Levi's Reading Corner

When we transitioned Levi's room to his big boy room a few months back, I immediately knew the space across from his bed was destined to become a reading bench.  I even knew I wanted to use an IKEA Expedit shelf turned on its side as the bench.  But unfortunately for us, the nearest IKEA is about three hours away from us.  So we waited and waited patiently for someone to make the trip, and finally my sister came through a few weeks ago.
She didn't buy the Expedit shelf, but something that looked the same (I don't remember the name).  It was super easy to put together and then the boys helped me move it into Levi's room. Next, the bench needed a cushion. Again I had a plan and knew I needed a 5 foot section of foam and some fabric.  I headed out to Hancock Fabrics, but had a bit of sticker shock when my piece of foam was $85 (more than the bench itself!!!).  I knew Josh would have a mild stroke at that price, so I held off and tried Joann's instead.  It was cheaper to start plus it was on sale there, so I spent only $26 to get my foam (quite the improvement, right?!?).  I already had some fabric on hand (that I had used at both boys' birthday parties, so you may recognize it), so I wrapped my foam up, used some hot glue to secure it, and stuck it on the bench!

The reading corner was coming together, but next we needed a place for Levi's vast collection of books.  I'm sure you've seen rain gutter shelves aplenty on Pinterest and elsewhere, so obviously this was not an original idea.  But it was crazy affordable shelving!  I grabbed one 10-foot gutter ($5), cut it in half once I got home (I just used a hacksaw, and was even able to do it myself!), and had two shelves!  Josh hung them up for us this past weekend, and the boys were both eager to help me stock them with books.  I was pleasantly surprised at how many books they held!

And Levi was clearly very excited to try out his new reading nook!

You may have noticed that I didn't bother to really style the bottom shelves.  Levi has toys for them, but I'm not sure if I want to go all out with baskets or just let the toys hang.  So for now, we'll consider the reading corner complete!

DIY Cherry Blossom Branches

Yesterday I showed you my spring mantle complete with its lovely cherry blossom branches.

Well, crafting them was totally easy peasy, so I figured I'd share the details with you.  

To make them, you'll need:

• pink tissue paper (about 5 sheets)
• scissors
• hot glue gun
• branches

To start, just stack your tissue paper and then cut out flower shapes.  I didn't use any kind of guide but just made a rough "flower."  You can tell by looking at these just how rough they were!  Luckily, it doesn't end up mattering! 

Once the shapes are all cut out, just gather each one in the center, twist it and gather it.  Again, no science to this...just twist, gather, and scrunch.  That's it!  

Take a dot of hot glue and smack them on the branches.

I told you these were easy!  And such a perfect spring decoration, right?  

DIY Ruffled Lamp Shade

So you've probably heard we were snowed in this week.  As I was confined to the many walls of this house, I began looking around at it and analyzing all the problem areas.  Uh, we need new grout in the bathroom, to touch up the paint throughout, to do some major, major reorganizing in the craft closet (again!), etc.  With most, I just saved them in a mental tally list of things to conquer...one day (maybe!), but there was one project I realized I could quickly/easily accomplish.

See the little lamp there on our console table (ignore the dreidels...the shot is from back at Hanukkah).  It's a $15 Target lamp I picked up about 4 years ago.  It's cute and all, but just a little blah, right? I figured a quick little lampshade makeover could really do this poor guy some good.
I debated a few options including some of the usual characters: covering it with fabric, painting it somehow, etc.  But then I remembered some fun ruffled lamp shades I had seen recently.  Truth be told, I'm helping a former party client with her daughter's nursery, and I had loved the idea of doing a ruffled lampshade in there.  And I figured that before I offered to do one for her that I should probably attempt one on my own first.  The results:

I think I like it!  I would probably play around with bigger ruffles next time...or even make them more vertical or even circular or something, but I do think it's a fun upgrade for our old, boring lamp.  Plus, it was incredibly easy to create with the added bonus that I had everything on hand!  I just cut some white fabric into 2-inch strips, folded them in half, and then hot glued them on to the lamp, making sure to gather them a bit as I went.  The whole project took me about an hour...perfect entertainment for a snow day!

