From Beast to Beauty

I have been loving the look of wrapped canvases

and since we had our pictures taken last fall

I have been looking and pinning ideas

on how to achieve this look for less

When I saw two of these beasts

for $1 each I knew it was time to start

implementing some of those ideas

They were each 16 x 20 and just plain ol ugly

if you are not into pastels & flowers...which I'm not

So I snagged both of them up

 and ordered two 16 x 20 prints from Shutterfly

(which I was very impressed the their shipping and the fact

that both pictures arrived with no damages or creases)

First I had to disassemble the flower pictures

The canvas was just held on by some staples

so I removed a bazillion of those little buggers with my screwdriver

The pliers came in handy for some of those stubborn little buggers

After I was done this is what I was left with

Next I flipped the canvas over

and stapled it back on

I wanted the blank side up so I had a smooth surface to glue my

picture onto

This is where I stopped taking pictures because I needed both hands

I put a coat of mod podge on the canvas and laid my picture on top

I had a few minutes to make sure the placement was perfect

and then started gently rubbing out all the bubbles.

After this dried I put a few coats of mod podge on top of the picture

just to seal it up nicely.

*Note I actually had too many bubbles the first time I did it

and I was able to carefully remove my picture after the mod podge

dried and start over - because I cannot do anything right the first time!

I then added some scrapbook paper to the sides to help hide all those

unsightly staples and used a sponge to paint all edges

I also sponged just a bit onto the picture itself hoping it

would make it look older/like it blended into the sides

...note to self - next time wear gloves :)

You can see the strips of scrapbook paper in this next picture

This picture makes it look very messy and unprofessional

...which it is :) but once you don't zoom in it looks great

See?! 

I was able to do one for each of our little girls 

And here's how they look up on the wall

Completely out of order really, but here is a picture of the corner

looks a bit more professional from this angle :)

Total cost for each 16 x 20 canvas was $19

compared to $72 each for a gallary wrapped canvas print

which means I saved a total of $106 :).

And canvases from JoAnns aren't that expensive

especially when you catch them on a 40% off sale

so I can see myself repeating this process again



Oh How We Grow

I've always liked the idea of having some kind of

measuring device to mark our kids growth

over the years - something that can move

with us, if that were ever the case

I have been seeing the DIY life size rulers

all over pinterest and knew it would be perfect

One 1 x 6, some stain, paint/stencils & a sharpie later

this is what we have to happily record how

much we grow

I made it so we could hang it a little higher

because when your husband is 6'7" you need a BIG ruler 

So far I think we have measured the girl's height every day since it

has gone up :)



Re-purposing current decorations

So when we re-painted the living room

from deep Burgundy to lighter & brighter grayish/taupe

Our current decorations kind of looked out of place

So I am trying to not just go out & buy all new

but either re-purpose what we have

or make it myself

On the old walls we had a picture I had picked up at TJ Maxx

about 2 years ago...when we painted the first time :).

I still liked it, but it just felt a bit dark in the room now

it's the one on the left

So instead of just storing it downstairs

or putting it in the garage sale pile

I figured I could take it apart, play with it &

make it work with a lighter feel

First I painted the frame white

and the inerds (which was a plasticy insert made to look like metal)

a hammered metal I had on hand in the garage

Then I played around with different pictures

Here I tried it with different maps

Next I put in pictures from our family photo session with Carrie House

Scott voted for the photos

So I grabbed the mod podge

and just started gluing them on

(the pictures are just printed off from our printer)

Oh and then I decided the middle was too dark

and lightened that up as well

...still might need another coat

Here it is on our 1 finished wall (the others are still blank)

I love the green & blue picture frames

but I don't necessarily love them in that room so who knows they may

 change color again before this is all said and done :)

Halloween & A Late Birthday Present

So the pirate made a re-appearance this year

at Lilly's request

there was more "Argghhs" and just a few

"give me some candy" followed quickly by a "please"

what a nice polite little pirate

The pirates sidekick this year

was the ferocious purple dragon

who's "Roar" was more cute than scary

but the biggest hit was the tail wagging

that she did at every house we went to

And I finally finished Scott's birthday present from the girls

I saw the idea on Lil Blue Boo

I LOVE her blog by the way

this is one very talented women!!

Anyway the leather bracelet finally arrived after being on back order

which of course I didn't notice until after I placed my order - doh!

I had Lilly help me out with writing "Daddy" in crayon

and we both worked on the heart

Once that once done I just used an exacto knife

to carve out the letters very carefully

I was worried it wasn't going to turn out very well

as I did not perform the neatest surgery on those letters

but after I applied the stain I loved the extra character

my little nicks provided

And the best part was Scott's face when he saw it :).

