Valentine Mantle

I thought I would show you all today the simple Valentines mantle I put together. Now usually I am not one to decorate for a small holiday like Valentines day. My husband and I don't even usually celebrate it, or if we do, we celebrate it on a different day that week to avoid all the craziness. So needless to say when I got the hankerin' (yes that's totally a word) to do something crafty I decided to dress up my somewhat sad looking mantle. This was quite the challenge for me seeing as how I don't own any pink or red decor, and nothing with hearts! I was also determined to do this without spending any money. gulp.

 

So my little mind went to work and I started scouring Pinterest for DIY ideas. I knew from the beginning I didn't want to go too Valentiney (I have a tendency to make up my own words) with the all pink and little cupids, especially since I didn't have any red or pink decor to start with. So I started on the heart garland.

 

 

I hand cut all the hearts from some red and pink scrapbook paper as well as some old book pages. The book pages totally gives it a more vintage/neutral look. It was pretty time consuming but ended up being my favorite part of the whole mantle!

 

I had some left over hearts so I used those on my candles for my "height" section of the vignette. I cut out slightly larger hearts from book pages to outline the red hearts and to add a little more of my vintage love. I taped them to each other and then to the candle. Then secure them with a little bit of jute twine.

 

 

Next I started working on the XOXO canvas. I took a blank canvas I had in my stash and started covering it with more book pages. I then used my Cricut to cut out the X's and O's and taped them on. I wrapped some coordinating twine to match the candles.

 

 

A few nights previously my husband went to Michaels to get some craft paint and he spotted some little wooden signs. So he bought me a few of them, one being this little Love sign. If that isn't love I don't know what is!! So I painted it red, and put it front and center. I stacked it on a craft paper covered book and the only little pink book I had that just so happens to be about cupcakes. That's Valentiney right?

 

 

 

I might add a few things here and there as the week goes on. My Camellia bush is just starting to bloom in the front yard so hopefully I can add of few of its white blooms soon. But overall I'm pretty happy with it, especially since I used only what I had around the house. That's the beauty though of being a DIYer at heart, your up for the challenge of making things out of nothing!

 

 

 I added a few more things to the coffee table and brought out my pink pillow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I fell in love with this pillow from TJ Maxx a while ago and bought it even though it doesn't match anything else I own. he he Maybe it will be useful down the road if we have a little girl in the house, but for now it fits right in with the Valentines Decor. :)

 

 Linked at:
 

Its Finally Fall

Yes, Fall is here, well not actually here. Its still 101 here, but my calender says its here so out goes the summer decor and in comes the Autumn goodies.  I decided to take a break from working on stuff for the shop and actually make something for myself. Boy am I glad I did! I followed this amazing picture from Pinterest to a blog called Ella Claire, where she gives a full tutorial on how to make this beauty...

 

To see her tutorial go here.

 

So I started following her steps, only I had to tweak them a bit.

 

I measured my mantle and decided how big I wanted my sign to be, since I had to make it from scratch. I decided 24"x30" would look best. So I started digging through our scrap pile and cutting my pieces.

 

 

Then I made up some cream chalk paint and painted on one coat, then some streaks of a minty green, then one more coat of cream. (the last coat didn't make the picture)

 

 

 

Then sanded her down, and started tracing the words. Now this could have been a fairly quick process, but our printer was out of ink, so... I ended up having to trace the letters onto paper by taping them onto my computer screen. This slowed things down quite a bit, but where there is a will there's a way!

 

I didn't get picture of the last steps, but i traced my letters onto the wood, then traced those in paint then filled them in. My camera doesn't really do this project justice. In person you can see a little aqua showing through, and the nice worn antiqued look to it.

 

 

 I added some spray painted candle stick holders, and some pumpkins I got last year from the Target dollar bin, and now I have a cheap, and simple Fall mantle. Now if only it would start cooling down around here so I can start enjoying all my favorite fall foods!

Vintage Cabinet

This little vintage beauty has turned into one of my all time favorite pieces. When my lovely cousin pointed it out to me, I knew I had to have it. It was pretty the way it was, but I just couldn't resist painting it up a bit.

 

 

The tag called it a "Spice Cabinet" but I loved the thought of it being a bathroom cabinet.

 

 

So once I spray painted it Antique White, touched up the metal with some bronze spray paint, and distressed it a little it looked like this....

 

I just love the country feel it has! I wish it had a twin I could keep for myself :)

 

Linked up at:

 

Noel Sign

I saw this beautiful Pottery Barn knockoff on pinterest and instantly fell in love.

So I decided to make my own!

This was so easy and fun to make this simple Christmas sign. It was cheap too, it only costs about $4 a letter at Michael's, then you need red and brown paint, and a glue gun. I used the brown paint first where I wanted the letters to look distressed, then I pained several layers of red paint over that. If you want it even more distressed looking you could always add brown paint around the edges to give it that "shabby" look. 



