Upcycled Bookshelf

Instant Upcycled Bookshelf

I did this project years ago and still love the results.

I hope you do, too!

1. Take any discarded bookcase (this one was found curbside).
2.  Wash it thoroughly and let dry.
3. Sand it down, nice and smooth.
4. Prime and paint it a light neutral color.
5. Handpaint {or stencil} on lettering of your choice in a complementary color (I handpainted mine). 

I chose three, simple words for this bookcase:

Read · Books · Learn

This post is linked to Tutorial Tuesdays

on HopeStudios.blogspot.com

Ethereal little {cheesecloth} ghosts

Halloween is such a fun time of year! 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not into the gory or macabre...

I just love the fun and thrill of little ones dressing up in their costumes,

all of us poking a little fun at what scares us.

Friendly little ghosts, furry black cats, 

bewitching witches, and not-so-scary monsters!

Halloween turns me into a kid again.

I wanted something new to dress up my dining room,

but buying new decorations every season & holiday gets expensive.

It's so much more rewarding to MAKE something yourself.

So I made two darling, ethereal {cheesecloth} ghosts
to haunt over our October feasts.

Using a simple list of materials I had on hand,

I made two of these ghosts

that seem to virtually float in mid-air.

I started with a can of spray starch 

(I couldn't find liquid anywhere)

and two packages of cheesecloth that I already had.

I borrowed a piece of wired cable from my husband,

and wrapped the wire around the neck 

of a 2-liter bottle of soda filled with water (to stabilize it).

I took a section of newspaper and balled it up, 

wrapping it with masking tape to hold its shape.

I stuck the ball of newspaper ontop of the bottle to form the head.

Then I laid the cheesecloth over the form,

and sprayed it repeatedly with spray starch.

I let the whole thing dry in the sun.

It stuck a little to the newspaper ball, so I just delicately loosened it,

then re-laid it ontop of the form and lightly resprayed it

so it would maintain its shape.

(I think a styrofoam ball would've worked better,

but I didn't have one).

Using some leftover stick-on black felt,

I cut eyes out and stuck them on.

I love the way they turned out!

You could use fishing line to turn them into flying ghosts,

and make them any variety of sizes.

It's such an easy peasy craft that even the little ones can help with!

BOO!

This post is part of:
 

SPRINGspiration!

Another great winter-doldrum-buster is thinking ahead to  
SPRING! 

...

I'm a list fanatic!  

Being a full-time working mommy to a rambunctious toddler - I have to be! 

...

So I'm always organizing my plans/thoughts/dreams/goals into lists...

and because I like to have things written down...

why not write it down in something CUTE!!

So I made my own SPRING journal

(I'll have to post the DIY instructions one of these days):

it's really simple!

I ADORE springtime!

The longer days...

the beautiful flowers...

the return of migrating birds (yay, robins!)...
riding my adorable vintage bike!!

In it, I sketch my garden plans...

Keep track of seed packets/planting instructions...

Write "to do" lists for spring holidays (Easter, Mother's Day, my anniversary)...
plan projects (last year it was the playhouse!)...

Scrapbook seasonal photos for future reference...

but most importantly, I try to capture my thoughts, wishes, feelings
and special memories of the glorious spring season!

So if you're cooped up indoors
and need a little
SPRINGspiration,
try writing keeping your own seasonal spring journal!
It's a great (and pretty!) way to stay organized,
and get the most out of the upcoming season!!
 ...
(not to mention beating away the winter blahs!)

Or how about a pretty garden journal!

This post is proudly part of:

Check out the other participants and all of their ultra creative ideas!

create

The doldrums of January get to me.  It's not the cold or the snow (although ours has melted away)...it's the shortened daylight hours and the grey, dismal sky...the barren landscape.

I'm someone that thrives on color! 

Don't get me wrong - I welcome being cozied up at home every once in a while.  For example, who doesn't love a family movie night - the buttery popcorn, downy-soft throws, curled up on the sofa with your loved ones snug and safe within arm's reach?

But I also thrive on activity!  Endless days stuck indoors being too sedentary give me and my family serious cabin fever! 

To combat the January blues, we get creative!  Out come the watercolors, the glitter pens, the colored pencils {above}, the crayons {below} and whatever other craft supplies we can dig up!

This past weekend we took plain, white coffee filters, and painted them with watercolor paints.  Then we took pipe cleaners, bent them in half, and twisted them in the middle of the dried, painted coffee filters to create a myriad of beautiful BUTTERFLIES!

We hung them in my son's room, surrounding a construction paper tree that was decorated with my son's multicolor painted handprints.  Adorable!

I'm lucky enough that my ever-creative husband made me a craft table several years ago, using an outdated desk, some simple shelves, and old library card catalog drawer, a leftover piece of crown moulding, and paint to make a darling, Pottery Barn-esque craft table {below}!