Photo Blocks

So for Scott's birthday this year

I tried to think of something

that was creative & fun

I remembered him saying that

he didn't have any updated pictures

of our family on his desk

And since we had just

did our awesome sessions

with Carrie House

my wheels immediately started turning

So I looked at what we had

around the house

and came up with the idea

for some photo blocks

I cut my 4 x4 into blocks

using Scott's table saw

and I may have scared years off of both our lives

When cutting my last block my 4x4 was down to about 7 inches long

and I may have been being a scaredy pants

and not holding onto it tightly enough

only because my fingers were fricking close to the actual blade!

Well I still have all my fingers

but a portion of the 4x4 flew off the table saw

and hit the wall with some pretty good force

which I'm extremely thankful it hit the wall

and not me

This brought Scott running out to the garage

I think he was expecting blood

He offered to do the last cut for me

which I gladly accepted

So after my near death experience

I gathered my blocks & the rest of my supplies

I painted all the blocks white

and then attempted the mod podge transfer

I have been seeing all over pinterest

I printed my photos off on a laser printer

brushed a layer of mod podge on my block

and placed the photo on there

ink side down

After they had dried I sprayed them lightly with water

and gently (gently is key here) started to rub the paper off

with my fingers

I found that if I let them dry for just a couple of hours

this worked best

if I let them go for longer

it was harder to get the paper off

Here is what the pictures looked like

This is a good example where I wasn't so gentle

but I liked the worn look so it was okay

I then added another layer of mod podge

on top to protect the pictures

and it made it shiny :)

I also added some letters to the blocks

so they spell out a few different letters

and I figured Scott's students would get a kick

out of playing with them

I roughed up the edges & added

some paint to give them a antiquey look

...and then of course forgot to take more pictures :)

I really like how these turned out

and how simple (and cheap!) this was

I'm already thinking of more

mod podge transfer ideas to try out :)



DIY Free Bedroom Decorations

Free decoration #1

We are still putting some finishing touches

on our bedroom renovation

and of course we are trying to do them

on a tight if not non-existent budget

So while browsing the web for inspiration

I found this

Via Craftberry Bush

and thought Perfect!

I want a coastal/beachy feel to the room

and I just fell in love with this

I love the color and the way the

sayings make me feel

So I went out to the garage and rummaged

through some leftover door casing

from our dining/reading room

board and batten project

and I had just enough

Next I printed off my words

and grabbed my supply of craft paints

After painting my boards a mixture of colors

I white washed the dark ones

and glazed the lighter ones

then lightly distressed them all

to give them that old worn look

(instead of the I bought them at HD 2 months ago look)

I played with the different pieces

to come up with a grouping that I liked

Then I painted on my words

hot glued the boards together

and added some twine to hang it with

and ended up with this

I love that it looks old

and that it adds just a few more pops of color

to the room

Free Decoration #2

While in the garage I also spied
and old oar that my husband has had forever
It was broke in two
so I glued it back together
slapped on some paint
and hung it on our plank wall
with some hooks

Free Decoration #3

Next I found some tongue & groove

boards that were leftover from a previous project

I glued the two pieces together

with liquid nails

Added some paint

I mixed two blues I had together to obtain

the beachy blue that was in my head

then I white washed it

and painted on my letters

And now it hangs above the oar

Total cost for these 3 mini projects - nada :).

Repurposing an old cabinet door

I picked up this little treasure the other day

on the side of the road mind you

Someone is renovating this awesomely beautiful

old home in our local downtown area

They had placed a bunch of stuff out by

the curb, so of course I just had to

stop and check it all out.

I found this little guy

and just couldn't pass it up

I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it

but I knew I would think of something if I gave it long enough

It definitely required a good scrubbing

and I sanded it down

After sanding it though I decided against painting it

I liked all the character coming through already

I even decided against filling the holes from the handle

and not solely just due to laziness :).

We have 3 full albums of wedding photos

that we have basically done nothing with for the past 5 years

So I grabbed a few of my favorites

used a glue stick to adhere them to my door

to get this...

I think it will go perfectly in our bedroom!



Picture Frame Jewelry Holder

I picked up this really creepy picture at the Restore yesterday for $2

and they threw in some chicken wire for free

which may be due to the fact that I visit the place weekly

at least...

Creepy doll picture - but awesome frame

I quickly set to taking apart the picture frame

with the help of my lovely daughters

and took the empty frame out to the garage to spray prime it

After it dried I decided against adding any paint

and just glazed it as is and sanded down the edges

Once everything had dried I flipped it over and added

my free chicken wire

to come up with an end result of this

Which looks great here :)

I added some eye hooks on the side to hold my necklaces

The best part is it took me literally 10 minutes to make

and now I have some functional art :).