Pallet Wine Rack: Home Decor

This project was a case of seeing something at a flea market and deciding that we could make it exactly how we wanted it for quite a bit less money.  I am really so glad we did... because I am so thrilled with the outcome of this little project!!

We found a great sized pallet at ReStore, John took it apart, and to design it we found some ideas on Pinterest and altered them based on our wall space.  A little sanding, stain, and stenciling and voila!

Confession: I went out and bought some new wine glasses to fit in the bottom because all of ours were too big or mismatched.  I did, however, already have the wine on hand and am happy to have a new place to display it!

Photo Strip Ornament | Christmas Photo Booth

As the room parent for my daughter's second grade class this year, I wanted to make something pretty cool for the students in class to give their parents for Christmas.

I knew I wanted to incorporate photography and to do something fun and something they would like to keep for years.

This was a project that was a mix of a few ideas... starting with the currently popular 'photo booth' and adding in some amazingly awesome Christmas themed photo booth props. (all cut using the Silhouette machine)

So, the idea was to take several photos of every child in my daughter's second grade class, edit the photos into photo strips, print them at Costco, and then collage pauge them onto wooden boards and make them into ornaments.

Yup, that's a lot of boards and red paint.  I rolled it on because I could do so indoors and they would dry in a reasonable amount of time. (Had to take into consideration the December weather, spray paint wouldn't have dried outside.)

Record Display | Home Decor

I truly have a wonderfully talented Husband!

I need to share every last one of his projects/restorations because he is awesome at thinking up these things and then making them a reality.

A few weeks ago we picked up these old Disney record sleeves at a yard sale for $2 (they were just the sleeves, no records included).  I had an idea awhile ago to collect records for Claire's wall, but had never really pushed the idea because I had no idea how we would put them on the wall... frame?  ...shelf with ledge?? 

So when we found these, John was officially motivated to get something up on her HUGE green empty wall. 

Basically, he split a 2x4 and made a frame, then covered the frame with moulding! The record sleeves just lean up against the wall and could be rearranged if we wanted.

Claire's room has been a slow-to-come-together project.  As far as decor goes, that seems to be my MO... I don't like to commit to a decoration unless I LOVE it.  Until then, things are a bit of a hodge-podge. 

It's definitely getting to a point where her room makes me smile :-)

Upcycled (Refurbished) Bottom Box/ Tool Chest : John's Project

Last July, John found this bottom box/ tool chest at ReStore for $20.  It just seemed like too good of a deal to pass up, so he went to work cleaning it up and brainstorming ways to use it.

 His idea was to make a countertop for the piece and make it be a sort-of work station that could be used either in the garage or in the house somewhere. 

Here the sides and bottom door have been painted a flat black and the top counter was made out of 2x4s.

 He sanded the countertop and rounded the edges so it was nice and smooth.  Then he distressed the wood.

 A coat or two of stain and some clear coat.

 And, the finished product!  A nice work station and tool box. 

Right now we actually have this in our office as storage for paper and other extra office supplies.  Our office is very industrial, so it goes well :-)

L.O.V.E. Sign | Valentine's Day Decor

Yes, Valentine's Day is over, but I needed to post this before next V-Day comes around ;-)

I found the letters on sale at JoAnn's (about $1 each) and thought I might Collage Pauge some paper on them, but as ideas sometimes go... this one took another direction. 

I found:

• a board of wainscoating for $0.50 at ReStore (our FAVORITE store right now)
• a strip of moulding from Lowe's (around $8)

I explained my new Idea to John and he painted the wainscoating, cut and painted the moulding, and glued it together using moulding glue.

I placed and glued the letters and badda-BING!

I just wish I had gotten it done BEFORE Valentine's Day this year!!



iLoveToCreate: Love/Luck Reversable Blocks

These blocks are great!  Two holidays in one decoration!

One side says Love... 

and the other Luck.  Yes, those are the same blocks!  Basically, three sides of each are devoted to each holiday... and I am going to do my best to explain how to make a set of your own.