Holy Hell It's Cold Outside

There's no nice way to phrase it.  It's freaking freezing out there, colder than I can ever remember it being in Virginia Beach...and that's not just due to some memory lapse on my part; the weather folks have repeatedly reported that it was colder here this week than any other time in my lifetime!!!  Um, yeah, that's cold.
And we've already established that I hate, loathe, detest (pick a synonym) the cold.
So what's a girl to do when it's bitterly cold outside?  Well, craft of course.  And decorate.  And what could be more appropriate than to decorate for winter.
So first I gave our mantle its little seasonal transformation.  I had everything on hand and have used them all in past winter mantles.  To me, winter is minimal.  And I feel like the mantle kind of goes along with that.  Not a whole lot of flare, but a few little touches.

I did put a bit more effort into a wreath, though...mainly because when I pulled out our old one it was a bit beaten up.  To create a new one, I just made a whole bunch of white yarn poms and then used pins to secure them into a wreath shape I happened to have on hand.

It was a pretty basic process, but all told I needed about 50 poms to get the full wreath that I wanted (I didn't bother with the back side since it would just be laying against the door anyway).  Considering it was too cold to do just about anything else, though, I didn't mind!  And in the end, I was really happy with the result!

I told you I think of winter as minimal, so speaking of minimal that's about as far as my winter decorating got!  I really didn't have any other inspiration, so other areas of the abode that may sometimes get some seasonal touches (ie: the kitchen, the dining room, our entry console) just went untouched.  Oh well.
Maybe I'll feel more inspired when the temperatures climb back to the 60s this weekend...welcome to winter in Virginia Beach!

Handmade Holidays Round 2: Painted Mason Jars

This week, I've been busy showing you all of my holiday DIY projects.  Well, today's is a bit of a cheat.  Because I didn't actually make these beauties for the holidays (as you can probably tell by the colors!).   At the same time that I've been busy decking our halls, I've also been splitting time with prepping for a client's rainbow themed (with a modern twist) first birthday party.  But while I painted these in pretty rainbow colors, you could do them in absolutely any color and totally use them as holiday decor.

After all, all I needed to make them was some mason jars and acrylic paint.  Just squirt adequate paint into the jar and let it drip down to the bottom.  Then lay the jar on its side (on a piece of newspaper).  The tutorial I read said to rotate the jar every ten minutes for 2 hours.  Well, I'm not that patient/precise, but I did rotate mine every so often and once I felt like the paint was as far around as I could get it, I tipped them upside down (mouth down) to attempt to coat the tops.

Truth be told, I ended up having to do a second day's worth of rotations because my paint just didn't reach a few places the first time around.  On day 2, though, I spot treated instead of using a general approach and was able to get anywhere I  missed.  Try to resist the urge to whip out a paint brush to spread the paint around because it will take away the glossy look (which I happen to think makes the jars!).

Handmade Holidays Round 2: Snowflake Wreath

Yesterday I kicked off my second annual handmade holidays installment by showing you my dyed bottle brush trees.
For today's reveal, I share with you my snowflake wreath.

 It all started as I got my mantel finished up.  The space, namely my cherished window mirror, was begging for some up high decoration and immediately wreath entered my mind.  But I was stuck for a few days on what kind of wreath would work in the space.  As you will see in a couple days, the mantle was already pretty bright and shiny, so something natural didn't really seem to fit, but then again I didn't really want to do an ornament one (although I love them!) because I felt like it would be too much.  I happened to have about a dozen glittered snowflake ornaments left over from some ornaments I had bought at Target...some this year and some past years.
All I needed, then, was a wreath shape which luckily I found at the Dollar Store.  I spray painted the floral foam gold quickly, and then hot glued the snowflakes on in two overlapping layers.  Most were gold, but some were silver.  We had both already incorporated in the mantle, so I figured it worked.

