DIY Pine Cone Door Decor

This is a little overdue, but I blame JoAnns for running out of ribbon. I had to wait until they got more of this wired dusty teal burlap/linen ribbon back in stock to finish the project. It was mostly done before Thanksgiving anyway....

This is a simple Thanksgiving or Christmas DIY door decoration. It cost me about $5. The ribbon I got at JoAnns with coupons, and I bought some circle screw-in hooks, that's it. The fabulous giant pine cones came from Ryan's grandparent's yard. They have a sugar pine tree (or two) that drop these giant pine cones and they are kind enough to share.

I considered dipping the pine cones in white paint for a more modern look, but they are pretty sappy and earthy, and for this I think I prefer them au natural.

If you want to try this yourself, its super easy.
1. Just use a small drill bit to drill a hole in the top of your pine cones.
2. Screw in your little circle hooks.
3. Tie on the ribbon.
4. Make some bows and glue them on with a hot glue gun, and away you go.

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DIY Reclaimed Wood Framed Mirror

Years and years ago, probably when I was in college, I bought a $10 standing mirror at Target. Tacky cheap frame and all. A few years ago, that tacky cheap frame broke off and got tossed. And the mirror never got replaced! It just sat there, naked and bare, against my bedroom wall. Talk about tacky.
But it is tacky no more!

Thanks to my brother and his torn down shed, I obtained a good pile of old, weathered, reclaimed wood. I brought it home for another project (sneak peak at the end of this post), and used some of the extra scraps to make a frame for this sad and lonely mirror.

The pieces weren't quite long enough for me to do angled corner cuts, but I think the straight cuts work due to the rustic-ness of the wood.

I did have to deal with a little bit of warping, but it wasn't too bad. I love the cracks and knots and holes and coloring in the wood.

Now I have no training in this type of construction, but I did a little research, a little brainstorming, and just kind of figured it out. It's not rocket science. So if you're interested, here's how I did it.

1. I first glued all the pieces together with liquid nails (carefully measuring the inside space to make sure it was all squared, given the warping). No wait. I first measured and cut, and scrubbed with a brush to remove loose particles. A very light sanding too, but you can't do much or it takes that weathered finish right off.

2. I then screwed in the corner braces you see below. Most of them are crooked because of trying to avoid cracks, or reinforce cracks in the wood. It doesn't need to be pretty on the back (though I would prefer it).

3. In the above picture you can see I filled in a crack or two with liquid nails. Unnecessary, but I figured why not. A little reinforcement can't hurt. And see that duct-taped corner below? I know, I know, why am I still holding on to this old mirror? Because I can't stand to just toss it when it will work fine. I chipped that mirror corner in the process, but just a little, so I taped it for safety and it's hidden anyway.

4. After the frame was secured together, I used a little liquid nails (ignorance on my part--shoulda' used Mirror Mastic--if I had known what it was) to glue the mirror to the frame.

5. Then I added mirror clips (more visible in the above photo) to really hold the mirror on there. And that's it! I started to spray it with a sealant but had a hard time getting an even coat, plus I figured it's been so weathered that any old chemicals that were on there are pretty much washed and worn away by the years of weather.

And here's a little peak at a few other things. Me at 16 weeks (I'm pregnant!) And also these are some old work pants I cut off and turned into Bermuda shorts. They were a bit flared at the bottom so I hadn't worn them in years, but they fit nicely in the waist and behind so I hated to toss them. Perfect solution and super easy to do, a great way to upcycle your clothes. Of course with my growing belly, this will probably be the last time I wear them for a while.

And one last thing. The purpose of my collecting the reclaimed wood in the first place was to make a headboard for my bed. I'll show you the whole thing once I get a duvet cover and some night stands (can you tell my bedroom is in sorry shape?). But this will have to do for now:

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A Most Practical Tablecloth

Wipeable. Stays put. Protects the table. Looks nice. It's everything I want.

