A little Love

Hey guys! It's been so long...I've missed ya! So my life got a little crazy in October with the birth of my daughter...which was to be expected. I found a little time this weekend to work on a project finally. Here's the video: 

Also, if you haven't already, check out these posts for free printables to create more 

Valentine's Day decor.

Thanks for stopping by!

Pinspiration Sunday: Christmas Card Holder

So awhile back on Pinterest I saw a pin of a picture holder made from an old frame. And I thought it was really simple and cute and maybe one day I would make it. Then Christmas season came. Now I always just tape my cards to the closet door in the living room because I really had nowhere else to put them. But this year I remembered that pin I saw. I had this hideous picture from a gift exchange at work. It’s kind of a joke that started before I came to work at this hospital but I wasn't disappointed when I got it cause all I thought was, “I bet I can make something out of this”. And now I have.

Here’s what I started with:

I took the backing off and removed the picture and glass. Next I sanded the frame down.

Then I mixed some paint up to get a nice minty green color. I painted the entire frame and allowed it to dry overnight. The next day I sanded it down again to get a distressed look. Once I had it sanded to my liking, I cleaned it off then put a coat of Mod Podge on it. I allowed that to dry.

Next, I took twine and tied 4 strings across it. To help the twine stay in place I put a dab of hot glue on the back side of the frame. I originally wanted to keep the staples in on the sides that helps hold everything in place and tie the twine to that but one had fallen off. I tried to tack it back in but unfortunately because of my Rheumatoid Arthritis I have recently become very weak in my right hand/wrist (which is my dominate side) so I have to adjust my crafting to accommodate my abilities. But I really like the ties on the front of the frame anyways.

 So that’s it. To hold the cards in place I have super small clothes pins from my son's first birthday bash. This project was 100% FREE because all my supplies were just lying around. I do think that this frame will ultimately be too small for all the Christmas cards we get so maybe next year I’ll redo it with a bigger and thicker frame I pick up from my thrifting. But until then, this will do.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my project!

Pinspiration Sunday: Dresser Makeover

I’ve been wanting a new dresser for a very long time now. The dresser I had was from my Aunt and who knows how old it was…but that I got passed to my son when  he got too big for his changing table (we put the changing pad on top of the low dresser…works amazingly!) and I have his baby dresser/wardrobe. After we madeover our bedroom a few months back I wanted something that would fit in well with our new look. I searched online but just didn’t find what I wanted and if I did like it, it was way out of my price range. So I took to the thrift stores and hunted through yard sales…and one day I found this for $60!

But that was not going to fit into our new room…but after looking on Pinterest, I found a tutorial over at Adventures of a Middle Sister and decided that’s what I was going to do with mine. Now my dresser looks like this:

Here’s how I did it…

Supplies I used:

Electric sander

Medium and low grade sandpaper

Sanding block

Paint of your choice

Rollers/brushes

Sealant

Drawer handles/pulls

Spray paint and sealant

Electric screw driver

Drill bit

Screws

Wood

Stain

 First I sanded the entire outer surface with my electric sander. First I used a medium grit paper then a fine grit sand paper. Then cleaned off any dust.

Then I started painting it. I used a white, oil-based paint for outdoor doors, hoping that this will withstand some wear and trying to avoid priming it first. I put 2 coats on with 24 hrs of drying time in between. 

Next, I took my sanding block and removed the paint along the corners of the entire thing. I love that distressed look, but I didn't want to go too wild.

Then it was time to work on the top. I wanted to incorporate the gray from our bedroom color into this piece. I was orginally going to use wood from an old pallet that has been sitting outside, but with my RA, breaking it apart became quite difficult so I decided just to go by some wood at Lowe's. My husband offered to cut it to the size I needed to cover the top. There was a about an inch or so left in the back, so instead of cutting a strip to fit, I used the ends of the previous cut pieces. This is perfect to give a little back edge. My dresser will be pushed up against a wall with a register at the bottom so the dresser doesn't actually touch the wall and things often fall off the back...so annoying...but now I don't have to worry about that. I sanded the sides that would be stained...and look...they are ready for Halloween!

 I stained the wood using a stain from Lowe's. The color was driftwood. After the stain dried for 24 hrs (I used 2 coats), I set them into place.