 And now that it is up on my window, I must say it was a good choice!  I love, love, love my little wreath and think it's such a cute addition to my "window."

Like most things I manage to accomplish, this project was so unbelievably easy and budget friendly!  It took me all of 5 minutes (plus about an hour to let the spray paint dry) and cost $1 considering I had all the snowflakes on hand!
Make sure to check back tomorrow for my next handmade holidays project.

Handmade Holidays Round 2: Dyed Bottle Brush Trees

Last year around this time, I had DIYed a handful of holiday decor projects and decided to share them with you all one at a time.  I hadn't really planned to do a repeat version this year because I thought my projects from last year would suffice.  I should have known, though, that once I stared decorating, I would inevitably feel the need to tackle a few projects...which I have done over the last week or so since Hanukkah ended!  And now, I will spend the next few days sharing them with you all before the grand reveal of our holiday decor on Friday (I know, so exciting, right?!?).
First up on the reveal docket...my dyed bottle brush trees.

A couple years back, I bought a ton of those little bottle brush trees and bleached them for a display.  I liked them enough, but last year they failed to make an appearance in our holiday decor.  *(By the way, if you need a tutorial on bleaching them, I am pretty sure I have one here or just google it...they're everywhere!).  And when I took them out this year, I felt like they needed a bit more umph if I was going to include them.  I figured there must be an easy way to get them dyed, so I started researching.  And in doing so, I came across a really easy tutorial using Rit dyes (any color you want...I wanted greens and blues) and spray bottles.  Basically, you just put some water and some dye in the spray bottles and squirt down each tree (make sure you lay out paper underneath!).

Well, that process was just about as easy as it sounds, but I was a little disappointed that I couldn't get the colors to be more of the modern varieties that I enjoy (bright green, teal, sky blue, etc).  So I experimented and decided to use food coloring n the last couple trees I had left.  Same process: just put a few drops of food coloring into one of the spray bottles, fill it about half way with water, and squirt away.  Well guess what?!?  It totally worked!

So from now on, I am totally on the food coloring path.  I like the colors better (especially the "neon" variety). They're easier to combine colors.  And they're way cheaper, especially because there's a good chance you already have them on hand.

I already am thinking I'm going to have to add to my little collection...maybe once they go on sale after the holidays!  And maybe in some more colors (purples, pinks, yellows, reds...aahh the possibilities!).  Either way, I'm much more excited about them than my boring white ones.

$1 Table Runner

Last week I showed you my Thanksgiving mock set up, but hinted that changes were coming.  In fact, I even told you I had some plans to make the boring table runner a little more exciting.  Truth be told, the table runner wasn't actually a "runner" per se...it's actually just a roll of Dollar Store white wrapping paper.  And actually, it's just half of that roll (cut width-wise).  So to make it a bit prettier I just used one of those Martha Stewart paper punchers.  They're available in all kinds of designs, so I just picked the one I liked the most.

Now here's the thing.  I'm pleased with the result. And even more pleased with the price.  I have long realized that investing in fancy decorating items does me no good because I don't want to use them the second time around (hence the piles of fancy place mats and napkin rings I bought one Thanksgiving 5 years ago and have never used again!), so this is a perfect solution for me.
But like most DIY projects that save you a few bucks, this one definitely was a bit more of a headache than I anticipated.  The biggest problem was that .my wrapping paper kept getting stuck in the punch after I used it.  Eventually, I figured out that the paper may have been too flimsy and I started doubling it up with some cardstock I had on hand (and could be wasted!) which definitely helped alleviate the problem...although it did get stuck a few more times beyond that!  Once I got the hang of moving the cardstock with the wrapping paper, making sure both were aligned straight, and punching, the project actually went fairly quickly.
That being said I did have a few more issues with Miss Martha's product (I know, blasphemy!).  The punch definitely required a bit of muscle behind it.  That's probably not a big deal when you're just using it for a punch here or there, but to do both sides of a 6 foot runner it got a bit tiring!
  Plus, towards the end of my second runner (we're hosting 23 people, so we need 3 tables), it started jamming after every single punch.  Luckily, I was near the end of the second one, so I finished it off and then just decided to ditch the third one!
I also found the spacing hard to judge...as you can probably tell from the picture above.  Maybe it's just me, but the way the punch is made makes it hard to judge where to place it to evenly space it.  Towards the end, I kind of got the hang of it, but there are definitely places that are spaced further apart than others...oh well!
And finally, the punch does not have anything on it to catch the paper it cuts out, so it leaves quite the mess.I would dump the scraps every few times, and certainly tried to contain the mess to a small area of the table, but there was still a big mess on the floor...enough that I even had to bring the vacuum out.  And I hate the vacuum!
All in all, though, the runners cost $1 so I probably can't complain too much!                                                                                                                                                                      

