DIY Archives - Page 18 of 20

Tablecloth Into Window Treatment

January 12, 2013 1 Comment

Well, I got a little derailed when I started my kitchen organization project the other day. And, I was reminded that I had indeed tried to do this last year and why I stopped. Apparently I do not have “standard sized cabinetry”. Any simple drawer insert I looked to purchase would not fit. 🙁 So I am working on plan B. I did get some purging done which was good and I am hoping to do a little more today. But, I wanted to share with you the project I quick whipped up last night, trying to get my groove back. (I was so bummed by the kitchen stall that I had done nothing for days.)

As I was doing some straightening yesterday I came across a purchase I had set aside and kind of forgotten. These lovely tablecloths I found at Target before the holidays – they were with the Christmas stuff.

Now, typically I will not purchase anything Christmas related until after Christmas when the good sales hit. But, I just kept coming back to this and one day it was on sale (like 20% off) and I just had to have it. I knew I was not going to use it for a tablecloth – I had the perfect place for it, so I purchased two of the longest rectangle tablecloths that they had.

Several months back I shared with you this photo

And this inspiration photo

I was still planning on doing this but when I saw this tablecloth, I had a new plan – because I loved it and I knew it would be a lot less work.

So, first I hung up one tablecloth as is with the clips I already had, and then determined the length I wanted and measured how much I would need to cut off. I bought extra long in order to have extra on purpose (maybe a pillow or two, or a table cover…). Then I took it down and my hubby fixed the rod – new anchors were purchased to replace the destroyed ones that were causing the rod to about come out of the wall.

I first ironed both tablecloths, then measure from one end, and trimmed off the excess.

I had decided to create a wide hem at the top just to make it a little sturdier where the clips would be holding on. I simply folded down the side with the hem still intact the desired amount and pressed the fold to a crease.

When I got to the end of one of these hems, I found that the piece was not completely straight. No worries, I just folded the excess fabric in so it wouldn’t show. No one will ever know. 🙂

Then, on to sewing. I chose a simple rolled hem for the bottom. And stitched the top hem close to the edge of the rolled hem already there. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Then comes probably the hardest part in my opinion (mainly because my slight ocd kicks in) getting the curtain clipped up EVENLY. Grrrrr!!

Well, here it is after – pardon the pics I could not figure out the best way to get a pic in light or dark, blah blah blah. Of course, after I put them up there was my next project glaring me in the face. Can you guess what it is??

I love it so much better than before. One more step in my lightening-up process.

Linking up here

DIY

Lightening Up – Door Treatment {Part 2 – DIY}

December 15, 2012 No Comments

Okay I am back with the promised how to for my doors. Really so much easier than even I thought it would be. I’m going to use lots of pictures because I am a visual person. 🙂

First step is picking out what you want the door to look like. Like I said, I went to Home Depot to look at doors and of course checked out the internet. And decided on a basic style that seemed easy to duplicate and would be cost effective since I plan to eventually continue this treatment on other doors.

After you determine what you want it to look like you then need to measure. Decide how far you want the molding from the sides, top, etc., making sure you take into account the hardware. Then it’s time for the fun part – cutting. All you need is a basic miter saw and miter box, and a tape measure.

DIY

Lightening Up – Door Treatment {Part 1}

December 11, 2012 10 Comments

Okay I know we are all in the Christmas zone but I could not wait to share with you an amazing before and after that I finally (almost) completed today!!! So…here is the before

And here is the glorious after…

These pictures were both taken during the day with the same camera settings – look out the side window same daylight. I can’t even believe the difference!!! (The almost done part is referring to the holes I patched when I took out the hooks I no longer needed – apparently I no longer have that wall paint so I have to go get more – grrrr.)

The front door is now the same color inside and out. When I painted the first coat on both doors I was certain I had made a mistake – wow that door was really blue…

But, I always like to live with things for couple of days before I bail. I lived with it for longer than that because life happened.

I knew I wanted to add some molding to spice up the plain flat doors, so on a free Saturday I dove in. (Or at least I got started.) I wanted something simple on the closet door, but I knew the front door needed a little more. So I went to Home Depot and looked at doors, I found a style that I like that I thought would be simple enough to go with the rest of the entryway but enough to give it the weight it needed. Still unsure I decided to pull out the painters tape 🙂 I went ahead and cut the molding pieces for the closet door, but I did not glue them on yet, just hung them with the tape.

Again, I was still VERY unsure about the front door, so I took out my design, my tape measure, and my painters tape, and ended up with this…

Which I lived with for several more days. This project took WAY longer than I anticipated and not because it was overly hard, I just had a hard time fitting in time to do it. 🙂

I will be back in a couple of days to share the how to – don’t want to write a novel in one post 🙂 You will be surprised at how simple this transformation actually was!! Lots of helpful pictures of the process – so check back for {Part 2}. If you don’t want to miss it – then pick a way to follow my blog there on the right. Thanks!!