I can't tell you how very handy it is to have a designated space to work, filled with things that inspire me.  But even if you don't have a designated craft area, don't let that stop you!  You can always clear off a part of the dining room or kitchen table! We ended up crafting on the living room floor!!

The important thing is to let your imagination go and have fun! 

So if the winter doldrums have you down, try your hand at something creative!  Paint something, sketch something, create something!

Happy creating!

Try something new

I have a rule that I won't pay for something if I can make it or do it myself, and the more things I try, the more I realize that I can do!  It's very empowering! 

For some reason I used to be afraid to paint or draw...maybe it stems from the fact that one of my brothers is an artist and I always felt that his work trumped my own efforts.  I'm not sure what gave me that idea, I always excelled in art and was told throughout school that I have a natural talent. I just didn't believe it about myself.  But necessity being the mother of invention, as time went on, I attempted more and more creative projects in order to make lemonade out of the lemons that life gave me. When one is strapped for cash, creativity can be invaluable! 

I've done countless projects over the years, from graphic design, decorating, web design, photography, and painting.  It's fun to experiment with something new just for the challenge of it!  And one of my favorite creative outlets is turning junk into something cute.  My husband and I love it!  He's usually the mechanical one that figures out how to make my creative vision a reality, while I'm the designer...I'm the one that sees something and has a vision of what I want it to be.  Together we've done some pretty 'out there, over-the-top' projects - like our son's playhouse!  That project started off from just a photo I saw of a design, and we took it from there!

When I was pregnant with our son, we were a little daunted by all of the things we'd need to buy for a baby so we were looking to cut costs as much as possible.  I mean sure, in a perfect world we'd just order an entire nursery of furniture, but a.) what's the fun in that?!? b.) I'm not a huge fan of mass-produced, cookie-cutter things that everyone owns and c.) it seemed like a HUGE waste of money to spend so much on something he'd out grow in a couple of years.  So one of the thrifty little projects we did was to spruce up an old curbside dresser that someone pitched. There was nothing wrong with it...just a little plain.

This was what it looked like after we sanded it and removed a scalloped bottom piece that looked a little too feminine...

I decided to paint it a neutral color to coordinate with the other natural wood nursery furniture.  My husband cut a new bottom piece of wood and affixed it. And then I decided to do some decorative handpainting on just the sides in subdued primary colors (red, blue and green).

 

We then took some alphabet blocks that we bought at TJ Maxx and drilled the backs to allow for a screw to go through for super cute, super inexpensive drawer pulls...(we did the same on the changing table so that the furniture looked more coordinated and there were just enough  to spell out his name in blocks!)

Voila!  The finished dresser!

My point is, don't be afraid to try...maybe you'll surprise yourself and it'll turn out great! Then again, maybe it won't...but there's no harm in trying.  I mean even if I'd hated the way the dresser turned out, so what?!  I didn't pay anything for it! 

There are so many creative, talented people out in blogland - why shouldn't you be one of them?!  Maybe you are and you just don't know it yet :)

Special Delivery

Because a very special playhouse deserves extra special details...and because little boys love getting things in the mail (think of Ralphie in "A Christmas Story" with his Little Orphan Annie secret decoder ring!)  I came up with this cute mailbox idea from one I saw for sale online for around $150:  using a rather unimpressive craft-size toy mailbox, some scrap pieces of wood, a jigsaw, sander and paint, I made this Westie doggie mailbox this afternoon for the playhouse (in honor of my son's best playmate - our Westie, Oliver).

Here's my mini version...

And this was the online inspiration that gave me the idea:

Mine's so much cuter, dont'cha think?!?

Oh, and mine only cost me about $5 to make!!

 

This is my post for Cheri's Knock Off, Knock Out Party

from her blog, Its So Very Cheri

Click on the button to see a list of all the participants

Gifts with meaning

I'm off to a birthday party this weekend for one of my son's friends.  Which always makes me stop to think of a way to make a gift a little more special, a little more heart-felt.  Anyone can go to the store and buy something...I like to look beyond the ordinary and find small ways to make the gifts I give to others a little more meaningful.

Here's one simple idea of a sweet and inexpensive gift idea.  Have a friend across the miles that enjoys gardening?  Sending some flower or veggie seeds (preferably seeds propagated from your own garden) makes for a very sweet, little "thinking-of-you", but want to make it just a little more special?  Make your own seed packets, using photos of the mature flower or veggies right on the front of the packet for your recipient! 

Here are some seed packets that I designed for a friend some time ago using photos of the flowers as the focal point of the packet:

...and this is what they looked like tucked into a cellophane bag and tied with a ribbon!

Ready for gift giving!

Very simple.  Very cute.

And your friend will think you're a genius :)