Double Up!

Okay -- so I'm sure by now you're all getting sick of my bathroom redo -- but bear with me -- I've got one more little addition to that bright new space. :) (If you want to catch up on the bathroom projects, you can find them here, here and here).

I think you'll see where I'm going with this...but I had this huge empty wall behind the door -- and it was just SCREAMING for some attention to turn it into a real looker.

Oh sad, bare wall!  Well that's about to change -- because I found a plethora of unique, unwanted frames at the thrift store last week!

As you can see some of them need some serious color-changing!  I spray painted these soon-to-be beauties with Rustoleum Semi-Gloss White and let them dry.  

Next step was to take some of those decoupage letters you can find a a thrift store and spray paint those as well.  I chose Rustoleum metallic silver for the letters -- I wanted them to stand out from the frames.  (Sorry no pics -- it's pretty self-explanatory though!) :)

Ready to see my attention grabbing wall now!?

There you have it!  I chose to double up my frames since I didn't have a lot of space width-wise to work with.  I kind of like them better that way, since the frames that ended up being in the middles are actually duplicates.  And what do you think of the letters??  I was a little apprehensive about painting cardboard metallic -- but I think it makes them look pretty "metally".

Now I promise -- I'm almost done with showing you this teal, teal bathroom! :)

Linking up to:

Mondays:Between Naps on the Porch ; C.R.A.F.T; Craft-O-Maniac; Keeping it Simple; Mad in Crafts; Making the World Cuter; The DIY Showoff; The Girl Creative Tuesdays:  All Thingz Related; House of Grace; I'm Topsy Turvy; Lucky Star Lane; Sugar Bee Craft Edition; The CSI Project; These Creative Juices; Today's Creative Blog Wednesdays:  Blue Cricket Design; Creations by Kara; Debbiedoos; Domestically Speaking; My Backyard Eden; Night Owl Crafting; Seven Thirty Three; Someday Crafts; The Thrifty Home; Trendy Treehouse Thursdays: Beyond the Picket Fence; Craftastical!; Fireflies & Jellybeans; House of Hepworths; Life as Lori; Somewhat Simple; The Shabby Chic Cottage Fridays:  Chic on a Shoestring; Finding Fabulous; Fingerprints on the Fridge; Frou Frou Decor; Frugal & Fabulous Design; It's a Hodge Podge Life; It's Fun to Craft!: Just a Girl; Remodelaholic; Simply Designing; The Shabby Nest; Tatertots & Jello Weekend:  A  Little Lovely; Be Different Act Normal; Funky Junk Interiors; House of Thrifty Decor; I Heart Naptime; Kuzak's Closet; Under the Table & Dreaming

Have you entered the Village Boutique Giveaway yet!?! 

Birthday Chalkboard

Frames Frames Frames -- I can NEVER get enough frames -- or chalkboard paint for that matter.

And with that winning combination, let me share with you today's project :)

Last month was my bestie's birthday.  And not only has she been my best friend since high school, she's also the loving soul behind One Girl, One Beautiful Life.   She had JUST moved into a cute little apartment and I wanted to give her something decor-esque, but also something she could USE too.  Enter the chalkboard frame.  I started with this find from a local thrift store.  The frame had cute little designs on it, so I snatched this puppy up.

This framed print reminds me of the one I used for my fabric whiteboard a while back -- I wonder if they were some sort of set?!?!

I removed the frame and spray-painted it green (one of her favorite colors) and then I painted the glass with my beloved chalkboard paint.  I also took some ribbon (the same I used for my welcome sign) and attached it to the back and tied it on top for a pretty bow.  Ready for the final project?

I also gave her one of those cool chalkboard pens ....which are AWESOME!  Isn't that green fantastic!?!

I just LOVE finding unique frames....I seriously could have my whole house covered in gorgeous, character-filled frames and never get tired of them.   I think Becca likes the frame too. :)

Linking up to:

Mondays:Between Naps on the Porch ; C.R.A.F.T; Craft-O-Maniac; Keeping it Simple; Mad in Crafts; Making the World Cuter; The DIY Showoff; The Girl Creative Tuesdays:  All Thingz Related; House of Grace; I'm Topsy Turvy; Lucky Star Lane; Sugar Bee Craft Edition; The CSI Project; These Creative Juices; Today's Creative Blog Wednesdays:  Blue Cricket Design; Creations by Kara; Debbiedoos; Domestically Speaking; My Backyard Eden; Night Owl Crafting; Seven Thirty Three; Someday Crafts; The Thrifty Home; Trendy Treehouse Thursdays: Beyond the Picket Fence; Craftastical!; Fireflies & Jellybeans; House of Hepworths; Life as Lori; Somewhat Simple; The Shabby Chic Cottage Fridays:  Chic on a Shoestring; Finding Fabulous; Fingerprints on the Fridge; Frou Frou Decor; Frugal & Fabulous Design; It's a Hodge Podge Life; It's Fun to Craft!: Just a Girl; Remodelaholic; Simply Designing; The Shabby Nest; Tatertots & Jello Weekend:  A  Little Lovely; Be Different Act Normal; Funky Junk Interiors; House of Thrifty Decor; I Heart Naptime; Kuzak's Closet; Under the Table & Dreaming

Recycled Picture Frame

A few weeks ago while I was at HomeGoods I saw these adorable little magazine picture frames -- they were so cute!  And as much as I loved them and HAD to have them, I just couldn't overlook that $14.99 price tag.  It definitely wasn't a NEED -- so I sadly left without them.  But don't worry-- I'm a problem solver, so I came up with a way to make my own -- so here's the how-to for you thrifty, do-it-yourself, blog-loving gals. :)

First I went to the Dollar Tree and got a two pack of 4x6 frames for $1.00.  

Then I grabbed a stash of old magazines that I hadn't thrown away yet.  (I think I've mentioned before that I have a slight problem throwing things away)

I cut out a good variety of text only pages, colorful ads, and a mix of both.  

 Then I grabbed a handful of skinny drinking straws (not the extra fat ones like McDonald's gives out).


And here's where the project begins .....

 I glued each straw to the BACK of the magazine page I wanted to use.  And here's a tip for you -- you don't have to use the whole page -- and actually I would recommend using a piece of the page.  You aren't going to roll up a lot of paper -- just a little bit.  Now, LET THE GLUE DRY!  Be patient and just make sure it's completely hardened before you decide to roll up the magazine page -- it makes it easier, believe me. :)  I tried the hard way first.

 Now roll up those magazine pages!  You can see above that I don't have a lot rolled up.  I only twisted the page about two times around the straw.  Now take your glue gun and glue the edge almost like you're sealing the roll together.  Wait for it to dry and then cut the excess paper off.

Now keep making rolls of magazine pages until your hands are numb.  No, just kidding. :)  I did these while we were watching TV, and it took no time at all.   It all depends on the size of your frame -- I did four straws per side -- so 16 straws.  You want to make sure they are really squished together so there's no frame showing through.

 Okay -- this is the toughest part.  I cut my straws at a 45 degree angle to make a nice "seam" in the corners -- but I've seen frames that do it differently -- so be creative and make it however you want. :)  And I'm sorry -- but I have no good tips for cutting your straws at a 45 degree angle.  I just used the trial and error method. Probably not the best advice to give -- but it worked for me. :)

I glued first straw on the outside and let it hang over the edge slightly.  Then I glued the remaining straws as close to each other as possible -- you want them to hang over the edge a little so you can't see the dollar store frame.  Even the corners should be squished together.

And once everything is glued on, take some high-luster Mod Podge and paint a light coat on the magazine rolls.  Let it dry, and you should have this:

Definitely not perfect  -- but for $.50, it's not too bad. :)  I'm going to try to make another one with the other frame, so hopefully by then I'll get down how to make a perfect magazine roll.

Linking up to:

Mondays:Between Naps on the Porch ; C.R.A.F.T; Craft-O-Maniac; Keeping it Simple; Mad in Crafts; Making the World Cuter; The DIY Showoff; The Girl Creative Tuesdays:  All Thingz Related; House of Grace; I'm Topsy Turvy; Lucky Star Lane; Sugar Bee Craft Edition; The CSI Project; These Creative Juices; Today's Creative Blog Wednesdays:  Blue Cricket Design; Creations by Kara; Debbiedoos; Domestically Speaking; My Backyard Eden; Night Owl Crafting; Seven Thirty Three; Someday Crafts; The Thrifty Home; Trendy Treehouse Thursdays: Beyond the Picket Fence; Craftastical!; Fireflies & Jellybeans; House of Hepworths; Life as Lori; Somewhat Simple; The Shabby Chic Cottage Fridays:  Chic on a Shoestring; Finding Fabulous; Fingerprints on the Fridge; Frou Frou Decor; Frugal & Fabulous Design; It's a Hodge Podge Life; It's Fun to Craft!: Just a Girl; Remodelaholic; Simply Designing; The Shabby Nest; Tatertots & Jello Weekend:  A  Little Lovely; Be Different Act Normal; Funky Junk Interiors; House of Thrifty Decor; I Heart Naptime; Kuzak's Closet; Under the Table & Dreaming

Double Framed Clock (and one for you too!)

