Playroom Chalkboard & Numbered Hooks

As if I haven't mentioned it enough already, I love love love Pottery Barn, but not so much their prices. Yikes! While browsing through their playroom ideas, I fell in love with the little chalk boards placed on the walls and noticed they had pails hanging on the side for chalk, crayons, what not... I'm sure ours will be filled with loose toys or who knows what once the baby is up and moving. Here's the picture I fell in love with.

Of course I could have just purchased these from Pottery Barn, but why would I go and do that : ). So... another project was started.

I was determined to find these little pails and after looking at Hobby Lobby and ACMoore, I finally found them at JoAnn Fabrics, I think for maybe $2 each, if that. I intended on doing just number hooks, but while at Michaels one day, I was browsing through their dollar section and came across these perfect little wooden hooks for $1.00.

Of course I didn't just leave them like that. I whipped out the paint, mod podge and Cricut. I painted each block black. Cut numbers out with my Cricut machine and mod podged them onto the blocks.

This project really took me no longer than an hour. The paint dried quickly and the Cricut cut the numbers out in less than 1 minute. I just let them sit out overnight and that allowed the modge podge to completely dry. I couldn't be banging into the walls with nails at 10pm anyway, otherwise we'd be up with a baby the entire night... you know the saying, "if you're the one to wake him up, you're watching him"... not this momma! : )

Here's the finished product.

Chevron Painted Pillow

I've fallen in love with the new Chevron pattern floating around in the blog world and knew I would have to find some kind of project to incorporate it. First something small, those are A LOT of zig zags going on.

So I decided an accent pillow for the couch wouldn't be so scary to tackle.


I started with one white fabric square (cut in half) that I purchased at Wal-mart for under $1.00. I picked up a cheap bottle of gray paint, $2.00, while I was there also. This product is easily under $10 if you include having to purchase the stuffing, tape and brush. Super easy!

I measured the spacing between each piece of tape to 1 inch. Just use a wider ruler if you want thick stripes.

Once I got it all taped off, I dabbed on the paint pretty thick to make sure a second coat wasn't needed. If it dries too thick, then it can always be sanded down a little.

My words of wisdom, let it dry! I always jump the gun on this part and really regret it later when either the furniture, dog or I am covered in little paint streaks. It really never fails. My husband always knows when I've been working on something when he comes home to a paint crime scene.

Stuff it and sew it up!

Heres the finished product. I really LOVE this pattern and intend on trying it on our curtains in the bonus room... fingers crossed!

Nursery Sneak Peek

When we moved into the house, we went ahead and designated one of the spare rooms to the future nursery. We kept all the loose baby items and random things in there so it was never quite presentable... which of course drove me nuts! : )

Finally!!! We're able to make up the room as an actual nursery now, one of my absolute favorite parts about getting pregnant! A decorating dream come true.. a reason to design.

As soon as we found out it was a boy, I went head first into the room getting it ready... still not quite done, but it's almost there. Atleast it's ready for him to come home.

So here is a quick sneak peek at the room so far...

Wood Hanging Note Board

This little project resulted in a weekend of boredom... so what else is there to do, but a project!

We just got a new desk step up, that I haven't finished the post for yet, but I will add that soon. It's amazing and an incredible craigslist purchase. It has a lot of shelving space, but I needed a little something for the wall between our bookcases for the quick notes I just jot down and then the post it gets lost because I randomly set them down in the house to never be seen again... incredibily irritating : )

So I took a piece of old wood we had lying around from something else and cut to about the size I wanted for a little note board. Took some dark stain (dark walnut) and stained the front and sides of the piece of wood. I didn't put a coating over it as to leave it a rougher look, not like I just purchased it from Target.



After I let it dry I stapled and glued on twine wrapping it around the board pretty tight so that I could slip notes or cards behind the twine and it stay.



After that, I added a wall hook on the back and put it up.



I'm pretty pleased with it and one of the easier projects I've done.



Linked up to
DIY Showoff, Under the Table & Dreaming



Remodeled Dining Buffet

First of all, if my grandmother reads this, she will absolutely hang me. She had given me this old dining buffet with a hutch which is beautiful. However,  it just needed to be updated just a smigin to this era. That's a proper form of measurement right?

We don't currently have a dining room table, but within the next few years, I'll find a way to convince hubby that it's not just a waste of space.

So this is what I started out with...

I recently unloaded the car so it's quite a mess. Note to self - Clean the house.

Since this piece of furniture was real wood and still in great condition, I decided to prime it up before painting. I took drawers, doors and screws out and patched all the holes. I think primed every part that I was going to paint.

After making a few modifications and about 2 coats of black paint, this is what it turned out to be. I'm very happy with it. Now I'm working on making baskets of some sort to put on the shelves. They're just dying for some attention.

{After}

{Before}

I think it looks great and will work just as well with a dining room set when we decide to get one. 

Just to follow up; here are a few painting furniture tips...

1. Before painting, sand down the furniture. This allows for the paint to adhere better and gives a fresh surface.

2. Priming before you paint can be pretty important. If you don't, the paint will not stick and will just peel right off especially with laminate. I suggest having your primer tinted if working with dark colors.

3. Make sure you put enough coats on and get in the little crevices. I use a roller and then a regular paint brush to get into the small spots.

4. Let it dry! : ) I know I have a problem with this and when I let my excitement get the best of me, I later pay for it and have to remove paint from something or repaint a certain area.

Jute Decor Spheres

This is one of my favorite Pottery Barn/Pier 1 knock offs. I got an apothecary jar at the new Kroger Marketplace near our home... just $14.00!! I of course couldn't resist. So then of course I needed something to fill it with. Instead of spending $5.00 a ball at one of my faaaaaavorite stores I decided I'd buy a pack of of 6 styrofoam balls at Walmart for about $3.00 and cover them with my jute string I already had.

Don't mind the mess in the background : ). It was midterm week and not much got done.

In order to get this to stay, I just used a hot glue gun. I just started the string in the middle and started wrapping it around until I got to the other end. I think they came out great.

 I LOOOOOOOVE IT!

Bathroom Shelving

I came across an old unfinished shelf I had from the old house and was trying to think of a way to use it. I knew I needed a "hook" system of some sort in the bathroom for towels, robes, clothes... you know, all that stuff that gets hung over the shower rod or ends up on the floor : ). Since it was free, I figured it would be a perfect opportunity to test my staining skills - I might have to eat those words later. So I pulled out some walnut stain I had left over from something else and went to town.

 

You'll probably notice my hardwood floors in the background : )... that would be a lack of judgment caused by my impatience and the fact it was raining outside and 40 degrees. *Note to hubby: we need a heated garage* I made sure that the area I was working with was completely covered though.

I got it stained and let it dry. Hung it up on the wall and added 2 hooks below for towels and what not. The hooks were purchased at Walmart in a bronze finish for about $2 each.

{Before}

 

{After}

Much better I think and I have somewhere to put our stuff. Now I just need my cricut machine I've "requested" for my birthday. : )

I'm in the middle of redoing the master bathroom so I'll add full pictures soon.