Using a electric drill and drill bit, I placed my holes for my screws (one on each end...so 2 per piece of wood). Then screwed in all my nails.

Then it was time for the hardware. I bought new ones from Lowe's...some cheap ones (I'm not too picky) and I spray painted them orange (Valspar's La Fonda Copper) to match the rest of the orange stuff throughout our bedroom. I left them dry for 24hs, then sprayed them with an acrylic sealer and allowed that to dry overnight.

The box is already orange because I used it when I sprayed my book pumpkin from the last tutorial

While those were drying, I applied a furniture sealant for light color wood called polycrylic. I allowed the first coat to dry, then lightly sanded it with the sanding block, wiped clean and then applied another coat of sealant. I allowed that to dry for several hours. Then I placed the drawers back in just to free up some room in the garage until it was fully dry after 24hrs.

And there you have it....a thrift store dresser makeover. Hope you liked this tutorial and it inspires you to get crafty! Thanks for stopping by!

Pinspiration Sunday: Upcycled Book into Pumpkin

Since my best friend, Angela, and I raided a yard sale scooping up a ton of old Reader’s Digest books, I’ve been looking for projects I could do with them. Making a pumpkin seemed like a really great idea…at the time….I only say that because it’s a long tedious project. Just like my recycled book into keepsake box, this involves a lot of time cutting pages with an xacto knife.

Well anyways…let’s get started, shall we? First things first gather your supplies

I used:

Old Reader’s Digest book

Pattern from BHG—cut out

Valspar's La Fonda Copper Spray Paint

Acrylic Spray Sealant

Cinnamon stick

Burlap

Tattered Angel’s Glimmer mist

Lace/ribbon

Hot glue and gun

First I removed the cover and binding from my book (and put it away for safe keeping so I could do something with it later on). 

Next put my pattern on the book, traced it and started cutting away…this takes FOREVER…and with my RA, it didn’t feel so good on my wrist…but after awhile (for me I did it in stages over many days) you cut through all the pages and you have something that looks like this:

Now it’s time to start hot gluing pages. First, you want to glue the first and last pages together to make the pumpkin fully round. Next, you take a strip of hot glue along the binding, top to bottom, throughout the book. This helps separate the pages a little to make the pumpkin fuller. 

Space between the first and last page--glue these together

Start gluing between pages at the binding--make it full all the way around---fill in gaps

After, I did this, I sprayed the entire thing with my orange spray paint. I tried to separate pages so that the color would get on the inside as well…I was covered in paint by the end but the pumpkin looked good. I let that dry overnight. Then I carefully separated any pages that got stuck together from the paint and I added more hot glue along the binding to help separate pages as needed. Then I sprayed the pumpkin with my acrylic sealer. After that dried it was time to add the finishing touches. 

I took a cinnamon stick and broke it in half, and stuck one half in the center opening of the pumpkin top. I had some burlap leaves on hand that I made up a while ago using mod podged burlap and Tim Holt’s tattered leaves sizzix die. My leaves were in neutral colors so I decided to glimmer mist it using Tattered Angels leapfrog glimmer mist.

 Once that dried (I hurried it along with my heating tool), I hot glued it into place. I finished it off with a piece of lace ribbon that I tied around the pumpkin’s stem.

And there you have it…a pumpkin upcycled from a book! Hope you enjoyed this tutorial! Thanks for stopping by!

Pinspiration Sunday: Plastic Drawer Re-do

I found this pin to re-do a plastic drawer stand. I've had this pink plastic drawer since I was in college. It in no way goes with anything in our house. So this was the perfect opportunity to make it fit. Here's what I started with. 

The fronts are actually covered by card envelopes with my name on them. As you can see...the top one had something in the drawer that leaked at one time...did I swap it out? Nope! But that's okay, I'm making it up for it now.

Here's how I started mine. First I took out the drawers. Then I wiped the entire pink section down (it was pretty gross with caked on dust :^/). Next, I sanded over a few areas that were scratched and wiped the dust away. Then I sprayed the entire thing down with Valspar's Plastic Primer which I purchased from Lowe's for about $5. And I allowed that to dry completely.