So by now I'm sure you have realized that the thrift store is my friend (it should be your friend too).  I visit the thrift store weekly -- sometimes I leave with nothing, sometimes I leave with a bag of stuff.    For example, last week when I was there I found a sham for our bedding set from Target still new in the package.  SCORE!  And for two measly dollars I snatched that puppy right up.  Well I ALSO found these two sets of frames:

YIKES, right!?!  But I have to say I'm in LOVE with oval frames right now., and these frames had some character.  I was so excited when I found the first set and then I was ecstatic when I saw the second set.  I was actually going to make these into cute little hooks by adding glass knobs to them, but ended up changing my mind (I've been known to do that).

I decided on making a clock for our living room.  I spray-painted my frames a lovely shade of greyish blue.  I left the glass out of the frames for this project (I'm getting quite the collection of glass from frames -- I better find a project to use it all up!) 

I added some elegant scrapbook paper to the background of each frame.  Next I glued the smaller frame inside the bigger frame. 

Then it was time to add the clock kit, which I painted black.  I found the clock kit at Joann's and followed the instructions on it to install my clock and hands.  I cut holes in each of the frames to push the clock peices through, like this:

After the clock hands were in, I placed my frame on a picture frame stand and VIOLA!

 Would you like to know the best part!?!  I made TWO of these lovely double-framed clocks!  That means I get one and YOU get the other one!  Just my little way to say THANK YOU for reading.  Thanks all you lovelies, we reached (and passed!) 350 followers! YAY!

CONGRATS TO MICHELLE AT SOMEDAY CRAFTS WHO WON THIS CLOCK!!

Linking up to:

Mondays:Between Naps on the Porch ; C.R.A.F.T; Craft-O-Maniac; Keeping it Simple; Mad in Crafts; Making the World Cuter; The DIY Showoff; The Girl Creative Tuesdays:  All Thingz Related; House of Grace; I'm Topsy Turvy; Lucky Star Lane; Sugar Bee Craft Edition; The CSI Project; These Creative Juices; Today's Creative Blog Wednesdays:  Blue Cricket Design; Creations by Kara; Debbiedoos; Domestically Speaking; My Backyard Eden; Night Owl Crafting; Seven Thirty Three; Someday Crafts; The Thrifty Home; Trendy Treehouse Thursdays: Beyond the Picket Fence; Craftastical!; Fireflies & Jellybeans; House of Hepworths; Life as Lori; Somewhat Simple; The Shabby Chic Cottage Fridays:  Chic on a Shoestring; Finding Fabulous; Fingerprints on the Fridge; Frou Frou Decor; Frugal & Fabulous Design; It's a Hodge Podge Life; It's Fun to Craft!: Just a Girl; Remodelaholic; Simply Designing; The Shabby Nest; Tatertots & Jello Weekend:  A  Little Lovely; Be Different Act Normal; Funky Junk Interiors; House of Thrifty Decor; I Heart Naptime; Kuzak's Closet; Under the Table & Dreaming

Welcome!

I LOVE  "Welcome" signs....front door wreaths...anything fun for the front door -- I absolutely adore it all (yes, pun intended).  I have lots of welcome signs for different seasons....but just recently I realized that I don't have anything for everyday use. Well how rude of me!!  I thought it was high time we got a welcome sign, inviting people into our house....especially since our pup's barking probably sends people running in the other direction with those terrible high-pitched howls.  

I found this frame at Goodwill last week and I knew it would work PERFECT for a front door "Welcome" sign.  Not that I have anything against rainbows and waterfalls - this picture is just not my style.  But the frame had "come on in" written aaaaall over it!

And as with all fun projects -- the first thing I did was spray paint that little frame.  The thing about our front door though, is that it faces South.  And it is HOT!  (yes even in Minnesota)  Our front door gets SO very hot that anything we hang on the door seems to be affected.  In the winter our wreaths practically fry under the sun's rays and in the summer the inside handle feels like it's on fire.  With that little background on our door, I will tell you, I chose a "high-heat" paint.  The kind that is meant for grills and such.  I'm hoping this will stand up to that Southern sun and not melt away. 