Don't you just love those projects that only take a little bit of your time but make a huge impact?!

Make Believe Mantle

Ya know how when you notice something in your house that isn't quite what you want it to be, then all the sudden its all you can see when you walk into that room? Has that ever happened to you? Well, after we built our coffee table here and I took some pictures for this here blog, I was so annoyed by the look of our too small shelf. Its amazing how looking at a picture can really point something out to you that you hadn't really noticed before.

This shelf was put up in a hurry when we first moved in, trying to make it look a little more "homey" for our first visitors. It worked for awhile, but when we moved the big couch against that wall, it dwarfed the shelf even more. So after bugging my handy BIL and repeatedly showing him pictures I liked, kinda like this one...

 Pinterest

and this one...

 Pottery Barn

So one weekend while my husband and I were out of town, Ryan got a wild hair and decided to build one, (I swear it was like subliminal messaging) and look how good it turned out!

I love that it has that chunky mantle look to it. It is so much more fun decorating for fall when you have a make believe mantle.

Now I cant even begin to explain how he built it, all I know is that I love it :) Maybe someday, I will be brave enough to attempt that wonderful chippy look like the ones above. But for now it works just fine!

I am linked at Home Stories A 2 Z

Dreamy Dining Room Chairs

For a few weeks I have been thinking about reupholstering our dining room chairs. They have been through some rough times, and are showing there years. I remember the day I helped pick out this table and chair set for my mom a good 10+ years ago. Since then they have made it through a house full of pets, and more recently my nannying job. Needless to say, there are a few juice stains as well as mac n cheese smears. (It was totally worth it, to get to spend everyday with the little cutie). But today I decided, I don't want to look at our ugly, old, stained dining room seats any longer! Just look at these things...

They look like they were owned by a diesel mechanic who never changed before he ate dinner. Anyway, I just so happened to have a coupon for Joann's Fabric screaming my name from my email inbox, for a whopping 50% off one whole purchase. So off I went to buy some dreamy linen. While I was there this little picture popped into my mind. This chair I found on pinterest was love at first sight!

I have a feeling it will be a while until I ever own a chair as beautiful as this one. But I can definitely try and make my own version with what I have! So linen and lace it was.

On a more serious note, I'm thinking I may have a disorder called fearofbuyingfabric-itis. As soon as I pull that number and wait in line to get my fabric cut I start to get the butterflies, and I keep changing how many yards of fabric I want to buy. I suppose it would help to be more prepared before I actually buy the fabric. Like perhaps knowing the measurements of my chairs so I could make a more educated guess. :)

But I didn't so I just guessed and said ,"Give me 4 yards please" with the biggest smile I could muster. I figure I can always go back and get more if I need it. So with my coupon the fabric only came to $13! After I bought that I went back and had them cut me 4 yards (again, totally guessing) of lace. I made separate orders so they wouldn't use my coupon on the lace instead of the fabric. Is that cheating? At the register, the wonderful lady had another 50% off coupon so my lace only came to $9. I could have kissed her! So altogether this has only cost me $22! That is if I don't have to go back and get more fabric. 

I'm a little nervous having never done something like this before, but I think it should be fairly easy. Ill let you all know how they turn out!

DIY Sunburst Mirror

Not too long ago I found a wonderful tutorial here on Centsational Girl's blog showing how she made a DIY Sunburst mirror out of paint sticks! So I just had to give it a go. When I bought paint for our bedroom and guest room, I sheepishly asked the lady who was helping me if I could have about 50 paint sticks. She was more than happy to give them to me and just kept handing me handfuls and handfuls of the things.

Stuff you will need:

• Around 45-50 paint sticks
• A 7" round mirror (I got my at Michael's for around $3)
• A 7" wood or plastic embroidery hoop
• Craft paint (2 different colors of your choice)
• A paint brush
• Caulking
• A square piece of wood about 9"x 9"
• A picture hanger
I chose for mine to do a grey and a lighter grey. So I ended up just using the bottled grey and then for my top layer mixing the grey with the white to make it a little lighter. I also happened to have on hand this metallic paint that I mixed in to make it have a little bit of a shimmer. It didn't make a huge difference, but I liked it that way.

So the first step is to cut off the curved part of the paint stick. Then you want to take your mirror and lay your sticks around it to see how many you will need for each layer. For the top layer we chose to cut off a few inches so it would give the mirror more texture. The sticks that would be for the top layer I painted the lighter grey.

You will want to paint your embroidery hoop to whichever color you want. Then glue it to your mirror. While that is drying screw your picture hanger on to the back of your 9"x 9" piece of wood. Then glue your mirror centered in your 9"x 9" board.