Next I took my pretty in pink drawer stand out to our concrete slab, put some plastic under it and sprayed it with that beautiful La Fonda Copper by Valspar spray paint I used on my thrift store finds seen here. I gave it 2 coats and allowed it to completely dry in between. 

Next, it was time for the drawers. They had to be emptied and wiped down as well. Then I taped off the front with paper and masking tape. 

Then I sprayed it with the plastic primer and after it dried I sprayed all the outside of the drawers with white spray paint. I allowed that to dry over night. The next day I sprayed them with a sealant and again allowed it to dry completely. Then I removed the tape and paper.

Now it was time for the paper. I bought some digital paper awhile back and I used one from that to make these drawer covers. I printed out 3 sheets. Next I applied Mod Podge to the inside front of the drawers like this:

Then I pressed and smoothed the paper to the drawer front

I allowed them to dry completely. Then I cut the excess paper off the top. I finished off by applying another coat of mod podge to the back of the paper. Here's the finished project again.

 I would recommend using a lighter colored paper to decorate the drawers. As you can see in mine there are a few areas that appear lighter because the mod podge wasn't as thick there so it pulled a little bit away from the drawer. After mine turned out like this, I took a closer look at the original pin (seen below) and realized the same thing happened on that one. But I still like the way it turned out. A much greater improvement from the beginning.

Here's the original drawer re-do from Simply Living that I saw on Pinterest:

Hope you enjoyed this makeover. If you try this project out, let me know how yours turned out! Thank you so much for stopping by.

Pinspiration Sunday: BOO! Sign

So I've seen a lot of signs on Pinterest that say "BOO!" And I finally decided it was time to make my own. Everything I used in this project I already owned...whoo hoo! So here's how mine turned out:

Mine got a little bigger than I was originally aiming for. Here's my original pin:

This beautiful sign was for sale in an Etsy Shop called PeaceGlitzNGlam but has since sold.

I began my project with 3 wood pieces...I have a ton of these because I came across them one day in ACMoore and they were only 25CENTS!!!!! 

I painted the fronts and sides with black craft paint and a sponge brush. I use sponge brushes whenever I can. They are crazy cheap and great to use and toss especially when working with Mod Podge!

After they dried it was time to cut the burlap. I happen to have a strip cut from a prev project which also happen to be the perfect width. All I had to do was cut the length. Burlap frays so easily...so here's a tip: pull one or two fibers out from the area you want to cut, then cut through that area. See the picture below? I pulled a thread out. then cut along that open space.

I did this for all three wood pieces. Then I covered the wood pieces with Mod Podge and pressed the Burlap on top to secure.

Next, I cut out letters using the Happy Hauntings font on my Cricut Craft Room and some creepy spider paper I had left from a previous Halloween mini album.

I decided then to ink the edges using Tim Holtz distressed ink in Peeled Paint. But after I started inking the edges, I decided to blend and cover the entire letter. I knew that I wanted to use 3D adhesive dots to help the letters stick off the wood pieces, but my paper was really thin. So I decided to laminate them. This also helped me to ensure that my sign could last through the years.

For some reason I decided to take this project even further. I had this picture and frame that I bought at a thrift store months ago for $1 or $2.

I pulled all those staples out.

Then I tried painting the front with craft paint. But I realized it was going to take A LOT of coats to cover it. So I flipped it over and painted the back. 

I had this bottle of crackle medium...it's a very OLD bottle...but I gave it a shot...

After covering the frame with the crackle medium and allowed it to dry, I painted the frame black.

It worked...okay...but it's supposed to look grungy so it worked for me! By the end I went along some ridges and edges of the frame with silver craft paint too. While that dried I finished off the "picture" part. I knew I wanted something else for the background...plain purple just wasn't going to work. I thought about drawing some spiders on...but then I looked through my lace and I had a small piece of black that was just a bit longer than what I needed! WHOO HOO! Perfect! I covered the purple area with Mod Podge and pressed the lace on top to secure. Then I cut the excess off the ends.

Once it was all dry, then it was time to put the background back into the frame. I secured it with nails I had in a tool kit and added a picture frame hanging bar thing (technical name, I'm sure) to the back. Next I hot glued the wood pieces into place. The hands came from a bag full that I got from Michael's (and they have them this year too)!

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial! Thanks so much for stopping by!