I did not put the backing, picture or glass back into my frame;  I left it open.  I then took these little wooden detail thingies from the hardware store (it was about $5.00 for two) and spray-painted them to match my frame.  Pretty, yes?

I put my square details on the back of my frame in each corner.  That way you don't see the seams where the wood frame and the detail meet, but you do get to see plenty of my lovely square.

<<< Back of frame without square detail.

Back of the frame with square >>>

detail.

Each corner should look like this on the front:

Next I took some leftover ribbon and some painted wooden welcome letters and attached them to the middle of my open frame.  I also used the same ribbon to hang my frame on the front door.  Easy peasy!! That's it - but I am SO thrilled with how it turned out!! :)

Now hopefully my sign will combat that cute barker of ours!

Linking up to:

Mondays:Between Naps on the Porch ; C.R.A.F.T; Craft-O-Maniac; Keeping it Simple; Mad in Crafts; Making the World Cuter; The DIY Showoff; The Girl Creative Tuesdays:  All Thingz Related; House of Grace; I'm Topsy Turvy; Lucky Star Lane; Sugar Bee Craft Edition; The CSI Project; These Creative Juices; Today's Creative Blog Wednesdays:  Blue Cricket Design; Creations by Kara; Debbiedoos; Domestically Speaking; My Backyard Eden; Night Owl Crafting; Seven Thirty Three; Someday Crafts; The Thrifty Home; Trendy Treehouse Thursdays: Beyond the Picket Fence; Craftastical!; Fireflies & Jellybeans; House of Hepworths; Life as Lori; Somewhat Simple; The Shabby Chic Cottage Fridays:  Chic on a Shoestring; Finding Fabulous; Fingerprints on the Fridge; Frou Frou Decor; Frugal & Fabulous Design; It's a Hodge Podge Life; It's Fun to Craft!: Just a Girl; Remodelaholic; Simply Designing; The Shabby Nest; Tatertots & Jello Weekend:  A  Little Lovely; Be Different Act Normal; Funky Junk Interiors; House of Thrifty Decor; I Heart Naptime; Kuzak's Closet; Under the Table & Dreaming

Flowers to Fabulous

Some more "Thank Yous" are in order to some WONDERFUL blogs today:


THANK YOU to Julie at Frugal and Fabulous Design.  She also has a WONDERFUL blog full of lots of fun ideas AND she has a wonderful link party on Fridays!  She was so sweet and featured two of my projects the other day that I had submitted -- Thank you, Julie -- you are the sweetest!! :) 


Have you met Angie?  She's Big Bear's Wife -- and she has a LOVELY blog with lots of cute projects and crafts.  Well she was SO sweet and featured some of my projects.  Thank you, Angie!!








And have you been to Fun to Craft?  Stacey has a SUPER FUN link party every Friday too -- you should see all the adorable submissions!  A HUGE thanks to Stacey for featuring my Solar Lights -- I'm so honored!


And thanks to Jamie at C.R.A.F.T who featured my little 4th of July project yesterday -- Thanks and Hugs, Jamie!  You and you're blog are just WONDERFUL! :)

If I could paint a picture for you -- you'll be able to see why this next project was so important to do -- well, sort of:  I grab my purse and head out the door to run some errands.  I turn right back around and get my reusable grocery shopping bags.  I get out the door again, and get in the car.  Then back in the house I go because I forgot my shopping list and coupons.  One more time....I leave.  Do you know what I forgot this time?  I needed some water in the car.  Seriously -- it is not that rare for me to go in and out of the house two to three times.  It's just plain sad.

So I saw these really cute whiteboards over at Keeping it Simple (BTW - she has a SUPER fun link party every week too).  Well how perfect would these be??  I could hang it right on the door going to the garage and have a checklist of what I need to bring with me to the store, errands, wherever I'm going!

So last week while I was out thrifting with my Bestie, Becca at One Girl, One Beautiful World I was keeping my eyes peeled for the PERFECT frame that I could makeover.  Well of course I found it -- otherwise you probably wouldn't be reading this post. :)

First step was to disassemble the frame and take out the glass, matting and beautiful flower picture (yikes!!).  I spray-painted the frame black.  Then I covered the back and matting with some fabric I had picked up at Joanne's.  My fabric was a little on the thin side, so I doubled the fabric when I placed it.

I took my all-powerful hot glue gun and glued my fabric down (I'm sure you could staple it if you wanted to, too).