DIY Gold Mercury and Gold Ombre

Um...how is Thanksgiving only a week away?!?  It's even relatively late this year, and I'm still in shock that we're already here!!!  We will be hosting the big dinner at our house this year, so I've been busy plotting menu, decor, seating, and all things Turkey Day!
As I started coming up with inspiration for place settings and tablescapes, I was instantly drawn to metallics, especially when mixed with natural elements (kind of like our mantle...which works so I won't have to worry about changing it!).  I actually have burlap tablecloths on hand, so I won't have to worry about that part either.  But I did need some things for table centerpieces.
So I headed out to the Dollar Store and picked up some taller vases and smaller vases.  I also picked up a can of gold spray paint, so I could get all this glass looking gold!
While I did find some tutorials for the mercury, I pretty much winged it on both projects...and they both turned out pretty good (I think).  So here's the basics of how to do them:
Gold Mercury
Spray the inside of your container with gold spray paint.  Repeat 3-4 times.  Allow to dry 10 minutes or so in between coats.  Allow them to dry for at least an hour. Use a spray bottle to squirt apple cider vinegar into the vases or just put a little apple cider vinegar on a paper towel.  Either way, you're aiming for random areas where the paint will flake off when scrubbed.  I had read of people struggling, but mine actually came off easily...almost too easily, so if yours does that, just scrub at your own discretion.  Spray the inside again with gold paint, and then repeat the vinegar removal process, choosing some new spots and some old spots.  I did this 3 more times total, but just kind of wing it and stop when you're satisfied with how your "mercury" looks.  I suggest putting a candle in it (I used an electric one), so you can really see how it will look all lit up when trying to decide if you're done!

Gold Ombre
These were inspired by some silver ombre drinking glasses I saw at Target.  I loved them, but I'm not really doing silver...and Josh probably wouldn't have been a fan of me buying all new drinking glasses for Thanksgiving when we already have some!  So, I decided to recreate the look and make them vases instead.  So simple by the way.  Basically, I taped off each vase at about 4 inches down (I didn't measure...just eyeballed it) and gave it few coats of gold spray paint, letting it dry about 10 minutes in between.  Then, I taped off another few inches down, and just gave it one light coat of spray paint...from about a foot away... and voila!

I was so excited about my new gold accessories that I decided to give my Thanksgiving table (well one of them...we have 16 people coming so far, so we're going to need to bring in a couple more!) a test run.  

It still has a way to go obviously...like adding actual flowers to the vases and candles to the votives, jazzing up the runner (which is really just wrapping paper), adding some pizazz to the place settings, and hopefully even finding better/larger pumpkins (or something else) for the center, but I think it's working out pretty well!  And considering everything was either previously owned or from the Dollar Store, I'm feeling pretty good about our budget for it as well:)  With a week to go, I'm thinking we may actually be ready when the big day arrives!

Gallery Wall Expansion

Awhile back, I started a mini gallery wall of sorts.  I had always planned to expand upon it, but I just never got around to it.  So, for awhile, it looked like this:

Well, a few weeks ago, I finally decided it was time to expand.  But before I could begin I had to do a bit of planning. I happened to have a whole bunch of frames left over from projects past, so I traced any and every frame I could find on to newspaper.  I, then, used painter's tape to secure each one to our wall in various layouts...until I found one that I liked.  By using the newspaper templates, I didn't have to worry about putting a whole bunch of nail holes in the wall while I tried to get it right!