Ezra was making a habit of banging and denting the table top with anything in his hand at random times. And coloring on it. And scratching it. That's what made me first want a table cover. But most laminated tablecloths are not so attractive and I'm not a fan of the clear ones. That's when my friend, Paula, told me about the oil cloth table covers she makes with elastic around the edges so that they stay put. Brilliant! (She also sells traditional style tablecloths in oilcloth). Only my table isn't the type that the elastic would hold it on, so I worked with her to modify the design some, and it works beautifully! I sewed the corners together for a snug fit and sewed in some ties to tie it under the table around the legs. The kids can't rip it off, they can color and eat and spill and bang and the table top is protected. I'm really loving it. If you ask, she'll make one like this for you too.

(See the tie below, on the right side)

You can check out Paula's other great offerings in her Etsy shop. She has really great fabric options. I also got one of her wasties, which are fabulous little reversible waste baskets for car, craft room, or just about anywhere. They stand alone or hang from a (removable) included command hook (or snap loop option too) any where you need. 

And tons of cute options for ironing board covers. They've made my ironing much more enjoyable, believe it or not. It's just less dreadful when you have something fun to look at instead of a plain blue cover.

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Nightstand Makeover

I usually get so excited and rushed to start a new project that I forget to take "Before" pictures, as is the case with this one. I bought this mahogany nightstand off the classifieds for $30. A little spray paint and a new handle, and this is what we have now. It's for Ava's room.

See that little ball clock on the right? That's an Ok To Wake alarm clock. It's the greatest thing ever (for toddlers). You set an alarm time on it, and when it hits that time the ball glows green, letting your toddler know that it's ok to get out of bed now. It took a few months for Ava to get the hang of it, but now it's a beautiful thing. It helps her to sleep in a little more if she gets to bed late (she used to always wake up at the same time no matter what time she went to bed). Can you tell I'm a fan?

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Yellow and Grey

Remember my bathroom makeover?
Looks like I'm not the only one who likes yellow and gray and stripes in a bathroom. Check this one out (they even have the same yellow towels as me!):

And in case you missed mine:

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It's Raining Felt

Over a year ago I saw this darling felt cloud and raindrops from Etsy seller Butterflying.

When I started planning baby boy's nursery I knew I wanted to include this idea over the crib. See, I'm paranoid about anything framed or heavy falling off the wall and injuring baby, so this idea was perfect. I customized it to match my nursery and made my own.

Once I have Ava moved into her new room and the baby moved into the nursery, I'll share photos of the whole room. I still haven't shown you the crib bedding, have I? I will.  Pin It

Clever Design: Magazine Walls

I never cease to be amazed at the ingenious ideas people come up with and execute. For example... this design studio has walls made out of magazines! (Do you know how many thick magazines design studios get? A lot.) To see more and find links, click here.

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Twin Duvet Cover

Ava will soon be moving into a new room and bed to make room for the new baby (though I plan to procrastinate as long as possible). Her nursery is pretty un-girly, so I thought this time I'd try to be more feminine for her. I'm not a big fan of pink and purple, but decided I'd let Ava decide for herself about such things. It's no ruffles and lace, but I'm taking baby steps here, okay?
Her room starts with the bed and duvet cover. Since all the duvet covers I liked were pretty expensive, I decided to make my own. I used this Tina Given's fabric by Free Spirit. (And I have extra yardage, so if you want some you can go to my Etsy site).

The bed is from IKEA but I got it from the local classifieds for around $100. 

See the cute dots on the sheets? Awww. So cute. (I didn't make the sheets, I got them here.)

See those snaps below? Yeah, I hammered those in myself. It was my first time doing that kind of snaps, and it was so super easy. Instructions are just on the back of the package and all you need is a hammer and a spool of thread. You should try it, if you never have. I want to put snaps on everything now.

Next I have to figure out what color to paint the room. I was planning on doing a really pale yellow, but now I'm afriad that with the tan carpet that might turn pretty blah. And I don't know if I can bring myself to go pink on the walls (even a very light pink)... Especially because this duvet reflects quite a bit of pink into the room (and hallway) already. But if I put a cute little yellow night stand next to the bed, it would sure be cute. There is a bit of very light aqua in the duvet, but the new boy's nursery is that color so I don't want two rooms the same color. Suggestions?
If you are looking for a good duvet tutorial, this is the one that gave me basic direction. Just make sure you square up/true up your fabric before you cut it! I didn't and it caused a bit of headache for me. And keep in mind, as you calculate your measurements, that home decor fabric is like 54" wide on the bolt and quilting cottons (standard fabrics) are like 44". That will make a difference in how many yards you need.

