Simple and Inexpensive DIY Art

I mentioned in my last post that I would tell you how I did my DIY art for the craft room, and here it is! I made the pictures of the iconic chairs using magazines. I got the idea from my friend, Andrea, over at Strawberry Chic.
First, I went through my old magazines and cut out different pages with similar colors.

Then, I printed out two copies of a picture of the chair in black and white.

One of the copies I cut apart. I cut out the different pieces of the chair by it's lightness and darkness.

Then, I took those pieces and found similar shades of color and traced the shape onto the magazine page and cut it out.

I used the other black and white print out to lay the pieces on so I didn't get the different pieces mixed up as I went. I just kept cutting out all the pieces until I had the whole chair, and then I glued it all on a piece of cardstock. I had some old frames I wasn't using, so I painted them white, cut out some mats from some left over mat board I had, and that was it! This project didn't cost me a dime!

I loved the way they turned out. They're a little abstract and artsy, and it was super fun to do!

I did something similar to this in my baby girl's room, except I used scrapbook paper.

Super inexpensive and cute! This little collage cost less than $20. The frames I found on sale at Michael's for $3 each, and the paper cost me $5. I love it when I can do stuff for that cheap!

The Craft Room

I finally am posting pictures of the craft room! Most of the room has been done for a month or so now. I was just adding the finishing touches and making sure it looked perfect. So here it is...

The shelves are just some boards purchased at Home Depot that I stained. Calvin hung them with inexpensive metal brackets. The total cost for the shelving was less than $35. The boxes are from Ikea and hold all of my stuff perfectly.

I went with the green for the dresser. I love it! I had some old knobs from my bedroom dresser that I painted white, so I didn't have to puchase any. Always love it when that happens!

My DIY art. I will explain how I did it in a later post.

I love the way it turned out! I'm not a huge crafter, so it's the perfect size. I love knowing where everything is now and having a place where I can leave my sewing machine out. Also, I would like to give a big shout out to my wonderful and very talented husband who made it all happen. Love you!

The Desk

Calvin built the desk in the craft room last weekend. It looks amazing! I love it. I can't wait to use it.




Don't I have an awesome husband?!!

Calvin's Nightmare Shower Remodel

A few months ago I posted pictures of our, what we thought would be, weekend project of replacing the tile in the shower. After a leak in the basement ceiling, re-grouting and resealing the tile 3 times, taking many showers at my parents house, and having a baby :) I can finally say it is really finished. Calvin was really sick of this project, but he did an AMAZING job and I love it! Just look at the results.

Here is the before. Nasty pink tile, original to the house.

During part of the process


And here is how it looks now!


Calvin replaced all of the fixtures with brushed nickel and combined with the crisp white subway tile it makes for a classic look that I think goes perfect in our 1940's home!

Nursery Preview!

I made this crib skirt for baby "E's" room this weekend, and I LOVE it!


It's so girly and fun, and took FOREVER!

It's Project Time, Again!

Something we have learned while being homeowners: a weekend project is never just a weekend project. This is what Calvin has been dealing with for the last week.

Believe it or not, the floors are done!

I am finally posting pictures of the finished product! We finished the floors and we're able to start moving our stuff back upstairs 3 days before Christmas. We are really happy with how they turned out.
The entry way, which used to be linoleum that Cal spent several hours scraping off...
Looks so much better!

Dining room.

Couple shots of the living room.

Calvin got me this new rug for Christmas.


Second bedroom. Please look past the ugly bright red futon. :)


Hallway.
Master bedroom.


Didn't Calvin do such a great job? I love that boy! :)

Beautiful Hardwood Floors, Here We Come!

We are in the process of refinishing our hardwood floors. We started the day after Thanksgiving and this is where we are now. The sanding is finally done, and tonight we are cleaning and preparing to stain. Calvin is currently vacuuming the walls.

Me in the dusty mirror.
The dust is awful. I'm pretty sure I will be finding dust for months.

We are refinishing the living room, dining room, hallway and two bedrooms. We are getting it all done at once.

I can't make this post without mentioning our current living situation. Now, don't get me wrong I am so excited that we are doing this, and I SOOO appreciate my wonderful husband for working so hard every night this last week and my awesome dad for helping every night too, but we are living in our basement with all of our stuff! I am a little embarrased to even show this, but I think most of you know that our basement never looks like this on a regular basis. Calvin said we could be on an episode of "Hoarders" if someone just saw our basement the way it is now. Mattress in the middle of the floor, clothes scattered everywhere. Now we just need to throw some dirty trash around and we are there! :)

What have we got ourselves into...?

A little preview of our current house project. More pictures to come.

DIY Roman Shades

Many of you wanted to know how I made the shade, and I am thrilled! I am glad you all love it as much as I do. Here is the link to the website that I found http://littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com/2009/02/make-shades-out-of-mini-blinds.html
You can pretty much follow her basic instructions. I did a few things a little different.

First, I ironed and sewed the edges of my fabric to give it a cleaner look, and then instead of folding the fabric edges over the ends of the slats and gluing, I glued the slats on top of my sewed edges. Just make sure your fabric isn't shorter in width than your slats or the edges of your slats will stick out from behind your fabric.

The other thing I did different was I used Tacky Glue instead of fabric glue, because I didn't have fabric glue. Tacky Glue worked well. You need to make sure that when the glue dries it doesn't leave discoloration in the fabric. You will need to cut the tilt wand off, because you won't need it anymore. I also cut a hole in the fabric on the top for the cord to come through. I think she just left it behind the fabric so you have to reach behind the shade to pull it up. I don't know which is better. It might depend on exactly how your blind functions. It also helps to have someone hold the shade tight as you glue the fabric to the bottom of the blind. I didn't do this at first and the fabric wasn't flat when I held it up.

And there you have it! That is pretty much all there is to it. It is a really easy and inexpensive project. I loved the way mine turned out. Calvin even really liked it too, believe it or not. I made a few mistakes as I went, but the next one that I do will be that much better.

Bathroom Makeover

We finally finished our bathroom makeover. It took about a month to finish everything from start to finish. Here is a before picture.

And this is the scary nastiness when we started tearing everything out. Ick!

And....Drum roll please....



Here is a summary of what we did; we replaced the toilet, tiled the floor, replaced the baseboards, painted the walls, trim, and door, painted the vanity, replaced the light fixture, made a new shade, and Calvin sunk the mirror into the wall.

We replaced the old linoleum, and Calvin and my cousin Curtis laid some travertine tile. It looks so good! Thanks Curtis and Becca!

I made this roman shade for a total of $6 (one yard of fabric). I used the mini blinds that were previously hanging there. I think it turned out absolutely fabulous. I can't wait to make some for my bedroom.