Some Before & Afters

Here are some projects I've done that were simple transformations.

I found these frames at a garage sale for $1 each. I was ecstatic to get such a great price since they are really huge nice frames with a matte.

I used one in my living room with our family picture. I spray painted the frame black and the matte white. Turned out just like I wanted.

I also got a 16"x20" picture for free from Shutterfly. Some coupon for $20 that came with my girls' school pictures (that I didn't even buy). A huge picture and frame and the whole thing was a buck. Can't beat it!

The other large frame went in my bedroom. A honeymoon picture, when we wore matching clothes.

Love it...don't think we've done that since our honeymoon. You know, where every honeymooning couple in Hawaii is wearing their matching silky, floral patterned outfits.

I think this table is actually a plant stand, but it was the perfect size for the little corner in my entryway.

  

It had rings on the top and looked pretty rough, but nothing spray paint can't fix.

I was kind of concerned about how the top would turn out, but by just covering up the rings it works fine.  When you put stuff on top of it you don't really notice the paint since you can still see most of the marble top.
I really liked it until my toddling 8 month old decided to pull it over.  Very thankful it didn't hurt him, but moved it for now.

This was some random wall decoration that my Mom brought me. 
If you can see it amongst the mess it's laying on.  I had already started painting the left side.

 It was sitting in my garage sale pile because I didn't want it either, then it hit me.

I have been needing a Christmas card holder and thought this might work.

I spray painted the whole thing green and the flowers red.  Let me tell you, this thing was pretty ugly even spray painted...or just not my style.

 I also spray painted about 30 clothespins green.  I think you could skip this step, but I wanted them to really blend in.  I cut little strips of scrapbook paper I had and used Mod Podge to adhere them to the tops of the clothespins.

 This is what it looked like with my old Christmas cards on it, because I had to test it out before I ever got Christmas cards coming in this year.

 When I got cards this year, this was perfect.  I could even use the clothespins for multiple cards.
I like that we can see them all throughout Christmas time.
I love that people still actually send out cards!

One last makeover.
I found a couple of these sconces at Goodwill for about a dollar.

Gave them a couple coats of black glossy spray paint and now they hang on my wall.
 Not really sure what to do with them...but there they are for now.

Canvas Pictures

I can't remember how long I've been wanting to do these with my kids' pictures, but I finally did it.

One reason it took so long was because I needed some good pictures. I took some when we did family pics this Fall and really love them.

If you want to make your own, this is what you will need:

Canvases

Black paint (I used acrylic)

Pictures

Mod Podge - glossy

About the canvases...I used the 2 inch thick ones because that's what I like, but used the thinner ones for a set for the in laws. Both look nice, just depends on what you like. You can usually find canvases for at least 50% off at Michael's. I happened to get mine for 70% off during the holiday one day deals. You just want to make sure to get the canvases that are wrapped all the way around the edges and stapled on the back and not the sides. Try to get the canvas the same size as your pictures or maybe a little smaller.

I printed my 5x7 pictures at Sam's for 38 cents each.

I actually used real Mod Podge for these, since I wanted them to be nice. Usually I would use the homemade version of Mod Podge for things, but lately people have said on certain things it turns out looking milky on their projects. Of course I used my coupon and bought it for 40 or 50% off at Joanns.

Now on to how to make them. I painted all of the sides of my canvases and a little up and over the edge onto the front. This way if your picture isn't quite perfect, you won't really be able to tell. I ended up doing two coats.

While that dries you can trim your pictures to fit the canvas if you need to. Not all canvases are created equal so you may want to lay your picture down and check on every one.

Once the paint is dry, put a coat of Mod Podge on your canvas and then lay your picture on top. I went ahead and then did a coat on top of the picture also. Let that dry and then do another coat. I brushed the first coat vertical and the second horizontal.

 

I took this picture so you can see the texture a little bit.  It kind of gives it that canvas look on top of the picture. I also went ahead and put a thin coat around the edges since some had gotten on them. It was glossy Mod Podge so you could see on the sides where it didn't have any.

In the end I probably spent about $3 for each one, which includes the price of Mod Podge that I'll use for many more projects.

I really love how these turned out. Have fun making your own!