Supplies needed:

• Four wooden blocks (mine are a fence post cut down to 3.5/3.5 squares) sanded down
• Collage Pauge decopauge and a foam paintbrush to apply
• Decorative scrapbook paper, three Valentine's patterns and three St. Patrick's patterns.  Cut paper to the size of the blocks - four of each pattern
• Cut-out letters, either paper or vinyl - I cut white cardstock using my Silouette machine

Follow the diagrams below to figure the best way to arrange the paper...

I did my Valentine's paper first, applied my collage pauge and let it dry, then turned the blocks upside down to figure the best way to do the St. Patricks Day paper.  [The words for the opposite holiday will be upside down and not in the same order.  If you get to this point, you will understand.] 

It is very important to plan exactly where the paper will go!

I wanted to make sure I could see the proper holiday's color when the blocks were both set out four across (as above), and when they were set up on top of each other (as shown below).

• Once I figured out where the paper was going to go, I painted a layer of the Collage Pauge onto the block and another onto the back of the paper then stuck them together and smoothed the paper out.  I have found this to be the best way to do Collage Pauge to avoid bubbles under the paper.
• Repeat until all six sides of each block have been Collage Pauged...
• Sand the corners and edges of the blocks with an electric sander. 
• Distress the corners and edges with some distress ink or wood stain. 
• Add another few coats of Collage Pauge to each block, allowing time to dry between each coat.
• Voila!  Cute block decor for two different holidays!! 

iLoveToCreate: Christmas "PEACE" decor

I did get a chance this past fall to get a few Christmas projects done.  This PEACE sign was a 'use what you've got' project.  My friend was having a craft day, and had a number of these wooden plaques available.  I had just gotten a Sillouette machine and was going to try to use it.  I have the paint, vinyl, Christmas paper, and Collage Pauge on hand... and I got the fabulous hinges at ReStore (more on this later)!  Voila!  Cute Christmas decor!

1. Paint wooden plaques and hinges
2. Collage Pauge Chirstmas paper onto plaques.
3. Choose font and size and cut out the letters for 'PEACE'
4. Stick on vinyl letters and seal with Collage Pauge
5. Once dry, attach at the back with hinges.

Project: Lemonade Stand

As a family we enjoy getting up early every now and then on Saturday mornings, grabbing a donut  (or two), and hitting a few yard sales.  This summer  we went to one yard sale where there were two little girls selling lemonade.  The girls thought that was just about the coolest thing EVER. 

They asked John if he could build them their own stand. 

He agreed.  Thinking it might happen at some future point.  The girls were persistant though, and John drew up plans and had it built by the NEXT day :)  ... What a sweet Daddy!

Here is John putting his miter saw to good use building the frame.

The frame of the stand.  John's idea was to use fence pickets to make the front of the stand.  I think it looks great!  The girls wanted it to be pink ;-)

Particle board for the top, and (not shown) the bottom shelf.  Chalkboard paint for the top sign made out of another fence picket.

And the Goober-girls putting the stand to good use!  They sold orange punch, pink lemonade, and danishes.  I am looking forward to them using the stand many times in the future :)

4x4 Wooden Pumpkins|Fall Inspiration

One of the reasons I wanted to start this blog was to be able to keep some of the ideas and inspiration I find all over the web in one place.  I happened to see this cute and easy 4x4 pumpkins over at Crafts ReDesigned . 

4x4 wood posts, cut to different lengths, and painted orange. 
Distressed slightly.
Add wood as the stems and rafia.
So cute.

Magnetic Stand, last year's Christmas project

Last December John and I spent a week making 12 of these nifty little guys to give as gifts to family and friends. 

Aren't they cute?   

We followed the tutorial here on Shanty2Chic, which has become one of my favorite crafting blogs.  We followed pretty much EXACTLY what she did and found everything to be fairly easy except the part where you cut the roofing tin... which was a little more involved than just measuring and cutting.  (Check out the tutorial to see what I mean.) 

I sent many of them out with a recipe card attached so you could use it in your kitchen as a recipe holder, but I have been using ours as a photo display. 

One of my friends attached a monogram letter to the center and has it displayed in her living area, and another has used it to display some inspiration she found in a magazine.  So many GREAT ideas!   

A friend and I made another similar project from the Shanty2Chic blog, which I will be sharing another day.