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Nursery Designer

I'm in love. I've just discovered the Nursery Designer website by Carousel Designs, and it's amazing and so fun to play with.

They have tons of fabrics to chose from, and you just drag and drop them onto the part of the bedding you want in that fabric. They'll even show you just the matching fabrics if you want. And you can change the wall color (Benjamin Moore paints—real colors!) and trim colors, change the flooring (so it looks like your room), change the crib color, and so forth. And then you can have them make the bedding for you! What a magical place.

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DIY Fringe Chandelier

I'm too scared to attempt any lighting project that includes an electrical wire, or removing my current light cover, because I think I might burn my house down. But here's something I can make for Ava's new room that I could just mount right around the existing flush-mount light fixture. I'm loving this idea!

You can find the full instructions at The Sweetest Occasion, but I'll give you a quick summary.

Buy 2 embroidery hoops, paint them, tie them together with fishing line, use a hot glue gun to glue fringe trim (4 yards) to hoops (wrapping around twice), hang up and admire. Easy peasy, right? I can't wait to try it.

These would also be fun for party decor. Pin It

More Bathroom Goodness

I'm a fan of framed bathroom mirrors. Where I live, in houses that I can afford, builders tend to just put in plain borderless mirrors in every bathroom. So framing the mirrors is something I've wanted to learn how to do. Of course I could pay someone else five times as much to do it for me, but why do that when I know is totally do-able myself? (Or at least do-able for my hubby, if I can convince him to do it).

I found a great tutorial at Show & Tell on custom framing your bathroom mirrors. Basically, you take some crown molding and/or baseboard trim, measure it, miter cut it, paint the back, and glue it on with liquid nail. Then fill in the gaps with dry-dex and caulk, paint it, and you're done! But there's a more thorough explanation and details over at Show & Tell.

I won't be able to get to this project myself for a little while still, but I can hardly wait to give it a try. It looks pretty simple, and the results are so great!

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Bathroom Makeover: The Reveal

Enough delay. Forget the rug. Here's the bathroom!
BEFORE:

AFTER:

 

The cat seems to like it...

 

I ended up spray painting the mirror (Craigs List, $30), but in retrospect I think I should have used a brush. I may still do that, so I can get a color that matches the towel better. Because of all the grooves and ornateness of the mirror, I think a brush would work fine on it and not leave those despised brush strokes visible.

The hand towels are these:

The toilet corner...

I saw a bike print almost like this at Etsy, but it was the wrong size and slightly wrong colors for what I wanted. So I recreated it, and I hope that's okay. I won't be selling it or anything. Painted this $2 gilded frame white to match the trim and cabinets. For that I did use a brush and it came out great.

And since everyone likes to read in the bathroom, why not have a magazine rack? Is that shameful or just practical? I like to think it's practical. Or at least realistic.

Extra info:
Painting the cabinets turned out to be quite a pain. I think I didn't sand them sufficiently. So when I did the first door with a nice brush, and still saw too much brush strokage and uneven coverage, I had to sand them down again. I opted to use an electrical sander this time, and the paint all started beading up in a few places and creating edges and it was just a mess. 

But I finally prevailed and got the whole thing painted using a small foam roller. That required a lot of coats of paint, but looks so much smoother and professionally finished. For me, definitely the way to go.

Taping the walls (and then retaping for the second color) took some time, but it was worth it. And I didn't have to do very much touch up. I did use a level, if you are wondering.

I think I will probably go with this rug from Garnet Hill, and be done with it all! Hopefully it actually looks like the internet photo.

Can you imagine if I ever tried to makeover my kitchen, or something big? It might take me 10 years. The boy nursery (crib bedding is almost done) and the girl toddler room (not even started) are next though... so wish me luck! I've only got about 2 months to finish both of those! Yeah, yeah, I know some of you could do them both in a week. I wish I could! Pin It