Framed Wall Decor

Here are some framed things I did awhile back I thought I would share.  

In my oldest girls' room I'm putting lots of framed things above her bed, including this flower wall art.  Here are a couple other things.

Her name framed.

I painted a wood plaque and painted on her name.  I glued it to fabric covered cardboard and put it in a frame I had spray painted.

I read a great tip on transferring images somewhere on Pinterest (one of those things I read, but didn't pin).  Print off your design and put a piece of newspaper between it and your surface.  Make sure the newspaper part has a lot of words.  I used a picture portion of the paper since I didn't have much area to cover.  Then trace your words or design that you printed off with a sharp pencil and it will leave a faint line on your piece of wood.

Another fun thing for her wall, a silhouette.

I took a picture and printed it out the size I wanted and used it as a pattern to cut out of white fabric.  I glued it to the brown and white fabric with spray adhesive and framed it also.

I haven't used spray adhesive until recently when I inherited some, and I love the stuff.  It's so easy for lightweight things.

I had a couple of old frames that I spray painted for our master bedroom.  Here's the before.

After I spray painted them, they hung on my wall empty for awhile.  I finally filled them.

I tend to go ahead and hang them on my wall until I actually decide what I want in them...go figure.

 

Put a painted wooden letter on some fabric covered cardboard in a frame, and there ya go.

I also did the list of dates I've seen everywhere lately.  This was the format I used.

I printed mine out on cardstock and put it in the same brown frame as the monogram.

I also had this big bulky frame.  I think it weighs about 20 pounds.  It's not one of those new "looks like it's heavy" frames, it's the real deal.

Yes, I do love Jesus, but I had to replace this picture.

I spray painted the frame white and put in a picture from our honeymoon.  

I still have so many frames to fill it's ridiculous, but I feel like I'm making some headway at least.

Flower Wall Art

 I've seen these felt flowers all over the place.  I'm trying to find different things to fill frames above my little girls' bed and this was perfect.

I usually buy the individual sheets of felt, but didn't really know how much I would need for this project, so I went to Hobby Lobby and bought it by the yard.  Soooo much cheaper!  I bought 1/3 of a yard for about $1.25 with my coupon (which I figured was about 8 of those smaller individual pieces).

I didn't look at any tutorials (which I can figure out why I didn't think to), but just cut some triangles in different sizes.

I started out by sewing mine all in one long string to make them gather. 

 

 

I laid that string of petals down in a circle and just worked my way inwards with layers of petals.

I used hot glue to put it on my fabric covered cardboard, realizing it probably would have been easy to skip the sewing part.  Guess that's when the reading the tutorials beforehand would have been pretty helpful.

I did find some great tutorials after the fact.

This one has a little different shape to it.

I can't wait to make some pillows with the rest of my felt too.

Now to fill those other 5 frames...

Topiaries

I have always loved the look of topiaries.  I have looked at dozens of pictures of them to see what I really liked.  I knew I wanted to make them...and cheap.  So this is what I came up with.

I went to the wonderful Dollar Tree and bought 2 nerf type balls, a bag of moss and 2 glass vases/bowls.  I already had 2 dowel rods and 2 squares of styrofoam.

I looked for the green moss at the craft stores, but didn't want to spend $7 on it (or even $4 with a coupon for that matter).  I made these Easter baskets a couple of years ago so I thought the same technique might work for this project too.

I put hot glue on the balls and pressed the moss onto it.  The places I didn't get covered well I shot some hot glue and pressed into it a little wad of those messy pieces you get when you're taking the moss out of the bag.

I actually like how they looked just sitting in the vases.  I might have to make some like this as well.

After they were covered I spray painted them green.

You can see really up close they aren't covered completely, but in person you would never know

 I spray painted the vases black and painted the dowel rods brown.

I used scissors to poke a hole in the ball and stuck the dowel rod in until it was sturdy.

I cut my styrofoam to fit and pressed it into the vase until it wouldn't move around.

Then I stuck the other end of the dowel rod into the foam.

I like the kind of messy, but simple look of them.

My mantle is slowly evolving into something I like.