Start with your back layer and hot glue (or gorilla glue) to the board. Now the end of your stick is square and your gluing to a circle, so just try to put the center of your stick against the circle with the corners touching each other. I used  some of the extra paint sticks to hold up the ends of my sticks so they would sit flush on the board.

Next start adding the second layer. Just center the sticks over the joints of the lower layer. When your finished you can caulk any gaps that show, then paint over the caulking. And your done!!

I love that this project is so cheap, and can be made in any color you need to fit your decor.

It also worked out perfect for this wall in our master bedroom. To the left of the mirror are french doors that I love to have open. So I knew I needed something that would sit flush against the wall so it wouldn't hit the door.

Yes I know that my curtains are too short, they were all we had on hand. So that will have to be one of my next projects ;)

Ive linked this project up to The Shabby Nest.

Old Window Decor

Recently we dug through the IL old barn to see what we could find. Boy did we score big! We found this beauty just waiting to be cleaned up and used.

 It was covered in dirt and mud nests, but I loved the symmetry of the windows so I knew it would be worth the work. I started by hosing and scrubbing it down to get all the dirt off. Let it dry for a few days in the sun. Then it was time for the fun part. I masked off all the window panes and started sanding away. (sorry no pictures, wasn't thinking). I gave it several coats of white paint and boy did she look nice! We distressed her up a little bit (oh yes only a girl could look this pretty) and hung her up on the wall.

We haven't really decided how we want to decorate around her. We happen to have these three plates that I had started collecting for a plate wall, so we have tried those. Were not sure what we want to put on the other side. More plates? maybe picture frames?

I think it looks so much better than what we had up there before, which was a tiny picture gallery with frames that were just too small for that big wall.

Any ideas for what to decorate around it?

The Search For The Perfect Headboard

Lately I have seen so many neat ideas for DIY Headboards. Ive seriously considered making one for our master bedroom, and depending on how that goes making one for the guest room. Here are some of the lovely ideas I have found so far...

 How gorgeous is this! Using old fence wood, and then painting on whatever word you wanted. Or even leaving it blank would look great.

House Tweaking

Here is an old mantle that has been boarded up and upholstered in the middle to make it solid. The only problem is I don't think I have the luck to find an old mantle but Ill be keeping my eyes out!

  Apartment Therapy

I love the stenciling in this headboard, actually I love everything about this room! 

 The Idea Room

Here is traditional tufted headboard, which would be so nice because it is padded. This would make sitting up in bed and reading so much more comfortable. (And don't you just love that chandelier!)

 In the Fun lane

And oh to be so brave... Ive actually really come to like this color lately, but not sure if I have the guts just yet to attempt something so dark. I'm not even sure what this color would be called dark teal?

I cant remember where I found this picture, sorry! 

Or a simple framed headboard

Source Unknown



There are literally hundreds of ideas for shapes, sizes, fabrics, materials etc. out there to consider. Ive seen everything from wagon wheels to wallpaper, quilts to windows. You can use anything that gives the illusion of a headboard. In case you want even more ideas, here are some great ones at Tatertots and Jello.

A little inspiration

So Ive been on the lookout for a few ideas for dining room wall decor. Im not a huge art person, and I like it when the dining room decor is somewhat "dining room" related. So Ive found a few ideas I like and thought I would pass them on.



From Country Living



I love how this is made out of something simple like plastic spoons, yet it adds such a fun pop of color. The only problem is, Im not sure how easy it will be to find a plain round mirror. Or if it would end up being more expensive then just buying an already made mirror. But I havent given up on the idea just yet. :)



From The nester



 I am in love with burlap right now. I like the idea of framing silverware but Ive thought also of maybe framing our monogram. Or even better if I can get my hands on a pair of giant wooden silverware!

This is another idea that is growing on me. Some refer to it as a "branchelier". It could work for almost any holiday, and seasons.  They could hang from the ceilings or be hung on a wall. The possibilites are endless!

Do you have some fun dining room decor ideas?

The Crepe Paper Rose Ball

On this Inspiration page, you will find me linking to some of my favorite posts. Some ideas will be big decorating projects, and some will small accents.  I hope that maybe some ideas I post can be an inspiration to you as well.


Lately I have been working on a smaller project called a Rose Ball. I loved the soft look of them and I plan to make a few. I found the tutorial Here at the House of Smith's blog. This blog has come to be one of my very favorites. I'm sure you will be seeing a lot of links to her blog, as well as a lot of her ideas around my house.

The Rose Ball has been so simple to make, yet a little time consuming. I love that it is made with something ordinary and easy to find like crepe paper. I cant wait to see what fun colors I can find. So far I have started out with white (since its my favorite color.) This is what my Rose Ball looks like so far...

I love that the roses don't have to be perfect, because no rose is.

Things you will need to make these:

• Crepe Paper
• Hot glue
• Styrofoam ball
• a lot of patience  :)

And that's it!!