I’m a starter, not always a finisher. The one great thing about writing this blog, and reading so many other fabulous blogs, is that I am inspired to finish. I hope that I can do that for you – inspire you to start and to finish. Because, if I can do it, anyone can!!

Linking up with Carmel at Our Fifth House today. If you are visiting from that linky party check out some of my other painting projects here, here, and here.

Also linking up here at Emily A. Clark

Working With What You Have link up at emilyaclark.com

DIY

JOY Crafting

December 1, 2012 No Comments

I just couldn’t wait any longer, couldn’t allow myself to be distracted any longer. I had.to.get.crafty!!

I love the word “JOY” all year long, but especially at Christmas, and I have been loving the decorated letters I have been seeing around the blog world. So, I decided to give it my own spin. I started with MDF letters from HL, some jute, scrapbook paper, spray adhesive, mod podge, and of course some hot glue.

First the J. I figured this would be the easiest to cover with the jute.

So, I hot glued the end on the back and started wrapping. It was a little tricky in spots – where the curves and corners were – so I just put a dab of hot glue wherever necessary to cover the board underneath. I didn’t worry about the back since it wouldn’t show.

And voila!! Love how it came out.

Next the Y. (I’ll come back to the O) I found some paisley printed scrapbook paper that I liked.

I put a light coat of spray adhesive on the top of the letter, then pressed the whole piece of paper on top. I allowed it to dry for about 30 seconds and then I used a utility knife to cut away the extra paper. {An exacto knife would have been easier for that task, but I couldn’t find mine in my not-so-organized craft closet – project coming in January.} The edges were a little frayed so I used a tip from Thrifty Decor Chick and filed the edges. Then, a thin coat of mod podge just to make sure it was stuck and for a protected finish. I decided it needed a little something – so I pulled out my brown stamp pad and ‘aged’ the edges.

Done 🙂

Last the O. I simply used a berry garland that I already had for the O.

I curled it up in a circle that was the right size for the J and the Y. Then I took some ribbon and tied it together with a bow.

Perfect!!

Here it is all together.

And here it is in it’s place.

Love it when a project comes out just like you imagined it!! This cost me less than $5 total since I already had the adhesives and the garland. Awesome!! You can see how it looks on my mantle here (you may notice I changed out the greenery for some ribbon – I had to have something to hid the blocks of wood the JOY was sitting on but the greenery covered too much ;))

“For You are our glory and joy.” 1Thessalonians 2:20

Linking up with some fun linky parties – be sure to click over and check them out for some Christmas crafting inspiration!!

DIY

Kids Art Gallery {Pinterest Inspired}

October 30, 2012 No Comments

Today I thought I would share with you one of my first projects inspired by Pinterest. Yes, I am a Pinterest-aholic. Did you know they have a Pinterest App? Yes, yes they do and to me looking at pretty things is a much better use of my time than angry birds. 🙂 Anywho… I digress!! Here are the pictures I pinned

littlenannygoat.blogspot.com

lessthanperfectlifeofbliss.blogspot.com

I liked the idea and look and had the perfect place for it. See, there is this awkward little piece of wall in the corner of our L-shaped hallway that is in between the bedrooms. It’s too big to leave blank but I could never figure out what to put there. This worked out perfectly.

I did this project before I was blogging so there are know how to pictures. But, the links with the pictures are good and they give tutorials. (Yes, I am still working on painting the doors in the hallway- shhh)

I used some old frames I had in my closet that I was no longer using, I painted some blue and left some black, I removed the glass in the frames to make room. Then I took some foam core board I also had left-over from a previous project and covered it burlap using hot glue to secure it.

Then I bought these really cool clips and attached those to the burlap piece with hot glue. TIP: put the burlap piece in the frame before mounting the clip so you can make sure you have it in the right place.

I had a shelf that I was no longer using and decided to incorporate that as well for those lovely pottery items and 3-D art. I was going to paint the bottom to match the frames, but I thought the color blended enough that I decided not to.

I decided I wanted to give this wall a title of sorts. Hence the cleverness at the top “Greenwood Gallery.” 🙂 I bought a cute scrolly wooden G from HL and painted it to match the blue frames and then painted the rest right on the wall. I printed the words from my computer and then transferred them to the wall by rubbing pencil on the back of the paper and then “tracing” over the letters on the front – by pressing hard while tracing the pencil that you colored on the back will come off on the wall. It wasn’t a perfect science but it was good enough for me!!

My kids couldn’t wait to choose their artwork to fill it up and we all love having it on display. A hidden bonus is it keeps people from piling junk up in this corner!!

I’m linking up with Carmel at Our Fifth House and Young House Love for