other talented bloggers and see what their Easter Egg inspiration is!

Decorate and More with Tip / Jessica B. Simmons / Just Another Farmhouse /Patina and  Paint

Blessings By Me / DIY Vibes / Sew Sassy by Paula / Sweet Southern Grace

I love Board and Batten walls. I’ve just never had many places that one would work well before. Until this house. I knew the minute that I looked at the guest bathroom that this would be a perfect place for one.

To refresh your memory this is what the guest bath looked like when we moved in. It’s a functional bathroom, but the design had seen better days. It’s like a time capsule for the 80’s. Can I get an Amen? The first thing we did was change out the flooring. Once we had moved in and unpacked, I started removing wallpaper. If you’ve ever removed wallpaper you would know why I will NEVER put wall paper in my house again. Nope. Not doin’ it!

By the time I got all of the wallpaper removed and the cabinets and walls painted the holidays were fast approaching. We called a halt to all major projects until after the new year.

The holidays are long gone, and it’s time to get busy finishing a few of the rooms that we started! The first thing on my list in the guest bath was the board and batten wall.

After taking a few measurements, we headed to our local lumber store and picked out the lumber we wanted to use. Full disclosure, we could have done this wall for a much lower price had we used a different lumber. But, after much research, we decided to put up our wall a little differently which required a higher grade of hard lumber. It seems that there are two main ways that most people installed their board and batten walls.Both options had issues that we didn’t want to deal with.

The first option was to glue the boards directly  onto the walls, then add nails.Ummm…no thank you. If I ever wanted to change things up, I knew that I would also be replacing sheet rock. And I thought that removing wallpaper was a nightmare…

The second option was to simply nail the boards to the wall. However, unless you hit a stud there would always be the possiblity of the board popping loose. And realistically, there was no way we could design the wall to do that and it look right. Neither of those appealed to us.

First step:

Remove the existing base molding.

Now here’s where we went in a different direction than most. Instead of installing the boards, piece by piece directly onto the wall, we built the entire wall in the garage before installing.

To hold it together and for added stability we used pocket screws on the back of the frame. It was like a huge picture frame! And solid as a rock. Once we had it built, we then nailed it to the wall making sure we hit studs as much as possible. No chance of boards popping off and it can be fairly easily removed if we ever want to!

For the baseboard we used a 1 x 8″ board.The vertical boards are 1 x 3″ boards. And the top cross board is a 1 x 6″ board.

To finish it off we placed a 1 x 2 ” board across the top.

Next, I caulked every place the boards touched the walls and at the floor. I used wood filler to fill in all nail holes. There were still a few places on the dry wall that needed a little patching also. Once the caulk, sparkle, and filler were dry, I gently sanded everything smooth.

Time for paint! I love this paint. We painted our cabinets with this paint in our last house and it was so durable!

Three coats of paint, installation of the hooks and my board and batten wall was finished! I love it! I still have a few more projects before I can call this room done, but by far I think this is one of my favorite projects that we’ve done in this  house. It just gives that room so much character.

I am toying with painting the wall above the board and batten the same blue that I painted the vanity. But before making that decision, I’m going to live with it as it is for a little while.

Putting in a taller shower curtain, a little mirror project and decorating the rest of the space is on my to do list next. So stay tuned for the finished room!

Until next time…