One Post, Two Little Projects.

While I've been busy with dance competition season (which, thankfully, is almost over), swimming and gymnastics lessons, trying to get us settled into the new house (I'll post a few pictures, soon.),and working on getting all the paperwork ready for my trip to Africa, I've completely forgotten that I also needed to post about a couple of my recent projects! Don't hold your breath because they aren't all that awesome, but they do include dressing up one of Diva's bookshelves, a second redo of the kitchen table that I refinished quite a while ago, re-purposing my old dresser, and making a totally cool headboard (okay, the last two aren't finished yet, but I am hoping to get the dresser done this week and the headboard done before the year is over).

If you follow me on Instagram, you've probably already seen the pictures, but since I know there are people who still aren't on Instagram (cough, cough...my sister), I'll go ahead and post them here to give you all a little break from all of the posting that I will be doing about my journey to Africa.

Project #1 is hardly worth mentioning and I think we've all seen it a million times on Pinterest so I'm not even going to watermark it, but since it technically does qualify as a restyle, I'll post it anyway.

I simply took Diva's boring white bookcase and added a little shelf paper that I got from Target to the back to give it a little something extra. It was very quick and really easy, though I do advise having a credit card with you to smooth out any bubbles and also that you take a deep breath when the pattern doesn't line up perfectly between the two, or more sections you have to use to cover the back.

I didn't take a "before" picture, but I'm sure you can picture the white back that it used to have.

Project #2 was a quick restyle of the kitchen table that I had previously redone clear back in 2012. When I say quick, I mean it. I literally did it in two days, just a few days before we moved into the new house. I didn't really plan on it until I realized that the extra paint I had left over from painting the dresser (which was also painted in the same time frame) would would also look cute on the kitchen table and because I had already decided that I needed to replace two of the chairs, one due to the Tyrannosaurus Rex incident the week that I finished the table the first time and one because I just couldn't find any chairs that would work with it (Surprisingly enough, it's hard to pull off mismatched chairs!), I figured I may as well give the table a new look, too. So I slapped some paint on there, decided it looked pretty good, and kept going. I also put about five coats of polycrylic on it to try to protect it from the ridiculous amount of wear and tear my family puts on furniture.

Here's what it looked like after the first time I redid it:

and here's what it looks like now:

The ladder back chairs were already white, so I didn't need to do anything to them, but the other two chairs are"new" ones that I found via Facebook. They are actually the very chairs that inspired me to go to Africa. They were originally a dark aqua blue, which didn't look quite right with the table, so I decided to paint them white. Only this time, I had a friend of my sisters paint them because I needed them sprayed to match the other ones, and there was no way I was going to spray in my new garage!


For the table, I used the chalk paint recipe that I always use mixed with Sherwin Williams "Watery", which is a great soft blue from their coastal collection and goes with the whole cottage-like atmosphere that I'm trying to create.

Easy No-Sew Curtains

When I decided to add a cornice to the closet nook in the "dance studio" room, I knew I needed some curtains in order for it to work.

I wanted something kind of fairy-tale-like and billowy....but, most importantly, something doable for me (I can't sew...yet). I had thought about trying to buy curtains, but didn't have any luck finding anything cheap enough that fit the look I was going for, and besides I wanted something "different". I wasn't exactly sure how I was going to make curtains without sewing, but when I was putting away one of Diva's tutu's that we had made for a recital a couple of years ago, I got an idea.

Tulle!! 

You see, the tulle for the tutu's was just tied in knots around a piece of elastic to make the tutu and I realized I could do the same with tulle and a curtain rod, so I was off to Hobby Lobby again.

I ended up buying about 20 yards of white tulle (remember, I wanted it "billowy"...Wait, is that even a word?), 4 of the spools of the "skinnier" tulle in black and aqua, and some matching ribbon in different widths. I was going to add some bling by spraying the tulle with spray glitter, but I have learned from past experience that when you do that, the tulle will "shed" glitter constantly (not a good idea when you are using a floor as a dance floor). I also found some gems that are supposed to look like rhinestones and figured those would work.

The curtains were super easy to make:

First, I cut the tulle and ribbons to the right length (actually I cut them a little too long in case I decide I want to use pull backs), and then started tying them to the rod, one at a time in a pattern.

After I was done with that, I started gluing the gems on with E600. I've used it in the past when we "blinged out" some dance T-shirts and it sticks like there's no tomorrow! I have washed and dried that shirt a thousand times and not one rhinestone has ever fallen off. It is messier and stickier than hell, though and constantly got all over my fingers, which caused me to need to wash them several times during the process.  So be aware of that. (by the way, if you are willing to spend the $ for more expensive and authentic looking rhinestones, get the actual Swarovski kind. They are the best and way better than the cheapo ones I got.)

I got sick of adding the rhinestones about 5 minutes after I started, but I am glad I stuck it out...

Once I was finally finished putting the curtains together, it was time to hang them on the inside of the cornice.

I loved them, but it looked a little bare with nothing to tie them together, so I decided to add a "swag" to cover the middle and bring everything together a little more.

The "swag" consisted of tying my left over tulle and ribbons together at each end. Then, I went all trailer park with my duct tape and actually duct taped the swag to the wall behind the cornice.

Yes. You read that right. I duct taped it. 

But, I think it looks good, anyway...and again, it was super easy!

I did the same type of curtains for the window, only I didn't use the gems because it was about 20 minutes before we revealed the room for her.

They still turned out pretty cute, though:

Project Breakdown:

Tulle (20 yards off the bolt @ $1.29 yd) = $21

Mini tulle off the spool: (3) $2.00 ea = $6

Ribbon: large ribbon $2.00 (2 rolls) & skinnier ribbon $1.00 (4 rolls) $4.00

Rhinestones $15.99 (but I barely used any)

E600 = $5

Curtain rod: about $5 @ Lowe's

(The ribbon and tulle off the spool were 50% off at Hobby Lobby)

Total: $33 (without the rhinestones)

click here for the entire process of building the nook
and here to see how it all came together in the new "Dance Studio" room!

DIY Holiday Wreath: In 5 Easy Steps

Hello Folks,

Today's step-by-step tutorial will be on how not to make your own holiday wreath. I'll demonstrate how I did it and you can modify your method, accordingly.

1. I got the spontaneous idea that "making my own wreath would be so much more fun and less expensive" while going into Lowe's and seeing the $5 evergreen wreaths on display.

2. Then, I went to Hobby Lobby where their Christmas stuff was 50% off and looked for crap decorative items to throw put on my wreath. I saw some snowie stuff and added that to my cart, too.

snowie stuff

2 coats. You can add more, but then you have to wait for it to dry and I didn't want to.

3. I used the snowie stuff on it, because I wanted it to be all white and silver-ish. Mostly because my front door does NOT match red and there are limited choices when you leave red out. Also, I think flocking may be on its way back (I hope). When I read "indoor use", I assumed it meant that you could spray it indoors...Well, kind of. Then there is the warning not to spray it near your furnace or water heater (which I ignored and ended up doing it about 10 feet away). 

4. I turned to my accessories and literally threw the crap on it wherever it fit (after I put a crap-ton of hot glue on them).

5. Then, I sat in wonderment of my new DIY holiday wreath and how...umm...nice it looked.

Well, At least I gave it the old college try though, right?

Project Break Down:

wreath at Lowe's $5
Snowie stuff (Hobby Lobby) $3
Ornaments, and ribbon (Hobby Lobby) $12
Total Cost: Approx $20 

Love Ya!