While I already had tons of frames, I did have one small problem.    Some were white, and some weren't...but I wanted them all white.  Obviously, that was a pretty easy fix with a can of spray paint  Easy enough, right?

Once I had the templates in positions that I liked and a bunch of white frames, I had to figure out what should go in those frames!  We already have one photo gallery wall, so I really wanted to avoid including photos here.  But I also wanted the wall to be meaningful and not just random art and things. So I brainstormed, and researched (Pinterest, google searches for "meaningful art,"), had epiphanies, and really thought about it for a few weeks.  And here's where we ended up:

I know you probably can't see all that's there, so let's go on a tour, shall we?

To start, I framed the onesies each boy wore on their first birthday.

And I also framed both boys' birth announcements.

In the above images, you can also catch glimpses of a couple other things.  I DIYed the Virginia chevron print.  It says "home" if you can't make it out, and yes, I purposely placed it around where Virginia Beach is geographically!  The yellow blog next to Levi's birth announcement is Chipper's paw print.  This is the second time I have attempted to get a paw print of our pup, but I think he's just too hairy because they always just look like a blob!  And the image with a whole bunch of words is actually the lyrics from Josh and my first dance song at our wedding ("Me and You" by Kenny Chesney).

As we continue, I also had the boys create a little "art" for the wall.

I used a photo of the beach (I don't know which beach) I had bought off Etsy about 5 years ago.

And finally I DIYed one more pieced: our family travel bucket list.  

To explain the list a bit, there are definitely some places on there that I have already been to that aren't checked off (but not with Josh) and even some places on there that Josh and I have been to together, but not with the boys.  But I purposely didn't check them because I hope to go back to those places one day...either with my husband, or boys, or both!  The ones that are checked I consider done...not that I would mind if we went back (especially St. Maarten or the Virgin Islands), but we've been there! 

So there it is!  Our newly expanded gallery wall!  And I must say, I am pretty much in love with it!  Not only does it fill the wall up so much better than the previous small scale version, it also filled with things that make me smile!

DIY Stuffed Animal Zoo

This is a post about five months in the making.  The good news is in the end, Colton (and I) got a stuffed animal zoo for his room.

But thanks to some lollygagging, it was a process.  Back in June, I was busy redoing parts of our bedrooms, mainly Colton's.  At that point, I decided we needed a better storage solution to his crazy collection of stuffed animals.  I turned to Pinterest (obviously) and immediately fell in love with the "zoo" options.  The only problem was they were about $150 to purchase...a bit more than I (and especially Josh) wanted to spend.  Looking at them, though, they seemed like they would be pretty straightforward to build...if you know how to build, use power tools, etc.  Well, I don't really.  Josh doesn't necessarily like to (much to my chagrin), but he does know how, and I think to appease me and get me off my $150 zoo track, he volunteered to build the zoo for Colton.  Awesome, right?!?
Well, about a month passed and he finally got around to building the thing.  He had no plan really, but basically just made a square at the bottom out of 2x8 boards cut to size.  And then he attached 1x8's to each side, again cut to size.  But then he stalled out...in a major way.  Our zoo sat like that for almost four months.  I love my husband, but he's not exactly the go-getter in our relationship.  In fact, we couldn't be more opposite in that regard.  So, I had to use a bit of manipulation (shhh don't tell).  One night I casually mentioned that I was going to buy the stuffed animal zoo online that night.  Of course (as anticipated), he freaked and mentioned the one he was building and that we were absolutely not paying $150.  So, I gave him a deadline and he actually completed the thing...miracle of miracle.
To finish it off, he just used 3x8's (again cut to size).  We flipped it over, making the 3x8 side the bottom and then attached eyelets all along the top and bottom.  Josh then strung bungee cord through all the eyelets.