The only other thing that I did before I put the frame back together was I put two little swirls of store-bought adhesive vinyl on the fabric (that way it's not going to get in the way of writing on the whiteboard and you can't accidentally erase them).  See?

I reassembled the frame and glued a ribbon to the back so I could hang it. 

 So since my board is on a door I wanted to really secure it, otherwise it could go flying all over the place when people go in and out of the garage.  I used the 3M Command Hooks to secure the bottom and sides to the door and I also used a Fancy Command Hook I had to hang my ribbon from.  And check out this coupon if you want to get any for yourself!  I think it works pretty well- it hasn't gone flying off the door....yet.

And that's it!  Not hard -- and I'm really excited to use it (although so far it's just been used for people to leave me strange messages).  

Linking up to:

Mondays:Between Naps on the Porch ; C.R.A.F.T; Craft-O-Maniac; Keeping it Simple; Mad in Crafts; Making the World Cuter; The DIY Showoff; The Girl Creative Tuesdays:  All Thingz Related; House of Grace; I'm Topsy Turvy; Lucky Star Lane; Sugar Bee Craft Edition; The CSI Project; These Creative Juices; Today's Creative Blog Wednesdays:  Blue Cricket Design; Creations by Kara; Debbiedoos; Domestically Speaking; My Backyard Eden; Night Owl Crafting; Seven Thirty Three; Someday Crafts; The Thrifty Home; Trendy Treehouse Thursdays: Beyond the Picket Fence; Craftastical!; Fireflies & Jellybeans; House of Hepworths; Life as Lori; Somewhat Simple; The Shabby Chic Cottage Fridays:  Chic on a Shoestring; Finding Fabulous; Fingerprints on the Fridge; Frou Frou Decor; Frugal & Fabulous Design; It's a Hodge Podge Life; It's Fun to Craft!: Just a Girl; Remodelaholic; Simply Designing; The Shabby Nest; Tatertots & Jello Weekend:  A  Little Lovely; Be Different Act Normal; Funky Junk Interiors; House of Thrifty Decor; I Heart Naptime; Kuzak's Closet; Under the Table & Dreaming

Early Happy Birthday to the USA!

I absolutely L-O-V-E the Fourth of July.  We have so much fun celebrating our Country's Birthday.  We're so lucky to get to see family and extended family and eat delicious summery foods, AND watch fireworks AND get a day off from house projects -- who could ask for more!?!   So since this is one of my favorite Holidays, you'd think I'd have some cute house decor to show it.  But, nope.  I have  not one stitch of 4th of July love to decorate my house with.  Sad, isn't it?  Let's fix that, shall we?

I started with two cheap-o frames I found at Goodwill this last weekend -- they were matching frames -- and for 2.00?  How could I have passed them up??(plus I actually kind of liked the saying on this one --  it convinced me to buy it)  So I removed everything, like the glass and picture.  Then I spray-painted each  frame - one red, and one blue.

I had found these super cute wooden stars at Joanne's -- and well, that's very patriotic too, don't you think?  So I spray-painted them red, blue and off white.  There -- the hard part of the project is already done! :)

I took some Independence Day Scrapbooking paper (which after I bought and cut up realized I had a ton of 4th of July themed paper in my stash -- oh well) and cut it down to the frame size.  I then put the back of the frame back on and got ready to attach my red, white and blue stars.

I took each of the little stars I painted and hot glued them together with a piece of twine in between.  I used different size and color combination to keep it interesting.

Next I attached a hook -- you know like a jewelry hook that goes into a wall or something?  I had spray-painted it black since we only had gold ones.  Then I hung the stars from the hook and began to strategically place my stars around the frame.  I glued them to the frame since I wanted them to stay put  -- but you could let them hand down if you wanted.

Finally I attached the frames together using some twine glued to the back of each.  I decided to hang it on my front door -- but it may move.  I haven't decided yet.

The Cost Breakdown:

Frames:  $1.99

Twine:  Had

Wooden Stars:  $2.49

Spraypaint:  Had

Hooks:  had

Scrapbook Paper:  $.59 x 2 = $1.18

TOTAL:  $5.66


Note -- If I had one of those heavenly Silhouettes I would have put "Welcome" on one of them -- but since my freehand is pretty scary I left them blank. :)

I'm linking this up to the CSI 4th of July Themed Challenge:

Also - a HUGE thank you to the gals behind Fireflies and Jellybeans for spotlighting my solar lights yesterday!  They have a wonderful blog that spotlights TONS of other crafty crafters.