Framed Monogram

I'm trying to decorate about every room in my house right now.  Which means I end up doing a little project here and there before I actually complete a whole room.  They'll eventually all come together.

I love having a fireplace, which gives me an awesome mantel to decorate.  It's been 8 months so I had to start doing something to it, around it, over it, anything.

I broke out all of my old frames I've been saving to re-purpose and had just the right one for this project.  This is the before picture, but I had already taken the matte and picture out of the frame so I sat them together so you get the idea of what it started out as.

I spray painted the frame black and the matte white.
I found some material I liked and wrapped it around the board the picture was on.  I hot glued it on the back to secure it.
Then I spray painted a wooden D black and hot glued it on top of my fabric.
Stuck it all back in the frame, minus the glass, and done.

This was one of the quickest projects I've ever done and I really like how it turned out.

A couple of things I might change on it later...
1) I would put some hot glue under the fabric where the letter is hot glued to it.  Now that it is hanging it is kind of heavy and pulls on the fabric.  You don't really notice it, but I do and it bugs me.

2) I would paint the letter with acrylic paint.  With the wooden letter I got, it doesn't absorb the paint really well and makes it look a little streaked.  Again, I don't think it's that noticeable, but it bugs me.

Happy monogramming. 

DIY Decor = Canvas + Doily + Spray Paint

One room in my house that has never been decorated is my master bedroom.  Isn't that sad?  I've made bedding and decorations for about every room in the house, but never for our master bedroom.  So after 10 years of marriage, I thought it's time.

I'll have to wait for the big before and after reveal of the whole room (mainly because it's not done), but for now, here are some decorations I've put together.

I had bought doilies from a garage sale a couple years ago and had these canvases on hand.  I laid them out how I would want them and then Mod Podged them on.

I made my own Mod Podge, and so glad I did for this project because it took quite a bit.

 

Want to make your own Mod Podge?

Mix 1 part Elmer's glue 2 parts water.  Put it all in a jar and shake well.  That simple.  It comes out a lot thinner than real Mod Podge, so I was skeptical, but it turned out working great.

I brushed on the Mod Podge and stuck down the doilies.  Then I started brushing on the Mod Podge on top of the doilies, but resorted to dumping it on because I wanted them covered well and it was taking too long...a little impatient, yes.

I had to let them dry outside in the sun for awhile.  After they dried I spray painted them and let that dry well.  It took a lot of spraying because of all of the little spaces in the doilies.

I really love how they turned out.

And because spray paint makes all things look better, I had these stick decorations (I don't really know what to call them) but didn't like them in my kitchen anymore.

Now they are my bedroom decoration.

 

Can't wait to finish this room.  Working on the duvet cover and pillows now.

I should mention I have material for 2 other rooms in my house as well.  Hopefully in the next few months they will actually all be done.

Lots of before and after pictures to come!

Reupholstering Chairs

It was my first time reupholstering.  Success!

My hubby took all of the chair cushions off and kindly put them back on, so I definitely had some help. 

My fabric was pretty thick so the corners on the chairs took the longest to get just right.  Of course, I think about every project I do takes twice (if not 3 times) as long as I think it will.  It just sounds pretty simple...take cushions off, staple fabric on, put cushions back on.

It really was simple, don't get me wrong.  It just took some patience as well.

I am so happy we did this.  Before they were an off-white microfiber.  I love microfiber because of how well it cleans up...for awhile that is.  After it has been cleaned so many times and has some wear on it, it no longer cleans up to look like new.  It just looks dirty all the time, especially such a light color.

Here's the before and after.

I would highly recommend reupholstering.  Much cheaper than a new dining room set.

Jewelry Box Redo

 I always seem to be working on something last minute for Christmas.  This year it was a couple of things.

First off, this (not so) pretty little jewelry box.  

 

Found at Goodwill for $4.99...which was actually more than I wanted to spend, but was the only jewelry box in 2 thrift stores.

I think it turned out pretty much as I imagined. 

It's for my oldest daughter and all of the fabric on it will be used in her quilt for her bed.  I'm all about the matching stuff.  

I Mod Podged the fabric on the drawers and replaced the glass with a doubled layer of cardstock covered in material.

Can't wait for her to open it Christmas morning. :)