And then I (and the boys) got to paint it!  I sanded it down first, and then we applied a few coats of Valspar's Royal Navy.

To give it a little flair, I added "Colton's zoo" (just hot glued the letters on...we've already established I'm not very good with a hammer!).

And then we put it into Colton's room.  The plus side of the project taking so long to complete is that Colton was actually really excited to finally have the stuffed animal zoo he had been hearing so much about!  He eagerly moved his animal buddies into their new home...and has pretty much left them there ever since.  He has explained to me that now they are "home," so I guess they're not allowed to leave home.  Whatever...it's better than picking up dozens of stuffed animals every few hours!

$2 Lamp Shade Redo

As soon as I attached the new lamp shade to the fan in Levi's room, I have been plotting its makeover.  I know white lamp shades work well for some people, but I'm just not one of them.  My lamp shades need something more exciting, but I couldn't quite settle on what to do to little Levi's.  I considered ping pong balls (yes, yes I did....and I still really want to do them somewhere, but for this particular shade I would have needed about $45 worth of ping pong balls and that just seemed ridiculous!), yarn, and the usual suspects: paint and/or fabric.  I knew I wanted something black, white, and pretty simple, so eventually I landed on ribbon.  Because I was going for simple, I was able to just use the cheapy 50 cent spools.  After four spools, I had this:

At this point I would normally share my process with you, but there really was no process.  I pretty much just wrapped the ribbon where it seemed to look good and hot glued it at the beginning and end of each spool.  Here's an in progress shot:

The only problem with it was that once I was done, I realized the ribbon would be way too visible on the inside...see what I mean?

Solving it was actually really easy.  I went through and put a dot of glue on each piece of ribbon...top and bottom.  And once they were nice and secure, I cut the insides out.  Now obviously that wasted some ribbon, but at only 50 cents a spool I really wasn't sweating it too much.  Plus, I went ahead and stored them with the rest of my ribbon just in case they can come in handy somewhere else later! If I had to do the whole thing over again, I think I would do it the same way again because I think it would be way, way more time-consuming to try to cut each piece before gluing it!  As it was, I spent about 30 minutes on the shade total!

Admittedly, the shade may not be finished yet.  I may end up adding more black once the whole room comes together, but I figured it was better to try to add some later than try to take it away!  Hoping it will be done, I went ahead and cut out a fabric circle and glued it down as a diffuser to the bottom.   

Good news is so far Levi seems to really be liking his lamp. Or at least every time we go into his room, he points to it and says "new," so I'll take that as he likes it!

Easy Fan Upgrade

When Colton was just a few months old, my sister and I were in his room changing him on his table (I guess it took two of us at that point...).  There was also a balloon in there, left over from Josh's birthday celebration earlier.  And the fan was on.  Well, somehow, someway, the balloon got swept up in the fan's blades. After a few seconds of banging, the glass lamp portion of the fan came crashing down, shattering everywhere, but somehow missing me, my sister, and Colton.  If I haven't told it well enough, let me assure you it was crazy scary!  But we got over the initial shock, cleaned up the glass, and left the fan without a lamp.
For the record, Colton is now 3 1/2, and yes, the fan has sat like this, even once the room became Levi's...

Well, this weekend, I finally got the chutzpah to do something about it. First, I rounded up my supplies: a lamp shade with a spider top (don't know if that's technically the name, but that's what I call it), an all-thread lamp pipe, and some couplings (both found in the lighting section at Home Depot).
Once home, I got to work.  I screwed the lamp pipe into the existing coupling.

And then attached another coupling at the end of the pipe about an inch up.  I hung the lamp shade, technically upside down, and used another coupling on the other side to secure it in place.

The whole process took about 2 minutes...which is uber exciting for me as I have a few other places in mind that I may have to try this update out on!
Now that the shade is in place, I have some plans to give it an update (starting with removing the plastic wrap...) and make it the first step in transforming Levi's nursery into Levi's big boy room!